Chapter 3
Less than half an hour later, a sharp screech of brakes shattered the peace of the nursing home.
I looked out the window.
Celia's white car barreled into the courtyard like a rampaging beast, coming to a stop in the center.
She burst out of the driver's seat, leaving the door ajar.
She was dressed in a sharp business suit, but her hair was slightly disheveled.
Her usually delicate face with flawless makeup was now distorted by anger.
She stormed toward the entrance.
The security guard at the gate stopped her. "Ma'am, who are you here to see? Please sign in."
"Get out of my way. I'm here for my mom," Celia snapped, pushing past the guard and charging inside.
The guard chased after her. "Ma'am, you can't do this."
A few elderly residents watching TV in the lobby were startled.
They all turned to look at her.
Gabriela, the director, emerged from her office at the sound. "Mrs. Whitaker, what brings you here?"
"Where's Laura Sanchez? Get her out here!" Celia's voice echoed through the lobby, sharp and piercing. It was a stark contrast to the gentle persona she usually presented to others.
Gabriela frowned. "Mrs. Sanchez is resting in her room.
"If you have something to say, let's discuss it calmly.
"Don't be so noisy. You're disturbing the other residents."
"Me? Noisy?" Celia scoffed, pointing at herself. "She pushed me to this.
"She cut off my mortgage payments. She's trying to ruin me!"
Celia charged upstairs, ignoring everyone in her path.
Gabriela and the guard tried to block her, but she was unstoppable.
I opened my door and stood in the hallway.
I watched her in silence.
She stormed upstairs like a whirlwind.
When she spotted me, she stopped abruptly, her eyes blazing with anger.
She hurried over and raised her hand, poised to strike.
I didn't flinch. I stared at her, fixated on the face of the person I had cared for all those years.
Her hand stopped barely 0.4 inches from my cheek.
It wasn't that she had softened. Maria emerged from her room and seized her wrist. "Young lady, let's discuss this calmly.
"How could you raise your hand against your mom?"
Maria's expression was stern.
Celia yanked her hand free. "Who the hell are you? Stay out of this. This is a family matter."
She jabbed a finger at me, nearly poking my nose. "Laura, what the hell are you trying to do?
I replied, "Do you think that because you left me in this nursing home, I'll come crawling back to you?
"Not a chance."
As I regarded her face, which was flushed with anger, I found the situation amusing. "I'm not trying to do anything.
"I don't want to continue covering your mortgage anymore."
My voice was soft, but the hallway was so silent that every word resonated clearly.
"What gives you the right?" she yelled. "You promised to buy me that apartment.
"You made the down payment, so the mortgage is your obligation.
"You still owe me."
Her declaration caused the elderly residents peering from their rooms to gasp in surprise.
Maria was so furious that her lips trembled.
I laughed. "Celia, what do I still owe you?
"I gave birth to you and fed you.
"I raised you and sent you to college.
"When you got married, I drained my savings for your down payment.
"I spent my pension every month paying your mortgage for ten years. Do I still owe you?"
With each question, I advanced closer to her.
She continued to retreat, her face shifting from red to pale with every step. "I..."
She opened her mouth, but not a full sentence came out.
I continued, "You're married now.
"You and your husband both work and earn a living.
"You live in a spacious 1,300-square-foot apartment.
"You're driving a luxury car worth several hundred thousand dollars...
"Wearing designer clothes that cost hundreds of dollars...
"Carrying handbags that cost thousands of dollars.
"Then you still tell me you don't have time to take care of me?
"You put me in this nursing home for 1 thousand dollars a month.
"Do you think I'm a fool?
"Don't you think it's ridiculous?"
I stopped right in front of her, locking eyes with her. "Celia, you can't be so shameless."
She struggled to maintain her composure, her face a mix of embarrassment and rage. "Me? Shameless?"
"You're the shameless one.
"You're rich, so what if you help your daughter out with her mortgage?
"That's your job as a mom.
"Why? You got a man on the side? Trying to stash your money for him?"
Her words were cutting, laced with venom.
Maria was so furious that she pointed directly at her. "You brat, how can you speak like that?"
Gabriela's face darkened.
I turned to Gabriela and the guard. "Please escort her out. If she refuses to leave, call the police."
My voice wasn't loud, but it was firm and steady. My words struck like a nail in the noisy hallway.
Celia's eyes widened instantly.
She couldn't believe I dared to treat her this way.
"Call the police?" Celia laughed, her tone sharp and mocking. "Laura, you really plan to have the cops drag your own daughter away for another man?
"Do you even have a conscience?
"You've completely disgraced me."
I looked at her. "Celia, from the moment you chose to put me in this nursing home, you're no longer my daughter.
"And I'm not your mother anymore.
"We're even now.
"Disgrace?
"You discarded your own mother like garbage.
"Didn't you disgrace me instead?"
My words struck Celia like a hard slap to the face.
Her face turned beet red. "You!"
She was trembling with rage. "Just you wait.
"This isn't over."
She spat out the threat and turned to storm away.
Gabriela exchanged a meaningful glance with the guard, who immediately stepped forward to block her path.
"Mrs. Whitaker," Gabriela said, her voice icy. "You caused a disturbance here by shoving our staff.
"And you went after Mrs. Sanchez, both physically and verbally.
"All of it was captured on our security cameras.
"I need you to apologize to our staff and to Mrs. Sanchez formally."
Celia was stunned.
She had never anticipated that the director of a nursing home would address her like this. "Apologize?
"You want me to apologize to her?"
She pointed a finger at me as if she had heard the most absurd request. "In your dreams.
"Who do you think you are, demanding that I apologize?"
Gabriela's expression remained unchanged. "Mrs. Whitaker, I'll say this once more.
"Apologize to them.
"Or we'll call the police on you right away...
"For causing a disturbance and disrupting the order of our nursing home."
Gabriela stood firm.
That was when Celia finally realized that this wasn't her turf anymore. She couldn't do whatever she wanted here.
This place had regulations. It maintained a structure.
Now, those regulations favored me.
She glanced at Gabriela and then at the guard, who regarded her with caution.
She knew that if she didn't relent today, she couldn't leave this place.
Her expression shifted continuously.
Finally, she clenched her teeth and forced out the words. "I'm sorry."
The apology came out so quickly and quietly that it was barely audible.
Gabriela wasn't pleased. "Mrs. Whitaker, please say it louder.
"And specify who you're apologizing to."
Celia's fists tightened so hard that her nails dug into her palms.
She took a deep breath and then turned sharply to face me, her eyes blazing as if she could eat me alive.
"Laura, I'm sorry!" she yelled.
With that, she shot me a vicious look, shoved the guard aside, and dashed downstairs without looking back.
Moments later, I heard her car engine roar to life downstairs.
Then she floored it and sped away.