Chapter 13: Feliz Cumpleaños!
"Uh… Imelda?" Felipe said as he slowly backed away from a sight outside. "The cakes for the gemelitos have arrived…"
"Oh, at last!" Imelda sighed in relief as she wiped her hands and made her way throughout the dozens of people that were currently bustling about in her house.
It was the little twins' eighth birthday today, and instead of the quiet family affairs they usually had Héctor decided that the whole town should be invited to celebrate. Part of this was because of the depression. It had broken their hearts to see so many families in their town suffer and go hungry, so they decided to make this party a grand feast for all to enjoy. The Rivera complex was currently ground zero for all of the food to be accumulated from the various vendors they had employed, which would then be moved to Mariachi Plaza where the party would take place. All that they needed now were the cakes, which had finally made it. "It's about time. How long does it take for the bakery to make two simple caaaaa-….."
Héctor stood triumphantly in the center of the courtyard as two massive five tier cakes were carted through the doors. One was in Leti's favorite color of lilac, while the other was Matty's favorite of bright green, each decorated with little flowers and animals made of frosting. They were each also about five feet high with the bottom tiers being the size of a tire. The sugary sweet smell was overpowering, and Héctor laughed proudly. "Perfecto! Just like how I designed it! Gracias, senores!" Héctor addressed the exhausted chefs. "You have truly outdone yourselves. They are worth every peso!"
"Gracias for your patronage, Senor Rivera. We really needed a big order like this, what with things being so slow." The head pastry chef said gratefully.
"No problemo! Now you can head over to the plaza to join the party. I'm sure you all will want to try your wares!" Héctor waved them off and turned to see his wife and brother in laws gaping at the cakes. "Well, what do you guys think? Pretty great, eh?"
"Héctor…" Imelda whispered, not knowing whether she should be amazed or horrified. "When I let you be in charge of the cakes, I never even dreamed that you would-… What in the world, Héctor?! These things are massive! What were you thinking?!"
"I was thinking of the town, mi amor." Héctor said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Everyone is going to be there, this way everyone gets a piece! And after everything that's happened with the economy they deserve a special treat, don't you agree?"
Imelda softened a little, but she was still overwhelmed. "It's just… so much cake!" she said weakly. She heard three gasps behind her and whipped around to see her children, all dressed in their Sunday best, gaping in wonder at the cakes before they started chattering excitedly and circling around the enormous pastries.
"Papá! These are our birthday cakes?!" Leti asked in astonishment as she reached a finger to swipe at the sugary designs, only for Coco to snatch her hand away.
'Si!" Héctor said proudly before gesturing to the lilac colored one. "On the left we have Leti's cake. Light and fluffy sponge flavored with French vanilla bean, layered with fresh strawberries, toasted coconut and pineapple swimming in a sweet cream!" Then he pointed to the green cake. "On the right is Matty's cake. Rich chocolate sponge spiced with chilies and cinnamon with cajeta swirls and crunchy nuts all throughout it! Both of them smothered with gallons of thick buttercream frosting! Mi familia, you are looking at six hundred pounds of pure, sugary cake!" He finished and laughed maniacally, and the children cheered in delight.
Oscar gulped audibly and coughed. "I've never had my whole mouth fill up with saliva before…"
"Alright, enough of this." Imelda said authoritatively. "The cakes are here, the food is all prepared, let's cart this all off to the plaza and let the celebration begin!" At her command all of the workers loaded up the enormous quantities of food onto the waiting wagons and started to haul it all out of the Rivera Courtyard. Something caught her eye and she motioned for her youngest daughter. "Leti, come here mija."
Leti came up to her mother smiling. "Yes Mamá?"
Imelda took Leti by the arm and stretched it out. "I think we need to change you into a longer dress with sleeves. Look at you! You're arms and legs are covered with bruises." She twisted the arm around and gasped. "Dios, this one is really bad!" Indeed, peeking out from the short cuff of Leti's dress on the underside of her arm was a vivid black bruise.
