CHAPTER THREE – Accommodations
Diego slept on the couch until well into the evening. He woke up with a bit of a crick in his neck from the angle his head cocked over. When he awoke, his leg hurt. Felipe brought him a tray with raw fruits, vegetables and a cold fried chicken leg.
"Felipe, could you go to the cave and get some of the cactus tea? I think there's a bit of the older batch left. It may be a couple weeks old. Smell it for spoilage. It smells bad anyway, but try to evaluate if there's spoilage. That's a totally different smell than the herb and cactus concoction."
Felipe wrinkled his nose at the thought, but went to the cave to bring Diego some cactus tea. While Diego was eating, Alejandro came into the Library.
"How is the leg now, Diego?" Alejandro pulled a chair around to face Diego.
"Felipe's just gone to get me one of my concoctions. It's one of the teas Dr. Hernandez was talking about earlier today. Right now, the leg throbs. It's very painful. It feels like it has its own heartbeat, but out of sync."
"I guess that's to be expected. Everyone I've talked to told me how heroic you were today, Diego." Alejandro looked at his son with pride.
"Was I? Or was I bamboso!" Diego looked at the floor.
"Son, I know it may feel somewhat embarrassing, but I saw you in action today. And I, for one, was very impressed. I am proud of your efforts." Alejandro tried to get the tone of his voice right, but wasn't sure it was. He honestly didn't want to make Diego angry, but it seemed like he and Diego were on different tracks of thinking.
"Of my efforts, Father?" Diego's eyes widened and he set his jaw.
"You did what you thought needed to be done – even though you suffered the consequences for it." Alejandro noticed Diego clenching his teeth. "I'm sorry, Son. I don't seem to be able to find the right words…"
"It's not your fault, Father. I'm on edge, in pain, and generally angry. If you don't mind, can we not talk about this anymore tonight. I'm really tired and my leg hurts a lot. I'm sorry I'm in a poor humor. I tend to get very irritable when I'm in pain, and I'm trying my best to not get any angrier right now. I'm just tired of hearing everyone say how heroic I was today, when I feel like a clumsy caballero who can't get the job done right! A true hero would have been graceful, and would have gotten out of the way without getting hurt!" Diego seethed inside, some from anger, some from pain.
"All right, son, let's not talk about it anymore. I'm sorry to upset you. I'll let you get back to your – uh – dinner." Alejandro knew a strategic retreat was in order before Diego lost his temper entirely. I can't understand why I can't get through to him, Alejandro thought. I can't understand his anger. I just hope he is able to let it go and move forward. It won't do him any good to talk more right now. It will be better to talk about it when he's calmed down. I still have unanswered questions about today…Clumsy?…Until the end, he was so graceful…so deft, so agile…kind of like…hmmmm. Alejandro thought.
Later, Felipe and Alejandro helped Diego to his room and get into bed. Some alterations to clothing and footwear would have to be done soon in order to accommodate the leg. Several possibilities were discussed and Diego decided to work on it first thing in the morning.
Z
The next morning, Felipe found Diego standing by the edge of his bed on one foot, putting on his robe. He helped Diego get into the dining room so he could eat breakfast. The doctor agreed he could sit for short periods at the dining table, if his leg was propped up. After breakfast, Diego's head jerked up as if a thought hit him like a ton of bricks.
"Felipe, take me back to my room! I forgot! You and I have to get my temporary wardrobe ready."
Felipe looked questioningly. He signed, "clothes?"
"Well I can't very well go to the pueblo or sit in the Library in my nightshirt and robe, can I? Once you get those crutches ready, I'll be able to work at the newspaper, but I have to wear something. And if people keep come to visit me or if I want to go outside, I've got to be decently dressed, don't I?"
Felipe nodded, then grinned and signed a joke. "What's decent?"
"Oh you! That's what we're going to determine. Now help me get to my room, Amigo." Diego acted like he would have boxed Felipe's ears if he had been close enough.
Z
Once in his room, Diego gave instructions as he sat on the bed, with his foot propped up on a chair on top of about four pillows that Felipe had brought over from the other side of the room.
"Felipe, could you go to the bottom drawer of the bureau? I think you'll find some of my old work pants, made similar to yours – I wore them around the rancho before I went to Madrid. I hope they still fit – although I will be surprised if they do. And bring me the oldest of my caballero pants. We'll have to split the sides up at least to the knee so I can get them on."
Felipe found two pair, one brown, one white. "Bring them over, will you? And bring over a pair of my caballero pants, so I can 'measure' the waist. That's the important thing. I have probably filled out some in the last few years, but the work pants were made to fit loose. If they don't fit, I may have to ask Father or some of the vaqueros for a couple pair of old pants they don't mind giving to me – or letting me borrow them."
Just as he was holding up one old pair waist-to-waist with a caballero pair, Alejandro entered. He'd been to check the stables and had returned – wanting to check on Diego, finding out if he needed anything. "Oh, here you are, Diego!" He saw the two pairs of old work pants spread out on the bed. "What are you up to, son?"
