Читать книгу Adios To All The Drama - Diana Rodriguez Wallach - Страница 10

Alex appeared even more stunned by the sight of Spring Mills than Lilly had. As we roared through the streets, crammed in Madison’s new car (another detail that made his jaw drop), he stared out the window blinking uncontrollably. I sat next to him in the backseat, my fingers laced with his and my eyes glued to his dimples.

“Just normal people live here? They’re not movie stars?” he asked, shaking his head as a gated stone mansion with acres of property whizzed by.

“That kid’s family actually owns the beach house next to mine in Avalon.” Emily paused. “Well, I guess it won’t be mine for much longer….”

Alex looked at me. I shrugged. I didn’t want to explain Emily’s saga at the moment.

“His dad’s a lawyer,” Madison explained.

“For who, the president?” Alex asked.

“No, even better. Big pharmaceutical.” Madison grinned into the rearview mirror.

We roared by another house so large that it looked like a luxury hotel. It was a massive brick estate, swelling across half the block with a grand lighted fountain in the circular drive. It was locked away behind an iron fence with pillars.

“These kids go to your school?” Alex asked.

“No, a lot of them go to private schools. My parents are sticklers for public education,” I explained as I gazed at the familiar Main Line Philadelphia homes.

“My dad said he’s not paying all this money in property taxes so I can go to boarding school in Connecticut,” Madison added.

“My mom’s a professor. She’s all about not raising a ‘sheltered, spoiled brat.’ But apparently serving as a role model for meaningless sex and betrayal is perfectly fine in her book,” Emily snipped.

Alex looked at me again, his eyes curious at Emily’s tone.

“Is she all right?” he mouthed.

“It’s a long story,” I mouthed back.

Lilly grabbed Alex’s shoulder. “Isn’t this crazy?”

“Loco,” he repeated.

Then he turned his face away from me and whispered to my cousin. “Is their house like this?”

“Sort of, but not as bad,” she replied softly.

“Hey! No secrets!” Madison yelped. “It’s my car, and I get to hear everything.”

He looked at me. “I just can’t believe your dad grew up in Utuado, my Utuado, and now he lives…here,” Alex muttered.

“Why, is Utuado that bad?” Madison asked.

I bit my lip. I had told her that I had lived in a cement house, sleeping on a moldy twin bed for two summer months, but truly I didn’t think Madison was capable of picturing the scene. To her, staying at a Holiday Inn was roughing it.

“It’s not bad!” Lilly squeaked, offended. “It’s my home.”

“A home that you couldn’t wait to get away from,” Madison added.

“It wasn’t like that…exactly.”

“Uh-huh.” Madison nodded.

Just then, the car rolled to a stop in my spacious driveway. Alex scanned the monster white house artfully lit by a landscape designer. The black shingles and shutters glowed in the dusk above the expansive white porch that encompassed the front façade. The lawn, illuminated by floodlights in the grass, had not even the hint of a dry blade.

“This is home,” I said, raising my eyebrows with a wide grin.

“I love it already.”

When we got inside, my parents had rolled out the red carpet. The cheesesteaks were heated, our Philadelphia-themed souvenirs were arranged in a toile-wrapped basket, a collection of collegiate brochures littered the kitchen table, and they were standing like the welcoming committee—with Teresa and her fiancé Carlos beside them.

“Wow, Teresa. I didn’t know you were coming,” I said, my tone sounding more surprised than I had intended.

“It was a last minute thing,” my mother explained with a gentle smile. “We figured why not surround Alex with as many familiar faces as possible?”

“Gracias.” Alex nodded at my mom. “This is increíble.”

His Spanish accent made my insides flutter.

“Good to see you again, Alex.” Teresa stepped out to greet him, her hand extended.

Alex shook it politely and kissed her cheek.

“So, bien-ven-i-do,” my mom welcomed slowly, with horrific Spanish pronunciation.

“It’s good to have you here,” my father added, loosening his red power tie.

“No, thank you. It’s so generous of you. Gracias….” Alex nodded to my father.

“Well, when Uncle Miguel called and told me your situation, how could I refuse? It’s the least I could do after he let my kids spend the summer in his home. Any friend of Miguel’s is a friend of mine,” my dad explained.

“Um, Alex is my friend too,” I pointed out.

My father coughed awkwardly as if to block out my statement. We had yet to have any real discussion about what Alex’s moving here meant to me. Of course these are the same parents who skipped over the birds and the bees speech and never bothered to discuss the menstrual cycle that debuted when I was twelve. A box of pads and tampons just miraculously appeared in my bathroom closet. (I’m still not sure if our maid or my mother put them there.)

