PrepMo 2020 Day 8 Rising Action

Antonio does not want to get involved in the conflict at first because he thinks it’s more of a lover’s quarrel than something serious going on. He sees Rita as playing Gary and Ralf against each other. He is not sure anything is really going on with Gary.
At some point Antonio and Betty will talk and he will learn about Betty’s financial troubles. She will tell Antonio the trouble started shortly after Fred passed away, and will go into a story of the long downward spiral of the amusement park. It is then that Antonio knows Rita is not just blowing smoke. He is still not sure if the “murder for hire” plot is true, but he does know Gary is embezzling from the amusement park and trying to get Betty committed to a nursing home, saying she can no longer take care of herself.
Antonio can no longer stay out of it when Rita is almost killed by a speeding car as they are all leaving the amusement park one night. Antonio witnesses the car speed up and head straight for Rita. He yells to her in time and she is able to escape with a broken wrist, a sprained ankle and some road rash. It is then that he begins to realize Gary really will stop at nothing to hide what he is doing. Antonio does not yet know the “why” behind Gary’s actions – he does not know about the loan shark – but now he knows what is going on. He has also befriended Betty and wants to see her business survive and be donated to her favorite charity – the county foster kids’ community center.
At this point Antonio will start looking into Betty’s books. He wants to help her make sure she leaves her business to the kids. Antonio loves that idea, too, and wants to help. This is why he finally gets involved. He sees how much money Gary is taking, but cannot find receipts for bills, etc. He asks Betty what her accountant has said about all of this. She tells him Gary takes care of all of that and she had no idea.