Sixty Days (3 page)

“Are you sure about this?”
Mickey asks me, a shy smile playing on his beautiful lips.

We’ve been talking
about the situation for days now. We’ve come to the agreement that we still need some time until we are completely sure until I am completely sure, that our family will be comfortable with the idea of us being together.

“Of course I’m sure, a
ren’t you?”

“Yeah,
I am. I’m just a bit overwhelmed with the whole idea of facing your mom and dad. To top it off, the idea of facing Kevin and not telling him about this great girl that I’ve gotten to know and love…”

“Oh, you! Who knew y
ou were this romantically sweet?” I tease.

“Of course I am.
What worries me the most is that once he knows that the girl is you, he will chase me down and kill me.”

“Well
, my love, that is one bro code worth breaking and dying for,” I say poking him in his stomach.

“You bet your sweet ass it is.”

“I love you,” I say smiling up to him

“I love you
, too,” he says back and I can see it written in his eyes. He’s as in love with me as I am with him.

“I’m all done. Did you put the rest of our stuff on lock down in the basement?”

“Yeah. I’m so going to miss you. God knows how long it’ll be before I can kiss you or have you next to me in bed. It might be the end of me. Worst. Type. Of. Torture. Ever,” Mickey says with a flirtatious smile.

I can’t help but giggle at his words. “You sir, are so dramatic.”

“You made me this way,” he accuses

“Sure. I did,” I say in
a sarcastic tone.

Mickey and I have been
preparing for this day as well as the months to, hoping they pass as quickly. We have packed what little evidence we have from our secret year and a half together and hid it in the basement under key. I’m all set to go to a hotel in the city. All the clothing I will need for these coming months is packed and Mickey is going to Mama’s and Lola’s place, where he has supposedly been living. In two days when everyone is expected to be here for the celebrations, I shall arrive as if I’ve been driving all the way from California.

This should work out. This should really
work out. God, I hope this will work.

“
Everything is going to work out. It will be fine. You know that, right?” Mickey interrupts my line of thinking, reading my mind in the weird way only he can.

“I kn
ow, but that still doesn’t mean—”

“We can al
ways tell them the truth. I’m sure your parents will understand,” he interrupts me, knowing where I was heading.

“I just don’t
want to disappoint them. I also don’t want to see you dead or my dad and Kevin in jail after they are done killing you.” We both laugh, mostly because of our nerves

Mickey rea
ches for me and hugs me tightly. After what seems like an eternity, he lifts my chin, bringing my eyes level with his. We embrace in a passionate kiss, the kind of kiss that only two people in love can share.

“God! I’m going to miss this like crazy,
” he exhales while pulling me into another tight hug.

“Me too
. I propose we tell them before the year ends,” I tell him while leaning my head on his chest.

“
Sounds good to me. It should give us time to warm them up to the idea of us. Are you also going to tell them about the whole dropping out of business school thing?”

“One bomb at the time, babe,” I tell him. R
eaching up to him, I give him a sweet, chaste kiss and, pull him closer to me. “But, I suppose I have to at some point,” I admit, my voice muffled by his chest.

We stand in this position
for a long while, finally pulling apart when it’s time to head to town. Mickey has decided to stay the night with me. One last night before we have to pretend like we haven’t seen each other in eight years.

It’s been two
years since he and my brother have seen each other. Since my mom married my dad and moved next door to Mama, Mickey and Kevin have been friends.

The house
we both live in now was Lola’s. After years of talking about it she finally moved in with Mama, leaving us the house. My parents still own the house next door, never selling it after we moved eight years ago. Luckily, the distance didn’t get in the way of their friendship. Kevin has always come to visit him whenever he felt like it.

During the
past two years, however, they haven’t seen each other. Mickey always had some excuse.  Either he wasn’t in town or he was just too busy with his classes. It feels weird being the reason why they haven’t spent time together, but at least not all of it was lies. Mickey really was crazy busy with his classes some of those times. He’s been studying mechanical engineering.

For as long as I’ve known him
, he has always been really interested in cars. Unfortunately, dad has never really taken him seriously and he has always considered Mickey a lost cause, mostly because Mickey is such a free spirit. This, is the sort of stuff that makes telling the family about our relationship so hard and complicated.

“Ok…I’m
ready to go,” I say as I look around our bedroom. Aside from the essentials, the room is completely empty. “We should finish getting your stuff into the main house, eat, and say goodbye to your mom and Mama,” I say, smiling at Mickey as if to make sure everything will go well.

“Sounds good to me. I
sure as hell am gonna miss this place. I know we are going to be back soon, but this is our home…” Mickey says looking a little overwhelmed and shrugging.

“I
know.” I lay a kiss on his cheek.

We
make our way to the main house through the gate that connects our backyards. I’m carrying my luggage while Mickey carries a few bags with his clothes as he prepares to move back to his ‘room’ in the main house. As far as my family is concerned, Lola couldn’t afford to pay the mortgage on her house, therefore Mama invited her and Mickey to move in with her.

Lola’s
house was supposedly sold to this young couple who use it as a vacation home, only living in it during the summer when they feel like escaping from the city. The only truth about that whole situation is the young couple. I have to admit that most of the time the whole hidden relationship situation is fun, but it becomes a little tiresome. I guess part of me is also scared that once the rest of the family knows about us it just won’t be the same anymore.

As we enter the main house,
Lola and Mama are putting the finishing touches on dinner. As soon as they see us coming through the back door, they put me right to work. I end up setting the table while Mickey goes to take the rest of his stuff to his bedroom upstairs. Once he’s back, we are all set and ready to eat.