“So come, eat,” my mom ordered as she herded us into the formal dining room. My friends shuffled behind. I could see they were being careful not to interfere. Teresa added an awkward element to most situations.

The cheesesteaks were being served on a stainless steel tray along with my parents’ wedding china. I don’t think chipped beef ever had it so good. I plopped down on a polished high-back chair and grabbed a sandwich.

“Ever have one before?” I asked, handing Alex his meal on a white porcelain plate with a silver-patterned trim.

“No, what is it?” He pushed his chair closer to mine.

“A local delicacy. Try it.”

Alex glanced at Teresa and they both took tentative bites into the foreign substance, grease dribbling down their chins.

“Está bien,” he mumbled, reaching under the linen tablecloth and squeezing my knee.

My eyes immediately shot to my father, who was staring at Alex’s stretched arm like it was an automatic weapon. I discreetly brushed his palm away and Alex furrowed his brow. I pulled my eyes wide, hoping to telepathically inform him that he was not to touch me in my parents’ presence. He didn’t catch on, but Madison and Lilly did. They both glared at me and then at my dad. He was stroking his black mustache and frowning, his dark eyes pointedly focused on our house guest’s hands.

“So, Alex, I’ll have to give you the low-down on the Ruízes,” Lilly joked, subtly nodding at my father.

“Oh, please, if you want the real truth, come to me,” Madison said. “I’m practically a member of this family.”

“Well I actually am,” Lilly added.

“Wow, two teenagers fighting over how much they want to be part of this household. I’ll have to film it and send it to Vince,” I joked.

“That’s enough,” my mom warned. “We have guests.”

“No, I like how your family interacts,” Teresa said as she delicately placed her cheesesteak back on her plate. “It’s like you have your own language.”

No one said anything.

“It’s nice,” she reiterated.

All I could think of was how she probably never had this for herself. She didn’t have siblings growing up to annoy her. She’d only had her mother, and from what I’d heard, that wasn’t much of a consolation prize. The woman had had an affair with my grandfather and a very public falling-out—she ran my family off the island. No wonder Teresa was seeking a bond with her half-brothers, no matter how late in life.

“Well, I’m sure you and Carlos will have your own language with your kids,” I said.

“Manny will be here soon,” she said, referring to her two-year-old terror. “I can’t wait for Carlos to spend time with him.”

“Neither can I.” Carlos kissed Teresa on her nose.

“There’s actually something I’ve been meaning to ask you girls.” Teresa’s brown eyes darted nervously between Lilly and I as she brushed her dark red hair behind her ear. “It’s about my wedding…I was wondering. You see, I don’t have any sisters and all of my friends are in Utuado. And with everything coming up so soon, I was hoping…that maybe…and this is entirely up to you…that you’d like to be my bridesmaids?” She bit the inside of her cheek and glanced at the table.

“Totally!” I cheered. “How cool is that?”

I looked excitedly at Lilly.

“I’ve never been a bridesmaid before,” Lilly said.

“Only if it’s okay with you, Lorenzo.” Teresa peered at my father, who didn’t look nearly as thrilled as Lilly and I.

He rubbed his scalp as he sighed, assuming his thinking face. I knew it well, and I was betting he was weighing the reaction of his brothers versus ruining his new half-sister’s big day. My mother silently stared at him, saying nothing.

“Sure, if it’s fine with the girls, then it’s fine with me,” my father stated.

“So when’s the date?” Madison asked, whipping out her cell phone. “Because I have the greatest event planner.”

“We’re thinking New Year’s Eve. To start the year off right….”

“That’s perfect!” Lilly said.

“I love it,” Madison added, her fingers flying over her phone. “You’ll probably get some great discounts because the winter is off-season. Do you have a location yet? I’ll see if Gayle can put something together. And don’t worry about the budget, I can work with anything.”

“And we’ll help…with the reception,” my mother offered, subtly referencing my aunt’s low finances.

“No, really. It’s okay. I want to do it on my own.” Teresa looked at Madison.

“Are you sure? Because I know every ballroom within a thirty-mile radius. You should have seen the number of places we visited before I booked my Sweet Sixteen.” Madison’s finger was poised above the “send” button, itching to make the call to Gayle.

“No, está bien. I think this would be a nice project to get me acquainted with my new town.”

“Your new home,” Carlos corrected.

“Seems to be a new home for a lot of us,” Alex said.

“You got that right,” Lilly stated.

“All thanks to you.” Alex leaned in and kissed my cheek, holding the kiss a moment longer than was typically considered friendly.

“I think we all need to go over a few things,” my father bellowed in a deep tone, glaring at Alex.

