The F Factor (17 page)

The song ended, and everyone cheered as Coach Delgado took the microphone and introduced the football players.

Javier genuinely clapped and cheered for Dylan, Ram, and Omar since he knew them personally. He did the same for the three juniors from broadcasting class too. Who would have guessed the pep rally would be more fun because of that elective?

Once the team was introduced, the school band played a song that featured Ignacio and the rest of the brass instruments. The next song featured the drummers, and Javier yelled and clapped for his friends when it was over.

Everyone whistled and yelled when the cheerleaders danced to a popular melody. The guys around Javier didn't yell out stupid comments and risk Mr. Quintanilla's wrath, but they said plenty among themselves about the
girls. Javier still looked around for Feliz but couldn't find her.

To end the pep rally, the cheerleaders led the classes in a cheer competition. The pretty girls in their small, tight outfits were divided among the four classes. Each group rallied the boys before them.

Landry and Steve pounded on Javier's shoulders until he joined in with Pat. They yelled like maniacs with all the other sophomores. Finally, they jumped up and screamed even louder when the girls chose the sophomores as the “Most Spirited Class.”

As the pep rally ended, Javier's throat was raspy and sore, and his head still hurt, but it was better than last year, thanks to new friends from the broadcasting class.

Pat was suddenly tugging at his sleeve. “Look, there's my sister,” he said.

Javier spotted Feliz at the far end of the gym. She stood among a group of girls who were walking out with the cheerleaders. He glanced at his watch. He was supposed to meet his mom in the parking lot soon. All day he had hoped his mom would be on time; but now, he prayed his mom would run late so he could talk to Feliz.

But first, they had to walk back into the building and fight their way down a crowded hallway to get to their lockers. Once that was done, Javier followed Pat to the parking lot and talked casually about his birthday party and getting his license.

“You know getting your license is no big deal, right?” Pat said as they walked toward the parking lot in the rear of the school. “The big deal comes later when you drive all by yourself for the first time. I took my mom's car, and I was gone for two hours—just driving where I wanted to go. It was my freedom on wheels!”

“I can't wait to drive alone,” Javier told him as he scanned ahead looking for Feliz's vehicle. “I already asked to borrow my mom's car to drive to the game.”

“What did she say?”

“What else? ‘We'll see … maybe … ' the usual parental answers.” He smiled when he saw the shiny sports vehicle with the tinted windows parked in one of the closer spots. He smiled wider when he didn't see his mom's car in the lot. “There's Feliz's car.”

“Yeah, I see it. So, if you don't get the car, do you want a ride to the game?”

Javier chewed up the smile quickly. Would Feliz be more impressed if he wasn't just another boy needing a ride? But if he took his own car, would he see her at all? Unexpectedly, the driver's window slid down, and Feliz leaned out the window. “Hey, Javier, I got some great news. I passed my chemistry quiz today!” Her dark glasses hid her eyes, but her smile and voice revealed her happiness well. Her long hair slipped down her shoulder and arm. The shiny brown hair looked like it would feel like silk.

The attraction to this girl felt like magnets gripping his insides with a tightness that made swallowing painful. An inner voice screamed at him to loosen up and laugh. So, he latched onto the personality he became on school TV, the guy who could act enthusiastic about the most boring school announcements. He gave her his most televised smile. “Congratulations, Feliz. That's great.” His voice didn't even shake. “Did you like the pep rally?”

“It was okay.” She turned away for a brief moment as Pat climbed into the front seat of the car and slammed the door.

“Tell Javier ‘happy birthday', Feliz,” Pat called out. He leaned around his sister and grinned at Javier. “He's been laughing like a happy man all day today!”

“Laughing?” Feliz pulled off her sunglasses and looked right at Javier.

He shrugged and smiled. “Yes, your brother helped me look like a fool on school TV this morning, but it's all good now.” He was pleased by how easy it was to talk to her.

“Well, happy birthday, Javier,” she said, her dark eyes staring right into his. “I hope the rest of today is all good.”

“It is now,” he said without thinking, blinking, or feeling embarrassed.

Her eyebrows lifted at his reply, but she was still smiling at him. She laughed softly and sat back in the seat. “Good-bye, Javier.”

“Call me later, okay?” Pat called out.

Javier stepped up quickly and put his hand on the door before she could lift the window. “Feliz, don't forget about my party on Sunday, okay? It starts at four.”

“It's all good, Javier.” She gave him a wink and then put on her sunglasses.

He wondered,
Does “It's all good” rank higher than a “Maybe”? Why didn't she tell me one way or another if she is coming to my party?

There was no time to clarify anything because he saw her hand swiftly move toward the window controls. Javier reacted quickly to pull away his fingers before they got caught. As the dark window lifted between them, he walked away. Like another pathetic guy waiting on his mom for a ride, Javier took a spot by a line of students waiting beside the fence.

“F
ine! Look like a hoochie-mama at Javier's party! Do you
always
have to look so desperate?”

“Well, at least I'm not glued to my cell phone waiting for some guy I met in an airport last week to send me a message! You're
so
pathetic!”

They're home
. Javier sighed as he opened the back door. His big sisters sat at the kitchen table eyeing each other like suspicious cats. Both were curvy women with layers of highlighted brown hair. An open bottle of beer sat in front of each one.

Javier wanted to turn around and walk back outside, but his mother had tugged on his arm, pulling him into the kitchen. Her voice grew louder with each sentence. “You two live in two different houses now, but you still fight like you share a bedroom. And are you drinking your daddy's beer? Why didn't you come home with your own six-pack? And have you even told your baby brother ‘happy birthday'?”

