You look up slowly.
“My card.”
He stops.
You slide the second page across.
“Residencias Doradas San Gabriel. Senior residence admission fee. Declined at 1:19 a.m.”
Now Luis goes pale.
Karla looks at him.
That is when you understand something else.
The secret has layers.
Karla knew about the clinic.
Luis knew about the residence.
But maybe neither knew how much the other had hidden.
You fold your hands.
“Which one of you wants to explain first?”
Luis recovers before Karla.
“That residence was for options, Pa. You’re seventy. We worry about you.”
You almost smile.
“You put dog food in front of me yesterday.”
His jaw tightens.
“That was a stupid joke.”
“And five minutes after your free card stopped working, you tried to pay admission to a senior home.”
Karla snaps, “It wasn’t like that.”
You turn to her.
“Then what was it like?”
She presses her lips together.
