Forever Hearts

by Mia Rodriguez

  “Thank you,” said Delfina, the eldest daughter, when I finished with her hair. It flowed in loose waves with the top part in a curly knot. “Thanks a lot, Valentina.” I looked at her with surprise.

  “Valentina is your name, isn’t it?” she asked.

  “You know my name?”

  “I wasn’t sure if I was remembering it right.”

  She hadn’t been at the hacienda since she was a small child but she remembered my name. Wasn’t that surprising? And she had thanked me.

  “You did a great job with my hair,” she blurted, almost giddily. “I want to look good for dinner.”

  I didn’t think about her words until much later when I was helping serve the food. The table had been set with the best china and the finest decorations. The silver candelabra from Europe sat in the middle of the long, reddish-brown table, looking like a sparkling jewel. Delfina made it a point of sitting next to Lucio who looked very uncomfortable and often glanced at me.

  The next day it was impossible to get together with him since Delfina appeared to be tagging Lucio. Wherever he was so was she, along with one of the servants the Montenegros had brought with them. Even though her obviously bored chaperone, Gregoria, stayed a short distance away, Delfina stuck close to Lucio. Doña Renata grinned at Doña Clotilde with a satisfied smile and Lucio’s mother returned it. Lucio, on the other hand, kept throwing me glances whenever he could of sheer frustration.

  I would’ve deeply disliked and resented Delfina for her puppy-dog attachment to the boy I loved except for one thing, she was sweet and kind. Unlike her sisters who acted just like Lucio’s sisters, she seemed to have a heart. Delfina always thanked people no matter their station in life and looked at everyone in the eye. Still, she was after my Lucio and I didn’t hesitate to tell him what I thought about the situation when I finally got to meet with him at the river. We sat next to each other, under our favorite tree.

  “She’s always with you,” I declared. “Like a dog with a bone.”

  “Tina, I’m not to blame for this. I don’t encourage her.”

  “I think your parents want you to be with her.”

  He chuckled. “You’re letting jealousy infest you.”

  “Lucio,” I said, irritated. “It’s not in my imagination.”

  He smiled. “You can stop worrying. My father has always told me that he wouldn’t arrange a marriage for me, that I can choose.”

  “As long as you choose someone from your own class.”

  His smile abruptly left him. “No one’s going to choose who I marry,” he snapped.

  “No? You sure about that?”

  His soft kiss gave me the answer. “I’m sure.”

  The flowing water next to us gurgled. It took me years to be able to come back to the river after the horrifying accident, but I couldn’t stay away forever. The area was so peaceful, relaxing, and private. As long as I didn’t get on the banks, I was fine.

  “Lucio?” I said, feeling the absolute need to talk to him about what I had been waiting for days to discuss with him.

  “Yes?”

  “I need to ask you something.”

  He frowned. “This isn’t about Delfina, is it?”

  “It’s got nothing to do with her.”

  “Okay, good,” he said, his easy smile returning.

  “It’s about the day that I almost drowned,” I said quietly.

  “What about it?”

  “Were you alone that day?”

  “Tina, why would you ask me that?” he asked, surprised.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know that I wasn’t.”

  “Leonardo was there too,” I mumbled.

  “If you knew that then why did you ask me?”

  “I asked you because I had never realized he had jumped in the water and steered me towards you.”

  “You had never realized it?”

  “I only remembered seeing your hands stretching towards me,” I asserted.

  “You didn’t remember him pushing you up to me?”

  “It was all so confusing that day.”

  “How did you finally realize it?”

  “My mama cleared it up for me a few days ago.”

  He nodded quietly as if he was suddenly bothered by a tremendous thought. “Do you feel differently towards me?—now that you know that it was Leonardo who actually saved your life?” His voice was small and tight.

  “Of course not,” I expressed, my tone abrupt.

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Of course I’m sure!”

  He let out a deep breath. “I swear to you that I would’ve jumped in, but Leonardo beat me to it.”

  “I know you would’ve.”

  “He told me that I needed to stay put so I could pull you out.”

  “That was a smart plan. If you hadn’t followed it, I'd probably be dead.”

  He took my face in his warm hands. “I’ll always be grateful to him for what he did. He’s the reason you’re here with me.”

  “I owe him a lot,” I sighed.

  Chapter 22: Valentina

  As I reached the store on my birthday, I concentrated on what I could only buy once a year. Chocolate. We, the campesinos, owed the hacendado owned stores so much. We were paid so little that we had no choice but to borrow from their stores, and this kept us chained to a kind of slavery through debt. My parents and I had already scrounged every cent we could for the photograph but they knew how much I loved sweets so with absolute sacrifice, they gave me for one bar of rich chocolate—that nectar of the gods that my ancestors had brought to the world. My mouth watered just thinking about it.

  Nearing the door, it swung open and who should come out but Leonardo—of all people. His face was as morose as always. When he saw me, he flashed a look of surprise but not one that was bigger than mine.

  “Good evening,” I said, still completely stunned at having run into him.

  This time, he didn’t return my greeting with sarcasm but instead did what was normal for him and nodded his head at me.

