Another view of events - seen by Antonio, Pepa, and Felix Madrigal.
It was starting to get late when his mama frowned and asked him, "Have you seen your sister?" For a moment Antonio thought back to almost an hour earlier when he had seen his sister's shifting eyes as she weaved her way out the door, swiftly followed by Mariano Guzman. Even though he was only five, he knew enough to know that she liked him and often had fun teasing her when it was just him and Camillo around. She would either blush in embarrassment and stutter out an answer or she would attack the two with tickles and pillows to distract them. He also remembered how some of the birds seemed to snicker and one of them said something about eggs and hatchlings which he didn't understand.
"She went to the courtyard." he answered honestly, not thinking anything of it. "I think I saw Mariano follow her to keep her from being lonely." The five-year-old didn't realize he'd just sealed his sister's fate by saying the things he did.
"Oh?" Pepa twitched, trying to stay calm for her sweet little boy, "We'll I'm just going to go check on her, okay?" she kissed his cheek and unknowingly followed the exact path her twenty-two-year-old daughter had only an hour ago taken. She waved for her husband to follow her and without hesitation Felix met her by the door and fell into stride next to her.
"What's wrong Pepa?" he asked as he kept pace with her long strides.
"Have you seen Dolores?" she hissed back, not even trying to swat away the cloud beginning to thunder above her head now.
"No, not for a little while now." he replied after a moment. "But you know how she gets when there's a party around. Much too loud for her to stay the whole time, she's probably just resting her ears."
"I doubt that." Pepa continued to hiss as the duo came to a halt right outside Dolores's room.
"Why?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Because a boy followed her out here." her anger flared, "And you'll never guess who." Agustin was coming around the corner, coming back to rejoin the party after stepping out for a quick walk around the courtyard where the air was cool. "Agustin!" she snapped, "Stay right here." she pointed to the floor in front of the door, "In case we need you." He was puzzled, but came to a stop next to them, still smiling.
Taking a breath, a feeling deep in her stomach that she knew what to expect when they walked into her daughter's room plagued her. Deciding to rip off the band-aid and get this whole thing over with, she threw open the door, Casita barely catching it from slamming into the wall. Even though she expected it, the sight they saw made both of her parent's see red.
On the bed, obscured from their sight by a man's strong, broad back was Dolores. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and Pepa could see her nails digging into his shoulders from where she stood. Each step into the room, all they could hear was the sound of their daughter's pleased sighs from the way the man was kissing and touching her. Felix grabbed his shirt collar and yanked. The man who fell backwards off the bed and staggered to his feet was indeed Mariano Guzman as he had guessed, the man who Abuela Alma was making plans to set up a marriage to Isabela with. Without thinking his fist connected with his face while Pepa dealt with Dolores.
Dolores was clearly dazed and unfocussed. In fact, she even looked confused, which was odd enough in and of itself. Pepa screamed at her daughter and suddenly she was ramrod straight, sitting up as much as she could. It was as if she hadn't registered the sound of her approach. Her skirt was hitched all the way up to her hips, her hair was mussed, her lipstick was smudged, she was breathing hard, and her cheeks were flushed. To get her attention Pepa reached out and smacked her daughter across the face as Felix and Agustin, who had stepped in after the second time Felix had punched Mariano as hard as he could, all but dragged him away from their daughter's bedroom.
At that moment her mother, Alma, stepped into the room. Pepa wasn't sure if she had made it colder in her icy anger at her daughter, or her cold feelings regarding whatever punishment her mother would exact on her baby girl.
Her anger at everything surged and thunder cracked as she left her daughter behind, slamming the door on her way back out. Angry at her daughter for making such a foolish decision to gallivant with her cousin's soon to be fiancé. Anger at her mother for arranging this soon to be engagement without consulting the girls first, as clearly her daughter was the one in love with Mariano Guzman. Anger at herself for not seeing the way Dolores and Mariano exchanged flirty and romantic looks of longing whenever they crossed paths. The way Isabela watched them with a knowing smile, clearly happy with the relationship attempting to bloom in secret right in front of her.
Why did it have to be like this? That was a question for which Pepa had no answer.