lagloriadetianayrosa

[lagloriadetianayrosa]

La Gloria Ch.10

He drops Sammy off at her house and gives her one last kiss. On his way back home Papo's bike stalls and shuts off, on the side of the road Mateo tries to start it up again but has no luck. He forgot to fill up the bike so he had to walk the motorcycle back to his house which was going to be a challenge getting the bike up the hill. But thankfully he still had enough strength to do it. As he passes the baseball park and gas station he gets a weird feeling that someone was following him. He first thought it Frankie's grandmother to heed him another warning but when he looked behind him all he can see in the far distance was the faint glimmer of the closed gas station under the streetlight. He makes a stop by the garage to leave the bike there since on the way the bike got more and more heavy. While inside he checks on the rum, he see's that the jug was half filled and decided to give it a taste test. It had no smell which was a good sign and the taste was as strong as jet fuel which was an even greater sign. He reaches into his pocket to get his fathers flask and finds his razor instead. He remembered that the flask was right by his bedside so that was no good where it was. He finds an empty blue cup sitting on top of a customers car and pours the giant jug into the cup. He fills it a quarter of the way and takes the whole drink back in one simple gulp. Mateo can feel the burn of his rum going down his throat, it felt so liberating that he decided to pour one last cup before heading home. As he closes up shop he can hear the crackling of tires and rocks behind him, then the sound of squeaky brakes and a door closing. He see's a man dressed in khaki uniform and a dark mustache approaching him. Mateo: "Lieutenant Vargas." Lt Raul Vargas: "Mateo Torres, what are you doing here so late?" Mateo: "Shouldn't you be home not bothering me?" Lt. Vargas approaches Mateo and pins him up against the metal garage gate as the chains on the inside make a rattling noise. He puts his forearm up against his throat nearly choking him, but Mateo was able to grab his arm and keep him from choking the life out of him. Lt. Vargas can smell the alcohol on his breath from him trying to grasp air. Lt. Raul Vargas: "What's that? Is that alcohol I smell? I'm gonna have to bring you in Torres." Vargas reaches into his back belt pocket to retrieve his handcuffs and places them around his wrist. At that moment another car pulls up a black Lincoln Continental. Mateo: "Leo?" Lt. Raul Vargas: "Is that Beltran?" Leo exits his car and walks his fat body over to the police cruiser where Mateo is being searched and cuffed. Leo: "What's going on here?" Lt. Raul Vargas: "Well if you must know Beltran this young man has been drinking. He is underage and I need to take him in for being intoxicated." Leo: "You can't." Lt. Raul Vargas: "And why not?" Leo: "Because I gave him the alcohol." Lt. Raul Vargas: "Are you admitting that you gave this young man alcohol?" Leo looks at Mateo, while he looks at him wondering what the hell he's thinking. Leo: "Yes. I gave him a some while I went home for a minute." Vargas looks at Leo and scrunched his nose a few times before un cuffing Mateo and pushing him away from the gate. Vargas takes the same handcuffs and puts them on Leo who kindly puts his hands behind his back. Mateo runs over to him. Mateo: "What are you doing?" Leo: "Saving your life, go find my nephew and tell him what's happened." Vargas opens the back of his squad car and puts Leo inside while reading him his rights, Leo says nothing. Just before he enters the car Vargas goes over to Mateo one last time. Lt. Raul Vargas: "Look. I don't know why your associated with this man but he's dangerous. Your not like this Torres, if I was you I'd stay away." Mateo looks at Vargas as he walks back to his car. Just as the alcohol hits his stomach he starts to feel dizzy, then his mind starts to think about Leo and all the things he's done for him. He was the closest thing to a father that he had, Raul Vargas was no father figure to anyone in La Gloria, but he knew better than to judge the man, but it was hard to respect that same man who wears a khaki uniform and gold badge. He arrives at the house in Leo's car and finds Michael cleaning dishes in the kitchen. Michael: "About time you got--" Mateo: "Leo just got arrested" Michael: "What?" Mateo: "Yeah, just now, right in front of the garage." Frankie pops out of nowhere from behind the refrigerator. Frankie: "Leo got arrested?" Michael: "Yeah dumbass, where'd they take him?" Mateo: "Probably to the police station, he said you would know what to do." Michael: "Yeah I do. I'm gonna need all the money you guys have." Frankie: "I only got $2000." Michael: "That's fine, Mateo how much do you have?" Mateo had over $10,000 saved up. From the time he was working with his father chopping sugar cane til today he saved up every penny he had and stashed it away. Mateo: "I don't have any money, all I have is what I've been saving." Michael: "So? You know my uncles gonna pay you back." Mateo: "I didn't tell him to go to jail in my place that was his fault." Michael: "You gotta be shitting me right. My uncle is a wanted man don't you get that? He risked his freedom so that way you wouldn't end up in jail and now you don't want to bail him out." Michael did have a point. He knew that Leo was a wanted man and if they caught him he might go straight to jail, but at the same time Mateo didn't want to give up his life savings for another life to be free. He was stuck. Michael: "Look I have seven thousand and Frankie has two. We're going out on a limb here to save my uncle, how's it going to look if we bail him out and you didn't contribute not one dime? If you don't do this Mateo it will seem like a stab in the heart to a man who's looked after you since your fathers passed." He did have another point, when he saw Leo getting out in the back of the car for a moment he saw his fathers face, but that could have been the alcohol making him see things. Nonetheless Mateo felt it was the right thing to do and bail out the man who's been more of a father to him than his actual father. Mateo: "Alright. Give me half an hour and I'll give you the money to bail him out." Michael: "No we'll give you the money, Frankie and I gotta go make some collections tonight." Mateo: "Ok." An hour later Mateo is standing in front of his blue and white pick up truck waiting for Leo to come out. He is escorted by one police officer out the building and towards Mateo. He greets him with a warm smile and hug. Leo: "It's great to see you my son. Come, let's get out of here." They enter the truck and leave the police parking lot. On the way back home Mateo for some reason felt bad for Leo, not because he got locked up, but because he wasted nearly all of his life savings to get him out. Leo's bail was $21,000 so Mateo was short 1,000. Luckily Leo had a thousand dollars with him at the time he was arrested but now Mateo was broke. The whole way back home all Leo kept on talking about was how bad the police were and how they treated him unfairly while he was in their custody, but Mateo paid no mind. He was going to use that money to help his aunt Marie with her surgery for that ugly cough she had and now it was all gone. Mateo blamed himself for Leo being locked up, if he'd had gotten locked up maybe he might have been let go for his first offense. Leo: "Did you hear me?" Mateo: "I'm sorry, what happened?" Leo: "Jesus kid pay attention. I said I'm going to pay you back the money by the end of the month when we get our figures in." Mateo: "Is there anyway you can give me half? I need the money for my aunts surgery." Leo: "That old bat, she's still alive? Fuck! I thought she'd be dead by now." Mateo becomes offended by Leo's comment. Leo: "But I might have some money, let me check when we get home." They arrive at the base of Leo's driveway where a line of cars fill up both sides of the street and his driveway. Mateo parks the car at his house and heads for the front door. Leo stops him just in time before he gets his keys. Leo: "Where you going?" Mateo: "I'm going to bed. I've had a long ass night." Leo: "Bullshit. Come with me I want to show you something cool." He grabs Mateo by the shoulder and leads him to his house. They walk by all the cars parked on his steep driveway and go through a trail that has wood planks laid out across the muddy floor. He can hear the sounds of trash talk and cheering getting louder and louder the more deeper they got into the forest. Leo: "You remember all that noise I was making these past few months? Well, this is what I've been working on." They emerge from the forest to a large gathering of 20-30 men all shouting around a huge cock fighting ring. One rooster had another pinned up by the wall that was dug three feet underground. The place looked like a legitimate cock fighting ring with three rows of high rising seats surrounding the entire ring and one referee monitoring the battle. Leo takes Mateo closer to the ring to get a better look. One of the Jíbaro's there pushed another for spilling his beer while the rest of the people kept shouting for the large white rooster to take out the other that was pinned down. The white rooster who went by the name of "El Jefe de pollo" started pecking the other rooster who was named "Cuco" in the head multiple time before blood started coming out his beak. The sight of blood and the persistent pecking of El Jefe started to