Crossing the Line

by Malín Alegría

Fabi didn’t like it. She didn’t like him, and especially didn’t like him coming to her family’s restaurant. Fabi marched to the table where Dex had taken a seat. “What do you want?” she snapped.

  Dex smirked. “How ’bout we start with a menu?”

  “Oh, come on, what are you doing here? We both know you don’t want to eat here.”

  “You don’t know that,” Dex snapped back.

  “Are you trying to tell me that in all the years we’ve known each other, you never once came to my family’s restaurant, but now, all of a sudden, you have an urge for our food?”

  “Maybe I never had a reason to come before,” Dex said, winking at Fabi.

  So his reason now was her sister, Alexis? Oh, please! Fabi felt nauseous. “Well, we don’t have menus. Actually, we’re all out of food. Sorry.” She smiled back so hard her cheeks hurt.

  “Oh, Fabi,” interrupted Grandma Trini, coming up behind her, “why are you acting so maleducada, and to such a handsome young man?” Trini pressed her chest forward. “And look at his letterman jacket.” She hit Fabi playfully on the arm. “He’s athletic. You like athletic boys, don’t you, Fabi?” Trini smiled brightly at Dex and purred, “You should really try the chili con carne. It’s real hot and spicy. You like hot and spicy?”

  Dex started to squirm, and his face was turning bright red. Maybe Grandma Trini was not so embarrassing after all, Fabi thought with a smirk.

  “I’ll be right back with your order,” Fabi said, and quickly walked away, leaving Dex alone with her cougar grandmother.

  When Fabi returned a few minutes later, she found Alexis sitting across from Dex at the table. Alexis was laughing in that high, fake, hair-tossing way that she did whenever she was trying too hard. The whole scene made Fabi sick, but what could she do?

  “Here’s your order,” Fabi spat as she tossed a bowl of chili on the table, spilling some of the meaty broth.

  “Okay,” Dex said, a little annoyed, “thanks.”

  Alexis shot her a “go away” look. The betrayal was sharp, like a knife in her back. Fabi couldn’t believe how her sister was acting — especially after Fabi had explained the rules to her that week at school! As she stalked off, Fabi overheard Dex say, “What’s your sister’s problem?” It took all of Fabi’s strength to keep walking away.

  Dex left thirty minutes later, but Fabi was forced to listen to her sister retell the entire conversation. Thankfully, in the middle of Alexis’s long description, the door chimed again. Fabi looked up — and instantly regretted it. Melodee Stanton was standing at the door, carrying a Louis Vuitton purse and an ugly rat-looking dog in a matching sweater. What was going on? This was way too much drama for one day. Maybe it wasn’t too late to change schools.

  “Hey,” Fabi said, meeting Melodee at the door.

  Melodee jumped at the sight of Fabi. She gave the place a quick once-over. “You work here?” she asked in disbelief.

  “Yes, this is my family’s restaurant.” Fabi extended her arm out in a sweeping gesture. “I’ve been working here since I was seven years old. But I don’t think you came to hear my life story.”

  Melodee huffed, glancing at her Gucci watch in annoyance. “No, I don’t have time to chat. All I want to know is if Dex was here.” She looked over Fabi’s shoulder and into the kitchen. Did she think Dex was hiding under the counter?

  “You just missed him,” Fabi replied, pointing to the door behind Melodee. “He went that way.”

  Melodee turned to go, but stopped and looked Fabi in the eye. “What did he want?”

  Just then Alexis came out of the bathroom. She grabbed a bottle of Coke and returned to her table to begin her homework. Melodee followed Fabi’s gaze. “I don’t know,” Fabi said. “I think he likes his chili con carne hot and spicy.”

  Melodee made a foul face, or maybe it was just the way she caked on her makeup. Fabi always wondered how she kept it from melting off her face in the humidity. “Oh, you think you’re so clever, Miss Fabiola Garza, don’t you?”

  “Are you stalking Dex, or something?”

  Melodee turned pale. “No, I’m not. I’m just —” she stumbled as she started to grow flustered. “I just need to talk to him, okay? And it’s none of your business anyway, and I don’t know why I’m even explaining myself to you.” Melodee turned quickly and marched out the door, leaving a trail of perfume behind her that rivaled Grandma Trini’s.

