by Earl Sewell
Anna was too lovesick. She wanted Carlo to notice her, and the fact that he had any type of interest in Maya was like a double slap on the cheek. “Do you want me to help you get him?” I asked.
“It’s no use.” Anna had already given up hope.
“Come on,” I said as I slipped my feet back inside my shoes. I stood and grabbed Anna’s hand.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“I’m going to get Carlo to notice you,” I said as I hurriedly made my way across the pool deck. Just as Anna and I were about to walk out I glanced over at Maya, who stuck her tongue out at me. I wanted to run over there and punch her in the face, but I had better things to do.
Once we exited the clubhouse, we found Carlo leaning against a tree and talking on his cell phone.
“Okay, listen to me carefully,” I said as I turned to face Anna. I unbuttoned the top buttons on her shirt and opened it up so that her bra was showing. “Moisten your lips.”
“Viviana!”
“Shh. You want him to notice you, right?”
“Yes, but I’m nervous.”
“Now is not the time to be nervous. You need to be confident.”
“How can I be confident when I feel like I’m about to pee on myself?” Anna crossed one leg over the other.
“Just hold on to your pee for now,” I said as I tucked her hair behind her ear. “Now, listen carefully. We are both going to walk past him. When we do, I want you to turn around, make eye contact with him and mouth the words nice butt, and then wink at him. Then I want you to turn back around and keep walking with me.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. How am I supposed to talk to him if I’m walking away from him?” Anna asked, confused.
“Don’t worry, once you do that, he’ll catch up to us and want to get to know you,” I explained.
“How do you know it will work?” she asked.
“Because I’ve done it at least a thousand times,” I said. “Okay, you ready?”
“I’m so about to pee on myself,” Anna said.
“Good, that will give you an edge,” I said, marching her toward him. Anna executed the maneuver perfectly, and it only took a matter of seconds for Carlo to end his phone conversation and catch up to Anna and introduce himself.
It had gotten to be very late and the night air had turned rather chilly. I went back inside the house and upstairs to the spare room. As soon as my head landed on the pillow, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.
“Viviana.” I felt my grandmother shaking my shoulder. I didn’t want to wake up, but she was forcing me to.
“Viviana, get up,” she said as she pulled the sheets off my body. “Come on, rise and shine.”
“What time is it?” I grumbled.
“8:00 a.m.”
“Ugh! Why are you waking me up so early? I wanted to sleep at least until noon,” I said, perturbed.
“No, you need to get up, take a shower and put on some fresh clothes. I took them out of the dryer and brought them up.”
I frowned but sat up, stretched and yawned. “Where are we going?” I asked.
“To find your mother. I want you to take me to Martin’s apartment so that I can talk some sense into her.”
About an hour later we pulled up in front of Martin’s building on King Drive. We got out of the car and walked into the building, up the stairs and to the door of the apartment. I was surprised to see the building janitor working in the apartment.
“What’s going on?” asked Grandmother Esmeralda.
“Who are you?” asked the janitor.
“I believe my daughter was staying here with a man named Martin. Right, Viviana?” she looked at me for confirmation. I nodded yes.
“Oh, yeah. I remember seeing you around the building,” the janitor said. “Well, Martin doesn’t live here anymore. He was put out two days ago because he owed too much back rent.”
“What?” I blurted out, not wanting to believe what I was hearing.
“Sir, do you know where they went?” asked Grandmother Esmeralda.
“I have no idea. I’m just the janitor,” he explained.
“What happened to all of Martin’s stuff?” I asked.
The janitor shrugged his shoulders. “I heard that a bunch of motorcycle guys rented a U-Haul and had everything packed up within a matter of an hour. These apartments are pretty small and it doesn’t take long to move in or out.”
“Thank you,” said Grandmother Esmeralda as she turned and started walking away. “This is not good,” she mumbled.
“What does this mean?” I asked, utterly confused. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed my mother’s number, but my service had been cut off.
“It means that she’s left you with me,” said my grandmother.