Leti pulled her arm back and flushed. "But Mamá, it's a hot day today! If I wear a long dress I'll get all hot and sweaty! You don't want me to be uncomfortable on my birthday, do you?" she asked as she batted her long eyelashes and smiled sweetly.
Imelda sighed before nodding. "Alright mija, but please try to be more careful when you play alright? You could seriously hurt yourself."
"I am careful when I play…" Leti mumbled as she hid some of the bruises on her arm self-consciously. "It's not my fault-"
"A-ha-ha-hem!" Héctor cleared his throat loudly, directing everyone's direction towards him. He stood with his hands behind his back and was trying to smother an excited grin. "In honor of the twins' birthday, I have purchased a special gift. While Leti and Matty have received their own unique gifts, this one is not just for them, but for the whole family. So brace yourselves and close your eyes and you will get a big surprise! Cuñados, drumroll please!" Everyone closed their eyes tightly while Oscar and Felipe patted out a drumroll on their legs and Héctor brought his gift around to his front. "Okay, open them!"
Everyone opened their eyes and gasped, the children in happiness and excitement, Oscar and Felipe in fear while they looked at their sister, and Imelda in disgust. In Héctor's hands was a tiny hairless puppy with wrinkled skin and a long pink tongue sticking out of its mouth. The eyes of the puppy stared off in a wall-eyed expression before finally focusing on the children, then it started to pant and wag its tail wildly as a huge dopey grin split its face. Coco, Leti and Matty raced up to the puppy and immediately started to pet it while Matty took it in his arms. The puppy happily licked the boy's face and Matty laughed with delight. "Papá, you got us a dog!"
"Yep. I think he likes you all!" Héctor said.
"B-but, what about my allergies?" Matty asked as he handed to puppy to Coco. There was no sense in getting attached to it if it meant he would have to soon give it up.
Héctor puffed his chest proudly. "Well your Papá did a little research, and it turns out that some dogs are Hippoally-… hyper ollo... uh… Oh! Hypoallergenic! That means you can't be allergic to them. And as luck would have it Mexico has the pelón Xolo dog! No hair means no dander means no clogged sinuses!"
"He's so ugly that he's cute!" Coco said as she hugged the puppy.
"Matty, you know what his name is, right?" Leti asked excitedly. Matty thought for a moment before he gasped happily.
"Dante! His name is Dante!" Matty smooshed the dog's jowls together and rubbed him vigorously. "Good boy, Dante! Who's a good boy? You are!" Dante gave a little yip! and licked Matty again all over his face.
"Gracias Papá!" The three children said in unison as they all hugged Héctor, with the poor pup squished between them. Héctor hugged them back with a warm smile, which faltered slightly when he saw Imelda's piercing eyes on him. He let the kids go so they could play with the new member of the family before slowly walking over to Imelda sheepishly.
"First the cakes, now a dog?" Imelda asked with her arms crossed. "Are there any more life-altering surprises I should expect?"
"C'mon Imelda," Héctor pleaded. "You've always said that you wished Matty could have a pet, and I found one that won't affect his allergies! Look at them, they adore him! And they loved the cakes! In the end isn't that worth all the hassle?" He looked down at Imelda with big shimmering eyes and a small pout, and she couldn't hold back a smile.
"I suppose," Imelda agreed. "But it's going to be an outside dog!"
"I'll build him a little dog house first thing tomorrow morning!" Héctor agreed.
"Alright everyone, it's time to go. You can bring Dante too so he can get some exercise." Imelda rounded up her family before pointing a finger to Héctor. "And no more surprises!"
Héctor crossed his heart. "Claro diosa, claro!"
