Sisters, Strangers, and Starting Over

by Belinda Acosta

Beatriz went to the front door and peered out the window next to it. “Oh,” she sighed. “My brother is here.”

  “Tony?” Larry growled. “I’m going to buy him a watch for his next birthday.”

  Larry and Beatriz trudged through the house into the kitchen and out to the backyard, where, sure enough, there was Tony tramping through their backyard, unfurling an orange extension cord from the outlet where he’d plugged it in on the side of their house, making his way to the power drill he left on the riser.

  “Buenas!” he called to Beatriz and Larry, as they walked out to him.

  “Buenas, yourself,” Beatriz said miserably. “What the hell, Tony?”

  “Mira!” he admonished. “And here I am, doing something nice for you.” He motioned to the riser. “I’m finally taking it down.” It had been weeks since their anniversary party, when Tony first built the riser. And after everything that had happened since then, Beatriz and Larry had forgotten all about his promise to take it down the Monday after the party. “I’ve got a deck job nearby later this morning, and I figured since I was in the neighborhood…” Tony wondered why his sister and brother-in-law looked like scarecrows. “Hey, girl, you got any coffee? I brought donuts!”

  “I’m on it,” Larry mumbled, as he turned back to the house.

  “Where is everybody?” Tony asked, nodding toward the house.

  “They’re asleep, like most everyone else at this time on a Saturday morning,” Beatriz said, massaging her neck.

  “You know what they say about the early bird!” Tony began mindlessly revving the power drill he held in one hand, as his other hand fumbled in his pocket for the screw bits. The power tool sounded extra shrill in the new morning.

  “Tony!” Beatriz implored. “Do you really need to do this now?”

  “Norma’s been bugging me to break it down and set it up over at her place,” Tony said.

  “What does she need with it?”

  “I don’t know,” Tony said.

  Beatriz could tell by how her brother was avoiding her eyes that he knew more than he was letting on. “She didn’t tell you?” she asked.

  “N’ombre! I’m just the contractor. You tell me where to build something, I build it. You want something taken down, I take it down. People always act like the contractor—”

  “Ya, ya, ya,” Beatriz said. “Why does she need the riser?”

  “I don’t know, I said.”

  Beatriz took her brother at his word for the moment, but she was suspicious.

  “So, Elaine wants me to invite Celeste over for lunch today,” Tony said. “She’d like to spend a little one-on-one time with her. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’ve kind of been hogging her since she’s been here.”

  Beatriz twirled her head, only to discover that the kink she thought had disappeared had moved to the other side of her neck. “I know what Elaine has in mind. She wants a little mini-Mex to help take care of those babies you all keep popping out,” she said.

  “Very funny. And sure, we could use the help. What’s wrong with that? It would be better than sending her to live with Norma.”

  “She’s not going to live with Norma,” Beatriz said. “She was sent to me and she’s staying with me!”

  “All right, all right! You don’t have to be so chingona,” he said. “What’s going on with you, anyway? Why are you so punchy?”

  “You mean besides you being here at the crack of dawn? My neck is messed up from sitting up all night.”

  “Why? Is one of the kids sick?”

  “No,” Beatriz said, hoping that would be the end of it.

  “You look like hell, girl. Qué pasó?”

  “Nothing. My neck hurts is all.”

  Tony could see Larry in the kitchen through the patio door, leaning on the counter, his head perched in his hand, his elbow resting on the counter, mesmerized by the stream of coffee from the coffeemaker filling the carafe. “So, what’s his excuse?”

  “Larry?” Beatriz said. “What about him?”

  “He looks like he hasn’t been sleeping too well, either.”

  “Hard week, I guess.”

  An alarm went off in Tony’s head. “You guess?”

  Beatriz ignored her brother. “Oye, Celeste and I are going to Connie and Sara’s flower shop to decide if we want flowers for her quinceañera. If there’s time, we’ll stop by and say hi afterward, okay? It’s too early for work. Come inside and have some coffee.”

