Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the Outer Banks. I only own my OCs.
Chapter 4: June twenty-sixth
June twenty-sixth was a significant day for Maribel and Estefanía Mendoza because it was the day Mary Fox married Isaac Mendoza. That's when Mary Fox officially became Mary Mendoza. She'd left her supposed cushy life in Figure Eight to be with the love of her life.
Maribel hadn't existed back then, unlike Estefanía, but the teen now knew how special today was. Even though Maribel hadn't been at the wedding, she liked imagining her parents celebrating their union.
Her aunt had been fifteen years old when her older brother Isaac and his girlfriend Mary married at nineteen. So Estefanía telling Maribel about her parents' wedding over the years helped paint a picture in her head.
The wedding obviously had been very small, and only those closest to them attended. Although in Mary's case, since her parents cut her off after choosing to be with Isaac, none of her family members had gone.
Estefanía told her that Mary was still the happiest she'd ever seen her on her wedding day. The only other times she saw her that happy was when Mary told her she was pregnant and when Maribel was finally born.
The smile on Mary's face when she shared the news with Estefanía had been so bright that she compared it to the sun. Isaac's smile was just as blinding when he learned about Mary's pregnancy. Estefanía missed seeing his smile, she missed seeing both of their smiles.
The twenty-sixth of June had once been a happy day. But with Mary and Isaac gone it became bittersweet. Since their passing, every year Estefanía and Maribel would visit the couple's grave at the cemetery and bring them flowers.
Starting at the age of thirteen, whenever Maribel visited her parents grave, she'd bring her father's acoustic guitar with her to play a few songs. She didn't think doing this was morbid, but instead thought it was a kind gesture for both her mother and father. Thanks to her aunt, Maribel would play songs that her parents liked.
Right now she was sitting with her aunt in front of her parents grave, doing a cover to the song At Last by Etta James. According to her aunt it was the song her parents danced to at their wedding. So of course Maribel got emotional when playing it but she didn't dare stop to wipe the tears on her cheeks. Maribel waited until she finished playing to do that.
Estefanía, hearing her niece sniffle, gently set aside her guitar and let her niece rest her head on her shoulder. "That was very beautiful. I think they would have liked it." She rethought what she said and went to fix it. "I know they would have liked it."
Maribel looked up at her. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Estefanía nodded her head. "Isaac would've been so happy to know his daughter is playing the guitar. When you were a baby he'd play the guitar to put you to sleep when you were being fussy, and that always did the trick." She laughed quietly at the memories she had of a baby Maribel. "Mary tried singing to you but that hardly ever worked. It had to be mi hermano y su guitarra."
Maribel lifted her head to get a better look at her aunt. She noticed that her smile was melancholic.
"I know I've said this before but when I first saw Mary, all those years ago, I assumed she was another typical Kook. But you know what?" Estefanía laughed, shaking her head. "Las apariencias engañan."
Estefanía Mendoza had been wrong to assume Mary was another stuck-up Kook. After getting to know the blonde, Estefanía realized how different Mary was from her original opinion, and the struggles she went through because of her parents. As it turned out Mary's life wasn't as perfect as Estefanía believed it to be.
"Your mom…" Estefanía felt her throat go dry as felt her eyes water. "Your mom was a good person who loved your dad so much." Her voice wavered saying that.
Mary had loved Isaac so much. Estefanía came to the conclusion that Mary loved Isaac more than she loved herself. So before Mary passed away not even a month later after Isaac, Estefanía felt a part of Mary left the exact moment Isaac's heart stopped beating. The way Mary mourned for her husband was proof of that.
Estefanía lost a brother. Maribel lost a father. But Mary? She lost her husband. The person who she gave up everything for.
Estefanía to this day had yet to hear a cry as anguished as Mary's.
The closest cry that sounded like Mary's came from the movie Midsommar. It's the reason why Estefanía couldn't watch the movie again because Dani's crying reminded Estefanía of Mary's own crying. It was scary how similar their cries sounded.
Estefanía still remembered how Mary felt in her arms as she wailed, desperately calling out Isaac's name as she gasped for air in between each sob. It was heart wrenching as it was disturbing and she thanked God that Maribel had been too young to remember her mother's cries. At least she hoped she didn't remember.
If Maribel did remember she certainly never brought it up. For her niece's sake, Estefanía didn't want her to remember. The memory of Mary's cries sometimes kept her up at night, tossing and turning, until she too started to shed tears. Estefanía couldn't imagine what Maribel must have felt at the memory of her mother wretchedly crying out to her husband.
