Chapter Eleven
Alma
Even at twenty-three my parents could make me feel like a child. As if I was stealing from the cookie jar and was caught. However, here I was, walking into the house late at night, trying to pretend I didn’t spend the last two hours in the arms of the only man I’ve ever loved in my life. It wasn’t the fact I felt like a teenager again. It was the fact we still loved each other. It was a real love.
“Do you know what time it is?”
I froze in my tracks. In the corner of the kitchen was Papa, waiting for me. “I’m guessing nighttime since the sun isn’t out.”
“You’ve always had a smart mouth.” He stood and came over to me. “Where were you?”
“Do you truly care where I was or who I was with?”
He glared at me the only way a father could. It still brought tears to my eyes, but I pushed them back. “You cannot see him.”
“I’m not sixteen anymore.” Even though through the years I’ve talked back to my father, I’ve always caved to his word. No matter what it was, I fell to what he wanted. I wasn’t going to this time. I was going to stand up to him and tell him how I was going to live my life.
“You’re my daughter and we have ways about us.”
“Ways? This isn’t the seventeen hundreds anymore, Papa. A white boy can date and fall in love with a Mexican girl and the world won’t fall off its axis.”
His eyes grew wider than I’d ever seen, but I didn’t move. This was my Alamo. This was the moment that would define my future.
“You will not fall in love with him.” He pointed his finger at me. “I forbid it. I forbid it all.” He roared at me. “You will marry a nice boy and have children who aren’t confused about their heritage.”
I stood tall, taller than I’ve ever stood, and walked right up to the man I loved and respected. “I love Austin Chambers and I won’t be with anyone else.”
Rage filled Papa’s face and our stare down lasted an eternity before he was the one to turn away from me. I watched as he made his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
He either just accepted my relationship with Austin, or I was at the beginning of a battle worthy of a world war with him.
I was figuring the latter.
I woke up with a whole new outlook. Even though I didn’t have many hours of sleep, it was the best rest I had gotten in the… I couldn’t even remember the last time I had a restful night of sleep. After my shower, I got dressed in my scrubs and headed downstairs. There was no sign of Papa, but Mama was at the table. She was slowly sipping her coffee, and I could feel the tension in the air. She was about to lay into me and I had to take it. Papa I could stand up to but not Mama.
“Good morning, Alma,” she said looking over the rim of her cup.
“Hi, Mama.” I grabbed a bottle of water and was about to head out when she stopped me.
“Come. Have a seat.” She nodded over to the chair next to her.
“Do I have an option to say no?” Hoping she would tell me to go on.
“If you have to ask, then you know the answer.”
She had a point and I took the seat next to her.
“Care to explain to me why your father was ready to blow up the earth this morning?”
“I told him I wanted to be with Austin.” I confessed. There was no need to beat around the bush.
She sighed and went back to her coffee saying nothing. If there was one thing I knew, you don’t want Mama to be quiet.
“Say it.” I told her. “Just say what you’re thinking.”
She put her cup down and turned to me. “Don’t run away this time. Keep fighting for you and Austin.”
If someone had a feather they would have been able to knock me over with it. “Wh… what?”
“Am I happy about it? No. However, you’re my daughter and if you’re happy then I am. I know how much you love Austin. I know you two are meant to be together. If you want this, as much as I think you do, then you need to fight. Your papa will be a hard battle. Be sure you can handle it all that he throws at you. I will be in your corner, but you must prove to him you can handle him. Because if you can, then you can do anything.”
Never in a hundred lifetimes did I think Mama would ever be telling me this. I thought she was going to get into a massive fight with me. Instead, she was helping me, giving me advice – and was in my corner. I leaped up and hugged her tightly.
“Go get him,” she whispered. “Go and get your true love.”