An evening social mixer is being held at Maritza's school some days later. It's the perfect opportunity for Blanca to make some friends. She wears makeup and her best outfit, a purple blouse and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, so she won't look too poor. She's shy and just wants to stay in the background and stuff her face with the treats they provide.
Two black women come up to her and she starts feeling socially awkward and out of place. The shorter woman is wearing a pink dress and heels, while the taller one is wearing black dress pants, flats, and a pretty blue top. All Blanca has for shoes are flip flops and sneakers, and she chose the flip flops. She'd sold her heels for that fancy blouse.
"Hi, I don't think I've seen you at one of these before. I'm Layla Watson, and this is my friend, Lillian Hayes. Our husbands are chatting with the other men here."
"Oh, hi...I'm Blanca Flores. It's nice to meet you." They shake hands with Blanca.
"How long you been living here?" Layla wants to know.
"Not long, just a bit over a week," Blanca admits.
"How do you like Queens?" Lillian asks.
"It's pretty cool so far. Tough finding a job, though...luckily, Karla Córdova's helping me with that!"
"Oh that's good, she's a sweet lady. So, what's been your favorite activity here so far?" Layla wonders out loud.
"Just being with my girls. I have two kids, Maritza, who's sixteen, and Raiza, who's four."
"Sorry to butt in, but I have three kids as well, but they're all tweens and teens. One of them, Marisol, is friends with your daughter Maritza...mine is two years younger than yours. Marco and Pedro are eleven, almost twelve. I'm Theresa Gonzales...and you are?"
"Blanca Flores. Oh...Maritza never mentioned a Marisol."
"Probably because my daughter, for some reason or another, wants to be called Flaca by her friends," Theresa informs Blanca.
Blanca smiles at her and nods in understanding. "Hm, okay!"
"I've got four of 'em! One's a grown child, almost nineteen years old and can't seem to get her life together, already got a two year old..." Lillian sighs and shakes her head. "Making me take care of little Monica, too while she goes out and parties every night! Then there's Joy, twenty-five, successful...so are my two boys, Thomas, twenty-seven and Bryan, twenty-three."
Blanca's stuck on the fact that Lillian's youngest daughter had a child at sixteen, and she wonders what the circumstances are behind that. She hopes it was nothing but stupid consenting teenagers-around the same age-fooling around and forgetting a condom and birth control. "Oh, I see." I hope you kept her away from that boy forever.
"I've just got Janae, she's thirteen," Layla chimes in.
I hope she never gets a boyfriend until she's old enough to know better who to pick, Blanca wants to say, but she keeps her mouth shut and nods with a polite grin.
Karla pats her stomach happily as she comes over to them. "Hey, ladies!" She wraps an arm around Blanca and stays by her side while exchanging one-armed hugs with the others. Blanca feels so much more comfortable now.
"Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?" Lillian asks.
"Yeah, a boy! We were having trouble deciding on names, but we picked one...Abel!" Karla answers brightly.
"Aww," Layla and Lillian respond in unison while Blanca just grins. She's happy she already knows. She loves being in the loop, just as she should've been in high school.
They introduce Blanca to their husbands. Ramón, Lucas, and Bartholomew are polite and don't seem at all creepy-yet. After a few minutes of meaningless chitchat, she finds out Layla's daughter Janae goes to the school, too.
Blanca notices that neither of the African American women asked where or who her husband is. Maybe she just has that look that tells everyone she's single or not straight. If people do ask, she'll simply explain that he died. She'll use the word passed away so she doesn't sound uncaring.
"Blanca?"
"Yeah?" She has to look around to see who's just spoken. It's Lillian.
"You lost us for a second there. We were trying to ask you if you wanted to go on a group date with us. It would be all of us and our husbands. Your man can come, too."
Oh, great...
"Um, I don't really have a man. He passed away and I'm not into romance." Blanca frowns.
Karla rolls her eyes. "Like I tried to tell you..."
"My gosh, I'm so sorry! You can still come with us as a seventh wheel..." Layla glances at her guiltily.
"It's okay, I don't mind."
"Hey, I don't have a man either! Welcome to the single moms club, I guess." Theresa shrugs at Blanca. "Though, I'm sorry for your loss."
