She Had No Choice (26 page)

“
Are you gonna live here, too, mister?” Rory asked him.

“
No, I live next door. I’m just visiting.”

“
Okay,” Rory said.

“
Let’s eat!” Lydia ordered, as she placed a platter of steaming tamales on the table next to the pot of refried beans and tall stack of warm tortillas. “Everyone grab a dish.”

Alex took his place in line and Eva watched him load up his plate. She remembered the first time she met him, when they first had lunch in the park together in junior high. He had told her then how much he liked Mexican food. She was glad to find out he lived next door to her mother. Knowing she had a nice, strong young man for her neighbor made Eva feel like Mama would be more secure.

When everyone was finished eating, Sofía started collecting the dirty dishes.

“
Mama, no. You sit down and take it easy. We’ll clean up,” Lydia told her.

“
I don’t need to take it easy. I haven’t done anything all day but watch other people work. And I’m too excited to just sit. Let me do this, please. I want to wash my new dishes in my new kitchen!”

“
Okay, but you have to let us help,” Eva said.

“
All right.” Mama knew they were going to help her whether she wanted them to or not. Even Alex picked up a few plates from the kids, along with his own, and handed them to her at the sink. Eva, who was drying, stood next to Mama.

“
Thank you for inviting me, Mrs. Gonzalez. The food was delicious and I really enjoyed myself here. I think it’s time for me to go, I have to work tonight.”

“
Alex, please call me Sofía. I’m glad you came.”

“
I’ll walk you out,” Eva offered, handing her drying cloth to Lydia.

Eva walked him out the front door and they paused on the porch. She was glad to reconnect with her old friend.

“
You said you have to work tonight?”

“
Yeah.”

“
What do you do?” Eva asked.

“
I’m a police officer.”

“
That makes me feel safer, for my mother, I mean.”

“
For your mother? Why is that?” His eyebrows furrowed and he listened intently.

“
It’s a long story. But let’s just say I rescued my mother today from a very bad situation, and I hope my stepfather doesn’t come looking for her.”

“
I’d like to hear the long story.”

“
Not tonight. Sometime I’ll explain it to you, just not tonight. It’s been a long day.”

“
Are you staying here, too?” He wondered what her situation was.

“
Just for a couple of months. Then I have to go back home to Seaside.”

“
Where your husband is stationed?”

“
Yes, temporarily. He’s being transferred to Germany soon. We’ll be joining him later, after he goes through his training and arranges for the family housing. Then I’ll go back to Seaside to pack things up for the move.”

“
Well, if you’ll be around for a couple of months, I guess I’ll see you a few more times.”

“
Yes, I guess you will. We can talk more then. I better let you get to work.”

“
Eva,” he paused, looking into her warm brown eyes, “don’t worry about your mom. I’ll keep an eye out for her.” Then, he stepped off the porch and went home.

Eva turned and stepped back inside the house, returning to the kitchen to finish helping with the dishes.

“
Alex seems like a nice guy,” Lydia said to Eva, picking up the last dish to dry. “I don’t remember you talking about him before.”

“
That’s because I never did. You were just a little kid when I knew him in junior high. I had a secret crush on him. But then his family moved away, and I forgot all about him. Then, he moved back our senior year, but by then I was engaged to Richard.”

“
Hmmm. He’s pretty cute.”

“
Lydia, I’m married…and so are you, by the way.”

“
Doesn’t mean he isn’t cute,” Lydia said. “I wonder what he does for a living.”

“
He’s a policeman.”

“
Really?”

“
Yes.” Eva lowered her voice and looked around to make sure their mother was not within earshot.  “I asked him to keep an eye out for Mama. You know, in case the old man shows up.”

“
You don’t think Papa would do that, do you?” Lydia asked with a hushed tone, leaning in toward her sister.

“
You never know – he might.”

The sisters realized their older brothers had no idea of the rescue efforts yet, but it was getting late and Lydia and Manuel wanted to head home soon. Eva and Lydia agreed they would fill their brothers in the next day, before Carlos tried to turn them against Mama for leaving him. But for tonight, Eva decided, they would just enjoy the peace and quiet.

With mama and her siblings settled in their new home, Eva hoped they would all enjoy a restful sleep. She knew this would be Sofía’s first good night’s sleep in over twenty-five years.

* * * *

The next step in Eva’s plan was to help her mother find a job. It was now Mama’s responsibility to support herself and her three growing children, a responsibility she was happy to take on. It would take more money than she could earn by herself in the beginning, though, but somehow they would make it work.

For the first few months, Eva could help a little with the rent. Then, she would need to go back home to Seaside and get ready for their move to Germany. Hector was thirteen now, maybe he could get a part-time job after school to help out, she thought.

Eva took Mama to the employment office at several different canneries so she could submit an application. There weren’t a lot of choices for an unskilled worker like Sofía, so they were really counting on one of the canneries in Hollister hiring her. Lydia had put in a good word for her mother at the cannery where she worked, and it seemed to do the trick. They hired Sofía to work on the line processing tomatoes. It was physically demanding work, but she was used to hard work. Nothing was going to keep her from her freedom ever again.

Sofía and her children had been enjoying their new house for a few weeks, as well as their new, peaceful life. Without warning, that peace was shattered when Carlos showed up drunk. He had heard from one of their sons that Sofía was working at a certain cannery, and he eventually worked her address out of him.

