Mute

"I told you I won't retire, for fuck's sake!" Don José stared at his children. Santiago glanced at him with as annoyed as always, and Vanessa looked away.

"You've worked your entire life," Santiago spoke. "Rest a little, go watch a movie or something."

"Why, though? I haven't been at a movie theater for 50 years."

"We can go, if you want," as always, Vanessa stepped into someone else's conversation. "They even have those VIP rooms. They're super comfortable, and you can even order some sushi or nachos to the waiters.

"No; I don't like that."

"You don't like nachos?"

"I don't like to pay for all."

Vanessa's laugh was as fake as her boobs.

"Oh, dad. It's not that much. It will only be me, Paty —Paty it's just Vanessa's daughter— and you."

"Yeah, but that's not the thing," Santiago spoke again. "Dad, it's time for you to start enjoying the rest of your life."

"But I enjoy it working."

"You're old now. You have to retire."

"But I only answer phones and receive people. And almost all of them are my friends. We talk for a while and I'm sitting all day long."

"Look: if you wanna hang out with your friends, you can go to a coffee shop and talk as long as you want."

"Well, that's what I do at my office. The exact same thing. I don't know why you two are so stubborn."

"Yeah, but you are too old to be working. You're too old to even drive to your office. And that's why I hired you a driver."

"So he can drive me to my office."

"Well," Vanessa stepped in again, "if you think about it, everyone that visits you at your office is part of the working class, just lowlifes. You should hang out with better people. Some of my friend's parents hang out every day at the country club. You can join them if you want."

"I fucking hate those assholes."

"Well," Santiago spoke again, "let's not fight about it. You're retiring in December, we already decided, and everyone agreed.

"And what about me?" Don José punched the table.

"Dad, we're just talking. If you are going to be like this, you'd better leave.

Don José put his hands over his face and breathed slowly to calm himself down.

Santiago spoke again:

"I also wanted to talk you about the houses we rent. I'm revamping them. They're going to look so cool," Santiago took off his phone and unlocked it. He checked his photos and showed Vanessa and Don José some images. They had a bunch of modern, elegant and completely different houses that the ones they were talking about.

"And how much they're going to cost?" Don José was still trying to calm down.

"Well, we have to change furniture, floors, electric installations; well, long story short, everything."

"Yes, I know. How much?"

"Who cares," as always, Vanessa answered a question on one asked her; "it's about improving, right?"

"Right, it's an investment."

"And how are you going to get all that money? Oh, yeah, from your mom's bank accounts," Don José glanced at Esther, his wife. She was lost in her thoughts. "You hear, darling? They want to destroy our houses."

"Which houses?"

"The ones we made on downtown."

"What about them?"

"We're gonna upgrade them, mother," Santiago showed Esther the images. "Pretty cool, right?"

Esther narrowed her eyes and looked at the images.

"Oh, how nice. Where is it?"

"They are our houses, the ones on downtown."

"Oh."

"So, if you're investing that much on those houses, you should double the rent, right?" Vanessa did all this calculation on her mind and without taking current rent, total investment, houses' value, taxes, property's size, maintenance fees and so on. Well, what else would they expected from a first semester accounting dropout?

"Well, I was actually thinking of charging some more," Santiago did a very similar calculation to Vanessa's, but his results were more convenient to him.

"No one's going to pay you that much, you fuck," Don José didn't do any calculation: he only spoke based on experience.

"You think? I already kicked out your fucking no pay tenants, and when the houses are upgraded, I'm gonna only rent them to the upper class.

"And why the fuck will they live there? It's downtown, the market is two blocks away."

"That's why I'm investing so much money on them. I'm the only one of this family who's doing something."

"Whatever you invest, those houses will still be on downtown, two blocks away from the town's market. You're wasting your mom's money in a bunch of houses nobody will rent."

"Look, dad, I didn't wanna way anything but because of you we're this town's fucking laughingstock; we're the cheap rent dumbasses. And most of our tenants don't really pay us, so get off my fucking back; you've already done enough."

"And, to be honest, you know nothing of real state. I should had started fixing your shit long ago," said Santiago, who had a college degree in communication and used his mom's money to start many businesses, like an internet café, a printing office, an marketing agency, a jewelry store, an ice cream shop, a distributing center for energy drinks and a car wash. They all bankrupted, specially the energy drinks one, which closed down when the authorities found out it actually was a pyramid scheme.

Nonetheless, Santiago had learned from his mistakes and he started a comic book/movies/stamps shop, which, on the last few months, had grown suspiciously fast.

