“Me, too!” said Salvador. “That’s exactly what I always used to say!”
“You, too?”
“Yes!”
“I’ll be!”
Lupe and Salvador laughed, and they continued talking, having a grand time, until Nellie and Domingo came walking up to them, blowing out cigarette smoke through their noses like dragons. After introducing Lupe to Nellie and Domingo, the two young women went off to the bathroom together.
Salvador couldn’t believe his ears when Domingo drew in close to him and whispered, “Eh, little brother, what are you doing, making eyes at a virgin? Hell, haven’t you learned that the best ones are like my Nellie, women who’ve been around and know how to play the coo-coo?”
Salvador almost slugged his brother, but then he saw the sincerity in Domingo’s eyes, and he simply laughed, truly understanding how very little he had in common with this man who happened to be his brother and had come back from the dead.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The heavens smiled upon the earth, and the child of the meteorite found herself in love with the nineteenth child—a gift from God, his mother had also been told.
“Well, seeing how happy you are,” said Domingo, “how about giving me another little loan?”
“How much?” said Salvador, whistling happily.
The dance was over, and they were on their way to Corona. Salvador wanted to tell their mother the good news.
“Oh, make it an even five hundred,” said Domingo, winking at Nellie.
“Five hundred!” yelled Salvador, almost going off the road. “That’s a fortune, Domingo!”
“Yes, but I’ve seen that wad you carry,” he said, smiling. “It’s big enough to choke a horse!”
Salvador decided to pull over to the side of the road. His brother had absolutely no comprehension of what money was.
“Oh, are we going to get out together again?” said Domingo.
“No,” said Salvador. “I think it’s best that maybe I say this in front of both of you so there won’t be any misunderstanding.”
Salvador took a big breath. “Look, Domingo, Nellie,” he said, “what I’m about to say is very important, maybe the most important thing I’ve ever learned. Money for us mejicanos is something to spend, to throw away on liquor and cards to enjoy.”
“Of course,” said Domingo, smiling, “that’s what it’s for!”
“And that’s what I always thought. And the rich and the priest in every village wants you to believe that,” said Salvador. “So you’ll give to the church what you don’t throw away, and the rich can keep you poor and slaving for them for all eternity.”
Nellie became uncomfortable. She was a Catholic, too, after all. She hated it when people spoke badly about the Church. Salvador saw her reaction, but he wasn’t about to be stopped. This was truly one of the most important things that he’d learned in all his life.
“But if you’re smart, then money isn’t to be thrown away,” he said. “It’s to be respected. Because it gives a man power and freedom. It allows a man to prepare himself by taking a nap in the afternoon before a night of poker. It makes a man a professional, giving him the time to think, to organize, and it gives him the strength to take the money away from the other men like candy from babies.”
“Well, then, make it a thousand,” said Domingo, really liking his brother’s words.
“And what for? To have you just throw it away?” said Salvador. “No, you listen to me carefully, Domingo. Respect, respect of money is the first thing a man must learn if he’s going to get ahead. The Greeks, up in Montana, they’d make a dollar a day from the railroad and they’d put half away every day. Then they’d try to save a little of the fifty cents that they used for living. They were tough, I tell you. Money wasn’t money to them; no, it was something that you saved, accumulated until you finally had enough to open a restaurant or the power to do what you really wanted to do. So this wad of money that I carry isn’t for me to spend. No, it’s my capital, the tool I use to make my living. Just like a truck driver has his truck, I got my money to buy supplies, to carry me as a businessman. Do you understand?”
Salvador stopped, feeling proud that he’d been able to put into words this complicated concept that he’d been taught by his mother and then refined by the Greeks and Duel. But then, to his surprise, Domingo only grinned.
“This is all bullshit, little brother,” said Domingo, “I’ve seen you use your wad to buy things all the time.” He winked at Nellie, showing her that he hadn’t been taken in by any of Salvador’s fancy words.
“Oh,” said Salvador, “then, if this is bullshit, how come I’ve got money and you don’t?”
Domingo’s face flushed. “I’ve had bad luck, that’s all!” he snapped.
“You call it bad luck; I don’t. I call it planning.”
Domingo had had enough. “Look,” he said, “are you going to loan me the money or not?”
Salvador stopped. He could see that his brother hadn’t understood one single word. “Not five hundred,” he said.
“Well, then, how about only two hundred?” said Domingo. “We need to get a car and a house of our own, Salvador. The child will be coming soon.”
“A house costs five dollars a month,” said Salvador. “And you can get a good truck for fifty dollars. I’ll loan you a hundred. But no more. And you got to pay me back.”
“Sure, when we set up the new distillery, I’ll pay you back,” said Domingo.
“Hold on,” said Salvador, taking a big breath, “before you ever work for me again, we’re going to have to come to an understanding. I can’t have you doing like you did back in Escondido.”
Domingo’s eyes flashed. He was ready to spring into a rage, but he caught himself and laughed, instead. “All right, make it a hundred and fifty,” he said, “and we’ll do things your way from now on, hermanito.”
“I said a hundred,” said Salvador.
