Chapter 4
I
t was a heck of a first impression. When asked how she was related to us, Lilly explained that my Uncle Diego's uncle (my Great Uncle Miguel, whom I had spent the summer living with) was her grandfather. She could have left it at that. But she didn't. She went on to add that she had also invited my Uncle Diego's sister, Teresa, to her
Quinceañera
. That's when he dropped his plate.
I rushed over seconds after my father.
“What happened?” My dad asked, though by the look in his dark eyes I could tell that he already knew the answer.
“I was about to ask you the same thing. When exactly were you going to tell me that you met with that tramp and her daughter?” my uncle asked, a vein in his forehead pulsing in a manner very similar to my dad's.
My father took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and stroked his ebony mustache. When he pried his eyelids open, he looked almost defeated. It was an expression I had never seen on his face before.
“Yes, I spoke to Teresa, but not to her mother,” he explained.
“I can't
believe
you.” My Uncle Diego scanned the crowd for his other brother, clutching a butter knife tightly in his hand. If it were sharper I would have feared for my father's life. “Roberto, did you know about this?”
My Uncle Roberto looked as startled as the thirty-five party guests surrounding him. He shook his head.
“This wasn't planned,” my father continued. “Vince and Mariana were there this summer. They met her. There was nothing I could do.”
“Did you talk to her?”
“Yes.”
“Great,” Uncle Diego hissed. His knuckles whitened as he continued to grip the shiny steel knife. Then he thrust the blunt weapon at my father like a pointer. “Well, did you tell her how her horrible excuse for a mother ran us out of town? How she ruined our family? How
our mother
was never the same again, because of
her
?”
“No, it wasn't like that... .”
“Then, there was a lot you could have done, Lorenzo. You chose not to. And you know what? I'm choosing to get the hell out of here.” He slammed the knife on the table, his eyes large and black.
“Diego!” my aunt yelled.
“Don't!” he screamed at his wife through clenched teeth.
Then he snatched his keys from the picnic table and charged toward the back door of our house, my aunt and cousins chasing after him.
“Dad!” I yelled, my eyes pleading. “Do something!”
But my dad just stood there, motionless, watching his brother storm away.
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“What in the world were you thinking?” I asked Lilly, plopping down on the picnic bench beside her.
The guests around us were starting to disperse. The spectacle was over and apparently enough to trigger the end of the festivities.
“I don't know. I didn't think he'd react like that... .”
“Lilly, I get that maybe your family back home tells each other everything. But I told you that's not how it works here.” I shook my head at her, my red hair flopping into my eyes.
“I know, I just thought that maybe you guys could benefit from a little honesty. Maybe if I got the ball rolling ...”
“Ya got the ball rolling all right!” Vince exclaimed with a cocky smile. “No need to ease into it or anything.”
“Um, Mariana, what's going on?” Emily asked softly as she strolled up behind me with Madison on her heels.
“It's a long story,” I mumbled, stroking my forehead. I could feel a headache forming behind my eyes in throbbing waves.
I looked at Madison and Emily, and for the first time since I got off the plane from Puerto Rico, they looked like my old friends. Madison's face was soft and concerned. I squished over on the picnic bench and made room for them beside me.
“It all started at Lilly's
Quinceañera
... .” I explained, launching into the story.
I relayed every detail, from my insulting a stranger's screaming child at church to finding out that that stranger was my illegitimate aunt. I watched as Madison and Emily's jaws sunk towards the freshly mowed grass below.
We were the only ones left at the now defunct barbeque. My Uncle Roberto and his family left immediately after my Uncle Diego, not saying a word. Almost all my parents' friends and neighbors slowly skulked away, pretending not to notice that anything uncomfortable had happened. Vince's friends quickly followed their lead, mumbling something about wanting to test their fake IDs before heading off to college.
“I had no idea any of that happened,” Emily mumbled.
“Well, it isn't exactly something you put in an e-mail.” I tossed my head back and stared at the branches of the oak tree stretched above us.
I used to climb those knotty branches when I was little. My dad would scream at me to get down, certain that I would hurt myself. I never did. It seemed funny now to think of the things that my parents chose to protect me from, while ignoring the things that really scarred.
“Well, this chick's in Puerto Rico, right? It's not like you're ever gonna see her again,” Madison pointed out. “Can't you just forget about her?”
Lilly groaned.
“What?” Madison shrugged.
“The woman is her
aunt
and her father's
sister.
