Author's notes
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING; Not the Book of Life or its characters
Mary walked quickly through the streets, smiling as she hummed a random tune. A bundle wrapped in yellow paper was tucked neatly under her arm. Even the weather reflected her good mood, the sun shined down on her with warm rays without a single cloud to block it. She grinned as she saw the ruined orphanage loom in front of her. Maria was not joking; there was no door that protected the inside of the orphanage from nature's wrath.
The woman walked into the orphanage and weaved through the crowds of children. She walked straight to the Principal's Office, having learned where it was from Maria a few days ago.
She saw the priest sit in a chair not that better than the ones the children have. He was reviewing some paperwork with a deep frown. Mary saw him heave a great sigh and tried to rub away the lines in his forehead.
Mary cleared her throat and the priest smiled tiredly at her. "Come in, come in. How may I help you?" He gestured to the ancient seat in front of his desk.
Instead of sitting in the chair and risk it breaking under her small weight, Mary stood in front of the desk. "I would like to make a donation," she said professionally.
The priest grinned as his eyes shined with gratitude and glanced down at the paperwork he left on the desk. "Thank you so much for your generosity. As you can probably see, we need all the help we can get."
Mary nodded and gave the man the bundle. Confused, but intrigued, the man opened the package and glanced inside. He sat rigid in his seat and stared at the contents of the bundle. He glanced up at Mary and back down. The priest gulped loudly and took out the wad of pesos. He thumbed the money and stopped counting at halfway through. "T-this is your donation?" he asked, still staring at the bills in wonder.
"Is that enough? I can give you more if you like," Mary said worryingly.
The man gulped again and shook his head. "No, this amount," tears sprang to the priest's eyes as ideas ran rampant in his head, "the orphanage could be rebuilt from scratch! And still have enough left over to refurnish the entire school twice over!" He jumped out of his seat and clasped Mary's hand, shaking it as if his life depended on it. "Thank you miss! Thank you!"
Mary grinned and waved the thanks away. "It is nothing sir. I just want to make sure the children are well taken care of."
"Yes, thanks to you, they'll all live like kings and queens!" The priest looked at the paperwork he was viewing over and slapped a hand over it. "We can pay for the new door! And a roof! And desks! And boards! A-and beds! Oh the children will live in comfort and want for nothing!" The man was practically shaking with excitement. He grasped Mary's hand again, "Thank you miss! I-I have to tell the nuns and dear Mrs. Posada that their prayers have been answered!"
Mary grinned widely, but it was not because she had just donated a large sum of money to a good cause. She watched the priest scurry out and followed him out of the room in a more leisure pace. She walked towards the exit, imagining what the orphanage will look like in a few week's time.
She had just turned the corner to walk to the cemetery and go to the Land of the Remembered when she heard someone running towards her. She looked over her shoulder to see Maria stopping behind her, breathing hard. Maria managed to gasp out, "T-the priest. He. You. Donation."
Mary smiled and nodded, waiting patiently for the younger woman to catch her breath. What the young woman did next surprised Mary so much that she did not do anything to stop her. Maria pulled Mary into a tight embrace, her face buried in the older woman's neck. When she pulled back, Maria beamed at Mary. "Is it true?" her voice wavered only a little bit at the end, but it was still filled with awe and gratitude.
Mary simply nodded with a grin and gasped in shock as she was pulled into another hug. She returned it with a moment of hesitation. When the hug ended, Mary noticed that there was a slight flush in Maria's cheeks.
"I have no idea what to say but thank you," Maria said. She looked back to the direction of the orphanage before looking back at Mary. "I don't know what we would have done without you. There must be a way for me to repay you." Her eyes brightened as she gasped. "I know, we can go get lunch, it'll be my treat."
The older woman nodded, wondering if that flash of fear of rejection she saw in Maria's eyes was just her imagination. Maria grinned and grabbed Mary's hand gently, guiding her down the street. "Don't you still have work?" Mary asked, realizing that the younger woman might be playing hookie.
"Nope. After the big announcement of your donation, all of the nuns decided to give the children a treat and let them go off and play." Maria bumped shoulders playfully with Maria, "So now I have nothing to do for the rest of the day."
"Well, I suppose you'll just have to indulge me," Mary replied slyly. Once again, she thought she saw Maria's cheeks flush slightly as the younger woman tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
"Oh, we're here." Maria let go of Mary's hand and hurried over to the hostess, whispering low enough so Mary could not hear. The hostess gave Maria an odd look but signaled for the two to follow her. The hostess led Mary and Maria to a secluded part of the restaurant that had a clear view of the chapel. Both women sat down and the hostess walked away without another glance.
Maria played with her wedding ring for a bit before the waitress came and got their drink orders. They ordered wine with a secret grin. Maria glanced up at Mary who nodded encouragingly. "I know you have something on your mind, what is it?" Mary asked.
"How did you know I wanted to ask something?" Maria questioned, the fingers stilling on her ring.
The older woman gestured towards the ring. "You keep playing with your wedding ring when you're nervous or have something on your mind." She tilted her head with a slight frown. "Are you nervous?" she asked.
Maria quickly shook her head no but after a moment she glanced down and nodded once. She looked up, "Where did you get that money?"
Mary was not expecting that question. She had hoped that Maria would just accept that she had made a sizable donation and leave it at that. Thinking about it now, Mary realized she should have seen this coming. Deciding to play it cool and to buy herself some time, she said, "I am the banditos new leader." She shrugged as if it was not a big deal.
