Never Too Real (26 page)

Authors: Carmen Rita

BOOK: Never Too Real

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Chapter 29

“M
aaaaaa! He won’t stop touching the flowers in my hair!”

“No flowers! Go to your
tía
right now and fix your bow tie,
m’ijo!
” Magda was always good at being firm with her kids, but today she may have raised her voice, but it was done with a smile. Her kids were racing through her bedroom and in and out of the walk-in closet, Nico suited up in gray and Ilsa in a cream dress with a scalloped hem, her head covered in curls of cocoa and those beautiful mini-orchids her big brother was currently after.

Magda looked at herself in the wall-sized bathroom mirror. She looked better than she had in years. She looked beautiful, handsome. Fitted suit, starched white shirt with black pearl cuff links given to her by her father just days ago. Cuff links, she thought. He gave me cuff links. The symbolism struck her. She rubbed one between her fingers.

Reconnecting with her father had been more powerful than she’d imagined possible—mostly because she hadn’t imagined it possible at all. He’d even persuaded her siblings and their families to come around. A mother’s death could definitely alter a family’s dynamics. For Magda’s family, it had been seismic but ultimately positive.

“Mags? Let’s do it in ten!” a female voice yelled from her bedroom door.

“Okay! Ten.”

Magda looked into the mirror, leaning on the countertop.
Ma, I wish you were here. I wish. I love you. I hope you’re with me. Thank you. Thank you for loving me in spite of . . . or, because of who I am . . .

When she realized she was tearing up, she dropped her head back—the stop-crying-trick she had learned from Gabi—and sniffed them back in. She smirked and swiped a hand through her blond cut, giving herself an Elvis smile. She still had it. Better than ever, baby.

“Hey, caught you.” Gabi rounded the edge of the door.

“Hey, girl.” Magda smiled.

“You ready?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

“You look fantastic.”

“So do you.” Magda admired Gabi’s curls atop her head, the beautiful roses positioned in an ode to Frida Kahlo, her lips a tropical red. “Thanks for being here.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

They both paused to savor the moment.

“Listen, your cousin is insisting that I bring you some of the tequila he brought over but . . .” Gabi demurred.

“That’s okay, I’m good with seltzer. Actually, can you bring me some? With lime?”

“Tell ya what, I’ll prep it for you now if you meet me at the door so we can get this train moving on American time, okay? Not Latin time. Too many of your corporate buddies showed up.” Gabi winked.

“See you in two.” Magda was about to get married, legally, for the first time. She had been with the mother of her children for a decade, but the marriage laws at the time hadn’t allowed them to tie the knot officially. Now she had the same right to mess up as everyone else. At least that’s the way Gabi joked about it. Magda was surprised at how happy she was—surprised and nervous. It wasn’t a very familiar feeling for her. And she was lucid. She had stopped drinking almost completely the day of her mother’s funeral, and stuck to her weekly, sometimes twice-weekly, therapy. She wanted to be fully present and awake and alive for this new phase of her life. She owed her mother that. And most of all, her kids.

“Oy, where is our girl?” Luz whispered to Cat from their seats.

It wasn’t a big wedding. Magda’s apartment could fit nearly one hundred guests, but there were closer to fifty or sixty in attendance, one-third of them business clients, the rest, all family and only her closest friends. Magda would have preferred that it be even smaller, but her immediate family alone added up to twenty heads and now that they were all talking, everyone who got an invitation made sure to show up.

Cat responded to Luz, “Gabi went back to try and pry her out. Are we on Latin time or not?”

“Girl, we’d better not be,” Luz sassed. “The Anglos are gonna be pissed.”

“Pssst, sup, lovelies!”

“Get your fine ass down, husband.” Luz ushered Chris in, past their legs. Tomas, Luz’s brother, sat down between his sister and Cat. He cheek-smooched his sister, then gave a full-lipped kiss to Cat, the soon-to-be mother of his child.

Ooo, girl, we’re next!
Cat mouthed to Luz, pointing at herself and Luz’s young, handsome brother, her other hand already in his, a beautiful, simple engagement ring glistened on her finger. Tom glowed with pride.

Luz rolled her eyes at the two of them. “Lawd.” She turned to Chris. “What are the chances that those two would have ended up at the same bar, the same night, and not know who the heck they each were?!”

Chris shrugged. “Mama, sometimes that’s the way the universe crumbles. It’s fate, you sexy thang, fate . . . Hmmmm, you look so good right now!”

Luz harrumphed at the honest admiration that was her husband’s attempt at changing the subject. “But what happens if they break up? What if he dumps her or cheats on her—I mean, he’s so much younger!” She was starting to rile herself up a bit at the sight of her little brother now engaged to and a father-to-be of a child of one of her best friends, at the wedding of another dear friend, no less.

