You click the first card.
Cancel.
The app asks if you are sure.
You look toward the stairs.
Below, Luis shouts, “Another round!”
You click yes.
Then the second card.
Cancel.
Then Karla’s authorized card, the one Luis begged you to approve because “she feels uncomfortable asking me for everything, Pa.”
Cancel.
A strange peace enters the room.
Not happiness.
Not revenge.
Something cleaner.
You are not throwing them out yet. You are not screaming. You are not begging your guests to admit what they saw.
You are simply closing the valve.
At 12:23 a.m., Luis calls.
You let it ring.
At 12:24, Karla calls.
You let that ring too.
At 12:25, your phone explodes with messages.
Pa, why isn’t the card working?
Did the bank block it?
We’re at the store. Answer.
