"You knew who Papa Hector was?" Rosita asked confused.
Imelda chuckled and sighed dreamily. "Oh I knew him all right" She confirmed. "It was perhaps two years before we met…..I was walking through the center of the town near the plaza to clear my head. Your tios were animals, I needed a break. While I was walking I heard a guitar playing. I followed the sound to the center of the plaza where two young boys were playing music on the steps."
Imelda remembered being shocked when she saw two young men, one about her age and the other a little older. They wore normal dress shirts and pants and raggedy poor excuses for shoes.
"Those two were quite a pair. They seemed like complete opposites, but I suppose that was always an interesting sight for the audience. The older of the two was handsome, had the perfectly coiffed hair, pronounced chin and had a smile and voice that caused the women in the crowd to faint." Imelda said this remembering how amusing and sad it was to see women her age and older lose their senses over a young man. While she understood the appeal, she was not fooled.
"He may have been beautiful on the outside, but there was something about that smile I did not trust. I noticed that baboso wasn't even playing his guitar as much as he was singing. He seemed more in love with the attention than the music. The one who was truly playing was his partner." Imelda took a moment to pause and swooned internally remembering when she first really looked at him.
"While the older boy was large and the perfect picture of masculinity, his partner was everyway the opposite. He was tall, but very skinny. He played with such passion as he kept his eyes only on his guitar. He was focused on keeping with melody flowing as he sang the lyrics. Oh, the way his fingers danced as he played his song. All those people completely looking over him in favor of his phony partner. But he didn't care. He smiled as he grew more confident in his skill and played as if he would never tire" Imelda said dreamily as she started to walk around, almost dancing waving her hands around becoming lost in her memory.
She refused to mention how she found his sharp face far more attractive than his partner's. She didn't mind that he was on the thin side. His nose was a bit large but it complimented his face. His pronounced cheek bones, his small patch of facial hair on his chin, even his large hands that played the guitar with such expertise attracted her. But the two features she absolutely adored were his eyes and his smile. When he would every once in a while look up at the crowd and she'd get a chance to see his eyes she was entranced. When he smiled, she fell to pieces inside. His enthusiasm as he played was contagious she couldn't help but smile and laugh. Whoever this young man was, he was the real star. He was so skinny that the guitar looked far too large for him to hold. She thought it was a damn shame that no one seemed recognize his skill.
"And I assume the handsome older man was de la Cruz and the skinny one was Papa Hector?" Victoria asked.
"Yes. It was a matter of appearances when it came to Ernesto. De la Cruz had all the blessed looks and voice that any man would kill to have, but calling him a musician was an insult to true musicians. He used his guitar more as an accessory than an instrument he devoted his life to playing. I believed a musician was only ever a musician when he played from the heart and performed for the love of the music not the attention of the crowd. Hector was overshadowed by Ernesto but he didn't care. He played with such focus and intensity that could only belong to a true musician." Imelda said proudly holding her hands together to her heart.
Victoria and Rosita smirked at each other and thought the same thing, love at first sight.
"If you saw him then, why didn't you introduce yourself?" Rosita asked. Imelda's face dropped.
"Fate or bad luck you choose" She said annoyed with a hint of sarcasm.
When Ernesto and Hector finished playing and the crowd cheered, Imelda anxiously approached them with nerves and excitement. She didn't know what to say as she got closer but she knew she had to talk to him. And just as she got close…then a big figure blocked her.
"Imelda! My, my aren't you a sight for sour eyes" said an obnoxious voice. Imelda cringed as she recognized that voice. She looked up to meet his eyes and sure enough it was him, Ricardo Vasquez. He was the son of one of the wealthiest families in Santa Cecilia. He made it know before that he was interested in Imelda and showered her with gifts of flowers, jewelry, and hair accessories. He had a long face, a crooked nose and smirk that she desperately wanted to slap off his face. He dressed a fine jacket, dress shirt, matching pants and shined shoes.
"Not now Ricardo, and NOT EVER! How many times must I say this?!" Imelda ranted with her hands on her hips glaring at him. She took a step back from him as he stepped forward.
