The First Circle

by Paul Perea

  “Two weeks! Can’t you stay longer?” Mirabella asked.

  “Duty calls, and I must get back to work. Oh, and one more thing . . . I’ll be taking Salome with me.”

  * * *

  David and Ruth hosted a grand going away party at their home and most of Arroyo attended. Some came to say farewell to Salome and bestow their well wishes, and others simply came for the fiesta. In honor of the occasion, two pigs were roasted and food was abundant—enough for two parties. Children ran wildly about as the adults enjoyed the warm evening. Music filled the air and people danced, gossiped, got drunk, and stayed far too long. Noticeably absent was Mirabella.

  The following day, David drove Gabriel and Salome to the train station. Salome, with vacant eyes and a broken heart, watched out the window as the the desert terrain flew by, slowly accepting that her life was changing. Nothing would ever be as it had been. The world she had grown up with, all she knew, was gone. She had made up her mind. She would accompany Gabriel as far as New Orleans and once there, she would leave him, possibly never to return.

  PART TWO

  GABRIELLA

  CHAPTER 19

  Arroyo, New Mexico, 1941

  David and Ruth hosted a grand summer party in honor of Gabriella’s sixteenth birthday and welcomed most of Arroyo to the event. Some came to bestow their well wishes and gifts on the beautiful young woman, while others were simply seeking a good time. As with a similar party nine years ago, two pigs were roasted and food was overflowing. And like that other party, children played, music was in the air, and adults danced, gossiped, got drunk, and stayed far too long.

  Mirabella was the exception. She took her leave suddenly, ignoring pleas to stay, to dance some more, but she was panicked and in a hurry. Ruth had asked if she was feeling well, and seizing upon the idea, Mirabella lied and told Ruth that she was indeed ill. It was an easy ruse as the blood had rushed from her face, leaving her pale and shaken.

  Her departure was interrupted as she attempted to file past David, who caught her eye.

  “Leaving so soon? Aren’t you enjoying the party?” David asked.

  “Do you really care?”

  “Not really,” he answered callously.

  “Good. We’re being honest now,” Mirabella said. “If there’s one thing I can count on is your bluntness—but I’m afraid not much else. So I’ll follow suit. You and I need to have a talk—not tonight—this is not the time nor the place.”

  “About what, Mari?” David asked and tossed back what was left of his bourbon.

  “My daughter has been hurting for far too long, and my granddaughter is miserable. I want them to come and live with me. Is that direct enough for you?”

  David seethed and looked past her, searching for Ruth, then looked at Mirabella with crimson eyes. “This is their home and they’re not going anywhere. And it’s none of your goddam business, so stay the hell out of it.”

  Mirabella chuckled facetiously. “This is not a home—it’s a castle built on sand. Let them go before they sink along with it.”

  David ignored her words and attempted to walk away but Mirabella was quick to bar the way. She stood in front of him and looked into his eyes, searching.

  “What happened to you—to the man my daughter married? We used to get along. You used to be a good husband—a good father. What happened?” Mirabella asked and looked around. People milled about, too close, so she lowered her voice and continued.

  “Look, I know what you think of me, though it gives me no pleasure knowing you no longer love me. But David, I treated you like a son. I respected you and your marriage and I kept out of it. I’ve held my tongue. I’ve kept my promises to both you and Ruth. But Gabriella is older now, and my daughter is no longer obliged. They are unhappy. Let them go.”

  “A divorce is out of the question,” David commented dismissively.

  “Why? Because of your family? Because of your religion? Vows can be broken when all involved are injured. There’s no sense in remaining because of what was said in a church or written on a piece of paper.”

  “Leave me alone,” David muttered and walked away, leaving Mirabella anguished and alone.

  There are years that we live and there are years that we endure. The latter was true for Mirabella, the anger and betrayal weighed heavily on her mind as she walked home feeling powerless. Her family was falling apart.

