Chapter 1

First Impressions

The street was wet with the last night's storm, but the sun shone as if nothing had happened. Maricruz had always loved the silver lining after the storm. She walked out of her front door, covered herself with a black half-jacket, and began walking down the sidewalk. With each click of her heels against the sidewalk, she thought of the boy she'd met the night before at her girlfriend's party. She couldn't quite figure it out, but she couldn't get that cute smile out of her head. He'd seemed sweet, but that was how they all started out. She shook it from her head, and set her mind to watching the houses as she passed. She graduated this year and had already accrued a number of scholarships to local and state colleges. The ceremony was only two weeks away, and where some of her classmates were ecstatic to be leaving home, Maricruz tried to push the thoughts of life after school out of her head. She didn't have enough money to leave. Not to mention her sister, who desperately needed her right now. Rosa had never graduated and always told her hermanita to leave the small town as soon as she could. Maricruz could never see what she hated about the place so much, but she knew she couldn't just leave her like that. Rosa started drinking and had made life that much harder for her family. The sisters had never known their father, and their mother had passed years earlier. They were all each other had, and Maricruz wasn't about to loose that too.

She reached a small gas station and stepped inside.

"What are you doing here?" Jose demanded, giving her a defiant look. Mari ignored him and set her purse down behind the counter and pulled an employee nametag from the counter, pinning it to her shirt.

"Didn't I tell you to go to church? It's Sunday Mari, you need to go spend time with your family." He said a little less fiercely this time, placing his hands on her shoulders. Mari had worked for Jose since she began high school, and he had almost been like a father to her. He always took care of her and sometimes sent his wife's home cooking home with her. Maricruz looked up at him and grinned.

"Jose you always take care of me, but the only family I have is at home in bed with a hangover. And besides, people don't take kindly to me at church." She said, patting him on the chest and turning to the register to ring up the purchase of a random customer. Jose sighed and seceded. It was well known that Mari and Rosa's mother wasn't the classiest woman in town, but the sisters knew what other people didn't: She did what she had to, to provide for her family. Some of the women at church would talk amongst themselves and look at them in disgust when they came to take communion, and so they just stopped attending at all.

"Maricruz you need to get out of here. It's not good for a smart young lady like you to rot here." Jose said, thick Ecuadorian accent pouring through. She smiled. She couldn't count the number of times he'd said that to her, so she'd just stopped justifying it with a response. Jose walked away to the back to do numbers, and left her to checking out the long-bearded man standing at the counter.

Sucre, Ronald, and Hector walked down the street closest to the docks talked about the party the night before. Actually, mostly the topic of conversation was the women attending it, but they laughed and joked as prowled along. The three Puerto Rican boys were graduating in two weeks as well, and couldn't be more excited about leaving this dump of a town. Hector had already received high scholarships to attend Harvard Law School, and Ronald was going to a local college just out of town. Sucre was the only one left without a particular destination in mind. He didn't worry about it though. At the moment he couldn't worry about anything. All he could think about was Maricruz. Hector had introduced them and he remembered he couldn't even say anything to her. She was so beautiful, and her smile…it made him want to dance. He smiled stupidly as he listened to Hector and Ronald going on about their conquests from the previous night and walked along, wondering if he'd ever see her again. They went to different schools, and he didn't even manage to get out of his trance long enough to ask her out. He kicked himself. She was probably taken anyway. There was no way a girl like that was single. He dashed his hopes for the moment and jumped back to reality.

"Yeah, I was like, Oi-Yah!" yelled Ronald, was beginning to hump a light pole. Sucre punched him in the shoulder and Hector joined suite laughing. They humped either side of the pole, making obscene faces and noises. Sucre rubbed his nearly bald head and laughed.

"You guys are pathetic. Ya'll are just disappointed 'cause you ain't got no real woman." He said, walking away from them and smiling to himself. He tucked his hands into his pockets and shuffled on, away from the embarrassing scene of his cousin and amigo. Suddenly he was assaulted by the both of them who commenced to bear-hugging him to the point where he couldn't breathe. He coughed in pain, but didn't stop smiling. He mouthed the words "pitos," but couldn't get enough air to actually say it.

"Aye, is that right Cousin?" Hector mocked.

"Yeah, you couldn't even say anything to Maricruz. You just stood there drooling all over yourself!" Ronald added, and the two of them began laughing as Sucre suddenly found the strength to knock them off of him. He had to catch his breath before he could speak.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't figure out what to say Papi." He said, pathetically searching for an excuse. He looked for any route of escape. There was a gas station across the street, so he started heading across. "I'm gettin' a drink you pitos." He announced.

"Oh…right." Hector mocked.

"Thirsty huh?" Ronald yelled, the pair of them following him across the street. "I bet I know what you're thirsty for," he paused, bursting into song in the middle of the street. "MARICRUZ! TE AMOR MI AMOR, PERO NO PUEDO TE HABLAR, PORQUE MIS HUEVOS SON PEQUEÑO!"

Sucre jogged a little faster, escaping into the door of the stoor and holding the door shut so the couldn't get in. Hector joined the chorus and the two of them stood at the door shouting at the top of their lungs, which could clearly be heard around the block at this point. Sucre turned his back on the door and looked around frantically for a back door. Suddenly the outrageous screeching stopped, and Sucre turned back to see Hector and Ronald laughing and holding themselves on the ground. He didn't open the door, but perred out at them through the glass with a confused grin.

"What the…" he began, but stopped when he felt a prescence behind him. He turned around, expecting to see the manager, but instead, he came face to face with Maricruz. His smile faded, and eve through his dark tan you could still find a hint of rose on his cheeks. The choking laughter rang from outside as he started trying to decided whether he should take his chances with his cousin and amigo, or with her. He stood there silently, trying to find words. He suddenly felt very dumb. The only word that came to mind was, "…hey…," He mumbled it quietly and nervously with a crooked would-be smile. He put both hands behind his back, ready to press the lever on the door and run.