Delia's Heart (9 page)

Adan wasn’t interested in hearing about any other man, anyway. He was just interested in me.

“I really would like to hear more about your life in Mexico and your impressions about people here. I think I’ll take up Fani’s invitation to that party. How about I pick you up?” he asked as we turned up the street that would take us to my aunt’s
hacienda
.

“I must see what my aunt says first. My cousin Sophia has been invited, too.”

“Well, if we have to bring her with us, we can. I have three cars, and the two others are sedans.”

“Three cars? Why do you need so many?”

He laughed. “It’s not because I need them, Delia. I like cars. I’ll have more than three soon. I’m going to build up my personal car collection.”

I shook my head in amazement. Back in my Mexican village, it would be wonderful to have a bottle-cap collection.

“So, tell me, are there many boys asking you out?” he asked.

“Not many.”

“What, are boys shyer these days? I can’t imagine
you being in my school and not asking you out. No grass grows on this rolling stone,” he said, pointing his thumb at himself. He smiled at me, but I couldn’t relax. “You look worried,” he said, reading the expression on my face.

“I have not been here that long, Adan. I don’t always know how to respond or what to say.”

“Sure,” he said. “That makes sense. I think it would be great fun to show you things, teach you things. You’re not one of these twisted sisters most girls your age are. You’re a fresh drink of water.”

I laughed at that and then looked pensive quickly.

“What?” he asked seeing my expression change.

“I have been compared to water once before, a river.”

“You can flow in my backyard any day you like,” he said, and laughed.

I started to relax. Now he was the one who suddenly looked very serious.

“I’m glad you were there tonight, Delia. You saw the beginning of something historic. My father is going to be a great man, not that he isn’t already; he’s just going to be appreciated finally. My family will be an important family in this state. We’ll be good people to know.”

“Yes, your father is an impressive man, Adan. I understand why you are so proud.”

“Thanks,” he said. “This is it, right?” He nodded at the entrance to Tía Isabela’s property.

“
Sí
.”

“
Sí
? I love it. Keep throwing in Spanish words whenever you can,” he said, and drove up to the front of the house. I was positive I saw Sophia’s curtain part so she could gaze out.

Adan jumped out of the car and came around to open my door.

“
Gracias, señor
,” I said, and he beamed.

“
Su casa es grande
,” he said, nodding at the
hacienda
.

“
No es mi casa
.”

“Hey, you live here, it’s yours,” he said. He took my hand to lead me up the stairs to the front door. “I am delivering you safely,” he said, and made a grand bow. “Please tell my cousin I was a real gentleman.”

He made me laugh.

“Now, that’s better. You have a smile that would tame a wild tiger.”

“
Buenas noches
,” I said, and reached for the doorknob. He caught my hand and turned me to him.

“
Buenas noches, Señorita México
,” he said, and kissed me quickly on my lips and bowed again. “I’ll call you in the morning to make arrangements for the party,
sí
?”

He was moving so quickly that I felt as if I had been running and had to catch my breath.

“
Sí
?” he asked again.

“
Sí
,” I said, and opened the door. He watched me enter the house. “Good night, and thank you,” I said softly, and closed the door. I had the feeling that if I opened it quickly, he would still be standing there.

“Who brought you home?” I heard Sophia ask from the top of the stairway. “I saw you weren’t brought back in their Rolls-Royce.”

At first, I thought I wasn’t going to answer, but I knew that would not put a stop to her questions. I started up the stairway.

“He is a friend of Fani’s,” I said.

“Who? I know all her friends.”

“How could you know all her friends? You have never been to her home, have you?”

“Big deal. I still know who she hangs with. Who was that?”

I paused just a few steps beneath her. “Sophia, it is none of your business who I am with,” I said slowly and firmly.

She glared down at me. I lowered my head and continued up the stairway. Just as I passed her, she reached out and seized my hair. With a short scream of frustration, she tugged so hard on me that I lost my balance and fell backward, slamming down on the corner of a step and turning over and over as I desperately reached out for the braces of the banister to stop my descent. I screamed in pain when my right foot got wedged in one of these braces and abruptly jerked me to a stop. I was nearly to the bottom of the stairway.

