“What happened to your ankle?” Mrs. Johnson asked.
“A little accident. Ce n’est rien.”
“It’s nothing? Bon. Well, you kids have a great time. I’m happy Danielle has made such nice friends.”
She patted my hand and joined some of the other adults nearby.
“That’s a pretty expensive dress,” Fani said immediately. “Your aunt bought it for you?”
“No. It’s a present from my cousin Edward.”
“Really? How generous.”
Generous? If she thought this was generous, what would she say when she heard about my car?
“Where’s your darling other cousin?” Fani asked, looking toward the entrance. “I thought she was definitely coming.” I was surprised at how disappointed she sounded.
“She’ll be here any moment, I’m sure. Christian Taylor was picking her up.”
“Christian Taylor? She got him to do that? Well, this gets more and more interesting. I wonder what outrage the two of them are planning. Don’t worry. I’ve planted the seeds so everyone knows she’s responsible for your little accident.”
So, Danielle and her friends did know, I thought, and looked at Adan. He surely had told Fani what I had told him on the phone. I was afraid they were all now determined to dig out the nitty-gritty details.
“It is better forgotten,” I said, “especially at such a party.”
“Didn’t you tell me your father told you that if you act like sheep, they’ll act like wolves?”
“Yes, but…”
“Don’t be a hypocrite, Delia. Either be brave and proud, or pick up your cousin’s toilet paper,” she snapped, her eyes blazing.
“Ugh,” Adan said. “You’re such an instigator, Fani.”
“What of it?” She looked at the grand festivities around us, the food and the music. “These parties can be so boring. All these men trying to pretend they’re boys; all these boys pretending they’re men.”
“Boring? How can you say that? I have never seen such a birthday party,” I said.
She grimaced. “Well, don’t expect to see a piñata. Get me a glass of champagne, Adan.”
“Champagne? Do you want me to be arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor?”
“Spare me. It won’t be the first time you did so,” she said, and he laughed.
“Wait here. I’ll have to get it and pour it into a soda glass.”
The dancers broke into the cancan again, and men and boys were cheering.
“Adan really likes you,” Fani said. “I never heard him speak about a girl as much. I couldn’t get him off the phone this afternoon. He thinks you’re head and shoulders above other girls your age. What did you do to him on the way home from my house last night?”
“I did nothing.”
“Did you go straight home?” she asked, swinging her eyes toward him.
“Yes. Straight home.”
“Yeah, well, whatever you did or didn’t do was enough to capture his imagination, and Adan has a wild imagination.”
She stopped talking when he returned with the champagne in a soda glass. “Gracias, señor.” She clinked his glass and sipped her champagne.
“Let’s get something substantial to eat,” she suggested.
As we crossed the room toward the displays of food, Fani paused and nudged me to turn around. Sophia and Christian were just coming into the party.
“This is going to be good,” she whispered, and nodded toward Danielle and her girlfriends, who had spotted Sophia as well. Their chatter became more animated. They reminded me of angry bees.
“Oh, I hope they don’t make trouble,” I said. It sounded like a prayer.
“She’ll only get what she deserves,” Fani declared. “Besides, it’s Danielle’s party. She can do what she wants.”
“With your little help, I’m sure,” Adan muttered. “You so enjoy running everyone’s life.”
“It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it,” Fani said, and they both laughed.
Adan fixed me a plate of food and guided me to one of the tables that had been set up like in a French café, with candlelight and baskets of croissants. Looking across the room, I saw Danielle and her friends descend on Sophia, who, although she was dressed more elegantly than I had ever seen her dressed and walked with Christian Taylor holding her arm, still looked like a fish out of water.
Adan fixed Fani’s plate of food as well, and she sat beside me. It occurred to me that none of the boys from our school was trying to get her attention. Were they all so afraid of her, of being rejected? She didn’t seem to care.
Just before Adan joined us with his food, Fani leaned toward me, both of us still watching Danielle and her friends talking to Sophia and Christian, and whispered, “Adan knows what happened to you. He knows all about the famous Bradley Whitfield affair. He knew more about it than I did.”
I nearly choked on the lobster I had started to chew. I turned to her, but before I could respond, he sat next to me.
“What’s happening in the soap opera?” he asked, biting into a hamburger and nodding toward Sophia and Christian.
“I’m sure they’re cross-examining her,” Fani said. “She looks as if she’s defending herself. And Christian Taylor looks as if he’s here to be her attorney.”
They did appear to be in a serious argument now.
“This is not nice for Danielle’s party,” I said. “She will be upset.”
“Are you kidding? Danielle is just like the others. She enjoys tormenting someone. I just provided her with some new ammunition.”
“You’re such a bitch, Fani,” Adan said, smiling.
“I learned from the best,” she replied.
Sophia tore herself away from Danielle and her friends and started across the grand room toward us, Christian trailing behind.
“Uh-oh,” Adan said. “Here comes trouble.”
“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” Sophia said when she drew close enough. “Making up that story about me and spreading it so quickly so you could ruin my evening here.”
I shook my head. “I said nothing to anyone about you.”
