So I said nothing, and trying hard not to smile, I lay back in my comfortable leather seat and watched the hills pass by my window. I was pleased with myself. My future already looked brighter in my world.
And I still had three weeks left in California to work things out. I was not going to let the certainty of my return to my boring world spoil my fun.
10
The Storm
After Tío dropped me off at the dorms, I went straight to Kelsey’s room. I could not wait to tell her I had changed my mind about studying to be an English teacher—the official explanation for my being in California—and had decided to take up classes in archaeology. But Kelsey had news of her own: she was not going to be Juliet in the play, but Mercutio. And that, I gathered by the anger in her voice, was not good news.
I had helped Kelsey a couple of times the previous week prepare for her audition. Once I got over the unbelievable fact that she was a student in the Drama Department—which basically meant she was studying to be on stage, something no lady would ever do in my world—I had actually enjoyed it. At her request, I had read Romeo’s lines to her Juliet. So I knew Romeo and Juliet were the main characters. I did not remember anyone named Mercutio.
Kelsey went livid when I told her that. “See what I mean? No one remembers Mercutio. And why should they? He is so dispensable he dies at the beginning of the play.”
“He? Mercutio is a boy? But how . . .”
“There are not enough boys for the play,” Kelsey said matter-of-factly.
That was not what I meant. It was strange enough for me to accept that acting was something so widely accepted in this world it was even taught at the university. But for a woman to impersonate a boy in front of an audience . . .
What would Mother think of this? I wondered, Mother who had totally forbidden me to dress like a boy and be a squire once I turned fourteen. But then I remembered my mother had lived in California as a girl and thus must have been familiar with this world’s customs. Mother living in California was in itself a shocking thought. But not ready to dwell on this right then, I pushed it aside and turned my attention back to Kelsey. My cousin was still rumbling about the injustice of the world at large and her drama teacher in particular, who obviously had a personal interest in Lindsay as she, Kelsey, was a much better actress. Lindsay, I imagined, had gotten the part of Juliet. I did not ask.
Instead I asked her again about Mercutio. Kelsey grabbed one of the books lying on her bed and tossed it to me. “There, see for yourself. Page eleven. List of characters.”
I took the book and read the description under Mercutio, Romeo’s friend. And what I read about him was not as bad as Kelsey’s mood had made me fear. In fact, it was pretty flattering.
“Listen, Kelsey. It says here Shakespeare killed Mercutio because he was becoming a more interesting character than Romeo or even Juliet.”
“Yeah right. Except you’re missing the key word: killed. As in Shakespeare killed Mercutio. He killed him in the first scene of Act III. The play has five acts. So you do the math.”
“Well, yes. You are only in three of the acts. But you have some of the best lines in the play,” I reminded her, flipping quickly through the book. “And you die in a sword fight.”
“So?”
“Come on, Kelsey, don’t be so pessimistic. I can teach you how to fence. I bet no one else will know how to fight with a sword. You’ll totally stand out.”
Kelsey looked at me in surprise. “You know how to fence?”
“Well, yes—I mean, I took classes when I was young.”
Kelsey’s eyes opened wide with excitement. “Why didn’t you say so before? We’ll expand the fighting scenes! We’ll make them the center of the play! That would give the play a new angle. One I’m sure has never been done before. And Lindsay, being Juliet, will not be in any of them.” She beamed at me. “Andrea, you’re a genius.”
The next day, Kelsey took me with her to the rehearsal and explained to Dan, the stage director, her new ideas about the play. Then at his request, we performed the steps we had practiced the previous evening for Mercutio’s fight and death. Dan was dutifully impressed and agreed to let Kelsey choreograph the fighting scenes. As for me, I was asked to teach Kelsey and the other actors the proper moves in a sword fight.
And so, after being forbidden by my parents to ever be a squire, I found an unexpected use for my long and hard training as a page, one that made me incredibly popular among the actors at first, and later among their friends as well, who would come to watch the practice and then stay after the rehearsal and ask me to teach them, too. One of the friends who came to ask was Richard, Kelsey’s boyfriend. And then on the second week, he brought John.
I was ecstatic. Thanks to Kelsey and her play, I had a legitimate reason to see and teach John three times a week. Sometimes he would walk me home after class. Other times we went for drinks with the rest of the cast late into the evening or to parties on the weekends. And I would have been completely happy but for the moon that grew fuller and fuller every night, until the last day of my stay finally arrived. That night, the moon would be full again.
I got up early that morning and, sitting on my bed, waited for my uncle to come and pick me up. And when he came, I quietly said goodbye to my cozy little room and followed him outside.
Tío Ramiro didn’t take me to his car as I expected, but turning away from the parking lot, walked deep into the campus. “Let’s go for a walk,” he said. “We have to talk.”
What about? I wondered. I didn’t remember having done anything wrong, except for my forbidden crush on John, that is. But even if Tío knew my secret, what difference would it make now that I was leaving? Only after we had reached the pond in front of the English department and taken seats on one of the benches that flanked the water did he break his silence.
“How are you doing, Andrea?” he said. His voice, flat and even, gave me no clue of what he was thinking.
I shrugged and said, “Fine,” because I didn’t have words in any language to describe how much I loved being there. And yet the moon’s journey had come full circle. At the beach, the arch was waiting.
As an echo to my thoughts, I heard Tío saying, “Tonight is the full moon.”
“I know,Tío. I’m ready.”
“I know you are. But . . . I guess what I’m trying to say is, do you want to go?”
I looked up. “No. I don’t want to go.”
Tío smiled. “I didn’t think so. And that’s why I was thinking . . . You see,Andrea, I must admit that over these last weeks you’ve shown a genuine interest in learning. I think you deserve a chance to continue your studies. If you want me to, I’ll go to your parents and ask their permission to let you stay here for a while longer.”
I stared at him in total shock. “You’ll go in my stead? But . . . but what about your classes?”
I had been attending Tio’s lectures for the last few weeks and knew they were supposed to continue until the end of the term, which was still two months away. Tío could not just quit, could he?
“How thoughtful of you,” Tío said, still smiling. “Don’t worry. I’ve asked John to cover for me. He’s been my graduate student for almost a year. He’ll do fine.”
I gasped and tried to speak, but my mouth was so dry no words came out. Instead, I jumped up and hugged my perfectly dressed uncle. “Thank you,Tío. You are my best uncle.”
Tío pushed me away. “Of course I am. I am the only uncle you have. Now seriously, Andrea, is there anything you want me to tell your parents?”
At his words, memories rushed to my mind: the smell of the grass covered in dew in the early morning before the hunt, Flecha’s nostrils flaring in anticipation; the thrill of victory upon disarming my opponent; and the amusement in Margarida’s eyes after one of my many social blunders. I missed my sister and my stubborn mare. I missed Ama Bernarda and her constant complaints. And maybe, just maybe, I also missed my parents. “Tell them . . . just tell them that I miss them.”