“We’ll do it however you want,” he said.
“We want a circle, on the riser,” Celeste said.
“Yes,” Beatriz agreed.
Larry and the boys did as they were told. Seamus watched Celeste out of the corner of his eye as she and Beatriz took two of the chairs and draped them with white cotton and adorned them with some of the large paper flowers made the night before.
“What is that, like, your throne?” he asked when the adults were out of earshot.
“You’ll see,” she said.
When everyone had arrived, Larry led them all into the backyard, where Sonia, the guitarist Ana brought, played a gentle tune. It wasn’t what you would call traditional, but it was what Celeste had asked for: a circle of chairs on the riser, with the two draped chairs sitting royally, side by side.
Norma frowned disapprovingly at the setup and commented to no one in particular, “Mira. Like the musical chairs.”
After everyone was seated, Beatriz and Celeste emerged from the house, walking arm in arm. They stepped inside the circle as the onlookers waited expectantly. When Sonia finished playing, Beatriz spoke.
“Hola. Thank you all for coming. We couldn’t have asked for a more glorious day,” she began. “I don’t have much to say except that I am so grateful to see this day come, when I can present to you, mi sobrina, Celeste Josefa Sánchez, the daughter of our dear, departed sister…”
For a split second, Beatriz could sense the catch in her throat, as if all those years of imposed silence might cut off her breath and keep the words from coming out. But Beatriz was tired of being silent, tired of feeling guilty, tired of not saying the name of her sister.
“Perla Sánchez, en paz descanse,” Beatriz said proudly. She waited for the response that should have immediately followed, but Perla’s name hadn’t been spoken in so long, Beatriz’s brothers and their wives had to let her name echo inside their heads before they remembered what they were supposed to do.
“Perla Sánchez!” Beatriz repeated clearly, loudly, and without hesitation.
“Presente!” Celeste said. Erasmo and the other uncles looked at her, at their wives, then at each other.
“Perla Sánchez!” Beatriz called.
“Presente!” Celeste and Larry said.
“Perla Sánchez!” Beatriz shouted.
“Presente!” Erasmo responded with Celeste and Larry.
“Perla Sánchez!”
“Presente!” the group roared.
Maybe it was her imagination, but Beatriz felt as if the air had gotten lighter, as if a fresh rain had cleared the air and the guilt that had suffocated her all those years had been cleared like cobwebs and let loose to fly off and away. Everyone looked around, sensing the newness of the air around them.
Celeste walked to one of the chairs draped in white and placed a red rose onto it.
“This is my mother’s place,” she said. “And this,” she said, motioning to the other chair she and her aunt had dressed earlier, “is for anyone else who should be here and isn’t.”
Her words stabbed Seamus in the heart, and he fought hard to swallow his tears.
“I would like to say some words my mother used to say to me. I don’t know where she got them, but I think I still remember how they go,” Celeste began.
Beatriz was amazed by how the girl seemed to bloom before her eyes. It wasn’t just the dress, or the way she and Ana had pinned up her hair; it was something else, as if Celeste were no longer that timid little girl who first arrived at her door but a young woman, full of the confidence and the conviction of someone who knows what she needs and wants to do.
“I didn’t really understand what she was saying when I was little, but now the words make sense to me,” Celeste continued. She took a deep breath. “ ‘Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you. Where you go, I go: where you live, I will live; your people are my people. Where you die, I will die. I will be there, even if death parts me from you.”
Celeste opened a small purse Beatriz had given her and sprinkled the red rose petals in it over the chair she had dressed for her mother and then over the other chair. There was a moment of silence while Celeste walked to an open chair and sat down.
Beatriz nodded to Sonia, who began to play the delicate opening notes to “Piel Canela.” Celeste burst into a smile. The lively, vintage bolero was one of her mother’s favorite songs, and Celeste happily swayed to the music. Larry rose and offered his hand to Celeste. She accepted and joined him in the center of the circle, where they danced until Sonia finished the song with a delicate flourish. Larry gave Celeste a gentle twirl. She giggled when he bowed to kiss her hand.
“Eso!” Erasmo said, clapping his thick hands together. Everyone joined in the applause and the party was officially started. “Eso!” he repeated. Norma shot him a dour look and he waved her off. “It was nice, mujer. Let it rest,” he murmured to her.
