Chapter 23
chapter twenty-three
camilo
I ended the call with my mom feeling real worry for the first time since she’d started this rough patch with her depression.
I was at Tom’s, and it was early afternoon on Christmas Eve.
I’d stopped in to hang out with him and Libe before I went to pick up my Mom.
We had plans to be at Juanpa’s place for Nochebuena dinner, but when I’d called her to let her know I was heading to her place, she said she wasn’t feeling well and wanted to stay home.
As I sat there thinking about what to do, Tom walked into the living room from putting Libe down for a nap.
“Something wrong with Dinorah?”
I glanced up at him, smiling despite my worry. Tom never resented my checking on my mom, or the time I spent with her. On the contrary, he told me again and again how much he loved how close we were. By now, he also knew me well enough to realize if there was anything amiss.
“My mom isn’t feeling up to going to Juanpa’s for dinner.
” I ran my hands over my face, trying to shake off some of the worry.
“She was doing so well for the couple weeks after the concert, but since Thanksgiving, she’s been down again.
She keeps saying she just needs to rest, but she’s depressed.
It’s a real thing and she can’t just snap out of it.
” The frustration of watching my mother get worse and worse without being able to do anything for her was starting to get to me.
“I wish she would see someone, but it’s like pulling teeth talking to her about this stuff.
I thought we were getting somewhere in October with that group, but she stopped going after two or three sessions.
” I closed my eyes and tried to calm down.
Going to see my mom while I was upset, too, was not going to help matters.
Tom sat down next to me and just his proximity did a lot to ease my nerves. “Maybe she’d do better with a one-on-one therapist. It’s hard opening up to strangers like that.”
I lifted a shoulder at a loss of what, if anything, could help.
“She was the one that said the group would be better, but when it came time to go, she said she couldn’t make the times work with her schedule.
She’s so fucking smart and strong, but so stubborn when it comes to admitting she needs help. ”
“Sounds like someone I know.” He said it in a teasing tone, which I knew was his way of diffusing the situation.
“Shut up. I ask for help all the time,” I said, grateful for his attempt at humor.
He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me to him. “Next time you do it, take a video so I can see it for myself.” He was such a smartass.
“It’s a good thing you’re hot,” I grumbled, poking him on the chest. “Because you’re not funny.
” We both laughed at that for a moment, but it didn’t take long for the worry to seep in again.
“Seriously though, I don’t know what to do with her.
It’s not good for her to be cooped up in her apartment all the time.
I told her we could stay in tonight, but we have to go out and do something for Christmas. ”
Tom widened his eyes and gave me a hopeful smile, like he had just come up with the best idea ever.
“Why don’t you bring her when you come tomorrow?
It’ll just be us. Priya and Sanjay will come for a bit, but they’re flying out in the afternoon to visit his parents in Ohio.
I would tell you to come tonight— I’m going to Teevrat and Marc’s—but there will be a lot of people so it might not work if she’s not up for being in a big crowd.
I didn’t exactly plan ahead this year, otherwise I would have hosted something myself. ”
His tone was casual, but I knew it had nothing to do with him being a bad planner. He usually went to the DR for Christmas with Libe but decided to stay here at the last minute. For me. Tom was here for me, and maybe I could let him help for a change.
“I could suggest that.” The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a great idea. My mom would love meeting Libe, and it would be nice to have her with me instead of home alone.
After a minute, I moved over a little so I could rest my head on his shoulder. He kissed my forehead before scooping me up so I was practically on his lap.
“Good.” His stepping up like this was making me weak with relief and gratitude.
“Libe will have even more people to give her undivided attention, and I’ll get to see Dinorah again. I actually got a little gift for her.”
I narrowed my eyes at him at the mention of a gift, and he held up his hands. “I stayed within your price limit for her gift, too!” I’d put my foot down on gift giving limits because my budget was not huge, and I knew how extra he could get.
“Thank you.”
“It’ll be nice to be together tomorrow. I hope it helps your mom to come and share the day with us.” He pulled me even tighter, brushing kisses on my brow, and all I wanted was to stay right there. I closed my eyes, hoping to rest a few minutes before going over to my mom’s. “Me, too.”