Señora Rosario came running down the corridor first, followed by Señor Garman and then
mi tía
Isabela. I was groaning and trying to catch my breath while the pain shot up my leg and into my hip.

“What on earth is going on here?” Tía Isabela asked.

Before I could utter a response, Sophia took a step down and said, “She might be drunk or something. She tripped on a step and lost her balance.”

“Drunk?” Tía Isabela said, looking at me.

I shook my head. “No, it is not true, Tía Isabela.”

Señora Rosario was at my side, trying to help me get up. In an instant, Señor Garman moved around her and literally lifted me to my feet, but I screamed with pain when I placed weight on my right ankle.

“Maybe it’s broken,” he told Tía Isabela.

“I’ll get some ice,” Señora Rosario said, rushing out.

“What a mess, and this time of the night, too. I swear, you girls will be the death of me,” Tía Isabela said.

Tears were now streaming down my cheeks.

“I tried to stop her fall, but it happened so quickly,” Sophia said. “One minute she was walking up the stairs, and the next she was rolling down. I thought I was dreaming.”

“You are dreaming,” I managed. “To lie so.”

She dropped her hands to her hips and shook her head. “I’m not lying! Don’t you dare call me a liar! She’s drunk, Mother. Smell her breath.”

I looked at Tía Isabela. I had drunk that glass of wine with Fani and imagined the scent of it might still be on my lips.

She stepped toward me and stopped when Señora Rosario returned with the ice and placed it on my ankle, which already was looking swollen and red.

“I don’t need to smell anyone’s breath. This is a ridiculous scene. Mr. Garman, take her to emergency care, and tell them to bill me,” she ordered. “You go up to bed, Sophia.”

Sophia smiled contentedly at me. “Yes, Mother. That was what I was going to do before all this stupid commotion.” She turned and went up.

“Lean on me, Delia,” Señor Garman said.

“Keep the ice on it!” Señora Rosario called to us.

I didn’t have to lean on Señor Garman. He practically carried me out of the house and down to the limousine. I sprawled out on the rear seat and closed
my eyes. The pain in my ankle was now a dull throbbing rather than a stinging, but it was making me feel nauseous.

“Just relax, Delia,” Señor Garman said, his voice more colored by sympathy than ever. “I’ll get you there quickly.”

He did drive fast, and before I knew it, we were pulling into the parking lot. He came around and this time actually picked me up and carried me into the lobby. There were three other people sitting and waiting: a man with his head in his hands and an ice pack on the back of his neck and a woman with a young child who had been crying.

The receptionist’s eyes widened when Señor Garman carried me up to the counter.

“She has had an accident on a staircase and cannot put any weight on her foot,” he explained.

“Take her in that door,” she said, getting up.

A nurse came around to show him the way. I was placed on a thick cushioned bed.

“Just keep that ice on your ankle,” the nurse said, looking at it, “until the doctor can get to you.”

She asked Señor Garman to go out front and give the receptionist the information.

I couldn’t believe I was there, that everything had happened so quickly. Just a little while ago, I was at the most expensive home and the most wonderful dinner party I could ever imagine. I was happy, excited, and floating on a magic carpet, and then, in an instant, it had all changed.

Of course, my rage was directed at Sophia. Her temper had seized her, and she had been blinded with rage. Then, as always, she dipped into her bank of
lies to come up with another excuse and escape from blame.

It took so long for the doctor to come into the examination room I nearly fell asleep. The pain was duller but still quite loud, I thought.

“Well, well,” the doctor said. “What do we have here?”

I started to sit up, and he said just to relax. He looked at the ankle and turned it slightly. I howled with the new, sharper pain.

“How did you do this?” he asked.

I didn’t know whether it would cause even more trouble to tell the truth, so I simply said I had fallen on a stairway and caught my foot.

“You’ll need an X-ray,” he said. “Just relax.”

He went out, and a little while later, the nurse returned with a wheelchair and helped me into it.