Maria stared at her in such horror that Mary held up both hands. "That was a joke!" She saw the relief in Maria's face. "I come from a wealthy family."
"Then what are you doing in San Angel for? Surely your husband would have left you more than enough of money." Mary could not tell if she had imagined the bitterness in Maria's voice or not.
"I find that I like the view and the people," Mary replied, taking great care not to give anything away. She felt guilt stir in her belly but she had forgotten why it was there. "And I would like to see that man try to take any of my riches."
"How are you and your husband anyway?" Maria asked, glancing away from Mary's eyes.
Luckily, the older woman was saved from saying an unreasonable lie when the waitress came with their drinks. As they ordered their food, Mary searched for a logical answer, once again feeling the guilt rear up deep in her belly. She took a sip from her glass of wine to gain courage as she said, "We are still on bad terms, I doubt that we will see eye-to-eye ever again."
It disturbed Mary to think that a year prior, that statement was extremely accurate. A part of her wondered if it was still correct.
An emotion not unlike relief fluttered in Maria's eyes but for a moment before she looked downcast at her drink. "I'm sorry to hear that." A hint of shame was laced through the words although Mary had no idea why Maria would be ashamed of anything.
The two continued to talk about Mary's past, Mary feeling guiltier with every lie she said about her nonexistent family. The food could not have come fast enough and when it finally arrived, Mary was so grateful that she did not hesitate to start eating, taking a generous drink from her wine to sooth her burning tongue a moment later. She glared halfheartedly at Maria who had giggled.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed," Maria said as she made a show of blowing the steam off of her food before putting it in her mouth.
Mary was just glad that the subject of her 'family' was dropped. They ate in silence for a couple of minutes, this time Mary savoring the food. Mary glanced back up at Maria, "How is Manolo doing?"
Maria shrugged. "He's doing okay and his wound is healing nicely. It's like he said, it could have been a lot worse," she said with a shudder.
Mary nodded in agreement and took a sip of her wine. They became quiet once more as they finished their food. They left the restaurant in companionable silence, only breaking it to point something out like a drunkard stumbling out of a bar.
"How is Joaquin?" Mary asked as the two strolled past the statue of Joaquin's father. She glanced at Maria and saw that the smile that graced the younger woman's lips slipped into a small frown. Mary slowed down her pace as her eyes showed her concern. "Did something happen?" A sudden wave of protectiveness pierced Mary's insides and she was shocked at the intensity of it.
The feeling only dimmed the tiniest bit when Maria shook her head without saying anything. Mary watched Maria's face closely as she asked, "Did he do something to that bull?"
Maria's eyes widened in surprise, "What!? N-no, Joaquin would never hurt one of the bulls! Manolo would punch him for even thinking about it!" Maria said with a weak laugh. She looked down as she sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping under pressure that Mary did not know. "Joaquin wanted to put the bull down but Manolo managed to show him that it really was an accident. The poor thing wouldn't stop crying when he saw Joaquin's blades." Maria shook her head as if to rid herself of the image she had created.
"So the bull is going to be okay?" Mary asked gently, placing a hand on Maria's lower back.
Maria smiled gratefully for the physical contact and nodded. "Yes. He won't be able to perform with Manolo for a while but he's going to be fine." She brushed back a strand of hair and coughed in embarrassment, "I'm sorry for suddenly getting so emotional. This entire week has just been really"
"interesting?" May suggested when Maria led off.
"Yeah," Maria agreed. She looked up and saw the sun had moved quite a bit as they had their lunch and walk. She stopped and clasped her hands in front of her, grinning. "Manolo and Joaquin will probably want to thank you too once I tell them what you did. How about you come over for dinner tomorrow night? We'll cook for you."
Mary tilted her head to the side with a sly grin. "I thought lunch was my thank you."
Maria waved the statement away. "That was my thank you, this will be theirs."
"So wait, I help your orphanage and you take me out to lunch, without lifting a single finger to prepare the food I might add, and Manolo and Joaquin are going to slave away for hours making me dinner," Mary teased, delighted in the way Maria smirked and narrowed her eyes at the jest. "Doesn't that seem a little unfair?"
The younger woman looked up into the sky as she pretended to think with an innocent expression. She grinned mischievously a moment later as she shook her head. "No, but I suppose they just want to impress you more than I do." Her eyes widened in horror at her choice of words for but a moment but that moment was all that Mary needed.
Mary stepped closer to Maria and touched her arm, smiling a little when the other woman visibly relaxed at the simple touch. She tried to think of what Maria could possibly mean by what she said and she chuckled when she reached a conclusion. "Is Joaquin trying to impress me?"
Maria looked even more shocked at that question than when Mary had asked if the man had done something to the bulls. After a few moments she recovered and gave a wary laugh. "Perhaps," she said lamely. The mischievous grin was back, however it did not erase the surprised expression that Mary say before. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow night?"
The older woman gave a nod. "I'll see you then."
Maria grinned, this time a genuine one, and began to walk away. Mary watched her go as she replayed Maria's strange behavior over in her head. She was certain that she had done something to cause the weird reactions from her friend but she could not figure out why.
After Maria had left her sight, Mary shrugged and turned to walk towards the cemetery. Oh well, she thought to herself. She will figure it out eventually but probably not right now. Her mind was too occupied with thoughts on what Joaquin and Manolo could possibly be cooking for her and her stomach was too filled with excitement over having dinner with Maria the following evening.
