Maria Alicia burst in, “Oh, your father isn’t old. My father still plays tennis with me.” She focused on Patricia. “We should play doubles. It’s such good exercise. I’d love to play with him.” She included the sisters in her gaze. “Maybe we all can go to the club and have a round-robin. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
Lourdes was seething at the thought of Patricia calling her father “Miguel.” How dare such a nymphet address a man of her father’s stature in such a familiar way!
They all played at eating. Adelaida, feeling sympathy for Maria Alicia, tried again to engage Patricia. “How long have you lived in the city?” she asked. Patricia paused for a very short moment, and in that fleeting pause, decided she had nothing to fear. She was who she was. She described her life, speaking sincerely and without apprehension. The rest of the lunch passed in a three-way conversation among Patricia, Maria Alicia, and Adelaida.
Lourdes focused on extracting every possible scrap of flesh from her crab claws. Promptly after she finished her meal, Lourdes excused herself, saying she had to be home before her children returned from school. She left without kissing or shaking hands. A few minutes after Lourdes left, Adelaida told Patricia that she was happy to have met her, shook her hand, and left.
Maria Alicia and Patricia stayed for a few more minutes, staring at their empty demitasse cups. Maria Alicia spoke softly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what to expect. I apologize for Lourdes. She’s so strong-willed. How do you feel?”
Patricia answered, “I don’t know what to think of all this.”
“What do you mean?”
“All this attention from you. I’m not Miguel’s girlfriend or lover. I do like him very much. He’s such a fine gentleman. I believe they may have the wrong impression.”
Maria Alicia wondered if she had read too much into the relationship as well. She felt foolish and annoyed with the results of the luncheon.
“I’m going to Old Havana. I need to stop at El Encanto. Why don’t you come along and I’ll drop you off wherever you want?”
“Thanks, you can drop me home. It’s on your way.”
Once Patricia said goodbye, she walked slowly to her door. It had been only two months since she had met Miguel at La Roca. During that time she felt that she had lost control of her life. Had she told Maria Alicia the truth? Was she his girlfriend? She had accepted his fumbling embraces and kisses. She fell into her bed; she needed time to think. A little while later, Carmen knocked and entered her room. “Miguel has called several times this afternoon.What’s going on?”
“I don’t know! I’m confused. Maria Alicia is acting as if Miguel and I were engaged, and she introduced me to his daughters before he did! I don’t know what Miguel has told them. His daughters think that there’s something going on. I don’t know what I’m doing. He calls, I answer. Maybe I should tell him that I can’t talk to him, see him, or go out with him, that I have lots of work to do.”
Carmen hugged Patricia as if she were a small child. “I know it’s not easy for you. Look, sweetie, life’s difficult enough, don’t make it even more so! Look at me. Pepe is a good man. He’s honest, hardworking, snores, and likes to eat his breakfast in his underwear. He loves his t-shirts more than he loves me, and he’s a lovely slob. Do I love him? Yes. Would I change him today for someone else? Frankly, yes, I would. My life is hard, but Mother warned me. She wanted me to finish at the university. I wanted to become a dress designer. Pepe, he was so good-looking and such a sweet talker back then. What happened? I compromised and exchanged my dreams for a man who was good, honest, but couldn’t afford to give me my dream. Oh yes, my dream: Paris, Madrid, Dior, and Balenciaga. Now, here I am in Havana making dresses at a cut rate for those that can’t afford Dior, Balenciaga, or Bernabeau. I make believe that this is my atelier.” Patricia sat upright in her bed, listening to her sister. “Now you’re my dream. I see it every time you go out wearing something I’ve created for you. You’re my model. You go to a nice restaurant and I’m there. You go to a dinner party at his house and my dream is alive. I know that you aren’t impressed by money, position, or status, but, my little sister, you can have it all! Why? Because someone may be in love with you! Do you feel revolted when he holds your hand? No. Is he nice, and good to you? Yes. How does he treat you? Do you want to be in his arms? Do you want him to kiss and possess you?”
