I used the bathroom in the middle of the night. My son-in-law woke up and yelled, “You useless old woman, don’t you know how to clean the toilet?! The whole house stinks!” I felt like garbage. I cleaned the bathroom in the morning. After they left for work, I called the moving truck to take everything away…

I took a sheet of hotel letterhead and pulled out my fountain pen, the one my husband had given me before he died. I began to outline the plan. I wasn’t going to launch a frontal assault. I wasn’t going to go and yell at them. That’s vulgar. That’s what Roberto does. I was going to operate from the shadows, with the quiet efficiency of someone who has run a kitchen for decades.

First, the services. Second, access. Third, legality.

I looked at the clock. It was 5 p.m. The offices of the electricity and internet company closed at 6. I had time.

I dialed the first number. It was my internet and cable provider.

“Good afternoon,” I said in my sweetest voice, the one I used to calm dissatisfied customers. “This is Francisca Morales, the account holder for number 8940B. Look, miss, I’m going away on a long trip and I need to temporarily suspend the service.”

“Ah, yes, it can be done immediately. Wonderful. Yes, cut everything off starting today. No, don’t leave even the basic signal. Let your eyes rest from so much screen time.”