Romiette and Julio (14 page)

Julio opened the front door and entered with a blast of chilly air. Spring was promised, but the evenings were still cold and damp. He carried a grocery bag and a small leash. His dad was reading the paper.

“What you got there, son? Did you bring any juice? I’m thirsty.”

“Yeah, Mama said to bring some when I told her I was walking down to the store to get the dog food. You want a glass of apple juice?”

“Sure, sounds great. What’s with the dog food?”

“I’m going to get the puppy tomorrow, Papa, from Romiette, the girl from school who I’ve been talking to. Remember? She’s something really special, Papa.”

“The young lady, or the puppy?”

“Very funny, Papa. Both, I guess. But I really like talking to Romiette. She makes me want to sing, and I can’t even carry a tune!”

“Julio, you’re not getting too involved with that girl, are you? I don’t like it.” He took the glass of juice and set it down.

Julio hated to disagree with his father, but there
were some things his father had no business interfering with, and one of them was Romi. He bristled with instant anger. “What do you mean, you don’t like it? You don’t have to like it!
I’m
the one who likes her!”

“I am your father, and you must obey me!” Even as he said it, Luis knew it sounded old-fashioned and stupid, but he felt like he had backed himself into a corner.

“You gotta be kidding! I’ll obey you about doing my homework, or calling when I’m out late, but I will
not
obey you about who I see or who I care about. You can’t make a rule about my likes and dislikes, just like you can’t make me like bananas or not like pizza.”

“Try to understand, Julio. I speak from experience,” Luis pleaded.

Julio was not to be quieted yet. He was amazed at his reaction to this. He had never spoken to his father like that before. “You speak from fear! You’re old! And you have forgotten what it’s like to be young and happy and maybe even in love!”

“In love? Has it come to this already? You just met this girl!”

“I never said I was in love. I said you forgot what it feels like!”

“No, my son. I have not forgotten. Let me tell you a story about fear, and about forgetting. When I was a young man—about fifteen years old, and long before I met your mother—I was very much in love with a beautiful young woman. Her name was Angelina Rosina Diaz, and I knew that I would one
day marry her. Her smile lit up my whole world.”

“I would say that’s how Romi makes me feel, but you don’t want to hear it.” Julio’s face was set in anger. He sat on the sofa, waiting for the story he knew was coming.

“Let me finish, son. One day after school—even then there was trouble—she and I were walking home together. It was March third. I will never forget that day. Anyway, a large group of young men—college boys, we found out later—drove by us. They were very loud and very drunk. They screamed obscenities at us and chased us off the road with their car. We were terrified and ran in the ditch by the road, trying to escape that car. A fence blocked our escape across a field. They kept at us, purposely edging the car toward us, trying to knock us down. Angelina finally tripped and fell and … and … as the young men cheered, the car sped up, rolled over her, and crushed her. They drove off, then, screaming and laughing. I held the bleeding Angelina in my arms until she died.”

“I’ve heard that story before, Papa. I know it saddened the rest of your life, but what does it have to do with me and my relationship with Romiette?”

“I know you know the tale, Julio. But did you know the young men in the car were black? I have had a fear of black people since then, and what they can do. I will not allow you to develop a relationship with one of those people!”

“‘One of those people’? You think Romiette is related to those kids from a million years ago? Give me a break, Papa.”

“No, but many of these black city children are somehow connected to gangs, or they know someone who is. I have read that in the paper.”

“What a stupid, narrow statement!” Julio shouted. “You’re putting everybody into one dirty pile!”

“What about those black gang kids in Texas? They threatened you daily. That’s one reason we left, you know.”

“So did the Hispanic gangs, Papa. The world is changing. Our generation looks at people as humans, not as races. Suppose everybody looked at me as just a Hispanic?”

“It is what you are.”

“But I am so much more than that! I’m a musician, and a swimmer, and a person able to make my own decisions. You can’t do that for me!”

“I will never sanction a relationship between you and a black girl!” Luis stood then.

Julio stood as well. He was as tall as his father. “Nobody asked you to!” he replied defiantly.

There was a pause. “I cannot help the way I feel,” Luis finally admitted.

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” Despite his anger, Julio really wanted his father to understand.

