Irises (24 page)

Aunt Julia shook her head and smiled. That was good, Mary thought. At least she didn't say no immediately. “What about your friends?”

“I really have only one good friend, Renata. I'd keep in touch with her. She could come visit if it's okay with you. We can put Mama in the guest bedroom and we can put a cot in there for me, like we used to do when Kate and I visited you.”

“No,” Aunt Julia said firmly, with no guilt or regret in her voice.

“No?” Just like that? She wasn't even willing to consider it? Mary knew by the way Aunt Julia said it that any other argument was hopeless. It wasn't a matter of money or of rooms or cots. Mary didn't know what it was.

“I'm sorry,” Aunt Julia said, getting up slowly, like her legs were not strong enough to support her. She tottered for a few seconds and then sat down again. “I can't take care of you girls. I'm ill.”

“What?”

Aunt Julia brought her arm to her eyes and wiped away th
e wetness
. “I can't take care of you girls. I can't be with Catalina. I'm ill. I've been diagnosed with breast cancer.” She began to sob.

“Aunt Julia, I didn't know.” A wave of sadness came ov
er Mary
.

“I don't want anyone to know. I'm only telling you so you don't think I'm the witch you think I am.”

“But you should have told us.”

“Maybe I should have from the start. I have a hard time facing up to it. And you girls already have so much on your shoulders.”

Mary pulled her chair closer and put her arm around her. “Aunt Julia, now more than ever, we should all be together. You can't be by yourself in San Jose. We're family. We can take care of each other.”

Aunt Julia was dabbing her eyes with a tissue. “Maybe you're right. I've never been much for family. But I tried my best.”

“Promise me you'll think about us staying together.”

“I have to go home and start with the chemo.”

“Just promise me that you'll think about it, all of us being together.” Mary felt like telling her about Stanford. Stanford was close to San Jose. Kate could go to Stanford, and Mama and Mary could live with Aunt Julia, and they could all take care of one another.

“I think I'm going to make me a cup of tea. You wa
nt some
?”

Mary looked at her watch. It was almost eleven. Talita would arrive in a few minutes to see Mama. “No, thank you,” Mary said. “I think I'll go to school. Maybe I can find Kate there.”

“Okay,” Aunt Julia said.

“Aunt Julia. Can you promise me?”

“What?”

“What I asked you. That you would think about us being together.”

“I promise you. I'll think about it. There,” Aunt Julia said, mustering a smile, “does that make you happy?”

“Yes, it does.”

Mary's lunch period was at noon, so as soon as she got to school she went directly to the cafeteria and found Renata sitting with Evangelina. Fortunately, Evangelina stood up a
s soon
as Mary sat down. “I have to finish my algie,” Evangelina said.

“She's not leaving because of you,” Renata explained after she left. “She really does have to catch up on her algebra. She's flunking out in just about all her classes. She wants me to tutor her, but it'd be like dumb and dumber. Hey, you weren't in history this morning. What happened to you? And where's your baggie lunch?”

Mary wanted to tell Renata about Kate. How odd that she had never before felt the need to share what she was going through. But she decided to hold back for the moment. “Aunt Julia and I had a long conversation this morning.”

“And?”

“She's not staying with us. We were counting on Papa's insurance money, and yesterday we found out we were denied, and now Aunt Julia says she's going back home.”

“Tell me exactly what happened.”

“I asked Aunt Julia if she could stay with us or if Mama and I could go live with her, but she didn't want us to. It turns out that she has cancer.”

“Wait, you're going way too fast for me. Start at the beginning. I'm missing something here. Why would you ask her to live with you?”

Mary took a deep breath. She could feel her eyes redden. “It's a long story.”

“Well . . .” Renata moved closer to her. She was willing t
o listen.

Words came out fast. “Kate got accepted into Stanford. A school in California. She really wants to go. It's her dream. So I thought one solution was for Aunt Julia to live with Mama and me while Kate was away, or Mama and I could move to San Jose where Aunt Julia lives. I thought we could use the insurance money, but then it turns out that we were rejected because the insurance company claims Papa committed some kind of fraud. He didn't tell them he had a heart condition.” She stopped to breathe briefly. “But even if we had the insurance money, Aunt Julia said no.”

“She said no?”

“When she first said no, I thought it was because she was selfish, but it turns out she's ill. She has cancer. I feel terrible for doubting her.”

“Wow. I don't know what to say. Where to start? Kate i
s actually
thinking of going away to college? Are you kiddin
g me
?”

“It's her dream. Don't hold it against her.”

“I'm not holding it against her, it's just that dreams have to adjust to reality. The reality is that she can't leave you and your mother alone. Talk about being selfish.”

“Do you think so?”

“Well, what do you think? What would
you
do? Would you go away and leave her and your mother alone? Tell the truth.”

“But it's not the same. I would never be able to get into a place like Stanford.”

“But you have your own dreams. You want to be a great painter. Remember that school fair when you donated one of your paintings? And remember what the man who bought it said, that he would buy paintings like that anytime. You're a great painter already. My point is that you wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice your dream for the sake of your mama and your sister if it ever came to that.”

“I don't know,” Mary said. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Listen to me,” Renata said. “Guess what.”

Mary took a napkin from Renata's tray and wiped her cheeks. “What?”

