Thirteen Senses by Victor Villaseñor
Saying this, Doña Margarita was laughing and laughing. “Don’t that beat all, my Lady, even the tortures that Your Son, Lord Jesus, endured are nothing compared to the fears that some people have of being married!
“And how did this human phenomenon come about? Eh, You tell me? Because as I see it, my Lady, it should be the other way around, and people should be most happy to be paired off together so that they can work out their differences in the Loving Union of Marriage.
“But so many of us aren’t. Why, right now, as we speak, even my last-born, who I raised up like a woman so he’d have respect for women, still has trouble dealing with the problemas that arise in life, without wanting to blame it all on his wife, Lupe.”
Just then, as the Virgin Mary and Doña Margarita were speaking, Jesus Christ came walking up.
“Oh, no, not now,” said Doña Margarita, seeing Jesus. “Your Mother and I are busy talking and—well, You know how You get once You start talking.”
“Margarita!” said the Virgin Mary.
“Oh, no,” said Doña Margarita, closing her eyes in concentration, “it’s true and I will not be intimidated by You, my Lady, or Your Most Holy Son. This conversation is strictly between Us, Women of Substance, and so Your Son, Jesus, can wait His turn, my Lady!”
Jesus started laughing and laughing. “It’s all right, Mother,” He said to the Blessed Virgin. “I’ll be happy to wait and listen, and . . . learn.”
And so Jesus lay back in a pew, relaxing as His Mother and Doña Margarita continued their conversation. And Jesus looked so happy and all at peace . . . like in a sunny meadow with Trees and Birds all about Him as He leisurely chewed on a Blade of Grass—truly enjoying Himself!
LEAVING THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE, Salvador was very quiet as they drove over to Lupe’s parents’ home.
“Is something the matter?” asked Lupe, as they drove down the tree-lined street in front of her parents’ home.
“No,” he said, “everything is fine.” He just had no idea how to put into words all the things he was feeling since that doctor had spoken to him.
“Well, all right,” said Lupe, “but ever since we left the doctor’s office, you’ve been very quiet.”
“Yes, that’s true,” said Salvador, and he wanted to speak, to tell Lupe everything, but he just didn’t know where to even begin. His mind was still spinning with all of the things the doctor had told him.
Going inside of Lupe’s parents’ house, there was Sophia and her bunch of kids and Salvador immediately almost asked Lupe’s older sister if the doctor had spoken to her and her husband about family planning, too.
But Sophia looked so happy and full of life and mischief, that he didn’t want to bring up this terrible subject. My God, children couldn’t be planned! That would be like planning to buy a car? Like figuring out which groceries to get? Or like deciding which animals to breed on the rancho? Oh, how disgusting! He had to spit, the thought was so repulsive!
“I was just telling mama,” said Sophia to Lupe and Salvador, “that mi esposo and Victoriano will be in late today. They’re with Señor Whitehead, who once more is working with old man Irvine.”
“But didn’t he die?” asked Salvador.
“No,” said Sophia, “you and Victoriano saved his life when you surprised him. The shot only grazed his head and the doctors were able to save him.”
“Oh, I didn’t know,” said Salvador. “He’s a good man. I’m glad he lived.”
Sophia started laughing. “The talk is that now the old man is living with a bunch of goats inside of his house.”
“Inside of the house, itself?” said Salvador.
“Yes, that’s what I was told,” said Sophia full of mischief. “And his family has gotten so upset with him that they’ve left to live in that cold, smelly swamp with the mosquitoes of Puerto Nuevo, Newport, I think, they call it, because old man Irvine will not hear of getting rid of his goats.
“And I guess the goats have done wonders for his disposition,” she continued, “because everybody says that Irvine has had a complete change of heart and he now treats his workers and Señor Whitehead very well. I guess the goats’ milk did it.”
“Of course,” said Don Victor, playing with one of his grandkids, “men who didn’t get enough breast when babies never find peace until they’re put on goats’ milk. And the goat’s tits are even better,” added Don Victor. “I bet you that this is why he keeps the goats in the house, so he can suck the milk directly from the she-goats,” and Don Victor was laughing.