She took me to the X-ray room and helped me lie down. The technician set up my foot and took the pictures. I was then wheeled back to the room to wait. It seemed like another hour before the doctor returned.

“You don’t have a broken bone,” he said. “It’s only a very bad sprain. You’re lucky.”

Lucky? I thought, and nearly laughed.

“I’ll wrap it for you. You’ll have to stay off it for a few days and keep it elevated for now. Just put some pillows under it when you go to sleep. When the swelling subsides, I’d like you to apply moist heat. You’ll be fine,” he said.

“How do I stay off it?”

“You can use crutches,” he told me. “We can provide you with them. Just have them brought back in a few days. I’m sure you’ll be fine by then.”

He had the nurse bring me crutches.

“Just try to keep your weight off it for a while,” she explained.

I hobbled out to the lobby, where Señor Garman was waiting. The nurse told him what the doctor had determined and the doctor’s instructions. He helped me into the rear seat again and fit the crutches beside me.

“Good that it’s not broken,” he muttered, and we drove off.

Suddenly, all of the pain and fatigue settled in me, and I actually fell asleep before we arrived at the
hacienda
. Rather than have me hobble up the stairway to the front door, Señor Garman scooped me up again and carried me like a baby. I was terribly embarrassed, but to him, I don’t think I weighed more than a baby.

My aunt did not come out to see what had been done for me, but Señora Rosario appeared and listened as Señor Garman explained, still holding me in his arms. He carried me up the stairs to my bedroom and set me down just inside the door.

“Remember the pillows under your ankle,” he said.

I thanked him. I saw Sophia’s door opened just a crack and thought I caught her peering out at us. When Señor Garman turned to leave, she closed her door. I wished I had the strength to go at her, but all I could think of was getting into bed. It was now close to two-thirty in the morning. I fixed the pillows under my ankle and went to sleep so quickly I thought it was more like passing out.

If anyone had come to see how I was, he or she did not wake me. It was my phone that finally woke me, and when I looked at the clock, I saw it was close to
noon. It shocked me to see how late I had slept. When I turned to lift the receiver, my ankle reminded me that what had happened was not simply a nightmare.

I croaked a hello.

I heard male laughter. “Don’t tell me you’re still sleeping, Delia,” Adan said.

“Unfortunately, yes,” I said, “but not because I am lazy. I fell down the stairway last night and had to be taken to the emergency care. I have a badly sprained ankle.”

“You’re kidding. How did you fall down a stairway?”

“I was helped,” I said cryptically.

He was silent a moment. “You mean, you were pushed?”

“Pulled was more like it.”

“Who did this? Sophia?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Adan.”

“How horrible. I heard she was pretty bad, but this…can you still go to the Johnson party?”

“I don’t know. I’m on crutches for a day or so.”

“You just won’t do any dancing,” he said. “I’ve already spoken with Fani. I can come by at seven to pick you up. Do we know if Sophia is going to go with you?”

“Yes,” I said, “we know. She is not. How do you say it? If I do not see her or speak to her again, it would be too soon.”

He laughed. “I’ll call you later to see how you’re doing. Don’t let it get you down,” he said. “Just think how curious everyone will be to see you on crutches. You’ll be the center of attention.”

“I’d rather be invisible,” I said.

“I like your sense of humor, Delia. Talk to you later,” he said, and hung up.

I moaned when I sat up and looked at my poor, bandaged ankle. After I had some breakfast, I would apply the moist heat, I thought.

There was a knock on my door, and Edward and Jesse came in quickly. I had forgotten that they were coming today. They had obviously gotten an earful from Señora Rosario or Señor Garman, perhaps even
mi tía
Isabela.

“Tell me what the hell happened,” Edward said angrily. “And don’t make any excuses for her or diminish what she has done.”

I looked at Jesse’s expression, a duplicate of Edward’s rage, which now reflected my own.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I won’t.”

I
am sure
mi abuela
Anabela would not approve of my turning a brother so against his own sister, but with every throb of pain in my ankle, my reluctance to do so was diminished. Edward and Jesse sat on the edge of my bed attentively as I described the evening’s events. The moment I finished, Edward exploded in rage and leaped to his feet.

