Page 32 of All for her Forgiveness

"I'm suffering. How can you be so insensitive?"

"You never lived with her, Pam. How can you be suffering?" Actually, I'm not even sure if the two ever saw each other.

"Riny was my aunt."

"I'm about to go into a meeting. What do you want?"

"I have a request. My aunt was raising a young woman, and?—”

"Pam, no! Juliet is trouble. I don't want her with us."

"Who is Juliet?" I ask.

I notice Vina is still grumbling, but now not as close, so Pam must have moved away from her grandmother.

"Make your request, Pam."

"I want Juliet to come live with us. Grandma doesn't even want to hear about it because we heard she's a bit . . .”

"A bit what?"

"Rebellious, but I talked to her on the phone yesterday, and the girl was so nice to me! I asked my grandmother, and she said no, but think about it: how can we leave Juliet alone in the city? She's only eighteen."

"Let me talk to your grandmother."

"She will persuade you not to allow it. Please, Hades. My aunt raised her as if she were her own daughter. How can we leave her alone now?"

"Pam, let me talk to your grandmother."

"Not before you promise me you'll let her stay with us."

"I don't make promises I'm not sure I can keep. Now, give the phone to Vina."

"Hi, son. I'm sorry about this," the housekeeper says, picking up the phone again.

"What's the problem with the girl?"

"Juliet is an orphan. My daughter raised her as a favor, but she won't be any good when she grows up if everything Riny told me is true."

"Why?"

"There are many . . .stories about her."

"Drug use?"

"No, thefts. That's why I don't think I should take her in."

"If the girl is only eighteen?—”

"She's about to turn nineteen," she says, then adds, "I'm sorry for interrupting you. Please, continue."

"Eighteen or nineteen, it doesn't matter. The fact is she's almost Pam's age, still very young. If your daughter took care of her, it's because she loved her. Take her to New York with you."

"But I don't think . . .” she starts, however Pam's sobbing can be heard in the background, and then I hear an irritated sigh from the housekeeper. "All right, if it's not a problem for you to have one more person living in your grandfather's house, I'll invite her to come with us to Manhattan."

"Give the phone back to Pam."

"You're the best," the dramatic little girl says when she takes the phone.

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