Chapter 10: The Salad Days
Coco walked hand in hand with her parents on each side, while in their other arm they each held a two-year old child. Matty's head was tilted on his father's shoulder as the heat of the day made him drowsy, and he listlessly looked at the comings and goings of the people walking past. Leti, in her mother's hold, was wide awake and smiling at everyone she passed, waving jerkily and babbling words that almost sounded like greetings. Their parents, however, were focused on their oldest child at the moment.
"Are you excited, mija?" Héctor asked happily. "You're first day of school! Just think of all the ways your mind will expand and grow! Ay, I'm so proud!"
"Not really." Coco admitted. "You and Mamá already taught me how to read, and I can count all the way to a hundred. That should be enough, right?"
"They'll teach you to count further than a hundred, Coco." Imelda said. "And they'll teach you how to write properly, and the history of the world, and science, geography, Algebra, Latin-"
"Atata! But not all at once! Don't worry Coco." Héctor said, seeing his daughter's eyes widen at the multitude of her studies. "You'll breeze through it nice and slow."
"Will they teach me to dance?" Coco asked hopefully.
"Pssh! You don't need a profesor for that when you've got your Papá!" Héctor boasted as he tapped out a jig, making Coco giggle and causing Matty to whine in annoyance at being jostled. "Perdon, Matty." He said soothingly to his son. Finally they walked up to a large, white-washed building with dozens of children and parents standing around it. "And here we are! Escuela Primaria de Santa Cecilia. Ah, brings back memories, doesn't it Imelda? I wonder if my name is still carved on old Calderón's desk… Oh, look! It's Facundo! Oye, Facundo!"
Facundo looked up to see his neighbors walking towards him and smiled. "Hola Héctor, Imelda, niños." He ruffled Matty's hair and laughed at the glare the little boy gave him, then gave Leti's outstretched hand a shake before bending down to Coco's level. "Are you ready to go to school Coco?"
"Eh." Coco shrugged while wiggling her hand and Facundo laughed again.
"That's quite the opposite of my dear Rosita. She barely slept a wink last night she was so excited, weren't you mija?" He turned to his daughter, a plump little girl with cheeks as pink as the flowers she loved to decorate her hair with. Rosita rushed forward and pulled Coco into a big bear hug.
"Coco! School is going to be great! We'll meet all sorts of new kids and make new friends and sing songs and learn all kinds of things!" Rosita twirled Coco up and off the ground as Héctor's raised his brows, impressed with her strength.
"Whadever you shay, Roshita." Coco mumbled with her face squished against Rosita's. Finally, when her friend released her and she gasped for air, she saw another kid standing next to Facundo and sighed. "Hola, Julio." She greeted with an air of distaste.
There was just something about Julio that rubbed Coco the wrong way. The way he always mumbled his words instead of saying them loud and proud like her parents did, the way he always nervously held his hat in his hands and twirled it around between his fingers, and the fact that he always felt that he had to watch her and Rosita play all the time like he was their guardian or something. What could he protect them from? He was three years older than her and yet he seemed emotionally stunted compared to his sister, not to mention too short for his age. And now that she would be going to school with him, she would see more of him. That did not suit her at all.
"H-hola, Coco." Julio murmured, wincing as Facundo proudly shook his shoulder.
"Now that Rosita and Coco are going to school with you mijo, it is your duty as the eldest to look after them and make sure they don't get into any trouble!" Facundo said cheerfully, not noticing his son shrink at his words and Coco's glare deepen at the thought. Rosita just beamed back, as cheerfully ignorant as her father.
"Si, Papá." Julio sighed, and then jerked at the sound of a bell ringing, relief washing over his face. "That's the school bell! We got to go, vamanos hermanita!" And with that Julio rushed off with his sister in tow, as fast as he could from Coco's stare.
"Adios niños! Study hard!" Facundo called. "And good luck to you as well, Coco." He patted Héctor's shoulder. "Come by later for that couch, eh amigo?"
"We'll see about that, Facundo. It depends on what the final price is." Héctor smirked.
"What are you talking about?! You're the richest man in Santa Cecilia! If anything I should have made it out of gold!" Facundo laughed and tipped his hat to Imelda before heading back home.