But, still, Luis would not budge. “You cannot do this.”

“You can’t stop me.”

“Don’t fight me on this, Julio.”

“You started it, Papa,” Julio said sadly. “Mama understands,” he added.

“You mother is soft and full of love for you. She
refuses to see the dangers ahead. You will understand one day.”

“I doubt it. Papa, what if I told you that some kids at school were treating me the same way you are acting toward Romi? Maybe they hate me just because I’m the Mexican kid that reminded them of some long-ago tragedy.”

“What do you mean? Is there trouble?”

“No, there’s no trouble. Nothing I can’t handle. Just some bigots who think they can run the lives of other people just like you do. Why can’t people just leave us alone? I just don’t understand what difference it makes.”

“It makes a difference to me, my son. It always will. Now tell me about this trouble at school.”

“There’s no trouble, Papa. Nothing at all. Believe me, I’ve got enough trouble right here at home.”

Julio stomped to his room and slammed the door. Everything seemed so unfair, so against him. It was still raining outside. Dark tears of rain poured steadily from the blue-black sky, spilling past his window. Even the sky could find no sunshine.

He turned his stereo up as loud as it would go and let the music massage him. The vibrations thundered into his head, erasing the frustrations. He knew the music was irritating his father, but he also knew that his dad wouldn’t ask him to turn it down. It would be like admitting he was annoyed. So Julio kept it loud, knowing exactly the effect it was having. He wouldn’t have done that if his mother had been home. She would have quietly come in and turned it
down, then asked him what was wrong. He couldn’t fight with his mom. She was too gentle. His father was stubborn, just as he was, and had feelings like the bristles of a brush that scraped anyone who came too close.

Parents are
estúpido! Julio thought as the rain made the outside muddy and the music made the inside tense.
What is it with old people and fear of somebody different? I’m sixteen years old, and he can’t tell me what to do! They brought me here away from my friends and my school, and I’m not going to let him run my life. He’s
not
gonna tell me who I should like or who I should see! He said Romi might be hooked up with gangs. I never imagined he could be so dumb. Romi is a human being—a beautiful, smart, fiery woman. And I don’t care what my father says!

Romi and Destiny finished the dishes and tossed a bag of popcorn into the microwave. Romi’s mom peeked into the kitchen. “I love it when you come over, Destiny. It’s the only time I can be sure Romi will do the dishes!”

“That’s just because I don’t have to run upstairs right after dinner and call her, Mom,” Romi replied.

“You ought to do what we do at our house,” Destiny said with a grin. “We just use paper plates!”

“Not while I have two perfectly good dishwashers eating my lasagna!” Romi’s mom called back.

The two girls laughed, grabbed the popcorn, and went outside to check on the puppies. Max, the black Lab father, had little patience for his offspring, who nipped at him and chased his tail. Mandy, their mother, was watchful and nurturing, making sure each of the four puppies—two black and two gold—were within sight. Destiny and Romi fed the dogs, gave them fresh water, and played with the pups for a bit, letting them run across the backyard. At seven weeks, they tired after just a few minutes, and soon fell asleep in heaps on top
of one another. Romi closed the gate and headed upstairs with Destiny. They took their showers, changed into the extra-large T-shirts they both wore to sleep in, put a CD into Romi’s stereo, and finished off the popcorn. Waiting for the deep darkness of night to begin their experiment, they watched a movie and compared CD collections. Finally, Destiny could wait no longer. She picked up the brown paper-wrapped package and shook it gently at Romi.

“Romi, let’s open it!” she said eagerly. “Is the door locked?”

“Who’s going to come in? There’s nobody home but my mom. But, yeah, it’s locked.”

“OK—let her rip. Let’s see—what do we have here? A candle. They call it ‘The Specially Scented, Sexually Enhanced Soul Mate Candle of Dreams and Desire.’”

“Hmmm, smaller than it looks in this picture …”

“But it smells good—raspberry—just like they said. And here’s the tape. ‘The Scientific, Specially Recorded, Simulated Stereo, Sexually Enhanced Soul Mate Recording. Includes sounds of nature and the human heartbeat!’Wow.”

“Good grief. Sounds like overkill to me. We’ll play that in a minute.”

