I was actually grateful when the vacation ended and I could go to school. I didn’t mind returning to the public school. The students and teachers there weren’t as into the news about me, Edward, and Jesse as I was sure the students and teachers at the private school were. Sophia would keep the topic alive, anyway. At least, Tía Isabela had been right about sending me back to the public school, I thought. The work was easier for me, but I had lost so much spirit I did little more than was required. I decided not to make any new friends, because I was so restricted that I wouldn’t be able to do much with them, anyway.
The news about Ignacio and his family trickled in slowly over the following weeks, but Sophia was happy to bring any of it to my attention. Ignacio had avoided a trial by plea-bargaining. He received the most severe sentence of all the boys involved, however: six years. It was devastating news, and I spent that night crying and choking back tears until I fell asleep. His parents were severely reprimanded but were not charged with any crimes. Fortunately, Señor Davila held on to most of his customers and did not go out of business.
Although Tía Isabela still saw Señor Bovio from time to time, they were not together in the public eye as much. I had yet to hear a single word from Adan. If he had tried to call me, I was never told, and he never came to the hacienda. I imagined he and his father had discussed me and had concluded that I would only bring negativity to the campaign. I was sure Adan felt betrayed by my secret rendezvous with a former boyfriend. After all, I had told him nothing as well, and I hadn’t told him that Tía Isabela had forbidden the trip.
Jesse did return to college and to Edward. He did whatever he had to do to win the concession from his parents. I felt certain one of the things was to promise never to have anything to do with me again.
These days seemed to take longer. Weeks were more like months. I drudged along, taking little care of my appearance. My hair looked straggly and dirty most of the time. I didn’t even wear lipstick. If any boy at school even glanced my way, I turned my back on him quickly. Vaguely, in the back of my mind, I looked forward to the day Tía Isabela described, the day I turned eighteen and she sent me packing. I had no idea whether I would return to Mexico or not, but just the idea of being on my own, being released from this new prison, was enough to keep me going.
Of course, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ignacio. It took awhile for me to learn what prison he had been sent to, but when I did, I wrote him a letter and prayed he would write back. He didn’t, but I wrote him again and again. I waited for a response in vain. Nothing I told him seemed to please him or get him to forgive me. I decided to stop writing to him. Even if I could show him t
hat none of this was my deliberate doing, I was sure that he saw me as the cause of all the pain and trouble his family was suffering.
I began to believe and accept this way of thinking, too, and therefore quietly accepted all of the abuse, the extra hard work, and the drudgery of my life as proper punishment. I almost welcomed whatever mean thing Sophia could say or do. I saw that this diminished her satisfaction. She was gradually getting bored with me, anyway, and returned to her own pleasures with her friends. She had something to hold over her mother now. She had been the one to expose it all and save her mother from even greater embarrassment. If Tía Isabela tried to discipline or restrict her in any way, she was quick to throw it back in her face, and her mother retreated. Sophia was as wild as ever, and reckless. I knew her schoolwork suffered, but the only thing that mattered was keeping herself from being bored or unhappy.
It had been so long since I had been happy myself that I actually began to envy her. I’d watch her parade by with her friends, laughing and talking excitedly, or see her being picked up to go places on weekends night and day. I was truly once again the Cinderella who had gone too far beyond her midnight curfew and had been returned to her lowly status.
And then, one day, without any warning or preparation, I was summoned by mi tía just as I began washing the kitchen floor.
“Leave it. Inez will finish that. Señora Dallas wants you right now,” Señora Rosario told me.
When I started out, she stopped me to fix my hair and straighten my clothes. Confused by her attention, I walked into the living room to find Adan Bovio sitting with mi tía Isabela. He stood up immediately, looking as handsome as ever in his tight, hip-hugging jeans and silk turquoise short-sleeve shirt. He looked tanned and rested and wore a beautiful thick gold chain around his neck.
“Hello, Delia,” he said. “Cómo estás?”
I looked at mi tía Isabela. She nodded slightly, as if to give me permission to speak.
“I am okay, Adan, and you?”
“As busy as ever. My father let me take a short holiday in Hawaii, however, and I’ve just recently returned.”
Again, I looked to Tía Isabela.
“Unless you have something on your clothes that will stain the furniture, you may sit, Delia.”
Surprised at the invitation, I did sit quickly. Adan sat as well.
“Would you like something cold to drink, Adan?” Tía Isabela asked him.
“No, I’m fine, Mrs. Dallas.”
“If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you at least a dozen times to call me Isabela, Adan. Don’t make me sound old.”
He laughed.
I looked from one to the other, amazed at how they both were acting as if nothing terrible had occurred. What was going on? Why was Adan here, and why was mi tía being so pleasant to me?
“Adan has asked for permission to take you on his boat again, Delia. He would like you to accompany him this coming Saturday. I told him I would give it serious consideration, since you have been behaving and could use the fresh air.”
I was speechless.
“You still have the bathing suit and boat clothing I bought for you,” she added.
I looked at her. I didn’t have them. She had taken it all back, but I could see she didn’t want me to say that.
“Sí, Tía Isabela.”
“Yes?”