She Had No Choice (7 page)

“
I do, Sofía. Wait ‘til you meet him. You’ll like him, too.” Olivia was giddy with excitement. “He’s wonderful.”

They spent the next hour or so eating and talking about the dinner that night, about Alejandro, and about what each of their futures might hold.

Evening finally came, and Antonia was busy in the kitchen preparing an elaborate meal. Olivia was in her room starting to get ready for her special guest. Her brother, Roberto, had to work at the restaurant but promised to try and stop by to have some cake with them later.

Before she finished getting ready for the evening, Olivia went up to Sofía’s room. She decided to give Sofía her birthday presents early. Olivia toted a couple of gift-wrapped boxes up the stairs. Sofía was trying to decide what to wear for her special evening when she heard a soft knock on her door.

“
Sofía, it’s Olivia. Can I come in?”

Sofía opened the door, and Olivia stepped inside and laid the boxes on the bed.

“
What is this?” Sofía asked, her brows knitted together.

“
Happy Birthday, cousin!”

“
Birthday presents?” Sofía was overcome with emotion. Her tears were threatening to break free. “Oh, Olivia, I never dreamed…” No one had ever given her such beautifully-wrapped gifts. She reached out and hugged Olivia, and the tears spilled out.

“
All right, that’s enough. You don’t want to come to the party with red eyes, do you?”

“
No, I just can’t help it. You are too kind.” She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief.

“
I just want this birthday to be special. Here, open your presents.”

Sofía eagerly opened the boxes. She found a new red dress, made of luxurious silk, and stylish black shoes. Nothing in her wardrobe was ever as elegant or expensive. She held the dress up to herself and twirled around, laughing through her tears.

Olivia had planned to give her gifts to Sofía after dinner, but she thought Sofía might want to wear them tonight, as she really didn’t have any nice clothes to wear. She could see giving the gifts early was a good decision.

“
I’ll let you try the dress on in private, and I’ll be back in a little while to see how everything fits.” Olivia went back to her room to finish getting ready.

She had laid out a deep green silk dress with black lace trim around the high neckline and at the edge of the long sleeves. She brushed her long black hair and swept it up into a loose bun. She tried her mother’s emerald earrings on and decided they looked stunning with the dress. She hoped Alejandro would agree.

Olivia was anxious to see how Sofía looked in the red dress and made her way back up the stairs. She knocked lightly at Sofía’s door, trying to contain her enthusiasm.

“
Sofía, let me in. I want to see how the dress looks.”

“
Just a minute.”

Sofía opened the door and Olivia rushed in.

“
Oh, Sofía,” Olivia squealed, “it looks wonderful on you. Red is definitely your color. Turn around, let me see how it fits. Yes, yes, it’s just perfect.” Even the new black shoes were ideal, with two-inch heels that added a couple of inches to Sofía’s five-foot frame.

Sofía couldn’t stop smiling. “Gracias, gracias, gracias!” She gave her cousin a big hug as they jumped up and down with excitement.

“
You are very welcome, prima. Now, let’s go downstairs,” said Olivia. “Alejandro will be here any minute.”

The girls were descending the staircase just as Antonia answered the door. There stood Alejandro, handsome and strong, dressed in a black suit and white shirt. He tugged at his shirt a little and pulled on one of the jacket’s sleeves. He looked like a man who wasn’t used to dressing up, but he filled the suit out nicely.

“
Hello, ladies. You both look beautiful tonight.”

“
I can see why you like him,” Sofía whispered to her cousin. Olivia blushed and redirected quickly.

“
Thank you, Antonia. Please let us know when dinner is ready.”

“
Sí, señorita.” Antonia made her way back to the kitchen.

“
Alejandro, this is my cousin, Sofía.”

Alejandro took Sofía’s right hand and kissed it lightly. Such a gentleman, she thought. Not slick, but kind and respectful.

“
Let’s all go into the living room,” said Olivia, as she led the way.

The conversation was light and quick paced. Alejandro and Olivia described how they met and were immediately attracted to each other.

“
Alejandro came into the restaurant for dinner after work one afternoon. He had gotten off work late and was too hungry to go home to clean up before coming to the restaurant,” Olivia said. “Mama didn’t want to seat him because he was so dirty, and she asked him to leave.

“
I tried to protest,” Alejandro interjected. “I told her I was starving and wanted my dinner right away. Olivia saw the argument starting to flare up and she stepped in to make peace.”

“
I said to Mama, ‘I’ll handle this. I think you are needed in the kitchen.’” Mama looked at me, then at Alejandro. She was adamant that he could not stay, then she stomped off to the kitchen.”

“
I told Alejandro I was sorry, but we could not serve him unless he came back after he had cleaned up. I said, ‘I know you’re hungry, so let me give you a couple of tortillas to hold you until you return.’ Then I grabbed a couple of tortillas off the next table. The customers had left some perfectly good tortillas that would have been thrown out anyway.”

“
I thanked her and said I’d be back in a little while. I was grateful for the food and enchanted by her kindness and her beautiful smile.”

“
He went home and showered and changed his clothes. When he walked into the restaurant, I hardly recognized him. I just remember thinking he was so handsome.”

Alejandro took Olivia’s hand and kissed it.

“
That is how we met, prima,” she said.

There was a certain sparkle in their eyes when they looked at each other and shared their story. Sofía hoped she would have that someday.

Before long, Antonia appeared in the doorway and announced that dinner was ready. They all went into the elegant dining room and sat down before a veritable feast. Thick slices of savory roast beef on a silver platter, surrounded with shrimp in a spicy cream sauce, Sofía’s favorite chicken taquitos, fluffy seasoned rice and mixed vegetables with peppers.