Norma positioned herself behind the guitarist in the buffet line.
“You know, I sing.” Norma was talking to the person behind her but said it loud enough for Sonia to hear her.
“Really?” Sonia said, turning back to Norma. “I would love to play something for you.”
“Oh, no. I couldn’t,” Norma demurred, but before anyone knew it, Norma was singing her heart out, belting out “Como la Flor” like she was center stage at the Alamodome. She changed keys a few times, and Sonia had to play some extra notes to bring Norma back in tune, but overall, she made Norma sound good, and Norma thought Sonia was the most talented musician she had ever met.
“Oh, my!” Beatriz laughed. “I forgot she had it in her.”
“Encantando!” someone declared. “Otra, mujer, otra!”
Champagne was opened. Norma was encouraged to sing another song and then another, until Erasmo pulled himself up and over to Sonia.
“Oye, señorita, do you know ‘Volver’?”
“Por supuesto, señor. What kind of Mexican doesn’t know ‘Volver’?!”
Erasmo sang at the top of his lungs, while the uncles threw gritos. Even Norma got a kick out of her husband singing, and everyone clapped wildly and sang along to that song and all the other songs that followed when they knew the words—and even when they didn’t, singing, and swaying, and laughing, and enjoying the company of family and friends.
“Hey,” Seamus said to Celeste, as she was happily dancing with Wally. When Celeste turned around, she saw her cousin standing there, holding one of the daisies. “Will you pin this on me?”
Beatriz and Larry sat and watched it all from where they were seated near the loquat tree; their hands were clasped, and the couple was quiet and content as the voices and laughter babbled all around them. Beatriz could not stop smiling.
“Ay, comadre, this is really so sweet,” Ana said to Beatriz, as she sat down next to her. “Just so sweet.”
“Yeah, but I wish…,” Beatriz began.
Larry squeezed his wife’s hand. He knew who she was missing. The three of them watched Elaine hand one of her little boys a piece of cake and direct him to sit at a nearby table. Instead, the little boy walked past where he was told to sit and kept on walking.
“That’s a huge piece of cake for such a little bitty boy,” Larry laughed. “I hope he makes it!”
When the little boy placed the cake on the chair prepared for Perla, then ran off to play, a bell of recognition rang inside Beatriz, and she believed with all her heart that Perla was with them after all.
READING GROUP GUIDE
Did you have a quinceañera, a Sweet Sixteen, or a bat mitzvah? What did it mean to you? To your loved ones?
Traditional quinceañeras have deep ties to Catholicism. How is religion treated in this novel? In your opinion, is it a good thing that traditionally religious celebrations (like the quinceañera) are becoming increasingly secular? Why?
Do you believe quinceañeras as a cultural tradition will continue or be lost over time?
Beatriz and he
r husband, Larry, could be said to have a “mixed marriage,” since she is Mexican American and he is Irish American. What do you see as their common bonds? Their differences? What roles do culture, race, and class play in their relationship?
As working mothers, Beatriz, Josie Mendoza, and Lucy Milligan are starkly different. In what ways do you identify with each of these women?
In the beginning of the book, Beatriz has a number of startling “incidents” but is reluctant to talk about them, even to her best friend, Ana. To what do you attribute her experiences? Do you believe it was her conscience, a dream, or the ghost of her sister, Perla, that was truly “haunting” her?
In the beginning, Beatriz has a hard time relating to her niece, and Celeste feels out of place in her aunt’s world. Besides the sudden newness of their situation, what else do you think contributed to their difficulty in connecting?
Beatriz is adamant about taking in her niece, Celeste, even as it threatens her marriage. Did Beatriz put her marriage in too much danger? Does family come before everything in your life? Why or why not?
Besides celebrating her fifteenth birthday, what do you believe was the meaning behind Celeste’s quinceañera?
Celeste and her cousin Raúl hit if off almost immediately, while her other cousin Seamus is severely threatened by her appearance. What do you imagine Celeste’s relationship will be like with Seamus and her other cousins in the future? Between Celeste and Beatriz? Between Celeste and Larry?
