“Sell your car and help my daughter with the down payment,” my mother-in-law suggested, as if she had just come up with the most obvious solution in the world.
I nodded.
“Good idea. Which one of your cars are we selling?” Carmen froze, her coffee cup hovering a few inches from her lips. My husband, Javier, who was slicing an apple pie at the kitchen counter, slowly turned toward me.
His sister Lucía, sitting across from us, frowned.
“Excuse me?” Carmen asked. “You have two cars,” I replied calmly. “A small city car and the gray SUV. Which one are we selling to help Lucía?”
The silence that settled over the kitchen immediately confirmed that my suggestion didn’t sound nearly as appealing when it involved her own property.
It was Sunday, a little after three in the afternoon.
Carmen and Lucía had come over for lunch. Everything had been perfectly normal until dessert.
Javier had taken the pie out of the refrigerator, I was making coffee, and Lucía was telling us about the apartment she and her husband, Andrés, wanted to buy.
They had been looking for almost four months.
“We finally found one we really love,” she said, showing us a few photos on her phone.
The apartment was nice.
Two bedrooms, a balcony, a renovated kitchen, and underground parking.
“It looks great,” I said.
“And it’s not far from us,” Carmen added enthusiastically.
Javier looked through the photos.
“Are you going to make an offer?”
Lucía’s expression changed.
“We’d like to.”
“But?” Javier asked.
Lucía put her phone on the table.
“We’re still short on part of the down payment.”
“How much?” Javier asked.
She hesitated.
“About twenty thousand euros.”
I continued filling the coffee cups.
Twenty thousand euros wasn’t a small amount of money.
“We thought we’d wait another six or eight months,” Lucía explained. “But the realtor said there are already two other interested buyers.”
“What a shame,” Carmen murmured.
Then she looked at Javier.
That look immediately set off alarm bells in my head.
I knew it well.
It was the look she always had whenever a problem in the family was somehow about to become our problem.
“You still have two cars, don’t you?” she asked.
Javier looked up.
“What second car?”
“Elena’s.”
I put down the coffee pot.
“My car?”
“Well, your car,” she corrected herself quickly. “The one you use less often.”
Javier and I exchanged a glance.
We had two cars.
Not because we collected cars, but because we needed them.
Javier worked almost forty minutes from home and drove his every day.
I worked mostly from home, but I had meetings with clients, did the shopping, and regularly had to travel for work.
My car was six years old.
It was completely paid off.
And most importantly, it was mine.
“What about my car?” I asked.
Carmen shrugged.
“Nothing. That’s exactly the point. It’s still worth something.”
Lucía lowered her eyes to her cup.
Javier put down the knife.
“Mom, where are you going with this?”
Carmen took a breath.
“I’m just saying that sometimes you have to make sacrifices for family.”
I didn’t answer.
She continued.
“Elena works from home. You could easily manage with one car for a while.”
I looked at Lucía.
She still wasn’t saying anything.
“And then?” I asked.
“Then what?”
“We sell my car. And then?”
Carmen almost seemed surprised that I expected her to finish the thought.
“You give the money to Lucía so she can complete her down payment.”
Javier straightened.
“Mom…”
But Carmen was already expanding on her brilliant idea.
“Think about it. You don’t really need two cars. Lucía, on the other hand, could lose this apartment over a relatively small amount of money.”
I looked at Javier.
“Twenty thousand euros is a relatively small amount now?”
Carmen sighed.
“You know perfectly well what I mean.”
“Not really.”
“When you’re buying an apartment, it isn’t that much.”
“Then why doesn’t Lucía have it?”
Lucía immediately looked up.
“Elena…”
“I’m not criticizing you,” I clarified. “I’m just trying to understand.”
Carmen pressed her lips together.
“Not everyone has had the opportunities you two have.”
I almost laughed.
“What opportunities?”
“You already have a house. Two cars. You travel.”
“And?”
“And you could help.”
Javier sat down beside me.
“Mom, helping someone is one thing. Asking Elena to sell her car is something else.”
“I didn’t demand anything.”
“You literally just suggested that I sell my car,” I replied.
“Suggesting something isn’t the same as demanding it.”
“Fine.”
I nodded.
“Then I have another suggestion.”
Carmen looked at me.
“What?”
“You sell one of your cars and give the money to Lucía.”
She froze.
Javier lowered his eyes to the table.
I could see perfectly well that he was trying not to smile.
“Why would I sell my car?” Carmen asked.
“Because you have two.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because…”
She stopped.
I waited.
“Because what?”
“Your father-in-law sometimes uses the SUV.”
“And you sometimes use the smaller car.”
“Exactly.”
“I sometimes use mine too.”
Carmen shook her head.
“You’re deliberately making this complicated.”
“No. I’m simply applying your logic.”
Lucía shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
“I didn’t ask anyone to sell their car.”
I turned toward her.
“I know.”
And it was true.
Up to that point, Lucía hadn’t asked us for anything.
The problem was Carmen.
As usual.
Carmen picked up her cup again.
“A mother is simply trying to find a solution for her daughter.”
“I completely understand,” I replied. “That’s exactly why your car seems like an excellent solution.”
Javier coughed to hide a laugh.
Carmen shot him a glare.
“You think this is funny?”
“A little.”
“Fine. Then sell yours.”
Javier’s smile disappeared.
“Why mine?”
