Maya's Choice (13 page)

“Give me the wine. You've had enough.”

“No!” Salena held the alcohol close to her.

“Love is not violent, Salena. If he beats you he doesn't love or care about you,” Grandmother Esmeralda said.

A slow yet hideous smiled spread across Salena's face. “Our love is special, Mama. And it's stronger than the love you and Papa had. It's a hundred times stronger and nothing and no one is going to take him away from me.” Aunt Salena pivoted and walked toward the front door.

“Where are you going?” Grandmother Esmeralda followed her.

“Back to Martin,” Salena said as she opened the door.

“Why are you so difficult!” Grandmother Esmeralda shouted.

“Because you made me that way, Mama.” Salena stumbled out into the morning sunlight.

“What about Viviana?” asked my grandmother as I walked up behind her. Aunt Salena didn't answer as she staggered down the sidewalk. Grandmother Esmeralda exhaled loudly as she stepped back inside.

“Do you want some breakfast?” she asked as she headed toward the kitchen.

“I'll make you some breakfast this time,” I said. Grandmother Esmeralda stood still for a moment and placed her hands into prayer position. She prayed silently for a moment before going into the kitchen. I glanced up and noticed Viviana standing at the top of the staircase. Our eyes met for a brief moment before she turned her back and entered the bathroom behind her.

 

The following day Grandmother Esmeralda drove me back home. She wanted to talk to my mother face-to-face about all the drama that had gone down. I was excited because I'd get to go back home and hang out at the pool with Keysha and see Misalo once again. Although I wasn't gone for very long, I felt as if I'd been away for an eternity. The only thing that I didn't like about going back home was that Viviana had to come with us. When we pulled into my driveway my mother came out. Once I got out of the car she gave me a quick hug and then waited for Viviana to exit.

“Oh, my goodness, Viviana, look at you. You've grown so much,” my mother said gleefully as she hugged her. Viviana reluctantly hugged her back as she took in her surroundings.

“Hello, Mama,” my mother greeted Grandmother Esmeralda. They embraced each other before heading back inside. I noticed that my grandmother was limping.

“What's wrong?” I asked.

“I'm getting old and I'm falling apart,” she said as she entered the house. Once inside, my little brother and sister rushed over to her for their hug. I immediately went upstairs
to my room to check things out. I wanted to make sure that Anna hadn't been in there bothering my things. The first place I checked was my closet for any missing clothes.

“So, this is your princess chamber.” Viviana walked into my room uninvited.

“What are you doing up here?” I asked, wanting her to leave.

“Just checking it out. Your old house was much smaller than this one. Obviously, you guys are wealthy,” she said. Viviana opened up one of the drawers of my jewelry box, which was situated in a corner.

“Get out of there!” I said and moved over to where she stood. I closed the drawer and waited for her to back out of my room.

“Oh, it's like that?” Viviana had the nerve to be surprised by my attitude toward her.

“It's like that and a whole lot more.” I didn't restrain my words or disdain for her.

Viviana smirked and then chuckled. “You don't have a damn thing in here that I want anyway.” She started to back out of my room.

“Oh, there you are.” My little sister had just come upstairs. “How are you? It's so good to see you again,” Anna said as she gave Viviana a hug.

“It's good to see you, too, Anna,” Viviana said. For some reason the two of them were very fond of each other. They always had been. I shut my door so that I could have some privacy.

About an hour later, I was dressed and ready to go hang out at the pool. I'd already phoned both Keysha and Mi
salo and told them to meet me there. When I walked into the kitchen my mother and grandmother were sitting at the kitchen table talking.

“I'm going to go to the pool for a while,” I informed my mother.

“Okay. Viviana and Anna headed over there about fifteen minutes ago,” said my mother. I rolled my eyes as I walked out the door.

When I arrived at the pool, I saw Keysha with dark sunglasses on, sitting in a chair, sipping on a strawberry smoothie. I walked over and sat beside her.

“See, that's not even right, girl. Where did you get that smoothie? It looks so good,” I said, wishing that I had one.

“I made it,” Keysha said with a smile.

“Let me taste it,” I said, extending my hand.

“I brought two. You can have the other one. It's in the freezer inside the clubhouse,” she said.

“Oh, you're the best,” I said as I went to retrieve the drink.

When I returned I got comfortable and said, “You would not believe all of the drama that went down at my grandmother's house.”

“I was wondering why you hadn't called me,” Keysha said.

“Girl, all kinds of crazy stuff happened,” I said. “My aunt got beat up by her boyfriend, and my nutty cousin Viviana hates my guts.”