“That little mean bitch! I’m going to rearrange the features on her face.”

“Hold it,” Jesse told him, reaching out to seize his arm as Edward charged toward the bedroom door. “You’re not going to do Delia any good by beating up on Sophia. She’ll only go crying to your mother, and your mother will take it out on Delia.”

“She needs a good whipping. If there was ever a case of spare the rod and spoil the child, there she is.”

“Maybe so, but not now and not this way.”

A part of me was disappointed. I would have liked to see Sophia beaten, but the more sensible part of me told me Jesse was right. In the end, Sophia would be the one considered the victim, and somehow I would be the cause of it all, poison making a sick family even sicker. Edward relaxed and returned to the bed. He realized that as well.

“So, what do you suggest, Jesse? We just let her get away with this?”

“No. I’m sure you and I can come up with something that makes more sense.”

“Whatever it is, it won’t be severe enough,” Edward muttered. He looked at me. “Who did bring you home last night, Delia?”

“Adan Bovio.”

“Adan Bovio?”

“Maybe the future senator’s son,” Jesse said.

Edward nodded, but he didn’t look happy about it. “What is he, about twenty-six?”

“Yes, I think so,” Jesse said. “Maybe even twenty-seven or twenty-eight.”

“Fani invited him to the Johnson party tonight.”

“Fani invited him?” Edward asked. “It’s not her party. How can she invite someone?”

“Don’t forget, Edward, she’s like a real princess around here,” Jesse told him.

“Yeah, right.”

“Adan is going to pick me up, if I’m able to attend,” I said.

“Well, you won’t be doing the rumba, but I don’t see why you can’t go,” Jesse said.

“Pick you up, huh? You’ll have to stay on the ball, Delia. He has a reputation.”

“What does that mean, Edward, this reputation?”

“He’s a well-known lady’s man.”

“She can take care of herself,” Jesse said, smiling. “C’mon. Don’t get her nervous. She’s been through enough for now.”

“That’s for sure,” Edward said, nodding and still muttering to himself.

Everyone was warning me about Adan, Fani and her sex detector, and now Edward with this lady’s man title. I couldn’t help it. I was getting nervous.

“Let’s go, Delia,” Jesse said. “We’ll help you down to breakfast.”

“I must put some moist heat on my ankle first,” I said. “The doctor prescribed it.”

“I’ll get a washcloth under the hot water for you,” Jesse said.

“Yeah, good idea,” Edward told him. “She should be resting more, anyway. Delia, why don’t you just lie back? I’ll bring up some breakfast for you, or is it lunch?” he said, smiling and looking at his watch.

“Brunch,” Jesse called back from the bathroom.

“Thank you, Edward. I know Tía Isabela is angry at me. She thinks it’s all my fault.”

“Don’t you worry. I’ll straighten that out,” he said, walking to the door. “Just relax, and let us baby you.”

I smiled, and he walked out, closing the door behind him. Jesse returned from the bathroom with a towel to put under my ankle and a steaming washcloth to put around it. He sat at my feet and carefully removed the bandage before applying the moist heat.

“Is it too hot?”

“No. Thank you, Jesse.”

He smiled and looked at my ankle as if he could see it improving every second and then carefully stroked it. While he was leaning over me, Sophia burst into my bedroom.

“Well, look at who’s getting tender loving care!” she cried. Her girlfriend Alisha was right behind her, grinning so hard it looked as if the corners of her mouth would touch her ears. “Or is it a little more than that? What do you think, Alisha?”

“More.”

“Get the hell out of here,” Jesse said.

“Don’t tell me where to go in my house, Jesse Butler,” Sophia said, clamping her hands on her hips. “Did you know she came home drunk last night?” she asked, wagging her head. “And made a big scene, waking everyone, even my mother? All she can do is cause trouble for us.”

“Save your breath and your act. We know exactly what happened last night, Sophia.”