"Thank you. I'm glad I'm not the only one. A girls night out would be fine, though."
"Cool, when are you free? Next Friday night? We usually go shopping," Lillian lets her know.
"Yeah, I can go then. Thanks for inviting me," Blanca replies.
"No problem! We love our new friends!" Theresa says excitedly.
"I enjoyed reconnecting with you, lady!" Karla tells Blanca, and the latter beams.
"Me too. Arizona is history!" Blanca says too loudly. "Here, it's more interesting."
Hours later, Blanca takes the train home and slips in the doorway. She expects her children to be sleeping, but they're conversing back and forth quietly. She strains her ears so she can eavesdrop. She can't believe what she's hearing.
"...and that's how the fairies got away! They realized they just could not vanquish that evil demon because he and the fairy queen were so bound to each other. Even though he hurt her, their marriage was too strong to be broken. With Queen Janie's ability to move things with her mind-"
"Like Matilda?"
"Yes, like Matilda. So with that special power, it grew stronger over the years, and she could now move him far away out the door and then they all had time to escape the dungeon. Now, you know he has no idea about their magical powers, so they had an advantage over him. The younger fairy princess Justina could freeze him if needed."
"Why couldn't she do that before?"
"She could, but time didn't stop for too long, only a few seconds. Then as the years went by, the time she was able to freeze grew longer and longer. Her baby sister Julie, could see the future and past, so she helped them to realize all their mistakes and if he was close to finding them or not. That's how we-I mean, they, ended up in the magical land of Queens. It was a happily ever after."
"What happened after that?"
Blanca chooses to tiptoe into the room at that exact moment. The girls jump slightly and they stare at her with wide eyes, like deer caught in headlights.
"Girls, what are we talking about?"
"It's nothing," Maritza grumbles quickly. "Raiza, time for bed, come on. How was the social mixer, Mom?"
"It was...fine. I met some nice women, bonded with Karla some more...er, Señora Córdova to you. Can we just talk? You and I?"
"About what?"
Blanca takes a seat next to Maritza on the bed. "That story you were telling Raiza."
"Oh, that." Maritza chuckles nervously. "That's a secret. We can't tell you."
"Yes you can, because I'm your mother, I've heard half of it, and I won't judge you wrongly for it."
Maritza sighs. "Okay, fine. When I was little, I made up stories in my head. You and I could fly away from Dean. When Raiza was born, I gave us three magical powers, like in Charmed. We have red spots on our hands that only we can see that shows that we have those powers. I fantasized that I was a time freezer, you were telekenetic, and Raiza was clairvoyant. I changed our names to keep it as an inside thing between Raiza and myself. Sometimes I called us good witches and other times I called us fairy princesses. We were vampires on Halloween and we bit Dean and drained him. He was the demon in all of my supernatural stories about us. It was how we coped, and I didn't want to tell you because I knew you would be upset."
Blanca removes her hand from her open mouth. She feels a lump in her throat and hugs her oldest baby. "No estoy enojada..."
I'm not upset...
"You're about to cry. I'm so sorry, Mami..."
"No, no, I'm so happy that you helped Raiza and yourself stay strong through all we've been through. I was just surprised, although, I should have expected something like this to happen. Entonces, ¿moví las cosas con mi mente?" Blanca sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Did I ever make a chandelier fall on him?"
So, I moved things with my mind?
Maritza giggles. "You developed exploding powers and caused him to slam into walls and everything knocked him to the ground. When I was little, I froze him and you moved him into a manhole. When he realized what we did, he yelled and cried like a baby! It was so hilarious! His reactions to his downfalls made me feel a lot better about the situation."
Blanca chuckles along with Maritza. "Softens the harsh reality, huh?"
"Yes. I loved escaping the world! It's so fun to finally have someone else to share my stories with. Thanks for understanding, Mom."
"It's not a problem at all. I love how sweet you are with your sister. It's those moments that I realize you two are bonded." Blanca gives Maritza's nose a light tap.
"It's not complete without you."