Conversation flowed easily, mingled with occasional outbursts of laughter. Sofía couldn’t remember when she enjoyed herself more. She found Alejandro so interesting and full of life.

“
Alejandro,” Sofía said, “tell me how you came to the United States.” Olivia had heard the story before, but the sweet smile on her face told Sofía that she enjoyed watching Alejandro tell it again.

“
Well, growing up in Mexico was always a struggle for my family. Finally, when I was about eighteen, my papa was able to buy a ranch near Nuevas Casas Grandes, in Chihuahua. It was during the revolution, when Pancho Villa was taking land away from landowners however he could. Two different times his men attacked our ranch, trying to drive us out.”

“
Ay, Alejandro. That sounds so scary,” Sofía said.

“
It was. The second time, we were all forced to flee the ranch. I escaped into the mountains. After about a month, I came down to see if it was safe, but I was captured by some of Pancho Villa’s men. They were brutal.”

“
Did they hurt you?” Sofía asked.

“
They beat me up pretty good. Then they held me prisoner in one of the outbuildings. In the morning they were gonna shoot me.”

“
Oh, no. Then what happened?” Sofía was engrossed.

“
Luckily, one of the men guarding me was a cousin of mine. He got the other guard drunk during the night. That hombre had passed out cold, lying against the shed. Then my cousin brought me some women’s clothes and told me to put them on. I didn’t ask questions. I put the clothes on and a scarf over my head.”

Olivia and Sofía both let out a giggle at the thought of Alejandro dressed like a woman.

“
Sí, sí. I’m sure I looked funny. But it helped my cousin sneak me past the other men, and I escaped.”

“
We’re sorry for laughing,” Olivia said. “Por favor, go on.”

“
I never looked back. I haven’t seen my mama or papa since. I made my way to the border and crossed into Texas, near El Paso. I found work building the railroad, laying tracks, and wound up in Phoenix.”

He looked at Olivia and smiled warmly. He put his hand out and touched one of hers. “Then I met Olivia at the restaurant, and you know the rest.”

“
Oh, Alejandro, what a story,” Sofía said. “And what about you, Olivia? I’ve never heard how you and Roberto and Tía Consuela came to America.”

“
That’s a story for another time,” Olivia answered.

“
No, no, Olivia. I told my story. Now it’s your turn.” Alejandro wanted to hear it again.

“
All right, I’ll tell you. We came to America because of Pancho Villa and the Mexican Revolution, as well. We were living in Altar, Sonora, when the fighting came to our town. Our papa had died shortly before, so we had very little protection. Soldiers from both sides would come, from time to time, and raid our town of food and…” Her voice began to crack and her eyes began to tear up.

She paused as the memories came flooding back to her. Sofía and Alejandro looked at each other briefly then back at Olivia. She drew a deep breath, calmed herself and continued.

“
The soldiers would come and raid our town of food and pretty young women. Sometimes, they raped the women and left them there, right where they had attacked them. Other times, they took the women away with them and we never saw them again. Mama was afraid for my safety.”

“
I can see why,” Alejandro said.

“
I think Mama was so afraid for me because when I was about twelve soldiers came to our town and one attacked her one afternoon between our house and the neighbor’s. Mama was a pretty big woman and fought back hard against her attacker, but she was losing the battle. Our neighbor, Señor Diego, saw what was happening and fired a warning shot into the air and the soldier ran off.”

“
Oh, Olivia,” Sofía said. “I had no idea.”

“
During one of the raids, when I was about thirteen, Mama hid me and two of my friends in the packing crate of a piano for several days while the soldiers were in town. She was terrified for us.”

Olivia paused again before going on, taking a sip of water.

“
That was it for my mother. She decided to hire a man to get us to the United States. We left Altar in the middle of the night, without telling anyone, and crossed the border at El Sasabe. It was about 1912, I think.”

“
My papa used to talk about our crossing the border at El Sasabe, too,” Sofía commented.  “But we didn’t come here until 1918, after the revolution. We came because of the influenza outbreak.”

“
We both told our stories, Sofía,” Alejandro said, “tell us more about your story?”

“
No, let’s save that for another time,” Sofía replied. “It’s getting late and we haven’t had my birthday cake, yet.”

Just then, Antonia came walking through the doorway carrying a beautiful, tall birthday cake on a large silver plate, glowing with lit candles. “I think I heard someone say ‘birthday cake’.”

“
Oh, Antonia! It’s magnificent! Gracias, gracias!” Sofía was overjoyed. It had been many years since anyone celebrated her birthday. The rich caramel-colored dulce la leche cake was covered with creamy vanilla frosting, surrounded with fresh berries and topped with many candles. The lovely birthday cake was a fitting finale to a delightful evening.

Antonia set the cake down in the middle of the table. Sofía gave her a quick hug and kissed her on the cheek. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

Then Sofía lightly put her hand on Antonia’s arm, a sign she wanted her to stay, and looked over at Olivia. “Is it okay if Antonia stays and has a piece of cake with us?”

Olivia gave her approval. Antonia stood awkwardly, nervously looking down at her hands, as she was a little surprised by the invitation. But once Olivia agreed, she gladly accepted.

Sofía stood over the cake, the warm radiance of the candles lighting up her face as she got ready to blow them out. Pausing for just a moment, she sensed her whole life lay before her. The past had not been kind to her, but she hoped this would be the first of many wonderful experiences in her future. She pulled in a deep breath and blew out all her candles.

Chapter 6:
The Heart
’s Yearning