She let go of my hand, and I asked the question. My voice was shaky, but she thought that sounded good, sounded as if I was aroused myself.
“Good, now, let’s start again,” she told me.
“Start again?”
“I want this to go perfectly right. Step back to the door. Go on.”
I went through it all again, with her correcting me, guiding me. She wasn’t happy with how I was performing. As strange as it sounds, rehearsing like this reminded me of rehearsing for a school skit. Maybe, if I could pretend I was someone else, I could get through it, I thought. After the third rehearsal, she said I was ready, but she seized my shoulder, squeezing so hard it hurt.
“I know you’re not happy about my asking you to do this, Delia, but it will help me to understand Edward more. You’re doing this for me and, in a way, for him. It’s not so terrible. You’re not going to sleep with him. I wouldn’t want you to do that, even if he wants to do it, understand? That would make me very unhappy, unhappy enough to hurt
you,” she said, taking on that cold, threatening tone again. Her fingers tightened.
“What I really hope is that you’ll stir up his interest in other girls, and maybe, after he recuperates, he won’t be so involved with that Jesse Butler,” she added, speaking more to herself than to me.
After another moment, she released her grip on my shoulder. I wanted to rub it, it hurt that much, but I took a deep breath instead.
“Okay, let’s go.”
She went to the doorway and stood there looking at me. My legs wouldn’t lift me off the bed.
“If you don’t do this…”
I moved quickly to her side, and we stepped into the hallway. She indicated that we should be very quiet as we walked down to Edward’s room. At the doorway, she smiled at me.
“Remember, I’m depending on you to do this right. Everything should be done slowly, gently. Understand?”
I nodded, and she opened the door. Edward was sitting up in his bed, and the CD was going just as she had described. She put her hand on my shoulder and pressed to move me forward and into the room, while she remained just inside the doorway. Although he was listening to the CD, Edward heard me entering and quickly turned it off.
“Who’s there?”
“It’s Delia,” I said.
He smiled. “Hey, just in time. Listen to this. Qué hora es? What time is it? Dónde está el baño, por favor? Where is the bathroom, please? Cuánto cuesta? How much does this cost? How’s my pronunciation?”
“Very good,” I said. I looked back at Tía Isabela. She urged me forward.
“You mean, muy bueno.”
“Sí,” I said. I glanced back at Tía Isabela and then moved to Edward’s bed. I took a deep breath and sat just where I had sat during our rehearsal. I could see that it surprised Edward immediately. “I have come to see how you are, Edward.”
“You mean…”
“Yes, cómo está usted?”
“Bien, gracias.”
I could feel Tía Isabela’s eyes on the back of my neck. I reached for Edward’s hand. He smiled.
“I never thanked you for what you tried to do for me,” I said. “I really appreciated your concern for me.”
I couldn’t help it. I knew I sounded as if I were either reading it off a piece of paper or reciting something I had memorized. His face looked surprised, confused, and he tilted his head just a little as I started to stroke his hand and his arm the way Tía Isabela had demonstrated.
“I like you very much, and I wish I could do something for you that would make you happy,” I added.
“Oh, you don’t have to…”
I brought his hand to my breast. My heart was pounding. Surely, he felt it, I thought. He didn’t speak. I could feel Tía Isabela behind me. I didn’t turn, but I sensed she had inched closer to watch. I closed my eyes and moved Edward’s hand over my breast.