The delivery business lasted exactly eleven days.
The motorbike he bought second-hand broke down twice, he couldn't keep any riders passed three days. He invested in an app developer to make his business mobile; he got scammed. Hired the wrong people and ended up loosing all of his supplies to theft. basically everything blew up in his face. The customers never came.
By the end of the second week, Mateo was pacing the living room, mumbling to himself, hair yanked fistfuls at a time. The panic in his eyes very visible even from a mile away. Jade tried to soothe him, she tried her very best, but he snapped every time her voice entered the room.
"I just need more time," Mateo kept saying. "People start slow. Businesses start slow. Stop acting like you know everything, Jan."
But Jade wasn't acting like she knew anything—
she was acting like she was afraid, and that's because she was.
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Bambi was the only one home when the first knock came.
Three short taps, followed by a pause. Then two sharp ones. A rhythm that felt rehearsed.
she was sceptical about opening the door when she looked through the peeping hole and didn't recognise the person. But the knocking was relentless.
She opened the door halfway— and froze.
A tall man in a leather jacket filled the doorway, flanked by another who looked carved out of cement.
"Where is Mateo?" the man asked calmly.
Bambi swallowed, clearly scared shitless. "He—he's not here. Um… can I help you?"
The man smiled—the kind that showed that he has seen enough of these kinds of situations—It was almost gentle. Almost.
"Your boyfriend owes money." he said casually.
Her stomach dropped. "He… he said the payments start next month."
"Oh," the man chuckled, failing to hide his amusement. "The interest starts immediately. He should've explained that."
He handed her a piece of paper. It was a document, it looked official, had a letter head and everything, stamped and signed. Scanning the document it looked like an invoice, with an outrageous amount. It was at least ten times larger than the original loan. Bambi's confusion was eminent.
Bambi's breath stuttered. "This... um.. this must be a mistake—"
The man leaned in so close she felt his breath on her cheek. Cutting her off mid sentence.
"No mistakes cupcake. We don't make mistakes. Tell Mateo we want our money. Soon."
He tapped her chin once, lightly, like she was a child. Then said "you look like a nice girl, how did you get involved with a guy like that?" he smirked after saying that, his face that once looked like he was showing concern now looked like he was mocking her instead, he took another good look at her then shook his head and left with the man that accompanied him, walking behind him, leaving Bambi utterly speechless as the left.
When Bambi closed the door, she slid down to the floor and sobbed silently into her palms.
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Mateo came home later that night and Bambi narrated the events that happed earlier. His reaction was frantic with his face going pale as he asked series of questions, trying to make sure that Bambi was alright. Slowly his concerned face became emotionless then it contorted into anger.
"Why the fuck did you open the door?" he yelled. "Why are you always so stupid, Bambi?"
Bambi flinched curbing down and protecting herself as though Mateo was about to unleash the beast on her, years of physical abuse from her childhood were already encrypted to her soul. Jade stepped in between then after contemplating internally alot, she couldn't watch Bambi look like this— she rather died.
"Mateo. Stop." she screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping it would snap him back to his senses. But Mateo was spiralling uncontrollably, the fear in his eyes morphed into fury.
At them. It was always at them. They were his outlet, they were always his problem, he would never admit that he was ever the problem.
"I'll fix this," he snapped, grabbing his jacket. "Just—just stay out of it. Both of you!" he left slamming the door behind him. That was the last time that they would see him in a few weeks. He didn't come home the next night. Or the night after. Or the next.
When he did come back, he slept for hours, filthy and exhausted, refusing to explain where he'd been.
*******************************************************************************
The interest doubled again. Then again. Then again, and no matter how much Bambi and Jade worked their asses off, the papers left under their door didn't stop coming. They became threats. Then promises.
Bambi cried more often. The weight of reality came crashing down on her.
Mateo vanished more often. Jade held everything together with trembling hands. She hated herself for trusting that Mateo could ever be be responsible.
She watched Mateo pace, watched him lie, watched him crumble into someone she barely recognized.
One night, Jade finally snapped.
"Mateo, talk to me. Please." Her voice cracked. "I signed the loan. I deserve to know what's happening."
Mateo's jaw tightened. He didn't look at her.
"You wouldn't understand."
"Try me." she said with the desperation growing inside of her.
He said nothing.
Jade stepped closer. "Mateo… we're drowning." a tear dropping down her cheek.
He finally looked at her then—eyes empty, face hollow.
"I'm trying, Jan," he whispered. "I'm trying so hard."
She touched his cheek gently… and he pushed her hand away.
He left again that night.
Jade sat on the kitchen floor, hugging her knees, feeling the weight of the world press down on her ribs until breathing hurt.
**************************************************************************
Bambi wasn't blind. She saw everything, she felt desperate and useless. she couldn't do anything but watch, feeling a thousand emotion at once.
She saw Jade fading.
Saw Mateo withdrawing.
Saw the fear creeping into their home like a fog.
The knocks at the door became more frequent.
Sometimes the men didn't knock.
Sometimes they pushed inside.
Once, one of them traced Jade's jaw with his finger and whispered,
"Pretty girls make easy payment."
Bambi grabbed a kitchen knife that day.
Her hands were shaking so badly she dropped it.
That night, they barricaded the door with the couch.
Mateo didn't come home.
**********************************************************************************
It came at dawn.
The apartment was quiet — too quiet.
Bambi was half-asleep on the couch, Jade lying beside her.
Then a loud crash shook the door.
Jade jolted awake.
Bambi froze.
The voice from the hallway was cold, calm, terrifying in its stillness:
"Tell Mateo this is the last warning."
A heavy thud — something metal hitting the door.
Then footsteps fading away.
Jade inched forward and peeked under the door.
A gun shell casing lay on the floor outside.
Bambi burst into tears.
Jade clutched her, trying to stay strong, trying not to fall apart right there.
But something inside her whispered a truth she didn't want to hear:
Mateo had led them here.
Mateo had abandoned them.
Mateo had destroyed everything.
And the cracks in their little trio were no longer cracks.
They were fractures.
Deepening.
Splitting.
Ready to shatter.