“I took him the goats,” said Salvador.
Everyone turned and stared at Salvador.
Salvador now told Lupe’s family the story of his mother and the wallet full of money, and how the young priest had driven his mother to the Irvine place.
Laughter echoed out of the little house and all through the barrio when Salvador finished his story.
But Lupe’s mother, Doña Guadalupe, didn’t think the story was funny and she made the sign of the cross over herself and led them all in a prayer for the troubled soul of the Irvine familia, the richest family in all the area.
IT WAS GETTING LATE and Salvador and Lupe decided to have their talk with Carlota about her coming with them to stay in Carlsbad with Lupe to keep her company while she was pregnant and Salvador was gone.
“Ha!” said Carlota, becoming suspicious, “you just want a maid to clean the house for you, I’m not going to be fooled! Besides, I make a lot of money in the fields and I have the responsibility of helping mama and papar!”
Salvador was ready to throw in the towel. “Forget her,” he said to Lupe. “We’ll find someone from the barrio to come and stay with you.”
“No,” said Lupe. “I don’t want someone from the barrio. I want my sister. She’s mi familia, and I want her support.”
“Well, what can we do, she doesn’t want to come,” said Salvador.
Suddenly Carlota got a twinkle in her left eye. “You remember that red dress we saw in that window at Long Beach, eh, Lupe,” said Carlota, “when Salvador tried to poison me with the fish,” she added.
“Yes,” said Lupe, “I remember the dress. It was very beautiful.”
“But I didn’t try to poison her with any damn fish,” said Salvador. My God, now no one even bothered to question her about that fish poisoning story anymore. It was just being accepted as truth.
“And remember the red shoes, Lupe?” continued Carlota.
“Yes,” said Lupe.
“Well, if Salvador buys both of these for me, I’ll forgive him and come and stay with you, Lupe, but I will not do all the housework!”
“And nobody is asking you to,” said Lupe. “I just need somebody to be with me when Salvador is gone and—”
But Lupe was never able to finish her words. Carlota was now leaping and yelling about her new dress and red dancing shoes that Lupe and Salvador had promised to buy her!
THAT NIGHT, Salvador and Lupe drove home very quietly back to Carlsbad. In two days, they’d return to pick Carlota up. She’d have to give notice where she worked with Victoriano and Sophie’s husband. Work, after all, was becoming harder to find. The farmers weren’t shipping as much produce and fruit east anymore. Going down the long driveway to their little rented house in Carlsbad, Salvador and Lupe both knew that something very big had just happened to them in their married life together.
Immediately, going into the house, Salvador went to the back of their home and got the quart bottle of whiskey that he kept hidden underneath his work clothes and boots. And he was going to have a good belt there, in hiding, when Lupe came up.
“Is that a bottle of whiskey?” asked she.
“Yes,” said Salvador. It had been a long day and ever since that visit with the doctor, Salvador had been feeling desperate. “I thought I’d have a drink,” he said, feeling caught. “If you don’t mind.”
“Of course, I don’t mind,” said Lupe, looking at Salvador and his bottle. “This is your house, afte
“Well, then, let’s just consider this a drink to our first child,” said Salvador, following Lupe into the kitchen and serving himself his first drink in his own home, here, in front of his very own wife, and he gulped it down hard.
“I’ll go change,” said Lupe, leaving the room. Something really strange had been going on with Salvador all afternoon. She could just feel it here inside of herself.
“I’ll be right here,” said Salvador, serving himself another shot.
In the bedroom, Lupe took off her coat and then walked into the bath-room, getting ready for bed. And she just knew that whatever was troubling Salvador had to do with their doctor’s visit, but she wasn’t going to pry.
Having gotten ready for bed, Lupe came back into the kitchen and found Salvador sitting at the kitchen table with the moonlight coming in the window behind him. The big whiskey bottle was half empty.