"Oh sure you say that now but in time you'll get used to the idea of being my wife. Until we are of proper age to marry, I'm happy to wait until you come around." He says arrogantly with a smile and Imelda was itching to take off her boot. Just as she was about to take it off, she hears talking behind Ricardo.
"Great show eh amigo" Said a boisterous voice. Imelda looked over Vasquez's shoulder and saw Ernesto and Hector walking away. Ernesto patted Hector on the back with a big smile with great force. The pat winded Hector and he coughed and looked sheepishly at his partner with a smile.
"It'd be better if a certain someone was more focused on playing he guitar than playing to the crowd" Hector said sarcastically. Ernesto laughed.
Imelda tried to pass by Ricardo to get to Hector but to no avail. He just moved more in front of her trying to catch her attention.
"Is something bothering you Imelda?" Ricardo asked. Imelda wanted to scream.
"Yes YOU ARE! NOW FOR THE LAST TIME LEAVE ME ALONE! IF YOU DON'T LEAVE IN THE NEXT 5 SECONDS I'LL BEAT THE STUPID GRIN ON YOUR FACE!" Imelda yelled in his face. Ricardo seemed to get the message as he stepped back in fear on the angry woman before him.
"Now, now Imelda, there's no need to get excited, let's just take a walk…." Ricardo didn't get to finish his sentence because he got a mouth full of boot that knocked him off his feet. Imelda had it, not only was this man annoying her, but she looked behind him and saw that Hector was gone. She missed him because this idiot got in her way.
"I say again…" Imelda said with a phony smile. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" She yelled and sure enough he ran.
"Well I'd say that's rotten luck" Victoria commented.
Imelda sighed and massaged her forehead with one hand. "Just remembering that pest is giving me a headache." Imelda said.
"I suppose I was also my own worst enemy at the time." Imelda admitted.
"What do you mean?" Rosita asked.
Imelda sighed. "Around that time I was surrounded by men who couldn't take a hint. I hated that my own mother told me I shouldn't be so 'picky' with my men because I'll need one to take care of me. I'd rather have had my legs, arms and neck broken than ever be any those men's little wife." She groaned in annoyance.
Imelda was a woman ahead of her time. She hated that being a woman in her town she was only ever expected to be a wife and mother. She saw the way husbands treated their wives and how some were simply complicit and obedient women to be seen and not heard. She knew that she had no other option but she held high standards for herself. She vowed that no matter what she would not spend the rest of her life with a man simply for convenience. As much as she believed her own vow, she knew that she had to choose between the few men that lived in her town. She looked at them from a practical view and decided which one's would be more likely to be good providers, obey whatever she said, and be a decent father. She failed to see any chance she'd marry for love.
But then she met Hector and never even thought about her stipulations for marriage. She truly was simply enamored with this man and wanted to know more about him.
"I wanted to talk to Hector but, I didn't know what kind of man he was. For all I knew he could have been as much of a pig as those other men I've seen. So, I never made the first move. I wasn't going to give a man the satisfaction of seeing me show interest in him just so he could brag to his friends that I 'threw myself at him'. I had too much pride for that. So…..I did what I thought was the only thing I could do, I waited for him to come to me. Ay yi yi! Was that a mistake!" Imelda whined shaking her head.
Rosita and Victoria chuckled to themselves. Everything seemed to fit together. Hector was too scared to approach her and Imelda was too proud to approach him. No wonder they didn't actually meet each other for awhile.
"For months I'd see him walk passed by me in town and just when I thought he'd grow a spine and talk to me, the cobarde turned tail and left! I couldn't believe the one time I find a man I'm interested in, and he's putting me through this torture because he's too scared to even talk to me." Imelda ranted.
"I could have just given up after the last 30 times he just walked passed me, but I was determined to get that man to look me in the eye and talk. So, I did quite a desperate move…." Imelda said now with an embarrassed look on her face. Rosita and Victoria looked at each other confused.
Imelda told them how in a last attempt to actually confront Hector, she intentionally walked right into Hector as he was walking in town. Luckily he had his head and didn't seem to be trying to look for Imelda with the intent to avoid her. Imelda took this opportunity to walk as fast as she could and made sure to make a big enough impact that he would feel it, and so would she. Sure enough, Hector let out a painfully yelp as she walked right into his chest and they both fell on their butts. Imelda's head was throbbing from the impact of colliding with Hector's bony chest but she knew it would be worth it.