She's not just âsome chick.' She's family.”
“Family they were happily living without until a few weeks ago.”
“Still, it's different now,” Lilly insisted, tapping her chewed nails against each other with the knack of an experienced fidget.
“Why?”
“Because I know her now,” I answered, rubbing my temples. “And she's nice.”
“I'm sorry, but your uncles have every right not to like her. And, seriously, why do you care?” Madison tossed her manicured fingers in the air.
On some level, I knew she was right. I couldn't judge my uncles for how they chose to deal with a horrible situation that happened years before I was born, but still I couldn't stop feeling as if what they were doing was just plain wrong.
“She has a point,” Vince said, raising a chin towards Madison. “We should stay out of it.”
“We're already in it!” I shouted. “
We
started all this.”
“Like it's
your
fault?” Lilly rallied.
“It's Grandpop people should be pissed at.”
“Vince, don't go there right now.”
“It's true,” Madison added.
“What do you know?” Lilly challenged.
“I know that you should stay out of other people's family business!” Madison said, looking powerful.
“Mariana, if you like this woman, there's no reason you can't stay in touch with her,” Emily urged politely. “But Madison's right. You can't force your uncles to do anything.”
A lull fell over the conversation. I could hear a bird chirp in the distance, and it reminded me of Puerto Rico. I couldn't believe I was there just last week. It already felt like so long ago.
“It's crazy that your family's suddenly got all this movie-of-the-week drama. I thought you guys were boring,” Madison joked.
“Yeah, so did I,” Vince and I said almost in unison.
The sun was starting to dim, and I saw the glint of a firefly in the lawn. School would start in a few days, and Vince would be gone for good. Everything was changing. And I couldn't control it.
Chapter 5
V
ince's suitcases were piled in the foyer along with his mountain of cardboard boxes. By the time he finished packing, he had taken everything from a bathing suit (even though Cornell was nestled in frigid upstate New York) to his MVP baseball trophy. Seeing his empty room made me even happier that Lilly was staying with us. Not that I would ever admit that I might miss my older brother, but he would leave a noticeable void in our five-thousand-square-foot house.
“Mom! Let's get out of here!” Vince hollered up the stairs.
“What? You afraid Cornell's going somewhere?” I asked, my arms folded.
“When it's your turn to leave for college, trust me you'll understand.”
He tossed a black duffle bag onto his shoulder and gave Tootsie a final pat on his curly black head. Vince's nails were chewed nearly to the cuticle.
“Doesn't that hurt?” I asked, staring at his mangled fingers.
“Doesn't it hurt when you wax your eyebrows?”
“Good point.”
Our mother finally bounded down the steps dressed more for a Sunday brunch than a four-hour drive. Her sharp pink suit would have made Jackie O. proud. My father, who was strolling behind her in a blue button-down shirt and pressed gray slacks, appeared equally out of place.
“You guys realize that we're going to be sitting in our cars half the day, right?” Vince asked, his eyes perplexed.
“Well, we're not going to have time to change before dinner tonight,” my mom explained, smoothing the lines of her skirt.
“We're going to dinner?”
“Of course. Dr. Cohen said that all the parents go to the John Thomas Steakhouse. It's supposed to be fabulous.” Her lips formed an elegant smile as if she had been practicing it.
“You've got to be kidding me. I thought you guys were just gonna help bring my stuff, then leave tomorrow.”
I could almost see his dreams of a wild first night fade from his muddy eyes. Instead of burgers and hot freshmen girls, he'd be chilling with filet mignon and doctors' wives. I covered my lips with my hand to hide my amusement.
“Mom!” he whined.
“Vincent, we'll leave you on your own tomorrow. Is it really too much to ask?”
My father peered directly into my brother's eyes. Vince blinked first.
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The packed SUV pulled away more than an hour later with Vince's similarly packed BMW trailing behind it. When you have two men who can't agree on anything, let alone how to organize two cars to fit more luggage than they have interior space, it can slow down the departure process.
Lilly and I were finally settled onto the couch with a bag of popcorn laced with M&Ms and a deeply tragic “E! True Hollywood Story” to entertain us.
“So, you nervous about starting school?” I asked during a commercial, shoving a handful of chocolate-covered kernels into my mouth.
“A little. I'm more nervous that people won't like me.”
“Are you kidding? People'll love you. They always do. You had, like, a bazillion friends back home.”
“Yeah, in Utuado
.
