Clandestine

fifty

What will Diane think of me now?

My secret is out. I saw the flash of recognition in her eyes before she wiped her face clean of emotion.

She knows that I am the daughter of Marcia Quintana. She knows that I am a Quintana, a family enemy for generations. I am the daughter of the woman who has picked out her death date.

She'll know how often I lied to her.

Does she understand why I did?

I can't tell as she speaks to my mother. Her calm, innocent responses have my mother furious, more than Diane could ever tell.

My mother says, "We are here because we believe you committed many crimes. Do you know what they are?"

"No. Like my father, I try to follow the law."

"You think your father followed the law?"

She blinks at my mother, "Why would you say that in past tense?"

I swear every set of eyes swivel to stare at my mother. Did she tell the other Assembly members the same story she told me? That Diane's father escaped the jail?

My mother snaps, "I will be asking the questions right now."

Diane says, "Okay."

"Do you know what crimes you have committed?"

"Something tells me that by the way you keep refusing to tell me what I actually did, it means that I didn't do anything. You just want me to admit to something. You want to scare me. You want to harass me just like you did with my father."

My mother pushes her chair back and stands. She slowly pushes her chair in and stands behind it. It's one of her intimidation tactics against the people she's questioning. She's done this to me more times than I count. Watching her slowly stand and push her chair, all while she holds your stare, is enough for some people to curl into a ball of tears.

Diane just raises an eyebrow.

My mother leans over her chair to rest her hands on the table, so that she can stare at Diane. "We never harrassed your father. Please understand that."

Diane blinks, "If you say so. He had to miss a lot of time that we planned to spend together to go to your meetings. Whenever he came home from a business meeting, we would plan board games and movie nights and visits to museums and zoos, but we always had to cancel them. There was always something for him to do with you. I'm not blaming you, I just..."

My mother, "It's your father's own fault for messing with the law."

Diane doesn't say anything. She knows how angry my mother is. It appears that she knows just how far she can push my mother and back away right before she snaps. It took me years to perfect the system, but Diane is a natural.

My mother says, "I have had enough of you. This meeting is over. You may go. I would be careful if I were you."

Diane frowns, "That's it? I kind of wanted to find out what crime you were accusing me of. I thought it would be somewhere along being related to my grandfather, but I wasn't sure."

"We judge each person for their own actions, not for anyone that might be related to them."

Diane has the audacity to laugh at my mother.

My mother leans into Diane's face, "Do you want to punished, little girl?"

"No. Not particularly."

"Then I suggest you keep your mouth shut."

"But I got a whole lecture from the guards before I came in here that I should always answer your questions or..." Diane is coming dangerously close to my mother snapping. I don't know why she is doing this. My mother already has a death date picked out after all. Wouldn't she try to cool her anger rather than help it grow?