Chapter 35
Outside Vargas Jewelers, Arica’s sun shined a bright golden yellow, and the surrounding seagull-filled skies were as pastel blue as ever. However, things within the modest downtown jewelry store located at 130 Main Street could not have been more different.
Inside, a monstrous invisible darkness filled the shop ever since it opened for business this beautiful Fall morning. For at precisely 7:32 p.m. the night before, the world the Vargas family knew and loved, suddenly, but not unexpectedly, came to an end. Rudolf Vargas, owner of the largest chain of jewelry stores in all northern Chile, abruptly died at Arica's Regional Hospital - while holding the hand of his one true love, his wife Victoria.
“Papa! Please don’t go,” Maria wailed upon noticing the sparkle within her father’s eyes begin to fade. “We need you! Who’s going to watch over us? Who’s going to manage our jewelry stores?”
Rudolf gently turned his head and presented his youngest a smile. “Your mother will from now on, Sweetheart. … And believe me, she’s a good woman. Always has been. ... Just be sure to help her as much as you can after I’m gone. Okay?”
Salty tears flowed like raging rivers down his youngest daughter’s tan cheeks, and Maria nodded she would.
Rudolf weakly grinned in reply, and Victoria leaned over to where he was lying, and they shared a romantic kiss.
“I love you, sweetheart … and you too, my precious (referring to Maria)... Eterna-l-l-y.”
Victoria unconsciously blinked, and was about to tell him she loved him too when she noticed that silently, in that short moment in time, Rudolf's spirit had already ascended into the heavens.
Outside, a full moon illuminated the world below with a satin hue. And near the top of the tall palm residing in the front of the Vargas’ residence, a Magellanic Horned Owl hooted the news of the head of the household’s passing, while Rudolf’s favorite hound mournfully howled his beloved master’s death.
“Maria,” Carlita said a few days later, walking up to the reception line inside the funeral tent soon after Rudolf’s service had ended. “I know this isn’t a good time, but could I talk to you … in private? There are some things you really ought to know.”
Maria turned to see who had spoken and upon seeing Carlita, automatically frowned. “You’re right. This isn’t a good time, Carlita. What could you possibly want? Did Michelle send you here to bug me about José?”
“No,” she said, briefly shaking her head. “Michelle doesn’t even know that I’m here. But it is about José. Could we talk? It’ll only take a couple of minutes.”
Maria sighed, and then quietly whispered into Fernando’s ear, asking him to interrupt them if it took longer than five minutes.
“This better be important, Carlita,” Maria said, when the two of them began to walk from her father’s gravesite. “If it isn’t, I swear, girl. I’ll rip you from limb to limb.”
Carlita indicated she understood.
“So what do you want?” Maria asked after the two were out of earshot.
Carlita hesitated, before she began. “I think you need to know the truth about José and Michelle.”
“Truth? What truth? What could possibly be said that I don’t already know?” Maria said, staunchly placing her hands on the side of her hips. “My idiot of a boyfriend slept with your best friend while I was in Miami - and now the bitch is pregnant. That’s why I dumped him.”
“Really?” Carlita uncaringly chuckled. "Is that the real reason you dumped him - because of his so-called affair? Or was it because Michelle has been telling everyone the last few weeks that she’s pregnant and José is supposedly the father?”
“Either or both,” Maria said, folding her arms in front of her chest. “Does it matter?”
Carlita displayed a mischievous smile. “It doesn’t really. However, since I’ve heard you say it, I’ll be able to tell Michelle that at least a part of the rumors are true.”
“Rumors?”
“Yes. Rumors,” Carlita repeated, though she was uncertain why Maria would act surprised. “Some of my friends mentioned you had dumped him. However, according to them - it wasn’t because of anything he did involving Michelle. … What they told Michelle and I was that you had finally discovered for yourself that the kid’s a transvestite.”
Maria’s eyebrows immediately rose a few millimeters. “José - a transvestite? What in the hell are you talking about, girl? José may have been unfaithful while I was gone, but he’s not a transvestite.”
“Are you sure?” Carlita released a long medieval laugh. “So far everything you’ve been telling me this morning has been completely wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well for one,” Carlita said, raising a forefinger. “Michelle’s definitely not pregnant and never has been. That claim was only part of a scheme she’d devised so she could steal José away from you. And two,” she continued, raising a second finger. “Despite what the pictures Michelle showed everyone seems to indicate; Jose was right when he confessed that he was drunk and had passed out before any of them was taken."
“But he did sleep with her,” Maria asserted after pausing for a second. “The photos showed the two of them naked together.”
“Yes they did,” Carlita acknowledged. “But have you ever tried to have intercourse with someone who’s unconscious? It’s literally impossible. … With José being in that condition, there is no way in hell the boy could have had an erection. Let alone, climax while inside of her.”
Maria slowly glanced skyward, and took a deep breath as a grayish white seagull passed overhead.
“So why are you telling me this?” she asked. “Are you wanting José and I to get back together?”
Carlita grinned. “No, not unless you want a boyfriend who’s gay. … I just wanted you to know the truth. ... Michelle may be my best friend. but it's wrong that she's been telling everyone a lie.”
Maria nodded. “Okay. I can accept that. But what exactly do you mean when you stated that José's supposedly gay?”
“It’s exactly what I said, Maria. Haven’t you been listening? I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve seen José dressed as a transvestite and hanging around El Gato Feliz. And to emphasize my point, would you like to know who your ex-boyfriend’s been sleeping with recently?”
“Who?” Maria asked, even though she didn’t believe a single word Carlita had spoken.
“An American gringo named Chad Buckingham. He's supposedly from Miami, and the two of them have been shacking up together this week at the Panamericana Hotel.”
Maria’s mouth unconsciously dropped.
“José and Chad … together …here in Arica ... at the Panamericana Hotel? That's impossible. It can’t be.”
Carlita grinned at Maria’s reaction. “But it is. Would you like me to prove it?”