3

The most common scam was when Sandra pretended to be a prostitute, luring these men to remote places where Daniel would show up armed and take whatever he could get from these idiots. It may not seem like it, but Daniel was very jealous, always showing up at the agreed location before any of the fools had time to lay a hand on Sandra. Sexual acts between her and her victims were strictly forbidden.

Sometimes, they just drugged these men with prescription drugs my mother had access to through the friends she made when working at the local hospital. With the victims drugged, everything became easier for them.

However, the town was small, and even though they acted in the surrounding municipalities, they were becoming well-known. Even the corrupt police officer, bribed to ignore the reports he received, could no longer control the situation due to the large exposure and attention the cases were getting. So, the option was to stop or at least take a break.

But I didn’t believe they would stop. I mean, they weren’t used to a tough life. Real, honest work. All they knew was easy money, and they wouldn’t give that up.

To avoid ending up in a worse situation, or having to find a job – which for them would be worse than death itself – they were involved in the biggest scam of all. They planned for Sandra to get pregnant by Adrian Trevellyan.

And to be more specific, the owner of the house where my mother got a job last week. The man who almost caught me in his room.

Later, I learned that he’s a billionaire from the oil industry who was in town for the construction of a pipeline nearby.

They said the guy was evil incarnate. Ruthless and heartless, he was building his pipeline on the land of one of the biggest farms in the region, which housed and supported dozens of families. They also said that many of those families were already homeless and unemployed due to this man’s cruelty, and the landowner, Arnaldo Brandão, was fighting in court to avoid losing everything he had.

It was so much evil for one human being to destroy so many lives in the name of his ambition.

Still, my mother and Sandra were determined to make the foolish decision to pull the pregnancy scam on such a dangerous man.

For a month, since he arrived in town, the two of them had been working on it. As soon as the headquarters of his company was set up in Santa Clara, where we lived, Sandra got a job as a cleaner there and began trying to seduce him in every possible way, with the intention of getting pregnant. But the man was more difficult than the others she was used to dealing with, and he didn’t give in to any of her attempts, and Sandra was a beautiful, cunning, and experienced girl.

My mother’s job was also a front, a way of discovering any weaknesses in the rich man.

They even thought he might be gay, but later they found out he was nothing more than a libertine of the worst kind, seeking pleasure in a sex club, one of those very perverted places where the most bizarre pornographies were practiced, in a nearby city. He went there at least once a week, and after days of preparation, that was the big night when Sandra went out to meet him at the club, bringing medications that would make him hallucinate enough for her to get pregnant without him even realizing.

And that’s why I’m anxious, waiting for her to come back. Because if she says she succeeded, I’ll know we’ll soon be on the blacklist of a heartless man.

According to the research they did, he was single and had no children. Considering how rich he was, this child would guarantee them a millionaire alimony for at least eighteen years, just like mine. The difference was that mine was just a pittance that barely covered my expenses.

Daniel didn’t agree with the plan, of course. What man would agree for his girl to get pregnant by another? He made several attempts to convince her to give it up, but he didn’t succeed.

Sandra was determined to escape poverty. And the fact that Daniel wasn’t involved in this whole scheme, like the other times, was making my mother more worried than usual.

From the living room, I could see the light on in the kitchen, where she was, nervous, startled, pacing back and forth, smoking one cigarette after another.

Sandra had left around seven o’clock to go to the club frequented by the libertine. It was already two in the morning, and she still hadn’t returned, nor had she called. From my mother’s state, it seemed she wasn’t answering the phone either. Maybe something terrible had happened.

And the worst part was that we couldn’t even call the police. What would we tell the officer?

I thought about going to my mother to offer some support, but I didn’t know how to talk about delicate matters with her, especially when she was so nervous. There was a transparent barrier between us, always. She never hid that Sandra was her favorite, and they were very alike in every way.

As for me, they just tolerated me because of the alimony. And because, every now and then, I was useful in some plan. Like the towel theft last week.

Despite all the differences we had, I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer, hoping that Sandra would be okay, that nothing bad would happen to her.

Time dragged on slowly, my mother seemed more and more desperate in the kitchen. I was convinced something had gone terribly wrong when, finally, the living room door opened and Sandra entered, as stormy as a hurricane, followed by Daniel.

The plan had definitely not gone as it should, or Daniel wouldn’t be with her. He wasn’t part of this scheme.

“What are you doing awake at this hour? Where is mom?” she asked, stopping in front of me.

Her appearance was a picture of chaos. The dark makeup around her eyes was smudged, leaving dark streaks that betrayed recent tears. Her golden hair was tangled, falling in messy strands over her pale face. The black tights showed tears that opened like wounds, while the wrinkled clothes hung from her body.

“In the kitchen,” I informed.

I watched her head toward the kitchen, quick as lightning, followed by her boyfriend, and I wanted to go after her, to find out what happened. However, as always, I stayed quiet, just listening, making my existence as inconspicuous as possible.

“What the hell happened? Why weren’t you answering the phone?” I heard my mother ask, agitated.

“The battery died,” Sandra said.

“What happened? Why is Daniel here?”

A moment of silence, heavy with tension, followed before I could hear Sandra’s voice again, somewhat hesitant.

“It all went wrong.”