Reyna carefully slipped on her jacket, wincing as it ran across her aching wrist. Her gaze moved to Nico, who was playing with his car keys. Reyna grabbed her bag from the ground and slung it over her shoulder, "What?"
"How does your wrist feel?" Nico questioned. He zipped up his jacket and glanced around the gym. Reyna did as well. Everyone else was still in the lockers getting cleaned up and ready to leave.
"It's sore," Reyna admitted. She shrugged. "I didn't overdo it, though. I know my limits."
"I was keeping an eye on you," Nico said. Reyna smiled at the remark. Until she realized that Nico wasn't joking. Her eyes narrowed, and he raised an eyebrow. "You know that you like to overdo it."
"Barely," Reyna said with a wave of her good hand. She stuck her hands into her jacket pocket and leaned back. Training hadn't been as bad as she thought it would be. Mostly because she was worried that she would just get mad at Lupa and blow up. While Lupa worked with Hazel, it was easy to ignore her.
Anytime that Reyna looked at Lupa, she just remembered the betrayal. A sigh left her, and she spoke, "Are we ready to go?"
"After you tell me what else is bothering you," Nico answered.
"My wrist," Reyna lied.
"You're chewing on your lip," Nico said. Reyna sighed and realized that she really was chewing on her lip. Enough to draw blood as well. "So, what is bothering you?"
"My mother used to send Hylla a check every month that had money for both me and her. I guess to support us or whatever. Around the time I really settled in at the gym and got emancipated, the amount that Hylla received was cut in half. I didn't think much of it until I saw one of Lupa's record books. It has the same amount every month, and Lupa said it was some miscellaneous business," Reyna explained.
"But you think it's from your mother," Nico assumed. Reyna nodded. "Are you sure about it?"
"I know it is," Reyna muttered.
"Did you talk to her about it?" Nico gently prodded.
"No," Reyna answered. "I just figured it out, and I've been thinking about it all day."
"I know that Lupa isn't your favorite person in the world right now, but you might want to talk to her about this," Nico suggested. Reyna glared. "I'm serious. If that's the truth, hell, I don't think I would want to work here anymore."
"Nico, you're not quitting for me," Reyna tried to argue. Nico crossed his arms. "Fine. I'll talk to her about it. Just enough time for her to explain it to me."
"And if the answer isn't good, I'll quit," Nico decided. Reyna shook her head. "I'm serious!"
"You're being dramatic. I will punch you," Reyna threatened. A smirk came to Nico's face, and he nodded his agreement.
"I was just being as illogical as you," Nico stated. Reyna glared at him again. Nico gently grabbed her arm. "Look, I know that you are pissed at Lupa. Well, I don't think I can imagine it actually. The point is that you are so upset that you're not thinking straight. Lupa may be many things, but she would never steal money from anyone. You know that."
"It's not about stealing," Reyna replied. She sighed and looked down. "It's the fact that she got paid to take care of me. Like I was a job and not someone that she actually cares about."
"You don't know that," Nico said gently. "You need to ask her about it."
Reyna shrugged. She saw movement and turned to look at Hazel. A small smile came to her face. The other had checked on her periodically throughout the day, but anytime Hazel looked at her, it was like she wanted to say something. Hazel smiled at them.
"Are we going out for your birthday?" Hazel asked gently. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Frank was waiting for them at the door.
"Not tonight," Nico began. Hazel nodded like she understood.
"Actually, we should go out," Reyna countered. Nico looked at her in surprise. "There's no sense in moping around when I could be spending time with my friends."
Hazel smiled brightly and spoke, "We already know the perfect place to go. Nico does too. Should we go now?"
"Yeah," Reyna said. She glanced behind her at the door leading upstairs. "I just need to do one more thing."
Reyna turned and made her way up the stairs. She walked toward Lupa's office and knocked on the door. Lupa spoke, "Come in."
Reyna stepped into the office. She glanced around to make sure that no one else was there. Her gaze moved to Lupa; her mentor sat at her desk and was typing into her laptop. Lupa didn't move her eyes from the screen, so Reyna waited in silence.
Lupa looked up, and a surprised look came to her face. She composed herself and spoke, "Reyna, what did you need?"
"Did you only take me in because of the money?" Reyna asked, and the anger seeped out of her voice. She bit the inside of her cheek as hard as she could to keep any more anger from showing on her face. Lupa frowned and raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" Lupa questioned.
"I figured it out," Reyna stated. "My mother would send these checks to Hylla every month that had the same amount on it each time. That changed around the time I was emancipated, and the amount on the checks was cut in half. My mother started to give that half to you, didn't she?"
"Reyna," Lupa began.