“Yes, so do I,” she said, and stepped to the side to look at me. “You came home with Adan Bovio. You can’t keep a secret from me. I bet you think you’re just so wonderful now, but believe me, you’ll just become another one of his whores. You’ll see, and then—”

Edward had come up behind her with a tray carrying my cup of coffee, eggs and bacon, and rolls and butter with a dish of fruit. He deliberately held it high and bumped into Sophia, causing the cup of coffee to spill out all over the back of her neck. She screamed and nearly leaped out of her skin.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t see you standing there,” Edward said. “This damn one-eye problem.”

Sophia, now in tears, burst past him and out of the room. Edward reached back with his foot and kicked the door closed in Alisha’s face.

“I’ll go get some more coffee,” Jesse said. “What a waste of good coffee.”

Edward laughed and brought the tray to my lap. “Sorry about the little mess,” he said, sopping up the coffee that had spilled in the tray.

“You’re just as bad as she is,” I said, playfully chastising him but secretly pleased.

“Apples don’t fall far from the mother tree,” he replied.

“I know she is just being mean and jealous, but she is not all wrong, Edward. I seem to be a sister to disaster.”

“Don’t you believe it, Delia. She’d love hearing you say that.”

“Were you never close as brother and sister?” I asked as I drank my juice and ate.

“Back when my father was alive, maybe. We used to do a lot together, go with him on trips and to events. He did lavish gifts on us both, but more on her. There’s no doubt he doted on her, which annoyed my mother more than it annoyed me.”

I recalled Casto telling me something like that. For a moment, Edward just sat there, remembering. I ate and thought about it, too.

“Perhaps his death did more to her than it did to you, Edward. Maybe that is why she is this way. She is still suffering inside.”

“I don’t believe you, Delia,” he said, shaking his head at me. “After all this, after what she’s done to you, not only now but before, you still find a way to feel sorry for her.”

“If you harden your heart too much, it will turn to stone,” I said.

“Another saying of your grandmother’s?”

I smiled and kept eating, surprised at how hungry I was.

“Can you say that
en español
?” he asked.

“
Si usted endurece el corazón demasiado, se convierte en una piedra para apedrear
.”

“Wow. Don’t expect me to memorize that one,” he said.

“What one?” Jesse asked, returning with a new cup of hot coffee for me.

“One of her grandmother’s sayings.”

“Oh.” Jesse handed me the new cup of coffee. “I’ll put another hot cloth on that ankle,” he said, and went to do so. “We’ll get you back on your feet before you know it,” he called from the bathroom.

Edward watched me finishing my breakfast and then Jesse reapplying the moist heat. “I think I have an idea,” he said.

“About what?” Jesse asked.

“About how to take this moment of what she thinks is a victory away from Miss Horror.”

“Oh?”

Edward stood up.

“What are you going to do, Edward?” I asked nervously.

“Don’t worry about it. You get some more rest, Delia. Jesse and I have an errand to perform. We’ll be back in a few hours.”

He lifted the tray from my lap.

“I need to get up, shower, and dress,” I said.

“No need to do that until you get ready for the party,” Jesse said.

“I really don’t know if I should go with an injury like this.”

“Of course, you should go. You’re doing fine. You need to distract yourself and forget the pain. You listen to Dr. Edward and his assistant, Dr. Jesse,” he added. “We are the experts when it comes to forgetting unpleasantness, and we prescribe fun and pleasure, food and music…well, just listening to music for now, but still music.”

“C’mon, you idiot,” Edward told him.

“Stay off that ankle,” Jesse called back to warn me as Edward pulled him toward the door.

What were they going to do? I laughed to myself. They had come in like a fresh rain shower and cleared my mind of all self-pity and sadness. Once again, I thought how lucky I was to have them.

I let my head fall back to the pillow and closed my eyes. The food did make me feel better, and the pain in my ankle was just a dull ache now. I was able to doze off and on and had no idea how much time had passed. Suddenly, Edward and Jesse came bursting back into my room.

“And how’s our patient doing?” Jesse asked.

“I do feel better,” I said, bracing myself on my elbows. I looked at the clock. It had been hours since they left. “Where have you been? What have you two done?” I asked, seeing that cat-that-ate-the-mouse look on both of their faces.

“Never mind. We’d like you to get up now. Go shower and put on something.”

