Chapter One
Taking one last scan around the parameters of her cozy bedroom, Maria instinctively reached for her favorite item – a four-inch white and pink ceramic unicorn, which sat mere inches away from the brass study lamp on her simulated walnut desk.
Unfortunately. Well, at least from her viewpoint. The day to leave Arica had finally arrived.
“I’m going to miss you, José,” she whispered, clutching the small creature he had given her the previous Christmas, against her heart.
In looking downward toward the top of its head, Maria’s lips trembled and a single tear slowly coursed down the front of her slightly reddened cheek.
“Mom keeps saying that we’re only going to be visiting Lisa for a year. But, what if she’s wrong? Things do sometimes unexpectedly change. … What would happen if the U.S. Department of Immigrations for some unknown reason decides not to let us come back?”
Just the thought of this occurring truly frightened her. However, despite those fears, Maria somehow found the strength to wrap the fragile ornament inside of a pair of cotton socks and stash it in the center of her overstuffed suitcase.
Soon afterwards, her focus changed when she noticed the metallic framed eight by ten-inch photo of her boyfriend.
“José,” Maria said, while staring at his cute, passionate grin. “With Michelle now knowing I’m going to be gone, what’s going to keep that fiend’s paws away from you?” she asked with a sigh, before going into a short daydream about the night before. “You did promise that you’d wait for me. But I cannot help but wonder, when I do return … are you really going to be there?”
Maria unconsciously held her breath, and a mental image of José nodding yes, instantly materialized.
Are you ready, little one?” Victoria asked, when she peeked through the doorway into her daughter's room and caught her youngest apparently once again lost in romantic thoughts. “Your father is in the car, waiting.”
Maria promptly flashed her dark-brown eyes open and gave her mother a nod, before stopping to make sure the stainless steel latches securing her suitcase were fastened.
“I guess this is it,” she whispered, displaying a frown and giving the photo a small kiss, before setting it down and starting toward her bedroom’s doorway.
Upon entering their living room and taking a short glance around, Maria could not help but recall the long-gone wonderful days when she was just a small child sitting on her father's lap – watching a black & white, translated version of the American TV show, Captain Kangaroo, each weekday morning.
Next to the family’s twenty-five-inch color TV, on the third shelf on the built-in, dark walnut bookcase, an ancient black-and-white photo of some German soldiers in action stood next to her favorite book of childhood nursery rhymes.
Even this day, it would take only a brief glance at the partially faded photo to make her smile.
How handsome my Father used to be back then, she thought, taking the picture frame in hand and staring at the cracked photo within, as if doing so would create a permanent mental photograph. It’s no wonder that Mom fell head-over-heels in love with you.
“Maria. Please hurry,” her mother’s voice soon echoed from the front door, interrupting her moment of remembrance.
“Coming mother,” Maria replied, and gently replaced her father's photo back on the shelf.
Upon exiting the front door of the only home she had known since birth, Maria gazed toward the sidewalk. Beside it, her father had deliberately parked their black 1957 Chevrolet there this morning.
In seeing him inside the vehicle, patiently waiting behind the steering wheel – a broad grin spread across her lips.
If there were only one person in this world who could remain at attention, while being in a sitting position – it would have to be my father, Rudolf.
“So how long is the flight to Santiago?” Maria asked her mother as she assisted her in stuffing their matching leather suitcases inside the car's gaping trunk. “And once we’re there, how long are we going to have to wait before catching our flight to Miami?”
Victoria glanced at her inquisitive daughter and released a slight chuckle.
“Always full of questions, aren't you little one?” she stated, as a twinkle deep within her dark-brown eyes revealed not only the intense love she felt for her youngest, but how much she loved to playfully tease her.
“Of course I have questions, Mother,” Maria said, opening the rear passenger door. “How else can I learn?”
Victoria looked up and was about to reply, when an unshaven, street vendor unexpectedly materialized from around the street-corner – pushing a large wooden cart.
“Pescados,” the mid thirty-something yelled in a voice so loud; it echoed off the surrounding residences. “Come get your fresh pescados. These delicious salt water beauties were caught off the pier, I guarantee, just shortly after sunrise.”
Rudolf swiftly turned to look at the man and then snorted, before twisting the key to start his Chevrolet’s 283 Super Turbo V8.
The drive to Aeropuerto Chacalluta International would only take a few short minutes since Arica’s (Northern Chile’s Regional airport) was located merely a few miles away – down Ave. Tucapel.
“Well … If you must know, Maria,” Victoria said, continuing their earlier conversation as she grabbed her purse, so she could locate their airline tickets. “After boarding LAN Chile, the flight should only take about forty minutes. However, upon arriving at Aeropuerto International de Santiago, we’ll very likely face a long delay – which may be a good thing. The airport at Santiago is much larger than Arica’s, so we’ll probably have a difficult time finding Delta airlines boarding gate.”
Maria looked at her mother as if in shock, and raised an eyebrow. “What? You have never been there?”
“Only once,” her mother answered. “And that was several years ago when your father and I were returning from our honeymoon in Paris.”
With Arica's main airport quickly coming into view, Victoria began to focus her attention to the numerous documents she had placed inside her bag. Heaven knows that the last thing I really need is for me and Maria to fly all the way to Santiago, only to have Customs tell us, they don’t have all the required paperwork.
“I think everything is in order,” Victoria proclaimed, closing her purse after verifying that all necessary documentation was present.
A couple of minutes afterward, Rudolf brought the family’s Chevrolet to a halt in front of the airport's entranceway, and Victoria turned and gave her husband an affectionate hug and kiss that lasted for well over a minute.
“Now I want you to be good while I'm gone, dear.”
“Hmmp. I'm always good,” Rudolf gruffly replied with a grimace. “What else can a person be once they pass seventy?”
“What?” Victoria said, pretending to be surprised. “Are you trying to tell me that somewhere deep inside, you're no longer a dirty old man?”
“Dirty?” Rudolf laughed. “At my age there's no possible way I can claim to be a dirty old man anymore, my love. But I certainly can tell you how it feels to be an old man.”
Victoria gazed upon her husband and smiled, before giving him another affection-filled smooch across the lips. “I truly do love you, dear. And I’m really going to miss you these next few months.”
“Yo, tambien,” Rudolf softly spoke as he wrapped his arms around her. And in using all of his strength, he gave her one last amorous hug. “Now be sure to call me as soon as you get to Ft. Lauderdale, okay? I don't want to be here not knowing if you two ever arrived or not. … I also want to know if Lisa and Gaines have blessed us with any more grandkids.”
Victoria grinned at him with heart-throbbing compassion, and nodded she would.
Simultaneously closing their car doors, both Victoria and Maria eventually said their final good-byes, and proceeded toward the airport’s automated glass doors. And strangely enough, as they were about to pass through, a gray and white seagull flew directly overhead – and it appeared to be in search of something, but wasn’t quite sure where to find it.