“What?” Keysha blurted out loudly.

“Shh. You don't have to let the entire pool know,” I said.

“I'm sorry. Come on, spill it. Tell me how everything went down.” I told her every detail of my visit with my
grandmother. She sat and listened, but interrupted me when I mentioned Viviana's friend Toya.

“Wait a minute. Hold the hell up.” Keysha stopped me. “Where was Viviana living that she knows a girl named Toya who steals?” she asked.

“I don't know,” I said. Keysha leaned back in her seat and lifted her glasses off her face. “Why?” I asked.

“I'm just wondering if Viviana's Toya and the Toya I used to hang out with are one and the same person.”

“Who is this Toya chick? You've never mentioned her before,” I asked.

“We used to hang together a long time ago. Toya and I would go around shoplifting,” Keysha explained.

“OMG, you used to go shoplifting? Why?” I asked, totally stunned by this news.

“Times were hard,” Keysha said. “I was a different person back then. That was before I knew who my father was and long before I moved out here to live with him. Now I've just got to know if it's the same Toya.”

“Well, Viviana and my bratty sister are supposed to be here,” I said, searching around the pool deck for them.

“Wait a minute.” Keysha tapped my thigh. “They're just now walking in. Oh, she does look rough, Maya.”

“I told you. That chick is
loca,
” I said.

“Call her over here,” Keysha said.

“Do I have to?” I complained.

“Yes. I've just got to know if she and I know the same Toya,” Keysha said anxiously.

“Anna!” I called to my sister to get her attention and then
waved her over. She and Viviana walked over to where Keysha and I were sitting.

“What do you want?” Anna asked.

“I wanted to introduce Viviana to Keysha,” I said.

“Hello,” Keysha greeted Viviana.

“Hey,” Viviana replied.

“Viviana, Keysha has a question for you,” I said.

“What kind of question?” Viviana asked suspiciously.

“It's not that kind of question,” Keysha interjected. “I was just wondering where in Chicago do you live?”

“Why? Do you want to make fun of me or something?” Viviana put her hands on her hips.

“No, it's nothing like that,” Keysha said. “I'm just trying to figure out if we know the same person.”

“I doubt it,” Viviana said.

“Well, you just never know. I didn't always live out here,” Keysha explained.

“You seem like you've lived out here in the lap of luxury all your life.” Viviana didn't filter her words or attitude.

“You live off of King Drive, don't you?” Keysha asked.

“And what if I do?” Viviana asked.

“Toya Taylor,” Keysha blurted out. When Keysha said the name, Viviana's eyes lit up.

“You know her?” Viviana asked.

“Yeah, we used to hang out back in the day.” At that moment Viviana popped her fingers.

“So, you're the Keysha that she was telling me about. She hates your guts,” Viviana informed her.

“Well, the feeling is mutual,” Keysha fired back. “I used to live in the same building as her.”

“Well, that makes two of us. It's a small world,” Viviana said.

“Well, great. Are we done here?” Anna asked. “I want to show her around.”

“Oh, sure,” I said, glancing over at Keysha. “We just wanted to know if you guys knew the same person.”

“I take it that you've told Cleopatra here about everything that's gone down between us,” Viviana said.

“Now, hold up. My name isn't Cleopatra,” Keysha snapped at Viviana.

“Whatever, chick,” Viviana said as Anna pulled her away from us.

“That girl has a serious attitude,” Keysha said.

“I told you. I can't wait for her to leave,” I said.

“Well, let me say this to you. If she's friends with Toya Taylor, your cousin is bad news. Trust me, I know. My crazy brother, Mike, tried to date Toya and she really played him.”

“What was Mike doing trying to date a girl like Toya?” I asked.

“He was thinking with the little head, if you catch my drift.” Both Keysha and I cracked up laughing. While we were in the middle of laughing, Cocky Carlo, the new guy with the shifty eyes, walked up.

“Hey, ladies,” he greeted us with his bright smile and cute dimples.

“Hello,” Keysha and I responded simultaneously.

“Mind if I pull up a chair and join you?” Before I could say, “Go away,” he'd sat himself down next to me. Keysha and I looked at each other and then back at him.

“Am I interrupting something?” Carlo asked.

“Don't you think you're being just a little bit bold?” Keysha asked.

“Probably,” he answered and then smiled charmingly.

“What Keysha is trying to say is that we're having a private conversation,” I explained.

“And I'm intruding, right?” Carlo nodded his head knowingly.

“Are you always this quick, honey?” Keysha asked.

