Caray, Caray!

Nerón is all dressed up in a suit this time as he makes a visit to the Public Ministery. He asks what he needs to do to re-open his tire business. Might they just lower the fine a little bit? Sorry but the best that can be done is to give him the option of splitting the fine into two installments: pay the first now and the second within the month. Nerón wonders how he can get so much money together in such a short time.

Toño is sitting in a classroom filled with mothers where a teacher is informing them that she wants their children to bring something that represents them to the festival. It can be a plant, a toy, a photo. It also can be a pet but if it is, the smaller the better. Toño is on his phone and manages to disturb the whole group by laughing at something. He starts to explain that he was just writing his wife about was going on at the meeting. She is the one who usually does these things. That was the wrong thing to say as the teacher makes a point of telling him that they all believe in gender equality here. He quickly adds that he does, too, but they have to admit that they are a little different. As he continues to talk, he just digs himself in deeper. He realizes he is in enemy territory.


Nerón has a temp job outside of a pawn shop calling out to people and handing out flyers. Flor and Milady stop on by. She wants him to watch the baby because she got a call to go to a hostess job. He is not too happy about that because he is working himself. She says that he can just push the stroller behind his stand and is out of there.

At the clothing store, Kika is at the cashier telling her to charge it all to her “black” credit card. While she is checking out, Anifer picks up a green top and slips it into one of Kika’s shopping bags. Anifer grabs Renée by the hand and leads her to the store entrance to wait for Kika. Kika complains about having to carry all of the bags by herself. As she passes through the door the security device beeps and a security guard stops her. She turns over all of her shopping bags. Kika accuses Anifer of doing something that caused this. She goes to grab Anifer but Renée pulls her back. How dare she treat Anifer like that? Kika grabs Anifer’s cheek and says well, maybe it wasn’t her but then why does she have that big smile on her face? Anifer put that green top in her bag, right? Anifer shakes her head. Kika makes her nod still holding onto her cheek. Renée removes Kika’s hand from Anifer’s face. She takes Anifer off to get the micro bus. Kika is left alone insisting it is no big deal and willingly pays for the green top.

Nerón is still hawking at the pawn shop. A whole group of potential customers pass on by and smelling Milady’s full diaper, they presume it must be Nerón. They tell him to go to the bathroom. They tell him to take a bath. They return the flyers. Others walking by will not even get close enough take one. He wonders how such little thing can make such a stinky mess.

Baldo and Lili make a trip to the school that Valentina and Samuel attend. The twins make a point of talking to them as Samuel and Valentina are waiting for a hired car to pick them up. Baldo asks them if they like this school. Valentina and Samuel just stare at each other.

Falcón is outside somewhere talking to somebody on the phone about Mauricio. With the loan, Mauricio will be even in more debt and Falcón will have even more control. He tells the person on the other end not to worry because he Falcón will know what they have to do.

Kika and Mauricio are entering his office. She is moaning about how Anifer and the maid teamed up and just left her all by her lonesome. He apologizes and finds it just incredible that they would just take off after she took them out. He will take care of it later but now they have to meet with the board. Mauricio’s phone rings. It is Renée telling him about the shopping fiasco. Mauricio doesn’t see it as anything that cannot be fixed. Renée insists she is not being dramatic but Kika turned into a crazy woman. Mauricio says they can talk about it later; they have a big meeting they have to get to. Renée tells him there is something else and he needs to listen to her. She overheard Kika on the phone talking about how she was lying to him and wanted to hurt him. She doesn’t know why it is but Kika is working against him. He wants her to explain as Kika reminds him that they have to get going. Renée brings up the magazine she gave him last night. There was a photo of Kika and her dad in it. She was little but it was Kika. Their two families must have known each other. Mauricio doesn’t remember anything like that. Maybe the photo just was taken by chance. Renée doesn’t think so and she heard Kika say she was going to take revenge on him. Mauricio can’t make sense out of any of it. Renée tells him it must have something to do with his family. Falcón breaks up the conversation by coming in and asking where they are already. The meeting is about to start. Still on the phone, Mauricio insinuates that Renée made it all up just because she cannot stand Kika: women always have misunderstandings. That pushes Renée over the edge and she tells him to do what he wants. When it comes down to it, she does not care if he believes her or not. It is his problem. She hangs up. Mauricio pretends to be saying goodbye to her as Falcón and Kika look on.