“Luzita, we’re in a good place and they’re in a good place. Don’t worry.” He patted his wife’s hand. “Plus, we’ve already managed to fold in your new sister—what’s another one?” He winked. Luz smiled. Her temporarily quelled worries were interrupted.

“Luz,
nena
’s gotta go to the bathroom.” Emeli looked like she’d stepped out of the pages of
Teen Vogue
as she leaned forward in her seat to whisper to her big sister seated in front of her. One of the twins was squirming.

“Hon, can you guys just wait—oh! Here they come!”

Music started and first down the aisle came Magda’s son and daughter, Nico and Ilsa, soliciting irrepressible
ooh’s
and
aah’s
from the attendees. Walking casually down the aisle behind them was Cherokee, the start-up gal Magda had met in the lobby of her therapist’s building, resplendent in a simple white gown that showcased her gorgeous deep brown skin and a slight belly bump. Her dreads were pulled off her face and set with antique comb and pins. Her locks fell down her back in a cascade. In honor of her new spouse’s heritage, she wore a mantilla. It was all antique lace, draped in such a way that reminded Gabi of the Spanish ladies illustrated in her daughter’s favorite book,
Ferdinand.
Oh, that glow of love was real, Gabi couldn’t help thinking.

Following soon after down the aisle was Magda, as fine as a tanned, blond knight, her gray suit nearly silver in the metallic light of the apartment. Her friends and family beamed and she clasped hands with Gabi, Luz, and Cat as she passed them.

Magda’s father sat front and center, the groom’s side. She took his hand as she passed.

“Hi,
Papi
.” She squeezed.

Hola, m’ija. Te amo,
he mouthed as he held her hand, placing his free one on top in an embrace.
Te amo.
This was only the second time she’d ever seen him cry, the first being when they talked at her mother’s funeral reception.

She held his hands in return. “Thanks,
Papi
. I love you, too.” She leaned down for an embrace.

Everyone present watched. They were all moved by this public reunion and show of support from a father who once wrote his daughter off because of how she chose to live her life. This daughter who had sought solace for years in the compulsive pursuit of women and booze and money. But now what everyone bore witness to was the supreme power of love. Family love and the love of friends.

It was all so real.

A READING GROUP GUIDE

NEVER TOO REAL

Carmen Rita

About This Guide

The suggested questions are included
to enhance your group’s reading of
Carmen Rita’s
Never Too Real
.

Discussion Questions

1.
The first chapter reveals a lot of how Cat feels about being stereotyped. Do you think she handled each encounter (with her guest on the show and her boss) in the best way possible? How would you have managed these situations?

2.
Was it a surprise to find out that Magda and Gabi had been lovers, and if so, why? What do you think of Gabi’s role in Magda’s life and their enduring friendship?

3.
What do you make of the reactions of Magda’s parents to her coming out of the closet, communicating it by drastically changing her appearance? What about the housekeeper’s reaction? What do their differences say about Magda’s family life and everyone’s roles?

4.
What do you think about Cat’s “lucky penny” confrontation with her mother? Do you agree with Cat’s assessment of why her mother was so adamant about her stance? If not, why? And what does that, and their lunch, reveal about their relationship?

5.
As Luz is older than her brother, Tomas, were you surprised at the roles they each took once the family secret was revealed? What do you think it is about Tomas that made him more likely to take on his role? What about Luz?

6.
The vitriol between Magda and her father explodes at the hospital—did their dynamic, and her father’s insults, surprise you in any way? If so, how? What about Magda’s sisters?

7.
We hear from Luz’s mother about her reasons for keeping secret the identity of Luz’s father. What do you think about her reasoning? What role did history have in her hiding the truth?

8.
Though Bert betrays Gabi, she plays her own role in the end of her marriage—what do you think that role is and was there anything she could have done differently? Or, is the blame all Bert’s?

9.
Magda’s mother’s funeral reveals deep family dynamics. Which character’s reaction at the burial and funeral reception surprised you? Do you have family members of whom these scenes remind you?

10.
Are there potential conflicts that may arise from Luz’s sister moving in with her and her family? How do you see those conflicts playing out in the future?

11.
In her final speech, do you agree with Cat’s assessment of her life choices so far? Have you ever felt that way? If so, what did you do about it?

12.
How do you feel about the friendships among these women? What do you think brings them together for so many years and through so much? Which character would most likely be your friend?

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018

Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

ISBN: 978-1-4967-0130-5

First Kensington Electronic Edition: June 2016

ISBN-13: 978-1-4967-0130-5
ISBN-10: 1-4967-0130-5