CHAPTER 9

Adriana

Catarina (on the other end of the line): Hello, Yolanda?

I swallow hard.

Me: Yes, Catarina? How are you doing?

Catarina: I'm doing very well pupuce!

There is a lot of noise around her. I can hardly hear her. She is in Miami so the music is loud.

Catarina (laughing):... No, sweetie...yes....(addressing me) Sorry, Yolanda.... We just met three days ago at the beautician's. What are you doing calling me that?

I exhale mechanically because I'm thinking about how to behave. I wanted to tell her, but I put myself in her shoes. As a mother, I wouldn't have been able to take this news over the phone. And I wouldn't want to take my best friend to the hospital room because of a stroke while her daughter is suffering the same fate.

I decided to completely change my once established plan.

Me: Well, you remember Ramirez. He took the deal and we need you there to finalize.

Catarina: What!?....but your signature alone is enough.

Me: No, you are a shareholder too and we can't finalize everything without you.

I hear her sigh on the other end of the phone.

Catarina: Okay, I'll be down in two days.

Me: What!? You don't seem to understand what I'm saying. We need to wrap this up as soon as possible. Come down now.

Catarina: ... it's four o'clock in the evening... I'm coming down tomorrow. I have to enjoy this last night.

I sigh, helpless. If I could have told her the news I would have done it but she was dying because Catarina loves her daughter more than anything in the world.

Me: ok, ok. But please, come as soon as possible.

Catarina: Yes, darling. You never call me that, it means it's urgent. I will come as soon as possible, I promise. Kisses, see you later!

She hangs up.

I sigh and hold the phone in my hand, helpless.

Those who don't know her would think that she

would think she is careless or negligent of her daughter, but that would be completely wrong. Yolanda is the apple of Catarina's eye.

Although Yolanda is an adopted child, she loves her more than if she had been born in her womb.

I take comfort in the fact that Yolanda is in good hands and that I will take care of her as if she were my daughter.

Anthony

Pablo and I have rested. It is eight o'clock in the evening and I go to his apartment after taking my shower to continue our very interesting discussion.

Pablo has a huge facility with women. So he gives me some of his secrets. I really want to be noticed by Marita. I don't know how to explain it, but she is a girl who catches my eye.

It is true that I have fallen in love a lot in the past but there is a difference with her. I want to build something deep and exceptional with her. So I gladly take her teachings to heart.

I grab some popcorn and wine and head to her apartment.

I knock and he finally opens the door with difficulty.

Me: Well, what took you so long? Were you with a girl?

Pablo: I'm a self-respecting guy.

We start to tease each other and I enter his apartment.

Me: I brought some popcorn, we'll watch a good movie and chat.

Pablo: Oh yeah? I think you have something else on your mind.

Me: No....or maybe yes, I am in dire need of your wise counsel, Mr. Professor of Seduction.

Pablo: That's what I was saying. Come on!

We enter his apartment and sit down and turn on the TV.

Pablo: But what's wrong with your darling?

Me: My darling?

Pablo: Yes, Marita!

Me: She's not my darling...well yes I wish she was but she's not...I ..actually...

Pablo: Anyway, what's wrong with her?

Me: I wish I knew but I don't.

Pablo: She's usually more talkative and restless than this.

Me: Yeah, you're right.

We keep talking but in the end we are watching a soccer game rather than a movie.

Patricia

In Yolanda's hospital room, I have my hand on her forehead. She hasn't woken up yet but she is out of danger.

Mom comes in and asks me in a whisper how she is doing. I tell her what the doctor said.

I still can't believe it. Is Yolanda on drugs? Sure, she leads a debauched life sexually, but I don't really know what's causing her so much trouble morally.

I sigh and ask my mom to go out so I can get to the bottom of the situation.

I go outside and Mom follows. She closes the door behind her.

Me: So, were you able to reach Catarina?

Mom: Yes, but she is relaxing in Miami. She takes my asking her to come here very lightly.

Me: But her daughter is in critical condition.

Mom: You know how much she loves Yolanda. I couldn't make the mistake of telling her the news over the phone. That would make us two cases in the hospital and this one is already enough.

Me: Of course we can't blame you for this. You made the best decision. And I do know how Catarina loves her daughter. I wonder if she knows that her daughter is taking drugs.

Mom: No, she doesn't know.

Me: You're drug barons but you make sure your kids don't touch the junk while everyone else's kids are doing it.

Mom: Patricia, you don't talk to me like that. I am your mother.

Me: What did I say wrong, Mom? Nothing. This is reality and you know it.

Mom: As you said, I'm a mother and I would never let anything bad happen to children. The material we sell is harmless. I don't know where Yolanda got that junk, but it's not the stuff we sell.

Me: Oh, yeah? Well, you say that your doses are reasonable, but maybe she started with the one that you and Catarina sell and she wanted to accelerate the effects so she went and got a stronger dose.

My mother starts to walk back and forth in the hospital garden where we are talking.

Mom: What do you want me to know? I don't know.

Me: you have to change mom_COPY

Mom: Don't say that, don't say that to me. This sector that repels you so much, well, know that it is with this money that your father and I raised you. It's thanks to this money that you went to such fancy schools, it's thanks to this money that you judge as dirty money that you received such a good education.... Wait, Patricia, are you going to tell me that money doesn't make you happy? I've been in poverty and I can assure you that there is nothing satisfying about it.

I remain silent and stare blankly, unable to say anything.

My mother exhales.

Mom: Honey, I'm tired of having this same discussion with you all the time. What day is this going to end?

I don't say anything. No words come out of my mouth. I am silent. To tell you the truth, I don't know what to say or what to think exactly.

It is not normal for me to judge my parents, but common sense prevents me from doing so.

Mom: It's ten o'clock at night. Let's check on Yolanda one last time and go home?

Me (with a lump in my throat): I can't go home. That image of her that I saw today will haunt me.

Mom: Tomorrow is Monday, you have to go to class. You can't stay here. Yolanda herself wouldn't want you to. You're going to sleep at my place.

Me: But Yolanda alone can't stay here.

Mom: I also know she wouldn't have wanted you to stay by her bedside.

I realize the truth of what she is saying.

Mom: I'll ask the henchmen to guard her room. They will inform us if anything changes.

I end up nodding my head.

We will take the latest news about his health. The doctor reassures us as best he can. Despite all this I am not convinced but I have no other choice. My mother would never have let me stay there in the hospital. And I know that Yolanda would have gone crazy if she knew that I had done it.

Mom's henchmen guarding her room make me feel a little better though.

Mom and I walk out of the hospital to her house.

A few minutes later, we arrived.

My mother lives in a palace. Even the word palace is an understatement.

It's more like a kingdom in the image of the queen that my mother is.

I wanted to leave this house because I felt that it did not belong to me and that I had to build my own house.

I park my car on the central driveway of the house.

My mother and I get out and walk into the living room.

There are more than sixty employees in the house. Yes! The place is gigantic.

It feels strange to come back here but I have no other choice. With the obnoxious show this afternoon, I couldn't sleep alone in my apartment anymore.

When I'm about to head to my old room, Felix against all odds running down the stairs.

Felix (shouting): How is the most beautiful mother in the world?

Mom: Oh honey! Are you home?

Felix: Yes, I just got home.

Mom: Did you enjoy your party?

Felix: I loved it! All the newspapers are talking about it.... Ah, Patricia! To what do we owe the honor of your visit?

Me: Nothing special. I'm going upstairs to sleep.

I'll leave them to talk amongst themselves.