Chapter 27
All the houses Celia had cleaned in North Carolina had nothing on the decorations at Theo’s house this year. Yvonne had brought home a live Christmas tree that smelled as piney and fresh as the forest. Celia and Vicki decorated it with strings of popcorn and glass balls. Then Vicki showed her how to make snowflakes by cutting scrap paper, and they hung their creations from the ceiling in front of the windows. The sweet aroma of Yvonne’s special cinnamon cake wafted through the house. It was almost time for the party guests to arrive.
Theo had put on an album by Caesaria Evora, and they were all belting out the words to a love song when the doorbell rang. Theo answered it, and in walked Manny. He had so many worry wrinkles on his forehead, she thought Flora must have run away again.
Then Della stepped out from behind Manny and blurted something Celia never could have expected. “We just saw André on the bus.” She was almost out of breath, as if she and Manny had run there.
The room fell silent. Even Caesaria Evora stopped singing for a moment.
“Are you sure?” Theo asked.
“Absolutely certain,” Manny said.
A hum sounded in Celia’s ears as the people around her kept talking.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Vicki said. “He signed the first set of divorce papers without any argument.”
Her voice sounded far away and the world around Celia grew larger and out of focus. She had to run or hide, but her legs wouldn’t move, as if they were sunk deep in sand.
“Yes,” Theo said in a faraway voice, “but it’s the second set of signatures that makes the divorce final. My lawyer said André might give us some trouble about those. I think they come due next month. Isn’t that right, Celia?”
She opened her mouth to answer, or maybe she didn’t. No sound came out. Everything was growing darker as Vicki pulled down the shades.
“Are you all right, Celia?” It was Manny’s voice, but she couldn’t see him. Everything had gone dark, and she couldn’t seem to open her eyes. Warmth enveloped her, as if she were lying out on her very own black sand beach.
When she finally opened her eyes, she wasn’t on a beach. She lay on the soft carpet in Theo’s front room, and Vicki was kneeling over her. “She’s waking up.”
Yvonne held her hand. “It’s going to be alright, Celia. We won’t let him get to you.”
“How would he even find her?” Vicki asked. “Didn’t your lawyer say he’d keep our address a secret?”
“He said his parents told him,” Manny said.
Theo groaned. “People on Fogo aren’t very good at keeping secrets. They probably all know she’s staying with me.”
Why was she on the floor? Had she fainted? “Is my baby okay?” she mumbled.
“Manny caught you before you fell,” Della said, smoothing Celia’s hair away from her face. “He let you down easy. The baby’s probably fine.”
Manny had touched her, and she hadn’t even been awake for it. But it was just as well she couldn’t remember it. She’d just torture herself, reliving the scene over and over.
The women lifted her arms and helped her sit on the sofa. “Can I get you a soda?” Yvonne asked. “I think you need to get some fluid in you, and the sugar will probably help too. What kind would you like?”
“She used to like orange soda,” Manny said. He was still standing there with that worried look on his face, only he’d moved farther away from her so he stood in front of the window, where they’d hung their snowflakes.
Out of all the people in the room, Manny knew her best.
Footsteps sounded on the front porch. Celia froze as Manny bolted for the door. Slowly, Theo opened it to find his cousin, Tiago, who handed him a box of donuts from his parents’ bakery. Celia had come to recognize Tiago because he and his parents lived in Theo’s basement, but with his large stature, he would have been easy for anyone to recognize.
“We’ve got a problem,” Theo explained. “Celia’s ex-husband, André, has come to Brockton. We need to watch out for him.”
Tiago rubbed his chin. “André? That name seems familiar. Do you have a picture?”
“No,” Celia said. She’d left every picture behind in North Carolina. “But you can find one online because he plays soccer. His name’s André Vaz.”
Within seconds, Tiago found a picture of André on his phone. “We’ll watch out for him,” he told her. “If he comes during the party, all us men can keep him in line, and, later on, if you need me to drive you to work or the store, I’m usually available. My schedule at the bakery is pretty flexible.”
Celia swallowed. She’d never thought she’d need a bodyguard, but Tiago was definitely large enough to do the job. He had at least fifty pounds on André. “Thank you, Tiago.”
Yvonne came back in the room. “I’m afraid we don’t have any orange soda.”
Manny stepped forward from the window, where he’d been standing guard. “I’ll run and get her one. My store has the perfect kind.” He raced out the door before anyone had a chance to argue with him.
With Tiago standing guard at the door, more guests arrived, but Celia remained on the couch, surrounded by Yvonne’s female friends. Theo went out on the porch to talk with Tiago and the other men. After a few minutes, she heard a commotion outside. “That’s him,” someone yelled.
Then Theo’s voice. “Everyone, follow my lead.”
She wished she could see what was going on outside, but the women chattered on, trying to distract her by talking about hairstyles as she sat herself up on the couch, preparing to see André.