Patricia didn’t know what to say. Carmen continued, “Have you felt jealous if he goes with someone else? How about Esmeralda? Don’t you think she would steal Miguel from you if she could? Don’t let the age difference bother you. A fifty-plus-year-old man is not old. Look at our parents. How old was Papi when he married Mami? What happened next? You’re the last of the bunch. Think about it. When Miguel calls back, why don’t you tell him that you had lunch with his daughters and Maria Alicia?”
Patricia had tears in her eyes and couldn’t answer her sister.
Carmen gave Patricia a big kiss. “Okay, if he calls again, I’ll tell him that you went to the laboratory to work on programming. You can call him when you’re ready.”
Patricia embraced her sister and lay on her bed, gazing at the ceiling.
THE NEXT DAY, Estrella prepared lunch for the girls. Don Miguel ordered that he wanted to eat at one o’clock. Adelaida arrived on time, but Lourdes was more than forty minutes late. She said, “Sorry, I had so many things to do. The help is horrible these days. My maid lost the belt for my dress and she couldn’t find the right purse. They just don’t have pride in what they do anymore.”
As they sat down, Don Miguel addressed them all. “I understand that Maria Alicia, you, and my friend, Patricia, had lunch at Kasalta yesterday. Pepe told me that he saw all of you. Apparently, it wasn’t a very friendly lunch, because he’s a good reader of body language.” He put both of his hands down on the table. “I don’t know whose idea it was to convene all of you girls in one of my favorite restaurants, one owned by one of my good friends, no less. Plus, I’m upset that I had to hear it from a friend. Patricia called me, upset about your misunderstanding of our friendship.” He peered in mock curiosity at all of them. “What do you need to know?”
“Dad, she’s so young!” Lourdes protested. “She’s almost Maria Alicia’s age. She’s not like us. She looks sweet, a little shy, and perfectly nice, really, but she’s so young!”
Don Miguel smiled at this dig at his age. “What do you mean she’s so young? What age do you think your grandmother Lola was when she married your grandfather? How old do you think he was?”
“Papi, I didn’t say she was too young to get married, I just think she’s too young for you.”
“Adelaida, you’re sitting there, not saying a word. You haven’t asked me how I feel or what type of relationship I have with Patricia. Now, what are your thoughts?” He laughed. “Your mother would have loved to see this, how her daughters react to their father’s feeling alive once again.”
But before he could utter another word, Adelaida said, “Papi, she is very young. You haven’t met her family. If you had one of your friends in this situation, what advice would you give him?” Seeing that hit home with him, she went on calmly, “I don’t know what to say. I’ve talked to Mike and Jose Maria, and they both said it’s none of my business, you aren’t gaga, and we should leave you alone.” She leaned forward slightly to make her next point. “We love you. We want the best for you. I know you loved Mami. She was always so happy with you and she loved you so much. But Mami has been gone now for a long time. Patricia seems to be a nice girl, and maybe she can make you happy. I know that Maria Alicia thought it was a good idea, but I was very nervous meeting Patricia.”
Don Miguel gave Lourdes a scolding look. “Well, let me tell you something. First, we are not engaged. Second, we aren’t even lovers. I met her through a good friend. I had lunch with them, and since then I’ve taken her out several times. She’s been to this house once. I repeat, once.” Ever voluble, he decided he would let them know exactly where he stood. “I fee
l good when I’m with her. She’s young and attractive, obviously, very intelligent and easy to talk to. She’s a decent, honorable girl. Sure, she’s not like us, but let me ask you, who are we? We all came from the interior. I didn’t, but my father and my mother did. Are we nobility? No, we’ve worked hard all our lives. We’re just another criollo family, and as much as we know, with Spanish blood. Her family has the same background as ours. Her father works the land. I work the land. They live together in a big house. We all used to live together in a big house. You think we’re sophisticated because we’re Habaneros, while she and her family are guajiros from the interior? We were all guajiros at one time, and regarding what people think . . .” He made a face, feeling annoyed all over again. “Bah! Who cares! I don’t even know that she would accept me if I proposed to her. She has her whole life ahead of her. Aside from that, I don’t feel old anymore! I have many, many years ahead of me, too! Do you understand?”
