Carina Valencia

[NebulaCloud]

Houston's torrid sun beat down on her back as she walked through the smog-shrouded streets of Montgomery, the invisible grit feeling like a dirty film on the skin of her face. Carina's fingers tingled a little bit as she clenched and unclenched her hand a few times, rolling her shoulder, trying to work the dull ache out. She'd been released from the hospital several days ago and still had another week of medical leave, so she'd figured this was as prime a time for a visit home as ever. It'd been almost five months since she last went home, and it was getting harder to find the spare time to have any meaningful conversation with her mother and sister.

She coughed quietly and knocked on the run-down wooden door of her family's house. It was midday locally, so Felix wouldn't be home for several more hours. Scarcely a few seconds after she'd lowered her knuckles the door opened. Her mother greeted her with a warm, but shaky smile.

"Cari, mija!" her mother exclaimed, throwing her arms around her neck. Carina smiled and returned the embrace tightly. "I've been waiting by the door ever since you called."

"Hey mama," she replied. "Good to see you."

Aracely let go, guiding her through the door. "Pasa, pasa," she said. "How was your flight? Are you hungry? Did you get your things to Rodrigo's already? I love how you look with your hair down, by the way."

"Hey, slow down, mama," she chuckled as her mother sat her down on the sagging, dirty sofa. "Flight was fine, I'm famished, and yes, my stuff's at Rodrigo's." Her voice changed to concern. "You okay? You seem kinda..."

Her mother flashed a big, obvious smile. "I'm fine, mija," she replied in an all-too-happy tone, and strode over to the kitchen. "What do you want to eat? I don't have much right now, I'm afraid."

Carina's eyebrows raised. That was unusual; her mother always had a fully stocked kitchen when they could afford it, and with the money she'd been sending home there should have been plenty to fill the pantry. "Uh, whatever's fine, mama," she replied. "How's Connie?"

"She's fine, fine," Aracely answered, digging through the rickety cupboards, and Carina could clearly hear how little was inside. "She had to work today, sadly, but she sends her love and says she'll see you when you visit tomorrow."

"Oh, okay," she said, rising to her feet. "Can't I help you with something, mama?"

"No no, you just stay there and relax," said her mother. "Do you want some fruit?"

She didn't sit, however, instead striding into the kitchen. "Uh, that sounds good," she said with an arched eyebrow. "Mama, not to sound ungrateful, but you usually have six pots on the stove by now. What gives?"

She saw her mother freeze for a split second. "Oh, uh," she said, a hint of a waver in her voice. "The-- the gas is off right now I'm afraid."

Carina frowned. "Off?" she repeated, perplexed. "The lines bust again?"

"Si, si, maybe," her mother said, standing from the cupboard with a pair of mangos in her hands, kicking the doors closed. She set the fruit on the counter and fished through the drawers for a knife, avoiding making eye contact.

Her brow creased further. Her mother was acting very strange, and it was causing her no small amount of concern. She stared suspiciously at the back of her mother's head for a moment, waiting to see if she'd explain further. When she didn't, she moved over to the cupboard and flung it open.

"Cari, don't," her mother protested, reaching to try to stop her.

The cupboard was almost completely empty, except for a meager collection of cheap canned goods, a cockroach trap, and a moist moldy patch in the corner. Her mouth dropped open, and she turned her head up to look quizzically at her mother, who wore a helpless, worried expression.

She stood, glancing at the sink, then back at her mother. They looked at one another in silence for a moment. Moving over to the faucet, she twisted the knob. There was a feeble drip of dirty water, then nothing.

"You know how things are here, mija," her mother pleaded. "It's nothing we haven't dealt with before."

"Yeah, before I started working off world," Carina replied flatly, and then sighed. "Dios mio, mama. How long have you guys been living like this?

"No se," her mother replied meekly. "A few days. Maybe weeks."

Her mouth dropped open again. "Weeks!?" she exclaimed, and took her mother by the shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me? Didn't the money I've been sending reach you?"

"It did, mija," her mother said with a shrug. "It's just..."

"Just what?" Carina said, insistently pulling her mother closer to her. "Did Dad find out?"

There was no answer, only quivering lips.

"Dad took it, didn't he?"

Her mother nodded, and made the sign of the cross on herself, casting her eyes to the floor.

She felt her temples throb as she clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes. "That son of a--"

"Cari, watch how you talk," her mother snapped, suddenly flushed with energy. "He's your father, no matter how bad things are between the two of you."

"He's a deadbeat, mama!" Cari shouted angrily. "He's a worthless, thieving, lazy, selfish, good for nothing puto!" Her mother's eyes went wide. She'd never raised her voice like that to her, and immediately Carina regretted it. She turned her loose and looked at the floor, sagging her shoulders. "I'm sorry, mama," she said with a long sigh.

Her mother just stood there, looking as if she were on the verge of tears. After a pause, she put a loving hand on her daughter's cheek. "I tried to do like you asked, mija," she explained timorously. "I tried to keep it hidden. But you were asking me to lie to my husband. I couldn't do that forever."

"Mama," Carina said, exasperated. "When are you gonna accept it? Dad is a crook, and always will be. My whole life I've watched him treat you like crap, and watched you just take it like you deserved it somehow." She pulled her mother in for another embrace. "You don't deserve that, mama. Nobody does."

Aracely wrapped her arms around her daughter and sniffled a little. She opened her mouth to respond, but a meek little whimper was all that came out as she buried her face in her shoulder and nodded.

Carina just stood there, holding her mother close, cradling her in her arms. Her sympathy was the only thing holding her anger in check. If Felix were to walk through the door right now, she wasn't sure she'd be able to restrain herself from flying into a frenzy of unbridled rage and beating him senseless for his thoughtlessness. Some man he was. Always ranting about how men are the superior sex, always holding his wife and daughters under his thumb, even having the stones to kick his own offspring out of his house when she had the courage to stand up to him. She'd held a deep seated contempt for her father for a long time, but never in all her life had she ever been so angry with him as she was now. How could he strut about like he was a model provider while at the same time letting his family wallow in squalor? There was no telling what he'd blown the money on this time, but she had a good feeling that it wasn't anything that would be of the slightest benefit to the family. All that work she'd done, all she'd put herself through to step up to the role he'd shucked for so long, wasted.

"Mama," she finally said quietly. There was no response at first. Gently she pulled away, looking at her mother's face. "Mama," she repeated.

Her mother looked back at her with sullen eyes.

"You can't stay here anymore."

Aracely looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean come with me," she said. "You've wasted away in this craphole long enough, taken enough of that cabron's bullsh--. We tried it this way, it didn't work. This is a sign."

Her mother frowned. "Are you suggesting I leave!?"

"I'm practically telling you, mama," she replied sternly. "I have an apartment in the Colorado system, on Denver. It's a better world there. You and Connie can move in with me. It'll be tight, but we can stay there until we can figure out what to do next. And I'll at least know that food will be on the table and the utilities will stay on for sure."

"Mija," her mother sighed. "I've lived here all my life. I have roots here. Connie has work here. You're asking us to throw all of that away."

"There's nothing to throw away here that you wouldn't be better off without," Carina replied. "C'mon, mama. I don't want you two living like this for another day."

There was another long pause.

At last, Aracely sighed and looked at her feet again, rubbing her forearm idly. "I'll... I'll think about it."

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