Both women jumped from the table and screamed, “Happy birthday, Javito! Congratulations! Happy birthday to our little Javito!” They stumbled toward him.

Suddenly Javier's arms were smashed against his chest as both sisters crushed him between them. One
pair of cold beer lips smacked his cheeks, and another left his forehead with a slippery residue. If he ever wanted a chance to drive away on wheels of freedom, it was at this moment.

“Go change your clothes, but come back downstairs,” his mom said as Javier pulled away from his sisters and started to leave the room. “Then you can tell your big sisters all about your new TV class.”

TV class?
Javier suddenly felt six years old again. He looked back at Vivian and Selena and set his shoulders straight. “I have a new elective this semester. Broadcast Media. We do the announcements on closed circuit television every morning. My friend Pat and I were the first team to go on the air.” He felt satisfied by the way he sounded: confident and mature. Sixteen.

“I bet you look so cute on TV,” Selena said. She actually pinched his cheek. “It's good you got Daddy's dark eyes and straight nose, Javito. I bet when all the girls see you on TV, they think you're so hot.”

“Selly, don't be stupid! He goes to an all-boys school!” Vivian exclaimed.

“So what? It's not a school for wannabe priests! He can still go out with girls.” Then Selena raised one carefully drawn eyebrow at Javier. “You can date girls, right? I mean, you
want
to date girls, right?”

“Yes, I date
girls
!” Javier couldn't believe his sister just said that.

Vivian was laughing now. “Of course he does. He's super-smart, not gay.”

“Oh, man!” Javier sighed and walked away feeling helpless to say what he was
really
thinking. The age gap still made a difference. Would he ever feel like an adult
around them? Life had to be easier when brothers and sisters were closer in age like Pat and Feliz.

After Javier came back downstairs in a green T-shirt and khaki shorts, he avoided the loud voices in the kitchen and settled in the den to watch television. When his father found him later, he was laughing at a classic
M*A*S*H
episode.

“You're watching one of my favorite shows,” his father said and sat in the chair beside him. “Nowadays there's nothing but reality TV on every channel. There's even an episode of
Ávila Women Gone Wild
going on in our home!”

“That's why I'm hiding in here,” Javier answered, grinning at his dad.

He reached over and clapped his son on the knee. “Forget the TV. I have something to show you.” They walked back into the kitchen, and Javier was relieved it was empty. His father opened the back door, and Javier walked out to the back porch.

“Surprise!” A trio of female voices echoed around the back yard.

A small blue truck with a wide red ribbon on the hood was parked behind his mom's car. Javier's body ignited like a bottle rocket when he saw the gift.

His father slapped him on the back. “Happy birthday, Javier!”

Javier howled and spun in a quick circle. “Wow! This is so cool!”

He ran down the steps. The truck didn't look brand new, but it was a sporty design with black detailed fenders and doors. He saw bucket seats through the front windows, and when he opened the driver's door, a gold number sixteen hung from the mirror. He should have been
totally annoyed by the tacky ribbon and the cardboard numeral, but they only made him laugh at his sisters' sense of humor.

“Is this all a dream? Does this fine truck belong to me, really?” Javier slid his hand over the fenders as he walked around. He threw the bow at Vivian. “Here!”

When he reached his mom, he hugged her tightly. “I love you, Mom!” He wrapped his arms around his father and crooned, “I love you, Dad! Thank you both so much! This is the best birthday gift of my life!”

“Happy birthday, Javito! Happy birthday!” his sisters proclaimed and jumped in for a group hug of suffocating proportions. It took a while before Javier could untangle himself and stand alone by the truck, still stunned by the birthday gift he never expected.

His mom put her hand on his shoulder. “I'm glad you like it. We hadn't planned to get you a vehicle, but one of your dad's workers needed some quick cash.” She squeezed his shoulder gently. “If we take care of insurance, you can cover gas and maintenance with your money, right?”

“I can handle that,” Javier said, glancing at the tires that still looked new.

His dad spoke up. “I really wanted to buy you a horse, but your mom didn't have enough garden space to use up all the manure.”

When Javier looked at him, his dad winked, and they laughed together. Then Javier headed toward the driver's side of the truck. “I'm going for a ride!”

His mom asked him, “Don't you want one of us to come with you?”

“Nivia, give the boy a break!” his dad exclaimed. “He's sixteen now.”

Javier turned on the ignition and smiled at the way the engine sounded. He tugged off the silly numeral, flipped on the air-conditioner, and set the radio on a station he liked. He waved at his family and backed out of the driveway. The truck ride wasn't as smooth as a car, but he enjoyed the more masculine feel of a truck as he drove around Woodlawn Lake, wishing he could honk at somebody he knew.

He drove up Cincinnati Avenue toward St. Mary's University, where he drove around the athletic fields and gym. He saw a trio of pretty girls walking toward the gym and bravely waved at them. When they first waved back and then craned their necks to see who was in the truck, he smiled like they were old friends. He tapped the horn, then circled around the lot and headed out the rear gate. Sixteen fit him so much better than fifteen ever had. He breathed in a sigh of happiness now that he owned his personal wheels of freedom.

“Y
ou realize your dad made it hard for the three of us to go anywhere together? It's too bad this model isn't an extended cab with a backseat,” Andy remarked on Sunday afternoon. He sat behind the wheel of Javier's truck. It was parked behind his parents and sisters' cars and blocked in by four other family vehicles. “It's still a good little truck, Javier.” His fingers did a drumroll on the steering wheel.

Ignacio sat in the passenger seat, opening up compartments on the console between the seats. “You're so lucky. Can we trade parents?”