Domingo’s eyebrows narrowed and he stared at Salvador, giving him the mean eye, just like their father had always liked to do. Salvador almost laughed in his face. Hell, he’d been in too many poker games to be taken in by this cheap trick. It was a game only for fools. After a moment, Domingo folded.
“All right, make it the hundred,” he said, seeing that he wasn’t going to be able to intimidate his brother.
“Okay,” said Salvador. He pulled out his roll and counted out the bills for his brother. He’d won. He’d beaten his older brother two times in one day, but it didn’t feel good.
Oh, how he wished that his brother had returned to them as a real man, able to take control of the reins of their family, as an older brother should.
When they arrived at Corona, Domingo and Nellie went to Luisa’s house. Domingo was still fuming. He hadn’t liked to be put in his place, especially not in front of Nellie.
Salvador immediately went to his mother’s place in back to tell her about Lupe. “Mama,” he said, rushing inside, “wake up! Wake up!”
“What is it?” she asked.
“I’m the happiest man in all the world!” he said. “Lupe said yes!”
“Oh, that’s wonderful, mi hijito!” said the old lady, groping for him in the dark. The only light in the shack was the long spears of moonlight coming in through the cracks in the walls. “This is the day I’ve lived for.”
“That’s what you always say!”
“Well, it’s true. At my age, every day is the day I’ve lived for.”
They laughed together, hugging close.
“And, also, she said something so spectacular that I couldn’t believe it, Mama,” he said.
“Well, tell me!”
“I told her of the little house that I asked Hans and Helen about, you know, the Germans that I’ve told you about down in Carlsbad.”
“The ones who own the restaurant and the avocado ranch?”
“Exactly,” he said. “I told Lupe about the house that we can rent on their ranch with the little house in ba
ck for her parents; but, Mama, she told me that she’d thought more about it and she doesn’t want any of our relatives living near us for the first few years of our marriage.”
“She said that?” said Doña Margarita.
“Yes,” he said excitedly.
“Oh, mi hijito, this Lupe is a jewel! To be so young and so close to her parents and still have the intelligence to say this to you. Oh, she is made of iron. This is a woman you can never lie to. Do you understand me? I only wish I’d had her intelligence when I’d gotten married.”
“But, Mama, I already lied to her. She doesn’t know that I gamble or make liquor.”
“Oh, that’s right,” she said, shaking her head. “Well, that’s going to have to be straightened out as soon as you marry. Lupe is a woman to respect. But, still, I wish you . . . ”
“I know, that I’d met that girl who came to milk the goats.”
“Exactly. She was an angel, I tell you. So beautiful and yet capable.”
“Mama, you just wait until you see Lupe. No woman on earth could be more beautiful!”
The old lady smiled. “I’m glad to hear you say that, mi hijito. For this is how it should be. Every man who takes a wife should feel that his is the most beautiful in all the world. And then she will be; for she’ll blossom like a flower with the love that man gives her. I know; our first years of marriage were wonderful and, maybe, if I’d had the intelligence of Lupe, we could have continued in bliss. But we lived under my parents’ roof and, year by year, I could see that Don Juan just wasn’t the man that my father, Don Pío was. Worse, he could see it, too.”
She took a big breath. “You must understand, mi hijito, that when a man marries . . . he doesn’t just marry any woman. No,” she said, lifting her index finger and closing her eyes in concentration, “he marries the mother of his children!”
“Yes, I know. You’ve told me this a thousand times.”
“Good, so then maybe you can begin to understand the miracle of what I’m about to say. Because, I tell you, this is the most important step you’ll ever take in all your life, and so you must have your two eyes wide open.”
“But, Mama, you talk like I’m never going to see you again.”
“You aren’t,” she said. “Your life with me is over.”
“Oh, that’s not true, Mama. Lupe and I will come to see you often.”
“To visit, of course, but not to be with me anymore.”
“Mama,” he said, “I love you. I’ll always be with you.”
“No, you will not,” she said, “or you will fail in your marriage.”
He was stunned by her awful words.
“Listen to me carefully,” she continued. “Lupe is right; the first few years of any marriage should be lived alone. Your familia will still be your family, of course, but it can no longer be your first family. This is the miracle of marriage. Each new marriage is like a whole new beginning, a return to the Garden of Eden, and each new couple is Adam and Eve, the first two people on earth.”
“I swear, Mama,” said Salvador, laughing, “don’t you think that you’re being just a little too . . . ”
“Too romantic? Too dramatic?” she snapped. “No! A thousand times no! You open your eyes and see what I’m saying or your marriage will not work. This life that you and Lupe are about to begin has only the value you place on it, not the value that the Church gives it, or what we, the parents, give it, or even society. Its value is what you two agree upon giving it. And given full value, marriage is then, indeed, a return to Eden, and you two are, indeed, the first man and woman on earth. Marriage isn’t sex, mi hijito, and it isn’t even having children. Sex and children can be had all life long without marriage.”
He breathed deeply. His mother always had to make things so complicated. But then, on the other hand, that was probably how all his talk about money had sounded like to Domingo.
