Family Meeting
“There, that’s everything,” Juan finished explaining his objections to the new bumper sticker on his daughter’s car. Maria wept quietly from her seat on the couch. Next to her, Sofia hugged her mother in an attempt at comfort.
Sofia laid her head on her mother’s shoulder and stroked her hair. Suddenly, she sat up with a look of long-suppressed emotion, “Dad? How can you be so intolerant? I’m learning things in school you never learned about. The world is changing, and your beliefs are old-fashioned. Nobody believes that stuff anymore.
The question was like a knife to Juan’s pride. “I’m still your father! As long as you live here, you’re going to respect my wishes!”
“Then maybe it’s time for me to move out!” Sofia fired back.
When did she become so disrespectful? Juan wondered. She knows she can’t talk to me like that!
“When I go to register for Fall term,” Sofia pressed the issue hard, as if Juan was to blame. “I’ll find an apartment of my own.”
Juan snapped. “You never pay for anything! It’s my money that pays for your school. Who do you think you are? Maybe I won’t pay those people to fill your head with that garbage anymore!
Sofia made a rude noise that sounded like she was choking back a curse. She stood up and strode out of the room.
“And you can forget about getting that apartment!” Juan threw that in just to cause some damage. He instantly regretted his words. He always doted on his daughter, but his moral outrage was now so complete that he couldn’t control himself.
Maria, always sensitive to loud voices, couldn’t handle the vicious shouting match in her living room. She broke into sobs and ran back to the bedroom.
Juan knew he’d hurt his family and felt terrible about it. But his culture and tradition wouldn’t let him apologize. He was the man of the house. This was his responsibility. “I’m going to Roberto’s for a beer!” he shouted down the hallway.
As he left for his brother’s house, Juan slammed the door behind him.
It was almost worse at Roberto’s house. His brother was a big man who spoke with a bellowing, bombastic cadence designed to inform everyone within earshot that he knew all the answers to every problem.
“I’ll tell you, the whole country’s going to hell!” Roberto opined. “Men think they’re women, and women think they’re men. The whole country is obsessed with sex. And then when they make a baby, whoops! They just kill it.”
Juan knew the world was complicated, but all this stuff happened to other people. Not him. He didn’t want any part of this vulgar world. “Why’s everything changing?” he asked dejectedly. Once again, he regretted his words. But this time, it was for a different reason. Roberto was sure to ‘educate’ him on why he thought things were changing.
“I’ll tell you why! People are too rich now. That’s why!” He folded his arms across his massive chest and stared defiantly.
Roberto’s statement begged the question, and Juan was suckered in, “What do you mean, people are too rich?”
Roberto grinned at being asked to lecture someone less well-informed than himself about the vagaries of ethical development. “Americans have so much money that they can worry about all this sex stuff. When we were kids, we had to work hard. Remember? The devil knows more by being old than by being the devil.” Roberto meant that Juan should listen to him because he was older and wiser.
“How can we fix it?”
Roberto’s lips pinched together in concentration, “Hmm…” He seemed to be struggling to remember something. “Let me see… Papa told me the trouble began when Clinton became President. It was a long time since America’s had any sort of family values.”
“That long?” Juan tried to figure out how many years that had been. “We were just kids then, still living in Mexico.”
“You see?” Roberto smiled broadly. He seemed happy to have proved that America was a depraved society. “Yeah, the only chance we have is to elect Trump as President again.”
“Mmm,” Juan grunted. That was sure depressing news on this rotten day. His mood grew darker, and he glowered over his beer. “I’m not sure if even he could do it.”
“Cheer up, hermano,” Roberto never seemed to get depressed. As bombastic as he was, it still helped Juan to hang out with him. Roberto lifted his spirits, or at least he kept them from sinking any lower. “We need un hombre masculino to Make America Great Again!”
Juan shot his brother an evil glance, “Are you messing with me?”
“C’mon,” Roberto grinned. “Trump’s your guy. You tell me that all the time. Don’t you believe in what he’s doing?”
Choose Option 1: Juan Doubts Trump
Choose Option 2: Confidence in the MAGA Movement