Chapter 2 #2
“Mamá, you’ve done everything you can to protect me my entire life. But you can’t protect me now that Abuelo forced me to work for Humberto. I need to know exactly what he got me into. I think it’s a lot more than either of you told me.”
My mother watches me before she nods. She looks at her right hand and the sapphire ring she often wears. It was a gift from my father.
“Your papá told me from the start he would never marry me. I knew he wouldn’t, but he was so handsome and charming.”
Sounds a lot like Pablo.
“He was already engaged to Luciana Diaz when we got together. I knew he was going to marry her. Or, at least, he was supposed to until Esteban Cardenas barged into their lives. Esteban discovered your papá was working for Humberto. Your papá got himself into some gambling debts with Humberto, and to pay them off, Humberto made a deal with your abuelo. It was the only way to save your papá’s life.
He had to spy on Josue, Enrique’s father, and report back to Humberto. ”
“I know this part, Mamá. Humberto decided after thirty years to resurrect that debt. Paying it off is how I wound up working for him. Abuelo sold me off just like he did Papá.”
“No, nina. Your abuelo protected you just like he did your papá. Humberto would’ve killed both of you if your abuelo didn’t intervene.”
This is as far into the story as we ever get.
Mamá never explains why Humberto still holds a grudge thirty-something years later.
She never explains why I must make up for the sins of a father I never met.
The man died before I was born. What I know is what I’ve pieced together over the years.
He played a role in Pablo’s abuelo’s death, and their family never forgave him.
I don’t know how he was involved, but he was.
It was Pablo’s tío who assassinated my father—murdered him in cold blood, according to my family.
Esteban wanted retribution for my father convincing Luciana Diaz, Pablo’s tía and Enrique and Luis’s youngest sister, to marry him.
I guess Esteban wanted her, then took her despite her being engaged to my father.
He forced her to marry him—at least, so the story seems to go.
I’ve always questioned that. Esteban killed my father to remove a rival.
“Mamá, I deserve to know what those debts were. It had to be more than gambling. Abuelo would’ve paid those off if it were just about money.”
“Why’re you dredging up old, painful memories?”
“They’re your memories. I have none of my own, so I need you to explain why I have to work for Humberto. I agreed because you guilted me into it after Abuelo threatened to disown me and give my cousins my inheritance. He said I’m only in his will out of his own generosity since I’m illegitimate.”
That was an unpleasant conversation.
“Then you shouldn’t rock the boat.”
I’m getting nowhere with this. Round and round we go. Where we’ll stop this bullshit, nobody knows.
“Fine.”
I give up—for now. Something about the way Pablo looks at me tells me he knows far more than I do about my life.
That irks me to no end. I hate being at a disadvantage in general.
Something about him particularly pisses me off.
It’s not just his arrogance—which he has in spades.
It’s like he sees through me, and yet, I can tell nothing about him.
I’ve been around cartel men my entire life thanks to my abuelo, so I recognize I won’t know what Pablo is thinking unless he wants me to.
But besides superiority, I can’t tell if the man feels anything.
He certainly thinks he’s superior to both Humberto and me.
I don’t think it was anger toward Humberto earlier.
I don’t think it was even impatience. His swift reaction was a flex.
A reminder that Humberto is at the bottom of the Diaz hierarchy.
That a man half Humberto’s age ranks higher than him.
That Pablo will inherit, making the succession skip Humberto by yet another generation.
“Florencia.” Mamá reaches for my hand as I stand from the sofa.
“I’m going to go. I have laundry to do when I get home. I got ink on my lab coat I need to get off before work tomorrow. I also have an early meeting with Humberto. I want to go to bed early.”
All of that is true, but I’d originally planned to have dinner with my mother. Now, I’m exhausted and just want my own space.
“Your grandfather shouldn’t have said what he did. He didn’t mean it.”
“He most definitely meant to manipulate me.”
“True. But he won’t disinherit you. He loves you just as much as your cousins. There are more moving parts than even I know.”
“Then he explained at least some of this to you. You know it’s more than a thirty-odd-year-old set of gambling debts. Is it even about Papá, or did something else happen?”
She hesitates, and that’s its own answer. It doesn’t matter if she says anything. There’s little she can say now to make it better.
“Mija, I heard Pablo is in town. Be careful. The man has no soul.”