It was said that she was one hundred and eight when she died, and Death was so tired from waiting that he gladly carried her off on his shoulders and played the donkey.
These rich memories from my village gave me strength to overcome any fear. I was sure that anyone looking at me entering the school would be taken aback by the smile on my face and the firmness in my body and in my gait. Almost immediately, however, I felt the tension. Apparently, the phones had been ringing in the homes of other students all weekend. Sophia’s disgusting accusations had gained firm footing in minds and conversations, not only among her friends but among mine, because of Katelynn and what she had seen at the restaurant.
Now it was known that I had clearly turned down a date with the school’s heartthrob, Christian Taylor, to go out with my gay cousin, Edward, and his companion, Jesse. Something untoward and unhealthy was obviously going on. What else could it be? Why else would I avoid a date with Christian Taylor? Now the truth was known.
I saw the whispering going on behind my back, the hesitation in the greetings the other students gave me, and felt the chill in the air between myself and the girls who had befriended me. Perhaps to avoid sitting with me at lunchtime, my three closest friends had spread themselves out to sit with other students. For the first time since I had walked into the private school, I found myself alone at a table.
I saw that Christian had found allies now in Sophia and her two friends. They sat together, talking and laughing loudly for my benefit. I tried to look as indifferent as I could. However, I was twisting and turning into knots inside. I attempted to read, but my gaze kept floating off the page, and I found myself reading the same lines repeatedly.
And then, perhaps to show that she could do whatever she wanted or perhaps to be the first to know everything, Fani suddenly appeared at my table. She usually had only a yogurt and some fruit for lunch and took it out of her cloth bag after she sat. I stared at her and closed my book.
“I warned you about your cousin Edward and what could be made of it,” she began.
“I’m not going to insult and be unfriendly to my cousin Edward because my cousin Sophia is jealous of me,” I told her. “Edward and his friend Jesse worry about me. They are my best friends. If the others believe Sophia’s lies, they do because it pleases them to believe nasty things about…about Mexicans,” I said. I could feel the heat in my own eyes, and I could see that my outburst and determination startled her.
She dipped her spoon into her yogurt and ate quietly for a moment.
“Sophia doesn’t deny being half Mexican when she speaks to me.”
“That’s because she wants you to like her, invite her to your parties, whatever. She’ll tell you whatever she thinks will make you happy, but she treats the Mexican servants and workers like dirt.”
Fani kept eating and then paused to look at me. “Well, you obviously don’t care what she says about you.”
“I refuse to let her bully me. My father always told me, si usted actúa como una oveja, ellos actuarán como lobos. If you act like a sheep, they will act like wolves. It’s as true here as it was back in Mexico.”
She finished eating and nodded. She didn’t look at me when she spoke next. “My parents are having a dinner Friday night for one of the candidates running for United States senator, Ray Bovio. His son, Adan, will be coming, too. I will send a car for you at six-thirty,” she said.
“You are inviting me?”
She pretended to look around the table. “Is there someone else here? Six-thirty,” she repeated. She put her empty yogurt container in the bag and stood up when the bell rang. “It’s formal, so dress appropriately,” she added. She looked toward Sophia and her friends and then flashed me a smile before walking off.
I sat amazed.
I truly am a river, I thought, meandering through places I have never been.
Fani’s joining me at my table stirred up even more chatter. By the end of the day, the news about my invitation to a dinner at her home had spread with electric speed, shocking Sophia. Apparently, Fani had deliberately told the girls she knew would do just that. Incredulous, Sophia had to approach me before the beginning of the last class to ask if it were really true.
“Fani invited you to dinner at her home?”
“Por supuesto.”
“What?”
“Oh, sorry. I just thought since you’ve been taking Spanish, you would understand. That means of course,” I said, and took my seat.
When the school day ended, she told me she wasn’t going home with me.
“If Garman asks, tell him I’ve gone over to one of my friends’ homes.”
“Por supuesto,” I said, and she smirked.
“I’m only taking Spanish to get the language requirement off my back. I don’t intend to speak it, so I don’t need to practice with you.”
Before I could reply, she walked off. When I came out of the school at the end of the day alone, Señor Garman didn’t really care where she was. He just asked me if he should wait for her and I told him no, she had gone to a friend’s home. As soon as I got home and up to my room, I called Edward to tell him of my invitation to dinner, a dinner for a United States Senate candidate.
“That’s terrific, Delia. I’m happy for you. We’ll wait until Saturday to come down, then. I hate the traffic on Friday night, anyway. Take notes. We’re going to want to hear all about it. Oh, does Sophia know?”
“Yes,” I said.