Page 146 of The Moon Sister
Meñique watched them go, musing once again on Lucía’s many-faceted personality. She was being almost maternal with Pepe, had paid a fortune to rescue her mother and brother . . .
For the next twenty minutes, he wandered distractedly around the sitting room. ‘Family is everything,’ he sighed, repeating Lucía’s words. He wondered then whether the arrival of mother and son would be to the detriment of their tightly knit group. There was a tentative knock at the door of the suite.
‘It is I, José,’ a voice said from behind it.
‘I suppose I’m about to find out,’ Meñique murmured as he went to open it. ‘Hola, José. You look smart.’
‘I am here to greet the son I didn’t know I had,’ he said in a hoarse whisper, hovering on the threshold and glancing nervously around the interior of the suite.
‘You are, yes.’
‘And my wife? Where is she?’
‘Still sleeping. The journey has exhausted her. Come in, José. Lucía has taken Pepe to have his first bath.’
‘What is he like?’
‘He is a fine boy, well brought up by his mother and a talented guitarist.’
‘You think he is definitely mine?’ José whispered as he sat down, then stood up again and began to pace.
‘When you see him you can make that judgement for yourself.’
‘My other sons – Eduardo and Carlos . . . Lucía tells me they are missing.’ José put a hand to his forehead. ‘What a morning of shocks. I think I will take some brandy.’
‘Best not,’ Meñique advised. ‘You will need all your wits about you in the next few hours.’
‘Yes, you’re right, but . . .’
At that moment, Lucía and the boy emerged from the bathroom. Pepe was dressed in a fresh shirt and trousers.
‘He has borrowed some of your clothes, Meñique, although the trousers are too short,’ she teased the boy. ‘You are tall, like your father. And here he is!’ Lucía declared, her eyes fixed on José. ‘Papá, come and say hello to the son you’ve always longed to meet.’
‘I . . .’ José’s eyes travelled up and down the young man, taking him in and realising Lucía had spoken the truth. His eyes filled with tears. ‘My son! You look just like me when I was your age. Come here,hijo, and let me embrace you.’
‘Papá . . .’ Pepe walked towards him hesitantly. José opened his arms and pulled the young man to him, then began to weep openly.
‘All these years, I cannot believe it! I cannot.’
Lucía went to Meñique, in need of her own embrace. She was heartened that José’s reaction seemed genuine enough.
Then the door to Lucía’s bedroom opened, to reveal María. She watched her husband and son, her own tears already brimming in her eyes. Lucía caught her gaze and nodded.
‘Look who is here, Papá,’ she said.
José turned and saw his wife, her dark eyes huge and fearful in her thin face.
‘María.’
‘Yes, José. I am sure you have heard that our daughter saved my life and that of our son by rescuing us from Granada.’
‘I have.’ José walked slowly towards her, his head down like a beaten dog waiting to be reprimanded. He stopped half a metre away and lifted his eyes to hers, struggling to find the right words. The silence seemed to go on endlessly until Meñique broke it.
‘I am sure that you both have much to talk about. Why don’t we leave you in peace and go and introduce Pepe to the rest of thecuadro?’
‘Yes!’ Lucía jumped on Meñique’s suggestion. ‘Come, Pepe, you have not yet met your Aunt Juana. She will be amazed to see how tall you are.’
Lucía offered her hand as Pepe’s eyes rested determinedly on his parents – the first time in his young life he had seen them together. She took his hand and pulled him towards the door, with Meñique following. ‘We will see you later,’ she said to her mother and father. ‘And then we will celebrate the reunion together.’ With a last searing glance at José, she ushered Pepe and Meñique out of the room.
