Desert Passage (20 page)

Rodrigo stood from the table and paced around the kitchen nervously. “I'll leave right now and you will stay here with Marisol, just in case the police call.”

Rodrigo packed quickly the things he would need for the trip back to his mother's house. As he was gathering the last of his belongings, he heard his daughter screaming.

“They're here! They're here!” Marisol's voice shrieked as she ran to the house.

Rodrigo ran to the kitchen window and saw a cloud of dust approaching from down the road. He ran outside to the front of the house and saw something he would have never imagined in his wildest dreams. Miguel and Ramón were driving up on his old blue vespa.

 
Chapter 40
 

“D
ad! Dad!” Miguel yelled from the road.

Rodrigo stood speechless as the Vespa drove up the driveway. The long-forgotten vision of his boyhood motor scooter had shocked him into silence. Marisol came running after her father and ran to the boys first.

“Miguel! Ramón!” she screamed with delight. “We thought you were dead!”

The boys laughed a confident laugh and patted their little sister on the head playfully.

“You're not that lucky, sis. Maybe next time,” Miguel joked.

Connie had heard the commotion outside and walked quickly from the house, still holding a spoon in her hand. At the unexpected sight of the boys, she felt a rush of maternal affection flood her body and the tears began to flow. She hugged both boys and told them how much they were loved.

Miguel and Ramón hugged her back. Miguel spoke first, “Is Abuelita okay? Did you call the hospital?”

“Oh, yes, she's going to be fine!” Connie exclaimed. “We just spoke to her and she's doing just fine.” Connie's tears overtook her voice and she stood away from the boys to weep into her apron.

The two young men looked at Rodrigo standing before them. Rodrigo's face contained the expressions of both relief and wonderment. Feelings of anger did not occur to him. He only felt joy at seeing his two boys alive. Trying to speak, he stopped himself. He knew that his words could not express
what he felt in his heart at that moment. He took one step forward and lifted both arms toward Miguel and Ramón. The boys rushed into the long awaited paternal embrace and lingered in the acceptance and love that only a father can give.

 
Chapter 41
 

A
ll the neighbors could hear the joyous celebration taking place inside the house. The planned family reunion had been transformed to include the homecoming of two beloved sons. After calling Abuelita Rosa to tell her the good news, Rodrigo joined the large family who squeezed themselves into the kitchen to be with the boys.

Connie and her sister-in-law fussed over the boys, feeding them endless amounts of home-cooked food. Both Miguel and Ramón ate voraciously and between bites they told of their adventure.

“Tell 'em about the desert pools we found and about the cliffs we climbed,” Miguel said proudly.

Shrieks of excitement sounded from the children and from an occasional adult when Ramón told of the adventures. Younger cousins huddled around their new heroes and begged for all the gruesome details of the desert mummy and the headless snake in the cave.

Rodrigo sat at the kitchen table and listened attentively at the recitation of the boys' adventures on the road. The marvelous tales of the Grand Canyon, the red rocks of Sedona, and the archaeological expedition impressed him. He could see and hear from their stories that they were no longer irresponsible boys but young men on their journey to manhood. And as his impressions of them changed, he realized that his behavior as a father needed to change as well.

Rodrigo had always taken the responsibility of raising the boys seriously and had wanted to be a good father, but he now knew that his ideas of strict discipline without understanding had led to the boys almost being lost.
Thinking of the tragic consequences that might have occurred, he felt grateful that he had been given a second chance to be a better father.

After the noisy and story-filled family dinner, Rodrigo asked Miguel and Ramón to join him outside to build a fire in the backyard. Rodrigo placed large logs in the outdoor furnace and watched patiently as the boys did the same. Rodrigo lit the furnace and stood back from the growing fire, thinking deeply about the last few days and all the emotions that he had felt.

“I want you both to know something.” Rodrigo started slowly, not wanting to reveal the depth of emotion that was building up inside of him.

“You two young men are everything to me. When I thought something could have happened to you … ” He stopped and cleared his throat, not wanting to let the tears fall.

“We were okay, Dad. Grandpa showed us how to camp in the desert and we had some money just in case things got rough,” Miguel reassured.

Rodrigo put his right arm around Miguel then motioned for his nephew to be embraced by his left.

“I'm going to promise you that things will be different. I'm going to be a better father,” he managed to say before his voice gave out.

“Maybe we can go on a trip sometime?” asked Miguel, unsure of his father's response.

Ramón quickly added, before his uncle could answer, “Yeah, the guys we met at the Grand Canyon invited us back next summer!”

Rodrigo smiled through his tear-filled eyes and promised that he would take them on another trip through the desert. He knew that he needed to be reminded of the adventure of manhood.

The flames began to burn high into the evening sky. The stars came into view and a pale moon was visible through a thin veil of clouds. Rodrigo looked up into the heavens and for the first time in his life felt the immensity of the universe and the challenges facing him as a father to two young men.

“There is so much to see and to learn,” Rodrigo said to himself. “I'm just beginning.”

High above in the branches of an old pine tree watched a noble eagle. His keen eyes saw everything below. He stretched out his strong, feathered wings, then took flight over the rough terrain, soaring through the canyons and into the imaginations of young men. With a graceful swoop, the Great Spirit landed atop the tallest rock, amid the beauty and magic of the desert.