“Well, at least, your family probably won’t move out of PA as a result of this,” I joked.
“And there probably aren’t any bastard children you don’t know about,” Madison added with a grin.
“See, it could be worse,” Lilly stated.
We all chuckled. It was all we could do.
Chapter 41
Thursday night, my parents had Teresa over for dinner. With everything that had happened with Emily’s mom, they felt compelled to try at least one more time to fix things with my family. They invited my uncles, but only Teresa showed. She didn’t even bring Carlos.
“Thank you for a lovely meal,” Teresa said as she dabbed at her mouth with her napkin, her plate clean.
“No, thank you for coming,” my mom stated politely.
The conversation hadn’t exactly flowed all night. True to form, my parents acted like the entire scene at my party never happened. No one brought it up. With each passing second, things felt more awkward, and I was rapidly losing my patience.
“The weather’s supposed to be nice tomorrow,” my mom said with a benign grin.
I had officially had enough.
“You know my friend just found out her mom’s having an affair,” I blurted.
Teresa’s head jerked back.
“Mariana!” my father warned.
I ignored him and kept going. “The man she had an affair with, his son goes to school with us. He’s a friend of ours.”
Teresa stared at me, her forehead creased.
“Her father moved out. Her mom cries all day. And Emily’s wrecked.”
I shrugged, pumping my eyebrows.
“Mariana, I really don’t think this is appropriate,” my mother said.
“No, it is.” I snapped my eyes at Teresa, then at my dad. “I get it now. I get why Uncle Diego is so angry. If he feels even half of what Emily’s feeling, then I get it.”
“Mariana!” my father yelled.
“What, Dad? It’s true. Grandpop should have dealt with this a long time ago. It’s the lies that made the situation worse. Emily said that the minute she confronted her mom, the minute she got it out in the open, she felt better. Well, you know what? No one had the chance to confront Grandpop. And that’s who everyone’s mad at.”
Teresa smiled a bit, nodding. “You’re right.” She turned to my father. “I didn’t know our father. I was raised by a woman your family hates. The woman who did all this to you.” She tapped her shoulders. “But that woman is my mamá.”
My dad ran his hand along the back of his neck, saying nothing.
“There’s something else.”
She glanced at me and then my parents.
“Carlos and I are getting married. I wasn’t sure if I should tell you, or invite you, but I guess, I hope you can be happy for us.”
“You’re engaged!” I cheered. “Do you have a ring?”
My eyes flicked toward her barren finger.
“Not yet. We’re gonna pick one out this weekend. The wedding’s going to be in a couple of months. And ... I’d like you all to be there.”
My parents exchanged a look.
“Of course, we’ll be there,” my mother said.
“You realize my mamá will be there as well,” Teresa stated, cautiously.
My parents locked eyes again just before the phone rang.
Lilly, who had excused herself from dinner early to finish her history homework, picked up the receiver from upstairs.
“Uncle Lorenzo!” she called. “It’s for you! It’s Uncle Diego!”
No one said anything as my father slowly got up and walked to the phone.
Chapter 42
I waited for Bobby at his locker Friday morning. I knew he’d been getting to school late. So had Emily. She said it was hard getting out of bed lately. Clearly, Bobby felt the same. So I camped out by our lockers, refusing to leave until he arrived. When the bell rang to launch first period, I was officially late for the first time in my life.
Finally, Bobby turned the corner. When he saw me waiting, he halted immediately. I almost thought he would turn and run the other way, but he trudged forward.
“Hey,” I said, as he blew past me.
He spun the dial on his locker.
“How are you?” I asked.
He grunted, then opened his locker.
“Look, I’m sorry about what happened. At Cornell. Are you okay?”
He looked at me, and I could tell he was livid. I wasn’t even the messenger, and I was pretty sure I was still going to be shot for this one.
“Of course everything’s not okay. My dad’s sleeping in the spare bedroom, my mom cries half the night, and the entire school knows what a pathetic mess it all is.”
“You know, Emily’s upset too.”
“I’m sure she is.”
“It’s not her fault.”
“I know,” he said, running his hand through his blond curls. “I knew something was wrong ... with my parents. I’m just, I’m so stupid.”
“No, you’re not.” I shook my head. “And you don’t have to avoid me either. We still have the film festival coming up at Thanksgiving. And I want to help.”
“Oh, God, I forgot. I should just cancel it.”
“No, don’t.”
“No one’s gonna show up.”
“I will.” I smiled. “An audience of one. That’s better than nothing.”
He grinned back.
That night, Lilly and I sat in front of the TV. She had my laptop resting on her thighs as she researched the French Revolution on the Internet.
“You know, maybe things can still work out for you two?” Lilly suggested as she scanned Web pages.
“Bobby and I will be lucky to be friends after this.” I slumped farther into the couch, resting my head on a pillow.
“But, Mariana, I know you like him. If this whole thing didn’t happen ...”
“But it did happen.”
“And you’re still helping him with the film festival.”
“As friends.”
“Sure,” she mocked, nodding her head. “We’ll see.”
She flicked through Web sites as I flicked through TV stations.