The old woman saw his confusion. “Give me your hand,” she said. “Look, I’m not saying that you’re going to stop loving me or that I’m going to stop loving you. No, I’m only saying that our family will no longer be your first love. Both you and Lupe have to understand this or you won’t be able to make a home. This is the very reason why Adam and Eve are considered the first two people on earth. They were the first to make a promise between themselves to join body and mind and give honor to the glory of God.”
“You mean, they weren’t the actual first two people on the earth?”
“No, of course not, but for their tribe, they were the first two people who made this most profound of agreements between themselves, relinquishing the devil and giving honor to the greater glory of God.”
“Oh, Mama, this is incredible. Where did you learn this?”
“Why, in the outhouse, of course. What in God’s name do you think The Virgin and I talk about all these mornings that I spend with her? We speak about the word of God, mi hijito, and not as if it all happened years ago, but as it is happening now, here, today, with us.”
Salvador’s mind was reeling, exploding. “You mean all these years you’ve really been speaking to the Virgin? And Christ really came off the cross that other day and spoke to you?”
“Of course,” she said. “Did you really think that God quit speaking to us here on earth when he finished with the Jews? Oh, no, mi hijito, it is for each people to find their own way. This is exactly why I’m telling you that what Lupe said to you is so profound. Being so young, she still instinctively knew that you two must be alone for the first few years of your life, so that you can grow together, so you can make mistakes together without your relatives watching over your shoulders. So you can . . .” Tears came to her eyes, and she drew Salvador close, holding him. “Oh, mi hijito, I’m so proud of you. You picked a very, very, very good woman. My job is over. I can now rest in peace.”
“Oh, no, Mama,” he said. “I still need you! Please, don’t die!”
“Who said anything about dying?” she laughed. “I just mean that I can now drink my whiskito and smoke my cigarritos in peace.”
“Oh, good,” he said. “I’ll make us a whiskey right now.”
He got up and fixed them each a drink and they talked late into the night; they were two people so happy just to be with each other.
The next thing Salvador knew it was daybreak. He absolutely had no idea where the night had gone. He put his mother to bed and went outside to relieve himself. His mother’s words still rang inside his mind, “Marriage has only the value that a man and a woman put on it.”
He brought out the diamond ring from his pocket and looked at it there in the early morning light. Oh, he was happy that he had had the confidence in human nature to entrust his money to Harry. He was a good friend. Just like Kenny and Hans and Helen.
He decided to change clothes so he could go and see the priest. Then, he’d have to talk to Epitacio about setting up a new distillery. He had to make a lot of liquor so he’d be able to throw the biggest wedding feast that the barrios had ever seen.
It was Thursday and Lupe was sitting outside on the porch. It was the evening that Salvador was supposed to come by with his sponsor, and he still hadn’t arrived.
Lupe had asked her parents to dress up. They’d done so and were playing cards inside of the house, pretending not to be nervous, but Lupe could tell that they were as nervous as she was.
On arriving at the church to pick up the priest that evening, Salvador was shocked to find that the man of God was drunk. He’d finished off one of the bottles of whiskey that Salvador had dropped off earlier that week.
“I’m fine,” said Father Ryan. “I’ll just have a little coffee, and then we’ll be on our way.”
The Father’s hands were shaking so much that Salvador had to help him put the pot of coffee on the stove.
“By the way, Father,” said Salvador, “I think you should know that they don’t drink.”
“Well, then, it’s a good thing I had a couple of sips before we left,” he said, smiling.
But Salvador didn’t smile. He was having all these terrible visions of the priest ruining everything. He was beginning to think that he’d been a fool to get involved with an alcoholic priest.
“Calm down, my son. Everything will be all right,” said Father Ryan. “Here, I think you better have a little drink yourself,” added the priest.
“What the hell,” said Salvador to himself, and he took a good belt.
They were both singing Irish songs by the time they got to Santa Ana. Driving down the street to Lupe’s house, the priest winked at Salvador, popping a piece of candy in his mouth.
“Here,” he said to Salvador, “for your breath.”
“Thank you,” said Salvador, taking the candy.
“Everything is going to be fine,” said the man of God as they pulled up to Lupe’s home.
Victoriano was on the front porch. He was all dressed up. Salvador had never seen him with a tie and coat before.
“Hello!” called Salvador.
“Good evening,” said Victoriano, coming down the steps.
Just then, Father Ryan tried to get out of the car. He almost fell. Victoriano rushed forward to help the man. Salvador could’ve died.
“These new cars,” said the priest, regaining his balance with Victoriano’s help, “they’re too fancy for me.”
As they went up the steps and in the front door, Salvador prayed to God that no one would smell their breath. The place looked immaculate inside. There were fresh flowers on the table. Doña Guadalupe and Don Victor were well-dressed, too; but neither Lupe nor Carlota were anywhere in sight.
Salvador was filled with fear. Maybe Lupe had been sent away and his proposal of marriage was going to be turned down.
But then the priest went up to Doña Guadalupe, and took her hand, and he introduced himself, speaking like an angel. Then he took Don Victor’s hand and also spoke to him very well. Salvador began to relax.
Rain of Gold Page 68