It was true though. Héctor had become a very famous and wealthy man thanks to his collaborations with Ernesto. Their debut album had been selling like hotcakes since day one and there had been many more records made since then. Songs like the sorrowful Emociones Fugaces and the fast-tempo Corazones en Llamas were only some of the smash hits that he had written and Ernesto had beautifully sung. Not only had he profited, by Santa Cecilia did as well. Tourists came from all over Mexico to glimpse at the birthplace of the great Ernesto de la Cruz and Héctor Rivera, so businesses had flourished and more inns had popped up to house its increase in visitors.
Imelda's business had also become a smashing success. At first people had come to the shoe shop for curiosity's sake, wondering what kind of shoes the wife of Héctor Rivera could make. But then they kept coming back for more forms of footwear, impressed in the quality of the products. Orders had become so heavy that reservations had to be made from now on and Imelda had been forced to train and hire more people outside her own family to keep up with them. So even if for some reason either Imelda or Héctor would fail in their respective careers, each had the other to fall back on and leave them financially well off.
But unlike Ernesto, who flaunted his wealth in Mexico City with a huge, gated hacienda, a large staff of servants and grand parties for the elite, Héctor and Imelda were modest with their own wealth and were willing to give whenever they could and within reason. They helped finance new businesses, remodeled the crumbling church into a much grander building, and were even in the process of building a new school for the secondary students that was to be graciously named after them. The Riveras were a humble and kind family, and beloved by everyone in town.
"Alright Coco," Imelda said as she shifted Leti in her grasp. "You have your lunch, your book bag, and the flowers for your teacher. You are ready for school! And don't give me that look, young lady. You'll have a good time, I know it!"
"I'll be waiting for you right here after school mija, at three o'clock sharp." Héctor said.
"Okay." Coco sighed, and then hugged her parents' legs tightly. "Adios Mamá y Papá. Te amo"
Héctor and Imelda watched her skip to the door and with a final wave she was in the building. Imelda smiled sadly as her little girl disappeared, then sighed when she heard a sniffle beside her. "I should have known you would cry, idiota."
"I'm not crying!" Héctor growled, but his cover was blown when Matty wiped a tear from his father's face. "This is too hard. These two are never going to school!"
"Ay Dios mio…" Imelda sighed and turned. "Come on. I've got to start preparing lunch and put these two down for a nap." And Imelda had to bite her cheek to keep from smiling as the twins argued over whether to have a nap or not, with Matty being in favor of, while Héctor prattled on about the benefits of home schooling.
While Oscar and Felipe were both so alike it even confused Imelda, Leti and Matty were as different as night and day. Leti took after her father in enthusiasm and a love for life, but upped to a much more extreme level. While Coco had loved to sing and dance during her toddler years, Leti was content to just run around the courtyard of the Rivera complex, screaming at the top of her lungs. Several times concerned neighbors would come rushing in to see what was the cause of her high pitched squealing but eventually they learned that it was just a little girl enjoying herself and to just ignore it.
She also became known as the escape artist of the family, and heaven forbid if you even blinked when you were around her. One second she would be right next to you in the marketplace, the next she would be Mariachi Plaza listening to the local musicians, oblivious to her parents screaming themselves hoarse looking for her. It was after the incident when Facundo had arrived at their house at three in the morning with Leti in hand that Héctor decided to install locks on the tops of all of the doors to prevent another late night escape. But that did little to dampen little Leti. She was a people person at heart and loved to meet and befriend everyone she met.
Matty on the other hand was the quiet one and more observant of the two. Like his father he had learned how to read and write at a very young age, as he had the patience that Leti lacked and was willing to learn from his big sister after she came home from school. For all of her big talk of preferring to have a sister over a brother, Coco had grown a very close bond with Matty, as she liked to consider herself a role model. Matty was a voracious reader and Imelda was more than happy to give him books more advanced for his age, and he would always have a dictionary with him on hand to look up words he didn't understand.
However… There was no nice way of saying that Matty was a medical disaster. He was born with jaundice and colic, making the first few months with him a little unbearable. Then when he was a year old Imelda came in with him in a frantic state as he coughed and gasped for breath, leading to a desperate midnight rush to the hospital where he was treated for the croup. When he was two he slipped on the freshly mopped floor and smacked his head on the hard surface, resulting in a hairline fracture in the skull and another trip to the hospital. When he was three he sat on an ant bed and his laughs at the tickling bugs turned to screams of pain, and back to the hospital he went for the inflammation. Age four: chickenpox. Age five: broken arm. Age six: glasses. And his latest ailment, at age seven, was a tonsillectomy. Needless to say he knew everyone at the hospital by name.