“Salvador!” yelled Lupe. “But what is going on? Why are you drinking like this? Is it because you’re afraid of my sister coming to live with us?”
His eyes were bloodshot. He looked absolutely awful. “Well, no, I mean, yes, but it’s not just her, Lupe,” he said, slurring his words and his eyes rolling about with drunkenness. “I love you so much!” he said. “And we’ve been so happy, especially in bed, but now, well—damnit!” he yelled, “it’s all got to stop, querida!”
“But what’s got to stop?” she asked, coming closer and smelling him.
“Us! Me and you! Our love-making! Everything!” he yelled.
Lupe looked at him, sitting there surrounded by the moonlight coming in the window, and she had no understanding of what he was saying. “But Salvador, why are you saying that we need to stop our love-making?” She felt like a knife had just cut into her heart. “I don’t understand, Salvador.”
“Because, Lupe,” he said, staring at her, “I don’t want you losing your teeth!”
“My teeth?” she asked.
“Yes, the doctor, he told me that lots of children don’t fill out a woman like I’d always been told. No, that lots of children kill her. And when I told him that my mother had had nineteen kids, he asked me if she has any teeth. And, well, what could I say? I’d always thought that kids were a blessing from God, and we could never have too many, because God loved us, and He knew what was best for us, but this doctor said no, no, no, if we want teeth and a long, happy life, like him and his dried-up skinny wife, then we can’t have a home full of kids!”
Lupe almost felt like laughing. All this sounded so ridiculous, so crazy. “Salvador,” she said, “are you telling me that the doctor told you that we shouldn’t have any children or I’d lose my teeth?”
“Oh, no, we can have a few children,” he quickly said, “but not every eighteen months, or I’ll wear you out. That nurse, you remember, the one who took you in to see him, she’s his wife and she’s in her fifties! But, my God, I thought she was maybe only thirty-five!”
“Yes, she told me,” said Lupe. “She was very nice to me.”
“Also, he told me that beautiful, young Mexican couples come to him after only a few months of marriage, just like us, and they keep coming back like clockwork every sixteen or eighteen months, like that woman out in the waiting room with me, and she’s only twenty-six. So, I don’t want that to happen to you, querida. I love you, and I want you young and beautiful as long as possible! Just like his wife! And they only had three children, and so maybe we should just have three or four and not too close together so your body can, can, you know, replenish, get strong again between children,” he said. “Lupe, I don’t want you losing your teeth like my mother.”
Lupe was stunned. She’d never seen Salvador like this before. And the doctor hadn’t told her anything about this. He’d just checked her to see if she was pregnant, and that was all. “But, Salvador,” she said, “isn’t it up to God how many children we have?”
“Exactly! Me, too, that’s what I always thought, but the doctor told me no, that it’s also up to us, that we can plan on how many children we want.”
Lupe was flabbergasted. “But he’s not a priest,” said Lupe. “So how can he speak like this?”
“That’s what I thought,” said Salvador. “And then he asked me if I’d take my car to be fixed by a man who didn’t drive or own a car. And when I said no, of course not, he then asked me why would I then talk with a priest about marriage and children when they aren’t married and they have no wife that they love or children to raise.”
“He said all that?” said Lupe, making the sign of the cross over herself. She was astonished. She had to sit down. “But he’s Catholic!” she said. “This is why Sophia went to him in the first place!”
“Yes, I know,” said Salvador, “and that’s when he brought out a bottle and gave me a drink. I guess, I was beginning to look sick.”
“You mean that he gave you a drink of liquor in his office?” she asked, getting even more shocked.
“Yes, German schnapps, or something like that. It was awful, but, still, it did the job. I got to feeling better.”
Lupe gripped her forehead. This was just awful. She’d never dreamed that their doctor was a drinking man.
“Salvador,” said Lupe, “I just don’t know what to do. Maybe we’re not going to be able to go back to that doctor anymore. How could a doctor possibly tell someone to not listen to a man of God?” She took a deep breath. “Come, let’s go to bed, querido. This whole thing has made me very tired.”