Carlos had been out drinking that Saturday night and decided he would go to Sofía’s house and show her she couldn’t just leave him whenever she wanted. He was going to teach her a lesson.

About ten o’clock that night he parked his old truck out in front of her house and started beating on the front door and hollering. Sofía and the children were getting ready for bed when they heard the commotion. They all rushed to the living room, but Mama told them not to open the door. Instead, she phoned Alex to see if he had gone to work yet.

“
Hello,” Alex said.

“
Alex, this is Sofía. My husband is beating on the door and we’re really afraid!”

“
I’ll be right there. Call the police station and tell them I said to send another officer.”

Alex was already dressed for work and grabbed his pistol. He shot out of his front door and ran over to Sofía’s. He attempted to get Carlos’ attention, hoping to subdue him without incident.

“
Mr. Gonzalez! This is the police! Step away from the door!”

Carlos paid no attention. He continued to pound on the door and scream at Sofía. Alex repeated himself as he slowly walked up behind Carlos. He reached for Carlos’ wrist to try to handcuff him, but Carlos spun around and swung at the officer. Alex ducked and then punched Carlos in the face, sending him flying back against the door. Carlos swung again, missing Alex, the momentum sending him stumbling forward. He hit his head on the porch post and knocked himself out momentarily.

Alex took that opportunity to handcuff him. He pulled Carlos up on his feet as the second policeman drove up. Practically dragging Carlos to the car, Alex told the other officer to take him to the station and book him for drunk driving, disturbing the peace and assaulting an officer. He’d be there shortly to finish the paperwork.

After Carlos was gone, Alex went to the door and knocked lightly, calling out Sofía’s name.

“
Sofía, it’s Alex. Carlos is gone. Can you open the door?”

She opened the door, standing in her night clothes with her children. They looked terrified, the children huddling together around their mother, their eyes misty and wide.

“
Sofía, Carlos is on his way to jail. He won’t be bothering you anymore tonight. You’re all safe. Hopefully he learned his lesson and won’t ever be back.”

“
Thank you, Alex,” Sofía said, with tears filling her eyes. She gave him a big hug and thanked him again.

The next morning, Sofía told Eva what had happened the night before. She and her children had slept through it in the little cottage behind the house. So grateful for what Alex had done, Eva wanted to show her appreciation in some way.

That afternoon, she decided to bake a chocolate fudge layer cake for Alex, and she took it over to him to thank him for what he had done for her mother and the children. She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. So she went around to the side detached garage to see if he was there.

“
Alex!” she called out.

He slid out from under his 1954 Chevy coupe, where he was “tinkering,” he said. He was covered in grease, wearing an old white T-shirt and jeans that accentuated his trim, muscular physique.

“
Oh, I’m sorry,” Eva said, a little flustered at how masculine he looked. “I didn’t want to bother you. You look busy.”

“
Not too busy. What do you have there?”

“
I just wanted to say thank you for what you did for my mama last night. So, I made you this chocolate fudge cake.” Eva held it out to him and he happily took it from her. “I remembered that chocolate was your favorite.”

“
A chocolate fudge cake, huh?” he said, looking down at it with one eyebrow dipped for emphasis. “I hope you’re a good cook.”

“
Oh, Alex.” She knew he was just teasing her. “You’re such a good friend. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there to protect my family last night.”

“
Well, you are very welcome, Eva. Anytime. I’m here to protect and serve. Now, let’s go inside and have a piece of that fudge cake. It looks delicious.”

“
Oh, I better not. It wouldn’t be seemly. Remember, I’m married.”

“
Sorry, I forgot for just a moment.” A sharp pang of disappointment surprised him. “Well, I appreciate the cake, and I’ll enjoy every single bite of it.”

“
I’d better get back to the house and see what my kids are up to. Talk to you later.”

Eva walked away and went back into Grandma Sofía’s house. Alex watched her until she disappeared through the doorway, thinking back to the pretty young girl he knew in junior high. He recalled how he had a crush on her back then, but he was too shy to ever tell her. Then his family moved away. But he never forgot about her.

When he moved back to Hollister during their senior year in high school, he hoped to rekindle his relationship with her again. But when he first connected with her, he learned she had just gotten engaged. A few months later he watched her get married. After that, he put her out of his mind, thinking he would never see her again.

Now she had come back into his life, but she was married with children. He knew he would have to keep his distance so old feelings didn’t resurface. Eva would be gone in a few weeks, so it shouldn’t be too hard to control himself until then, he thought.

Chapter 20:
A Marriage Shattered

Once Eva knew her mother and siblings were well settled in their new home and their new lives, she returned to Seaside to get ready for their move to Germany. Besides having a lot of packing to do, she had two preschoolers under foot. Richard was scheduled to return from Germany soon to help with the move.

He arrived at Fort Ord, as planned, and they started packing things up and making phone calls to arrange appointments for the vaccinations that Eva and the kids required. His plan was to take his family to stay with Lydia and her husband for a few weeks until it was time for them to follow him to Germany. Sofía’s cottage was available, but there was more room at Lydia’s house. While Richard was there, the cottage would get a little cramped trying to sleep the four of them.

During their stay in San Juan Bautista, Eva and the children would get the numerous rounds of immunization shots they needed in order to travel overseas. This was a lot to go through in preparation for the big move to Europe. Eva prayed it would all be worth it.