“Okay. I can see that I'm not really welcome right now, but I wanted to stop and meet you.” He focused his attention on me.

“Can I ask what your name is?”

I looked deeply into Carlo's eyes and momentarily got lost in them.

“Maya,” I said slowly and softly.

“Well, Maya, I'm Carlo. I'm kind of new around here,” he said and reached for my hand. He held it and said, “I haven't seen you around lately, but I'm glad I ran into you today. I'd like to take you out sometime.” I don't know why I didn't say that I had a boyfriend. I think I was in shock. “Just think about it. We can go anywhere you want to. I have my own car.”

“Really? You have your own car?” I sounded like I'd been temporarily drugged. I was caught in his net.

“Yeah,” he answered. He took a pen from his pocket and turned my hand to expose my palm. He wrote his phone number in the middle of my hand. “Seriously, call me sometime,” he said and then turned my hand over and kissed the back of it. I was absolutely transfixed; lost in his eyes.

“What's going on?” Misalo had finally arrived and I snapped out of it.

“Nothing,” I quickly answered him. Cocky Carlo rose to his feet and sized up Misalo. He was taller than Misalo and much more muscular.

“Adios, Maya. It was nice meeting you,” Cocky Carlo said before he stepped away.

“What was that about, Maya?” Misalo asked, distrustfully.

“Nothing, baby, he was just some guy,” I said, closing my palm to hide Carlo's phone number.

“It looked like more than that to me. I saw the way he was looking at you, and how he kissed your hand. Are you cheating on me or something?” Misalo was clearly more upset than I realized.

“Woo, I think it's time for me to go for a swim,” Keysha said, excusing herself.

“Look at you. Getting all jealous over nothing,” I said as I stood and stepped into his embrace. We kissed passionately. When I opened my eyes, I glanced over his shoulders and met Viviana's gaze. She looked totally envious of me. I stuck my tongue out at her as I caressed the back of Misalo's head.

VIVIANA

Grandmother
Esmeralda and I arrived home before sunset. She hated driving at night because she couldn't see as well. I was thankful that we stopped and got take-out Chinese food for dinner, beef fried rice, egg foo young and shrimp egg rolls. The food smelled so good and I just couldn't wait to dig in. As soon as we entered the house, I pulled off my sneakers, left them at the door, and followed her into the kitchen. She set the food on top of the stove before heading to the bathroom. I grabbed a plate and fork from the cupboard, ripped open the brown bag, pulled out the white containers and opened the lids. I was starving.

“Go wash your hands first,” said Grandmother Esmeralda, who was returning from the bathroom.

“Nah, I don't need to,” I said. I was about to pull out one of the crispy egg rolls and take a bite. Before I knew anything, she was standing next to me slapping the back of my hand. Instinctively, I knuckled up my fists and prepared to defend myself.

“Go do what I told you. Your hands are filthy. Look at all
of the black dirt under your fingernails.” I unclenched my fists and took a peek. She was right, my hands were dirty.

“Women should always be clean,” she said, moving toward the refrigerator and taking out a two-liter bottle of soda. I went into the bathroom and freshened up. When I returned she'd made my plate for me and set it on the table.

“Have a seat. We'll eat dinner together,” she said, inviting me to sit down next to her. All I really wanted to do was take my plate of food, go upstairs, sit on the bed and eat. I didn't want to have dinner with her because I knew she'd talk about my mother. I knew there was no way I'd get out of sitting with her, so I decided to suffer through it.

Once I got comfortable in my seat, I reached for my fork and was about to start shoveling food in my mouth.

“Ahem.” Grandmother Esmeralda cleared her throat before reaching her hand toward mine.

“Oh, right. We have to say grace.” I held on to her hand, bowed my head and listened to her say the blessing.

“Finally,” I mumbled as I began eating.

“Have you heard from your mother?” asked Grandmother Esmeralda.

“No,” I said, thinking nothing of it.

“Salena never stays in one place for too long. Whenever I get a phone number and address for her it's only good for a few months. I've gotten tired of trying to keep up with you and her,” Grandmother Esmeralda said as she ate a small portion of her food.

“We've lived in so many different places I get confused sometimes, too,” I said jokingly.

“You shouldn't have to live like that. It's not good for you.”

“She'll get it together. I know she will. I'm going to help her by saving up enough money to get us an apartment,” I said, defending my mother while attempting to prove that all hope wasn't lost.