Estefanía didn't want to linger on the sorrow any longer. Although Mary and Isaac's love story ended tragically, before the end it truly was a beautiful relationship built on trust and sacrifice. She often wondered if she'd ever find a significant other like that. Someone who'd love her as much as Mary and Isaac loved each other.
"To this day I've yet to meet a couple who loved each other as strongly as Isaac and Mary did." Estefanía softly said to her niece, a buoyant memory appearing in her head. "Even the way they officially met was romantic. A bit cliche for my taste but romantic nonetheless."
"They met at the Boneyard." Maribel affirmed with a small smile. By now she knew how her parents' love story started.
Isaac and Mary were locals and often went to the Boneyard in their youth. Growing up in the Outer Banks they both knew of each other but neither had ever actually spoken to each other, just caught glimpses. Until one day Isaac finally decided to ask Mary if she wanted to dance with him…and she surprised him, along with everyone around them, when answering with a yes.
As it turned out, that one dance changed everything.
"I thought true love was bullshit because my own parents' marriage wasn't the greatest but Isaac and Mary really proved me wrong." Estefanía's voice lowered as it neared getting emotional to the point where she felt like shedding a few tears. She managed to keep it together as she stared at the couple's grave.
Maribel quietly watched as her aunt rearranged the flowers they brought with them. "You just have to be lucky enough to find it and when you do, you enjoy that love for as long as you can."
Her aunt gave the couple's grave a wistful smile before standing up. She offered Maribel a hand, and her niece took it while using her other hand to pick up her guitar.
Estefanía's words rang in Maribel's head, leaving an impact. The teen couldn't find a proper response to what her aunt said, so instead she looked at her parents grave with a soft expression. She let go of her aunt's hand to give her own hand a kiss before gently touching the top of her parents' headstone. A goodbye for now.
Maribel and Estefanía were walking back to where Estefanía parked her truck, a truck that once belonged to Isaac. Maribel was about to enter the passenger seat after safely putting her guitar in when she saw a familiar person. The teen became perplexed while Estefanía became annoyed at seeing this familiar person.
Andrea Fox was walking to her parents grave, carrying flowers. This wasn't a surprise to either Maribel or Estefanía. They were aware that Andrea visited Mary and Isaac's grave. But as far as they were aware, Andrea was the only Fox to ever visit the grave.
Arthur and Rowena Fox never visited. Mary's parents hadn't even gone to her funeral. According to Estefanía she did see Andrea there but she left as soon as it was over.
At least that showed that Andrea cared about her sister's death. That also explained why she visited the grave to this day. However she always came alone. So it was odd to see another person with Andrea. This unknown person being a man.
"Who's that with Andrea?" Maribel questioned. She didn't recognize the man walking next to Andrea. He was tall with curly brown hair and looked to be Andrea's age. What Maribel noticed right away was his skin lacked the tan from the sun that many in the Outer Banks had. He was on the paler side. So that gave away that he was an out-of-towner.
It made Maribel frown because why would Andrea bring a stranger here? Unless he wasn't a stranger, and he was someone special to Andrea, like a boyfriend. That would have made more sense.
Estefanía had been thinking the same thing as Maribel. "Probably some preppy boyfriend of hers." She answered sharply.
"He's not from around here." Maribel pointed out the obvious, still staring at them. Andrea was now setting the flowers on the grave. She didn't move the flowers Estefanía and her brought but instead made sure her flowers were placed on the other side. The man put a comforting arm around Andrea's shoulder, bringing her closer. That just confirmed to Maribel that he was indeed a special someone to Andrea.
"Does it really matter who he is?" Estefanía airily countered. She didn't hate Andrea like she hated Arthur and Rowena Fox, but that didn't mean she was a fan of the blonde woman.
Maribel averted her brown eyes from Andrea and who she guessed was her boyfriend. She got into the passenger seat. "I guess not." She murmured.
Estefanía didn't say anything else regarding Andrea. The older Mendoza started the tuck and turned on the radio, content to listen to the song that was currently playing. Love Song by Lesley Duncan. The lyrics hit Maribel as strongly as the ocean breeze was hitting her face.
Love is the opening door
Love is what we came here for
No one could offer you more
Do you know what I mean?
Have your eyes really seen?
As much as Maribel wanted to look out the truck's window, she stopped herself from doing so. She thought about what her aunt said and realized she had a point. It didn't really matter who that man was because it wasn't like Andrea ever took an interest in her life or her aunt's. So why should she even care?
