It’s morning. I’m awakened by Maria and Rosa in my bedroom doing, well, something in my room.
I force my eyes open and squint at them. ‘Why you banging …?’
‘We bring you coffee,’ Maria says, while Rosa throws open my blinds then pretends to dust.
I peer at the wall clock – nine am. Fuck! They don’t usually do this at this time of the morning, so why today?
I struggle to think and then I remember my date. They want details about my date with Diablo. I spent most of the night awake and analysing the evening so I barely got any sleep. The wine didn’t help either.
I sigh and prop myself on my elbows. ‘Okay, well thanks for the coffee, I guess.’ I yawn loudly. ‘I’ll come to the kitchen in a few minutes, okay?’
‘Sure,’ Maria says. ‘Rosa let us go now. We don’t want to … to … let us give Senorita her privacy.’
Yeah right.
A short while later, I stumble into the kitchen and sink into a chair. ‘Suppose you want details of my date with Diablo?’
Maria descends on me, places both her hands on my shoulders and looks into my eyes.
‘Senorita,’ she says in a voice usually heard in church, ‘it is not our business to know such ... such personal matters and we, Senorita, we should never be talking about such things with you. We are your serrrrvants. We must know our place, Senorita.’ She removes her hands from my shoulders, stands back and looks at me with a feigned air of piety.
Rosa gawks at her. ‘Maria! Why you say that?’
I sigh and look at Rosa. ‘You wanna hear?’
‘Si gringa, tell us everything.’
That’s what I like about Rosa – way to nosey to even try and fake nonchalance.
She moves quickly towards a nearby chair.
But Maria is faster – she swipes the chair and plonks herself on it.
‘Maria!’ Rosa screeches. They glare at each other. Here we go again.
But Rosa’s curiosity appears to be getting the better of her. She grabs another chair and sits down. ‘Tell us, Senorita, tell us, tell us.’
‘Well, we went to a ...’
The ladies shift to the edge of their seats.
‘You sure you want to hear ...?
‘Si, Senorita Payton,’ Maria says. ‘What happened eh? What did he do?’
Rosa drags her chair closer to me. ‘Did you kiss, Senorita? Tell, tell.’
‘Okay, we go to this like, restaurant …’
‘A restaurant!’ Maria slams back on her chair. ‘Diablo, he never go to a restaurant before, I think.’
‘Si,’ Rosa says, her voice mounting with excitement, ‘Diablo, he never go to restaurant.’
I nod. ‘He asked me to order the food and the wine.’
‘Aaah!’ Maria’s head is bobbing. ‘Diablo, he don’t know how to read too good. That’s why …’
‘Si, Diablo no read too good,’ Rosa echoes.
‘I asked him his name and he told me it was, Diago.’
‘That’s his name!’ Maria cries. ‘That’s his birth name!’
‘S,i si, si, ’ Rosa says, on the edge of her seat again, ‘that’s his birth name. ‘Did you kiss?’
‘Well, we didn’t, but the food was so good. We talked, laughed …’
They look at each other, take turns arching and knitting their eyebrows then prompt me to continue.
‘We held hands ... ’
They clasp their hands to their breasts. ‘Ooooh Senorita …’
‘Did you kiss?’ Rosa persists.
‘Eh, y …yes. ’ No need to mention it was on my forehead.
The room erupts with cheers and for a few minutes I sit and smile as they discuss the kiss between themselves.
‘Didn’t you guys see us kiss last …?’
‘Na, ha.’
‘Oh. Hey, did you know Senor Vito ...? ’
‘Si,’ Rosa says, ‘he come every day. Teach Diablo to be a good husband, good man so gringa will ...’
‘Yeah? But you guys never told me ... ’
‘And then Senorita …’ Maria interrupts.
Okay, I guess she’s waiting for the grand finale or maybe she wants to know why Diablo was not in my room this morning.
I shake my head from side-to-side and purse my lips. ‘He eh, he spent the night with … Santana.’
For a few moments, you can hear the refrigerator running. Their shoulders sag, their jaws slacken and I feel I have let them down.
‘Well, I think …I think …well, I saw her ...’
‘But ... but ... How could you let that happen, Senorita?’ Rosa snaps.
Maria glares, her eyes reproachful eyes, her lips now a thin line.
‘I did not let ... ’
Luckily, Christa appears. ‘What are you doing talking to the gringa?’ she yells. ‘Why you not cleaning?’
‘It’s the Gringa,’ Maria says. ‘She make us sit and …’
‘Si,’ Rosa says standing behind Maria. ‘The Gringa – is all her fault.’
Both women scurry away. Sellouts!
Christa turns her head slowly to look at me, her eyes cold and hard. ‘So ... you are taming beastia eh?’ Her voice is low and dangerous. ‘Very clever Gringa. Very clever. You and Senor Vito, very clever peopoool. ’
I get up, grab an apple and walk out of the kitchen. Damned if I’m discussing my date with her. I just hope she doesn’t attack Senor Vito. He’s doing such a good job on Diago.
As I walk I find myself craning my neck to look around. It’s not like I’m looking for Diablo or something – I’m just looking. But where the hell is he today?
Then I see him, standing at a window of a villa high on the ranch, looking down at me. I smile and raise my apple at him. He smiles back. Then I pretend to throw the apple at him. His smile waivers for a moment and I laugh. He shakes his head at me. Senor Vito appears behind him and I quickly lower the apple. Diablo nods and reluctantly moves away from the window.
So the lessons continue, then.
Later in the day, Maria and Rosa tell me about the conversation they overheard last night. ‘Christa and Santana they not happy, Senorita,’ Maria says. ‘Christa say, Diablo, he is becoming too soft. She say he dress like a Gringo and he forget who he is.’
‘Si,’ Rosa says. ‘Christa say the other gangs, they see Diablo dress like a Gringo and they think Diablo is not strong anymore and they come take our land away. The men, they get frightened and they say maybe they talk to Diablo – tell him to stop.’
‘Really!’
Well, Christa sure knows how to incite uproar among Diablo’s men – I mean Diago’s men.
His name is really Diago. Diago. I like the name Diago. So much better than …
‘You be careful of Christa,’ Rosa warns.
‘Huh? Okay.’
I see Diablo at dinner looking casual and handsome. Okay, very handsome.
We smile and sneak glances at each other throughout dinner. I’m barely eating and I notice he’s barely touching his food.
But, he stays away from me at night. Confusing.