Blanca's heart warms and she pats Maritza's cheek. "You're a doll. So are you, little one!" She pulls Raiza in her arms and tickles her belly. Raiza squeals happily and kicks her legs. Maritza pushes them both back down on the bed and they roll around and poke each other until they're all tired out. They're having fun with each other and knowing about the stories makes Blanca feel a lot closer to her daughters.
"So, Blanca, I was wondering..." Diablo trails off.
"¿Qué?"
"I really love being your friend. It's been amazing...talking with you...cracking up...sharing stories. I dunno, you'll think I'm stupid after saying this...but how would you feel if we took our relationship to the next level?"
"Diablo, what are you getting at?"
"Quería invitarte a una cita."
I wanted to ask you out on a date.
Blanca raises her eyebrows. "I thought all the times we've hung out...have been dates."
"I've had the urge to kiss you ever since I laid my eyes on your beautiful face. I need to take you somewhere special...with soft music, candles, roses, and drinks." His hands close around hers and he pulls her into his arms. He lifts her chin, and her eyes leave the floor. They gaze into each other's eyes and he begins to slow dance with her. As their faces inch closer and closer together, Blanca's heart beats like a drum. Her lips are ready to touch his, and she can almost feel the stubble on his chin as it brushes her cheek. Their mouths are nearly aligned now.
This is always how the dream ends. She'd wake up, panting heavily, and whispering Diablo's name under her breath. It's better and less scary to have it now in the presence of her children, than while she'd been doing anything sexual with Dean. Maritza and Raiza don't ask questions, since they probably assume it's another fantasy. Blanca has explained to them before that she would space out during negative encounters with her ex husband, and even though times are better than before, she will never stop dreaming of her handsome, dark-haired angel. Raiza's too young to understand, but Maritza identifies with her mother. The night before, she'd confided in Blanca that she, too, immerses herself into many a dream world.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Ugh..." Blanca sighs as she rolls over and comes face to face with her alarm clock. The digital red numbers read that it's five in the morning. Tiredly, she slaps the alarm clock so many times that it falls off the nightstand and crashes to the floor.
Beep. Bee-
"Now you're dead and can't wake me up anymore, you stupid idiot-thing," she says under her breath while yawning and stumbling out of bed.
"What are you down about, sport?" Diablo asks Laronne when he sees his son sitting on his bed. Laronne looks so dejected.
"I hate school! Nobody likes third graders...the fifth graders are so nasty. Even the girls don't like me...they laugh at me...there's pretty girls, and they laugh at me!"
"Hey, son, listen to me. Kids are cruel."
He scoffs. "Yeah, that's pretty obvious."
"Don't pay any attention to them," Diablo advises the young boy. "Find someone who needs you. Maybe there's a nice person sitting all by themselves at lunch."
"If I sit with them, I look like a loser."
"Well, then you'll be two losers together, but neither of you will be loners. I wasn't that popular back in high school...until the biggest jerk there finally graduated. Idiot couldn't even pass one single class...too fixated on hurting the most darling girl there ever was."
Diablo would always tell Laronne about Blanca. Of course, he mentions Keighlyn, since that was Laronne's birth mother, but Blanca was the first girl he fell for. He found Blanca's soul in Keighlyn, but they aren't the same person. It'd been Blanca from the very beginning.
Laronne sighs. "What happened to you, Daddy?"
The memory of the first time he'd been physically attacked will be in his brain forever.
Dean storms up to Diablo. He grabs the younger boy by his jacket collar and slams him against the wall.
"You fucking asshole!" Diablo spits in his face.
"Me? I'm not the one trying to take your girlfriend away from you!"
"What?"
"Asking my little bitch what happened to her. Smooth move, Zuniga, very smooth. I'll give you a hint. She's not into dorks, you stupid bastard."
"Don't call her that!" Diablo defends her.
"I can call her whatever I want."
"I'm not even into Blanca," Diablo lies. "I love my girlfriend. Blanca is nice and all, but cheating isn't my thing."
"It's your unlucky day. The boys and I want to hit something. Since we can't hit girls, we'll hit you." Dean drives his fist into Diablo's mouth and kicks him in the balls. Carlos gives Diablo a wedgie and opens the door to the men's bathroom. They lift him up and force him into a urinal. The boys guffaw when he throws up from the blows to his stomach.