  Once in the house, Tony obliquely observed Larry and his sister. He noticed how they barely spoke to each other, how they barely shared the same space. It may have been early, but Tony knew something wasn’t right, so he put his hunch to the test. “Hey, man, your wife needs a visit from Dr. Feelgood!”

  Larry liked Tony, but his playful attitude this early in the morning was like a poke in the ribs. “What?”

  “Her neck, man. She’s practically crippled.”

  Larry looked at Beatriz, who was pouring coffee into a mug for her brother.

  “What’s wrong?” Larry asked. He tried to sound as if he were merely gathering information, but he was concerned.

  “It’s nothing,” Beatriz said, also trying to speak plainly.

  Tony was waiting to see if Larry would go over and put his hand on his wife’s shoulder, a small but intimate gesture that would indicate that he would tend to her later, in private. When that didn’t happen, Tony was convinced something was up.

  “I guess I’ll get the boys up for karate,” Larry said, pouring coffee into his “Go Blue!” mug.

  “That starts today?” Beatriz asked.

  Larry grunted. “If you’re still here when me and the boys come back, we’ll help you,” he said to Tony. “I didn’t know you were coming today.”

  “No worries, bro!” Tony said brightly. “It won’t take me long to break it down. It’s the building up that takes time, especially if you want it to last.”

  Tony’s offhand comment hung in the air like the scent of tar. On one level, his words were innocuous. He was talking about the riser he built, a simple structure made of wood and screws. But he could have been talking about their marriage.

  Twenty-five years was a long time to be with someone. Spending those years without the other was unimaginable, yet the gulf between them, made visible by their sleeping arrangement, was becoming a frighteningly ordinary part of their lives. Beatriz and Larry had managed to fill their days with activities—going to work and tending to the kids while being careful to protect them from their rift. But in their exhaustion, in their sadness, in the early morning disturbance by their noisy visitor, Beatriz and Larry realized something important: Their life as they knew it might have been disrupted, but their love for one another was still there, still deep, still true. Somehow, they would have to make their way back to each other.

  In the perfect world, that realization would have called for them to run into each other’s arms and cover each other with wild kisses, violins swelling in the background. But this wasn’t the perfect world. It was their world: messy, chaotic, strangely comforting, but never entirely predictable. Beatriz looked out the window at the riser, which just a few weeks ago served as the main stage for their wedding anniversary, where she danced with her husband and everyone toasted their ongoing happiness. Larry gazed at the translucent swirls rising from his coffee cup as he stood at the kitchen door, remembering how excited he was to surprise his wife with his present. He thought of how he recalled their marriage vows and repeated them at just the right moment, fresh and new as the day he first spoke them. Each of them would have been astonished to realize that these thoughts entered their minds at the exact same time, bringing them both to the one obvious conclusion: We can’t go on like this.

  “Sounds like the changos are up,” Tony said, hearing the boys moving about above their heads. “Let me go get those donuts!” Tony left the house through the patio and walked along the side of the house toward the front, where he’d parked his truck. The thoughts
going through his mind were very different from Beatriz’s and Larry’s, and he was anxious to share them with his wife. He stopped where he was and leaned against the house to call her.

  “Elaine! Hey! Guess what? I think maybe there’s a chance we could get Celeste over to our house after all…. Yeah, I’m for real!… I don’t know. Something fishy is going on over here. I don’t know for sure, but I think Larry and Beatriz are having problems. Big problems, from what I’m guessing. Quién sabe? Pero, oye, don’t tell anyone but…”

  Ah, the famous “don’t tell anyone” command. Always said with the weight of gospel and agreed to with all sincerity—but ignored in an instant; and in Beatriz’s family, the flint to set off a wildfire of wagging tongues. But, of course, Elaine couldn’t keep the rumor her husband started about Beatriz and Larry to herself! And before anyone could say, “You didn’t hear it from me,” the Sánchez tsunami began to build and gather force. Elaine called her sister-in-law Connie, who called their sister-in-law Sara, who told her husband, Miguel, who called his brother Erasmo, who told his wife, Norma. In less than an hour, all of the Sánchez wives and brothers had discussed the details of Larry and Beatriz’s pending divorce and what that would entail, and, more directly, what it would mean for Celeste.

