Consuelo's Death Pt 3
Date: September 23, 2015 Time: 8:00pm-ish Location: Azoth Manor Characters: Desiderio, Lucia, Mateo & Rafael Vargas Description: Desiderio returns with news of Consuelo’s death... Status/Rating: PG-13, mentions of death.
It was a bit later in the day of Desiderio's return to Seattle, hours having passed as night fell, but it could hardly be held against him. He had given his time to Rosa first. She'd just lost her mother, absent though she was, and Desi felt it necessary to stay with her until she was tired of him. She was his precious daughter, and he never wanted her to question his being there when she needed him.
Finally, though, it was time. He sent out a text to his siblings to meet him in his room, and sat waiting for them to arrive. One after the other until all three were now in the sitting room with him. Drinks poured, all but Desi sitting, lounging, doing what they always did. Desi twirled the whiskey in his tumbler a moment, eyeing the amber liquid, ten looked to his siblings. No one in his family had fond thoughts on Consuelo. She'd been a typically teen girl, the kind he had chased. Opinionated, entitled, spoiled, expecting to be treated like a princess without giving any respect in return for the respect she demanded. Fiery. A temper was what she had. Passionate and she had woken an equal temper in Desi. Their fights had been loud and violent... on her end, with Desi always retraining himself and restraining her. Now... she was gone.
"I was called away by the Chicago PD. For once, it wasn't for our families... dealings. We had all wondered where my errant wife had ended up, none of us really caring to look... well, she is now on a flight back to Madrid. In a coffin. The pinche puta had the nerve to wallow on American streets as a drugged out whore. Stole heroine and was killed." He made a displeased face and took a drink from his tumbler, letting ire show for Consuelo he never let Rosa see. "Her parents are burying her on their land, not ours."
When Desiderio had been called out of state, Lucia had been worried. In a time like this when family should be sticking together for protective purposes, she didn't think that anything should call them away from each other. Then again, she didn't like to know too much about the inner workings of the businesses they headed. The less she knew, the safer she would be if anyone came questioning and stirring up trouble. It was why she had decided to steer clear of it and focused on her artwork. As much as she loved her family and would do anything for them, she felt it was important to have something to fall back on should the need arise.
Several hours had passed without word from her older brother, which was very unlike him, causing her to worry. Then again, Lucia was known for being a worrier. It was in her DNA. So when the text to meet him in his room finally came through, she'd rushed back to the manor and went straight to it. She didn't waste time knocking to make sure if he was decent, instead she went in and hugged him before sitting down. Accepting her drink, she took a deep sip and sat back. If the family had been summoned, then something bad had happened. Maybe he'd heard news of their parents.
Desi's first words quickly put her at ease. It wasn't something to do with them. Consuelo... in a coffin heading back to Madrid. Why didn't that really surprise her? "She doesn't deserve to be on our land, el puto coño. How is Rosa doing? Should I got sit with her perhaps?"
Mateo didn't like family meetings. They rarely had family meetings about good things, just bad things, or things that meant work and/or worry. That this little get-together had come on the heels of Desi's sudden trip out of Washington had been a clear sign that some manner and amount of shit had struck one fan or another. He wasn't surprised, honestly, and had been expecting something of the sort since Desiderio had first announced he was leaving for some sudden business.
Accordingly, when Mateo had answered Desiderio's summons, he'd elected to curl onto one of his brother's little couches with a few fingers of Orujo over ice, legs neatly tucked beneath himself. The liquor settled his stomach when things were going wrong.
Mateo drank a lot of Orujo, come to think of it. If Seattle was going to continue to continue on this sort of trend, he might need to look into buying an entire damn case.
"Mmmn, lovely. We all get on the same continent at the same time, and only then does your wife elect to die. I'm certain Interpol and the Americans aren't suspicious in the least bit." He tilted his glass back and forth a few times, letting the ice clink quietly, and mourned the sleek Congolese cobalt cordial glasses he hadn't wanted to risk traveling with.
