L.A. Weather by María Amparo Escandón

Author:María Amparo Escandón
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Flatiron Books

Saturday, May 28th

The white sheets that wrapped Olivia that morning felt like a child’s hideout, safe from the monster, the T. rex. She’d had a disastrous meeting with him the previous afternoon and had cried all evening. Between sighs and weeping bursts she’d managed to write down her feelings. It’s what she did in times of distress. Seeing them spelled out on paper soothed her, even though they were infused with slander and rage. Still, she couldn’t accept the scenario he had described to her and played the scene in a loop.

“I want you to be aware that Felix might get custody of the girls,” said the T. rex, sitting behind his desk. Olivia noticed a family portrait of him, his wife, and three teenagers on the credenza against the window and wondered who’d be so brave or suicidal to marry this monster. “He’ll bring out their near-drowning accident under your parents’ watch as a reason not to entrust you with their care. He will probably demand that the embryos be destroyed, claiming that he cannot be forced into fatherhood. He could keep the house for himself or make you sell it to get half the proceeds.”

Olivia, trying not to break down in front of him, sat across the desk, quietly listening to his darkest scenario, suppressing whatever it was that was boiling inside of her.

“Under these circumstances, we have no choice but to go to court,” he said.

“I refuse. That was my only condition when I hired you.”

“If you don’t accept my counsel, I’m afraid I will have to fire you.”

“When does an attorney fire his client?” She raised her voice, shocked. “You said I could keep custody of the girls without having to escalate the legal process!”

After finally accepting the necessity of going to court, she had left his office defeated, and now she was hiding under the sheets, avoiding the sliver of sunlight that snuck through the drawn blinds and fell on the pillow.

She wasn’t going to answer her cellphone, but it was Gabriel calling from New York.

“Did I wake you?”

“No. It’s fine. I was just getting up.”

“What’s the latest on Claudia?”

“This is not a film project we’re talking about here! Aren’t you in touch with the doctors?” she asked, suddenly furious. “You’re her husband. You’re the one who should be informing us. You should be permanently lashed to her hospital bed. Instead, God knows where the hell you are that’s more important.”

“I’ve been swamped. I’m so sorry.”

“Can you hear yourself talking? Your wife is dying! I just don’t understand what’s going on with you!”

She hung up the phone with a metallic taste in her mouth, as if she’d been sucking on a penny. It wasn’t just that Gabriel had angered the entire family by giving the impression that he preferred his wife to be dead than disabled. Here she was basking in her own misery while her sister fought for her life. She got up, put on some clothes, and drove to the hospital.

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