make Mateo sick. He never liked the sport of cock fighting even though it was an island and family tradition. When his grandfather wasn't making Pitorro he was raising roosters to fight, but Mateo never found interest in the sport. He wasn't a fighter but at that moment he felt just like Cuco, trying to survive in the bitter world that's rooting for you to fail. El Jefe took out Cuco's eye with his sharp spur and the blood from the brown rooster started to go all over it's face. But Cuco was able to get out from underneath El Jefe and give him one final blow. Cuco flew up into the air and with his last good sharp spur he was able to give one good slice to the top of El Jefe's head to open up a deep wound. El Jefe went down almost immediately and Cuco with all the strength he had left started pecking away at his head before the referee stopped the fight. The entire crowd began to boo at the rooster except for Leo who was laughing really hard. Mateo: "What's so funny?" The referee held up the winning rooster but got pecked in the hand and dropped him. Cuco went back to El Jefe and pecked away more and more just before he gave up and fell right next to him. Leo: "That was my rooster, Cuco. He may seem weak but that chicken has got a lot of heart." The referee holds up the dead chicken as Leo goes down into the pit to collect his earnings which seemed like a lot, but when he counted the money it was only $300 in singles and fives. He walks back with the money and the dead rooster. He gives Mateo both. Leo: "Here's part of the money I owe you unless you want to bet it?" Mateo hands him back the money but keeps Cuco the rooster. Leo: "Throw that shit in the trash before you get sick." Mateo wipes his nose with the same arm that the roosters in. He agrees and watches as Leo secretly talks to another guy who hands him another large stack of bills but this time it was in fifties and hundreds. They smile and walk to their seats to enjoy the rest of the up coming matches. Mateo passes by one of the shack beams and see's a small shovel on a hook with a machete right behind it. He grabs the shovel and walks right past a trash can overflowing with dead roosters from all the matches tonight. He enters the woods not to far from the ring so that way he can still get some light to see where he's digging. He digs a hole and finds another dead rooster but with its head chopped off and maggots eating away underneath his body. Mateo freaks out for a second and throws the rooster back in the hole. He wonders how many other roosters were buried back here. Were they all winners as well, is this where the winners get buried, he did not know. Mateo walks a little further into the woods and see's the faint outline of the trail that lead up to his father's distillar. He digs a hole right next to the trail and says a few more last words. Mateo: "It's a shame. You were brought up to fight and do things that you probably didn't want to do. I feel like you and I are the same, we were born into this world that seemed like fun at first but now it's not. Your win tonight will not be forgotten Cuco, keep fighting." He throws the bloody faced rooster into the ground and covers him with dirt. He pours some of his rum on top of the grave that Leo had given him earlier during the match. He sticks the shovel into the ground next to a tree and walks down the faint trail back towards his house. As he emerges from Yiyo's backyard and up the hill to his house he see's Rosa sitting on cinder block in front of his gate. Rosa: "Hey punk. Where you coming from?" Mateo: "Leo's house." Rosa: "What's he up to now?" Mateo: "He's having a cock fighting match behind his house." Rosa: "Is that where all that blood came from?" Rosa points to his bloody tank top and blue jeans. Mateo: "Yeah, he had me bury his winner. What are you doing here?" Rosa: "I couldn't sleep from all that noise so I'd figure I stop by and see if you were up." Mateo: "Wanna come in?" She nods her head as he opens the gate and walks to the front door. They enter the house as Rosa jumps onto the worn out couch. Mateo goes to the kitchen and reaches into the bottom cabinet to get his Pitorro. Rosa on the other hand smells a familiar smell coming from the couch. Rosa: "What's wrong with this couch?" Mateo: "That's not a couch, that's where Frankie sleeps." She immediately gets up from the couch and wipes her body. She can almost feel Frankie's nasty fingers trying to rub all over her which give her the creeps. Mateo: "Want some rum? Beer?" Rosa: "I'm fine thank you." Mateo pours himself a shot. He see's that there's still blood on his fingers so he washes his hands before he gets ice. In the other room Rosa heads over to the shelf where she's looking at all the pictures of Mateo's family