Page 179 of The Moon Sister
‘I am not saying that, Lucía, of course I’m not.’ He sighed. ‘I am trying to explain that sometimes in life, people reach a point where they can go no further down one road and need to cross a bridge in order to move on to another. And that is where I am now.’ He walked towards her and put his arms around her. ‘Lucía, come with me. Let’s start a new life together. And I promise you, that if you say yes, I will take you to the nearest church and marry you tomorrow. We will be husband and wife immediately.’
‘Are you blackmailing me? You have said that too often before and it’s never happened.’ Lucía pushed his arms away. ‘I am not that desperate! And what about my career? Will you have me stop dancing?’
‘Of course I would not. I already said I wished us to perform together, just not on the grand scale we have before.’
‘You wish to hide me? To force me into semi-retirement?’
‘No, Lucía, and I am perfectly happy if you wish to occasionally re-form thecuadroto perform in big venues. Just not every single day of every single week. As I said, I want a home.’
‘This confirms that you are morepayothangitano! What is wrong with you?’
‘Probably a lot,’ he said with a shrug. ‘We are both who we are, but I beg you, from the bottom of my heart, to think about what I have said to you. I do not yearn for fame and glory in the same way that you do, but equally, my small ego wishes to be recognised separately from the Albaycín clan. Surely you cannot blame me for that?’
‘As always, you are blameless, and I am the trouble. The diva! Do you not see that it wasIthat got us to where we are now! Me!’ – Lucía pounded her fist upon her chest – ‘Me, who rescued Mamá and Pepe from the Civil War, who never gives up, never gives in.’
‘I would like to believe I have done something to help also,’ Meñique murmured.
‘So, you’re asking me to choose,sí? Between my career and my family, and you.’
‘Yes, Lucía, finally, after all these years, I’m asking you to choose. If you love me, you will come with me and we will marry and make a new life together.’
Lucía was unusually silent as she thought about what Meñique had said.
‘But you do not love me enough to stay?’ she said eventually.
The agonised expression in his eyes was answer enough for her.
30
‘The war in Europe is over!’
María burst into her daughter’s apartment, where Lucía lay curled up on the sofa, shrouded in darkness. She pulled open the curtains and bright light spilled into the room.
‘Querida, the whole city is celebrating in Times Square. Everyone else in thecuadrohas gone there – won’t you come too?’
There was no response. The plate of food that María had brought her the night before remained untouched, next to an overflowing ashtray.
‘Still no word from him?’ María asked, walking towards her daughter.
‘No.’
‘I am sure he will come back.’
‘No, he won’t, Mamá, not this time. He said he did not love me enough to stay. He wanted me to desert my family, give up my career. How could I do that?’ Lucía sat up and downed the cold coffee that had been sitting on the floor for hours, before lighting a cigarette.
‘Remember,querida, this is your life. Everyone around you would understand if you followed Meñique. Many of us have to do things we don’t wish to for love.’
‘You mean like you with Papá? And that new whore of his!’ Lucía spat. ‘Ihatelove, I no longer believe in it.’
María remained silent, reeling from her daughter’s revelation. Even though she had known it was true for many months, her daughter’s bitter confirmation cut her like a knife.
The two women sat silently, both lost in their own pain.
‘I know how much you miss him.’ María was the first to speak. ‘You have hardly eaten anything since he left.’
‘I’ve had a stomach upset, which has made me feel sick! That is all.’
‘You will disappear if you’re not careful,querida. Don’t let him do this to you.’