Suddenly, she reached out and grabbed the remote from my hand.
“Hey!” I squealed, fighting to snatch it.
“Mariana.”
“Give it back!”
“¡Caray! Mariana!” she said, glaring at her computer screen. “Mira, chica. Check your e-mail.”
She handed me the laptop, and I quickly navigated to my inbox.
There was only one person I could think of who would e-mail Lilly and me at the same time.
Hola chicas!
Greetings from Utuado. Mariana, I’m glad your birthday was amazing and that you liked my present. I knew you would. Lilly, I hope you’re enjoying the States and not driving Mariana too crazy.
I wanted to see if you guys would be around next month. I’m planning to visit the University of Pennsylvania the week before Thanksgiving. A campus recruiter contacted me and arranged the trip. Mariana, if it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to stay with your family a few nights and maybe check out Villanova. Would that be okay?
I hope you’re as happy to see me as I will be to see you. I knew this summer wasn’t good-bye forever.
Hasta luego,
Alex
It looked like I was about to get another visitor.
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ADIOS TO ALL THE DRAMA,
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He was arriving in less than a week. When I left Alex standing on the side of the road in Utuado, waving at my car as it pulled away from my Aunt Carmen and Uncle Miguel’s home, I truly thought I would never see him again. Sure we made plans to keep in touch via e-mail, but there’s a huge difference between a few electronic submissions and a half-semester face-to-face visit. Especially when his accommodations were two doors down on the left, next to the
hall bath alongside Vince’s room.
“So, does this mean you’re gonna start wearing makeup to breakfast?” Lilly asked as she helped me clear out the drawers in what would soon be Alex’s room.
“I barely wear makeup to school. I doubt I’ll start caking it on to eat Cheerios.” I tossed a bunch of my mom’s old sweaters into a plastic storage bin bound for the attic.
“But what if Alex is pouring the milk in your Cheerios?” Lilly raised an eyebrow.
“Well, I may have to brush my teeth ...”
I grabbed my mom’s old cardigan and placed it neatly in a bin. Most of the extra closets in our house held my mom’s “overflow” wardrobe. She didn’t throw much away out of a belief that it would eventually come back into style—it was a holdover from her childhood growing up in the projects. When you go from K-Mart to Chanel in less than thirty years, it’s hard to part with those Chanels even when they’re dated.
“I still can’t believe he’s up and moving here to be with you,” Lilly stated plainly.
“This has nothing to do with me. He’s visiting colleges.”
“Yeah, if you believe that ...”
“I do!”
“He’s staying in a room down the hall from yours. Is that standard procedure for every kid who wants to tour universities in the greater Philadelphia area? Because if so, your parents need to up their rates ...”
“I wouldn’t talk, Miss Freeloader.”
“Hey, my parents send money!” She tossed a lavender-scented sachet at me.
“I’m just saying if you didn’t move here from Puerto Rico, maybe Alex wouldn’t be so inspired to do the same. It could be you he misses.” I narrowed my eyes.
“Nice try, but I don’t think so.”
Lilly carefully lifted one of my mom’s formal handbags. Each elegant clutch, leather satchel, or logo-patterned purse was to be individually placed in the fabric dust bag it came in, then nestled into a cardboard box and labeled, then stacked into a plastic bin. Sometimes I thought my mom cared more about those purses than she did her own life.
“So are you guys gonna just pick up where you left off? Have a big smooch fest at the airport?” Lilly blew kisses at me.
“I don’t know,” I mumbled. “I don’t want to act like I expect anything or like I think this trip has more to do with me than it does school ...”
“But it does.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I said firmly as I locked the lid on the transparent bin.
“You realize your family is single-handedly boosting the Latino population at your school district at an alarming rate,” she joked.
“Not exactly. Vince is away at school.”
“Ah, but holiday break is just around the corner. The numbers are swinging in our favor.”
She was right. My parents’ home was quickly becoming a halfway house for Puerto Rican teens looking to migrate from Utuado.
Alex was visiting as part of a mini-exchange program. Somehow his tiny mountaintop private school had arranged to send him to the States for two months to tour American universities. He would keep up with his classes in Utuado online, utilizing Spring Mills High School’s computer labs, libraries, and all other facilities. He’d also be passing me in the halls, eating with me in the cafeteria, and bumming rides from my friends.
I glanced around the yellow-and-green guest room. My grandmother, my mom’s mom, used to stay here when she visited. It was decorated specifically for her with the thick plush carpet she preferred, the colors she favored, and an ivy-stenciled border that mimicked her bedroom in Camden. She stayed in the room a lot after my grandfather died. Aside from our maid, hardly anyone stepped foot in it since she passed away two years ago.
Now it would be Alex’s room. Only I couldn’t picture him in it. I couldn’t picture him here.
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As soon as I opened the heavy red door to our house, I was struck with an eerie vibe. There were no strange noises or items out of place—the knickknacks were where they were supposed to be, the furniture was dusted and fluffed—but something felt off, like that moment right before the guest of honor realizes there’s a houseful of people waiting to yell “surprise!”
“Mom? Dad!” I shouted as I walked into the marble foyer.