Don José, who had been on the real state business for over 46 years and counting, got up from the table and left. Santiago and Vanessa kept arguing about a bunch of houses that weren't theirs.

"What you think, dad? It's pretty cool, right?"

The only thing Don José could see and hear was how a group of construction workers were destroying the houses he had built alongside his wife over 30 years ago.

"Pretty cool, right?" Jorge Estrada welcomed them. He was a very close friend of Santiago and an arquitech whose best and only proyect was the construction of one of his dad's apartment buildings.

"Very, very cool. Hey, this is my dad, Don José Prada."

"Nice to meet you. Jorge Estrada." Estrada and Don José shook hands and shared a formal smile. "Hey," Estrada put his hand over Santiago's shoulder and took him apart. "We were checking the pipelines just now, and I think we have to change them all."

"Oh, come on."

"Yeah, that's how it is. Hey, Ivan, tell him about the pipes."

Ivan was a plumber and an electrician who acquired his only knowledge of plumbing and electricity thanks to his only two teachers: trial and error.

"Yeah, they're about to break. Better to change them all."

"And how much will that cost me?"

"Well, I think at least $15,000."

"Fuck, that's a lot, but that will solve it, right?"

"Yeah, right, Ivan?"

"I guess."

"Well, if we add it to all the investment $15,000 is not that much, right?"

"Yeah," said the arquitect. "I don't think you got it. It's $15,000 per house."

Santiago almost faints.

"What do you mean per house?! It's a shit ton of money; they're only pipes!"

"Yeah, but we need the best ones. They are expensive but they'll last maybe 5 or 10 years. And we also need to break the walls, the floors, remove the old pipes, install the new ones and repair all our mess. That's why it's so expensive."

"But $15,000 per house is still too much."

"It's worth it. And it's not like we'll leave it as it is, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"So, you tell me. Can we change the pipes or what?"

Santiago sighed.

"Ok."

"That's how I like it," Estrada pat Santiago on the back. "Welp, I'd better get started. Come on, Ivan," and they left.

Santiago put his hands over his face and breathed slowly to calm himself down.

"What happened, son?" Don Jorge asked. "What did that fucker told you?"

"Because of you we have to replace all pipes."

"Why? I replaced them 2 years ago."

"Well, maybe your fucking employees didn't do their job."

"They did. And the new pipes worked perfectly. No tenant complained."

"Didn't you hear me? Estrada said they have to be replaced, so they'll be replaced. He's an architect. He knows his shit."

"That Estrada fucker is ripping you off and you know it. Tell him to fuck off and hire another architect."

"Shut up, you asshole! I'm only doing this for mom; I'm the only one in the family who worries about her, not like you! I'm even paying this with my own savings!"

"Your mom's savings; we all know all the money you have you take it from there! It's no coincidence you were so fucking broke until your mother gave you that POA! You even bought that BMW and all those properties! Fuck you! We're not stupid!"

Santiago pushed his father so hard he almost makes him fall.

"Shut up, or I'll beat the shit outta you!"

Don José turned around and left. He walked a couple blocks and got to his office. There was Lupe, his assistant.

"Morning, Don José. How did that Santiago thing ended up?"

"I'm fucking tired of that ungrateful cunt! Why didn't we just aborted him? I haven't seen someone as stupid as him! But don't tell him because he gets really mad! Fuck you, fuck you, FUCK YOU!! Even that fucking Estrada is ripping you off! And you fucking know it! Grow some fucking balls! 30 fucking years to build all those houses, and he already destroyed them!"

"Hey, Don José…"

"You only fuck with me because I'm old, but if I had your age, I would totally beat the shit out of you, cunt! Because that's what you need: some fucking discipline! You're a spoiled and arrogant fuck! And the most idiotic of all my siblings, and all four are fucking worthless! ¡All of them! ¡They're a bunch of free-loaders!

"Don José…"

"I wish I was sterile; that way I wouldn't had those bastards!"

"Don José!"

"What?!"

"It's already 2 pm," lunch time.

"Oh, yes, thank you, Lupita. See you at 4."

Lupe got up her desk and gave Don José a bag.

"There's the sandwich you ordered."

"Oh, thank you so much, Lupita."

Lupita left, and Don José sat on his desk, took his sandwich and ate it.

There were some photos framed on the wall. Most of them showed Don José in front or inside one of eight branches of Emperor Mattresses®, his main business until they went bankrupt; some other ones showed the cars and planes Don José had bought and sold throughout the years, and the last ones showed Don José next to friends and investors he haven't seen in a while.

And there was also some diplomas from old mayors and governors. And a calendar.

October 25th.

Don José sighed.

He was definitely going to miss this place.