“Salena believes that she can't survive without a man in her life. She is so jealous of Raven and wants everything she has. Salena doesn't know how to be herself. She always changes in order to make her man happy, and that's not the way love goes.” Grandmother Esmeralda paused in thought and then said, “Her mind is stuck in the past and she is still trying to compete with her older sister. I don't know what can be done to fix this.”

“After my father passed away she was never the same,” I said.

“Your father was no good for her.” I stopped eating and glared at my grandmother.

“God bless him, but he and his entire family were cursed,” Grandmother Esmeralda said with unwavering conviction.

“What do you mean he was cursed?” I asked.

“Oh, Viviana, don't you remember any of the lessons you learned in church?” she asked. To be honest, I found church boring. Most of the time I either fell asleep or daydreamed while the priest spoke.

“No, I don't,” I answered as I bit into my egg roll.

“Sometimes a bad demon can—”

I interrupted her. “Don't tell me you believe in superstition.” Grandmother Esmeralda got quiet for a long moment. I could tell there was something very heavy on her heart and mind.

“You're too young and unknowledgeable to understand
the things I am speaking of.” Then just as if she'd flipped on a light switch in another room, she dropped that conversation and changed the subject.

“Where do you guys live now?” she asked.

“On the Southside, off of King Drive,” I said as I scraped my plate and pushed food onto my fork with my thumb.

“Does she have a phone there?” Grandmother Esmeralda asked.

“Why? Do you want to call her?” I asked. “I have her cell phone number.”

“Yes, maybe she's sober now and can talk rationally.” Grandmother Esmeralda excused herself and retrieved her cordless phone.

“What's her phone number?” she asked. I told her the numbers to dial. When she did she said, “That cellular number is no longer in service. Are you sure that's the phone number?” she asked.

“I'm positive,” I answered. “She probably just forgot to pay the bill.”

“See, this is why I can't help her or keep up with her.” Grandmother Esmeralda released a frustrated sigh. “Tomorrow we'll go visit her and I'll try to talk some sense into her.”

I thought to myself,
Good luck with that one.
The one thing I knew about my mother was that when she was in love, nothing else mattered. Not even me.

After dinner I wanted to go hang out in the streets around her neighborhood. I was hoping to see some old friends that I grew up with. But Grandmother Esmeralda put the brakes on that idea.

“Let's watch a movie together,” she said.

“What do you want me to do? Rent a film?” I asked.

“No. Of course not. I have the perfect movie for us to watch. Come follow me,” she said. We walked into another room where she had television, a VCR and a few movies.

“Wow, you still have a VCR,” I said teasingly.

“We can watch
My Family,
” she said, holding up the video box with a prideful smile. I remembered watching the movie with her as a little girl at least a thousand times. It was as if all of the answers to her dilemmas were contained in that film. She and my mother, Salena, were alike in that regard. When it came to certain things, their minds were trapped in the past.

“What else do you have?” I quickly asked, because I didn't want to suffer through another viewing of that movie.

“I have
Forrest Gump,
” she said.

“Oh, God no, Grandma,” I said, searching for something better. To my surprise she had a Tyler Perry movie. Of course, it was about a family.

“Let's watch this one.
Like Water for Chocolate
.” I held up the box.

“Oh, that's a good one. I have not watched that in some time,” she said.

“What is it about?” I asked reluctantly, fearing it would be boring.

“Oh, Viviana. It is a movie about family. A family with a very mean mother,” Grandmother Esmeralda said. I was about to put it back to see what else she had.

“No, no, no. I want to see it now. There's lots of good cooking in that movie, plus there is a love story that will warm your heart.” She chuckled. “There is even a subplot
that deals with a family curse that lasted four generations. You'll like it. It has lots of drama.”

I popped in the videotape, and sat down next to my grandmother. The movie was in Spanish and I had to sit there and read the subtitles because I didn't understand everything that was being said, only some of it. I just knew that I'd fall asleep watching it. That is, until I saw the cute lover. Just like Grandmother Esmeralda said, the movie was very interesting. It was about three sisters living in Mexico in the early 1900s. The youngest girl, Tita, was not to break tradition and was supposed to take care of her mother until she died. Tita was to never marry, have a husband or children. Then one day a man told her that he loved her and wanted to marry her, but Tita's mother wouldn't allow it. Instead she allowed the lover man to marry Tita's sister. The only reason the lover man agreed to that arrangement was so that he could be near Tita all of the time. There were so many things that the character Tita and I had in common. Both of our mothers were certifiably crazy. We were trapped in a dilemma that we had no control over. Our fathers had passed away, and finally, finding romance for both of us was very difficult.

