Chapter 7
Triana~
After talking with Sonia last night, I’d made the mature decision to visit my parents this morning to clear the air.
No matter what, it wasn’t a good feeling to be at odds with them, and despite it all, I really did love them.
They’d always done what was best for me and Tomasco, and so while I didn’t owe them the rest of my life, I still owed them, and so I needed to make this right.
So, taking in a deep breath, I knocked on their door, then waited.
While we were a close family, my father was very rigid about certain ideals, and he believed that it was rude to just walk into his house without permission, even if it was his own children.
Yet, whenever he came by to see me, he questioned why my front door was always locked.
When the door finally opened, it was my mother standing on the other side, and the dour look on her face made me want to turn back around, get into my car, then begin looking for a new job.
While they might not have been expecting me to show up today, it was clear that they were still expecting an apology from me, because why wouldn’t they?
In their eyes, I was the one in the wrong here, and talk about digging in your heels.
“I’m guessing that you’re here to apologize,” she stated, and the tone of her voice had immediately raised my hackles like nobody’s business.
“I’m here to talk with you and Dad,” I corrected.
She lifted her chin, and when she stepped aside to let me in, she called for my father. “Tu hija está aquí, aunque no está aquí para disculparse.”
As each word hit my ears, I could feel my anger returning with a vengeance. She’d told my father that I was here, but that I wasn’t here to apologize, and if that wasn’t setting the tone for an automatic fight, then I didn’t know what was.
My father walked into the living room as my mother shut the door behind us, and with his expression matching hers, it was obvious that my coming here had been a waste of time, and I felt both angry and sad over it.
“So, if you’re not here to apologize, then why are you here?” my father asked coldly, and it really was throwing me off how cruel they were behaving.
“Why are you guys so mad at me over this?” I finally asked. “Am I forbidden to have an opinion on my own life now?”
My mother went to go stand next to my father, and when she looked up at him, the hairs on the back of my neck immediately stood at attention.
This was not good.
“This is about family, Triana,” my father said. “This is about our honor and all that we stand for.”
My brows furrowed, dread slithering down my spine. “Meaning what?”
“Your father and I have already spoken with the Fuentezes, and we assured them that you’d be more than happy to marry Romelio,” my mother announced, and I could feel my lungs seizing in my chest.
“Wh...what?” I stammered. “Why would you do that? Why would you...why would you speak for me like that? Especially, without talking with me first?”
“Well, we had no reason to believe that you’d be so against the union,” my mother huffed. “It’s a good match. él es un buen hombre.”
“I don’t care that he’s a good man,” I snapped. “I care that you don’t see how wrong this is? I care that you would arrange something so permanent with a person that I don’t love.” I looked frantically between my parents. “How...how can you think that this is okay?”
“You’re not a parent, so you don’t understand that it is our duty to guide you if we see that you might not be heading in the right direction,” my father replied, absolutely flooring me.
“What wrong direction?” I screeched. “I’m only twenty-four. I have at least a good ten years left before I’m forced to make permanent life choices.”
“We don’t see it that way-”
“I don’t want your life!” I yelled. “And I don’t owe mine!”
“That’s enough!” my father roared. “This will be the last time that you disrespect us in our home!”
“Disrespect you?” I choked out. “What about your blatant disrespect for me?”
My father’s chin went up, and I knew that look. “If you see us doing what’s best for you as disrespect, then it’s obvious that we’ve failed with you somewhere along the way.”
“So, I’m a failure because I want to choose my own life?” I looked over at my mother. “Are you serious right now?”
“Triana, calmaté-”
“I will not calm down,” I spat at my mother. “I also won’t listen to any more of this...this personal violation.”
Before either of them could say anything more, I stormed out of their house, vibrating with rage. I also had no idea where I was going as I jumped into my car to leave, but I didn’t care. I just wanted as far away from my parents as possible right now.
Doing my best to be mindful of traffic and pedestrians, I kept my eyes on the road, though they were threatening to spill over with tears of anger.
Even though my parents couldn’t force me to marry Romelio, the fact that they even tried was enough to leave me breathless with disappointment and sadness.
I was never going to be able to see my parents in the same light after this, and that was a big deal to me.
We’d always been close, but this had changed everything, and I wasn’t sure if we were going to be able to come back from this.
My father had seriously called me a failure because I didn’t want to marry his choice for me, and that level of judgement was staggering to accept.
I wasn’t certain how long I’d driven for, but when I came upon a riverbank, the road ending at a sign that read “Marigold Springs’, I turned off the ignition, then looked around, having no idea where in the hell I was.
The area was very green and beautiful, and that was rare around here.
What used to be New Mexico had always been hot and dry, and the same could be said for Nevada, so this was something different.
Of course, a lot had changed over the past twenty-five years, and seeing as how I rarely left the city, maybe this had always been here.
I mean, I knew that the Rio Grande ran through here somewhere, but I didn’t know of every river or creek that flowed through the region, mostly because it was impossible to know every detail about the area.
Getting out of my car, I was immediately hit with the different scents of the wild, and it smelled nice. There were trees everywhere, birds chirping, and I could hear the faint rush of water that sounded soothing and welcoming.
Deciding that I needed some of that peace to help me figure out what to do, I locked my car, then started walking.
I had no idea where I was going, but I had my cellphone, so it’d be impossible to get lost out here.
Luckily, technology had advanced enough that there wasn’t a place in the nation where you couldn’t get a cell signal.
Sure, you still had places like the jungles of the and stuff like that, but in the RNA, it was rare.
When I finally came upon the creek, it was just as beautiful as I had imagined.
It was like peace come to life, and it really was enough to take my breath away.
While I preferred city life, I could see the allure of camping if you got to camp in places like this.
Now, because I wasn’t stupid, I wasn’t going to venture too far out, knowing that there were more than birds inhabiting this place, but I still wanted to see a little bit more of what nature had to offer.
Plus, I still needed some downtime to figure out how to make my parents understand how wrong they were.
After a little while, I came upon a patch of posies, deciding that this was the spot that I needed to calm down and figure out what to do.
I didn’t want to cause a rift between me and my parents, but I also wasn’t going to marry Romelio.
Now, if that meant that I had to look for another job, then so be it.
I had the degree and experience to find something well-paying and stable, but me quitting the family business would just widen the chasm being created by this little drama, and I didn’t want that.
There was also Tomasco to consider. I didn’t want to drag my brother into this, but if my parents were playing for keeps, then he was going to be forced to pick a side, and I just wasn’t sure if he was strong enough to pick mine.
From birth, as the firstborn and only son, he’d been groomed to take over the family business and keep our legacy going, and I just really didn’t know if he was willing to choose a different path if it came down to it.
I mean, if my parents were fine with threatening my job, why wouldn’t they be okay with threatening his?
Not caring about my jeans, I sat down, leaning up against a huge tree trunk, posies surrounding me like I was living in some damn fairytale.
The only thing missing were the deer and bunnies approaching me to be friends, and that thought had me immediately thinking of Sonia.
I was going to have to call her and tell her what was going on, because I didn’t trust my parents not to call her and try to manipulate her as well.
I closed my eyes, dropped my head back, then prayed for peace, even though I knew that I wasn’t going to find it out here.