*Ines*
My stepmother’s lip curls mockingly. “Your father is a corrupt traitor”.
I gasp, and it feels as if my throat is tightening, tying itself into a knot. It can't be true. But I still fail a bit to see why that should force me into marriage.
“Ivelisse … Maceo”. I say, trying to reason with them. “There must be a mistake. A misunderstanding. My father…He is not like that”.
“Oh, I assure you he is, and if Babtista finds out all of us will lose everything”.
Another memory, my father accepting money…. i had come to speak to him, but had run off.
“Your father has spent too much money, trying to compete with the other casino”. Maceo says. “He has let himself be bribed, to keep his nose above water”.
I think of my father. He has always spent money far too freely; even as a smal
