Chapter Fourteen #2
“You can do it!” Alessandro shouts from a distance, paddling against the water to slow himself down. Finally, Araceli latches in and they keep floating away.
A few more people go before us, but it is finally our turn.
“Rock, paper, scissors?” I suggest.
Valentina scoffs. “Isa, what are we? Five?”
“Uh, yeah,” I assure her.
“You’re on, then.”
Valentina makes a ball with her right fist and places it on her left palm. I follow suit. We both look at Sofia.
“Fine.” She sighs and puts her hands in.
“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” I shout.
I hold out my hand flat, like paper. Valentina has a paper as well. Sofia holds her hand out with two fingers in a shape of a V, meaning scissors. She cut our hands with her scissors.
“Looks like it’s down to you two,” she says, amused.
“Loser goes first,” Valentina states.
“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.”
I hold my hand in a fist to signify rock. Valentina has her hand out flat. Paper. Paper beats rock. Damn.
“Looks like it’s you first, Isa,” Valentina says, giving me a thumbs-up.
I grab my tube and walk into the water. This is definitely not like the lazy river in Splash City.
Splash City had Goldfish crackers floating in it.
There are real fish in this one. Maybe even…
piranhas. No, that would be ridiculous. Right?
They wouldn’t put us in a river full of man-eating piranhas. I think. I hope.
“Are you going to go?”
“Shut it, Sof. I’m concentrating.”
“You should just brace yourself and make the jump,” Valentina says.
Her words of encouragement are surprisingly effective. With this newfound burst of energy, I hold my breath, sprint into the water, and jump on my float. I look around and watch as the scenery starts to move around me. I did it.
“Let’s go, ladies!”
As if I had shot a gun for a horse race, they look at each other and race into the water after me.
Sofia slips, and Valentina pulls ahead. Valentina has trouble getting onto her tube, allowing Sofia to catch up.
The two are neck and neck for the final round of the race.
They climb onto their floats and paddle toward me as fast as possible.
It is a tough race, and it is anyone’s game.
Valentina is clearly stronger. Those biceps could lift me in an instant.
The thought tempts me. I’m not sure what Sofia does for exercise, but she looks like she’d beat me in any race with those quads.
Who is it going to be? I watch the water splash around as they slap the river with the sheer force of two determined women.
With just a few seconds left on the imaginary clock, two hands slap my tube.
But whose are they? Is it the bicep queen, Valentina, or the possible deadlift fanatic, Sofia?
The verdict is in. The winner is…both of them! It is a tie!
We hook our floats to each other and settle into our tubes.
It is finally time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery.
Unlike that famous Jersey water park, there are beautiful views here.
At Splash City, you’d see drunk grown men being loud and obnoxious.
You’d see bandages floating around the kiddie pools.
You’d see teenagers screaming at the top of their lungs as they shot down the waterslides.
You’d see overpriced hot dogs and warm Pepsi.
Here? Instead of crying children floating past you, there are sounds of crickets and birds singing their favorite tunes.
I lean my head back against the inflated pillow attached to the tube and stare at the blue sky above me.
I watch as the clouds drift by, making out their different shapes each time.
One looks like a teddy bear. Another one looks like a boat.
These past several days at camp have been a stressful and strange blur.
Sofia’s wedding is happening so quickly that it’s hard to keep up.
I still haven’t secured the investment with Luciano.
I need to work on the business plan tonight.
I haven’t figured out my father’s big secret yet.
Meanwhile, tomorrow is the rehearsal dinner.
I’ll be leaving in a couple of days. I’m not ready to go just yet.
I feel like I haven’t made sufficient memories with Sofia now that we’ve reconnected.
My to-do list looms over me, like a dark cloud, in contrast to the fluffy white ones passing me by.
“Whatcha thinking about?” Sofia’s voice startles me as my eyelids already begin to feel heavy with each blink.
“Me?”
“No, Valentina.” She giggles.
I look over at Val, who has already been taken over by the soothing rocking of the river and lulled into a deep nap.
“Oh. Nothing really. Just…stuff I need to do.”
“Like what?”
I hesitate for a moment. Do I tell her everything that’s plaguing me? Do I pretend everything is fine and silently suffer?
“What do you know about Silvie and Maritza?” I say, slightly changing the subject.