Maribel kept telling herself this throughout the drive. The teen thought if she told herself this enough times she'd eventually come to believe it.
She didn't see Andrea looking their way, eyes filled with so much emotion.
Not long after Estefanía and Maribel arrived back home, Kiara sent her a text message. Kiara told Maribel, rather than asking her, that she and the guys were coming over to her house to watch some movies.
Maribel wasn't bothered by the last minute notice that her friends were coming over. It was to be expected. The Pogues knew how bittersweet the twenty-sixth of June was for her.
The group of friends were always together, but on this certain day it had become a sort of tradition for them to do something Maribel would like to lift her spirit up. And Maribel never said no to having a movie marathon.
Movies, like music, brought Maribel so much comfort. There was just something so appealing to Maribel about watching something she liked and escaping reality for a short amount of time.
Since they were having a movie marathon, Maribel gathered whatever snacks she had in the house. Thankfully there was still a box of popcorn that wasn't open yet and a few sodas. Like in the past, whenever they had a movie marathon she expected her friends to bring a few snacks with them, like chips and candy.
And they did.
However, Maribel hadn't expected JJ to bring actual food with him. The blond Pogue brought mac and cheese with him, and not just any ordinary mac and cheese. He brought the fancy kind from where he works.
Estefanía had been as surprised as Maribel. The older woman looked at the fancy dish JJ put on the kitchen table with wide eyes.
"Wow, thanks JJ." Maribel thanked him with a smile. "You didn't have to do this."
JJ tried sounding as casual as possible. "It's not a big deal."
Maribel was about to respond but John B called her over from the living room. Even with Pope and Kiara's help he was having issues with the TV. It wasn't their fault. The TV was old but it had been a gift from Estefanía's best friend Lola Sanz. Maribel knew Lola fairly well. Along with Maribel's friends, Lola also would come over to the Mendoza home at times.
JJ's gaze shifted away from where Maribel was over to Estefanía when she started speaking again.
"You brought the fancy mac and cheese with the five different cheeses? And with the toasty bread crumbs on top?" Estefanía nodded her head at JJ. "Que generoso." She paused, narrowing her eyes a bit. Her voice lowered a bit. "I know this stuff ain't cheap. When my friend Lola's dad used to work there he'd always try to bring back leftovers. But he was only able to because he was a cook. How'd you manage it?"
"Just one of the perks working at a four star place." JJ smoothly replied.
Estefanía raised an eyebrow. "You get perks working as a busboy?"
"I know someone that works in the kitchen who was willing to grant me a favor." JJ answered, shrugging his shoulders. His eyes briefly went over to Maribel. "I thought today called for some fancy mac and cheese.
Estefanía's features softened, smiling. "Hmm, well thank you JJ." She decided to drop the subject. This really was a kind gesture from the blond Pogue. She'd done the same thing after working at The Wreck all these years. Although The Wreck's food wasn't anywhere near as expensive as the food served in Figure Eight.
From the looks of it Maribel appeared much happier than before. Estefanía had JJ, and all of Maribel's other friends, to thank for that. After Estefanía excused herself, JJ went back to where his friends were hanging out in the living room.
JJ reunited with them, taking a seat next to Maribel on the living room couch as she giggled. "Um, guys the reason why the TV isn't working is because it's not plugged in."
"What?" Kiara and John B said at the same time. Pope's laughter caught their attention. John B gave him an unhappy look.
"Did you know this whole time that it was unplugged?"
Pope, now grinning, nodded his head. "Yeah."
John B pushed his shoulder, mumbling something before plugging in the TV. Kiara sat down on the other side of Maribel while Pope and John made themselves comfortable on the smaller lounge chairs facing the TV.
"So who brought the flowers?" Maribel asked, finally seeing the bouquet of carnations on the small coffee table. The carnations were of different colors. Red, yellow, yellow with tints of red, white, and pink.
Kiara, Pope, and John B all turned towards JJ. Maribel's cheeks warmed up when looking at him. Her voice softened. "You brought them?"
"Um…yeah." JJ answered sheepishly before plastering a grin on his face. "Surprise."
Maribel felt like swooning. "That…that's really sweet of you JJ." She picked up the bouquet with a smile. "My dad used to bring my mom carnations. She would put them all over the house." It was one of the few things Maribel remembered from her earlier childhood with her parents.
JJ's blue eyes shined when staring into Maribel's chocolate brown eyes. "I know, you told me."
Maribel smelled the carnations. "A long time ago." She quietly said afterwards.