“Well, why don’t we show Alex his room first?” I suggested, rapidly changing the subject. “Wanna check out your new digs?” I asked him.

“I’d love to. And you’ll have to show me your room,” Alex said.

We stood up from the table and headed toward the spiral stairs just before I heard my father grumble, “Remind me to put a padlock on her bedroom door.”

My friends, cousin, and I flopped onto the floor of Alex’s yellow-and-green room as he collapsed on the bed with jet lag.

“I don’t think I’ve ever slept on a full-size bed,” he said as he tested the springs.

“Actually, it’s a queen,” Madison noted. “Hey, did you tell him about your grandma?”

“Mad!” I shrieked.

Alex peered at me.

“It’s nothing. This used to be her room,” I explained.

“She was here all the time…before she died,” Madison said ominously.

I shot her a look but she kept going.

“The final heart attack happened right here, in this room.”

“Not in this bed?” Lilly cried, her face twisted.

“No,” I said quickly. “My mom gave that bed to Goodwill. This is a brand-new, never-been-slept-in model.”

“Well, if you don’t count her ghost.”

“Madison, shut up!” I warned.

“What? She’s right and you know it!” Emily joined in. “You’ve heard the bed squeak in here when no one was in it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said a bit too quickly, not making eye contact.

“Yes, you do! Grandma Gryzbowski is still chillin’ in here.” Madison snickered.

“Mariana, you never told me that,” Lilly said. “We cleaned out this whole room together!”

“See, there are some things you gotta go to the real source for, Alex. You wanna know about the bastard aunt from Utuado, ask Lilly. But if you wanna know about the Ruíz family from Spring Mills, I’m your girl.”

“Bastard aunt? When did you start calling her that?” he asked.

I nodded. “You missed a lot.”

By the time I finished catching him up on all the family drama I felt unfit for sending him in an e-mail, from the verbal rumble between Uncle Diego and Teresa at my Sweet Sixteen to Teresa’s mother’s—my grandfather’s mistress—plans to attend her daughter’s wedding with my family, it was almost midnight and we all had school tomorrow.

“All right, Em. I think it’s time I take you home. Which lovely abode will you be going to this evening?” Madison asked.

“Back to Philly, definitely. But first I need to stop by my mom’s and pick up a few things,” she said sadly. “Isn’t it weird that in a month my house has gone from being my ‘home’ to being ‘my mom’s place’?”

None of us said a thing, and soon the girls stood and showed themselves out. Lilly retired to her own room, and we were finally alone. I inhaled the silence.

“So, you glad I came?” he whispered.

“Absolutamente,” I teased.

He placed his hand gently on my chin and raised my face toward his as he lowered his lips. It was the kiss I had been waiting for all night. As soon as our lips touched, everything flooded back: the tingle down my spine, the tickle in my belly, the dizziness in my head. I absorbed the familiar sensations.

“Now that’s what we need to talk about,” my father roared as he stormed through the doorway.

I quickly pulled away.

“I think your friend and I need to have a little discussion.” My father’s beady eyes shot bullets at Alex.

Alex sucked his lips under his teeth and flinched. He didn’t protest when my father dragged him into his den, insisting I not follow. I figured I’d give it ten minutes and then tiptoe down anyway (after all, the man was humiliating me, so I had a right to know how bad).

I flicked on my laptop and checked my e-mail as I waited. There was a message from Vince.

Hey, Mariana!

Is your Puerto Rican fiancé there yet? I can’t believe Dad’s letting this dude sleep in our house. He’s clearly delusional. But never fear, I’m totally going to take advantage. I’m thinking of bringing this chick I’ve been seeing home over Thanksgiving. Her name’s Mali, she’s from Malaysia, and the flight back is crazy expensive. So I told her she could stay with us for the week. Like Mom and Dad can say no now! Suckers. I can’t believe I spent eighteen years breaking them in and you’re reaping all the benefits.

Also, do you know anything about Shakespeare? I have this paper coming up over break that I might need to talk to you about—my frat brothers are no help. They actually threw a brother’s desk out a window yesterday. It was, like, 2:00 A.M. and everyone was tossing stuff out the house’s third floor windows. I launched this old typewriter and it exploded into a zillion pieces—springs, keys, everything. Then we took this kid’s IKEA desk and torpedoed it an hour after he put it together. The dude woke up this morning and was all freaked out because he couldn’t figure out where his desk went. It was toast! Freakin’ hysterical!

Anyway, see you in a couple weeks! You’re gonna love Mali!

—Vince

Just then, I heard my father’s voice carry from downstairs. I could not believe he was hollering at our guest on the first night. I shut down my computer and crept down the steps.