next to a stack of records. Mateo takes another shot of the rum and pours half a cup of rum, ice, and cola champagne into the glass. He takes off his dirty sweaty and bloody undershirt and throws it on top of the kitchen table. He walks back out to the living room and see's Rosa crouched down on the floor near his mothers record collection. Rosa sifts through the records and notices Mateo in her peripherals leaning up against the doorway drinking from his favorite blue cup. Rosa: "I see some things never change." Mateo: "What are you talking about?" She looks up and see's that Mateo had taken off his bloody undershirt. She can see the sweat from the late night heat and rum shining off the dim lights from the kitchen and living room. Rosa: "I mean your still drinking from that blue cup, and you kept your mothers records." Mateo: "Oh yeah. I forgot those were there." She turns on the record player and amp that sit above her head. She pulls out Eddie Palmieri Azucar Pa Ti and puts the record on the turntable. She turns up the volume and places the needle on the record. *Solo Pensar en Ti starts playing* Rosa rises from her kneeling position and begins to slowly let the music take her away. Mateo looks on as she slowly dances toward him, he can feel the warm rum hit his stomach and fill his body with more heat. Rosa: "Do you remember this song?" Mateo: "Yeah." Rosa: "Do you remember the steps?" She gets face to face with Mateo while he smiles and takes another sip. Rosa grabs his glass and places it on top of the shelf next to the doorway. He wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her in closer, she giggles and places her arms around the back of his neck. Mateo leads her to the center of the room as the lyrics start. He completely forgot how to slow dance, but thanks to Rosa he was able to follow the rhythm of her body along with the song. Rosa: "There you go, now you got it." He also forgot how Rosa's body felt against his. It was warm and soft, he can feel that around her waist she had put on a few pounds but he knew better than to say that to her. Mateo: "You feel...nice." She places her head onto his shoulders and closes her eyes. She can feel the hard muscles around his neck from all those years of carrying around sugar cane, as well as his rock hard abs and arms that were so closely wrapped around her body that it almost made her quiver. They slowly dance around the room some more, Mateo gently squeezes Rosa as she puts her hands on the back of his head. She opens her eyes and see's a photo of Danny, Chichi, Leo, and Evelyn at her wedding to Samuel. She lets go of Mateo and walks over to the photo. Rosa: "Oh my god, is that Papi?" Mateo glances at the photo and goes back to the shelf to get his cup. Mateo: "I think that was the day Mami and Papi got married." Rosa: "Look how young they were." He stands next to her to look at the picture. Rosa holds back her tears, the memories of seeing her father smiling like that was almost too much for her. But she stayed strong in front of Mateo. Rosa: "Do you miss them?" Mateo: "Everyday." Rosa: "I miss Papi too. Mami doesn't even keep any pictures of him in the house, she has them all in a box." Mateo: "Do you want to take that one?" Rosa: "No, it's ok. I have one photo near my bed of me and him." *The songs ends* Mateo puts his arm around Rosa. He couldn't help but feel that there was something wrong with her. He gives her a kiss on the cheek then tries to rub his face against hers. He can start to feel the rum coming on strongly, the smell of his body against hers made Rosa's temperature rise. Mateo: "Your body's so warm." Rosa can feel her emotions running wild the more closer Mateo got to her. He was never like this around her but even she can feel that he wanted the same thing she wanted, comfort. But for Rosa it was all too much for her, from the family photos all around the living room to Mateo being drunk it reminded her of her father. It took Rosa years to get over his death and just being around things that reminded her of him was just something she wasn't ready for. She gently pushes Mateo back and takes his arm off from around her shoulder. She shakes her head and gives him a pat on his chest. Rosa: "I'm sorry Mateo. I can't." Mateo can see the tears running down her face just before she heads for the door. He tries to stop her but she keeps moving forward leaving him behind in the center of his living room lost. Rosa continued walking up the hill to her house with her arms crossed and crying. She heads straight for her bedroom and cries right into her pillow. Rosa had loved Mateo. And she knew he loved her too, and tonight had proved her right. She just wasn't expecting to have those same feelings come up again after all these years.