“Shall we say grace?” Lola ask
s, raising her eyebrow and clasping her hands. We all just smile and nod in agreement.  “Miguel, mijo, would you do us the honor?” she commands, making it sound like a question. But, Mickey knows better and does as his mother requests.

“Sure,” he smiles. Clearing
his throat he starts to say grace. “Padre Nuestro, bless this food we are about to eat. Thank you for giving us the chance to be here one more day and for blessing us every day. As for the hard weeks about to come, please, God, don’t let anyone kill me. Amen.” He smiles from ear to ear and I can’t help but laugh.

“MIGUEL!
Dios mío que yo voy a ser con este muchacho,” Lola exclaims angrily, but, you can see that she’s trying to hold back a smile.

“Déjalo
, Lolita, así son los muchachos hoy en día,” Mama says, consoling her. She turns her head towards us, a serious expression on her face, showing us that it’s not acceptable behavior. After a few moments, she, gives us her reassuring angelic smile. “Now, let’s eat before the food gets cold, buen provecho.”

The food is glorious. It’s the typical Puerto Rican dinner.
White rice with red beans, fried chicken, and tostones. Nothing better than the Puerto Rican food only my grandmother can make. Mama barely let’s anyone touch her kitchen. She’s the queen and the kitchen is her domain. She has taught me how to cook it doesn’t compare to her.  She could have been a great chef during her days if she had wanted to do so, but she dedicated her life to her husband and kids. She has always been the rock of the family. I truly don’t know what we would do without her.

“So
, did everyone RSVP for the jolly Gonzalez Christmas,” I ask sarcastically.

“Pues claro, mi niña. They have all been waiting fo
r it to happen for a while now,” Mama says, ignoring my tone of voice. “Dios! Tus tios, they were all excited to hear that we were finally going to do something al estilo Boricua. They have missed that. They’ve even taken time off from work for it.” You can see her excitement, her beautiful blue eyes shining with hope.

“Good. I know they are.
I mean, every time they get the chance to go to la Isla they get so excited that it’s almost like they’re four year olds at a big candy shop. It’s kind of hard to miss.”

“
How is Arianna going to work out coming here when she has school to attend?” Mickey asks quizzically “I know that Lai’s excuse is that they are going to send all the work online until the winter break, but we all know that that’s just something we made up.”

“I talked to Angel, he told me Arianna was already getting ahead of her school work
. What she cannot finish ahead of time, she can do after the break and any other assignments she may have will be sent online. Apparently, there’s some inspiration from our little white lie,” Mama exclaims throwing a conspiratorial wink at me. I can see that she worries about Ari. Once her mother died, Mama helped my uncle Angel raise her and Mary, her sister.

When
Arianna got older, they moved to Texas where my uncle is currently taking care of one of the supermarket chains. “Tu tío, is going to bring Carla over!” As she says this you can see that her worries are over and her unique smile is once again lighting up her face.

“That’s…
interesting, I guess,” I say while shrugging, I really don’t know what else to say.

Angel lost his wife a year after Arianna was born. Ever since then
, he, with the help of my mom and Mama, has been doing his best with raising Arianna and Mary. Mary is a year older than me. Growing up, we were inseparable. But, as we grew older our bond withered away somehow.

These days
, Arianna and I are the inseparable ones. We call and chat with each other every chance we can. She’s four years younger than me, but, still, we have so much in common. She’s like a sister to me; the sister I never got to have since I got stuck with my pain in the arse older brother.

Once we we
re finished with our dinner, I offer to help clean the dishes. Lola and Mama deny my help. As they set to do the dishes, Mickey and I head to the family room to watch some TV. I sit on his lap as we watch the coyote chase the road runner. There is something about this cartoon that makes everything else seem forgettable. Laughing, after all, is the cure for all pains and sorrows. I could stay here for hours, watching this silly cartoon, with the man I love, hearing his beautiful laugh and letting all the problems out there in the world get lost at the sea, where they could never come back to haunt us.

Mama and Lola are finally done with the dishes and come to join us. Mama g
ives us a serious face and Mickey immediately knows that it’s time to give her the remote control. As soon as he does, you can see her childish, mischievous smile come out. She quickly changes the channel to one of her favorite Univision telenovelas. I swear, if these two women ever missed one of their telenovelas, they would die. We stay and endure the hour long Mexican soap opera. Once it’s over, it’s time to leave.

“Adios
, Mama, see ya in two days, vieja,” I say while hugging my dear grandmother tightly.

“Vieja tu madre!” I can’t
help but laugh as she says this. She on the other hand, says it with a deadpan look. “Take care, mi niña. We will see each other on Thursday. Don’t worry, todo saldra bien.” She pulls me out of our embrace and gives me the sign of the cross. “Dios te bendiga, mi niña,” she says once she’s done. She gives me a kiss on the cheek and the gift of her angelic smile, once again reassuring me that it will all work out.

Mickey and I head
to the hotel I’ll be staying in our separate cars. It’s eight p.m. so the traffic is light as we head to town. Once there, we settle in the hotel room and spend our last hours together. Tomorrow our charade is set to begin.

“I’m going to miss this.
We haven’t spent this much time apart since we’ve been together.” Mickey says as we cuddle in bed, my back to his front, while he strokes the top of my head.

“I know, b
ut it’s not like we aren’t going to see each other.”

“
Still, I won’t be able to kiss you or hold your hand or…share the same bed with you. It’s going to be all weird and awkward, knowing that I could do all those things but not be able to actually do them.” He kisses the back of my head, inhaling deeply as he finishes.