Chapter 7

I moped around the house for the rest of the day unsure of what to do, I didn’t drink, but it felt like that’s what I should be doing. My cell phone rang, I jumped up quickly searching for it in hopes that it was Lola.

“Hello?” I asked breathlessly.

“Is this Joey?” A gruff male voiced.

I was unsure to answer.

“Is this him?” He asked a little more agitated.

“Yes, yeah it’s me.” I said sitting on the couch.

“What did you do to Marisol?” The voice asked again.

“Who is this?” I asked suddenly offended, I knew of no Marisol and I didn’t like someone talking to me in that tone.

“Juan, from the party she invited you too. All these checks man, these letters from your friend Josh.” I was confused.

“Who are you talking about? What checks?” I asked still baffled.

You could hear a small argument in the background.

“Oh…” He spoke some Spanish I didn’t understand. “Lola, puto.” His tone was very unfriendly. I debated for a second and then I replied quickly.

“I’m coming over right now.” I slammed the phone closed and grabbed my keys, it was dark outside I didn’t really look at the clock but I could tell it was not just evening anymore. I contemplated everything he had said. Things still didn’t make sense.

I arrived before I knew it and rushing to the door just as fast. It was opened before I could knock.

“NO JUAN!” Someone else yelled I ducked quickly feeling a flush of air pass by me. I looked up and another gangly guy was holding Juan back.

“SHE WATCHED HER NIGGA DIE! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!” He yelled being pushed back by the guy who didn’t look like he could hold back a pack of white frilly poodles. I was confused it just added more flame to the fire of curiosity.

“Look at him man, no ves? He has no idea what you’re talking about.” The gangly one said, I remembered his face from the party but the name eluded me at the moment. Juan huffed and walked away.

“Since when was her name Marisol?” I asked him putting the simple question out first.

“Since she was born. Listen I don’t know why we are here, I don’t care. All I know is that she left today, she went back to California, she asked us to pack up and now we’re leaving.” He conclueded and waited for me to say something.

Leaving?

“What letters?” I asked shaking my head again, it was getting so jumbled together and nothing seemed to fit. He stood to the side and I walked in, sitting on the couch. He held out a box for me, it was full of pictures and small heart shaped notes and then I saw them. JC’s hand writing clear as day on the line, in the corner with his personal address.

You could tell none of them had been cashed up to a certain date… it looked like the date we kissed for the first time, the day I felt the real spark. I shook my head, pulling one out.

…I know it’s hard for you to get over what happened… I need your help… he’s lost and we’re not sure what to do anymore… please do this for me, he’s a great friend and I hate to see him wasting his life away…

The letter read on with the conditions and rules that applied just to me. He had sent for her, to deceive me. The love I felt for her was makeshift on her part. I grabbed the checks and the letters and walked out of the house, no one followed behind me and I didn’t blame them.

I pounded on the front door, rang his door bell like crazy. The lights finally came on upstairs and I knew he was finally awake. He opened the door pulling the robe closed around his body.

“Joey? What’s wrong? Come in.” He moved to the side, I didn’t make a move to enter the house I just paced on his porch trying to find the right words to day. “Or, stay outside…” He watched me for a second and then out of nowhere I threw the checks at him, he shook his head and then picked one up and I could see his face go pale like I had just hit him with a ton of bricks.

“WHY?!” I yelled this time, I wasn’t going to hurt him, but god damn was I fucking close.

“We didn’t know how to help you… we hated to see you like that. She fought like hell when Tony died, I thought she would teach you to fight, I never thought for one second you would fall in love with her. I asked her to leave; I asked that she not put it on so thickly.” He sat on the step to the porch. “She said she was falling for you, that she needed you like you needed her. I told her it was in her best interest to stay away from you. That it would only be a matter of time that you told her you loved her and then to leave her.”

My eyes grew big, that was what she meant. She thought it was all some line. Whew. At least that was a load off. “I need her address.” I said my tone had no emotion. JC looked up for a second and then shook his head.

I pulled up in front of a large white house, kids ran across the yard into the next, women sat on the porch, while the men huddled into a circle around a black Chevrolet.

Was this right?

I could see now why the money was so tempting, if this was how she lived before, you could tell that she just wanted out.

I climbed out of the car and made my way up the walkway to the front door before I could knock there was someone who cleared his throat off to the side. I looked over and saw someone in a wheel chair, his legs strapped in but his top was fully functional.

“You Joey?” He asked wheeling to me, I shook my head extending my hand to him. He looked at me for a second and then shook it. “Juan said you would be coming, Josefina is inside.” He said tilting his head to the side while he opened the door. I looked in and saw a older TV playing a soap opera in Spanish, looked a lot like the one Lo-Marisol would watch when she was at my house spending the day with me.

“Joseph.” The women stood from the chair slowly and made her way to hug me. “I knew you would come… she’s right so much like my Tony.” I waited a minute while she looked at me. “Come you must be hungry.” She walked to the kitchen slowly pulling a soda from the fridge and a glass pushing a plate of bread towards me. “Eat.” She added, not wanting to be rude I sat down and took a bite of the bread.

It melted in my mouth and oozed with the pineapple filling it contained. 

“I need to tell you, why she came home.” She said sitting down in front of me. “She was with my Tony for a short while, but you could see the love they shared. The way commitment meant nothing to them, they gave a whole new meaning to a married couple. Love was not easy for her, Tony fought… and hard. Just to make her see that she was beautiful, not just looks but that she had more than that.”She smiled at the memory. “Tony just wanted to see her happy, truly happy and not just what she showed off. Then he died and she… changed. Not in a bad way but you could tell she wasn’t as open anymore, never cried at the funeral, didn’t cry when we buried him, if she did cry it was never around us. She fought to maintain what she had had before Tony came to her, but it was never the same. Not without Tony. Then she shows up here yesterday, crying her eyes out. She was afraid she had been unfaithful to a man, who clearly was not coming home to her ever again.” He words sounded so… cold. “I see…” She stopped for a second and studied my face.

“When those you love are taking away abruptly, finding a way to cope is hard. I am just real, and I know that Tony wouldn’t want her to live her life like this. Sad when she falls in love, upset with herself that she is betraying her love. If you love her, it will take time. She lost her parents at a young age; it’s hard to come back from that… whole, when you’re just a child.” I shook my head.

“Where is she?” I asked glancing around.

“The cemetery, she went to see Tony… I think it’s best if you saw her too.” She stood up and pulled a paper from the counter. “We were ready, they way she talked about you… we’re happy she has finally moved on after all this time.” She put her hand on my shoulder and guided me to the door. “It’s been nice to meet you.” She said following me to the front door, the visit seemed short but I was eager to get to her.