  Nine years had passed and the only news she had of Salome was through Gabriel. According to Gabriel, Salome was restlessly wandering the world but at least corresponding regularly. While Salome had taken to a solitary and secretive life, disclosing minimal information about her whereabouts, she at least made sure that he knew she was okay. Gabriel had long given up on begging her to return to New Orleans.

  As for Grace, she had wanted a child so badly but she and Sam had all but given up. While Grace remained outwardly cheerful, her childless state was causing anxiety—and the anxiousness seemed to influence her powers. They were erratic, out of control. Her visions had increased and caused blackouts. And Sam, thinking it was epilepsy, worried after her, unaware of the true cause, and danger, being visited upon his wife.

  And although Mirabella was able to provide some support to Grace, Ruth was another story.

  Ruth’s marriage was disintegrating and Mirabella was helpless to do anything. She heard the rumors and witnessed the distance growing. She noted the change in Gabriella, once an outgoing child, now a guarded young woman. Mirabella encouraged Gabriella and advised Ruth, but both were tackling their personal hardships as if they were each alone. Two women living in the same hell, but neither one reaching out for help, not even to each other.

  Mirabella entered the house and went straight to her bedroom. She lit her lamps and got undressed, then sat at her dressing table in her slip and undid her hair, brushing the thick luxurious mane with her tortoise-shell brush. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and wondered where the time had gone. She was no longer a young woman—no longer the young wife who had been widowed too soon.

  She set the brush down, soothed back the creases in her face with face cream and rested her head in her palms. Mirabella sighed and tried to push away the feeling of dread. It was not aging that bothered her. It wasn’t the new lines on her face or the increasing strands of silver in her hair. She was not vain. It was something else—or rather, someone else.

  Too restless for sleep, she put on a robe and walked out to her patio. It was a clear night—a million stars on display in the sky. Worry for her daughters departed as she remembered an old promise, a promise to a dear friend that had led her down a dangerous road. But for all the danger, for all the fear, she had kept that promise. Time had past and had quieted those fears. Salazar had been bound and there had been no more trouble—at least not of the supernatural kind.

  As Mirabella looked up at the star-filled sky, she wondered how the spell she had cast so many years ago could have been broken—as evidenced by a young man staring at her across a crowded yard—the reason for her early departure from the party.

  Daniel Rios had returned to Arroyo.

  CHAPTER 20

  Gabriella watched the whirling dancing couples, the groups of chattering women, and the laughing children running with wild abandon, weaving through the crowds like a pack of wild dogs. Arroyo had grown and she didn’t recognize many of the people attending her own birthday party. Then she smiled to herself as she realized that they probably didn’t know who she was either. They weren’t really here for her. They had come for the party.

  She heard a familiar laugh and searched the crowd for the source. There, amidst the dancing couples was her mother being expertly guided by her uncle Joseph. Ruth, who always seemed so tall, as commanding as Mirabella, looked delicate and small in her uncle’s arms. Gabriella beamed and waved at her mother and uncle and then they were gone again, consumed by the crowded yard of coup
les spinning in drunken bliss.

  Father Matthew will certainly get an earful at the next confession, she mused, as she watched smitten couples laughing, kissing and touching inappropriately. But her quiet observations were shattered by a young woman shouting her name. She turned in time to see her girlfriend marching toward her with the usual gusto.

  “Gabriella! I’m here at last!”

  “Finally! What took you so long? I was starting to get bored,” she said and hugged the effervescent girl. “My God, Selma, what did you do to your hair?”

  “Like it? I wanted to look like a pinup girl! After all, I’ll be graduating soon and will officially be a grown-up. I may as well start looking like one.”

  “Yeah, it’s really pretty,” Gabriella said, examining the style while Selma turned this way and that, showing off and giggling. “I wish I was nearly done with school, too. I’m sure going to miss you next year.”

  “Gosh, I’m going to miss you, too. Too bad you didn’t start early, otherwise we’d be graduating together,” Selma said as she fished around in her purse. “But I guess you’ll have to get in trouble without me.”

