A question.
An uncomfortable question.
Why did I always have to be the one to fix everything?
Why could she invite twenty people… But I had to do magic with a hundred pesos?
I stopped in front of a vegetable stand.
I looked at the money once again.
And for the first time since I had married Diego…
I made a different decision.
I bought exactly what could be bought with a hundred pesos.
Not a peso more.
When I returned to the house, the patio was already full of chairs. People were beginning to arrive.
Laughter filled the air.
Doña Carmen walked among the guests with a proud smile.
“Today my daughter-in-law took care of everything,” she said.
I smiled.
I went into the kitchen.
I prepared each dish calmly.
No hurry.
When everything was ready, I placed the pots on large trays.
The guests were already seated at the tables.
Twenty people waiting.
I took the first tray.
I walked to the courtyard.
“The food is ready,” I announced with a calm smile.
The talks stopped.
I began to serve the dishes on the table.
One by one.
Doña Carmen watched with satisfaction.
Until the time came.
I lifted the lid of the first large plate.
And as soon as the guests saw what was inside…
The smiles disappeared.
The entire courtyard fell silent.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
And for the first time, I saw my mother-in-law’s face completely lose color.
Silence fell over the courtyard as if someone had turned off the world all at once.
The conversations that had filled the air just seconds ago disappeared. The spoons were suspended in the air. No one moved.
I was still standing by the table, holding the lid of the first course.
Inside there was not the banquet that everyone expected.
There was a small pile of white rice. Nothing more.
Nor meat.
Not even chicken.
Not even beans.
Just rice.
Next to it, on another plate, a bowl of clear soup with a few cilantro leaves floating around. And on the third tray, a mountain of warm tortillas.
That was all.
Twenty people looking at a meal that would barely be enough for five.
I felt the gazes fall on me one by one.
Some guests frowned. Others exchanged uncomfortable glances. A man in the background cleared his throat as if he didn’t know where to look.
Doña Carmen was the first to react.
“What… Is this?
His voice wasn’t loud, but he had an edge that could cut through the air.
I looked at her calmly.
“The food, Mom.
“The food?”
She lifted the lid of another plate, as if hoping to find something different. But there was nothing else.
His face began to turn red.
“Where’s the chicken?” Where is the meat? The vegetables?
I took a breath slowly.
“I bought everything I could afford with the money you gave me.
The murmur began to grow among the guests.
“How much did he give him?” A lady asked.
I took out the folded bill that I had kept in the pocket of my apron.
“One hundred pesos.”
The words floated in the air.
Someone let out a small whistle.
An older man shook his head.
“A hundred pesos cannot feed twenty people here or anywhere else.
Doña Carmen looked at me as if she wanted to pierce me with her eyes.
“You’re lying!”
I softly denied.
“No.
Then I picked up the small grocery bag I had brought with me.
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