Doña Lola, at 82 years old, lived in the family home with her youngest son, Juan, and his wife, Ana.
Lately, she had begun to forget small things and repeat questions, as if her memory was playing tricks on her. This gave Juan and Ana the perfect excuse to plot behind her back:
„We just need you to sign the transfer of the house, and then we’ll get rid of it.”
„She’s already confused, she’s easy to manipulate… there’s nothing to worry about.”
One afternoon, with sweet words, they convinced her to accompany them to the notary. They told her she had to sign a simple „medical certificate.” In reality, the document transferred ownership of the house—valued at more than four million pesos—directly into her son’s name.
Doña Lola signed without suspecting a thing. That same night, Juan bluntly announced:
„Mom, you’d better go somewhere else for a while. We want to remodel the house, it’ll be prettier that way!
She bowed her head in silence. Don Pedro, her husband, too indignant to argue, took her by the arm and, at night, took her to a distant nephew’s house in the countryside.
However, barely two days had passed when, while Juan and Ana were celebrating their „new property,” an old pickup truck pulled up in front of the gate. The door opened and Doña Lola got out, wearing her cotton blouse, a headscarf, and holding a can.
She entered calmly and, staring at her son and daughter-in-law, said in a calm voice:
„They thought I was a senile old woman, that my forgetfulness was real… but I was only pretending. And besides…”
She opened the can, releasing an unbearable stench. Everyone covered their noses as she continued:
„I have recorded every one of your misdeeds,
including the forgery of the document you made me sign. I didn’t go anywhere: in these 48 hours I was with a lawyer, and I’ve already filed a complaint with the property registry and a police report. This house is back in my name. And this sauce…”
He raised the can, revealing its nauseating contents.
„…it’s a gift for you. I fermented it for two years. Like this smell, a bad reputation sticks forever: no amount of money will be able to cleanse it.”
Don Pedro moved forward with his cane and added in a firm voice:
„We don’t need your wealth, but we won’t allow greed to humiliate our elders either. This house belongs to your mother, and if you want to take it from her, you’ll have to go over my dead body.”
Juan and Ana paled. Their hands were trembling.
„Mom… we just wanted… to fix things…” Ana stammered.
But Doña Lola’s eyes shone with a strength unexpected for her age.
— „Fix it? Let’s see if they can convince the police, the neighbors, and the family with those excuses. I may be old, but I’m not stupid. Children who betray their parents will be marked by this stench for the rest of their lives: no matter how hard they try to wash it off, they’ll never get rid of it.”
Outside, the entire neighborhood had gathered, murmuring indignantly. Juan and Ana hung their heads in shame, while the smell of rotten sauce permeated every corner of the house, like an impossible-to-erase curse.