  Fabi rushed to the bathroom and locked herself in a stall, trying to calm her thumping heart. She didn’t know why this was happening to her. Dex and Melodee, both in one day! What were the chances? She didn’t know why they bugged her so much. Sure, Dex was a jock, a jerk, and he had picked on her all freshman year. And Melodee was a pill — one of those big fat vitamin pills that make you gag. And now with Alexis gaga for Dex, what was she supposed to do?

  Fabi pulled out her cell phone and sent a text to her best friend. There were only two words:

  Rescue me.

  The following Friday, Georgia Rae picked Fabi up after school. They were going to the Dos Rios football game later that evening, but first Fabi wanted to see Georgia Rae’s new place. The tiny apartment was cramped with piles of unopened boxes stacked to the ceiling. Georgia Rae used to live on a large cattle ranch that her great-great-grandfather built, filled with animals like quail, hogs, and turkeys running wild in the hills. But when her mom’s boyfriend got caught for smuggling, they had to move into an apartment complex in McAllen.

  “What did your mom do with all the animal taxidermy?” Fabi asked. The rest of Georgia Rae’s family were avid hunters and always mounted their prized kills, mostly whitetail bucks, ducks, and bobcats. It was a little creepy at night when the light sparkled on their glass eyes.

  “Mom’s gotten rid of everything. She’s on this kick about how we have to start over,” Georgia Rae said, looking bored as she covered her short brown bob with a mist of hair spray. She glanced around her bedroom and shrugged. “It’s a lot smaller than the ranch, but my mom’s actually way happier in the city. Did I tell you about the theater department at my school?” she asked, suddenly switching subjects. “My drama teacher says I have a lot of potential. She said I should try out for the lead in the new play. Can you believe it? You should see where all the drama students hang out. You’re totally going to love it. They have vegetarian food there, too.” She grabbed her keys from her dresser. “C’mon, let’s go.”

  Georgia Rae took Fabi to a cute green wooden house that had been converted into a coffee shop, with cool paintings and old record covers decorating the walls. The new, hip place was so funky and surreal, it felt out of place in the Valley — it belonged in a bigger city like Austin or Houston.

  Fabi smiled. “You are so lucky to live here.” She instantly felt twenty times cooler sitting on an animal-print lounge sofa and sipping on a caramel macchiato. This was how civilized people should live, Fabi thought as she grinned to herself — with movie theaters, a mall, art galleries. “If I lived here I would spend all my time drinking caramel macchiatos.”

  “I know, huh?” Georgia Rae smiled brightly, enjoying the opportunity to show off this new place to her friend. “I just can’t believe that your parents gave you Friday night off.”

  “Actually, Chuy is covering for me. He’s going to lock up the restaurant tonight.” Fabiola hugged her best friend tightly and cried to her in distress. “I’ve missed you so much! I can’t believe you deserted me. School sucks without you. Do you think your mom would adopt me?”

  “Oh, c’mon,” Georgia Rae kidded, pushing Fabi back on the couch. “It can’t be that bad.”

  “It’s worse,” Fabi said. “It’s like a nightmare that I can’t wake up from. My own baby sister has become one of the popular girls.”

  “No!” Georgia Rae cried, in a suitably horrified tone.

  “I swear, it’s the worst!” But Fabi couldn’t hold back the giggles. “Seriously, though, I was really excited about her starting high school. I had BIG plans for us thi
s year. But now … I feel like her sad, needy sister.”

  Georgia Rae reached over and squeezed Fabi’s hand.

  “I’m okay,” she tried to reassure her friend. “It’s just strange now. I don’t know how to act around her anymore. And Dex Andrews is all into her.”

  Georgia Rae stuck her index finger in her mouth as if wanting to gag. It made Fabi laugh again.

  “I know, gross, huh? And there’s no talking sense to Alexis. She’s so enamored with high school, and it makes me feel like a pathetic wet blanket.”

  “You have nothing to feel pathetic about,” Georgia Rae said, slapping her palm on the table. “All those guys are super lame-o’s. Besides, what happened to our plan?”

  “Yeah, but you moved away. You left me,” Fabi lamented. “And you have all this now.”

  “You still have your quinceañera money?”