“Since both of you think my idea is ridiculous.”
“I don’t think helping Lucía is ridiculous,” he replied. “I think it’s ridiculous that your first instinct was to sell something that belongs to Elena.”
Carmen put down her cup.
“In a marriage, everything belongs to both people.”
“Perfect,” I said. “Then why aren’t your cars family property when Lucía needs help?”
“Because they’re my cars.”
I stared at her for a few seconds.
Then I smiled.
“Exactly.”
Carmen frowned.
“Exactly what?”
“You just answered your own question.”
She understood.
Her expression hardened.
“It’s not the same thing.”
“It’s exactly the same thing.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“My car is mine when the insurance, maintenance, and repairs need to be paid. But the moment your daughter needs money, it suddenly becomes a family asset that can be sold?”
Lucía looked at her mother.
“Mom, Elena has a point.”
Carmen turned sharply toward her.
“I’m doing this for you.”
“I know. But I never asked you to ask them for something like this.”
“That’s because you never dare ask for anything.”
“Maybe because I know it isn’t their responsibility.”
That sentence changed the atmosphere immediately.
Carmen fell silent.
Javier put a slice of pie in front of Lucía.
“How much have you already saved?” he asked.
“A little over thirty thousand.”
“And you’re short twenty?”
“For this apartment, yes.”
“Then you could wait a few more months.”
Lucía nodded.
“That’s what Andrés thinks too.”
Carmen rolled her eyes.
“And meanwhile, prices will keep going up.”
“Maybe,” Lucía said. “But I’d rather wait than ask Elena to sell her car.”
I gave her a small smile.
“Thank you.”
Carmen shook her head.
“You’re all unbelievable. I suggest a solution and you make me sound like some horrible person.”
“Nobody said you were horrible,” I replied.
“That’s what you’re implying.”
“No. I’m saying it’s much easier to suggest a solution when someone else has to make the sacrifice.”
Javier nodded.
“Exactly.”
Carmen turned toward him.
“Fine. What do you suggest?”
He thought for a few seconds.
“Nothing.”
Carmen blinked.
“Nothing?”
“Lucía and Andrés are adults. They’ve already saved thirty thousand euros. They can keep saving.”
“She’s your sister.”
“Yes.”
“You could still help her.”
“If she had an emergency, of course I would. But wanting to buy one particular apartment before someone else does isn’t an emergency.”
Lucía smiled.
“Thank you.”
Carmen looked increasingly irritated.
“What wonderful family solidarity.”
This time, Lucía answered.
“Mom, stop.”
Carmen stared at her in surprise.
“What?”
“Do you really want to help me?”
“Of course.”
“Then lend me ten thousand euros.”
The silence fell so suddenly that I could almost hear the clock ticking in the living room.
Carmen blinked.
“Ten thousand?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t have ten thousand euros to just give away.”
“I didn’t say give. I said lend.”
“That’s not the point.”
Lucía leaned back in her chair.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m talking about finding a general solution.”
Javier lowered his head.
This time, he was openly laughing.
“A general solution?” he repeated.
“Yes.”
“You mean a solution where somebody else pays?”
“Javier!”
“What? That’s exactly what’s happening.”
Carmen stood up and picked up her cup.
I stopped her.
“Wait.”
She turned toward me.
“What now?”
“I think I have a general solution.”
Javier understood immediately.
“Elena…”
But he was already smiling.
I started counting on my fingers.
“You have two cars. We have two. Lucía and Andrés have one.”
Carmen looked at me suspiciously.
“And?”
“Since you think a family can manage perfectly well with one car, everyone sells their second car.”
Lucía burst out laughing.
“We only have one.”
“Perfect. You’re already setting an example.”
Javier was laughing now too.
Carmen, however, didn’t find it funny at all.
“Very clever.”
“I’m serious. You sell your SUV, we sell my car, and Javier sells his.”
“And how are you supposed to get to work?”
“Ah.”
I nodded slowly.
“So suddenly needing your car is a valid argument.”
Carmen grabbed her handbag from the chair.
“I don’t want to continue this conversation.”
“Neither do I,” I replied. “But I want to make one thing clear.”
She looked at me.
“My car is not a reserve fund for your family’s plans.”
Her expression hardened.
“Lucía is your family too.”
“Yes. And I’d be happy to help her if she had a real problem. But I’m not selling something I need to finance her apartment purchase.”
Lucía nodded.
“And I don’t want you to.”
Carmen sighed.
“Fine. Do whatever you want.”
“That was exactly the plan,” Javier said.
Carmen shot him an angry look.
Then she walked out into the hallway.
A few seconds later, Lucía stood up too.
Before following her mother, she came over to me.
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t do anything.”
“I know. But still.”
She hesitated.
“I’ll talk to Andrés. We’ll probably wait a few more months.”
“You might even find something better by then.”
“That’s exactly what he said.”
She smiled and left.
A few moments later, the front door closed.
Javier came back into the kitchen.
He looked out the window.
“My mother is getting into her SUV.”
I walked over to him.
Sure enough, Carmen was opening the door of her large gray SUV.
Her small city car was parked right behind it.
Javier looked at me.
“Do you think I should ask her which one she plans to sell?”
I picked up my coffee cup.
“No.”
“Why?”
I watched Carmen start the engine.
“Because I have a feeling that, all of a sudden, she needs both of them.”