The sisters glanced at each other with dropped jaws, then answered in unison, “Yes, Father.”
Adelaida sipped her coffee and stood up. “I have to run. I’m sorry. I have to go to the dressmaker’s. I’ll call you tonight. Bye, love, kisses, bye.” She left briskly, without even nodding goodbye to Georgina as she opened the door.
Lourdes stared at her father. “I want to understand you, but you’ve changed. After Mami died, you only wanted to work. You didn’t seem to realize it, but you lost interest in life. You disappeared in the manigua and spent all that time with your animals, your horses, dogs, bulls, and cows. You became unsociable.”
“Well, I suppose this is what happens when one becomes alive again!” he smiled.
“I don’t like the girl, it’s true, but it’s also true that you’ve changed for the better,” Lourdes said. She stood up and walked over to embrace her father. “Father, I’m just so glad you’re out in the world again. You are as I remember you. In the long run, I don’t think she’ll be good for you. I think she is too young, doesn’t share our same friends, or knows how to run a household. You don’t have shared experiences. Mami always told me that was important. If you decide to marry Patricia, I’ll accept her as your wife, but not as a friend.”
“You don’t know her. You’ll like her when you get to know her,” Don Miguel assured his daughter.
“I’m sorry, I just can’t do that yet. It’s awkward knowing that my stepmother will be younger than I. But, Father, I love you, no matter what. ” Lourdes kissed his cheek and left.
— 23 —
La Zafra
TIME DOES NOT pass in the countryside; it stands still until the sugar harvest, which was in full swing. The roads were full of loaded trucks carrying the green stalks of sugarcane to the mills. The railroads owned by the sugar mills had their trains rolling. The old rhyme used to teach children how to roll the Spanish r was alive: “R con R cigarro, R con R carril, rápidos corren los carros cargados de azúcar por el ferrocarril.” (R with R is cigar, R with R is track, and the trains loaded with sugar run fast on the railroad tracks.)
The vallas were packed with people shouting and gambling as cocks died in pools of blood. The bordellos were full every Saturday night, and the churches rang their bells, waiting for the faithful to pray for the best weather and higher sugar prices in the London market. Everyone was employed. Fernando worked his taxi every night. After driving the farm’s truck, heavily loaded with sugarcane, to the Florida sugar mill, he had enough energy to hustle customers for his girlfriends, who worked the slummiest part of the pueblo with its badly paved streets and all-night bars, operating under the protection of the Guardia Rural.
Mike drove his new car on the Central Highway and watched how the sugarcane was being cut. Night descended and the moon climbed, the road cleared, and he began to think of Maria Alicia and the last days they had spent together. This time he had not been ready to leave Havana. Now everything was different. He had to think of the future, of how he was going to balance his life between his two loves: Maria Alicia and the farm.
The next morning, Paulino woke Mike up with a cup of coffee in hand. “You don’t look so tired. Have you been taking some powerful vitamins?”
“No, I just live a clean life,” Mike said dryly as he took the cup from Paulino, who walked to the bedroom window and drew back the curtains, allowing the sun’s first rays to enter.
“Just two weeks at the best sin spot of the world and here you are—relaxed, with a guajiro tan. Why didn’t you wake us up last night when you came in? You’re becoming civilized,” Paulino gently chided.
“I didn’t want you to be too tired, because now you’re going to have to work.”
“Come on, I always work.”
“Ha, we’ll see—”
“The world wants to talk to you. I don’t want to talk. I just want action. I want a significant raise. I should talk to your Papa, who is the gentleman who hired me. You recommended me, I want to believe that we are friends, and I know it’s very difficult for you to show your friendship to me, because you may be now in charge, and you don’t have the money to afford my incomparable and sophisticated services as the manservant of a great estate. I have to formalize my relationship with an angel, and the only way I can progress with her is to spend guano, that mighty piece of paper you call a dollar. No money, no girl. So as soon as you’re fully awake with full command of your senses, your wit, and the creative juices of incomparable intellect again start to flow, we have to discuss what is vital to me—money, and more money.”