“Feliz Navidad, Camilo!” I was about to take the stairs up to the apartment when I saw Antonio, the super of my mom’s building walking towards me.
I liked Antonio; he’d been working here for like fifteen years and was the most helpful guy in the world, especially when it came to my mom.
I’d always suspected he had a bit of a crush on her.
“Hey, Antonio. Feliz Navidad,” I said, genuinely happy to see him. He playfully slapped my attempt at a handshake away and gave me a one-armed hug and a pat on the back.
“Are you here to spend Nochebuena with Dinorah?” he asked glancing up the stairs as if he expected to see her there. I nodded and looked up at my mom’s door, which I immediately noticed didn’t have the usual wreath this year.
“Yeah, I am.”
He made a sound of approval and then stepped a little closer to me, his voice barely above a whisper when he spoke.
“Good. Listen, Camilo. I don’t want to worry you or anything, but have you guys figured out what you’re going to do about the rent increase?”
Rent increase?
I shook my head in confusion. “Mama hasn’t said anything about her rent going up.”
Antonio grimaced and muttered a curse. “Your mother is a stubborn woman.” He held up his hands, like he knew he was about to jump deep into chisme territory but was going in anyway. “You know how much I care about Dinorah, and I don’t want her to lose her apartment to this mess.”
Lose her apartment?
I opened my mouth to ask some questions, but before I could say anything, Antonio finished filling me in. “She’s always been a great tenant. If the owners heard I’m even talking about this, I would be in deep shit.”
“Okay now you’re really worrying me,” I said, already feeling the tension settle on my shoulders and neck.
He looked around again and started talking again in a really low voice.
“About ten months ago, the owners sent out a letter saying they were going to increase the rent because of some of the ‘capital improvements’ they’d done to the building.
” He made air quotes for the improvements part.
“You know all the stuff they did in the common areas and the new elevator.”
I nodded, still too stunned to talk. My mother had not said a word about any of this.
“The increase wasn’t the same for everyone, but for some people it got up to a few hundred dollars more per month.
The tenants were pissed and said they weren’t going to pay it.
So the management backed off and said they’d give people a year to get it together and pay it back.
The deadline is coming up soon.” His brows dipped then, and I could tell he was worried about my mom.
“Make sure Dinorah gets up to date on it.”
“Okay.” That was the only thing I could manage with my thoughts going at a hundred miles per hour.
He lowered his head for this part and his voice was so low I could barely hear him.
“What they want is for people to start leaving those rent stabilized apartments, so they can lease them out for twice as much. You didn’t hear any of this from me, of course.”
It was just like my mother to “forget” to tell me something like this.
“I had no idea any of this was going on. Thanks for telling me, Antonio. I’ll talk to her about it today.”
I was so fucking tired of this gentrification shit. Where were people supposed to go? My mother had been in this apartment for twenty years, and now she was supposed to leave and go where? My head was pounding just thinking of how much back rent she’d let accumulate for an entire year.
“No problem, I know she’s going to be pissed at me.
” He gave me a rueful smile. “But this is some bullshit they’re pulling here.
Since the old owner died and his kids took over, this place has gone to hell.
” He shoved his hands into his pockets, looking disgusted.
I didn’t even know what to say. I gave him a last wave as I walked up the stairs to my mom’s place.
I had no clue how much her increase had been, but it was probably adding up fast.
I got to the apartment and opened the door and found my mom sitting in her dark living room smoking a cigarette. I noticed she was still wearing her pajamas. My mom sitting in the dark in her pajamas at two p.m. on Christmas Eve was not good.
“Hey, Mama. How are we doing today?”
She’d put out her cigarette when I walked through the door and stood up as I got to the couch.
“Hola, papí.” At least she sounded glad to see me. I went over and hugged her. She felt thinner.
I pulled back to get a good look at her. “Did you eat? I got some stuff to make us some sandwiches,” I said lifting the bag of food I’d brought with me. She shook her head and made like she was heading to the kitchen.
“I’ll make them.”
I stopped her and pulled her to the stools by the counter.