Chapter 9 - THE SENTENCE BIANCA WANTED HIM TO HEAR.
Alexander pressed play again.
For several seconds, there was only the faint clink of coffee cups.
Then Bianca's recorded voice:
"Alexander and I make financial decisions together."
Helga:
"Then make them with Alexander."
Bianca:
"I am."
Helga:
"You're asking me."
A chair moved.
Bianca's voice became sharper.
"I need to know whether he is giving you money because he feels guilty."
Helga:
"You need to ask him."
Bianca:
"You're avoiding the question."
Helga:
"No. I'm refusing to answer one that belongs to my son."
Then came the line.
Helga's recorded voice was calm.
"If you're worried about Alexander's money, stay away from it until you and he agree on what belongs to whom."
Alexander paused the recording.
Helga waited.
"That's what she meant," he said.
"Yes."
"She made it sound like you told her never to touch my money."
"I told her not to make decisions about it without you."
Alexander looked at the phone.
Bianca's message remained on the screen.
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHY SHE NEVER TOLD YOU SHE WARNED ME TO STAY AWAY FROM YOUR MONEY.
Technically true.
Emotionally distorted.
Alexander suddenly understood how exhausting conflict became when each sentence contained enough truth to survive but not enough truth to be fair.
Helga took her coffee to the sink.
"Call her."
Alexander looked up.
"Now?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I'm tired of being the person you ask what Bianca meant."
He stared.
Helga rinsed her mug.
"If you have a question for her, ask her."
Alexander called.
Bianca answered on the first ring.
"Finally."
Alexander put the phone on speaker.
Helga turned.
He shook his head slightly.
She understood.
No secret listening.
Helga sat down.
Alexander spoke.
"I listened."
"All of it?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"You left out context."
Bianca exhaled.
"So did she."
"How?"
"She made me sound obsessed with money."
"You were asking about money."
"Because it affects me."
"Then ask me."
"I did."
"Not clearly enough."
"That's rich."
Alexander rubbed his forehead.
"Bianca."
"No. You say 'we'll talk' for six months and then act shocked when people make assumptions."
That one hit.
Helga looked away.
Bianca continued.
"You hate conflict, Alexander. You postpone every decision until somebody else has to become the bad guy."
Helga glanced toward her son.
He did not defend himself.
Because it was true.
Bianca softened slightly.
"I shouldn't have taken the envelope."
"No."
"I shouldn't have said what I said."
"No."
"And I shouldn't have handed it to my father."
"No."
Bianca's patience snapped.
"Can you say something besides no?"
Alexander looked toward Helga.
She almost smiled.
He continued.
"What do you want me to say?"
"That your mother isn't innocent."
Alexander looked at Helga.
Helga met his eyes.
Bianca continued through the speaker.
"She has hated me for months."
Helga said quietly, "Not hated."
Bianca went silent.
Alexander frowned.
Helga pointed toward the phone.
"You have me on speaker."
Bianca laughed once.
"Of course you do."
Helga leaned toward the phone.
"I don't hate you, Bianca."
"Could've fooled me."
"I don't respect how you've treated me."
"Same difference."
"No."
Helga's voice remained calm.
"Not even close."
Alexander stayed quiet.
This conversation needed to happen without him translating either woman.
Bianca spoke.
"You've judged me since the day we met."
"Probably."
Alexander looked at Helga.
She shrugged.
"She asked."
Bianca continued.
"You think I'm shallow."
"I think you care too much about how things look."
"You think I'm using Alexander."
"I think you sometimes treat his generosity like a resource you manage."
"That's using."
"No. That's my concern."
Bianca laughed bitterly.
"You hear that, Alexander? She gets to have concerns. I get called a social climber."
Helga's expression shifted.
"Who called you that?"
Silence.
Alexander looked at the phone.
Bianca hesitated.
"No one."
Helga caught it.
"So that's what you're afraid people think."
Bianca did not answer.
Something about the silence changed the conversation.
For the first time, Helga saw a crack beneath Bianca's contempt.
Not goodness.
Not innocence.
Fear.
Status mattered desperately to Bianca.
Not just because she enjoyed nice things.
Because she seemed to experience any reminder of ordinary life as a threat.
Helga understood that better than she wanted to.
She had known people who escaped poverty and became generous.
She had known people who escaped it and spent the rest of their lives kicking the ladder.
Helga didn't know which kind Bianca was.
Maybe Bianca didn't either.
Alexander broke the silence.
"Why did you tell Ewald I'd agreed?"
Bianca immediately became guarded.
"I told you."
"No."
"You want some confession."
"I want an answer."
"I was trying to stop him asking."
"So you lied."
"I simplified."
Helga closed her eyes.
Alexander almost laughed.
"Simplified."
Bianca's voice hardened.
"Fine. I told him you were probably going to help."
"He says you told him I'd already said yes."
"He remembers what benefits him."
"Did you use the word yes?"
Silence.
Alexander waited.
Bianca finally said, "I don't know."
"That's not an answer."
"It is the only one I have."
Helga looked toward the window.
She could feel the conversation becoming circular.
Alexander asked another question.
"Did you know I had the envelope last night?"
Bianca paused.
"Yes."
Helga looked at him.
Alexander became still.
"How?"
"You left the withdrawal receipt in your jacket."
Alexander frowned.
"What?"
"You asked me to take your jacket to the cleaner."
There was a pause.
"I saw it."
That explanation was simple.
No conspiracy.
No spying.
Just paper in a pocket.
Alexander looked strangely disappointed.
Maybe mysteries were easier than ordinary violations.
"Why didn't you tell me you saw it?"
"I didn't think I needed to."
"What did you think the cash was for?"
"Helga."
"Why?"
"Because you had mentioned repaying her."
Alexander looked at his mother.
Helga remained silent.
Bianca continued.
"And because every time you feel guilty, you write a check."
Alexander's face tightened.
Helga saw it.
Bianca did too.
There was still truth inside the cruelty.
Alexander had used money to compensate for absence.
He knew it.
Helga knew it.
Bianca knew it.
That did not make the money hers.
Alexander spoke slowly.
"Whatever happens between us, this stops."
"What stops?"
"You deciding what my silence means."
Bianca laughed bitterly.
"Then stop being silent."
He had no defense.
Helga watched her son sit with that.
Finally Alexander said, "You're right."
Bianca said nothing.
"I do that."
Silence.
"I avoid deciding until somebody gets hurt."
Helga looked at him.
Alexander continued.
"But last night you made a decision for me."
Bianca's voice became smaller.
"I know."
"And you humiliated my mother while doing it."
Another silence.
"I know."
Alexander closed his eyes.
Bianca continued.
"But if you're going to decide what happens to us, ask Helga one more question."
Helga frowned.
Alexander looked at the phone.
"What?"
Bianca's voice was quiet now.
"Ask her why she started declining invitations before I ever sent her through that side door."
Helga went completely still.
Alexander noticed.
Bianca noticed the silence too.
May you like
"There," she said.
"Ask her."