"Hola, Father. I'm assembling my temporary wardrobe. I was hoping my old work pants would still fit me. I can't wear my regular trousers; they won't fit over the splint wraps. I'd rather not have to split the outside seam of too many pairs of trousers, just to look presentable."
Diego frowned. The caballero pants were a good two inches larger than the older work pants. Diego knew that meant he had filled out by about four inches. He knew he'd grown a lot in height while in Spain, and he knew he had become much more muscular. He'd gone from being a slender, thin young man to a strapping full-grown man, yet still lean.
"Well, son, it doesn't look like those old work pants are going to fit. What will you do?" Alejandro stepped to the bed so he could take a closer look at the work pants. He picked up a pair and held it up, then shook his head.
"Father, do you have any old work trousers you don't want any more – you know – the baggy kind – that the waist is somewhat adjustable? I hate to buy new 'work' pants until after my leg is healed. I'm going to split the leg seam to a bit above the knee of a couple of my older dress pants – just to have something to wear to the pueblo when I work on the newspaper."
"Let me check with some of the vaqueros that are closer to your size. I may be able to scrounge up a couple of pair of 'baggy' work pants for you. Where would you wear them?"
"Around here – especially while painting or sitting outside. Actually, I'd probably wear them all the time, unless I knew company was coming. Gracias, Father. That will help a lot."
"It seems you're beginning to accept this temporary inconvenience and are willing to work with it." Alejandro gazed at his son with an expression of satisfaction.
"I'm being practical, Father. I'm still upset it happened, but what can I do? For now, I guess, I'll split the seam of my brown caballero pants and wear them today. Felipe, can you help me with that?" Diego picked up the trousers.
Felipe nodded, found a pair of scissors, and cut up the outside side seam about eighteen inches from the bottom of the trousers, to start. He helped Diego got out of his robe, nightshirt, long johns, and bed slippers. Felipe handed him a white caballero ruffled shirt, and Diego set about putting that on. Alejandro left to check with his own closet, and with his vaqueros – to see if he could scrounge up some trousers for Diego to wear that were comfortable.
Diego had to try the split-seam trousers on a couple of times before they knew how far up to cut the seam. Once the right trouser leg was split up a few inches above the knee, Diego found the trousers easier to slip on over the splints and wraps. "Well, this will do for now. Gracias Felipe. What would I do without you, Amigo?"
Felipe looked at Diego's exposed leg from his ankle to his lower thigh from the side seam split – although the lower leg below the knee was wrapped in splints. He pointed and laughed with a 'shocked' expression. "Decent?" Felipe signed.
Diego looked down and saw what Felipe was looking at. "Oh! Maybe we can make them tie from thigh to the knee – from the top of the split once I have the trousers on, yet keep it loose enough to get them on. So I'll look 'decent!' " Felipe nodded vigorously and grinned. Diego grinned back and threw one of the pillows on the bed at Felipe.
A short time later, Alejandro came back with three pairs of baggy work pants two brown, one white – donated by vaqueros to help their young patron. He left the pants on the bed.
"I need to go check in with Juan and our horses. I'll be back a little later – after you've – uh – settled on your new wardrobe choices." Alejandro smirked, turned as he left, and shook his head in wonderment.
Diego held up the baggy pants and said, "These look like they will fit well." With Felipe's help, Diego removed his split-seam brown pants, and put on the white pair. They easily fit over and covered up the splits and wrappings, and kept Diego's leg covered – and they were loose-fitting – much more comfortable. They didn't tie the ankle strings because that would be too tight.
Diego spoke what he had given thought to. "You know, Felipe, if worst came to worst, we could take a pair of Zorro's black 'easy' pants, but that would be a last resort, and we'd have to make up some sort of story about Zorro donating a pair of his trousers…and – that they just happened to fit. But – I don't think it will come to that, thank goodness." Diego was satisfied about the trousers and the 'donation' or temporary 'lending' of baggier trousers to Diego.
Felipe motioned a "Z" with a question mark. Diego sighed. "Yes, I know. Until I can sit a horse, Zorro will not be riding. Thankfully, the alcalde is gone for a while, and things have been quiet. I don't know what I'll do if Zorro is 'needed' before the leg is healed."
The next challenge was his right foot. It was swollen and didn't fit his boot, unless the boot would be cut off below the ankle. Dr. Hernandez had cut the boot off the previous day when working with the leg. The weather was warm enough now, that around the house, Diego could wear sandals. In the pueblo, he thought of wearing one boot and one sandal – or both sandals. He knew it looked funny, but he didn't want to buy just one boot at a larger size – since it was only temporary. But he would wear thin socks with his sandals so people didn't have to see his bare feet. Or smell them, he thought, chuckling to himself. Another option he thought of, if the need arose – was lace-up boots, like his 'lace-up' split seam trouser leg.
The third challenge of the day – crutches. After getting settled in the Library, Diego sent Felipe out looking for suitable tree branches to make crutches.
Diego thought about all this, and shook his head. So much I've had to do to accommodate this thing…although it is only temporary… trousers, shoes, crutches – all have to be adjusted so I could function and look like a reasonably healthy adult – even if I am temporarily 'crippled.'
TBC