  Selma was a force of nature and Gabriella adored her, often wishing that she, too, could be as spontaneous, witty and outgoing. But that was not who she was, and being what she was, she had learned how to be invisible. A smart girl. A pretty girl. But an invisible girl. Still, she joked that she was the yin to Selma’s yang, and although her friend had done her best to coax her out of the shadows, Gabriella preferred to let Selma be the center of attention. She wanted no part of it—the limelight.

  “Boy, look at all of these ooold people,” Selma commented as she lit a cigarette. “Any chance you can bug out? We can go to the cantina—I’m singing with the band later.”

  “I don’t think that would be appropriate, after all, this party is for me.”

  “Phooey,” Selma pouted and puffed. “Well, I’m here now, so at least you can have some fun for a while before all these geriatrics bore you to death.”

  Gabriella laughed. “Stop it.”

  Selma laughed and grabbed Gabriella’s arm as her gaze fixed on someone across the crowd. “Say, who is that?”

  “Who?”

  Selma pointed with her cigarette. “Over there, the tall handsome boy. I’ve never seen him before.”

  “That’s Daniel Rios,” Ruth said, shocking the girls from what they thought was a private conversation. “Sorry girls, didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “Hi Mrs. Mondragon, didn’t see you sneak up,” Selma said sweetly and hugged Ruth.

  “Your hair looks so pretty, Selma,” Ruth complimented, and then leaned in with a suggestion. “Perhaps you two should go over and introduce yourselves. He’s Emilio and Helena’s son, and from what I gather, his visit was a surprise for his grandma. I’m sure Gloria is beside herself with joy.”

  “Come on Gabi, let’s go meet him!”

  Before Gabriella could protest, Selma had taken her hand and was pulling her through the crowd.

  “Ow! You’re going to pull my arm out of its socket! What are you doing?”

  “Hopefully getting you a boyfriend. It’s high time you find one instead of spending all of your free time with your grandmother!”

  Gabriella stopped, stung by Selma’s words.

  “Gosh, Gabriella. I was just teasing. I’m sorry—I didn’t mean that in a mean way. Really, I didn’t. You’re not sore, are you?” Selma pulled Gabriella to her, hugging her tightly. “Oh, you know how I am. I’m so stupid.”

  Gabriella smiled and kissed Selma on the cheek. “No, you’re not stupid. I know you mean well, and you’re probably right. I just—”

  “You’re just shy. Come on now, but be warned, if you two hit it off, you’ll have to deal with Helena Rios. I hear she’s a real witch.”

  As usual, Selma didn’t mince words, and Gabriella laughed at her friend’s comments, especially the use of the word “witch”.

  “Well, I have to say your grammar is atrocious. I think you meant ‘bitch’, not ‘witch’.”

  Gabriella’s comment surprised Selma and they burst out laughing.

  “Oh my, someone turns sixteen and starts using foul language! Better watch it—I think I’ve been a bad influence on you,” Selma teased.

  “Come on!” Selma ordered, and took Gabriella’s hand and led her through the crowd until they were standing in front of the smiling young man.

  “Hi. I’m Selma, and this is Gabriella. Your name is Daniel Rios, right?” As usual, Selma’s exuberance broke the ice.

  Daniel set down his Coca-Cola and looked at the smiling girls, exposing a bright smile that revealed deep dimples in his handsome face. But before he could answer, Gabriella turned and addressed Daniel’s parents.

  “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Rios. This is my friend, Selma.”

  “Hmm,” Helena responded dismissively as she continued to survey the crowd.

  “Nice to meet you, too,” Selma said with a giggle.

  Gabriella’s embarrassment at her friend’s lack of decorum was evident on her face and she attempted to salvage the conversation. “I haven’t seen you as much as I used to. Thanks for coming to my party.”

  “Happy birthday, Gabriella,” Emilio said cheerfully. “This is a fine party your parents have thrown. I see you’ve met our son, Daniel. You wouldn’t know him or remember him. We moved him to California and sent him off to school right around the time you were born. You know, I’ve begged and begged him to come with me to visit Arroyo but he always resisted. Now, after all these years of saying no, suddenly my son is hell-bent on not only visiting, but staying for the entire summer. I’ll never understand you kids.”