When the movie concluded, I felt a wave of sadness overcome me, while Grandmother Esmeralda quietly snored next to me. She was right; the movie was very good and touching. I sat there for a moment wishing I had the power and bravery of Tita. I also wanted to learn how to cook like her. She had the ability to place all of her feelings into her food so that, the moment anyone tasted it, they could experience
every emotion that she felt when she prepared it. If I could master that trick, I'd be one badass Latina.

I wasn't sleepy and still wanted to go outside, but didn't feel like waking up my grandmother to ask for permission. I was practically an adult and felt as if I could come and go as I pleased. I knew my grandmother slept to the sound of the television, something I'd learned a long time ago, so I flipped the channel to a news station so the noise of the television set remained constant.

I stepped out onto the front porch and into the breezy night air. I looked down the street in one direction and noticed some guy washing his car, which I thought was strange for this time of night. There were also three little kids, who I assumed were his, sprinting around, chasing each other and squealing. I looked in the other direction and saw another guy leaning up against his car door with his girlfriend. She had her rear end pressed against him and had surrendered her neck to his lips.

“It would be so nice to have a boyfriend.” I sighed as I sat down in Grandmother Esmeralda's chair. Watching the lovebirds made me think about what had happened earlier when I was with my little cousin Anna.

Anna and I were always cool with each other. Although she was younger than Maya and me by two years, she was fun to hang around because of her outgoing personality. Anna didn't judge people by their clothes or the way they looked. If you were nice to her, she'd be nice to you. It was just that simple with her. Anna immediately got me out of the house, so we could gossip and catch up on how things had been going in our lives.

“I'm so happy you're here. The moment Grandmother Esmeralda told me you were coming I got so excited,” Anna said as we walked down the driveway and away from the house. Anna had told her mother that she was taking me to the pool to hang out.

“It's good to see you, too. It has been a long time,” I said.

“It's been entirely too long, Viviana,” Anna said as we continued down a neighborhood street.

“So, what have you been up to?” I asked.

“Well, when I'm not fighting with Maya, I try to get boys to notice me,” she answered.

“Are you kidding? As pretty as you are, you should have boys following you around.”

“Ha, I wish. I think I'm cursed. I'm practically invisible to boys. I tried to get Maya to hook me up, but all she did was make me feel bad for wanting to date. Then she got on her soapbox and tried to lecture me as if she were Papa. She's always bossing me and Paul around like that and it's gotten old.”

“Really? Maya tries to act like she's your mother?”

“Yeah, she says that she's trying to protect me. And I'm like, I didn't ask for protection services. I just want to party, have a good time and meet boys.” Anna laughed and did a quick dance move.

“Look at you,” I said, smiling. “You've grown up so much since that summer night we snuck out of Grandmother Esmeralda's house to the hip-hop concert in the park.”

“Oh, my God, that was like the best time of my entire life. I'm so serious, Viviana. I'll never forget the time we had. I remember everything about that night.”

“Really?” I smiled, recalling the fun we had. “You were only twelve then, right?”

“Yes, but you treated me like I was the same age as you were. I was in seventh grade and you were a freshman in high school. And the guy you were dating, oh, my God, he was so hot! I even remembered that his name was Andy. He was eighteen and a senior in high school. He even drove a Mustang convertible. I remember being so envious of you.”

I smiled and then laughed. Anna had a way of making me feel at ease. I didn't feel all defensive around her. “Yeah, Andy was sweet,” I admitted.

“Whatever happened to him? I thought for sure you guys would have eloped by now,” Anna said.

“Ha, that's a laugh. I had my fun with Andy and then I moved on,” I said.

“You moved on? Are you serious?” Anna couldn't believe what I was telling her.

“Yes,” I said as I continued to laugh.

“How did you get over the breakup?” Anna asked.

“Well, honey, if there is one thing my mother has taught me it's how to run through men. The best way to get over one guy is to get under another one,” I repeated something I'd heard Salena say once.

“So, how many boyfriends have you had since Andy?” Anna asked.

“Too many to count,” I spoke truthfully. “I'm just on a dry spell right now. Once things settle down again, I'll get back in the game.”

Anna stopped, took my hands into her own and forced me to meet her eyes. “Okay, I know this may sound extreme, but
could you please teach me everything you know about boys, dating and whatever. I know that you've experienced things, and I just want to learn from you.” Anna looked at me as if my next words would either crush her heart or brighten up her life. I smiled at her. She was like the perfect little sister.

“I'd be happy to,” I said.

“Yes!” Anna whispered. “I am so ready for this.”

“You're probably just maturing at a faster rate than other kids are,” I said.