“Me, too!” said Salvador, trying to get to his feet, but he was too wobbly and fell back in his chair. “But Lupe, you got to promise me that we don’t . . . don’t do it, or, oh, querida, I DON’T WANT YOU LOSING YOUR BEAUTIFUL TEETH!” he screamed to the high Heavens!
Lupe began to laugh. “But, Salvador,” she said, taking his hands and pulling him up to herself, “it’s too late. I’m already pregnant.”
“Oh, that’s right,” he said. “Then it’s okay, we can still do it tonight!”
“Yes,” she said.
And so they hurried down the hallway together.
A SOFT, TIP-TAPPING SOUND awoke Salvador. It was raining.
Lying in bed alongside Lupe, Salvador listened to the rain. The raindrops were gathering together on the large, dark, green avocado leaves in the tree outside of their bedroom window, bending the leaves with their weight and slip-sliding down the large smooth leaves with quick-moving little waterways of sounding drip-dropping water.
Lupe stirred, and Salvador drew her close, and the rain continued washing the dust off the avocado leaves, brownish trickles of water drip-dropping off the ends of the leaves, making a ping-ponging music when they hit the cold, smooth metal of their Moon automobile. The soft, gentle rain continued, and soon the entire dirt driveway in front of their little rented home was filling up with small water puddles.
The whole world was changing all around Salvador and Lupe. They were in love, they were at peace, and yet it felt like their heart-corazones had been ripped apart. All of their cultural beliefs felt like they’d just been shattered. Like the very ground on which they stood had been plowed under.
The raindrops continued gathering on the avocado leaves outside of their window, drip-dropping in long, steady streamlets. Here and there, high overhead the clouds would break up and startling patches of bright night sky would burst through.
Salvador thought about what the doctor had told him and he moved his hand over the curves of Lupe’s wonderful body, gliding his fingertips oh, so softly, gently, back and forth over her valleys and hills. The feel of her was intoxicating. And the smell of her sent him flying to Heaven. But still he couldn’t get the doctor’s words out of his mind. Because . . . if people could really plan the size of their families, then they could also do othe
The clouds broke up and the last of the droplets of water cascaded off the large leaves of the avocado trees. Lupe awoke, and she saw that Salvador, her truelove, was awake and looking down upon her with such tenderness as he sat here in bed at her side.
Smiling, she reached out and touched his left cheek with her right hand. And as she soothed his face, she continued feeling his fingertips gliding back and forth over her back so gently, so softly, so just right. Why, he just knew how to stroke her body so perfectly. His touch was magic!
She breathed and breathed again, then snuggling in closer to him, she put her head into the crook of his arm, and now she could feel his heart beating to her ear. And in the distance she could also hear the last of the raindrops falling off the avocado leaves and ping-ponging on their Moon automobile parked outside of their window. Now and then a small patch of bright moonlight would come in and dance on the far wall of their bed-room.
Lupe also couldn’t get the doctor’s words out of her mind.
It felt to her as if the very soil on which they’d been raised, had been ripped out from under them, putting them on very unstable land.
She closed her eyes, listening to Salvador’s heartbeat. She felt very unsure of their future. But, also, down deep inside, she just knew that they’d do fine, because she felt so warm and safe in his arms up against his thick, full chest.
And so the Mother Earth continued to turn and the centuries came and went, but the matters of the Heart-Corazón held fast.
Part Six
HEAVENTALKING
12
And so Humanity was now being called upon to Sing and Dance and Praise the SECOND COMING of the LORD!
IN THE LATE MORNING, Salvador and Lupe decided to go out for breakfast to the Montana Cafe. It felt very strange for Lupe to go eat in a restaurant in the morning. The morning was when people did their best work out in the fields before the Father Sun became so hot that it drained them of their strength. Also, she and Salvador had now eaten out together more times than Lupe had ever done with her family in all of her life.