Dixiane Hallaj It's Just Lola (epub)

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.Amelia looked horrified.“I agree with you, Victoria,” she said.“It is like trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.Now that I’m enceinte I don’t have the energy.”“What’s enceinte?” asked Lola.“It’s French for pregnant,” said Enriqueta.“Amelia’s pregnant again.”“Enriqueta, how many times do I have to tell you? Only Cholos get pregnant.Ladies are enceinte or expecting a happy event.”“But I was only explaining to Lola…” Enriqueta’s voice trailed off as Amelia gave her “the look.”At last the two young sisters were given permission to walk in the garden and visit, but with conditions.They must stay within sight of the sitting room (young ladies never went outside without a chaperone); they had to remain in the shade and wear their wide brimmed hats (ladies always stayed out of the sun because their skin had to remain white or they would not marry well); they were to move with decorum (if they acted like small children they would be banished to the nursery like small children).As soon as the door closed behind them Lola muttered in a low voice, “You know what I want to be when I grow up? I want to be a Chola so I don’t have to obey all these stupid rules.” That sent both girls into paroxysms of laughter.By the time they reached the garden bench, tears were beginning to flow from their near-hysterical laughter.Somehow the laughter stopped, but the tears kept flowing.“Oh, Enriqueta, I’ve missed you terribly.I wanted to be with you so badly that it made me hurt inside.” Enriqueta agreed that life had been pretty miserable lately.They soon found that they had been leading almost identical lives since they parted.Apparently the older sisters had agreed on the proper way to mold them into ladies.“We’d better stop crying,” said Enriqueta.“If not we’ll be all red and puffy when we go inside, and I’m sure young ladies aren’t supposed to get all red and puffy—not to mention we’ve soiled our embroidered handkerchiefs.”“That’s all right,” said Lola, “I was only allowed to keep this one because the stitching was so uneven Victoria declared it an unfit gift.” They both laughed again as they dried their tears.“Maybe we could convince them that we know how to be ladies and they’d let us go home,” suggested Enriqueta.“If they believed we knew how to be ladies, we wouldn’t be here, would we?”“What about being troublesome? Amelia already complains all the time because she’s enceinte.”“That’s it!”“No, it isn’t.I knew it was a bad idea when I said it.They’d tell Papa, and our lives would be even more miserable.”“Not that—the French.Is Mateo learning French? Are you learning with him?”“Yes, and it would move a lot faster without him.He hates it.”“Because you’re better.” Enriqueta nodded and grinned.“So pick something else he studies, and learn it faster than he can.You can listen to the lessons and still write those dumb thank you notes and invitations, can’t you?”Enriqueta smiled.“I already listen to the history lessons all the time.I just wish I could read the book.”“Why don’t you ask?”“Amelia might not let me.”“Then give Mateo your desserts for a week to read his.”For the next few weeks, even the social correspondence went smoothly.Lola found that algebra was not that hard.She began whispering answers to Ricardo.Once he got over his suspicions, he eagerly accepted the prompts.It didn’t take Señor Gomez long to uncover the arrangement.He began giving Lola more difficult problems to keep her busy.He also began to give his other lessons in a slightly louder tone of voice when he noticed her interest.He even forgot his science book on Lola’s desk a few times.As Lola’s mood improved, so did her penmanship and her willingness to learn Victoria’s rules.Less than a month later another bed was moved into her small room.Amelia wasn’t doing well, and Enriqueta was coming to stay with Victoria.Even changing diapers and coping with knotted silk threads couldn’t dampen Lola’s spirits.After the lights were out that night, Enriqueta told Lola that the plan had worked.One evening when she and Mateo had joined the adults in the dining room, Amelia had asked Mateo about his studies.He said he’d learned how Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand discovered America.Enriqueta had giggled and Mateo had asked her what she thought they had done.Enriqueta was prepared.She talked about the unification of independent regions into modern Spain—and, of course, they provided the funds for Columbus to make his historic voyage.“I told him kings and queens don’t actually do any discovering, and I laughed again.The silly boy burst into tears and asked his mother how he was supposed to learn when I was always picking on him.” Enriqueta paused.“So here I am.”The next day Enriqueta and Lola went to the library when it was time for lessons.Ricardo glowered at them.When Victoria appeared for her daily chat with the tutor about how the lessons were going, Ricardo jumped out of his chair.“I’ll never learn anything now that there are two of them.It was bad enough with just Lola flirting with my tutor, but now he won’t even notice I’m in the room.”Two days later the girls were driven home in Victoria’s carriage.~ ~ ~“Rosa?” Enriqueta’s voice seemed to echo in the empty hall.“Strange no one heard the door,” Lola said as the driver carried their bags inside.They showed him where to put their things and thanked him.As soon as the door closed behind him, the two girls raced to the kitchen.“Pilar!” They ran to the cook and threw their arms around her.“My lost lambs are home—what a wonderful surprise.”“Surprise?” asked Lola.“I heard Victoria give instructions for a message to be delivered saying we’d be coming today.”“Where is everyone?” Enriqueta plopped down on the plank bench.“You poor dears.” Pilar reached out and grasped Enriqueta’s hand.“Oh, Sweet Jesus, help my little lambs.That explains everything.” Tears flowed down her cheeks.Lola had a sick feeling that their homecoming was going to be far from the exciting event they had anticipated.“What does what explain?”“Two days ago a messenger brought an envelope.Señora Jacoba,” Pilar’s nose wrinkled as she gave Jacoba the title of respect, “took the envelope from Rosa.”“When your father came home, she told him she needed to go to town with him to be fitted for a new gown.” Pilar smiled.“He may be El Patrón, but he’s still a man.When the wife gets her head set on something he has no choice.He protested that she could make better gowns than anyone in town, but she said she no longer had time for such things.They left this morning and will be gone for two nights.”“Never mind,” said Lola brightly.“You’re here and we like you more anyway.” Enriqueta nodded her agreement.“We haven’t had lunch yet,” said Enriqueta.“Can we eat with you and the others?”“I’m the only one here.She sent the others home, saying they weren’t needed because no one would be home for a couple of days.There’s more.” Tears filled Pilar’s eyes as she shook her head and pointed to the pantry door.The two girls gasped as they saw a large padlock on the door.“And you don’t have the key.” Lola heard her stomach rumble as she eyed the lock.“Jacoba convinced your father that we’ve been stealing food from the house to feed ourselves and maybe even the whole village.Everything that can be put behind a lock is behind a lock.”“What’ll we eat for two days?”“Don’t worry, we can find enough in the garden to make a nice soup.” Pilar pushed herself up from the table.“Come on [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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