Then the door swung open and Theo escorted André inside, flanked on both sides by Theo’s friends and relatives. Tiago stood on André’s right while Theo stood on his left. Other men followed behind, facing Celia with their hands braced against their hips. There must have been at least fifteen men crowded into the living room, and her female friends hadn’t moved either. They remained sitting beside her on the couch. She never could have imagined that she would feel this safe in André’s presence. Now, he was the weak one, defenseless because he had no friends here.
That was when Manny reappeared, pushing his way through the crowd with a bottle of orange soda in his hand. He sneered at André before handing the bottle to Celia. “Just say the word, and we’ll take him down.”
Her hand brushed his as she took it from him. “Thank you, Manny.” Just as in times past, his presence grounded her. He looked right at her with that old familiar gaze he’d used years ago when they teamed up to win a game of soccer or mancala. In his eyes, she saw her real self, not the weak woman André had convinced her she was, but the strong, capable woman she’d always been. She and Manny had always been a team, the two of them, and unlike everyone else in the room, he knew the real Celia.
She unscrewed the lid and took a sip, just to prove she wasn’t nervous, as she felt André’s gaze boring through her.
“I see you’ve been expecting me,” he said, his eyes narrowing.
She watched him, trying to decide how she ever could have been attracted to this man. His superior attitude was evident in the way he scowled at Theo and the other men around him, and though he wore nice jeans and shoes, she knew he hadn’t earned them himself. “I see you’ve bought some clothes with the money Teresa gives you.”
He cleared his throat. “I want to tell you I’m sorry.” He looked down as he spoke, and his words came forth at a steady rate, as if he’d rehearsed them. “I’d like to be a proper father for my baby. The coach told me last week that I’ll be on the professional team next season.”
A part of her was happy that he made the professional team, and a part of her wanted him to hold his own baby. But she knew better. He hadn’t even wanted this baby, and she couldn’t trust him to be a loving father, not after all he’d done to her.
“I’m happy you made the team, and I wish I could let you be my child’s father. I’m sorry, André. I can’t trust you, and I’ll never trust you again. You’ve made sure of that.”
Tiago nodded, keeping a grip on André’s arm. “Smart woman.”
She hoped André would leave then, but he stayed there, gazing at her with sorrow in his eyes. “My dreams can never come true as long as you’re gone. I’d give up the team and everything I have here in America to go back to Fogo and have what we had back there.”
She stared down at her orange soda bottle, shocked that he would say such a thing after all he gave up to come here, and now that he’d made the team. This had to be a trick, his way to get her back. Why would he want her back, though? Even when they had lived on the islands, their marriage wasn’t what she’d hoped. Still, she understood what he meant. She missed the relaxed life they’d lived in Cape Verde.
André tried to step forward, but Tiago and Theo held him back. He struggled against their grasps for a second. Then, giving up the fight, he turned to her again. “What do you think? Will you go back home with me and give it another try?”
She darted a quick glance in Manny’s direction, hoping to gain strength from his confidence in her, but instead, she saw that he’d wrapped his arm around Della, who stood beside him.
A sliver of temptation stabbed through Celia. André wanted to take her home. She would do anything to get home.
“Take your time making up her mind,” André said, his voice silky and smooth. “The airlines won’t permit you to fly until after the baby’s born. Meantime, I’ll buy the ticket.”
He was already planning to buy her a ticket? Why not accept? It wasn’t like he’d done much else for her since coming to America. She could ride the airplane back with him—she knew for sure that he would behave himself on an airplane with all the tourists watching. The people around her would protect her and the baby. Then once they got home and he went off for a drink, she’d escape, perhaps to live on a different island from him. It would serve him right.
But why this sudden humility from him? Was he trying to trick her out of money? She wasn’t pretty anymore—he’d made sure of that. She could no longer play the part of his special prize. She handed her soda bottle to Yvonne and sat up straighter on the couch. “All I want from you is a divorce, André. I can buy my own ticket home.”
His brows fell, as if she’d insulted him. “All I want is to be the husband you always wanted.”
Beside her, Yvonne harrumphed. “Liar!”
No one knew that better than Celia. “I’m afraid it’s too late for you to be the husband I always wanted.”
“Don’t say that, Celia. You know it’s never too late.” The conviction in his voice reminded her of a preacher she’d once seen on TV. He’d always been a good actor. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t you take a while to think about it? Remember the good times we had back on Fogo, and ask yourself if it wouldn’t be better for us to go back there.”
He sniffed and wiped at an imaginary tear, reminding her of the time he lost his painting job. Celia stared right through him. He was such a fake, and she’d never seen him so clearly.
“You ready for us to escort him out, Celia?” Theo asked.
“Yes, thank you, Theo.” She took another sip of her orange soda. It was just like the kind they’d had in Cape Verde—the tart zip of fizz, not too sweet, not too sour.
Theo and Tiago led André out the door, but before he left, he turned one last time. “It’s not too late, Celia. You think about it. Give us another chance.”
She was definitely going to think, but it wouldn’t involve giving André another chance. It would involve giving herself one.