sight of his conditional wife: Demetrio smiled after a short pause. But the whole time he was wetting his lips with an onrush of saliva. Quite abnormal, let us say, this action that soon discomfited the two women.
Renata knew why Demetrio had come.
Sensible, for the gallant promptly pulled a large roll of bills out of his jacket.
The most practical of the practical.
The mother-in-law was alert. She didn’t want to miss a word the betrotheds exchanged. Darn it she was meddlesome.
The first thing the proud husband announced was that Renata could buy an extraordinary wedding gown with that money, with some reckoning, of course, because these funds would pay for everything related to the feast, though it depended, to wit: how many guests would there be? The sisters and their husbands and the closest family members in Sacramento, Lamadrid, and Nadadores, no more than sixty people, mother and daughter said.
“You two will be in charge of that.”
Also the cost of the Mass. Moreover: an anthology of details that piled up as the three spoke, but with that wad of dough the big guy avoided any rows, in fact, mother and daughter paid him no heed while they counted the money out loud.
Problem: the onerous amount of work … for the two women.
Counting the bills took so long that Demetrio’s thoughts turned to his and that ill-fated Mireya’s son; he imagined him healthy and with a respectable vocabulary by now. Yes, quite the talker. Yes, quite the walker—achoo! Naughty, for sure, but just then Renata exclaimed that it was so much money …
And Demetrio puffed out his chest, feeling quite stuck-up, and said only, “Yes, yes,” then stretched his neck up a bit farther.
Next they moved on to an issue of supreme importance: the date of the wedding. Doña Luisa said, “One moment,” and left then returned in a flash with a calendar in hand: let’s see. Closing the stationery store came up, as a factor in and of itself. So: the best would be to aim for a Saturday in October; naturally! though it could also be November, not December, so …
Speculations were skittish, for all three were tiptoeing around much too much, without any overpowering reason to do so.
In the end: the first Saturday in November. Agreement, obviously symptomatic. The fifth, yes, fifth of … Five was a lucky number. The wedding would be held in the morning. It would be a good idea for Demetrio to arrive a couple of days early, just in case anything unexpected should occur—or not?
The most important issues were apparently resolved. But the mother-in-law didn’t leave—damn it! Clearly that pest would not let her daughter talk to her future keeper: never! For Demetrio had said that he wouldn’t be returning to Sacramento before the wedding. His business there was demanding. The women pressed him for information on that subject, the reason for his diligence, why so busy.
And what Demetrio was inclined to reveal:
“It’s a pool hall. And it’s thriving.”
This slightly squelched the women’s jubilation. Imagine a pool hall as a black stain. A fomenter of daily dalliance. Disappointment, (almost) depravity. There was a partially aggrieved silence, noted by the future husband, and clearly revealed in the resigned droop of their heads: what a pity! However, he offered up one explanation that maybe … The pool hall thing is temporary, afterward I’ll invest in decent businesses. My mother also disapproves, but she understands my strategy. Such a sincere explanation deserved a partial pardon. The women lifted their heads, buoyed by the tiny ray of hope that shined through. To all appearances he’d strayed, though here they espied a timely corrective. Temporary perfidy: right?, what was the time frame? Something like six months was a lie that could be believed. Renata believed it, and her mother, well, probably she did too. In fact, one must look at the positive side of pool halls: a business that underpinned what would be solid solvency. And Doña Luisa declared: I hope this pool hall thing is indeed temporary. And he nodded—in response? Let’s watch Demetrio’s hypocritical affirmative: what a notorious movement of his head! Then: upon seeing that the lady was not going to say, “Please, excuse me,” he decided that the moment had come for him to depart, he would return the following day for a visit (okay?). In any case, as he walked out and continued doggedly down the street, the following wove itself into his brain: he would not give up the pool hall because it