CHAPTER 25
Elena
Addler remains silent. The expectant expression on his face confuses me. How could he think there would be no repercussions to his angry comment in a town the size of Nueces?
“What Addler has been reluctant to tell y’all,” Bill says, “is that he got into an altercation with Antonio Mendoza all those years ago.”
I gasp. “I never heard anything about it.” A surprise in itself, considering how people around here like to talk.
“The Mendoza boy thought he could rile Addler and decided to use you as bait,” Bill explains.
“Me?” I’m shocked at his words. “How did he use me?”
The muscles in Addler’s jaw tense. “He claimed to have been with you after prom,” he says, choosing his words carefully, likely for Mom’s sake. “And that his two goons were there also.”
My eyes widen. “He told you that?” Anger bubbles up inside me even though it all happened years ago. That’s where he got the idea.
“Well, it was clear you’d said no to going with me.”
Reluctant excitement pulses inside me. “I didn’t think you were serious,” I explain. “Even Marcy, my best friend back then, burst out laughing when I told her I thought you’d asked me.”
He frowns. “Why would she laugh because I asked you out?”
I’m almost embarrassed to say this in front of him. “Why would someone like you, with your looks and your family, ask me out?” I hitch a shoulder. “I mean, you were always surrounded by cheerleaders, and people like that.” I still remember his entourage. One cheerleader or another was always trailing behind him. Why would he be interested in the nerdy chick who always ate away her problems. “I was…a nobody.”
“You weren’t a nobody to me.” His expression turns hard. “And you need better friends.”
He’s not wrong. I was giddy. I had to tell someone, to share this uncertainty and stop the frenzy building inside me. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong person. Marcy, the friend I trusted above anyone else, completely shredded the bit of self-confidence I’d mustered. “In my defense, I wasn’t even sure you were asking me out. You just asked if I was going.”
“And you said no,” he counters.
“‘So, if I was to ask you, you’d say no’ isn’t an invitation,” I remind him. How was I, who had never been on an actual date, be sure what he was asking.
“It was the first time I’d actually been the one to ask someone out. I screwed it up.” His annoyed grimace brings a smile to my face. “You still said no,” he tacks on.
The sense of loss grows inside me. “I wasn’t going. We really couldn’t afford having me go to prom.”
Mom’s expression turns thoughtful as she ruffles the curls on Daisy’s head. “I made very little back then, so we didn’t have the money.” Her attention turns to me, tears threatening to spill over. “I’m sorry, baby. I wish I’d at least learned to use a needle.”
“Mom, it’s okay. It wasn’t important.” My poor mother. Even with the burdens she had to deal with while raising a child on her own, she still wanted to do more.
“We heard she wanted to go and knew the situation,” Bill chimes in. “So, Isabela and I got her the dress.”
Addler nods, picking up on the story. “Still, you went with Tony.”
“No.” I shake my head. “I went, but he offered to give a bunch of us a ride home at the end of the night.” Most had been only too happy to get to ride in the new sports car he got as a graduation present and piled in. “He purposely left me as the last stop.” I give him a wry smile. “And he wasn’t too happy when I said no to what he wanted.” I’d ended up walking the rest of the way home that night since I wouldn’t put out.
“Well, a couple of days later, Tony decided to use that to goad Addler,” Bill continues the story. “And got more than he expected.”
“Why would he do that?” Mom asks, unfamiliar with the school’s hierarchy.
“Tony was the captain of the football team,” I explain.
“The big man on campus,” Bill adds.
“Until Addler showed up.” I remember Tony seething at the mere mention of Addler’s name. Worse, they’re neighbors. Their ranches bump up against each other in the southern section, all the way down to the Rio Grande. “Coach kept going on about how Addler could have turned the team around.”
“Oh. So, he was jealous,” Mom concludes.