  By the time Larry got the boys up and ready to leave for their karate class, Tony was back in the yard disassembling the riser as Beatriz watched him sadly from inside the house. Tony worked with astonishing speed. Most of the time, the pieces came apart with a few strategic actions, but occasionally, a piece of wood would crack and splinter, or he would tap too hard with his mallet, and the newly damaged piece of wood would be set aside for scrap. Beatriz didn’t understand why she felt as anxious as she did when the damaged woodpile was growing larger than the saved woodpile, and she hated it even more when her brother threw the good pieces of wood too roughly onto the salvage heap.

  “Where is everybody?” Celeste asked, as she entered the kitchen.

  “The boys are starting karate today,” Beatriz said, turning to her niece. “You and I are going to go look at flowers, remember?”

  “Oh, yeah,” the girl said, looking at the open box of donuts.

  “Go ahead, if you want one,” Beatriz said. “Ana is coming with us. She should be here in an hour or so.”

  “Is Tía Norma coming, too?” Celeste asked, looking into the backyard. When Beatriz turned back, there was her sister-in-law Norma, dressed in blazing summer whites from her bucket hat down to her Roman sandals. She was talking to Tony, her huge silver bolsa flung over her shoulder, her chunky silver bracelets glinting as she spoke with her arms. Beatriz sighed.

  “Did you already take a shower, mi’ja?” she asked Celeste.

  “No. I was waiting for the boys to finish up there.”

  “Well, why don’t you go ahead while I see what this is all about?” Beatriz cinched her robe tightly around her waist as the girl left the kitchen. “It looks like I’ve got a pest-control problem to deal with,” she said to herself. When she stepped outside, Norma smiled brightly and waved.

  “Hola!” she sang.

  “Hola!” Beatriz sang back. She was also smiling but was far from happy. “What are you doing here?”

  “Well, I knew Tony was taking down the riser today, and I wanted to make sure he knew to bring it to my house,” Norma said.

  “You don’t have phone service out at the rancho anymore?” Beatriz asked.

  “Oh, of course we do!” Norma laughed. “Erasmo has some business in town today, and I was out and, well, I heard about, you know.”

  Beatriz frowned. “You heard about what?”

  “Ay, mujer. You’re so brave,” Norma said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

  Beatriz reared back. “No, really—what are you talking about?”

  “Oye, don’t act so sensitive. All I want to do is help.”

  Beatriz looked at her brother, who shrugged and kept working.

  “You want to help with what? The quinceañera? We are just getting to the point where we are going to ask la familia to help,” Beatriz explained.

  “ ’Sta bien, ’sta bien!” Norma said, like she was talking to a half-wit. Then, with a serious, consoling face that exaggerated her jowls, “You don’t have to explain! I understand. Things have changed. It happens! It’s natural to be upset that things are not the way they used to be.”

  “I don’t know where you’d get that idea,” Beatriz said.

  “Well, a man and wife don’t sleep in separate beds when a marriage is happy,” Norma said.

  Beatriz shot Norma a sizzling mal ojo, but Norma was unfazed.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Beatriz asked.

  “You know, if Celeste were out at the rancho with me and Erasmo, this probably wouldn’t have happened! I know you like to be the woman who has it all, with the fancy career, and the kids, y todo, pero you should face facts. Children are a blessing, but they’re also a lot of responsibility,” Norma explained. “And you have your hands full, both of you so busy with work and always helping out with La Lucy’s kids. And then, with Celeste on top of all that! And here I am, at home by myself all day, just ready to help!”

  “Well, she probably would like the city better,” Tony said, suddenly trying to wedge himself into the discussion. Beatriz was thoroughly perplexed.

  “Who?” she asked.

  “Celeste, hermana. Who else? And you know what? I was thinking of building an extra room onto the side of the house anyway. So we have room for her, too,” Tony said.

  Beatriz wanted to dropkick them, first Norma and then Tony.