  “How have you been?” I asked, the guilt of never having recognized his heroic act squeezing me.

  “Why do you ask me?” he questioned suspiciously.

  “What?”

  “Why do you ask me how I’ve been?” he asked with a defensive undertone.

  It was impossible to be nice to the guy! “It’s customary to ask people how they are,” I responded a little sharply.

  “But you’ve never asked me.”

  I breathed out a frustrated breath. “That’s because you’re rude,” I blurted, instantly chastising myself for losing patience. Here I was trying to move the conversation into a place where I could give him a long overdue thank you, and I got caught up with his rough personality. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to—“

  Leonardo’s light colored horse, Crema, who was tied to a wood post, suddenly started kicking and jerking wildly. A snake had slithered close to Crema, panicking the horse so much that with all the movement, he undid himself from the post! Everyone got out of the way—everyone except Leonardo whose horror showed in his eyes. I knew in that instant that he had frozen with the thought of how his parents had died. I quickly ran to him and pushed him out of the way. Crema bolted past us, almost skimming us as he kicked and ravaged. I’ve never breathed out such a sigh of relief, but Leonardo still looked pale.

  “It’s okay, Leonardo.” I put my hand on his arm. His wild eyes rested on my hand on his arm, and then his penetrating sight went to my face.

  “You saved my life,” he stated, gulping for air.

  “What’s wrong with you, boy?!” yelled his uncle, having stepped out of the store. I had never seen him so furious with his nephew.

  “Crema—“

  “Yes, I know he ran away, you idiot. You’re so worthless! What if we can’t find Crema? He’s worth much more than you,” Mr. Velasquez said as he took his specia
lly made horse whip, the one he also used on his workers, and started flagellating Leonardo. I jumped in front of Leonardo, trying to stop his uncle but caught one painful whip on my leg where it immediately started gushing blood.

  “Get out of the way, girl!” he ordered.

  Leonardo got me out of the way with a light push and angrily grabbed the whip from his uncle. Mr. Velasquez was no match for Leonardo’s youth and strength.

  “Look at what you did to her!” Leonardo yelled. “This will stop!”

  “Are you sassing me, boy? Give me back that whip!”

  “I’ve already told you, I’m not taking this from you anymore!”

  “You’d better give me that whip,” he menaced.

  “No,” Leonardo said stubbornly back. By that time a large crowd was gathering, and everyone stared with shock at the scene. No one had ever seen Mr. Velasquez treat his nephew like this or Leonardo yelling at his controlling uncle.

  “Give. Me. The. Whip,” Mr. Velasquez menaced slowly, his eyes smoldering.

  “No.”

  “Leonardo—“

  “No!”

  “Okay, keep the whip,” snapped Mr. Velasquez. “But you are no longer welcomed in my house. You have to fend for yourself. I’m tired of your insolence and my charity ends here.”

  Loud gasps reverberated in the air as Mr. Velasquez turned around and started striding away. Leonardo was sixteen-years-old and left to his own recognizance. The worse was that everyone would be afraid of helping him. It wasn’t that the people weren’t generous because I had seen them take in orphans many times but this instance was different. Leonardo just wasn’t any orphan. He was the nephew of the powerful and cruel Mr. Velasquez. Leonardo was now truly on his own.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, looking at my bleeding wound with unbridled anger.

  “I’m fine,” I said, having forgotten it while thinking about what would happen to Leonardo.

  “I’m so sorry he hit you,” Leonardo grumbled, his dark-brown eyes in a squint. “You shouldn’t have gotten in front of me, Valentina.”

  “I had to do something.”

  “That was stupid.”

  “Are you calling me stupid?”

  “No, I’m saying that getting in front of an angry man with a whip is stupid.”

  “Can you just thank me?” I asked, exasperated.

  He eyed me carefully. “Thank you,” he mumbled as his hand glided over his dark-brown hair.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Valentina, you could’ve gotten seriously hurt.”

  “But I didn’t.”

  “Valentina—“

  “Stop worrying about me. You’ve got bigger problems to worry about. What will you do? Where will you live?”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “Come with me,” I told him.

  “What?”

  “Come with me,” I repeated, more forcefully.

  He looked at me with curiosity and questions in his eyes. “Where?”

  “To my house.”

  He shook his head vehemently. “You can’t take me to your house.”

  “Yes, I can.”

  “That’s a terrible idea,” he stated.

  I crossed my arms in front of me. “So I act stupid and have terrible ideas?”

  “I didn’t mean to insult you.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “I just don’t want to get you in trouble,” he stated.

  “It won’t hurt to talk to my parents.”

  “Do you realize what I’ll be bringing to your family. My uncle is an evil man.”

  “Let’s let my parents decide what to do, all right?”

  “But—“

  “All right?” I asked more firmly.

  “Valentina—“

  “All right?” I insisted. “I’m not going home without you. You may be as stubborn as an old burro, but I’m even more stubborn. Come with me, please.”

  He reluctantly nodded his head. I knew the only reason he had agreed was because we were making a scene and people were staring and whispering. Walking swiftly, we headed towards my house quiet and solemn until he decided to speak.

