Sleeping Arrangements
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Chapter 27
Pepita's aunt had a scowl on her face when she opened the door. She was obviously not pleased as she stared at her niece, Pepita, and the two strangers who were with her.
Amanda noticed how the woman didn't even hug Pepita. Not exactly the loving type, she thought.
Pepita lowered her eyes when meeting her aunt and then introduced Amanda to her in Spanish, "Tia Frieda, esta es Señora Amanda."
Amanda gave the woman her most welcoming smile, "Buena tardes, Señora Frieda," she respectfully stated, wishing her a good evening.
Señora Frieda gave Amanda a good once over as if she were sizing her up. Then she spoke sharply to Pepita, while occasionally glancing Amanda's way. Pepita pursed her lips, showing her displeasure at what the aunt was saying while Lee looked down and snorted.
Amanda leaned over to Lee and whispered, "What did the aunt say?"
He gave her a sideways look, "You sure you want to know?"
"Originally, I wasn't so sure, but when you put it that way, it's ALL I want to know!"
Lee tried to remain straight-faced, "Señora Frieda told Pepita that you are too thin, which means you must not be a very good cook."
"Oh, really, now?" Amanda looked perturbed, "Wellll, I think the only thing that's THIN about me is my patience!"
"You want me to tell her that?" Lee mischievously asked.
"Don't you dare!" she warned, "I'll just let her continue being the ray of darkness that she is!"
Meanwhile, Pepita was introducing Lee. He greeted the aunt in perfect Spanish. However, when Señora Frieda spoke back to him in Spanish, Lee's welcoming smile turned into a frown.
"Whatever did she say to you?" Amanda wanted to know.
"Uh..." Lee stiffly answered, "Not much. Only that I seem to be a very smart man."
Amanda looked unconvinced, "Really? Because that's sure a lot of Spanish words for such a short sentence! She must have stretched out the word 'smart' into 20 syllables!"
Pepita piped in, "I think Señor Lee hear it wrong!" she corrected, trying to be helpful as she interpreted for Amanda, "Tia Frieda say to Señor Lee that his skin is too pale and his hands look very soft, so he must be a man who has never put in a good day's work in the fields!"
Now it was Amanda's turn to snort.
#
Dinnertime was soon upon them, so after Lee, Amanda and Pepita freshened up, they met the entire clan who were already noisily gathered around the table. Besides Aunt Frieda, they were also introduced to Uncle Matteo and their six energetic kids of various ages and temperaments. It was a very boisterous table as Tia Frieda ladled up the Mexican street corn soup, with everyone hungrily passing the piping hot bowls around.
The loud slurpings from everyone attested to the fact that the soup was very tasty. Then came the Enchiladas de Chile Ajo, served with rice, beans, and cornbread. Amanda couldn't even remember the last time she ate such a huge and delicious meal. Yet, according to Pepita, dinnertime was the simple meal, since lunchtime was their big meal of the day.
As they continued to eat, the din of lively noises could be heard from one end of the table to the other. Everyone seemed to be talking louder than the person next to them with no one listening.
At one point in the dinner, Lee leaned over to Amanda, "Are kids usually this noisy at dinnertime?"
Amanda tilted her ear and responded over the noise with, "Whattttt?"
Lee repeated, "I said...Are kids usually this noisy at dinnertime?"
Amanda nodded and practically shouted, "Better noisy than all quiet, Lee. A house full of silent children would only make a parent suspicious!"
Meanwhile, everyone continued noisily jabbering in Spanish, except for Amanda. Lee made every attempt to translate as best he could for her, but most of the talking was inconsequential anyway. Eventually when the talking volume had lowered somewhat, Amanda began conversing with Pepita while Lee and the father, Matteo, were immersed in a private conversation.
Amanda couldn't help noticing that Lee did not look too happy as his conversation with Matteo continued.
"Lee, what's going on? What did Señor Matteo say to you?" Amanda asked at one point.
Lee's forehead furrowed, "This afternoon when Matteo went into town, some of the newly arrived informed him that they had spotted cartel gang members headed this way."
"Oh my gosh! Do you think we're safe staying here?" Amanda wondered.
"That's what Señor Matteo and I were discussing. I think we're safe for now, but not for long," Lee told her, "I don't doubt that Hector's minions will soon arrive because there are so few villages between here and the mountains. We do not want to endanger Pepita's relatives, so we must leave soon."
"When?" Amanda asked, not liking the idea of traveling back on the road once again.
"By tomorrow night we should be gone. I offered my truck to Matteo for repayment in letting us eat and stay here for the night," Lee told her, "we needed to get rid of it anyway since the truck is too recognizable for us to travel in. Matteo gratefully accepted it and plans to fix it up and paint it to look different before he uses it."
Suddenly, headlight beams from a vehicle flashed through the curtains in front of the house, alerting them of at least one approaching vehicle. The threat of danger was instant. Shushing noises were heard throughout the table as everyone stopped eating and held their breaths, listening.