  “Yeah, it’s all still there. In the bank, just like we talked about.” It was Georgia Rae’s idea that Fabiola should skip the traditional quinceañera party in exchange for a trip to New York City. Her aunt Consuelo had already agreed to take them.

  “Then what are you complaining about? In a couple of years we’ll be out of here. No more burning sun or dust devils. No more dumb jocks and prissy dance-squad girls. College is a whole new world. We just got to get there.”

  “Oh, Georgia Rae,” Fabi wailed, wanting to cry. “You’re so right. I can’t tell you how much I needed to see you. You always know exactly what to say. I’m going to have to come visit you once a week — to keep me from going crazy.”

  “Yes, you will. Now, enough of this sad talk.” She glanced at her watch. “We better hurry. We don’t want to be late to the first game of the season.”

  On the drive back to Dos Rios, Fabi’s stomach started to somersault. She looked over her shoulder at the road behind her as Georgia Rae drove. They were leaving behind department stores and five-star restaurants for dry country landscape, wild sunflowers, and roadkill. Fabi held her breath as they crossed the city limits. Despite her reservations, and despite their feelings about most of the jocks at school, Fabi and Georgia Rae always went to the Dos Rios football games. They loved to watch their team kick butt on the field.

  “Hey,” Georgia Rae said, pointing out the truck window, “isn’t that that new boy, what’s-his-name?”

  “Milo, I think,” Fabi said.

  On the side of the road, looking stranded, stood Hermilo Castillo-Collins. Next to him, steam was shooting from the hood of an old BMW sedan like a busted fire hydrant. Georgia Rae pulled her truck over and parked it on the shoulder to see if he needed some help.

  Milo had moved to the Valley from Phoenix, Arizona, toward the end of last year. Fabiola didn’t know him very well because he stayed to himself a lot. The jocks teased him because of his funny clothes.

  “You look like you need help,” Georgia Rae said, hopping out of her white Toyota pickup.

  “Hey, don’t I know you?” Milo asked Fabi.

  “Yeah,” Fabi said, growing shy. She was always self-conscious around new people. “I sit behind you in Geometry.”

  “That’s right.” He nodded, smiling.

  Georgia Rae looked under his hood. “What seems to be the problem here?”

  Milo blushed and said, “I have no idea. This piece-of-junk car is always breaking down on me. It started to smell, and then white smoke started coming out of the hood. That can’t be good, right? I’m glad you guys stopped. I didn’t want to leave my car because of all my equipment.”

  “Looks like you have a leaking radiator,” Fabi said, pointing to the wet spot on the ground. “Or it could be the coolant hose. Check the antifreeze level to make sure it’s not low.”

  “Dude, you have no antifreeze,” Georgia Rae said in disbelief.

  Milo shrugged his shoulders, looking uncomfortable. “I told you I didn’t know nothing about cars.” He leaned over and peeked at the motor. “Are all the girls around here professional mechanics, or are you two special?”

  “Fabi’s the car whiz.” Georgia Rae motioned to her friend with a nod.

  “Well, I do have eight uncles on my dad’s side,” she explained. “You hang out with them long enough and you, too, can become an expert on cars, football, and grilling carne asada.”

  Milo chuckled softly. He had a disarming smile. Fabi and Georgia Rae peered into the backseat of the old BMW. There were milk crates stuffed with audio equipment and electrical cords.

  “Well, we’re on our way to the football game. But if you want, we can put your stuff in the back of my truck and give you a ride into town,” Georgia Rae suggested.

  “I’m sure my dad has some antifreeze lying around,” Fabi said.

  “You’d do that?” Milo asked, surprised. “Thanks.”

  The girls helped him lug his turntables, mixer gizmos, and crates of vinyl records into the truck. As they pulled back onto the highway, Milo put in one of his mix CDs for them. The music was really nice, full of soft hip-hop dance beats. Milo closed his eyes and nodded his head when he listened to the music, as if he were in some kind of trance. Fabi closed her eyes and tried to dissolve into the music, too, but after a moment, she opened her eyes again, feeling stupid. There was a thin smile on Milo’s face. He was watching her. Fabi turned quickly and stared out the window.

  The sun had already set when they stopped in front of her family’s restaurant. “Hey, do you want to come in?” she asked, opening the passenger door. “We’ll be quick. I know just where my dad keeps the antifreeze.”

