Chapter 22 - BIANCA CAME WITHOUT HER FATHER.
Bianca arrived at Helga's apartment alone.
No Ewald.
No Alexander.
Helga had insisted on both conditions.
"If she wants to speak to me," Helga had told her son, "then she can speak to me."
Alexander had hated it.
That was part of why Helga insisted.
At four in the afternoon, Bianca knocked.
Helga opened the door.
Bianca wore jeans, flat shoes, and a navy coat.
Helga looked at the coat.
Bianca noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"It isn't expensive."
"I didn't ask."
Bianca almost smiled.
"Can I come in?"
Helga stepped aside.
Bianca entered.
She looked around the apartment.
Helga caught herself studying her reaction.
Old habit.
Would Bianca judge the furniture?
The kitchen?
The slightly crooked bookshelf?
Bianca looked toward the floor.
"Your apartment is nice."
Helga laughed.
Bianca winced.
"Wrong thing?"
"Very."
"I'm trying."
"I know."
Helga stopped.
Bianca raised one eyebrow.
Helga sighed.
"I understand."
"Better."
They sat at the kitchen table.
Helga offered coffee.
Bianca accepted.
No expensive cups.
No flower arrangement.
No recorder.
Bianca looked beneath the sugar bowl.
Helga caught her.
"If you're looking for electronics, check the toaster."
Bianca laughed.
A real laugh.
Then she covered her mouth.
"Sorry."
"Don't be."
The tension lowered.
Only slightly.
Bianca wrapped both hands around the mug.
"I wanted to tell you something."
Helga waited.
"I knew Alexander was planning to repay you before Tuesday."
"You've said that."
"No."
Bianca shook her head.
"I knew why."
Helga frowned.
"How?"
"Alexander told me months ago."
That surprised her.
Bianca continued.
"He said he wanted to calculate what you had spent helping him when he was younger."
Helga sighed.
"That sounds like him."
"I thought it was sweet."
Helga studied her.
"At first."
"Yes."
"What changed?"
Bianca looked down.
"Ewald started having problems."
Helga waited.
"And I started comparing."
"There it is."
Bianca nodded.
"I compared what Alexander might give you with what he might give my father."
Helga took a sip of coffee.
"Why?"
"Because I thought family support should be equal."
Helga stared.
Bianca gave a tired smile.
"I know how stupid that sounds."
"It doesn't sound stupid."
Bianca looked surprised.
"It sounds mathematically tidy."
Helga continued.
"Families are rarely mathematically tidy."
Bianca nodded.
"I told myself Alexander was favoring you."
Helga frowned.
"Favoring his mother?"
"When you say it like that—"
"How else should I say it?"
Bianca laughed softly.
"Fair."
She continued.
"I thought if he gave you a large amount, then helping Ewald should be automatic."
"But the reasons were different."
"I know."
Helga gave her a look.
Bianca corrected.
"I understand."
"Good."
Bianca continued.
"Alexander was repaying old support."
"According to Alexander."
"You don't agree?"
"I didn't invoice him."
Bianca almost smiled.
"Ewald was asking for new help."
"Correct."
"I treated both as the same because the only thing I saw was money leaving Alexander."
Helga nodded.
"That explains the fear."
"Not the cruelty."
"No."
Bianca's eyes filled.
"I don't know why I keep wanting an explanation to function like an excuse."
"Because excuses are cheaper."
Bianca laughed through tears.
"Do you have one of those for everything?"
"Most things."
They sat quietly.
Then Bianca took a breath.
"There's something else."
Helga waited.
"At the dinner, before you picked up the envelope, I was already angry."
"I noticed."
"No."
Bianca shook her head.
"I mean before I walked into the room."
"Why?"
"I had been upstairs on the phone with my father."
Helga's eyes narrowed.
"What did he say?"
"He asked whether Alexander had given you the money yet."
Helga stared.
Bianca continued.
"I said I didn't know."
"And?"
"He said, 'Then stop waiting for him to decide.'"
Helga became still.
"That is what he said?"
"Yes."
"What did you think he meant?"
Bianca laughed bitterly.
"Exactly what I wanted it to mean."
Helga waited.
"Take control."
There it was again.
No criminal plot.
No hidden scheme.
A father under financial pressure.
A daughter terrified of losing control.
A son who refused clear answers.
An old woman standing in the middle of other people's assumptions.
Helga put down her coffee.
"Did Ewald tell you to take the envelope?"
"No."
"Did he tell you to insult me?"
"No."
"Did he know you would?"
"No."
"Then do not give him your decision."
Bianca nodded.
"I know."
Helga looked at her.
Bianca sighed.
"I understand."
"Good."
Bianca wiped one cheek.
"I am sorry."
Helga waited.
Bianca continued.
"I am sorry I made your work something dirty."
Helga's expression changed.
Bianca's voice shook.
"I am sorry I made you feel like you were supposed to disappear from rooms that looked like places you used to clean."
Helga looked away.
That one hurt.
Bianca continued.
"I am sorry I moved your coat."
Helga nodded.
"I am sorry I sent you around the side of my father's house."
Another nod.
"I am sorry I made the bleach joke the first time."
Helga looked back at her.
"And the second."
Bianca swallowed.
"And the second."
Helga sat silently.
Bianca did not ask for forgiveness.
Good.
Helga needed that.
After a while, Bianca said, "Alexander loves you."
"I know."
"He loves me too."
Helga's expression softened.
"I know."
Bianca looked down.
"I hated that those could both be true without one of us winning."
Helga leaned back.
"That sounds exhausting."
"It was."
"Still is?"
Bianca thought.
"Less."
Helga nodded.
Bianca stood.
"Thank you for listening."
Helga walked her to the door.
Bianca put on her coat.
Before leaving, she turned.
"Do you think Alexander should leave me?"
Helga stared.
"No."
Hope flashed.
Helga continued.
"I think Alexander should stop asking everyone else who he should be."
Bianca's hope changed into something quieter.
Respect, maybe.
Or irritation.
Both were acceptable.
Bianca opened the door.
Then Helga said, "Bianca."
She turned.
Helga looked at her coat.
"It looks warm."
Bianca smiled.
"It was on sale."
Helga's eyebrows rose.
"Careful."
Bianca laughed.
Then she left.
Helga closed the door.
Her phone rang almost immediately.
Alexander.
She answered.
"Did she leave?"
"Yes."
"How was it?"
"Private."
"Mom."
"Alexander."
He sighed.
Then he said, "Ewald called me."
Helga's expression changed.
"What now?"
"He denies telling Bianca to stop waiting for me to decide."
Helga stared at the closed door.
"So one of them is lying."
"Yes."
Helga looked toward the drawer where she had placed the single euro bill.
May you like
For the first time since Saturday, there was a factual conflict that could not be explained by everybody misunderstanding everybody else.
One of them was lying.
