Ring. Ring.

Mom: Daniel dice que te vengas.

Me: On my way. 

I start imagining all the things that likely went wrong for the caretaker on duty. When I drive up, the caretaker’s car missing. Fuck! He didn’t show up, and Dad’s pissed.

Once inside, Mom tells me that Dad sent the caretaker to buy him breakfast. I’m thinking, so why would Dad need me? And why is he NOT eating the breakfast I told the caretaker to serve him? 

Not surprisingly, I walk into Dad’s room and find him sitting on the wheelchair, alone, and in great discomfort. 

As I put him into the bed, I asked Dad if he told the caretaker to leave him in the chair. He says he did, but expected him to get back faster. So that’s when the principal in me breaks through.

When the caretaker arrives, he stops to talk to Mom in the kitchen, and goes into a long explanation about why it took so long to get back.

“¡Dile al vato que se venga! Que no te jodiendo allá con tu mamá!”
“If you had let him follow my plan, you would have eaten breakfast by now.”

The look on my face must have been that of Principal Diaz because Dad just raised his hands and said, “So-rri. So-rri.”

And you know when you get after your kids, and they do something to make you laugh? Well, that’s what happened to me right then and there. I couldn’t help but laugh.