“But she didn’t say that she was going to do that.”
“She didn’t have to.”
When we stepped outside I was shocked to see Toya coming down the street, approaching the building. I was glad to see that she was out of jail and I was eager to find out if she knew anything about my mother. I thought perhaps she’d seen or heard more than the janitor had.
“Wait,” I said to Grandmother Esmeralda. “That’s my friend coming.”
“I’ll wait in the car,” she said as she continued toward her sedan and got in.
“Hey, Toya,” I greeted her. “When did you get out?” I whispered.
“My man bailed me out. Why did you leave me like that?” Toya asked with a voice filled with hostility.
“What! Are you crazy? I wasn’t about to go to jail with you,” I said.
“See, it’s chicks like you that I can’t stand. You’re not loyal. I told you not to ever cross me, didn’t I?” Toya snapped. Then without warning she attacked me. Toya began pelting me with wild punches. I tried to move away from her so that I could get my wits about me and defend myself. I couldn’t believe she’d just walked up on me and began throwing down. Toya knew not to let up because she knew that I’d get the better of her once she did. She grabbed my hair and started jerking on it and flung me to the ground. Before Toya could do any more damage, I heard her screaming like a puppy who’d just gotten its tail stepped on.
“I can’t see!” Toya shouted as she released her grip on my hair and continued to swing wildly.
“Get up off of the ground,” said Grandmother Esmeralda. I rose to my feet and noticed that Toya had her hands over her eyes, rubbing them. She couldn’t stop blinking and appeared to be having a massive panic attack.
“You’ve burned my eyes!” she cried out.
“Let me see.” Grandmother Esmeralda approached her and tried to help her.
“No, get away from me!” Toya barked and swung at my grandmother.
“Let me help you!” Grandmother Esmeralda said.
“No!” Toya stubbornly refused.
“You listen good. Go in the house and rinse your eyes with cold water. You’ll live,” said my grandmother. “Viviana, get in the car.”
“What did you do to her?” I asked as I got in and shut the door. Before she answered me she grabbed the crucifix from around the rearview mirror and said, “Forgive me, Father. I did not mean to hurt her. Please make sure that you look after her tortured soul.”
“Uhm, can we go now?” I said, feeling that perhaps other people might come to Toya’s aid and turn the situation into a much bigger nightmare.
“Pepper spray. I brought it with me in case I had to use it on Martin. I didn’t think that I’d have to use it on one of your friends,” said Grandmother Esmeralda as she fired up the car engine and pulled off.
I rested against the seat cushion trying not to panic. How could my own mother just abandon me? I searched my mind and wondered what I’d done wrong. As we drove down the boulevard I stared out the window and pondered what would happen next.
fourteen
MAYA
I glanced around the dance studio at the students in my mother’s Zumba class as they waited for her to cue
the music so they could begin. The health club where she taught the Saturday-morning class was packed with men and women who looked like they were excited to see one another, as well as ready to enjoy the class. Anna and I were both there because our mother had forced us to come. It wasn’t like Anna and I were out of shape or dealing with teen obesity or some other horrible medical condition. It’s just that my mom was a fitness maniac and wanted to make sure we took our health seriously. I’m positive that between Anna and me, we’d heard her health speech at least a million times.
“Diabetes and high blood pressure runs in the family. Take care of yourself now because no one ever says that they want to grow up to be old, sick and tired,” she’d say. Both Anna and I would just let her blabber on until she ran out of gas. I, for one, knew that I’d always be thin and shapely like her. I had a very high metabolism and I healed up quickly, so my mother was really preaching to the choir when it came to me. Now, Anna, on the other hand, loved junk food. Chocolates, cake, ice cream and anything made by Dolly Madison. Zingers and Donut Gems were her favorites. When it came to candy she loved Pixy Stix, Lemonheads and Chick-O-Sticks, Nerds, Now and Laters, taffy candy, and everything gummy. She kept a stash in her top drawer and was known to get up during the night to eat candy. Like me, Anna had a high metabolism, but she always had dental cavities. I just knew one day she was going to wake up and not have a single tooth in her head.