Rafael wasn't a big fan of meetings, family or otherwise. It's not like he didn't enjoy spending time with his siblings, it wasn't even that he didn't like talking with people, it was more the idea that he needed to sit still and listen for an undetermined amount of time. He'd never done well with idle hands, and any time he had that wasn't spent in motion was usually only because he was asleep. One frequently had to do things in life that they didn't particularly enjoy, however, so he didn't even bother giving Desi grief. Teasing or not, this didn't feel like a situation where his oldest brother would be receptive to being questioned.
Unsurprisingly, he was the last to arrive in Desi's room, but at least he wasn't late. Taking a seat next to Mateo, he declined the tempting opportunity for a drink. It wasn't that Rafe was trying to be good, he just usually liked to keep his head clear when family business was being discussed. If there was something important he needed to remember, he'd prefer not to risk wiping it out with alcohol.
Choosing water instead, he made himself comfortable as Desi began to speak. Dark eyes widened just slightly at the revelation, though Rafe's surprise wasn't entirely genuine. He hadn't known Consuelo very well, and what he did know inspired only dislike. What kind of woman abandoned a good man and beautiful daughter to become a common street rat with a drug problem? Not one Rafe cared to mourn, that was for sure.
"So is it too soon to ask if this is really a meeting and not a celebration?" He wondered, figuring it was safe to speak his mind after Lucia and Mateo's responses.
If Desi was honest with himself, and he mostly was with his family, he'd admit that the response he received were expected. Which made him pleased. Consuelo had been given their name, but she had squandered the right to be thought of as family.
"Rosa is... accepting it. She had never been able to really bond with Consuelo, and has no real memories of her. She wants her and I to attend the funeral, but more for how it would be perceived if we did not attend. Perhaps check on her tomorrow, but give her the night. Let her sit with her own mind a while and mourn the mother she never had in her own way." He came up by Lucia and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing slightly and taking comfort in his sister's presence. Stilling the anger Consuelo could still rouse in him.
He then set his eyes on Mateo and his brother in turn, smirking slightly. "Everyone has alibis. Let them question us. For once, we are innocent." He then raised up his glass toward Rafe. "It is a celebration of an ending of a life and a new beginning. But not... too much of one. I have to speak to our allies before the night is over. Emma and Zachary and their families have been good to us. They deserve to hear it from me before being shocked by the news spreading." He then took a drink, slowly pondering."Lucia, I will need you to contact the Diaz Family. Explain explain that she and I will be attending, and then, in a way they will accept, explain the absence of the rest of our family. Do not allude to us being in a weakened state, though."
Mateo's comment about them all being on American soil when Consuelo turned up dead, on American soil, didn't sit well with her. There was a bit of convenience there, almost as though someone was trying to set them up. With all the crooked deals and illegal dealings the family did, there was a distinct possibility that that could be the case. However, that wasn't something Lucia ever really got involved with. Not because she couldn't handle herself or situations like that, it was more so that if any of her brothers went to jail or were killed she could be around to pick up the pieces. That was her role, after all. The role she'd been placed into and happily did. Someone needed to do it.
Rafe's comment was what brought Lucia back into the moment. She gave him a stern look of reproach, but couldn't hold it for long and soon was smiling. Turning her head up, she covered Desi's hand with her own and nodded. "I will check on her tomorrow then."
She raised her glass when Desi did and nodded to his toast. Consuelo had been a waste of space. The only good she had ever done in her life was to bring Rosa into the world and perhaps in leaving. She had been a black mark on the Vargas' good name and had brought too much attention to them when she'd been around. Tipping her glass towards her brothers, she smirked. "Good riddance. The witch is dead." Sipping on her drink, Lucia nodded her acceptance of the task her older brother had laid before her. She'd have to think about what to say, since she obviously couldn't say what she truly felt.
"Of course. I will think of something to show our sympathy and apologies for not being able to come. Perhaps I’ll send a beautiful floral arrangement for the funeral in our absence."
With nary a flourish, Mateo drained the rest of his drink, and uncurled himself back to standing. He walked back over to the liquor cabinet and poured himself another few fingers of Orujo, and plunked in another cube of ice for good measure, and gave it a swirl. Hiding his face, mostly, as he often did when deep in thought and not wanting to share the process.