  Milo and Georgia Rae followed Fabi into the restaurant. She planned to be in and out of there in less than five minutes.

  But as soon as she stepped inside, Fabi stopped in her tracks.

  Chuy was lying on the floor. Bruises covered his face. Alexis was cradling his head in her lap while her mother was carefully trying to clean his wounds. Chuy’s right eye was swollen shut and he was bleeding from his nose and a cut on his cheek. His shirt was ripped and there was a muddy boot print on his apron.

  “What happened?!” Fabi cried, running over to Chuy.

  Magda looked up at her with swollen eyes. “Oh, honey, I didn’t call you because I didn’t want you to worry.”

  “Mom, what is going on?”

  Chuy tried to sit up. He opened his mouth as if to talk, but only bubbles of blood spouted from his busted lips.

  “Don’t move,” Magda scolded as if he were a rude child not following instructions — but there was no anger behind it. “Your dad went to find your cousin,” she said to Fabi.

  “Mom, we should take him to the hospital. He’s bleeding all over the floor.”

  Tears welled up in Magda’s eyes. “We tried to … but Chuy wouldn’t let us. He refuses to go to the hospital. He says it’ll cost too much money.”

  “He could die!”

  “Your cousin Benny is coming.”

  “But, Mom, he’s only a dental hygienist,” Fabi pointed out.

  “That’s even better. He’ll clean him up real good now.” Mrs. Garza looked up and added, “Georgia Rae, honey, go warm some fresh water.” Fabiola had completely forgotten her friends standing next to her. “I’m glad you brought help,” her mom told her. “We could use extra hands.”

  “Oh, yeah, this is Hermilo,” Fabi said with a quick gesture. He waved shyly from the doorway.

  “Come on in,” Magda said, and nodded. “Now, in the bathroom down that hallway you’ll find some fresh towels. Bring all of them.”

  Milo jumped. “Yes, ma’am.” He followed her directions and hurried to the bathroom.

  Alexis brushed Chuy’s hair back with her fingertips. “We were on our way to the football game and stopped by. The door was open and we just found him like this on the floor.” Tears began to roll down her cheeks. “Who would do something like this? It makes no sense.”

  Fabi could only shake her head in disbelief. Who would do something like this? And at Garza’s, of all places?

  Later that night a b
oisterous crowd pushed at the door to the restaurant, but Fabi’s mom told them Garza’s was closed. From their elated cheers, Fabi gathered that the home team had won the football game. Alexis watched the crowd with longing eyes as her mother turned on the neon “Closed” sign.

  Their cousin Benny had dropped out of the medical program at the University of Texas a couple classes shy of his degree. He knew enough to check Chuy’s vitals and clean up his bloody face. By then, the rest of the family had arrived — both grandmas, Grandpa Frank, and Santiago’s mom, Consuelo. Leo and Grandpa Frank had helped Chuy up to a chair as Milo and Fabiola mopped the dirty floor.

  “Tell us who did this to you,” Abuelita Alpha demanded over and over, shaking a fist of rosary beads so tight it was making her veined hand turn blue.

  “Don’t make him talk,” scolded Magda. “He’s just been assaulted.”

  “But we have to know who did it,” Grandma Trini protested. She was wearing a tight Dos Rios High School T-shirt and still holding her pom-poms from the football game.

  Chuy tried to speak but he was having trouble taking a deep breath.

  “Are you sure his ribs aren’t broken?” Fabi asked, leaning on the mop. “I still think we should go to the hospital.”

  Benny straightened up and dried his hands on a warm cloth. “He’ll be fine. He’s just a bit shaken up. Just needs some rest.”

  Chuy tried to sit up higher in his chair, and struggled to speak.

  “He’s trying to tell us something,” Alexis said excitedly.

  “He knows who did it!” Trini cried. “He knows who did it!”

  With much effort, Chuy explained what had happened — how he had been locking up after his shift and hadn’t been paying attention because he was in a hurry to get to the Western Union before it closed. Every payday, Chuy sent money home to Mexico to help support his father and siblings. Chuy’s money put food on his family’s table.

  Then someone grabbed him from behind and someone else punched him in the stomach. He couldn’t see their faces because it was dark. They took all his money and then beat him some more and threatened to kill him if he said anything or followed them.