Matteo rushed over to the window and covertly pushed the curtain slightly aside to peek out. Everyone waited in silence, wondering if the vehicle would be headed to this house. Fortunately, the sounds of the vehicle grew softer, but Matteo didn't look less worried as he spoke in Spanish.
Pepita translated for Amanda, "Tio is telling us that he will go into town tomorrow to see if there is more news of the cartel people and their movements."
As he continued speaking, Amanda could help see that Pepita was obviously bothered by his words, especially when he had mentioned her name several times. She began just playing with her food, when a minute earlier she had been happily indulging in her meal.
"What is Señor Matteo saying now?" a concerned Amanda asked Lee, who had his lips tightly pressed together while listening.
"Matteo is worried," Lee explained, "He regrets telling Pepita's father that he and his wife will care for Pepita. He has enough to worry about without more trouble possibly arriving at his doorstep. It is not safe for her or for them."
It didn't take Amanda long to decide, "That's no problem, Lee. We will gladly take Pepita with us!" she stubbornly declared.
Lee thought he heard wrong, "What?"
Pepita suddenly perked up with this piece of news, "Really? Am I to go with you and Señor Lee?"
Lee looked unsure, "Amanda, we could be putting Pepita at great risk if she continues to travel with us."
"What do you mean? I think she will actually be safer with us!"
Upon hearing Amanda's words, grateful tears surfaced in Pepita's eyes, as she got up and put her arms around Amanda's neck, "Thank you, Señora Amanda! I promise to be no trouble at all!"
Amanda looked lovingly at her, "You are never any trouble, sweetheart," she reassured her, "Señor Lee and I are happy you are coming with us! It just wouldn't be right if we left without you, anyway..."
Lee wanted to argue more about it, but Amanda had a point. If they left Pepita here, he would worry every day about her safety.
So it was settled.
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With eleven people now living in Matteo's home, it took some time for everyone to clear up the dinner dishes and take turns washing up.
At last, everyone was clean and content and now the best time of the day had come. The entire family gathered together around the one portable TV set to watch a dubbed episode of an old "Mission Impossible" series. It was hard to make out what was happening on the tiny black and white screen but the kids and adults were held spellbound, nevertheless, by the intriguing plot lines, various disguises, and the advanced technology of that time.
With the show completed, Matteo and Frieda announced that it was time to sleep since they had to wake up very early to do their chores. Because the living room was often used by everyone, day and night, Frieda offered her weaving loom room to Lee and Amanda for some privacy.
This was a simple one-windowed room Frieda used to weave homemade blankets to sell in the village for extra money. The room consisted mainly of the large weaving loom and a chair. A variety of blankets to be sold were piled on top of a table at another end of the room.
After Lee pushed the large loom up against the wall, it left them some space on the floor to sleep. Meanwhile, Amanda had just finished laying down five blankets on the floor, four to use as a mattress and the other as a top blanket.
Lee stared down at the multi-layered, makeshift bed.
"Do we really need that many blankets to sleep on?" he wondered.
"Why? What's wrong with that?"
"I feel as though I'll be sleeping on a gigantic marshmallow!" Lee told her as he placed his hand on his back, "Ever since a mission I did in Bosnia, I've had a sore back and have preferred sleeping on a hard bed."
"Oh, really? Too bad the iron plank is still at the blacksmith's!" Amanda sarcastically responded back.
"Couldn't you take off a couple of the blankets?" he nicely asked.
"No, I can't," she insisted, "Number one, I enjoy having a little comfort where I can get it, and number two, this is MY bed. You'll have to put down your own blankets yourself!"
Lee looked surprised, "You're kidding, right? There's plenty of room for the two of us on the blankets you've already set up!"
Amanda pointed to the tiny space next to her blankets, "There's room for your blankets over there! I can't believe you thought we would share blankets!"
"Amanda, that's what we've been doing for the past few days!"
"Yes, but that's because we always had a kid-barrier between us!"
Lee tried to reason with her, "Look, be reasonable, Amanda! There's just no need to have that much space between us!"
"Ha! I'm sure you've said line PLENTY of times to PLENTY of women! But I'm not one of them! Besides, what's wrong with having a lot of space between us, anyway?"
"Because!"
"Because, why?"
"Because..." he sputtered, "in the morning, I shouldn't have to assemble a rescue party just to find you!"
His sarcasm almost made her smile, so she fired back, "Having separate blankets does not make the area between us Siberia, Lee!"
They were interrupted when the blanket that was used for a door was roughly pushed aside and Frieda entered. Lee and Amanda instantly became silent and wide-eyed as they watched her move about the room. Frieda wordlessly went to where a lone candle stood on a small table. She reached down and blew the candle out, leaving the room shrouded in darkness. Then she turned and left, never acknowledging them.
They stood awkwardly in darkness. The only light was the moonlight filtering in through the curtains of the window.