"I'm terribly sorry senorita! I didn't see where I was going I shouldn't have…" Hector's apology died on his lips as he saw who he ran into. He became tongue tied and felt like he was choking. Imelda in all her natural beauty with her long dark hair in a braid over her shoulder wearing a flattering yellow off the shoulder dress, was sitting on the filthy ground rubbing her beautiful head in pain.
Imelda felt since he spoke first now, she could speak. "Oh no it's alright. I was a bit clumsy myself" Imelda lied with a smile trying to sound innocent but even to her she could tell her voice sounded phony.
Hector still didn't speak as he was still either in shock or awe of her. Imelda would have been flattered if he didn't stare for so long. When she got bored of his staring, she decided to take the lead again.
"Um, could you help me up, I'm afraid I may have…..sprained my ankle." Imelda forced out. She felt she could slap herself. How could someone 'sprain their ankle from just bumping into someone'? She hoped he didn't question her request. Fortunately, hearing that she may have been injured was just the thing to snap him out of his daze as he got right up and babbled apologies as he offered her his hand. She smiled at him and took his hand. She was surprised by his strength when he tugged her up so fast she collided with his chest again, but this time she placed her hands on his chest to cushion the impact. She looked into his eyes in wonder and intrigue. He was bone skinny but had an impressive amount of strength. Hector stared at her dreamily.
"Wow, you're even more beautiful up close" He said with no shame. Imelda's face turned red and her heart fluttered non stop. She was no stranger to compliments and didn't care what other men said about her beauty. But the way that Hector gazed at her and truly sounded like he meant every word, she was speechless. When Hector realized what he just said he turned red as well and started to stutter in embarrassment. Imelda couldn't help but find that adorable. He was almost a head taller than her as he looked down at her as if he was in disbelief that she was real. Imelda was used to men leering at her with unclean thoughts. This was a first time that she felt like she was being seen as a something….beautiful, otherworldly, precious.
"You're not so bad yourself" Imelda said boldly with a smirk gently stroking his chest with one hand. She felt his body freeze up and gulped loudly. She laughed to herself and decided to spare the poor guy.
"I'm Imelda" She said with a bright smile. Now that she was so close to this man after trying to attract his attention for so long, she wanted to spend as much time as she could with him at this moment. She feared she'd never get another chance like this if he got scared after this.
"Hector" He managed to hiccup. His voice broke into a high pitch when he introduced himself. He gave a sheepish smile and Imelda noticed he had a gold tooth. Any other woman would see this as ugly, low class, poor. Imelda found it added to his appeal.
Victoria and Rosita stared at Imelda in shock. She actually put on such an act just to talk to Hector.
Imelda sighed dreamily as she remembered how she felt being held in his arms.
"Well now you know" Imelda said indefinitely as she walked back up the stairs to her room.
"Wait! What about after that?! How long did you see each other before he proposed?! Please tell us!" Rosita begged.
"No, no, no I told you how we met and that is all you'll hear today." Imelda said firmly as she walked up the steps of the stairs.
"Can we ask Papa Hector?!" Rosita asked. Imelda's stopped walking up the stairs and looked over her shoulder with a suspicious look.
"You really want to know that badly you would go to Hector?" Imelda asked.
"If you won't tell us then we'll just ask him" Victoria said with a shrug. Imelda paused and appeared to be thinking very hard. She came to a decision.
"All right. You can ask him, but I must be in the room when you do. I want to make sure he doesn't try to make up stories to make himself look good." Imelda said.
"Oh thank you Mama Imelda! Can we do it tomorrow please" Rosita asked happily with a giggle.
"Yes fine! Now let this old woman rest in peace" Imeda complained as she disappeared up the stairs.
Rosita giggled again when she heard exactly what Imelda said. She barely avoided the flying boot that came at head as she ducked in cover.
"THAT WAS NOT SUPPOSE TO BE A JOKE!" Imelda yelled. There was a momentary pause then….
"Now bring back my boot" Imelda demanded.