[lagloriadetianayrosa]

Prologue

    A small square tile swings slowly back and forth hanging onto the last bit of grout from the bathroom wall. Mateo sits in the tub of chest high water staring at it with his cold expressionless face. 

Mateo: “Come on, fall already." 

    He tosses some of the tub water onto the wall to loosen up the tile, no luck. He gets up in a fit of rage and slams his palm up against the tile so hard to put it back into place that he ends up creating a hand size hole in the wall. The small square tile now sits in the center of his palm, he wipes it off the edge of the porcelain tub as he slowly sits back down in the water.

    Mateo lays his head up against the other wall and looks in front to see himself in the reflection of the tubs silver faucet, he see’s a little bit of his dark mustache and very visible stubble all over his face and neck. He lets out a huge breath and reaches for the clear glass bottle next to him on top of the toilet seat. He reaches and misses the first few time then turns his head to find the quarter empty jug staring back at him. The glass makes a loud clink sound as it hits the side of the tub and into the murky yellowish tub water, Mateo twists open the bottle cap and hears his girlfriend Tiana.

    "Mateo, I love you more than anything in the world. You brought so much into my life that it filled me with joy to see you walk through that front door after a hard days work. But that was in the beginning, before you turned into this person I’ve come to hate. I’m leaving you and I’m taking our daughter with us. Yeah, that’s right I’m pregnant for the 5th time. 

Mateo: "She’s pregnant”. 

    “And I don’t want you anymore in our lives, I refuse to let her see you like this. I’m doing this for our own good because you don’t care about anybody but yourself. I pray you get out of this and maybe when your sober I’ll think about letting you see our daughter. Take care TT.”

    He takes a swig of clear homemade rum and dangles the bottle outside of the tub, it slips out of his fingers and smashes all over the wet bathroom floor. Mateo begins to laugh out loud hysterically as he looks over the tub at all the glass remnants across the bathroom floor. He looks up at the toilet seat and see’s the letter Tiana wrote him with a wet ring around the bottom right corner of the page. 

Mateo: “She’s pregnant” he laughs “The fucking bitch finally got pregnant, is it mine? It better be!" 

Mysterious Voice:"Or else what?”. 

    Mateo is shocked by the familiar echo of a voice in his bathroom. He moves his head around trying to listen to the voice once again. 

Mateo: “Tiana! Is that you?" 

    His voice echoes in the cramped faded yellow bathroom. Nothing, not even the sound of cockroaches moving about the walls makes a sound only the sound of the murky yellowish water as he slowly sits back against the tub and places his head against the the wall. His head starts to become heavy as it drifts towards the toilet, his vision starts to become a blur as he slowly starts to sink into the tub. 

Janice: "MATEO!!”

    He quickly snaps up from the tub and looks to see his sister Janice sitting on top the toilet looking down at her baby brother. Mateo’s eyes start to water as he looks at her curly brown hair flowing all the way down to her strapless black and white polka dot dress. 

Mateo: “Jani, is that really you? Are you really here?" 

    Mateo attempts to touch her thick ankles and black ballerina shoes but she crosses her legs just in time. All Mateo can do is look at her and cry.

Janice: "What are you doing to yourself?”

Mateo:“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me." 

Janice just smiles at her crying brother as she gets down from the toilet seat. 

Mateo: "Watch it, I dropped my favorite bottle and it smashed across the–”. 

    Janice tells Mateo to hush as she steps over the broken glass on the floor and kneels in front of him.

Janice: “Just like old times right?”

    Janice as she sticks her hand into the tub and splashes the murky yellow water across his chest. A loud knocking sound appears in the background but they pay no mind to it. 

Mateo: “You know I’m a big boy now, I can wash myself”. 

Janice: “Yeah but can you do it properly?" 

    He stares at her for a few moments then the knocking sound comes back. 

Mateo: "Who the hell is making all that banging noise?”  

    He tries to look over Janice’s shoulder. She puts him back down and shakes her head. 

Janice: “Don’t worry about that knocking, it’ll go away soon enough now try and relax." 

    Mateo starts to slip slowly into the murky yellowish water as his eyes become more and more heavy. Janice disappears as his head becomes completely submerged into the water, he floats underneath the murky yellowish water for a brief second until it starts to burn his eyes. He can start to see the water become more and more clearer then a pair of thick legs in a pink one piece bathing suit swims right by him. He lightly touched the thick legs as they moved by him, then he grabs the ankles and attempts to pull them down into the water. He hears a murky scream of terror then a huge rough callus hand grab the back of his shoulder and pulls him right from out of the water. He breathes in a huge breath of fresh air