Carlos loosened his tie and sat on the edge of the bed. "Why did you call? Something happened? I was in a meeting. I called back later, but why did Megan answer your phone?" he asked as he touched her chubby cheek.
Debbie held his hand and asked casually, "What did she say to you?"
Carlos let her know what Megan had said. "She said you left your phone in the living room and you were upstairs, sleeping. She told me nothing happened."
Debbie adopted a conciliatory attitude. To avoid further trouble, she lied, "I missed you. It's New Year and you're still busy. I've always said you work too hard. I'm worried about you."
Carlos smiled and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry. I'm used to it. I'll ask someone to take you outside when you want, in case you get lost if you go on your own."
Debbie agreed to his suggestion readily.
The next day, when Debbie was about to leave the house with Carlos, Valerie suddenly piped up, "Debbie, you're young and have good eyesight. Come help me."
Carlos was still changing his shoes. Debbie looked at him, and his reply made her happy. "Ask Megan, Grandma. Debbie and I are taking off."
Debbie nodded to Valerie and felt her handsome husband was awesome.
Valerie sighed, "She's not feeling well. Besides, she's taken care of me every day. It's someone else's turn." After casting Debbie a disgusted glance, she asked Carlos, stone-faced, "Can't I ask your wife to do anything?" To prevent the matter from escalating, Debbie waved at Carlos and said, "Just go to work. Come home early. I'll go out after I help Grandma."
Carlos smiled and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "Okay. The driver's waiting for you outside. Call me if you need me."
"Okay, bye."
Carlos left, and the old lady guided Debbie to the storage room.
Standing at the entrance to the storage room, one hand holding her cane and the other twirling the beads, Valerie began, "Go find the string of Buddhist prayer beads of mine and clean this room."
'I knew it wouldn't be that simple with her. She really wanted me to clean this room, '
Debbie thought to herself. 'Cleaning again!' Cleaning had become her nightmare.
"Grandma, didn't you say that you lost that string of beads?"
"Yes, I lost it. That's why I asked you to find it. One of my ancestors came to me in a dream and told me it's in here. Go look for it."
'Her ancestor told her that in her dream? What a load of bullshit!'
But what could she say? For Carlos' sake, she decided to be stoic and do as she was told.
The storage room was dusty and crammed with all kinds of things. When she was finished, Debbie was on the brink of tears. But she didn't find the string of beads. When she emerged from the room, she was covered in dust from head to toe.
She walked into the living room to tell Valerie that she couldn't find the beads, only to see Megan and Valerie sitting on the sofa enjoying fruit, as well as each other's company. As soon as she showed her face in the living room, Megan ordered, "Hey, you, pour me some water. I need to take my medicine."
Containing her anger, Debbie shot her a cold glance and snapped, "Do it yourself."
Megan wondered in fake shock, "Aunt Debbie? Why do you look like that? Your hair's mussed and your face is dirty. I didn't even recognize you."
'Didn't recognize me? Lying bitch!' Debbie cursed. "Why do I look like this? Try cleaning the storage room for two hours." 'Even if your dead parents came out of the grave, they wouldn't recognize you!'
"Oh, Aunt Debbie, I didn't know you were cleaning. You must be tired. Come, sit down. You work so hard." Megan looked at her in a fawning manner.
Then she turned to Valerie. "Grandma Valerie, my aunt Debbie is so hard-working. She cleaned the living room and bathroom yesterday, and today she cleaned the storage room. But I…I can't do anything. I'm useless."
Valerie patted her hand and said lovingly, "What are you talking about? How is that possible? You're like a granddaughter to me. My precious granddaughter will never have to do this kind of work."
Valerie's words were like a needle piercing Debbie's heart. She threw the rag into the bin in frustration. "Grandma, from now on, if there's work to be done, just tell me. My husband will hire a dozen servants for you. Money is no object for him. As long as the pay is good, someone will clean, even at midnight on New Year's."
The smile on Valerie's face faded. With a stern stare, she asked Debbie, "What? Can't do a little cleaning? Telling your husband? That's my grandson! Who do you think he'll side with? Where are your manners? Didn't your parents teach you not to talk back to your elders?"
Megan shook Valerie's arm and reminded her, "Grandma Valerie, Aunt Debbie's dad died a few years ago and her mom ran away from home a long time ago."
Debbie's face darkened as soon as she heard her parents mentioned.
Valerie sneered, "No wonder she's so rude. It turns out that both of her parents were irresponsible and taught her nothing."
Debbie's eyes burned with rage. She stalked towards the two on the sofa. Megan and Valerie were scared when they saw her angry face. Yet the old lady managed to remain calm despite her fright. "What do you want?" she demanded.
"What do I want? Old lady, you're lucky that you're Carlos' grandma, so I won't do anything to you. However, Megan is not my elder…"
Debbie grabbed Megan's collar abruptly and pulled her up. "As her aunt, I'll teach her a lesson."
Since Debbie had just done the cleaning, her dirty fingers left black streaks on Megan's white collar. Megan screamed, "Yikes. Gross. Let go of me!"
"Gross?" Debbie sneered. "You think that's gross? You should be used to it. Why are you so condescending? My husband treats you well, so you think you're a princess? Listen up: you're trash! From now on, show some respect. I have a temper."
With that, she pushed Megan so forcefully the girl staggered and fell onto the sofa.
Furious, Valerie started panting for breath. Seeing Megan was thrown to the sofa, she trotted over to pull the girl up. "Dear, are you okay?" she asked in worry.
Megan trembled in the old lady's arms.
Watching the two, Debbie remarked indifferently, "I don't owe this family anything. Even though you treat me like shit, I'll still call you 'Grandma, ' because you're Carlos' grandma and I love him. I don't want any problems between us, because he'll have to take sides."
After a short pause, not long enough for the old lady and the girl to respond, she continued talking.