GUÍA PARA GRUPOS DE LECTURA
¿Tuvo usted una quinceañera, una Sweet Sixteen, o una bat mitzvah? ¿Qué significó a usted? ¿A su familia?
Los quinceañeras tradicionales tienen lazos profundos al catolicismo. ¿Cómo se trata la religión en esta novela? En su opinión, ¿es una buena cosa que las celebraciones tradicionalmente religiosas (como la quinceañera) están llegando a ser cada vez más seculares? ¿Por qué?
¿Cree usted que quinceañeras como una tradición cultural continuará o se perderá con el tiempo?
Se puede decir que Beatriz y su esposo Larry tienen un matrimonio mixto debo que ella es Americana-mexicana y él es Americano-Irlandés. ¿Cuáles son sus enlaces comunes? ¿Y sus diferencias? ¿Qué papel desempeñan la cultura, la raza y el sentimiento de clases en su relación?
Como madres que trabajan fuera de la casa, Beatriz, Josie Mendoza, y Lucy Milligan son muy diferentes. ¿Cómo identifica usted con cada una de estas mujeres?
Al principio del libro, Beatriz tiene un número de incidentes estorninos, pero está maldispuesta de hablar de ellos, ni con su mejor amiga, Ana. ¿A qué atribuye sus experiencias? ¿Cree usted que era su conciencia, un sueño o la fantasma de su hermana Perla quien la estaba persiguiendo?
Al principio del libro Beatriz encuentra dificultad en relacionar con su sobrina Celeste, y la niña se siente fuera de su lugar en el mundo de su tía. Además de lo nuevo de su situación, ¿qué más contribuye a la dificultad en conectar?
Beatriz está firme en tomar a su sobrina Celeste a su casa, aunque esto amenaza su matrimonio. ¿Cree usted que Beatriz puso su matrimonio en peligro? ¿Cree usted que la familia debe de venir primero que todo otro en su vida? ¿Por qué o por qué no?
Además de celebrar su cumpleaños de quince años, ¿qué mas cree usted fue la significación de la quinceañera de Celeste?
Celeste y su primo Raúl se llevan bien inmediatamente, mientras su otro primo, Seamus, está amenazado con ella. ¿Cómo imagina la relación de Celeste con Seamus y sus otros primos en el futuro? ¿Entre Celeste y Beatriz? ¿Entre Celeste y Larry?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BELINDA ACOSTA has written and published plays, short stories, and essays. As a journalist, her work has appeared in the Austin American-Statesman, the Austin Chronicle, the San Antonio Express-News, the San Antonio Current, AlterNet, Poets & Writers, and on National Public Radio’s Latino USA—The Radio Journal of News and Culture.
Belinda received a master’s of fine arts in writing from the University of Texas in 1997.
She lives in Austin, Texas, and is the TV and media columnist for the Austin Chronicle.
MISSED THE FIRST BOOK IN
BELINDA ACOSTA’S
QUINCEAÑERA CLUB SERIES?
A mother does the best she can to hold her family together while teaching her daughter what it means to be a strong and powerful woman in this first installment in the Quinceañera Club series.
“It takes a lot of hard work and a pile of talent to write such an engaging, touching book. A wonderful quinceañera of a novel!”
—International bestselling author Julia Alvarez
“Lively and perceptive… Acosta empathically captures the innermost feelings of her characters.”
—Booklist
“Simply put, Belinda Acosta !se aventó! She has gone all out in giving an emotional, spiritual, and feminine Latina perspective of how it is and what it is to grow up in the U.S. Hispanic culture.”
—Examiner.com
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SISTERS, STRANGERS, AND
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EMOTIONAL FAMILY DRAMAS AS WELL—
Now available from Grand Central Publishing
“Lyrical, poignant, and smart, as compassionate and hopeful as it is heartbreaking… a novel you will never forget.”
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“By turns touching, funny, tragic, and triumphant, it’s the story of an endearing group of people in search of their own American dream… A delightful feast for the reader.”
—New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs
A secret journal threatens to destroy a young woman as she uncovers the truth about her deceased mother’s past in this stunning debut novel.
Sisters, Strangers, and Starting Over Page 25