"Uh, maybe that's our signal to sleep," Amanda commented.
"Ya think? Her intention was so subtle," Lee sardonically stated.
"Well, I don't know about you, Lee, but maybe Señora Frieda is mad at us."
"Why would she be mad at us?"
"Because...maybe she's upset over our...you know, with the blankets and private room and all, maybe she doesn't like our, uh..."
"...sleeping arrangements?" Lee asked, finishing her sentence.
"Maybe."
"Oh? Didn't I tell you?" Lee lightly asked.
"Tell me what?"
"Turns out that Pepita told her aunt and uncle that we were a married couple."
It was actually easier for Lee to say that phrase than he thought it would be.
Amanda's eyes widened, "She did?"
"She had no choice. Otherwise, we would have to be separated, with one of us having to sleep with Frieda and Matteo."
They both stated in unison: "THAT WOULD BE YOU."
"Anyway, we better get some sleep," Lee decided, and then sounding sorry for himself, added, "Although in this pitch darkness I don't see HOW I'll be able to set up blankets for myself...I mean, I'll be tripping in the dark all over the place...might even accidentally spilling our one and only candle..."
Amanda rolled her eyes, "Oh, for heaven's sake, Lee! I suppose you can share my blankets, but you'll have to sleep on the very, very edge and promise not to roll over or move during the night at ALL!"
"Gee, your generosity is overwhelming, Amanda."
"Just...let me get in first, okay?"
Amanda bent down and felt her way in the darkness until she found the blankets. She carefully laid on top of them and then scooted over as close to her side of the blankets as possible.
Once she settled in, she felt Lee get in beside her, with a maximum of space between them.
They both laid on their backs staring up at the adobe ceiling, each keenly aware of the other's presence.
Finally, Amanda broke the silence, "Uh, Lee, are you sure you're at the very edge of the blankets?"
She thought she heard a sigh before Lee answered.
"Believe me, Amanda, I'm teetering at the edge as we speak!"
"Well, don't fall off the blankets whatever you do...after all, that's a big 1/100th of an inch fall to the floor!"
"Yeah, well, sometimes it takes a little fall to know where you stand!" complained Lee.
Amanda fought a smile, "Goodnight, Lee."
"Yeah, yeah. Night to you, too!"
But neither one could fall asleep as they laid so close yet so far away from one another.
Amanda's heart was beating erratically at being so close to Lee. She felt she was always fighting her feelings for him. Sure, everyone, especially women, could see that he was drop-dead gorgeous. but he was more than that. Beyond his handsome face were eyes brimming with kindness. That was what she noticed first about him at the train station the first time they met and why she wanted to help him. But still, kindness wasn't enough. When she added up everything she knew about him thus far, she doubt he was the man for her.
"Amanda."
In the darkness, Lee called out her name.
"Hmmm?" she inquired.
"You awake?"
"No. I always hum in my sleep."
Lee could almost kick himself for wanting to have a talk right now. He thought having her be by his side day and night would fray his nerves, but instead, he found seeing her all the time comforting and intriguing.
He worked up his nerve, "Amanda, when we were being held captive in the well, you were about to tell me something, but then we got rescued and you never got to tell me what you wanted to say."
"Let's not talk about it now."
She stated it so decisively. Lee was both surprised and embarrassed at the same time.
"Uh, okay, so we won't talk about it, then."
"No, that's not what I meant, Lee," she whispered, "Someone is coming."
Light spilled into the room when the door-blanket was pushed aside again and they heard tiny footsteps sneaking in and then they felt Pepita's tiny body quietly taking up the space between them.
She snuggled down and soon soft breathing could be heard coming from her.
Lee's voice cut through the darkness, "I think our barrier is asleep."
"Yeah, the poor thing must be awfully tired," noted Amanda.
"Oh! It is good you two are awake!" Pepita's excitedly exclaimed, as she suddenly popped up, "I am glad I did not wake you!"
"You didn't, honey," Amanda stated, "but I thought you wanted to sleep with your cousins?"
"Oh, no, they talk so very much!" Pepita insisted, "besides, they cannot tell a good bedtime story!"
"You want a story, now?" Lee groaned.
"I cannot sleep otherwise… did I not tell you that before?"
"Unfortunately, kid, I've met my quota of story-time tellings. But, hey! Not all is lost! I'm sure the Señora has a perfectly good one up her sleeve!"
Even though Pepita could barely make out Amanda's form, she turned with hope in her direction, "Is that so, Señora? Do you have a good story for me?"
Amanda hated to disappoint Pepita. But she wasn't in the mood to make up a story when her mind had been mulling over her feelings for Lee.
After all, what if the attraction was one-sided and he dismissed her feelings?
She didn't think she could concentrate on telling a story, when suddenly an idea formed in her head that would challenge both her mind and heart at the same time.
She would tell Pepita a wonderful bedtime story... AND in that story, she would also let Lee know her feelings for him!
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