Back at the school, Valentina tries to direct the twins to the office where they can have all of their questions answered. Lili says that she just wanted to know how the school was from some kids that went there. She says that Samuel and Valentina must be brother and sister because they look so much alike. Samuel asks if the two of them are sister and brother. Lili answers that they are twins. Lili and Bardo seem to want to be Valentina and Samuel’s new BFF’s. Baldo asks if their dad is coming to pick them up and adds that that would be just normal. Samuel and Valentina are relieved when their car comes to pick them up. Lili criticizes Baldo for scaring them off by mentioning their dad.

Still trying to work outside of the pawn shop, Nerón opts for changing Lili on the table that is to be used for promotional materials under the balloons. Suddenly a guy comes by criticizing him changing the baby there out in the open. His boss comes out and starts to make a big deal about him bringing his baby to work and her stinking up the place. Nerón wants to know what he was suppposed to do when his wife left him with the baby. The boss finally gives him five minutes to get her changed at the washroom OUTSIDE the store and back to work.

Falcón explains that since Kika’s money has not been transferred Mauricio will have to get a loan from him. She has no investment in the company therefore her presence is not necessary at this meeting. Mauricio explains to Kika that they just cannot wait any longer with the Xmas season coming up. Kika says she will talk to her accountants to try to speed up the transfer. Falcón gets the loan papers for Mauricio to sign. Falcón announces that they will get the loan tomorrow. Jorge gives Mauricio the papers and Mauricio signs.

Renée is working on her laptop looking stressed out when Anifer says something must be bothering her. Renée is just aggravated with Kika. Anifer agrees and when Mauricio comes home they will tell him. Renée suddenly jumps up saying that she has to find something. Anifer tags along. Renée wants to look through the trash from last night to find something that she threw out out by mistake. Anifer asks if they are going to go dumpster diving. Renée concludes that Anifer is just as crazy as she is.

Having arrived back in the cul-de-sac, Samuel is telling Valentina that those two kids must have wanted to rob them or something. Valentina does not think that but why were they asking about their dad? Samuel reiterates that if they didn’t want to rob them then why were they asking about so many things. He wants her to tell their dad or Rodrigo. Valentina just sees him as being paranoid. Still spooked, Samuel keeps watching behind them as they walk to their house. Valentina tells him to hurry up. She has to make some food.

At their apartment, Lili is telling Baldo that they just should have told Valentina and Samuel that they were their siblings and have been done with it. Baldo has other plans like getting information from the kids and then forcing Jorge to tell the kids the truth in front of them. The kids were not going to believe them anyway. Lili does not see that working. Baldo asks her if she remembers that folder with the family trips. Lili says she does, so what?

While Renée is at the dumpster, Toño and his kids pass by. Anifer goes with them to play while Toño makes a comment about her coming by and helping him at his house since she now has time to clean the dumpster. She talks about how tired Verónica looks with all of the work she has to do and at least she should not have to do anything when she gets home. All Toño can say is no, yes, and takes the victim role. He and Verónica are both the same. He is being slowly killed. Once he leaves, Renée concludes that men cannot understand anything even though you tell it to them right to their face. Renée finds what she was looking for. It is a plastic bag full of magazines.

Back at the office, Falcón and the board leave. Kika apologizes to Mauricio again about the money transfer. Mauricio says better late than never. The important thing is that the transfer happens and that she is with them. He asks if she really wants to invest. Of course she does! Now as she is all over him, she wants to know if he has any plans. She has a get-together with some people from the fashion industry really close by and invites Mauricio. Falcón announces that he and Mauricio should go for the drinks. Mauricio says it would be a good chance to get to know Kika better and find out about her family. Jorge cannot believe what he is seeing as Kika hangs all over Mauricio. Kika invites him, too, saying that he looks like he could use it. No, Jorge has too many things he has to get done. This time Mauricio calls Jorge “Jimmy”.

All of the kids are playing together. Kika apologizes again for pushing Ernesto. He forgives her. Rafael comes by to see the kids with a couple of rabbits he has for vaccination and observation. He teaches the kids that animals are not toys but are living beings that feel things just like we do. Samuel watches them through his window. Rafael tells them they have to treat the animals with lots of love, respect and take very good care of them.