By the end of the afternoon the party was in full blast. The plaza was packed with people as they sampled through all of the tamales, barbacoa, empanadas and quesadillas as they were made to order steaming hot, while also chowing down on bowls of atole and hearty menudo. There was enough food to feed four towns, and because of that many people came back for seconds and thirds, grateful at the chance to eat a full meal. Several people came up to Héctor and Imelda personally to tearfully thank them for feeding their starving families and the Riveras' hearts broke a little for their pain.
"Maybe we should do this more often, Imelda? Start up our own soup kitchen." Héctor said to Imelda in private.
"As long as I don't have to cook it all." Imelda smiled.
Dozens of piñatas were strung up all over the plaza, all filled with gourmet candies, chocolates, coins and toys, and the children of the townspeople went hog-wild on them. Coco took a steadying breath, lifted up the stick like a professional baseball player, and gave the chicken shaped piñata a good hard whack, splitting it in two and causing all of the treats behind her. As she triumphantly punched the air and bent down to get first dibs on the prizes, her younger siblings groaned in disappointment.
"We were supposed to be next for the piñata!" Matty whined as Dante panted happily in his arms.
"We should have never let Coco go before us! Why do you always manage to break it on the first try?" Leti huffed.
Coco lifted up her blindfold before popping a chocolate into her mouth. "Sorry chamacos, I just have the magic touch. You'll just have to get in line for another one!" She dropped the stick in her hand dramatically and sauntered away, reveling in the groans and whines behind her.
Everyone was having such a good time that no one noticed a marching band slowly get into formation on the outskirts of the plaza. The drum major counted to three and then, with a wave of his baton, the band struck up a loud, jaunty tune as they marched down the main street. It startled many of the unsuspecting partygoers, but soon they all watched in awe as the band played on. Héctor and Imelda were drawn away from their hosting duties to see what the commotion was, and both of their jaws dropped in shock.
Because it wasn't just a marching band. Behind them acrobats did flips and somersaults in sparkly leotards, jugglers juggled bowling pins while balancing on large balls, clowns honked horns and blew bubbles to the delight of the children, a beautiful stuntwoman did balancing acts atop a dazzling white horse, and fire breathers blew out explosions of flames into the sky.
Imelda turned her steely eyes towards her husband. "Héctor… I thought you said no more surprises!"
"I swear Imelda, I didn't do this!" Héctor said. "I have no idea who these people are, and- oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Imelda turned her attention back to the ruckus and gasped.
Coming onto the plaza was a large elephant, the biggest animal Héctor and Imelda had ever seen, its large head swaying back and forth as if dancing to the music and flapping its enormous ears. Its tusks were painted gold and it had a golden seat strapped onto its back. And sitting on that seat was Ernesto. Decked out in a shimmering gold charro suit and a huge glittering sombrero, Ernesto strummed on his golden guitar and smiled as all of the women in the crowd screamed ecstatically at the celebrity. Then he started to sing.
Estas son las mañanitas,
que cantaba el Rey David,
Hoy por ser día de tu santo,
te las cantamos a ti,
Despierta, Leti y Matty, despierta,
mira que ya amaneció,
Ya los pajarillos cantan,
la luna ya se metió.
"Ay Dios mio!" Rosita screamed out. "It's Ernesto de la Cruz!" Rosita screamed and jumped up and down as Coco walked up beside her and gave her a blank stare.
"Rosita, you've seen him dozens of times." Coco said. "You've even had dinner with him when he visits us."
"Pues, si…" Rosita agreed, but then the excitement returned. "But this is Ernesto de le Cruz on an elephant!" She screamed again while Coco rolled her eyes and left Rosita to her foolishness.
By the time Ernesto finished singing Las Mañanitas he had made his way to the gazebo of Mariachi plaza. The elephant got into a kneeling position and Ernesto gracefully slid off the beast to stand in front of the shocked Riveras. "Feliz Cumpleaños, gemelitos!" Ernesto threw his arms open for a hug but was slightly disappointed when he saw them all looking at the massive elephant.
"Ernesto…" Héctor whispered as his face grew pale. "What is this?"
