Chapter 13 #3
I narrow my eyes on him. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. There’s only one culona on my mind these days. I’m starting to think she’s the jealous kind.”
“Maybe a little.” I show him a space between my thumb and index finger. “It’s crazy that you’re a fly-over video buff.”
“I love watching the places I’ve been to and where I want to go. Lately, I’ve been watching the ones from Puerto Rico. I’ve been falling asleep to drones flying over El Yunque. It’s a rainforest and a national park. My dad and I used to camp there when I would go visit him.”
I have so many questions, but I start slow.
“Is your dad still there?”
“No,” he says, softly. “He died when I was younger.”
There’s an instant pang in my belly. “I’m sorry.”
His smile is sad. “It was a long time ago.”
I feel it in my soul and point to my chest. “Yeah, but it’s still there, right?”
He nods.
“Let’s watch it. You can tell me all about it.”
The tour starts at the entrance to the park, flying over the visitor’s center, but Rio starts talking, and I teleport there, in the heat and with the misty rain falling over my face.
“Mi viejo had stories for days. He was a musician, a college professor, and a history fan. As Mami would say, he considered himself a dique cultural anthropologist.” He laughs, and the light in his eyes is so bright, like the memories are coming alive, playing in front of him.
“Papi was very much into Taíno mythology, and he would take me all over the island, showing me all the places where our people began. He would tell me all the stories. Every summer, we would go camping at El Yunque. It was so beautiful, pero the mosquitos would have a feast with me…”
The drone flies over the green jungle and pauses over a river where people are swimming, and he points.
“We swam out there. When we were in front of the waterfalls, I would get the full lecture about Taínos worshipping Atabey and how the moon goddess was the guardian and protector of the jungle. And don’t get him started on the two observation towers.
Every year, he would grumble and complain that the Mount Britton tower wasn’t named Guacar after Atabey’s other son.
He would say, ‘We could’ve had Yucahú and Guacar towers watching La Selva and the crops with their mother.
And of course, there was a lot of shade to that raping thief, Columbus. ”
The warmth in his voice is so palpable. He loves to tell the story, and I don’t want him to stop because he seems so happy.
“What’s the story of Yucahú and Guacar?”
He shakes his head, still smiling. “How long do you have? Roberto Armando Castillo would have loved to be here and tell you this story. But you’ll have to settle for Riomar’s version.”
That’s his full name. I don’t think I knew that. I love it.
I kick off my heels and crisscross my legs on his couch, settling comfortably. “Hit me.”
He nods with excitement. “Atabey is the mother goddess. She gave birth to herself and the world. She was lonely, so she had two sons Yucahú and Guacar.”
He goes through the whole mythology, and I’m in awe of how much he knows and how he relates it to the images on the screen, the earth and rivers.
“This is so good. My limited Taino knowledge is about the five Cacicazgos of Quisqueya and, of course, Anacaona. You should do a project with all this knowledge.”
He shrugs. “Papi left a binder with all his notes. Maybe someday I’ll go through it.” He leans closer and brings a hand to my cheek. “I’m sorry this ended up different than I planned. I have to travel with a lot of people constantly, and my friends like to party—”
I place my finger on his lips. “Don’t apologize. Today was great. All of it. Niko and Zao are really cool, and I got a whole history lesson. Who knew this muchachito fresco, as Mami calls reggeatoneros, had so many different sides to him?”
“Still waters run deep, Mami,” he says, using his catchphrase.
“No, you didn’t.” I roll my eyes at him but end up laughing.
He takes my face in his hands. “Thank you for kicking everyone out and spending time with me.” His eyes bore into mine, so deep my breath catches in my throat.
“Luna,” Sel calls out from the hallway, breaking the spell of his gaze. “Let’s go before Tito gets crazy ideas. Good night, Rio.”
“Gotta go. Thank you for sharing with me. I press a kiss on his mouth and push off the couch.
“Marco will take you ladies home,” he says, leading us to the car. He wraps his arms around me, molding our bodies together. His sigh fills my ears and the warm scent of his boy mixed with his cologne envelopes me. We cling to each other but reluctantly pull apart.
Sel and I keep it light in the car, but buzz with excitement. She decides to stay over, and the minute I close the door to my apartment, we giggle and cover our mouths.
We lie on my bed and debrief.
“Tito says Rio’s gaga over you.”
“Really? He’s probably being a good wingman.”
She scoffs. “You do know I’m better than all the government letters, right? The CIA, FBI, and DEA have nothing on me. I grilled him like a perp on Law & Order.”
I laugh. “You’re crazy, Sel.”
“But effective. Tito said Rio was put off by all the people there. I think he wanted to be alone with you. I think he’s trying to get in there…”
“And I might just let him.” I don’t know why I’m playing coy, because I would definitely let him—not in a house full of people like today, though. I don’t like people in my business like that.
“No, duh. I’m surprised it’s taken you this long. What were you guys doing while I was emotionally going John Wick on Tito?”
I almost spit out my water. “Watching TV—well, YouTube. He knows so much about Taíno culture, and he was telling me about his time in Puerto Rico. It was a lot like the first time we met, minus the Adina part.”
“Ugh. Don’t mention that Crypt Keeper. She might show up like a minion from hell.”
I lie back against my pillow. “Other than emotional torture, what else did you talk to Tito about?”
She takes off her hoop earrings and puts them on my nightstand. “Bro is in awe of me. I told him not to catch feelings.”
“He won’t be able to help himself,” I declare. Because Sel is a bad bitch, and guys go crazy for her. “Hey, I was thinking… You know that song they released today?”
Sel’s face twists. “Yeah. Add Perla to the on-sight list with Adina. If I see that bitch, Imma beat the bricks off her.”
I shake my finger. “No, let’s do even better than that. Let’s use it for our own gain.”
She frowns. “How?”
“You know that scoop neck shirt with the peonies we just got in? The one we’re not that excited about?” I wait till she nods. “Let’s call it the Sosa shirt.”
It takes a couple of seconds for the meaning to dawn on her. Sel’s eyes go wide, and she hops off the bed. “Girl. That shit is diabolical and genius! Let’s put up the preorder.”
We head to my desk and pull up the site on my computer. It takes us only fifteen minutes and we giggle the entire time.
When I lie back in my bed, my phone pings.
Rio
I can still hear those little moans. I can’t wait to hear them again. Good night, Diosa Luna.
Me
Good night, Riomar.