  “The whole summer? Golly!” Selma exclaimed while Gabriella stood blushing.

  “Come on, dad, you know my life has been all about school! Now that I’ve finished college, I wanted to come stay with grandma for a while,” Daniel chuckled as Emilio ruffled his hair. “By the way, my grandma sends her regrets but she insisted we come to your party. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Of course not. You know, in Arroyo whenever there is a party, well, everyone is pretty much invited and welcome. So, um, welcome to the party. Oh, and welcome home to Arroyo,” Gabriella said, trying hard to sound mature but feeling her mouth go dry.

  God, I sound so stupid, she thought to herself. How many times can I say, “welcome”?

  Daniel laughed and quickly took note of her looks. Her skin was fair with a soft blush of pink, and her eyes were hazel. Her hair was almost as dark as his and she was tall for a girl, and quite developed for her age. Her light summer party dress betrayed the womanly figure beneath, and her breasts were round and firm. His eyes lingered just a tad too long.

  “Well, thank you for having us. My parents have been re-introducing me to everyone here so this is a nice way to start off my visit,” Daniel said in an attempt to recover himself.

  “So, you say you’re finished with college?” Gabriella asked.

  “Yeah, I just graduated and I thought it would be a nice break to visit before I start my job. My dad owns a vineyard so I’ll be working for him, managing stuff and all.”

  Gabriella shifted nervously. She had hoped he would offer up more, so she searched her mind for something else to say. “So, you won’t have to join the army, will you?”

  “He’s not able to fight,” Helena interrupted. Her tone suggested that this conversation go no further.

  “Uh, guess that’s a story for another time, but my mom doesn’t know I’ve registered for the draft,” Daniel whispered, and then winked and changed the subject. “You know, it’s kind of strange being here. I mean, I’ve been away almost my whole life, so I really don’t remember much of Arroyo. I have some fragmented memories, but they are few and kind of hazy.”

  “What do you remember?” Selma asked, eager to be i
n on the conversation.

  “Well, let’s see. I remember my grandpa putting me on top of hay bales that he dragged around on an old red wagon. I remember being scared the first time they put me on a horse. I remember . . . I remember . . . wow, this is weird. I remember a crazy old woman. My grandma used to take me with her to her house. She was a fortune-teller or something. Well, I can’t recall her name, but I can picture her—”

  “What did she look like?” Selma asked. “She might be one of the old crones who stares at me during church.”

  “Selma!” Gabriella scolded while Daniel chuckled.

  “Let’s see. I remember she had really black hair and it was swept up but kind of messy. She was plump and kind of mean-looking. She didn’t like me. She used to give me a big spoon and tell me to go out and dig in the dirt for treasure. Then she—,” Daniel said, his words trailing as he lost his train of thought.

  “You okay?” Selma asked.

  Daniel blinked and answered, “I can’t remember, but I have to say, Arroyo seemed much smaller back then so I may be in need of a tour guide.”

  He stared directly into Gabriella’s eyes, causing her face to blush.

  “Well, the tour will take all of one hour, but I’m sure Gabriella would be happy to do that!” Selma interjected before Gabriella could utter a word. “The Puerta Azul Cantina can be a lot of fun. We go there a lot to dance, and sometimes I get up and sing with the band. You know, some old Spanish stuff and some of the new popular songs. We’re too young to drink, but they let us hang out anyway. Do you like to dance, Daniel? I’ll be singing tonight—you two should come by!”

  “That sounds like fun. I do love to dance, and right now I hear the musicians are playing one of my favorite songs. If the birthday girl will do me the honor,” Daniel said as he held his hand out to Gabriella.

  The Spanish waltz had begun and Daniel expertly guided Gabriella in step with the music. He led and she followed, never taking their eyes off each other. He didn’t speak a word. It was as if the whole world melted away and they were alone with the music. He felt a strange pull deep in the core of his being, stronger than anything he had ever felt in his life. He had dated plenty of girls but he had never felt like this before.