"It's an elephant, Héctor." Ernesto said as if explaining it to a child. "C'mon amigo, it's one of the first things you learn at school. E is for eleph-"
"He meant what is it doing here?!" Imelda hissed.
"Tio Nesto, you bought us an elephant?!" Leti shouted in joy. She reached out to touch it but Imelda quickly took hold of her and held her back. "It's my favorite animal!"
"I know niña, I remembered from when I took you all to the zoo." Ernesto said. "But sadly no, I didn't buy you an elephant, and it's a good thing too! Can you imagine cleaning up after this thing? Her droppings are bigger than a sofa!" He laughed when Leti shuddered in revulsion. "No, I just happened to buy a circus and I wanted surprise you all with a visit."
"You bought-b-b-bou-bo what?" Héctor gasped in shock. "Ernesto, why on Earth-"
"Well, bought might be a strong word. I guess you could say I just hired them." Ernesto clarified. "You see Héctor, you inspired me on your last visit when you talked about your little philosophy. What was it again; Fling your cash at people?"
"Spread the wealth around." Héctor corrected.
"Si, that. Well anyway, I came across this traveling circus that had been down on its luck for some time. Which I think is ridiculous because you saw how great they are! It's this damn depression that's been going on, keeping everyone from spending what little money they have on entertainment. Well I decided to help them out, and what better way than to make them the stars of my brand new movie?" Ernesto said proudly. "Ladies and gentlemen of Santa Cecilia, meet the cast of the upcoming Rivera de la Cruz film Amor en el Circo!"
The entire audience cheered as the circus performers danced and flipped and showed off their skills. Héctor slowly got over his shock and smiled at Ernesto. "That's actually… pretty amazing, Ernesto. Helping out those in need. I'm proud of you!" He cleared his throat and became professional. "Though as your partner you need to tell me the plot."
"Ah yes." Ernesto pulled Héctor away and whispered in secret. "I play a down on his luck musician, named Emilio, who comes across a near bankrupt circus on his travels. They have an elephant that is wild and untamable, until I play a soothing song that calms the savage beast. Soon I become a part of the circus as a musical elephant tamer, while also slowly wooing the heart of the icy, man-hating trapeze artist Inez. I'm trying to get Dolores del Río to come back to Mexico from America to play the part."
"I doubt that'll happen, but good luck with that, amigo." Héctor chuckled. "That sounds like a movie that the children will enjoy. Ooh, and I have some new songs that I've been working on that would be perfect for it!" Suddenly a scream and a peal of laughter from the children broke out and Héctor turned around, only to look on in horror. "Oh NO!"
The elephant had taken the small top tier off of Leti's cake, as well as half of the second tier, with her trunk and scooped the pastry into her gaping mouth. Héctor was livid. "No no no! Bad elephant! Bad!"
"Her name is Frangipani." Ernesto said.
"Bad Frangipani!" Héctor yelled out. The trunk unwound out of the elephant's mouth and was reaching to go in for seconds, but Héctor grabbed the end of it and pulled it away. "No more for you! One serving only for elephants!" The elephant snorted in annoyance, spraying Héctor's face and hair with lilac frosting before wiping the end of her trunk on his clean white shirt. Héctor was frozen in shock at what just happened as Ernesto wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulder and laughed.
"Ah Héctor, you should know to never come between a lady and her sweets!" This earned him a deadly glare from Héctor as his children all joined Ernesto in laughter.
"Tio Nesto, can we ride Frangipani?" Matty asked.
Ernesto smiled warmly. "Of course you can niño! But first let's have some of these cakes. Frangipani has stirred up my appetite. Héctor you might want to go home, wash up and change into your charro suit, and then we can play in the gazebo. For old times' sake, eh?"
Héctor's glare softened before he returned a frosting covered grin. "Sounds good."
