Casey
Now.
After I had found a way to get rid of the guilt for Cesar and Victor—although with Victor, it would take a lot of time and strength—I controlled myself. I reminded myself that I was giving him a family. A life he was meant to have. A mom, a dad, everything he wanted. A good sister who loved him. He was living the life that I wanted him to have. So I consoled myself with that, and the week passed on.
I felt bad just sitting at the house having nothing to do, while Leonard took care of the three of us. I was an adult. I was a big girl now. I was supposed to do something. So I got a part-time job at The Cave, a coffee shop around town.
I had just come from my first shift when I found my mom waiting for me in my bedroom.
"Where are you coming from?" she asked me, not even bothering to ask me how I was doing, even though we had seen each other that morning.
"I just came from work... I am so tired."
"Where are you working?" she asked me as if she already knew and didn't like the answer.
"I took a part-time job down by The Cave—"
"Oh my gosh," she interrupted me before I was finished. "I heard about it but I thought that there was some confusion. Something was wrong with the information. Why are you doing that? I mean, how much are they paying you?"
"Well, it's not actually a job that's going to take me anywhere, but it's still something. I get to have my own money to buy things on my own."
"I gave you a credit card. Didn't I give you a credit card? Nobody's asking you to ask anybody for money. But if you want something, you can just get it by yourself. Why are you doing this? Do you know how embarrassing it will be when Leonard finds out you're walking down there by The Cave? Being the person he is, you know he's the richest man in this town. And you, his daughter, walking at that Cave?"
She gave me a disgusted look—as if she had never waitressed before. In fact, the place I was working was more luxurious than where she used to work. But I didn't want to bring that up.
She was doing it for me. And for her. To support both of us. And I shouldn't be judging her, but please... But then, that was not a discussion I wanted to bring up right now. So, I just told her the truth.
"I know I have a credit card, and my life has changed ever since you met, Leonard. But still, I haven't gotten any job prospects, and I can't just sit here the whole day using your fiancé's credit card. I just needed something to do, and you know, at the Cave, I can make friends—"
But she stopped me and raised her hand.
"I will talk to Leonard, and he'll get you a real job. Even if it's not what we wanted, but at least something worth doing more than this," she stated, pointing towards me, then shook her head and left.
Great. Now my mom is a high society woman who thought working at the Cave, serving coffee and shit, wasn't shit.
When we had dinner that night, after I'd had a shower and calmed down, it was just Victor and me. Mom and Leonard hadn't joined us yet. As we waited for them, I talked to Victor about school and his day. As I watched him as I always did. In all our interactions—I always just watched him with this feeling inside me.
I know that he loved me, and he was there. It was just this thing I always felt. The way he would look at me, the way he would smile at me, the way he would call me sister, the way he would talk to me—he loved me. Not knowing... I loved him more than anything, and he was the greatest thing to ever happen to me.
Just then, Leonard and my mom joined us. They took their seats, and before we started eating, Leonard said,
"I talked to your mom, and I think I might have something for you. We'll discuss it tomorrow."
I snapped my eyes towards my mom. "You shouldn't have bothered Leonard," I told her.
Leonard said, "I told you, you could call me Dad. And don't worry, it wasn't a bother. You're my daughter now, you're also one of my responsibilities. Please do not hesitate to come to me if you need anything, if there's anything wrong. If you want to talk, I'm always here for you—all of you."
He said this while looking at Victor and me.
"You're my family." He said that before he took my mom's hand and kissed it—kissed it lovingly, looking at her with admiration and absolute love in his eyes.
Even though my heart ached, I knew my mom deserved it. After all, she had to go through with my dad—taking care of me on her own, not giving up on me, being just the two of us against the world—she deserved this break. She deserved to find somebody who would love her. Someone who would give her exactly what she deserved. And even if she didn't want to work anymore, she deserved that too.
She had worked her entire life. Three jobs, four jobs. Not sleeping, barely eating—doing whatever it took to take care of me and herself. She had to take a GED because she got pregnant while she was still in high school, and she never went any further because of me.
She deserved this happiness, and I was more than happy for her.
But then I felt like Leonard… I felt like a bother. I mean, I had already caused problems between him and his son, and now he was going to look for something else for me. So I felt guilty, and I couldn't tamp it down. So I told him,
"You don't have to worry at all..."
But before I could finish the sentence, I forced myself to say, "Dad, I already got a job at the Cave in town."
But my mom interrupted me. "Can you believe she's working there? I don't want your friends, people in your life or your business partners, to find out that your daughter is working there."
I tried to tell her I wasn't truly his daughter, and I couldn't help myself but to defend myself. So I told him, told them,
"I just wanted to make money on my own. I'm a big girl now. I can't stay at home and wait for the two of you to take care of me."
My mom looked like she wanted to argue.
So I added, "The way I have grown up, the way you have always raised me, you raised me to be a strong, independent woman who worked hard for her things and didn't take anything easy. So let me."
It went silent for a minute as my mom and I stared at each other.
With a silent dialogue between the two of us, I tried to convey how grateful I was and how much I loved her—but also how deeply I needed to stand on my own. I needed her to understand that I wasn't doing this to disrespect her or reject her help. I just needed to prove to myself that I could survive, that I was capable.
And she nodded. A small nod. Subtle. But I saw it. Her eyes softened, her lips pressed into a thin line, showing her understanding—her reluctant acceptance, perhaps. And that was enough for me.
Until Leonard's voice interrupted the quiet moment with a calm voice.
"I know," he said. "And that's why I said I talked to your mom, and like I mentioned earlier, I have something for you tomorrow. Something that will make your mom feel more at ease… her and me, of course." He added the last part with a small smile toward her, and I saw the tenderness in his gaze. "It will make us feel at ease."
He continued, "We're not stopping you from working hard or standing on your ground..."
" But I don't want to cause problems… like what happened with Caesar."
Leonard gave a quiet, almost self-deprecating laugh and added, "Do not worry about Caesar. Whatever happens between him and me—it's not your fault. Trust me. Cesar and I..." he stopped,
There was something in his voice that hinted at more. Like there was more to that story, more to the words left unspoken.