  “Look, I don’t know where you chismosos get your information, but there’s nothing wrong here.”

  “Okay, okay,” Norma said, feeling very confident that she’d struck a nerve. “Pero, mira. I have an idea: Let’s have the quinceañera at my house, and until then Celeste can come stay with me—just until the party—and maybe by that time you and Larry will have worked things out. And if not, then she’ll still be where she needs to be anyway.”

  Beatriz had to give it to Norma—she had a lot of nerve. But she could not let Norma steamroll her way in, no matter what.

  “Well, thank you for your concern, but there’s nothing to worry about, and you know what? I think we’re done here! Thanks for dropping by. Both of you.”

  “What?” Norma said, as if she’d been asked to leave her own house.

  “I’m not finished yet,” Tony said.

  “Oh, yes. I think you are,” Beatriz said pointedly.

  “Who do you think you’re talking to?” Norma scoffed.

  “Oh, Norma! Please!” Beatriz bellowed.

  For once, Norma was speechless.

  “You think just because you exhaust everyone by being overbearing and pushy that you’re going to get your way?”

  “It seems to work for you,” Norma spat.

  Tony knew when a storm was about to erupt and began gathering up his tools quickly.

  “Ay, no! This is my house! Not yours!” Beatriz said. “So, let me tell you how it’s going to go.”

  Norma looked around, wondering if the neighbors were peeking out their windows to see what the commotion was about.

  “Let me talk extra loud so everyone is sure to hear: Celeste is here, and she’s staying here. She’s not a pet you all can pass around. She’s not your personal plaything, and she’s not your live-in babysitter. I’m going to finish raising her. Perla sent her to me!”

  Beatriz’s saying Perla’s name out loud made Norma and Tony gasp.

  “Ay, por favor!” Beatriz groaned, enunciating every syllable. “Aren’t you all tired of all that? Aren’t you all tired protecting our precious family secret?” Her sarcasm made Norma blanch.

  “N’ombre!” Norma said. “I don’t care who you blab to! It’s not my side of the family that has a black sheep to be ashamed of! If that’s how you want to be, fine! Ya me voy. Don’t ever say I didn’t try to help you.” She turned and
left Beatriz in a huff, her chanclas smacking fiercely as she made her way out of the yard. Tony had already moved away from the sparring women, spooling his orange extension cord around his arm and hauling it and his tools out to his truck.

  Beatriz went back into the house and crossed back into the living room to watch them from the window. She was pleased to see Tony and then Norma hoist themselves into their respective vehicles without saying a word to one another, driving off without so much as a wave good-bye.

  Finally! Beatriz thought. Maybe they will give it a rest! She stood in the living room a moment to gather herself before she walked into the foyer.

  “Celeste!” she called. It took a moment for the girl to answer, and Beatriz wondered if she was still in the shower.

  “Yes,” she finally answered from the office.

  “Did you take your shower?”

  When she didn’t answer right away, Beatriz thought the girl hadn’t heard her.

  “Yes!” Celeste finally answered. “I’m done.”

  “Okay, I’m going to get ready, so listen for Ana. When she comes, let her in, okay?”

  Beatriz realized that she didn’t have much time. As she ran upstairs, she thought about how she talked to Norma, how she nor anyone else had ever been that blunt with her. She wondered if it had been the right thing to do, and how their exchange might come back to haunt her. She would not realize how immediate the result of their argument was until Ana was at her door, ringing the doorbell incessantly.

  “There you are!” Ana said when Beatriz finally answered the door. “I was beginning to think I was confused. We’re going to look at flowers today, right?”

  “Yes, today is the day,” Beatriz said, wondering why Celeste hadn’t answered the door like she’d asked her to.

  “You’re alone?” Ana asked.

  “No, Celeste is here.”

  But Celeste was already long gone by the time Ana arrived.

  * * *

  Larry could see that Seamus was in a strange mood when the boys piled into his SUV. He didn’t know if it was because Raúl wouldn’t stop talking about the movie he planned for day two of their Fright Night weekend or because they were awakened by Tony’s early-morning activity in the yard.