Mike, half asleep, sauntered into the bathroom. “Paulino, please, you hardly work. You spend as much time writing your stories as cleaning around the house. I know your shenanigans. I know you very well, please don’t make me get serious with you,” Mike relieved himself. “I appreciate your humor. I just don’t need a buffoon. I’m satisfied with my level of enjoyment. Please, find Ricardo. I have to talk to him.”
Paulino had gambled and lost. He knew that pursuing his request further would be counterproductive, and left, crafting his next plan.
Mike dressed and walked around the batey. No more groups of unemployed workers milling around the show barn. Mike now saw the batey through the eyes of Maria Alicia. He thought how she would fit and feel in this male-created environment. His mother’s last visit had been around six years ago. The big house needed a new paint job. The rocking chairs on the big porch looked tired, and the garden, what garden? The flower beds had started to show weeds; the roses, still flowering, needed pruning. The lime, grapefruit, mango, and avocado trees were in excellent shape. The garden was devoid of color and needed flowers. Everything was so green, so organized, and so drab. What about color?
Mike met Ricardo at the office. Cuca peeked in to ask about Don Miguel’s health and when he would return. Mike said, “Cuca, rest assured, he’s doing quite well. He’s very busy right now. He may come back to pick out the show string for next season. I’ll tell him that you miss him,” and then “Cuca, we need flowers in this house. Here, take twenty pesos and buy some potted geraniums. I think they would improve the portal.”
“Sure, if Ricardo ever takes me to town, I’ll buy them for you.”
Mike turned to Ricardo, “When?”
“Maybe tomorrow.”
Cuca said, “How long are you going to stay? I don’t think we have enough of the food you like.”
“I’ll stay around three weeks, but don’t bother to get any special food for me. I’ll eat whatever you cook for Ricardo,” Mike answered.
“I still need to buy more groceries. I could go with Ricardo to the store, but today I should send Paulino, because there’s a lot to do here, but I don’t trust him to pick out the geraniums. Are you sure you don’t you want anything special?”
“No, thanks, anything you decide to cook will be fine with me,” he said, and returned to his meeting with Ricardo.
Paulino was glad that Cuca had trusted him to pick up the groceries from the store. That way, he could stop on his way back and see h
is girlfriend. For the last three weeks, the sisters had been so busy with the sugar harvest that his nocturnal visits to their plantation were shorter every evening. His leisurely visits had been whittled down to mere minutes, a brief “How are you?,” a small peck on the cheek, and good-bye. Paulino honked the horn of the jeep as he passed a busy Manuel, waved at Arturo, and passed Nandito and his truck loaded with cane on his way to the sugar mill. Paulino was happy, full of life, driving a vehicle once forbidden to him.
In the pueblo, he found a spot in front of the main door of the warehouse, and in his excitement to see Mulato and tell him that he now was driving the jeep, he opened the front door in a hurry and hit the old army sergeant, who was walking on the sidewalk. The force sent him and the groceries he was carrying tumbling to the ground. Mulato, who saw the accident, came running out of the warehouse. The sergeant lost his composure as he struggled on all fours to get up. Mulato moved quickly to help him, as Paulino, kneeling on the ground, tried to repack the dispersed groceries. A group of nearby children laughed, further raising the sergeant’s ire. He stood up, and with all his might, kicked Paulino in the head. “No, no!” Mulato stopped the sergeant from kicking him again.
Paulino toppled over as he tried to hold the groceries he was packing. Despite his pain, Paulino was controlling his laughter as he replayed the scene of the sergeant’s pratfall in his mind. But the danger of laughing in his face was too great. Just get through this, he thought. “I’m sorry that I opened the door so fast. I didn’t intend to bump a member of La Guardia Rural. Please accept my apology.”
The sergeant huffed and stared down at Paulino with disdain. He brushed off his khaki uniform, grabbing his wide-brimmed cavalry hat from Mulato. The sergeant marched to his old army jeep, parked by a fire hydrant, and left in a hurry.
Paulino’s neck stiffened with fear. The encounter had spoiled his good mood. Still, he was consoled knowing that after he bought the provisions, he was going to see his girlfriend. Mulato filled the order, and they put the bags in the front seat of the jeep.
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