Several hours, several performances, and several pieces of cake later it was time for the last bit of entertainment for the evening: a fireworks display. Ernesto was unsurprisingly excited and overjoyed when he heard that. The family was getting ready to head out to the grassy hills near the church, Héctor and Ernesto's favorite childhood spot for fireworks, when Leti walked up to her father quietly.
"Papá, I think I need to go home…" she said softly as she looked up at her father tiredly.
"Go home?" Héctor asked. "Why mija, what's wrong? We were going to watch the fireworks I had set up for you and Matty."
"I know Papá, and I'm sorry. But I'm tired and sore, and I just want to go to bed." Leti ducked her head and sighed. Imelda walked over to her daughter and kissed her on the forehead, letting her lips linger there to check her temperature.
"You are a little warm mija. Maybe you had just too much excitement today. I'll take you home." Imelda said gently.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Matty asked with concern.
"No Matty, you stay. It's your birthday present too." Leti turned to her father and hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "Gracias for today, Papá. It was great and I had a lot of fun." She then turned to Ernesto and hugged and kissed him. "Gracias for the circus and for Frangipani, Tio Nesto."
"De nada, Leti. Feel better!" Ernesto called out as Imelda walked away with her daughter before turning to Héctor. "You see that there? The thanks of a sweet little child makes it all worthwhile!"
"When you're right, you're right. Gracias Tio Nesto." Héctor said before giving Ernesto a sloppy smooch on the cheek, laughing and ducking as Ernesto tried to pound him into the dirt.
It was three days later as Héctor hammered the last nail into the doghouse he was supposed to have finished two days ago. After many failed attempts and several bandages to his fingers he had finally made a… passable home for their new dog as he showed it off to the pup proudly. "There you go Dante, what do you think?" Dante looked at the jagged wooden planks and the nails sticking out in bent, crooked angles before giving it a distasteful sniff and walking away to sit under the tree. Héctor scoffed in contempt. "Everyone's a critic."
"Héctor, mi amor~." Imelda's voice sang out. "Your breakfast is ready!"
Héctor winced and groaned, turning towards Imelda with a hopeful smile. "Do I dare ask what I'm having for breakfast?"
"Why Héctor!" Imelda placed her hand to her chest with wide eyes. "Don't you know it's your favorite?"
"It's cake isn't it?"
"A big, fat piece of chocolate cake!" Imelda laughed evilly as Héctor moaned and dropped to the ground. "Come and get it Héctor!"
"Diosa, I beg you," Héctor whimpered as he rose to his knees and groveled. "No more cake. I can't take it anymore!"
"We still have the whole bottom tier of Matty's cake Héctor, it would be a shame for you to let it all go to waste. And after you spent so much money on it!" Imelda said.
"Those traitors could have at least taken some cake home with them along with all the leftover food." Héctor grumbled. "How was I to know there would be so much left? I should have just let that elephant eat more of it…" As Héctor walked to the kitchen with dragging feet and slumped shoulders, the door to Leti and Matty's bedroom burst open.
Matty shot out of the bedroom and sprinted towards Héctor. "Papá, Papá! Come quick! Leti's hurt! There's blood everywhere!" A bolt of shock passed through Héctor and Imelda and they sprinted towards the bedroom. They froze in shock at what they saw. Leti was collapsed on the floor, tangled in her bedsheets, with her face smeared with blood. The front of her nightgown was stained red with blood as well as a large spot on her pillow, and fresh blood was pouring freely from her nose.
"Leti!" Héctor sank to the ground and pinched Leti's nose shut with his fingers while Imelda went around her to wrap the little girls in her arms. "Leti what happened?!"
"S-sorry Papá." Leti said weakly and nasally through her pinched nose. "It's been happening a lot lately. I thought it was because of the dry weather, but it's never been this bad. I'm sorry…" Her face crumpled as she started to gently cry: Scared, embarrassed and sick.
"Héctor," Imelda whispered with her hand on Leti's forehead. "She's burning up!"
That did it. "Hospital, now!"