If you asked me, life would be so much more bearable if Anna were dropped off at an orphanage. I glanced at myself in the mirror and thought my workout gear looked perfect on me. I had on a blue-and-black Nike tank top with matching blue-and-black spa pants. I looked marvelous. Anna, being the annoying little sister that she was, copied my style. We were practically wearing the same outfit; the only difference was that her tank top was green-and-white. I wanted to choke her for trying to be chic like me.
One of the reasons I wasn’t complaining too much was because I knew that Misalo was going to be at the gym. Ever since he had seen Carlo flirting with me, he had felt threatened by him. I told him that there was no need to, but my words weren’t enough.
“So, you want a man with a little more muscle, aye?” he asked later that day after he had seen Carlo flirting with me at the swimming pool.
“Stop being so jealous.” I tried to ease his fears, but my words offered him little comfort. Although I had to be honest with myself, if Misalo wasn’t the love of my life, I’d definitely want to get to know Carlo a lot better. There was just something about him. He had swagger and the looks to go along with it. If Carlo could sing, he’d probably have girls chaining themselves to his ankles.
“Okay, guys, are you ready to Zumba!” my mother said as she adjusted her headset, which had a microphone attached to it. When she heard a chorus of voices answer she pressed the play button on the stereo remote and we began.
“We’re going to work hard today, but we’re going to have so much fun,” she said as we all marched in place.
By the time the Zumba class was over, I was in need of a shower. When I exited the dance studio on my way to the locker room, I saw Misalo and two of his soccer-team friends over in the free-weight area. Before my mother could give me the evil eye or tell me not to go by Misalo, I was walking briskly toward him. He was lying on his back about to do the bench press. He had two giant forty-five-pound weights on each side of the bar. It looked to be way more than he could lift, but that wasn’t going to stop him from trying. His friend helped him lift the bar off the rack.
“I’ve got it,” I heard Misalo grunt the words. His friend walked to the other side of the gym.
Misalo’s arms were wobbling as he held the bar above his head. I wanted to say, “Are you crazy? That’s obviously too heavy,” but I didn’t want to startle him. I stood at a safe distance and watched him try to lower the bar to his scrawny chest. He tried to push it back up, but he couldn’t. The bar fell onto his chest and rolled up toward his neck. I stood frozen with horror as I watched Misalo struggling. Just as I was about to run over and help him, Carlo appeared. He lifted the bar back up and placed it on the rack. Misalo coughed and took a few deep breaths before he sat upright.
“Thanks, but I had it,” Misalo said.
“Yeah, you were about to kill yourself,” Carlo said, shaking his head disapprovingly. Carlo was wearing a black tank top with dark blue gym shorts. His skin glistened with sweat from running on one of the treadmills. He looked like a god and wore his muscles proudly. For a moment I found myself wanting to place sweet kisses on his neck and nibble on his strong shoulders.
“You need to lift a lighter weight, little man,” Carlo said as I walked up.
“Are you okay, Misalo?” I asked as I stood by his side.
“You didn’t just see that, did you?” he asked with embarrassment in his eyes.
“Yes. Thank goodness Carlo was nearby,” I said, without giving a single thought to his fragile ego.
“I didn’t need the dude’s help. I had it. My hands were in the wrong position. That’s all,” Misalo said unapologetically as he stood.
“Whatever, little hombre. You can thank me later. A word of advice, though—stick to girl weights before you try playing with the big-boy toys. Maya, it’s good to see you again, baby.” Carlo smiled and then winked at me. I couldn’t believe that I actually felt butterflies prancing around in my belly. Carlo had eyes that I couldn’t help but get lost in.
“Hey, man, Maya is my girl. I can’t have you disrespecting me like that.” Misalo’s feathers were clearly ruffled and he wanted to fight. His soccer friends came over and stood by his side and asked what was going on.