  “I’m sorry you have to spend your birthday like this,” he stated.

  “You know about my birthday?”

  “Yes,” he said simply and left it at that.

  I chuckled darkly. “Well, it wouldn’t be my birthday without something happening. That’s for certain.”

  He eyed me with a pensive look.

  “I can never have a peaceful birthday,” I announced.

  He nodded as if he knew what I was talking about.

  “Take for example, the time I almost drowned,” I said delicately. “And you saved my life.”

  He looked away and I couldn’t read his face—not that I could penetrate his rock-like mask even when we faced one another.

  “I’ve never thanked you,” I blurted. “It’s just that—“

  “There’s no need,” he declared as if it was all he wanted to discuss of the matter.

  “I—“

  “You don’t have to thank me.”

  “But I do have to thank you.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  “Yes, I—“

  “You don’t.”

  “Leonardo!” I exploded. “Let me finish.”

  He nodded solemnly at me. “Go ahead.”

  “I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t know what you had done for me until recently . . . That day was so confusing and so traumatic for me that I didn’t realize you had jumped in the river . . . I’m sorry.”

  “You don’t have to apologize.”

  “Thank you for saving my life.”

  “Thank you right back for today,” he murmured.

  During the rest of the walk, he stayed quiet and so did I. I wondered how I would explain to my parents as we neared my humble home. I stole a quick glance at Leonardo, his features closed off as usual as if nothing had just happened with his violent uncle. How much had he been hiding? I asked myself what his life was really like.

  Once at my house, I asked him to stay outside while I first spoke to my parents.

  “This is a very bad idea, Valentina,” he stated. “I shouldn’t have listened to you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Are we going to start fighting again?”

  “Valentina—“

  “Wait here while I go inside,” I said firmly.

  “But—“

  “Don’t go anywhere. Wait for me.”

  “But—“

  “Leonardo, just wait. Promise me you’ll do that.” I could tell by his eyes he was planning an escape as soon as I stepped in the house.

  “Valentina—“

  “Promise me,” I demanded.

  “I don’t want to get you and your family in trouble,” he asserted, his face in a determined stance.

  “If you don’t wait then I’ll be forced to look for you. Is that what you want?”

  “No,” he said quietly.

  “Please promise me you won’t go.”

  “But—“

  “Promise.”

  He let out a long breath. “Okay, I promise.”

  “You’ll be waiting for me when I get back?”

  “Yes, but please take care of your wound before talking to your parents, okay?”

  I ignored his question and stepped into my home comfortable that he would in fact do what he had promised me. He might’ve been rude and ill-mannered but of one thing I was sure of—he was a person of his word. My parents sat at the kitchen table enjoying a cup of coffee as I walked in. They jumped up alarmed when they took a look at me.

  “What happened, mijita?” asked my mother, running to my side. “You’re a mess and you’re bleeding,” she cried, not taking her eyes off my leg.

  “It’s just a little cut.”

  “You call this a little cut,” my father roared.

  “Epimeni
o, go get the alcohol. Hurry!”

  My father rushed to the cabinets where my mother kept the medicine and grabbed the rubbing alcohol. I was so concentrated on telling them about Leonardo that I barely felt the painful sting as my mother poured it on the angry wound over a wash basin.

  “How did this happen, Valentina?” asked my father.

  “Papa, I have something very important to ask of you.”

  “Not until you tell me what happened,” he said furiously. “This is a whip mark! Who whipped you?”

  My mother eyed me with heavy concern as if waiting for an answer. Since both what I wanted to ask them and what had happened to me coincided, I decided to let it all out.

  “Mr. Velasquez hit me by accident,” I said quietly.

  “By accident?!” yelled my father. “How does one person hit another by accident?”

  “He was trying to hit Leonardo.”

  “His nephew?” asked mama.

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve always suspected that he treated his nephew very badly. Poor boy,” sighed my mother.

  “How in the world did he hit you instead?” asked my father, demanding an explanation.

  “I got in the way,” I said quietly.

  “You got in the way?” asked my father.

  My mother nodded knowingly. “Mijita, were you trying to prevent Mr. Velasquez from hitting Leonardo?”

  “Yes, exactly.”

  “Why would you do something like that?” my father asked furiously.

  “I just had to,” I declared.

  “Wait till I get a hold of his uncle—that fregado Velasquez!” declared my father.

  “Please, Papa. Leave it alone.”

  “Hijita, look at what he did to you.”

  “He’s untouchable, Papa.”

  My father nodded violently. “With his relationship to the Sevillas, he does whatever he wants with us. Those hacendados own us. We’re nothing more than slaves to them.”

  “Ay, mijita,” cried my mother. “Your poor leg.”

  “I’m okay, Mama, I really am.”

  “You’ll have a mark there for the rest of your life,” my father snapped.

  “It’s okay. I’m glad I have it. It’ll be there to remind me about the evil that’s out there—the cruelty of some people.”

  “Why was that cow’s fart hitting his nephew?’ asked my father.

  “A snake spooked Crema, and the horse ran away. Mr. Velasquez said the animal was more valuable than Leonardo.”