Progress?
Elodie lets me use a nickname, and Alejandro’s mother’s letting me use her first name. Maybe I’ll still be breathing tomorrow.
“I hope I can earn your trust. None of this is happening the way I thought it would. I don’t know how I got so fortunate, considering the sins I’ve committed.”
“Repentance and forgiveness are what we tell ourselves to get by.”
What the fuck does that mean?
“Yyyes.”
I draw out the word because what the hell else do I say?
“We live the life we were given by birth and make the most of it. We can repent for our sins we don’t plan to commit again and ask for forgiveness when we can earn it. You’ve done that today. But even God can’t turn a blind eye to the ones we do over and over. You’ve admitted to why you met my son, and I see what you’re like together. You can’t fake what you two share. I can forgive a great deal, Vittoria. This life has forced me to, but it’s also given me a long memory.”
I’m a C and E—Christmas and Easter—Catholic because I share the same sentiment—God can’t ignore the sins I willingly commit over and over. It feels too hypocritical to keep confessing and hoping for reconciliation when I leave church and pick up the gun I put down right before Mass. While it’s a blessing that Catalina understands, she’s given me a healthy dose of Catholic mother’s guilt.
God help me when she meets my mother.
Never mind God, the two of them might smite me where I stand.
“I understand.”
“I know you do,gordita.”
Context is everything. I’m pretty sure she means sweetie or honey and not the literal chubby little girl. I prefer to take it as a compliment.
I glance down at the food before looking toward the living room. After that little warning, I’m glad I watched her prepare the plates. Otherwise, I’d fear her poisoning me.
“Alejandro and I really should get going.”
We join the others, and Alejandro takes the food from me. He looks at Catalina, then me, and his brow creases. I’m certain he’s wondering what his mother said to me. I fear I’m either white as a ghost or red as a firetruck. Either way, he’s watching me like he fears I’ll pass out.
“Chiquita?”
Chapter Nineteen
Alejandro
I can imagine what my mother said to my girlfriend in the kitchen.Mamá’san avenging angel if you get too close to her family and look at us the wrong way. She’ll perceive Vita as a threat until she doesn’t—Lord only knows when she’ll change her mind. From her expression, I think it’ll be soon. I pray it’s soon. As best I can tell,Mamálikes and approves of Vita as much as she could anyone who’s an outsider.
I’m an only child, so my parents can be a wee overprotective. I was a mini-Houdini as a toddler. I could escape anywhere. I was climbing out of my crib at one and figuring out childproof locks by the time I was three. I’d disappear practically before their eyes. Usually, it was because I was hungry or wanted to play on our swing set.
Apparently, when I was four, I decided I wanted to play with Pablo. I found a pair of my dad’s shoes and made it to the end of the driveway before a guard spotted me and carried me back inside. If I hadn’t grown up on a gated property, I would’ve been halfway to Jersey before they realized I was gone.
I wasn’t a disobedient child; I just took their warning to stay in one place as an instruction meant in the here and the now. It wasn’t applicable to the future until they specifically said so. Situational ethics through the lens of a preschooler.
“I’m ready to go, but what’re we going to do with all of this food if you’re driving?”
“We’ll take a town car with a driver that way we can eat. We’ll park at Javier and Madeline’s and walk next door.”
We say our goodbyes and head to the car. The privacy glass is always up unless the occupant puts it down. After giving the driver instructions, I climb in beside Vita. The moment the door shuts, I’m on her like she’s an oasis after my forty days and nights in the desert. We nearly crush the plates between us.
“Eat so we don’t make a mess,chica. Then we have some unfinished business.”
We both eat with gusto since it’s been so long since breakfast, neither of us having had time for lunch. We abandoned the tuna and rice. She compliments the food, whichPapáandTíoEnrique cooked.
It’s a family requirement that everyone learns how to. We take turns hosting Sunday dinner, and we’re naturally frugal in our everyday lives. We all like nice things and own plenty of extravagant luxuries. But we can do that because we don’t piss away our money. We eat at our homes most of the time, and none of us appear to be starving.