“Why? Where am I going?”

“You’re going to your revenge,” Edward said, laughing.

They both wore grins stolen off the face of the Cheshire cat. Suspicious, I started to get out of my bed. Jesse rushed forward to hand me my crutches.

“I’ll pick out your clothes for you,” Edward said. “Don’t worry. Just take your shower, get yourself up.”

I hobbled to the bathroom and looked back to see him and Jesse debating what I should wear. It was not easy taking a shower and staying off my injured ankle, but I did so and tried to be extra careful as I moved about and dried myself. I heard a knock on the bathroom door and opened it a little so Edward could hand me my things. They had even picked out panties and a bra and a pair of soft slippers.

“
Gracias
,” I said, more than a little embarrassed.

After I dressed, I stepped out. They were both standing like two palace guards waiting, their arms folded across their chests.

“Just take your time,” Jesse said.

Now very curious, I moved quickly to the doorway when they opened it and stood back.

“Careful on the stairway,” Edward advised me.

I looked for Sophia when we were out in the hallway, but I neither saw her nor heard her playing her music loudly in her room. I wondered where Tía Isabela was this whole day. I had half expected her to come charging into my room to chastise me and threaten, but she, too, was nowhere in sight.

As we made our way carefully down the stairway, I saw Señora Rosario look up at us with sympathy.

“
Cómo está
?”

“She’s fine, Mrs. Rosario,” Jesse assured her.

“
Bien
,” I said.

She nodded, smiled at the two of them, and walked off.

Something was going on, I thought. I looked at the living room and down the hallway but saw nothing. They turned me toward the front door.

“Where are we going?”

“Just outside,” Edward said. “Just a little farther.”

They smiled like two conspirators at each other. Jesse lunged forward to open the door, and I stepped out to see a bright red sports car with a large yellow ribbon tied around it.

“
Qué es esto
? What is this?” I asked, my breath stolen at the sight.

“This,” Edward said, “is your revenge.” He did an exaggerated stage bow.

“I do not…understand.”

“Edward has purchased a BMW sports car for you,” Jesse said. “We bought the car, got the insurance, and had it gift-wrapped.”

I stared at the two of them as if they had both gone mad, and they laughed.

“C’mon, we’ll get you closer,” Edward said, taking my arm.

They guided me down the steps to the car. It had beautiful cream leather seats.

“There’s a great sound system in there. You’ll be singing along,” Jesse said.

“And a navigator,” Edward added. “We’ll show you how to use everything, so don’t worry.”

“What is this navigator?”

“It tells you how to get where you’re going if you are not sure of the route,” Jesse said.

“So, you can never get lost.”

“You have bought this for me?”

“It’s in your name. Not my mother, nor my sister, no one, has anything to do with it but you.”

“Stop looking so worried,” Jesse said, laughing. “We’ll take turns driving with you until you’re perfectly comfortable with it.”

“You did pass your driving test and the school driver’s course with flying colors,” Edward reminded me.

“
Sí
, but I have not driven much since.”

“So, now you will, and you won’t have to depend on anyone. This, by the way,” Edward said, handing me a credit card, “is your gas card. You know how to put gas in a car, right?”

I looked at him.

“Take it.”

“But you are giving me so much.”

“It pleases me,” he said. “Don’t you know that it’s better to give than to receive? Didn’t your grandmother teach you that?”

I shook my head. “
Demasiado
. This is too much, Edward. Your mother will be very angry.”

“Won’t be the first time,” he said, looking at Jesse. They both smiled. “Look, it’s my money, Delia. She has nothing to say about it.”

“However,” Jesse sang, “there will be someone who will have much to say about it.”

“Your keys,
señorita
,” Edward said, handing me two sets of keys. “You just push this here, and it unlocks the doors and puts on the lights, and here to lock it.”

“I’d advise you to keep it locked, even here, especially here,” Jesse said.

“By next weekend, you will not be using crutches, and we’ll be able to start the driving lessons so you’re comfortable with your car,” Edward promised.

We all heard the front door open and looked up to see Sophia and Alisha gaping at the three of us.