"All right, he's had enough!" Dean yells. "Let's go before he calls the cops! Oh wait, our dads are cops, we don't need to worry about it!"
The bullying has gotten worse for Diablo after lunch. His mom has briefly told him about Blanca needing help in school, and he can only guess that Blanca has spoken to Dean about this. It isn't her fault, though. She doesn't know her boyfriend is an abusive monster. He looks at himself in the mirror and groans.
"Fuck...another split lip and bruised jaw..."
He then realizes he's grasping the edge of the urinal. He lets go and falls to the ground, holding his groin and his stomach. He's used to violence, but it doesn't mean he likes it.
He picks himself up off the ground and walks home sluggishly.
"They were brutal! I hope those fuckers are in jail!" Laronne comments strongly.
"Hey, buddy, watch your language...but yeah, I hope so too, for Blanca's sake."
Their first weekend in Queens is fun, except for Blanca burning her skin. Their second week at school brings on new changes and challenges.
Maritza walks into the dark room and hears her most hated teacher lecturing about some dead chemist while pointing to a picture of him that's being shown on an overhead projector. The students look up at her and some of them scowl at her, like she'd committed murder.
"Maritza, you're late," her science teacher snaps. She rolls her eyes inwardly. "Where have you been?"
"I was helping my sister in her class. She's having a tough time adjusting to the change of moving to Queens."
"No excuses! Sit down!" Ms. Bell demands as she takes her seat. "You're getting a detention next time you're tardy."
Maritza bites her lip as she stares down at her desk. The teacher's annoying voice is going in one ear and out the other. She feels her phone vibrate in her pocket, so she takes it out quietly, dims the screen to eliminate the brightness, and scans her texts from Flaca, Daisy, and Elena.
Let's start planning our weekend! How about we do a sleepover? xoxo, Flaca
Ma said Bush is at it again...she's protesting, and you can sign a petition to stop them from deporting immigrants, because no human being is illegal...and help out our people because we need to stop ICE. Here's the links. Haha we're taking turns texting you this...love Elena and Daisy P.S. We think Darius likes you. He wants to ask for your number, is that okay?
Maritza smiles and taps the link. She puts in her information where it says to, and does the same thing for the other petition. She tells the girls, done! To Flaca, she texts her that she would love a sleepover, but will need to ask her mami first.
Her phone buzzes again. What about Darius?
Oh yeah, sorry, forgot...I'll give him my number if he wants it so bad. It'd be nice to have a decent guy friend...
"Miss Flores, I'm going to have to confiscate this."
Maritza jumps at the loud voice and quickly presses the send button. Begrudgingly, she drops her phone into the teacher's hand and Ms. Bell walks back to the board.
"You should be taking notes, not messaging your friends." She shoves Maritza's phone into her pocket and continues talking. Her voice drones on and on. Maritza takes out a piece of paper and pencil, and begins to write.
"I fucking hate this class," she mumbles under her breath. She tries to concentrate, but she just can't. As the woman is rambling, her words blend into one another until they sound like a blur. Maritza's eyes start to droop and she rests her forehead on her folded arms. Besides being bored, she's so tired all the time, because she's either comforting her baby sister or talking to her mother through the night. She wishes Blanca could homeschool her and Raiza, but then, she never would have made friends.
"Hola, sweetie," a man's voice calls out through the Flores apartment. It's a Spanish accent Maritza has never heard before. She sees her mother kiss someone, but she can't make out who the person is.
"Hola, mi amor. Maritza! Raiza! Papá's home from work!"
"Daddy, Daddy!" Raiza shouts and runs past Maritza. She's confused and she feels herself get hugged. Blanca is brave enough to speak Spanish to this man, too. What?!
"¿Papá?" Maritza asks.
"There's nobody here," Raiza says angrily and stomps her foot.
"Then who did Ma kiss? Who was speaking?" Maritza asks, throughly perplexed now. "Someone put their arms around me."
"That was my husband and your father," Blanca tells them. "You two don't know him yet...but I do."
"Maritza?"