"I don't need an explanation. I just need a yes or no answer," Reyna interrupted as her grip slipped on her cool. Lupa watched her for a few moments. The shock on her face was slowly morphing into anger. "So which is it?"
"Reyna, listen to me," Lupa demanded. She stood from her desk and stared Reyna in the eyes. "I understand that you are upset with me. I know this is a tough situation."
"Then why the fu-"
Reyna stopped herself and took a deep breath. She slowly spoke, "Did she give you money?"
"Yes," Lupa answered. Reyna felt like she had been punched in the gut, and she swallowed painfully. Her eyes started to water, and she turned away before Lupa could see. "Reyna, it was for you. Not me. Just listen to me."
"What?" Reyna asked. She blinked away the water from her eyes and tried to subtly wipe her eyes. She turned and looked at Lupa. "What do you mean?"
"Your mother gave me checks every month for you. Look," Lupa said, typing into the computer. She motioned for Reyna to come over and look at the screen. After a moment, Reyna walked around the desk, and she kept her arms crossed the entire time. Her gaze moved to the computer as Lupa pulled up a bank account.
Reyna did her best to avert her gaze from Lupa's personal account and the one for the gym. It was rather easy as her eyes focused on an account that had her name on it. Lupa clicked on the account and showed her all of the deposits. No withdrawals.
"I didn't know how to tell you," Lupa admitted gently. "Originally, your mother wanted to give this to you after you graduated high school, so you could use it for college. When you decided to train to be a fighter, she told me to tell you about it when the time was right. I don't think the time ever would have come."
Lupa stood and turned towards Reyna, "Your mother heard that you ran from home and didn't come back. She was worried about you and-"
"Couldn't even bother to check on me herself," Reyna muttered. A pained look came to Lupa's face.
"She asked me to keep an eye on you. No money was ever involved," Lupa promised.
"Which is why the cops dropped me off near your gym. Which is how you just so magically happened to find me," Reyna ranted. She looked at Lupa. "Why take me in then? Just as a favor to your friend? Be honest."
Lupa studied Reyna. There were all kinds of emotions on the woman's face ranging all the way from sadness to regret to even a bit of anger. Lupa finally spoke, "Yes."
"I do care about you," Lupa continued quickly. "If we can just sit down and talk about this-"
"No," Reyna cut her off, shaking her head. "No. We're not talking about this. I got the answer I needed."
"Reyna," Lupa began, and it sounded like she was going to argue. Reyna turned away. A hand grabbed her shoulder. "Stop shutting me out and just let me explain."
"I don't want to hear anymore!" Reyna snapped as she turned back around. "I get it! You were doing a favor for your friend who fucking abandoned me!"
Lupa nodded her agreement. Reyna stared at the woman. There were so many things she wanted to say. So many questions that she had. Reyna was so damn furious at the woman in front of her, and she felt angrier at Lupa than she did at her own mother.
How could Lupa betray her like that? She knew for years about Reyna's mother, and she didn't say a word. She just let it happen. How could she let that happen? Why did she? Why did Lupa never tell her the truth?
Anger started to boil over inside, and Reyna took a deep breath. This felt like the best moment to let it all out and talk about it. On the other hand, she knew it would result in her blowing up. What was best for her was to just shove it aside and push forward.
Reyna looked down. She couldn't vocalize how much it hurt. How betrayed she felt by Lupa.
"Please just let me talk," Lupa pleaded.
"No," Reyna muttered. She took a deep breath. "I c-can't. I had to know about the money. I needed to know that you actually cared for me."
"I do," Lupa promised.
"How can you say that if you didn't tell me the truth about my mother?" Reyna asked. Lupa looked away. Reyna took a deep breath. "I'm so fucking angry, Lupa."
"I know," Lupa said softly. "Please just promise me that we will talk about this when you are ready."
"Yeah," Reyna muttered, but both of them knew she didn't mean it. Reyna walked around the desk and towards the door. She stopped to look back at Lupa and didn't miss Lupa wiping her eyes. "We're going out to dinner for my birthday. You coming?"
"Are you sure?" Lupa began.
"We're leaving now," Reyna said. She didn't meet Lupa's eyes. "I can tell Nico to wait."
There was a clear hesitant look on Lupa's face. Reyna still wouldn't look at her. She didn't really want to even look at Lupa, but it would show a bit of unity between the two. And maybe, Reyna could get drunk enough that she could talk to Lupa about her knowing about Reyna's mother. Something told her there wasn't enough alcohol in the world for that.
Reyna didn't think she could ever talk to Lupa about her mother. What happened left a hole in their relationship that Reyna didn't think they could fill.
And, she didn't think that she even wanted to.