At the club, Kika and Mauricio are doing shots. He is not quite keeping up. He says that he is just not used to coming to these places anymore. She blames it on him going to live in that slum. Mauricio says it is not only living in the cul-de-sac; it is his new life. Kika says he must be talking about Anifer “his little blessing”. She asks about Anifer’s mother. He agrees to tell her all about her but only if she tells him first where she knows him from because he does not remember her. He has to be sure that there is nothing in her past that could be used against him or a reason to kill him. A club photographer comes on by to take a photo of the two of them. Kika kisses him and pushes up the corners of his mouth to make him smile. Kika proceeds to tell him that she was a friend of his that was called “La Chiqui”. With a flashback, we see how Mauricio led Chiqui to an isolated dark room at school even though they were there for a dance. He told her that he was going to announce that she was his novia. He told Kika that he loved her. She said that she loved him, too. He then told her to close her eyes because he had something for her. He counted to three and the lights went on. All of the other kids yelled out "surprise" and threw buckets of water on her and laughed. He told her that if she ever thought that she would be his girlfriend, she was crazy. Back in the present, Mauricio is now remembering that girl. She was a little. . . . Kika finishes the sentence with “fat?” “ugly” “a nerd”. Mauricio agrees that she was a little bit of all of that and also "clingy." Kika says "Chiqui" grew up, went on a diet, did a lot of exercise. Now what he sees is the latest model; nothing like the pale shadow she once was. Mauricio looks her up and down and in astonishment. She just smiles.

Renée is at home cutting out all of the Kika Braun info from the magazines she retrieved. She finds one with Kika’s father and Mauricio’s father having an end of the year toast. She notices that Mauricio is never in any of the photos and finds that strange. She then starts reading an article out loud about how Mr. Braun finally left the rehabilitation clinic which he entered after the scandal that shook Miami high society.

Mauricio feels so terrible about what he did to Kika in the past that he orders two more shots of tequila. Kika reminds him that the drinks are free so he orders four shots. He doesn’t know how to apologize. He feels horrible. How could have he ever behaved like that? Kika says the Mauricio that she knew was super cool, super fun and into having a good time. Mauricio agrees but it was not right to take advantage of a poor overweight girl with braces. Poor Chiqui! He does not know how Chiqui could have turned into her. She is a “bon bon”. She acknowledges that fact and says he is not too bad either. He asks if she has bad feelings towards him. She insists that she holds nothing against him at all. To prove it to him, after they leave the party, they are going to party together all night long. He says there are not a lot of options in Mexico City. It is not like Madrid, Las Vegas or New York. She remarks that that is funny because she knows the city better than he. When she is back from the powder room, they will leave. Mauricio checks his phone and there is a message from Anifer. He does not answer.

Rafael is still with the kids feeding his rabbits. Samuel has come out to join in the fun. As he reaches for some carrots, Rafael grabs his wrist to look at a bruise. Just at that moment, Jorge arrives from work and wants to know what is going on. Jorge pulls Samuel back and asks him and all of the children if they are okay which just prompts Rafael to ask Jorge if he is okay. Jorge says he is.

Kika has left the powder room and is on her way back to Mauricio when she runs into Fabián. She lets him know it is too bad that he showed up so late because she and Mauricio are leaving. He tells her to wait. If she thought that he was going to sit just back and do nothing, she has another thing coming. She suspects that he is going to tell Mauricio about their little fling. Fabián make it clear that it was much more that that for him. He is in love with her. She is driving him crazy. Well, she has a boyfriend if she hasn’t made it clear before. Fabián insists that he is ready to compete with Mauricio for her in spite of the fact that he is almost like a brother to him. Mauricio appears on the scene and is curious to what is going on.

Back in the cul-de-sac, Rafael has left the children and is in the street talking to Jorge. Samuel is there, too. Rafael informs Jorge that what they are doing is feeding the rabbits. Jorge decides that feeding animals is okay but then launches into the fact that he is a lawyer and is informing him that he has to stay away from the children including his son. Rodrigo has come out to support his partner. Jorge says that he can do something legal. Rodrigo asks if he going to sue Rafael for feeding the rabbits. He goes on to inform Jorge that if he doesn’t behave himself, he is going to have to arrest him and take him down to the police station for the violent behavior he is exhibiting. Jorge insists that he is not being violent. Rodrigo tells Rafael that he is threatening them.

At the party after some silly small talk, Fabián excuses himself to go get a drink but Mauricio will not let him go without finding out what Fabián and Kiks were talking about. Fabián makes up a lie to satisfy Mauricio. He and Kika were talking about the situation at work. She is uncomfortable that Falcón is making making Mauricio such a large loan and she did not want to worry Mauricio so she was talking to him. Kika says that she just does not trust Falcón. Mauricio tells her nobody does but that they need him. Mauricio leaves with Kika.