Setting them up? Perhaps. A staged OD was a neat and tidy way of dealing with someone, especially someone with a history of poor choices, drug-centric or not. A Latina prostitute with, most likely, a long-expired visa? If it wasn't for the Vargas marriage certificate still valid, it's entirely possible Consuelo would've just disappeared down into whatever potter's field Chicago kept for their undesirable chaff.
That, ultimately, wasn't what Mateo's mind was stuck on. Bad choices lead to bad ends, and he was sure Consuelo's corpse bore the rigors of years of her... vocation, and her hobby. But she was from a good family, and had married into ... well, not a good family, they couldn't say that with a straight face, but a family with money and obligation. They wouldn't have welcomed her home with open arms and a party, but they would've offered either a "vacation" to somewhere she could've gotten sober, or a year's supply of whatever drug she was filling her body with.
Contingent on her suddenly deciding she needed to file for divorce for her gross infidelity, long-dead affection, and maybe some blasphemy to appease the Spanish church, of course. A pat on the head and sent her on her way, never to darken the Vargas doorstep ever again.
For Consuelo to have never contacted their families -- he was pretty sure her parents had truly been in the dark as deep as they themselves. The Diazes could've made a mint, accusing them of running their precious daughter off, nasty mob bosses they were, and such accusations might've actually landed, once you figured in international travel, and been thereafter more or less untouchable, as far as they knew.
Ten years, more, and Consuelo never bothered any of them? For anything? What Mateo's mind was catching on, like a tongue finding a new canker sore and then coming back to prod at it again and again, was less the fact that it felt like a setup, and more like a prior set up fell apart. Immediately after all the elders of the Arcanist families disappear, Consuelo's life finished falling apart to the point the damned girl thought to steal from a dealer?
"Sure you don't want a drink, Rafael? Since we're celebrating," he said over one shoulder, his tone deeply sardonic. They were celebrating, and all. He was certain his family could read his rumination, but he willed them to silence. He was the dutiful, thoughtful one; getting stuck in thought was what he did. He'd heave up his suspicions when he had more than paranoia and pessimism to share, more than worry to offer. For now...
He added another splash, two splashes, to his glass.
It was probably callous, but Rafael didn't really think of it that way. Consuelo had only done one good thing with her life, and the way that life had ended seemed to cement that fact. He felt sorry for Rosa, having never known her mother, but knew they would all help her to try and understand and cope with what happened. He might have been closer in age to his niece than the rest, but that didn't mean the protective instincts were absent.
Raising his water at Desi's suggestion, he took the toast despite not having any alcohol.A wistful glance was cast towards the liquor now that he knew this conversation didn't require clarity of mind or reasoning. He didn't feel like getting up, though watching as Mateo did only made him want one more. Following his brothers movements, Rafe could tell he was mulling something over in his mind. There was a look on his older brother's face that spoke to wheels spinning, but the youngest Vargas clamped down on his curiosity pointedly. When Mateo was ready, he would clue them in.
"Sure, what the hell. I did suggest the celebration, after all. Can't be a bad host." Rafe assumed his brother was going to bring it over to him, though that could've just been his own self-image talking. He was dying to ask what was going through Mateo's head, but knew he had to let him work it out first.
Desiderio knew that Mateo was thinking on things, it was easy to tell. He also knew it was best to wait. if there was one thing he counted on, it was the strengths of his siblings. Each one with vastly different abilities. even Rafe, who was the most like Desiderio and their father, was different. He valued them strongly for those differences. And he knew their future success would come from that.
Laughing at his youngest brother, Desi moved to take a seat, giving a shake of his head. "Rafe, you may have suggested it, bu I do believe I am still Host. After all, it is my alcohol you and Mateo are pilfering. Bloody menaces, the both of you." He was joking and clearly in a good mood. He couldn't help but be. He was free to be himself once more. no longer restrained by the constraints of society and his marriage vows.
"I do hope you three realize that while my room here will still remain open and easy of access for you all, you will have to enter at your own risk. I'm afraid I won't be so... innocent in my private activities anymore." He smirked as he lounged in his chair, feeling no qualms for the fact that he was more than ready to get his wick wet once more.