Maritza wakes up to a loud bang. She sits up in her seat and tries to catch her breath. Ms. Bell stares at her coldly. "Why were you falling asleep in my class?"
"It's boring," she says flatly. "I...I need to leave." She begins to get up, but the teacher forces her back down into her seat.
"You're staying here and you're paying attention."
"Fuck this!" she exclaims.
"Excuse me?"
"Fuck this!" she repeats. "Being in school is so stupid and we should be out in the real world, helping those who need it, for example, innocent people are being forced back to their home country right now, as we speak...and there's families being ripped apart, children who are trapped in small cages or sex trafficking in general...they belong with those who love them, that's their natural environment! Also...all these missing girls..."
She's never talked to Blanca about this, but she and her friends are sometimes discussing the horribly upsetting issue. Many signs are posted on brick walls and telephone poles in the city and all around the boroughs, pretty much, about young women who have disappeared without a trace and desperate loved ones offering all sorts of money for them to be found. The names are endless and they're all between ages eighteen and thirty-five. Nicole Nichols. Shani Abboud. Brook Soso. Tiffany Doggett. Michelle Carreras. It's so sad.
Most of the class is laughing at her passionate, rage-filled speech by now. She hears their comments.
"Stupid idiot!"
"Moron!"
"She's so disrespectful!"
"She is a disgrace to society!"
"Shame on her."
"Go back to Mexico!"
Maritza shoots her middle finger up at the white supremacist. "Ay, callate la boca, Nazi puta, I ain't even from there!"
"Then speak English and go clean a house or something!"
Ignoring the Skinhead bitch, Maritza continues. "Families with abusive parents...husbands who hit their wives...these innocent human beings...these helpless women and children and men, running from torture or poverty, seeking asylum or a better life here in America...they are so much more important than a shitload of long gone scientists!" Maritza shouts over the students.
The teacher glares at her. "Miss Flores-"
"No, just shut up and let me have my freedom to speak! I'm expressing my feelings, isn't that what chemistry is all about? To see how two people connect and wear their hearts on their sleeves?"
"You don't even care about this course, why are you taking it?" a nosy girl asks her.
"I've got pictures that the students have been taking...of you on your phone."
"What are you, the goddamn paparazzi?" Maritza yells at her fellow classmates.
"They are so frustrated with you. You are distracting the class and making a fool out of yourself! I'll call your mother if you don't stop this immediately!"
"Good, see me giving any fucks?" She continues her rant. "You don't know how lucky you are! You stupid assholes and your white and Asian privileged lives!" She knows she has everyone's attention by now. "You think it's okay to violate my privacy like that? You don't know anything about me, so stay the fuck out of my life."
"That's it!" Ms. Bell exclaims. She goes to the big black telephone on her desk and starts dialing. Maritza's phone rings, and she takes it out of her pocket. "Why is the school calling you?"
"I could have told you, I accidentally took my mami's phone...our home phone is still being connected...it's a long process."
Maritza thinks she catches a look of sympathy on her teacher's face, but it's just her imagination. "No excuses!" Ms. Bell barks. "Come to my office with your mother after school at three on the nose! Do you understand me?"
"I...I don't know where she is...she's out looking for jobs, and she's not available by cell," Maritza admits quietly. "I had no idea where mine was, and I thought I found it, but it was hers." Her face is burning with humiliation, and she wants to break down and cry right then and there. Why can't Señora Córdova or Mrs. Ford teach science instead? They'd be so much more understanding. "Give me my mom's phone," she says in a stronger voice, willing it not to crack. "She'll get here when she gets here...but she would never leave me stranded...and I promise, we can talk to you as soon as we can."
"When class is over, you'll get it back. I'm going to continue the lesson."
Maritza sniffles. "I'm not staying here. I need air."
She storms out of the room quickly, and a few students give her a high five. Someone comments, "You showed those idiots!" and she grins upon hearing that. Under her smile, though, she's sobbing. She runs to the first patch of shade she sees, and she sits there. She wraps her arms around her knees and buries her face in between them. After a few shaky breaths, she starts crying, and she feels like the tears and body convulsions will never stop.
Thanks for reading and reviewing, MsSchneeheide, Juliette45, and VeraRose19!