“Guys, just calm down. Nothing is going on.” I immediately tried to defuse Misalo’s hostility toward Carlo. Carlo was the essence of macho. He wasn’t the least bit afraid of Misalo or his friends. Carlo puckered his lips and blew me a kiss.
“Keep your damn eyes and lips off of my girl or else!” Misalo’s pride was on the line and he wasn’t about to back down.
“Or else what?” Carlo turned toward Misalo and called out, “Hey, Sonny and Felix, come here for a second.” What neither Misalo nor I knew was that Carlo was there with his older brother, Sonny, and his cousin Felix. They were just as handsome as Carlo and had bodies that were just as sculpted. They also looked like they’d punish Misalo and his friends mercilessly if provoked. I don’t know why or how Carlo’s cockiness had cast its spell on me, but it had. I found myself wanting to stand behind him and press my cheeks against his back. I wanted to inhale his scent, feel the heat of his body and let him whisper sweet things in my ear. I was literally in some type of trance that I couldn’t explain.
“Hello, Carlo.” Anna walked up and I snapped out of my daydream. I panicked a little because I knew my mother wasn’t far behind. I looked toward the dance studio and saw that she was busy talking to her students.
“Ah, cómo estás, Anna. It’s good to see you again. Where is your cousin?” he asked.
“She went home,” Anna said with a smile that was bigger than her body.
“You still haven’t used the phone number I gave you,” Anna tried to whisper, but I heard her. I rolled my eyes because Carlo was so out of her league.
“Guys, look.” I finally found my voice. “We just have a big misunderstanding here. No harm has been done. Anna, we should go before Mom comes,” I said, wanting her to step away from Carlo.
“Mom is busy,” Anna said defiantly.
“Anna, I’m not playing with you,” I said a little more aggressively.
“Wait a minute. This cute little woman here is your sister?” Carlo asked.
“Oh, Carlo.” Anna giggled uncontrollably. She obviously had a ridiculously huge crush on Carlo.
“Beauty runs in the family I see.” Carlo smiled. At that moment, the worst thing in the world happened. My mother walked over. I wanted to go and stick my head in the ground.
“Ladies, what’s going on?” my mother asked as she looked at Misalo and
his friends and then at Carlo and his crew. When she took a glance at Carlo, she flinched a little as if she had to make sure that her eyes were not lying to her.
“Is this your mother?” Carlo asked me.
“Yes,” Anna answered before I could.
“Respect, señorita.” Carlo, his brother, and cousin nodded their heads in a show of respect to my mother. “You have beautiful daughters. If Maya continues to hang around guys like him—” he pointed to Misalo “—she’ll get into trouble. He has a very short temper. I have two sisters. They’re only nine and eleven, but since I’m their big brother I make sure they know not to hang around boys with tempers.” I couldn’t believe how easily and smoothly Carlo had tossed Misalo in front of a big-ass bus.
“Why are you talking to Misalo when your father and I have asked you not to?” My mother started in on me.
“Mrs. Rogers, I wanted to apologize for—” My mother tossed up her hand and made Misalo talk to it. I glanced at him. I could see the humiliation taking over his prideful heart.
“Come on, fellas. Let’s go,” Carlo said and politely excused himself. I watched Anna communicate with Carlo through her eyes. She wanted him to call her so badly. I once again got lost in Carlo’s swagger.
“Don’t look at him, look at me!” My mother popped her fingers in front of my eyes.
“I’m sorry. What were you saying?” I asked.
“I’m going to go, Maya. I’ll see you around,” Misalo said. I craned my neck in his direction, but he’d already begun to walk away, with his head slumped between his shoulders.
“Mom, I didn’t know he was here,” I explained as feelings of regret filled my heart. I was utterly confused by everything that had just happened. I didn’t know how to explain any of it. I thought my mother would be angrier, but she wasn’t.
“When you’re ready to talk about all of this, just let me know,” she said.
“Talk about all of what?” I asked, trying to pretend that I was completely ignorant.