The drama in the cul-de-sac continues. Rafael can’t take any more of Jorge and goes back to the rabbits. Jorge informs Rodrigo that he is not going to permit him or his husband to teach their “gender” or their way of life to his son or to any of the children in the cul-de-sac. He just wanted to make it clear. He grabs Samuel by his bruised wrist as he goes to lead him away. As Samuel cries out in pain, Rodrigo tells him not to hurt him. Jorge insists that he is not hurting his son. Rodrigo also has a message for Jorge. He will not allow him to talk to him or Rafael like he does. Unless he wants to spend a night in the police station, he had better respect them, stop insulting them and stop threatening them today and forever. He wonders if Jorge's little brain can get it: respect for others is the basis for peace. The kids ask Rafael why Jorge is angry. Rafael says maybe he does not like playing with animals. Rafael goes back to the confrontation and tells Jorge if the kids are so important to him, he shouldn't argue in front of them. He also asks him not to offend them. Jorge says he isn’t. He just wants them to leave his family alone and stop being gay. Hefinally just leaves with Samuel. Now Rodrigo is concerned about the bruises on Samuel’s wrist. He and Rafael conclude that Jorge must have caused them.

Renée is continuing her research on Kika and is on the internet. She finds out that Kika’s father was a share holder in Logatoys.

Back at Jorge’s house, Samuel is asking why Jorge got like he did when all that Rafael was doing was playing with the kids and the rabbits. Jorge adds "and playing with who else? with homosexuals. Valentina tells him that the policeman and the vet are good guys. He should not exaggerate. Jorge lectures them that they are young and there are just some things that they are incapable of understanding. As their father he has to watch out so that they are not exposed to bad influences. Valentina tells him not to get angry but lately he has been very strange: very nervous and not quite there. Samuel agrees that the only time he talks to them is to yell at them and to scold them. Jorge says it is not true; it is just that he has all of this work, etc. . . etc.. After going on and on, Jorge delivers the message that he is going to teach his children a lesson because they do not deserve to continue living in this cul-de-sac. Valentina just stares . . . if looks could kill. . .

Flor has come home and is rubbing her tired feet. She and Nerón are both complaining about how hard they had to work for very little money in return. Renée stops on by. Renée asks Nerón if Mauricio’s dad and Kika’s dad knew each other. It takes him a while to remember Kika’s Dad. Renée tells him that his name was Arístides Blanco. He remembers him being half gringo half something else. He was going to invest in a branch of the company. The company was going to go international.Does he remember what happened and why he didn’t invest? As far as he remembers, he got angry about something or something like that. Back then there were a lot of rumors about Logatoys. It was not like today with everything on the internet.

Kika and Mauricio keep drinking shots. She just keeps ordering more and sweets talks him into drinking more. They leave and go to another place where a drunk Mauricio becomes the center of attention. They continue their drunken wanderings to another place complete with costumes. At yet another place, they dance the night away.

Back at the house, Anifer is wondering where Mauricio is as Renée puts her to bed. Renée says that maybe he is working late or had a meeting. She assures Anifer that her father is well. He is just really busy. Anifer is not afraid. Some times her mother would leave her alone at night. She adds that her mother told her that even though she was a woman, she could be just as brave as any boy. Renée says that her mom was right and that her own mom taught her how to be strong and take care of things all by herself. Renée wishes that Anifer could have met her. On her birthday she thought about her a lot. When she was a real little girl, her mother would awaken her with cake, sing “Las mañanitas” and give her a big hug. Her mother always said she was her gift. Anifer’s mother said Anifer was her gift,too, and once put a bow on her head at Christmas. Renée tells her it has been lovely talking about their mothers but now it is bedtime. She kisses her good night. Anifer asks Renée, as she leaves, if Mauricio is with Kika. Renée just smiles and closes the door.

In all of their drunken splendor, Kika and Mauricio are now outside and he has her over his shoulder twirling her around as he shouts “Long live Mexico!” “Long live the city!” and she is blowing a toy whistle.

Renée calls Mauricio but he is not answering any calls or taking any messages. She calls him irresponsible.

Kika and Mauricio are laid out on the pavement somewhere as he proclaims that he does not want to drink anymore. He is done. He has to go. Kika isn’t. She wants to go on drinking but if not she has other ideas . . . They are both slurring their words. They both sit up. She demands that he tell her about Anifer’s mother. Before returning to the comfort of the pavement, Mauricio tells her that María is dead.

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