"Probrecito!" Imelda would always cry as she smothered her little boy with kisses.
"You have to stop saying that, Imelda." Héctor said. "He's going to start thinking that's his name."
Despite their differences, Leti and Matty had the most unbreakable bond that only twins could have and were always together. Every time Matty was sick or hurt, Leti would kiss him on the forehead and wished him to feel better. Matty would smile, thank her, and give her a big hug. They were each other's best friend, always playing games together, riding their bicycles all over town, and each could always tell what the other one was thinking. Sometimes it was so uncanny that it creeped Héctor out a little, but Oscar and Felipe understood it perfectly. It was just a twin thing.
Eventually it was time for the little twins to go to school as well, and it was just as hard for Héctor to let his children walk into that building the second time as it was with Coco. Matty excelled more than Leti, but she held her own as well. And it was nice to have some quiet time for a few hours without the children around, with Imelda and her team making shoes and Héctor providing some entertainment as he tested out some new songs.
The sound of the large double doors bursting open and two little children running into the shop interrupted the peace and quiet. "Mamá, Papá, we're home!" Leti cried out while panting, as Matty placed his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.
"Bienvenido a casa!" Imelda said and bent forward to kiss Leti on the forehead before rearing back. "Dios mio! You're both covered in sweat! And the smell!"
"Well, it's a really hot day Mamá," Matty said nervously as he placed his book bag down, "And we both hurried home as fast as we could because we missed you all so much!" Matty smiled at his sister but flinched away at her glare.
"Uh huh." Imelda said with narrowed eyes. "How was school today?"
"Bueno! Muy bueno!" Leti grinned widely. "We did all our assignments on time today so Profesor López didn't give us any homework to do!"
"Really? That's rare." Héctor said.
"Si, well that's what happens when you raise two geniuses. You should be proud Papá!" Matty puffed out his chest and struck a grand pose while Leti sighed and shook her head.
That got Héctor's attention and he placed his guitar to the side before crossing his arms. "Did you two even go to school?"
"Papá!" Leti gasped and placed a hand over her heart. "That hurts my feelings! Matty's too! Our education is very important to us, you know. We would never-"
"I'm home!" Coco announced as she walked into the workshop and spotted her siblings. "There you two are. Profesor López wanted me to give you the schoolwork you missed today. You two better be grateful. I shouldn't have to lug around three sets of homework just because you two decided to play hooky today." And with that she slapped down a stack of papers in front of the twins and walked away with a smirk.
It was almost comical to see the usually loud and exuberant Leti freeze in place with horror while Matty's eyes darted nervously back and forth looking for an escape, but Héctor and Imelda still loomed over their children with stern expressions, waiting for an explanation.
"Uh…" Leti finally came back to life before flashing what she thought was a winning smile. "Okay! Okay, when we said that we were at school all day, just now?… That… That was a lie! And we apologize for doing that!"
"Where were you two all day then?" Imelda asked, a little worried. As Leti stuttered trying to come up with a lie she turned to Matty. "Matty?"
"We were at the creek…" Matty murmured, and cowered back from the explosion.
"At the creek by yourselves?!" Imelda screeched. "That's two miles outside of town!"
"Estan loco?!" Héctor cried out. "You two know you're not allowed outside of town without adult supervision! I cannot believe this! Why in the world would you do this?!" He glared down at his children but they kept their mouths shut. "Fine. You two are grounded and I'm cancelling the performance at the plaza this weekend."
"What?!" the three children in the room screamed out and rushed to their father.
"Héctor…" Imelda said softly trying to reason with him, but Héctor was unmoved.
"That's not fair Papá!"
"We've been practicing for months!"
"This was supposed to be our debut!"
"Why should I be punished too when they are the ones-"
"It's my fault, okay?!" Matty cried out. "I'm the one who wanted to ditch school! I didn't want to see Sergio today! He said… He said he was going to put dead bugs in my hair…" Matty dipped his head in shame, hiding his red face. "I just wanted to go someplace… fun, and… safe."