“And this is the ointment. It’s called ‘The Scientific Soul Mate Soothing and Stimulating Dream-Enhancing Salve of Sensuous Sensibilities.’ It says, ‘Use very small amount on the temples.’” Destiny was enjoying this process, but Romi was still doubtful.

“I guess so—look how small the package is.” Romi squinted her eyes to read the tiny directions printed on the little tube.

“It should only take one dream to reveal everything, Romi. How many soul mates do you think you have in the universe?” Destiny replied matter-of-factly.

“OK, OK. Don’t let me dump in your cornflakes. What else is in the box, Destiny?”

“The directions. It’s just a typed sheet of paper. ‘The Scientific Soul Mate System. Guaranteed results or your money back.’There’s a tiny little asterisk here. I guess it refers to the fine print at the bottom of the page.”

“What does it say?”

“I almost need glasses to read this. ‘Guarantee valid only in Asia and Africa. In the U.S., guarantee valid only if package is unopened.’ Can you believe that?”

“Well, so much for the money-back guarantee. Doesn’t look like we got much for forty-four ninety-nine, plus shipping!” Romi lay back on her bed and laughed.

“I don’t care!” Destiny insisted. “I
believe
in this!”

“Me too,” Romi conceded. “Why not? Read the direction sheet.”

“‘Before retiring, place the Scientific, Specially Recorded, Simulated Stereo, Sexually Enhanced Soul Mate Recording, which includes the sounds of nature and the human heartbeat, into your tape player on a low setting—about one or two. You
should be able to hear it, but not loudly. The essence of dreams is silence.’”

“I like that one. Go on.”

“‘Light the Specially Scented, Sexually Enhanced Soul Mate Candle of Dreams and Desire, being careful to use the Scientifically Designed Special Soul Mate Dream Catcher Vase that comes with it.’”

“Where’s the vase?” Romi asked.

“I don’t see it. There’s a plastic cup in here. Is that it?”

“Yep, it says on the bottom, ‘Dream Catcher—Made in Japan.’”

“Do you think we got rooked, Romi?” Destiny asked in one brief moment of doubt. “Oh, here’s the notebook and special Dream Pen. Let’s see what they call these. ‘The Purple Pages of Passion, Persuasion, and Poetry’ and ‘The Purple Plume of Poetic Penmanship.’ You gotta give them credit—they’re creative!”

“Don’t they sell these at the drugstore for forty-nine cents?”

“Not in purple!” Destiny replied with the fervor of a true believer. Then she wavered a bit. “You don’t think we wasted our money, do you, Romi?”

“I’ll reserve my judgment until morning, Destiny. What else do the directions say?”

“‘Place a small amount of the Scientific Soul Mate Soothing and Stimulating Dream-Enhancing Salve of Sensuous Sensibilities on each temple. Only a tiny bit is necessary to capture the memory of a dream. Light the Candle of Dreams and Desire, being
careful to place it in its special Dream Catcher Vase. It is important that all other lights in the room be in the off position for the Scientific Soul Mate System to work most effectively. When you awaken, be sure to record the remnants of your dream on your Purple Pages of Passion, Persuasion, and Poetry with your Purple Plume of Poetic Penmanship. Your soul mate is drifting in your consciousness—you must find him and bring him to reality.’”

“Oh, please!” Romi threw a pillow at Destiny. “These folks must think we’re stupid!”

Destiny dodged the pillow and tossed it back with a grin. “You gotta believe, Romi. It sounds good to me. Turn the lights off. Wait—put the tape in first. OK—press play. You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be. What do you think of the music?”

“We turned off our CD to listen to this?”

Romi laughed. “Sounds like the music they play in the grocery store, Destiny.”

“You gotta believe, Romi! You just gotta believe!” Destiny insisted.

“I believe we just threw away forty-four ninety-nine, plus shipping and handling!”

“The cost is of no importance, Romi. This is the moment of illumination. We are about to find our soul mates. Light the candle; turn off the lights. Wait! We forgot the ointment.”

“It smells good—like peppermint. Oooh, it tingles!”

“OK, here we go, lights off!” Destiny flicked the
light switch on the wall. Darkness surrounded them. All was silent for a moment except for the thin music coming from the stereo.

“See anything, Destiny?” Romi asked hopefully.