“Yeah, right.” She looked at Fani. “You’d better pull them off me if you know what’s good for you.”
“Me? I don’t control them,” Fani said. “And I don’t like being threatened.”
“Girls, c’mon,” Adan said. “Let’s just have a good time tonight.”
“Yeah, well, we know what that means for you, Adan Bovio. You probably will have a good time. You have the right girl for it.” She nodded at me, turned, and walked away.
Christian shrugged as if there was nothing he could do about her, but we could see he enjoyed it all, perhaps as much as Fani did.
I was sure my face was red. It felt burning hot.
Adan laughed.
“Now, see,” Fani said. “Doesn’t all this make the party more interesting? I can’t wait for the second round.”
Like the child’s game where a secret is whispered into the ear of everyone in a circle until it comes back to the originator dramatically changed, the gossip began to flow from Sophia and Christian through the ears and lips of the other students at the party. The girls who were my friends in school were again jealous of me because I was with Adan Bovio. They were eager to listen and to unravel the whispers. I had no idea what slurs and rumors were being generated during the evening, but Fani was plugged into the talk and reported to us that Sophia and Christian were claiming Sophia had seen me in bed with Edward and Jesse. She told them my aunt was very upset and had told them to stay away from me. Sophia claimed that was why I had made up this story about her throwing me down a stairway.
I couldn’t breathe for a moment. It seemed that everyone at the party was looking my way and shaking his or her head with disapproval. It amazed me that anyone, especially the girls I thought were friends of mine, could believe such a tale, but there was Katelynn describing how I had been so close to my cou
sin and Jesse at the restaurant, and, of course, there was Christian Taylor claiming I would rather be with them than with him.
Like any terrible rumor, its roots were based on some facts. In this case, it was the fact that Edward had bought me a car and that the two of them had actually picked out and bought the dress I was wearing tonight. Christian confirmed everything. He had seen the car tonight. When I couldn’t deny these things, everything else gained validity, and before the night had ended, the target of the ugly gossip had become me and not Sophia.
“Your cousin bought you a sports car?” Fani asked when she had heard that part.
“Sí. It was a surprise.”
“I bet it was. No wonder Sophia is wagging her tongue so much. She’s probably dying with envy.”
To my surprise and disappointment, Fani didn’t see this as unpleasant for me. On the contrary, she saw the verbal battle as even more fun. Adan had to dance with Danielle after all, and then another of her friends begged him to take her to the dance floor. Boys even grew courageous enough to ask Fani to dance, but no one else spoke to me. I sat mired in my misfortune, watching them all. The party’s strobe lights were turned on and flashed over their smiling faces, making them all look devilish. My ankle even began to hurt again.
How had this wonderful night turned so sour? I couldn’t wait to leave, but no one could leave until the huge birthday cake had been wheeled out. Danielle blew out the candles, and there was an explosion of balloons rising into the night. Then, to everyone’s amazement, we were paraded out to witness a fireworks display that ended with the words “Happy Birthday Danielle” written in bright lights against the inky night. It was all so overwhelming that for those moments, all thoughts about Sophia and the slanders were forgotten.
Adan held me close. “Your face is lit with the fireworks,” he said, and kissed me. It was a warm, soft kiss but passionate enough to send a chill of excitement to my breasts. I felt myself lose all resistance, and he sensed it as well. “Let’s get out of here,” he whispered.
I looked to the right and saw Fani watching us, a sly smile on her face. She had seen us kiss.
“C’mon,” Adan urged. He paused by Fani on our way in to say good night to Danielle and her parents.
“Leaving already?” Fani asked.
“Delia’s foot’s acting up,” he said, and she widened her smile.
“I imagine more than her foot is acting up.”
“You’re such a bitch,” he told her.
“Bonne nuit, mon amie,” she told me. “I’ll speak to you tomorrow.”
“Buenas noches,” I replied. She laughed, and we went first to Danielle’s parents.
“I’m so happy you could come,” her mother said. Her father shook Adan’s hand and wished his father luck in running for the Senate. He also said he was sending him a contribution.
All of the students from our school whom she had invited surrounded Danielle, but when she saw us preparing to leave, she broke away.
“Why are you going so early?” she whined. “We’re just getting started. The band is going to play until two in the morning.”
Adan explained that my ankle was hurting, and we had to get me home to rest.
“Of course,” Danielle said. “Feel free to come back after you take her home,” she added coquettishly. He didn’t respond. “I hope you feel better soon, Delia. See you in school.”
“Thank you, and happy birthday.”
She smiled and returned quickly to her entourage. I looked about for Sophia and Christian. Adan sensed it.
“I saw your cousin leave a good half hour ago,” he whispered. “I’m sure it wasn’t to go home.”
The valet brought us Adan’s car and he put my crutches into the rear again.
“Well, that’s one kind of a birthday party,” he muttered as we drove down the driveway and out the gate. He looked at me when I didn’t respond. “I’m sorry Fani stirred up that hornet’s nest. She has lived such a privileged, rich life, traveling to every glamorous and expensive place, and living in that palace that I think she’s simply bored all the time and does things like this to amuse herself. I worry about her.”
