Night at the Fiestas

Jeff stands with his sister Brooke in the kitchen of their grandmother, Becky. They have just attended her funeral. She died of a stroke, but from the state of her house, it is obvious that she had been struggling. Once a tidy woman, Becky was unable to clean up after herself in the months preceding her death, and the home is now filthy. Jeff lives in New York and cannot help but blame his mother and sister, who live very close to his grandmother’s house, for failing to check on her. Now, he and Brooke discuss different options for how to deal with the property. Although Brooke wants to rent it out, Jeff understands how much work that would actually entail and thinks that they should sell it instead.

As they are talking, the phone rings. It is their father, Victor. Their relationship with him is strained, and Jeff does not want to deal with him just then. He asks if Victor needs money, and Victor is offended by the question. He tells Jeff that he does not need money, but that he is dying of cancer and that he is also standing outside. Jeff looks out the window and sees Victor in the yard. Victor is a troubled man with a history of substance abuse and domestic violence. He has a knack for showing up when his children are at their most vulnerable, and Jeff is not surprised to see him on this particular day. Jeff is confused when Victor invites him in to his “home,” and he becomes even more confused when Victor opens the door to the guesthouse in his grandmother’s yard.

Victor claims that Becky allowed him to live there, but Jeff is doubtful. The place is filthy, and Jeff is notices that Victor also has several large terraria. One is full of rats, and the other contains a large boa constrictor. Jeff is horrified, and his disgust intensifies when his father explains that the boa constrictor is pregnant and that he intends to make a profit selling her babies. Just then, Brooke walks in. An argument ensues in which Victor explains that he helped Becky when no one else would, and that she blamed her daughter and grandchildren for abandoning her at the end of her life. Jeff is livid, but Brooke softens. Victor asks to keep living in the guesthouse, and although Jeff tells him that he intends to sell the property, Brooke supports the idea. She forgives their father for his abuse and wants to give him another chance. Jeff is sure that the arrangement will end in a disaster that he will have to clean up, and he throws a chair at his father in anger. The chair hits the terrarium, and the rats spill out. They attack the snake, pinning it to the ground.