"I remember things easily." JJ replied, keeping eye contact with her. At least when you say things.
Maribel bit her bottom lip. "You know, I'm starting to wonder how you got this lovely bouquet of colorful carnations." She gave him a playful look. "You called in a favor for this too?"
JJ grinned roguishly. "Don't worry about it."
Maribel knew what that meant, but she didn't find herself wanting to lecture JJ about stealing things. Instead she smelled the carnations again. Their moment between them was interrupted by Pope.
"So….should we get this movie marathon started?"
Maribel and JJ had momentarily forgotten about the rest of their friends, who'd been watching them with amused expressions. Sheepish, Maribel set the bouquet on the coffee table. She picked up the DVDs that were brought.
Only Kiara and Maribel owned a DVD player, so the movies that were brought belonged to Kiara. Kiara's DVD player was much better than Maribel's. But as long as it worked that's all that mattered.
Maribel saw that the movies were all ones she liked. Friday the thirteenth Part III, her favorite of the Friday the Thirteenth series. Also Captain America Winter Soldier a Marvel movie she never got tired of watching. The Lost Boys, a classic eighties vampire movie. She laughed at the last movie she saw in the pile.
"Twilight?"
Pope raised his eyebrows at her from where he was sitting. "We all know how much you like Twilight no matter how much you deny it."
"Deny, deny, deny." JJ sang, winking at Maribel from beside her. She smiled, feeling the warmth on her cheeks returning.
Pope was right though. The movie was a guilty pleasure of hers. She blamed the aesthetic and the soundtrack for being so appealing. Plus she first watched the movie during a sleepover at Kiara's. "The soundtrack is superb." Maribel responded somewhat sheepishly.
"But we also brought The Lost Boys to watch to make up for the lame ass sparkly vampires." JJ excitedly said, pointing to the DVD case.
A mischievous expression appeared on Maribel's face. "Does that mean we get to watch Twilight first?"
"If you want." Kiara let her know with a smile.
JJ gestured to the DVDs in a whimsical way. "You choose the order Mar."
"Fine, how about this…" Maribel cleared her throat choosing an order she thought was fair for everyone. "We start with Captain America Winter Soldier, followed by Friday the thirteenth Part III, then Twilight, and we end movie night with The Lost Boys. Is everyone cool with that?"
Pope and Kiara nodded their heads and John B and JJ cheered. Maribel put in the DVD, and was about to hit play when a feminine voice entering through the front door caught the group's attention.
"Knock knock."
Lola Sanz, Estefanía's best friend, sauntered into the Mendoza home with a bright smile. She saw Maribel and her friends and put a manicured hand to her heart. A manicure hand she'd done herself. She'd argue the manicure was as good as the ones done in Figure Eight. "Aw, the Scooby Gang's here."
Lola Sanz was no stranger to Maribel Mendoza. Estefanía and Lola have been best friends since middle school. Lola was certainly an interesting person. Even with the unfortunate cards Lola was dealt with she remained jaunty. Lola was the most confident person Maribel knew.
Like Estefanía, Lola remained living in the Cut for her own personal reasons. Lola's parents were sadly deported back to Colombia when she was two years old, leaving her behind with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. Lola now lived on her own but she helped support her family.
Lola worked as much as Estefanía but her main job was at a fancy makeup store in Figure Eight. She was good with makeup and stuck to what she was an expert on.
The women in Figure Eight paid a lot of money to get their makeup done by her. Lola tended to gift Estefanía and Maribel with makeup supplies whenever she could thanks to her employee discount.
The Pogues said their hellos to Lola. Afterwards, Maribel processed what she said to them. "That doesn't even make sense." She replied with furrowed eyebrows. "We don't have a talking dog, and we don't even solve mysteries."
"No but you're a group of friends that do shit together." Lola stated to them with a shrug. "That's basically the same thing."
A round of synchronous amused nos were heard from the teens but Lola ignored it. "My favorite Scooby-Doo movie is the one when they're on that island with zombies and cat creatures and the plot twist is that the cat creatures are the real villains." She laughed. "Like shit! I was not expecting that."
"That's Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island." Maribel told her. "I haven't seen that movie in years."
"Me either." Kiara added into the conversation. "Next time I'll add it to the list of movies we need to watch."
"Well I've never seen it, but thanks for spoiling it." Pope complained looking at Lola.
"You're welcome." Lola smiled innocently. "Anyways, what are you guys doing?"
John B was the one to answer. He pointed to the TV. "We're gonna have a movie marathon."
