She moved her lips around as if she were rinsing her mouth with something as she thought.
“Okay, forget about him for now,” she said, moving to the phone. “I have a blind date on the hook for you, a friend of a guy I’ve been tormenting. This guy’s father owns a chain of movie theaters. We’ll go out with them tonight. It’s a big night around here.”
“A date tonight? But I just arrived, Fani, and I’m—”
“Don’t say something stupid like you’re too tired or anything, Delia. You’re here now, where everything’s going to be different. There’s no one laying down any rules on you, no restrictions. We’re going to have fun,” she declared with the same sort of authority Señor Bovio had when he was carving his words in cement.
She held up her hand before I could respond, went to the phone, tapped out a number, and smiled at me.
“Hello, Larry,” she sang. “Did you talk to Cliff about tonight? Good. Come get us in…” She looked at her watch. “An hour, and prepare to spend a lot of money on us.” She laughed and hung up. “He’s been trying to get me to go out with him for weeks. I could practically hear him panting through the phone. You don’t have to change or anything. I like you in that, but now I’m going to have to pick out something sexier for me. C’mon. We’ll talk in my bedroom.”
I felt like a balloon on a string and followed her.
“So,” she said, pulling off her blouse and undoing her jeans, which I thought were as tight as mine. “What else did King Edward have to say?”
“He wanted to know how I was and what had happened at Señor Bovio’s hacienda. He didn’t believe they had found any trace of any drugs in me at the hospital,” I said.
She picked out another pair of pants with sequins running down the sides and a pullover with a deep V neck. She was so concerned about her clothes I didn’t think she had heard anything I had said. Then she turned.
“How’s this?”
“You always look nice, Fani.”
“Very diplomatic,” she said, and laughed. “What were you saying?”
“Edward didn’t believe they had found traces of drugs in my blood.”
“So?”
“He felt very sorry for me. He wants to help me with Señor Bovio.”
“He shouldn’t keep you thinking about all this. That doesn’t help right now. He just loves wallowing in misery. He’s become such a drag to be around. Actually, now that I think about it, I’m glad he’s not hanging with us on your first night here. You should have seen him when Jesse started with someone else. He was all doom and gloom. It was like being with an undertaker burying smiles and laughter daily, even after I arranged for you two to meet. Nothing helped.”
“I’m sure he was in emotional pain. They were very close, Fani.”
“Very close. I can tell you this,” she said, brushing out her hair. “I’ll never let anyone get me down like that. If I’m not good enough for him, he’s definitely not good enough for me.”
She turned to me and shook her head.
“He should be a good example for you, an example of how you can drag yourself down so far nothing can help. You’ve got to relax, Delia. I told you I’ll speak to my father for you. That will do tons more than anything Edward does. Ray will come to his senses after a while. He’s just going through his mourning period, and for now, the baby is a breath of fresh air. Let him have it for a while. You know the baby will get the best possible care. And anyway, you had better think hard about this. If you get the baby back, you’ll have to hire someone to help, won’t you? It’s the same thing. Most of the time, someone else will be with him. I mean, you still want to become a nurse or something, I imagine. You can’t bring your baby with you to class.”
“Sí, I do want to be a nurse, more than ever. I am very interested in medicine and helping people. While I was at Señor Bovio’s, I read as much as I could. I even read about this drug they accused me of taking. It can be very dangerous.”
“So’s too much milk,” Fani said, laughing.
“But I want my baby to be with me, too,” I said. “He belongs with me. He should be with his mother, not some stranger.”
“Oh, brother. Okay, okay. I promise. I won’t wait. In fact, first chance I get, I’ll speak to my father tomorrow. Does that make you happy?”
“Sí, it does. Gracias, Fani.”
“Good. Let’s not talk about any of that for a while. Let’s concentrate on having a good time.”
She started on her makeup.
“You should try this lip gloss. Here,” she offered. “Go on, take it, Delia. You’re not going to turn into a pumpkin or something. It’s not a sin to look attractive and sexy, either. In fact,” she said, “it’s a sin not to.”
“Where will these boys take us?” I asked, putting on the lipstick.