Héctor sighed and unfolded his arms, placing a hand on top of Matty's head. "Mijo, if you ever need to take a day off from school, talk to us. We'll understand. And if you need me to talk to Sergio's Papá again-"
"No! Don't! It'll just make it worse…" Matty said miserably, but he smiled when Héctor pulled his son in for a hug.
"And what about you, Leti?" Imelda asked as she ran a finger over a bruise on Leti's face. "Why did you skip school?"
"Just wanted to keep him company…" Leti said glumly. "It was bad enough he was sad… Didn't want him to be alone too." And she smiled too when her mother kissed her on the forehead.
Héctor sighed and shook his head. "Well alright then. You both made it back in one piece, so I guess everything turned out fine… And I did put up flyers all around town proclaiming the debut of the Rivera Family Musicians this Saturday, sooo…"
"Yes!" Coco pumped her fists in the air happily and hugged Héctor. "Gracias Papá! I'm gonna go practice my violin right now!" She kissed her mother and then ran to her bedroom.
"Thank you for understanding Papá." Leti hugged Héctor too and grinned. "And thank you for not punishing us!"
"Ooohh ho ho ho…" Héctor chortled as Imelda went to the other side of the room. "I didn't say you weren't going to be punished."
"Eh?" the twins eyes widened and their shoulders drooped.
"You two are on sweeping duty." Imelda said as she produced two child sized brooms to her children.
"W-well…" Leti shrugged as she looked at the broom in her hand. "That's not that bad, just sweeping the workshop. Between the two of us we'll be done in no time!" she said to her brother, who nodded.
"Not just the workshop." Imelda grinned as she hooked her arm around a smirking Héctor's. "But the kitchen too, as well as the living room, the bathroom, all the bedrooms, the courtyard, the street outside. And after that you'll dust and polish all of the furniture, fold the laundry, wash the dishes after supper, finish your homework and then you can take a steaming hot bath!" After she finished the both of them relished in the look of horror on their children's faces and their slumped, defeated postures.
"Have fuuun~." Héctor sang, waving goodbye to the twins as they slowly trudged off to the courtyard. Then he laughed as he held Imelda close. "Can you believe those two? And Leti trying to use one of my lines on me! 'I apologize for that.' It only works when I do it!"
"Héctor, mi Corazon?" Imelda whispered as she stood on her tip-toes to kiss her husband on the cheek. "It has never worked for you."
"Alright, hold it right there everyone and smile! Uno, dos, tres!"
*POOF*
Héctor stood proudly with his wife and children as their picture was taken in front of the gazebo in the middle of Mariachi Plaza, all of them in sparkling purple charro suits with gold trimmings. He held up his prized white guitar with Imelda by his side, Coco posed with her violin in the crook of her neck, Leti had her accordion stretched out into an arch, and Matty simply held his trumpet in one hand with his other hand on his twin sister's shoulder.
Everyone around them applauded after the picture was taken, for they had just experienced a truly thrilling performance from the Rivera family. They had come to the show wary of how good an eleven year old and two seven year olds would sound, preparing for some halting screechy music. What they got was a marvelous spectacle as the children played like seasoned veterans, with special consideration going to Matty, who blew into that trumpet with such gusto that everyone wondered where the air came from in that little body. These musical prodigies truly were the children of the Héctor Rivera!
"Great foto!" Oscar said as he took the negative out of the camera.
"Mamá, you sang so beautifully!" Coco gushed, before scowling. "I just wished we played one of Papá's songs and not Cielito Lindo. It's such an old song!"
"We like that song!" Leti and Matty said defensively in unison.
"I was hoping that bruise on your face would have faded by today, Leti." Imelda said as she rubbed her finger over it.
"I'm sure it won't show up in the foto." Héctor said. "Speaking of… Let's have a foto of just Coco and then a foto of just the twins!"
"A picture of us?" Felipe placed a hand over his heart. "We're touched Héctor!"
"No, the cute talented twins, not the old weird twins!" Héctor sneered.
"Let Leti and Matty go first, I need to fix my hair!" Coco said as she fumbled with the ends of her braids and walked away.
"Okay gemelitos, pose again and smile!" Oscar said as he ducked under the camera curtain and held up the flash lamp. Matty placed his hand on his sister's shoulder and pulled her close as Leti held her accordion in an arch again. Then they grinned widely, sneaking a peek at each other happily before the camera flashed again.