"Oh which movie are you watching first?" Lola asked, sounding curious.
"Captain America Winter Soldier." JJ told her as he munched on some popcorn that was already on the coffee table.
"That movie is full of beautiful people." Lola let out a dreamy sigh. "Then again, that's like all the Marvel movies. But Bucky Barnes?" Her voice lowered. "Felizmente me sentaría en su cara."
Maribel gasped, feeling the warmth on her cheeks travel down to her neck. "Dios mio Lola!" Having JJ next to her after Lola said that made her want to turn on the ceiling fan.
"What? Es muy guapo." Lola replied with a giggle. "You can't fault me for thinking that."
It seemed that Kiara was the only one who somewhat understood what Lola said, and it was enough to have her looking away with a smile. The guys were so confused.
"Fault her for thinking what?" JJ questioned Maribel as he stared at her. "What did she say?"
Maribel was so flustered by now. "Nothing, don't worry about it." She quickly said and then took a large gulp from her soda. She tried focusing on the taste of the Coca-Cola knockoff brand instead of how pretty JJ's blue eyes looked with that confused expression he was giving her.
"Lola, stop with the dirty talk." Estefanía called out to her best friend when she entered the small living room. "They're too young to be hearing that shit. Even in Spanish."
"Girl please." Lola waved her hand. "They're sixteen, not six. And besides you and I heard much worse at their age."
JJ snapped his fingers, "Ah! So it was dirty!" He exclaimed, grinning at Maribel.
Maribel's response was to take another long gulp from her soda. Kiara stifled her laugh from next to her. John B and Pope were kind enough to keep their own amusement under control as well.
"Continue eating popcorn." Estefanía told JJ with a straight face.
"I'm gonna put these flowers in a vase." Maribel hurriedly announced now that she was done with her soda. "I'll be right back." She told her friends as she grabbed the carnations and walked to the kitchen. She heard footsteps behind her and when she turned around she saw that it was her aunt.
"Those are nice flowers." Estefanía lips quirked. "JJ?"
Maribel nodded her head, face flushed. Thankfully she was beginning to cool down now. "JJ." She confirmed, putting the flowers in a vase she got from the cupboard.
"So food and flowers?" Estefanía lightly scoffed. "He's really trying, huh?"
Maribel didn't see it the same way she did. "Of course he's trying." She gently touched the carnations. "That's what a good friend does."
Estefanía hummed. She wanted to laugh so bad at how adorably oblivious her niece was to JJ's feelings. It went both ways though because JJ was as oblivious to Maribel's feelings for him. Not wanting to deal with 'who-likes-who' teenage drama, unless her niece asked for help, Estefanía walked closer to Maribel. Her niece looked her way, setting the vase with the carnations on the kitchen table.
"Listen, do you mind if I head out? Lola invited me over to her place to hangout."
'Hangout with Lola' meant Estefanía was probably going to drink but Maribel didn't judge her for that. Estefanía hardly ever got to have fun with her best friend because of how much she worked and looked out for Maribel. Most of her adult youth time was taken away once becoming her guardian. Sometimes fun was needed, like today for example. Maribel wasn't the only one who needed comfort.
"I don't mind." Maribel assured her aunt. "We're just gonna watch movies here. Plus we don't have to worry about dinner." She smiled, glancing at the mac and cheese on the kitchen table. Just the smell of it made her mouth water.
"There better be some when I get back." Estefanía gave her niece a half serious expression.
"No prometo nada." Maribel replied with a light tone.
Estefanía looked over her shoulder, watching her own best friend interact with Maribel's friend. Lola said something funny. At least she thought it was funny based on the teens' reactions. "You have some really good friends." She informed her niece.
Maribel nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm lucky to have them. Every year, on this day, they are here for me because they know that I…." Maribel paused. She tried her hardest to stop the tears from leaving her eyes. "Los extraño." She admitted to her aunt in a vulnerable tone of voice.
"Lo sé, cariño." Estefanía answered with a tearful smile. "Yo tambien los extraño." She softly said, bringing her into a hug.
June twenty-sixth wasn't exactly the happiest day for Maribel Mendoza anymore.
However, having John B and Pope throw candies at each other while JJ made funny comments scene after scene, with Kiara complaining that he was being annoying, made Maribel smile. She'd always miss her parents, and this sadness she had would never go away, not entirely. But her friends did help make things better.
It was like their presence pushed aside the imaginary stormy clouds to let the sun shine on her.
Maribel would forever be grateful that they were in her life.