I wiped my sandals on the doormat, walked towards the spiral staircase and yelled up. “Vince, you here?”
No one responded.
I walked through the living room and glimpsed the spotless kitchen ahead. There were no dishes in the sink or seasoning scents in the air. It didn’t make sense. It was six o’clock, my mom should be cooking dinner. She cooked every night at this time. She loved to cook.
I continued towards the back porch and gazed into our freshly landscaped yard. There sat my brother, my mother and my father on the wrought iron patio furniture drinking iced tea like a cheesy commercial. I tilted my head as I slid the glass door open.
“What’s going on?” I asked, as their heads swiveled to face me.
“Mariana, sit down,” my dad said, patting the navy blue cushion on the chair beside him.
My brother was smiling—not a happy smile, more like a sneaky “I know something you don’t know” grin.
“Okay, what’s up?” I asked, my eyes darting from side to side.
“Iced tea?” my mom asked, grabbing the crystal pitcher and a tall glass from the bamboo tray beside her.
“Um, okay. Uh, will someone please tell me what the heck is going on?”
“Dad and I came to an arrangement,” Vince said as he stared at his designer sneakers.
“You’re going to Europe!” I squeaked, my hand shooting towards my mouth.
“Not exactly. But I am traveling.”
“Okay, then what? Where are you going?”
I grabbed the glass of iced tea from my mother.
“Lemon? Sugar?” she asked in her sweetest voice.
“Sure.”
My mom was smiling so wide, it almost looked robotic, like her face was programmed to stay in that position. It wasn’t a good sign.
“All right, why are you all being so weird?”
“We’re not being weird,” my mom said in a flat, peaceful tone. She was bracing herself for an argument. I could tell. She was setting a mood.
“Look, Mariana. Your brother and I talked,” my dad started. “I knew he was serious about wanting to travel. But I didn’t think it was safe for him to be so far away unchaperoned. So I came up with a compromise.”
“I’m spending the summer in Puerto Rico,” Vince interjected, glowing.
“That’s awesome! Good for you!”
My mom and dad exchanged a look.
“I still have family there,” my dad added slowly. “And an aunt and uncle of mine have agreed to be hosts for Vince ... and you.”
“And me! What do you mean, and me?” I coughed as I choked on a gulp of sweetened tea.
“I thought it would be a good learning experience for both of you,” he stated as he stared at the recently manicured bushes rather than my horrified eyes.
“What? What are you talking about? I don’t want to go anywhere.”
“Mariana ...” my father continued sternly.
“Don’t ‘Mariana’ me. Didn’t it occur to you to ask me first? This is ridiculous. Mom!”
“Honey, look, it’ll be fun,” she offered. “You’ll get to go to the beach. You’ll meet your relatives, be in a different country.”
“But I have friends here! I have Madison’s party! I can’t miss that. I won’t miss that!”
“Your friends will still be here when you get back,” my dad added gruffly.
“Dad, are you nuts? I can’t do this to Madison. She’s counting on me!”
“She has an entire staff to count on,” he huffed.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it! It’s her sixteenth birthday! That’s
a once in a lifetime thing. I have to be there for her, she’s my best friend!”
“Mariana, I realize you’re upset now,” my mother cooed. “But once you get to Puerto Rico, you’ll forget all about this and have fun. Really, you will.”
“You honestly think I want to forget all about my best friend? Are you mental? Have you ever had a friend in your life?”
“Oh, come on, Mariana! You’re missing some stuck-up, superficial party for a spoiled little rich girl. Who cares? You’re better off.” Vince pumped his eyebrows.
“I don’t care what you think of her. Like you have room to talk. Trust me, I could say a lot worse about your friends,” I snipped, my eyes frozen. “Madison’s a good person. And she’s my best friend. This party is the most important thing in her life. I’m not going to miss it. Why the heck am I even being dragged into your mess?”
I jumped up from my chair and swung around to face my parents.
“I am not going.”
“Mariana, you have plenty of summers and birthdays to spend with your friends. It’s not the end of the world,” my dad said, unsympathetically.
For the first time, I understood just how Vince felt when he fought with our father; Dad didn’t hear a word we said, nor did he care what we thought. His mind was made up before our mouths even opened. We were in two totally different realities.
“You really think this is just a birthday? No big deal? God, you really have no idea what goes on in my life! What type of parents are you? I’ve done nothing wrong!”
My dad blew a puff of air from his cheeks and glared at my mother, the vein pulsing on his forehead. She immediately stood up and rested her hand gently on my shoulder—a move I’ve seen her do a thousand times.
“Mari, it’ll be fun. Trust me. A tropical island. Your parents nowhere in sight. You can hang out with Vince. You’ll do all kinds of stuff, together ...”
A spotlight suddenly lit up in my brain. I finally understood what was happening here. I had to go with Vince, but not as his traveling buddy. I was his fifteen-year-old watchdog.
“Oh, this is great! You act like an irresponsible idiot and now I have to go babysit you from across the ocean! Thanks for ruining my life, Vince!” I screamed.
Amigas and School Scandals Page 24