Page 4 of Sundowners
“A rough summer.” I ground my teeth together and counted back from ten. I would not lose my shit and let him win. “And no one thought to tell me this?”
“It only happened two days ago.”
“But you had it planned, you’d been researching places. This isn’t like an impromptu trip to the beach or the craft store.”
“Here we go,” Rey muttered.
And I bit.
“Who made the decision, really? You guys couldn’t have called me when things got bad? I would have come home. She’s my grandmother, Rey. Don’t you think I should have been involved? And don’t eventhinkof calling me a kid right now, because cop or no cop, I will kick your mother—”
“Time out.” He held up a hand, and I wanted to break his damn fingers.How dare they?
I took a moment to let the anger bleed out so I could listen to what he had to say.
“I’m done. Tell me.”
Rey nodded, checked his mirrors, and then pulled into the left lane. We’d entered the two-lane section of the mountain pass, which was harrowing at any time of day. This late at night it was mostly empty but that was a false sense of security. A wasted driver could come along at any minute, or in the winter you could run headlong into a mudslide, or in the summer a traffic backup from folks headed to the beach. It was a treacherous, winding road, and I would do well to remember that Reynaldo was always careful and therefore he needed to concentrate more than he needed to placate me.
“About two weeks after you left it was my night to stay with her, and when I got home, the fire was left on the stove. Lola was outside standing in the garden in the mud, freezing cold in the rain, looking for her cat that died twenty years ago.”
That was a gut-punch. She’d had a lot of forgetful moments before I’d left, but they hadn’t been life-threatening. I’d foolishly thought it was just the subtle beginning of a drawn-out process and that I’d be back in time to be there for her when she needed me.
“I shouldn’t have taken that internship.”
“Roman, you had to go. It was a great opportunity. We all thought we had it under control. But even with the two of us splitting the weeks and staying with her, it wasn’t enough, and she wouldn’t have anyone else come stay. She refused.”
“You could have told me. I would have come home. I can withdraw from the Ph.D. program and resign my position this year—”
“No way. You have to finish your dissertation.No way.Plus, she wouldn’t have it anyway.”
“I’ll talk to her. I’ll make her listen.”
“Shewantedthis. It was her idea. We confronted her, and she said she wanted to be with her sisters. And since when did she ever change her mind based on anything we want when it comes to her? When Tito Armand died, we tried to get her to sell the house and move in with us, and she refused. When your parents died, we tried to take you in because she was going through a tough time, and she refused, said you belonged with your lola. You’re her baby, and she’s not going to let you do anything that puts your future in jeopardy.”
I crossed my arms and wanted to throw a bunch of angry statements his way, but he was right. There’s no way Lola was going to let me defer. She fought tooth and nail to convince me we would be able to afford for me to go to college as far as I could, and for me to take advantage of all the educational opportunities my program offered. Every time I said no, she said, “yes you will!”
“She knew I was coming home today. I have to see her.”
“I’ll take you by there.”
“Where is it?”
“It’s on the hill near the Boardwalk. You know that really big Victorian-style house?”
“I know it.” I hated it. I hated this whole idea. “Isn’t she miserable not being in her house?”
Reynaldo laughed for the first time since he’d picked me up. “You can see for yourself. We’ll be there shortly. In the meantime, how was Spain? You fluent in Spanish yet?”
I clucked my tongue. “I was fluent before I left, asshole. Learned some Euskara while I was there.” Also got too close to a Basque musician, but Reynaldo would give me shit about it if he knew. Basajuan was a blond bombshell and a helluva good dancer, but a Filipino-American grad student was just a dalliance for him. I’d almost been ready to say screw my degree and stay, but he’d cut out before I had the chance to be young and foolish. He’d done me a favor for sure.
“Heard you had a boyfriend. What’s up with that?”
“Shit. Don’t you and my tita have anything else to do other than gossip about me?”
He shrugged. “Our lives are boring. Vanessa’s married to Bernadette and they’re settled down being moms, and my last boyfriend was more interested in DJing parties and getting high then hanging out at home with me.” Reynaldo growled and thankfully unleashed his tale of woe on me so I could smile, laugh a few times, and pretend to listen.
Lola was gone, moved a few miles away, and soon would be beyond reach. School or no school, I was going to spend as much time as possible with her. I didn’t want her to feel alone.