“What do you mean? I know they’re my cousin and aunt?” She laughs softly, staring up at the sky.
But they’re not. It seems Sofia is unaware of the news Silvana just told me.
“What about Silvie’s dad? Where’s he?”
“I think she divorced him about six years ago? Ronaldo, right? Yeah, she took more than half his money. That’s basically how she and Silvie have lived so comfortably without working. That’s probably why they’re so snotty too.”
I snort.
“Do you know why they divorced?” I ask.
“Prima, I didn’t peg you for such a gossiper,” she says, laughing. “Maria must be rubbing off on you.”
“She’s like a parasite, really,” I joke.
“Well, it is kind of scandalous.”
I lean in. We both look over at Valentina, who is still fast asleep. Or wins Best Actress for her role in pretending to be.
“He found some letters between her and her lover. Allegedly, it had been going on for years. We’re talking, like, decades at this point.
She finally admitted that she was in love with someone else for their entire relationship.
It was a whole thing. They dislike talking about it because it makes them look bad. ”
My stomach churns.
“And you said this was six years ago?”
She nods. So it was three years before my father passed. She must have felt like she needed to be true to herself and him before he got too sick.
“And is she still with him?”
“I have no idea—we never found out who it was. That was kind of the last thing we heard about her alleged lover. The whole story could be fake, for all we know. You know how they are. Always making shit up to be the center of attention.”
“Well, I don’t, really. I haven’t been around much to know.” I laugh softly, but even I can hear the pain in my voice.
“Shit. Sorry, Isa. You know what I meant. I promise you haven’t missed much. You’re lucky not to have been around for all that drama. It’s all she’d talk about for a year. Then suddenly, she stopped mentioning anything about it and her lover. It’s a blessing in disguise you missed it, honestly.”
I chuckle weakly. “I guess so.”
I turn around to see if Valentina has woken yet. Nothing.
“So—” I say.
Sofia begins reapplying suntan lotion to her shoulders, knowing I’ll continue talking regardless of what she replies.
“Silvie and Val,” I continue.
Sofia looks up at me, raising her eyebrows as if the conversation got disproportionately more interesting.
“Yeah?” she says, amused.
“How long ago did that happen?”
She smiles at my words, knowing exactly why I’m asking.
“It’s been years too. Silvie is still caught up on her, but Valentina never liked her. I think she was trying to fill a void.”
I wonder if Sofia knows what the void was.
She looks over at Valentina and pokes her leg with her toes. Her body moves, but she’s still asleep.
“She had feelings for me,” she finally says, softly.
The fact that Sofia knows shocks me right to my core. I guess I can’t be too surprised. I knew immediately after seeing the way Val looked at her for just a mere moment.
“It was sometimes awkward. I felt bad often. Sometimes I wished I was queer just so I could date her.” She chuckles softly.
“But I’m not. And she’s truly my best friend.
I hated seeing her suffer. Nothing I did would change it.
I was hoping my wedding would help her move on.
Maybe even seeing Silvie would help jolt her from her trance of being in love with me. ”
“I see.”
“And here you are,” she says, grinning.
“What? What do you mean?”
“Oh, please, prima. She clearly likes you. You’ve been hanging out all week, and I haven’t seen her this happy in years.”
I laugh. “No, there’s no way.”
“Uh, why would you think that?” Sofia asks.
“Because—” I hesitate again. “She told me not to fall in love with her when we first met. So why would she say she likes me? Plus, she’s in love with you still. Or maybe she even still likes Silvana. Who knows. She’s kind of a flirt, I feel like.”
“She really said that?” she whispers back, playing along.
“Not to fall in love with her? Yeah, it’s exactly the type of thing a player would say, anyways. So.”
“And did you?”
“Did I what?”
“You know.” Sofia laughs and splashes me with river water.
“No, I did not. I am just curious. About things. And her relationship with Silvie. That’s all. And again, she’s in love with you. Even if I was remotely interested, I don’t have a chance. She’s stuck. She’ll probably end up back with Silvana anyways.”
I try to keep my voice steady, but the words sound hollow even to me. The thought of Valentina choosing Silvana doesn’t feel right—it doesn’t even make sense. But still, I let the lie settle, using it as a shield against the truth I’m too scared to admit.
“I can’t risk getting hurt,” I finally say, more quietly this time, my voice tinged with vulnerability.