She smiles. “How else are you going to win the state championship again?”
“We’ll be exhausted by the time the real competition starts.”
“Do you have time to go over your trigonometry homework?” she asks.
One of the things that Emiliano likes most about Perla Rubi is how seriously she takes her responsibilities as his tutor. He got to know her thanks to Brother Patricio, who arranged for her to tutor Emiliano when his grades fell below the average required to play soccer. They met for an hour once a week at first, and then Perla Rubi increased the meetings to twice a week. If it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t be on the team. Still, he wishes he didn’t have to worry about things like trigonometry. “Triangles” is the only thing he can think of saying.
“Among other things,” Perla Rubi laughs. “You have a test next Wednesday, remember?”
“I … I can’t today. I’ll study this weekend. I promise.”
She shakes her head, pretending to scold him. “I don’t want all of Juárez to blame me if the Pumas’ star midfielder flunks out.”
“I’m going to study so hard, really, I will. I’ll get a C-minus in every course, even if it kills me.” He grins at her.
“That’s what I like about you. You’re so ambitious!” She tugs his right ear.
“Ouch! Hey,” Emiliano says, looking at the clock in the back. “Are you going to be okay after volleyball practice? Is someone coming to pick you up?”
“My mother. Don’t worry. I’ll wait for her inside the school. Cristobal will keep me safe. I’ll walk you to your bike. I need a break anyway.”
He stands when she stands and they walk out of the library together. Chela, mopping the floor, smiles at him conspiratorially as they go by. Everyone knows there is something between him and Perla Rubi. Maybe it’s time to tell her how he feels.
He stops at the top of the stairs and looks around. They’re all alone.
“Are you okay?” Perla Rubi asks again, this time concerned.
Emiliano takes a deep breath. “Everyone thinks we’re boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“Yes, I think they do.” She looks down, and Emiliano notices her breath quicken. His has as well. “Is that bad?”
“No. I mean … are we? We’ve never talked about it.”
“That’s true. We never have.”
“I’d like to be.”
Perla Rubi nods, her eyes still on the steps. She’s wearing a one-piece outfit that he’s seen on professional tennis players. A pair of blue athletic shorts peek from under her short white skirt. Her skin is smooth, a shade lighter than his. A few strands of black hair stick to her temple. She raises her head, looks deep into his eyes, and then leans forward and kisses him on the cheek.
“What was that for?” Emiliano says.
“For being patient.”
“Is that what I am? Brother Patricio thinks I’m impatient.”
“You’re patient with me.” Then she says, “Do you want to talk about us? You’ve never needed to before.”
He looks away for a moment and then at her. “I think I know how you feel about me. And you know what I feel. Don’t you?”
Only a few seconds pass before Perla Rubi responds, but they seem like a lifetime to Emiliano. “Yes, you do, and yes, I do.”
Emiliano turns her slightly so that they are facing each other, their bodies almost touching. “Can I say how I feel? Can you tell me? I would like to hear it.” Warmth spreads through him.
Perla Rubi touches Emiliano’s lips with her index finger. Finally, she says, “Emiliano … my parents are very strict. They know we’re friends. I don’t want to have to lie to them. So it’s better for me if how I feel about you, how we feel toward each other, remains unsaid. Everyone knows that we’re together. And we know what we feel, and that’s all that matters.”
Perla Rubi’s words make Emiliano feel desperately happy and desperately confused. “But …”
“What? Tell me.”
“Your parents wouldn’t be okay with me being more than your friend.” He means it as a question, but it doesn’t come out that way.
She puts her arm gently around his and they walk down the stairs. When they reach the bottom, she says, “Emiliano …”
“That’s okay,” he says. “You don’t have to say anything.”
Just then Perla Rubi’s phone rings. She steps away to answer it, and while she’s talking, Emiliano berates himself for starting a serious conversation when he’s so pressed for time. He’s grateful for what she’s given him. She feels about him the way he feels about her. Does he really need more? Why should he feel disappointed?
Perla Rubi hangs up. “That was Mamá. She asked me if you were here. Before we go outside, do you want to talk some more about this?”
“No, I’m good.”
She studies him. Then she drops her backpack at her feet and hugs him. “Emiliano, my father worked very hard to be where he is and to give my mother and me the kind of life we have. So they’re concerned that whoever I fall in love with will—”
“Take care of you in the manner you’re accustomed?” He doesn’t mean the words to sound as bitter as they do.
Perla Rubi’s embarrassed silence is all the answer he needs. After a few moments, she says, “Tonight you’ll meet my mother. I’ve told her about your business and all you do for the Jiparis. She says she wants to talk to you. That’s a good sign. My mother will like you, I know she will, and then … we’ll work on my father.”
“You have it all planned out.”
“Yes, I do.” She looks into his eyes until Emiliano blushes. Then she grabs his hand and pulls him outside. “Come early tonight so you and Mamá have a chance to talk.”
“What should I say to her?”
“Tell her about your business. She loves folk art. You’ll see when you walk through the house. Tell her about the motorcycle you’re going to buy soon and the shops you hope to open when you get out of school. Just be yourself. How many times have you told me you want to make enough money that your mother doesn’t have to work? Tell her that. I’m not asking you to say anything you don’t mean or be anyone you’re not.”
They walk to the awning where the bikes are kept. Perla Rubi is right. Since Emiliano’s father abandoned them, he’s been filled with a wanting that’s a lot like anger. Every month when he and Sara sit at the kitchen table to pay the bills, he wants more and more to be rich. He wants a nice house for his mother, the kind of house his father was planning to buy before he left for the United States. He wants a motorcycle so he can get Sara to and from work safely. He wants to give his family and himself all that his father promised to give but didn’t. This wanting became more intense after he met Perla Rubi.
Emiliano rolls out his old bike with the trailer attached. “Got to go. Duty calls,” he says.
“Whenever I see you on your bike, you remind me of a knight and his horse.”
“That’s it,” he says, mounting the bike. “I’m the knight off to kill the dragon and you’re the princess. My princess. Princess Perla Rubi de la Esmeralda.”