“You worry about Fani? With all she has, beauty, brains, wealth?”
“Something important is still missing, Delia. She envies you.”
“Me? I have nothing compared to her.”
“You have a helluva nice new car,” he said, laughing.
“You know what I mean, Adan. I have lost my family. My cousin Edward is generous and sweet to me, but I will have to make my own way in this world. I have many burdens, burdens Fani can’t even begin to imagine.”
“I know, but it’s all made you stronger, Delia. I can tell, and so can Fani, and she is jealous of your inner strength, your pride. Believe me.”
I said nothing. It was comforting to hear these things, but I wasn’t sure whether it was simply flattery.
“I want to show you something, if that’s all right,” he said. “You don’t want to go right home, anyway.”
“Show me something?”
Those words, that idea, triggered my painful Bradley Whitfield memories.
“It’s just a piece of land,” he said. “I know what happened to you. Don’t worry. I have never forced a girl to do anything she didn’t want to do with me. Men like that are pathetic and insecure.”
“Where is this land? Why show it to me?” I asked, unable to hide my nervousness. Was this the lady’s man finally emerging?
“Just be a little patient. And a little more trusting,” he said, laughing.
We drove for a while, and then he made a turn that took us away from the lights and houses. The road he chose took us up a small rise. When he stopped, I saw we were looking back at the lights of Palm Springs. It was a breathtaking view.
“This is where I’m going to build my own house,” he said. “I own this land myself. My father has nothing to do with it.”
“The view is beautiful.”
“Yes, and I bought up the land around it for a good four acres of privacy on both sides.”
“When will you build this house?”
“I’ll start the day I get engaged to the woman of my dreams,” he said. “I want it to be the first and maybe only home we have. As you see,” he said, smiling, “I do have a very serious side and know when it’s time to put my sowing of wild oats aside. You know,” he added, looking at his land, “if my father gets elected and serves successfully, it’s not unusual for his son to follow in his political footsteps. I may be a future U.S. senator myself. It’s very important to be a family man if you want to be in politics.”
“Where is this woman of your dreams?”
“In here,” he said, pointing to his temple, “and in here,” he added, pointing to his heart. “I’ll know her when I’m sure.”
“I wish you good fortune, Adan.”
He sat back, smiling at me. “I’m not going to be one of those guys who fills your head with romantic lies to get you to go to bed with him, Delia, but I will tell you that I’ve been with enough young women to know when someone is real, authentic, and you are. I want to know more about you, about the family you had in Mexico, about your childhood, everything, because when I learn about you, I think I’ll learn something about myself as well.”
He put up his hands.
“No more, no más. Don’t make any judgments about me yet. Be suspicious and skeptical. I want to earn your trust,” he said. He put the car into drive again and started back.
I felt myself relax. My mind was reeling with all sorts of thoughts. I was somewhat exhausted from the roller-coaster ride of emotions I had traveled this night. My feelings about Adan were guarded. I liked him, but I was afraid that I would like him too much and in a real sense put Ignacio into the third death even before he had really died. Every warm feeling I had toward Adan felt like a cold betrayal of Ignacio. He had sacrificed so much for me, for us.
“You’re very quiet, Delia,” Adan said. “I hop
e I haven’t said anything to offend you.”
“Oh, no. I am sorry. I am just very tired.”
“Sure. That’s understandable. How is your ankle?”
“It feels numb now,” I said. “I think it’s getting better quickly.”
“You’d better get off those crutches soon,” he said as we turned into mi tía Isabela’s driveway. “You have a car sitting and waiting,” he said, nodding at my car, glittering in the moonlight in front of mi tía Isabela’s hacienda.
“Yes,” I said, still shocked at the realization.
We pulled up behind the car, and he hopped out quickly to get my crutches. He helped me out and then up the stairway to the front entrance.
“Well,” he said, “I hope despite some of it that you had a good time with me.”
“Oh, yes.”
“Great. Then you’ll go to dinner with me tomorrow night? I promise to get you home early.”
“I’d rather not go out on a night before school. I’m afraid I haven’t done any of my homework yet,” I said.
“I understand. How about next Friday night, then? A friend of mine opened a great new Italian restaurant in Indian Wells, and I’d like to take you there.”
His smile started to fade with my hesitation. My heart jumped a beat when I saw it. It was like watching a kite with a broken string drift off in the wind.
“Yes,” I said quickly. “That would be fine. Thank you.”
“Thank you, Delia. I had a great evening,” he said, and kissed me softly again, but this time more quickly. Then he started down the stairway. “Hey,” he said when I opened the door. “Maybe I’ll get you to give me a ride in your car. I can help you break it in.”
“Soon,” I said.
He waited until I entered the house. I closed the door behind me and stood in the entryway a moment to catch my breath. The stairway loomed ahead and above me suddenly looking more like a mountain to climb. I started toward it, holding both crutches in my left hand and then holding on to the banister to keep from putting too much pressure on my swollen ankle. I felt like an old lady, moving as slowly as Señora Baca. I was halfway up when the front door opened and closed. Sophia stood there looking up at me.