Renata put an arm around Mary, took an orange that she had already peeled, and offered her half. Mary contemplated i
t for
a few seconds and then placed it on the table in front o
f her
.

“My mother has this friend who's a social worker. She called her
— you know Mom, she really gets into these things. Mom told this Mrs. Fresquez, that's the name of the social worker, all about you and your sister and your mother, and Mrs. Fresquez says there are definitely programs that can help wi
th medical
care for your mom and help for you and your sister.”

“Yeah?” Renata's words made the tears come even more abundantly, but for a different reason. It felt good to have someone worry about her.

“I got Mrs. Fresquez's number. We can go tomorrow after school. Kate could come if she wants to. You think Kate would want to?”

Mary sniffed. Kate. She looked around the cafeteria for her. “Maybe.”

“Knowing Kate, she's probably too proud to accept help. But what else are you going to do? You're running out of options.” When she saw that Mary had stopped crying, Renata moved closer and whispered, “What happened between Kate and Simon?”

“How'd you know?” Mary asked, raising her head.

“Are you kidding me? Bonnie's cell phone has been burning up telling people the news. Even us puny sophomores knew all about it by second period.”

“But it only happened last night.”

“What did Kate tell you? Tell me, tell me, don't hold back a single dirty detail.” Renata was pretending to be gossipy, but she was also truly itching to know, Mary could tell. But how could she say anything without divulging that Kate hadn't come home?

“I was asleep when she came in last night,” Mary said.

Renata cocked her head. “How about this morning?”

“She told me she broke up with Simon. You know Kate. If she doesn't feel like talking, she won't.”

“She wasn't upset? When you saw her this
morning
, I mean?” The two girls stared at each other
— a friendly stare, a who-will-blink-first kind of stare. Mary had a feeling Renata knew Kate hadn't come home. “Kate's not in school this morning,” Renata continued. “Everyone knows everything around here. This is big, Mary, huge. Bonnie's walking around drooling and fawning over Simon.”

“Stop,” Mary said gently.

“Okay. But where's Kate? Think carefully about the lie you're about to tell me. You already said she didn't say anything to you before she left this morning, so you can't say she's at home. She didn't come home last night, did she?”

“She came home.” Mary was glad that she could be truthful about something.

“You're utterly hopeless. That's all right. I'll get my information elsewhere.” Renata stuck her tongue out at Mary. “She was out with another guy.”

“No way!” Mary tried to make it sound as if that was absolutely impossible.

“That's what Bonnie's saying. She's saying it was Simon who broke up with Kate. Is it true?”

Mary could not believe all the rumors that had spread in the four hours since she spoke to Bonnie. “Did she happen to say why?” She tried to sound annoyed, but she was actually more concerned that people might know about Kate and Reverend Soto.

“No. You know, Simon's not a bad guy. Girls like Bonnie would not hesitate to snatch him.”

“She's Kate's best friend.”

“Bonnie's her own best friend, trust me. She's been eyeing Simon all along. He's just her type too. You know all she wants is to get married and have babies, and Simon with his restaurants fits the bill just perfectly.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Cause I'm an observer of human nature, girl! Personally, I never liked Simon that much. He's a little too goody-goody. You and I need someone wild and dangerous, like him.”

Mary followed Renata's hot gaze to the front of the cafeteria and her heart leapt. Marcos was standing with a tray in his hand, looking around for a place to sit. “Look at that body, those eyes,” Renata said. “If he ever even smiled at me, I'd melt. Oh. Oh. He's looking straight at us.” Mary looked down and covered her face with her hand. “Mary, Mary.” Renata was shaking her arm, whispering. “He's walking. Here. He's, like, going to sit with us.” She stopped talking and proceeded to nervously dismember her half of the orange.

“Hey,” Marcos said. He was standing at their table.

“Hey,” Mary said. Renata shot Mary a shocked look.

He sat down without asking if he could. “I had this great idea for the mural I wanted to show you.”

“Renata, this is Marcos. Marcos, this is Renata.” Someone had to be polite.

“Hey,” he said, smiling at Renata. Renata was totally mute.

“She actually can talk,” Mary said. “Ouch.” She experienced a sharp pain in her foot, the kind that comes when the person sitting next to you stomps on it.

“You're a junior, aren't you?” Renata had found her tongue again.

“Sort of,” Marcos said. “I've missed so many classes they're threatening to make me come back another year.”

“Why do you miss so many classes?” Renata asked.

“Renata!” Mary said.

Marcos shrugged. “I had to take care of business.” He scrunched his eyebrows to make himself look scary. Renata gulped. He turned to Mary with a grin. “Want to know what I'm thinking
.
.
. for the mural?”

“I guess,” Mary said.

“Wait, are you guys in art class together or something?” Renata said.

“Or something,” Marcos answered. “I have to do this mural as a community service thing, and I think I got Mary here to help me.”

“Oh.” Mary could see that Renata was torn between wild curiosity and her desire to give them privacy. Curiosity won out, and she stayed put.

“Well,” Mary said to Marcos, “what's your idea?”

He opened the spout of his milk carton. “This mural I'm supposed to do. It's for this center where they teach English as a second language and they also have these programs where they try to make Chicano kids learn about their culture in Mexico. It's like they want kids and even old people to make it here in the U.S. but not forget where they came from, you know what I mean?”