But I've kinda gotten the impression that things are a little different here... .”
“Eh, not so much. Plus, you got me. What more do you need?”
“Yeah, and your friends just love me,” she grumbled, diving her hand into the snack bowl.
“You were a bit of a shock. Just give 'em time,” I stated as the doorbell rang.
Tootsie dashed in from the kitchen, barking with excitement, as Lilly and I swiveled toward the door.
“You expecting someone?” Lilly asked.
I shook my head.
“Well, might as well make myself useful.” Lilly stumbled to her feet and trotted to the door. She pushed back the sheer curtain on an adjacent window pane.
“It's like they heard us,” she muttered, holding back my giant poodle.
As soon as she unlocked the dead bolt, the door swung open, and in barreled Madison and Emily.
“What up, girl?” Madison greeted, as she patted Tootsie's head.
“What are you guys doing here?” I squinted at them.
“What do you think? Your brother's gone, your parents are gone, and you're racked with guilt over some family drama. We're here to cheer you up!” Madison exclaimed as she pulled a pint of gourmet ice cream out of her pink leather bag.
The two girls walked briskly into the kitchen to fetch the spoons. They knew where they were, and they didn't need permission. For more than a dozen years, we'd invaded each other's homes unquestioned.
I followed them in. Lilly followed me.
“Ya know, I don't need cheering up,” I said as I pulled out a stainless steel stool from under the island. “I'm totally fine.”
“Oh, so you're totally cool with the whole bastard aunt thing?” Madison asked, eyebrows pushed high.
“Why does everyone keep calling her that?”
“'Cause it's true. I mean, it's not her fault or anything. But it's true.”
I snatched the pint of ice cream from Madison and dug in. “I don't know. My dad's acting like nothing happened in Puerto Rico. And no one's talking about my uncle's hissy fit at the barbeque.”
“Well, what'd you expect?” Emily asked as she rested her elbows on the black granite.
She and Madison were standing on one side of the island; Lilly and I were seated on the other. It felt like the great divide.
“That we'd all just get along ...”
“Yeah, welcome back to Spring Mills,” Madison said with a forced chuckle.
“Seriously. Since when do our families discuss anything important?” Emily added.
Her face faded, but when she realized that I'd noticed her shift in mood, her eyes quickly livened. I brushed it off.
“I may not know Teresa, but I know your family,” said Madison. “And trust me, the RuÃzes are gonna ignore her until she goes away.”
She stared straight at Lilly as she spoke, her lips curled in a sneer.
“Hey, I'm gonna go check my e-mail. See if my mom contacted me,” Lilly remarked, hopping off her stool.
“Yeah,
adios chica,
” Madison said with a hollow laugh.
I smiled and pretended like she was kidding. Lilly didn't look amused.
Ten minutes later, Madison, Emily, and I were deeply involved in a conversation over what to wear on the first day of classes. We only had a couple of days before sophomore year kicked off, and, while I wasn't a fashion victim, my style sense couldn't compare to Madison's expertise. The girl could teach a collegiate course contrasting this year's fall colors to those of previous seasons, and she always made sure we benefited from her wisdom. Each fall, without fail, she'd help Emily and me put together the most fashionable outfits possible so we'd start the year off fresh. It was a mini-bonding experience I looked forward to every Labor Day.
She was in the midst of dissecting why brown was the new black, when Lilly cried out from my dad's study.
“
¡Ay DÃos mio!
Mariana!”
“What? What's going on?” I rushed toward her.
The study was located just off the kitchen, accented by a giant bay window framing the lush backyard. It was my father's home within a home; he spent more hours there than he did in his bedroom. I halted in the doorway and registered Lilly's wide-eyed focus on the flat screen computer. Madison and Emily stopped behind me.
“It's Teresa! You are
not
gonna believe this.”
My breath caught in my throat.
“She's moving.”
“So?” I asked.
“To the States.”
The blood squished from my brain to my toes.
“She met a guy on the Internet. She's moving to Jersey. Like, in two weeks.”
My stunned, wounded gaze drifted to a family portrait my father had nuzzled on a nearby bookshelf. It was taken years ago by a renowned Philadelphia photographer. We were all grinning wide in front of a cloudy gray background with my grandparents standing proudly at our sides. I locked on my grandfather's face. He looked so foreign to me now. The man who lived his life ensconced in secrets seemed so different from the man who rested his weathered hand on my shoulder that day. We all looked differentâless innocent.