Rain of Gold

by Victor Villaseñor

  And he turned and sprinted off.

  She stood there, feeling the touch of his lips on her lips. Oh, she would’ve started kissing him back, if he’d kissed her one more time. Now, she knew exactly what María was going through. Oh, the things of the heart truly weren’t what they seemed.

  She watched him disappear down the block, and she headed for home once more. Oh, Salvador and Mark just baffled her mind. She remembered the day that Salvador had caught her trying to learn how to drive. She smiled, feeling all warm.

  It was mid-afternoon when Salvador got to the distillery in Escondido to pick up the barrels of whiskey that he had to take to Archie for the Ortega Chile Dance in Santa Ana. After parking his car, Salvador was just getting ready to go inside when Epitacio came racing out of their rented house, glancing over his shoulder.

  “Salvador,” he whispered as he came up to him, “I don’t know what to do. The last two barrels got ruined. Your brother Domingo, he . . . he . . . and I told him not to do it like that. You showed me the way to do it, but he gets so mad, telling me that he knows what he’s doing, because he was big time in Chee-a-cago and he knows best.”

  The front door of the house opened, and Domingo stood leaning on the door jamb, stripped to the waist, tall and handsome and well-muscled, with a pint bottle in his hand and loud Mexican music blasting from the radio inside.

  Salvador glanced around to make sure that none of the neighbors were watching. Quickly, he headed for the door to get his brother back inside. He caught a glimpse of Nellie covering her nakedness with a blanket inside of the house as he came up to his brother.

  “Get back inside with that bottle!” snapped Salvador angrily. “What the hell are you trying to do, get us all arrested? This is no little game, goddammit!”

  “Relax, little brother,” smiled Domingo, not moving, just standing there grandly. “I got everything under control.”

  “I bet you do,” said Salvador, trying to control his rage. He walked past his brother into the house, turned off the music and glanced around. The place was a mess. He faced his brother, seeing his bloodshot eyes.

  “Domingo,” he said, “I don’t know what’s going on inside your head, but this is a distillery. And we’re in the gringo part of town. You’re lucky they haven’t already had your ass arrested!”

  “I thought you said you had the law in your pocket,” said Domingo. “Hell, back in Chee-a-cago we’d do whatever we damned pleased.”

  “Domingo!” shouted Salvador, cutting him off, “I’ve told you a dozen times, we’re not in Chee-a-cago! We’re in Escondido, California. And, yes, I have the law’s help, but they can only look the other way so far. We got to be careful and smart!”

  “Shit, you just don’t know how to handle the law,” said Domingo, taking a big drink. “That’s your whole trouble. Hell, Al Capone and me, we used to . . . ”

  “Damn it!” exploded Salvador. “1 don’t give a shit about your Al Capone! I’m me, Salvador! Here! Right now! And I’m not going to be put in jail because of your stupidity! Now stop your drinking! You and Nellie, get dressed! We got to get out of here quick! This place is no good anymore!”

  “Oh, come on, Salvador,” said Domingo, still refusing to get excited, “your whole problem is you just don’t know how to live.”

  Salvador could see it was useless. He’d have to shoot his brother between the eyes to get him to understand. For the first time in his life, Salvador thought that maybe the whole problem with their father all those years hadn’t been his terrible temper, but that he’d been just plain stupid. He decided to lie to his brother to get him out of there.

  “Domingo,” he said, “I got word that the sheriff’s coming. Now let’s move! Now!”

  “But why didn’t you say so in the first place?” said Domingo. “Hell, protection was my business in Chee-a-cago! You know me, little brother! I’ll kill the fucking sheriff; you just give me the word!”

  “All right,” he said, “if I need somebody killed, Domingo, I’ll give you the word. But right now, let’s just go,” he said, fully realizing that the dumbest little cop could make mincemeat out of this big handsome brother of his. He was a bullshitter, nothing more.

  They went to work, loading the barrels of whiskey that they already had made up and took them into the hills and hid them. After getting back to the rented house, Salvador took Epitacio aside.

  “We’re going to have to close down this place and move,” Salvador told Epitacio. “I don’t want to take any chances. The neighbors might have seen something.”

  “I kept telling him to stay inside when he was drinking, Salvador,” said Epitacio, looking like a frightened mouse, “but he just wouldn’t listen to me.”

  “It’s all right,” said Salvador, putting his hand on Epitacio’s shoulder. “You did the best you could. I respect you.”

  “You do?” he asked anxiously.

  “Yes, I do.”

  It was like he’d given Epitacio a million dollars. The man stood up taller than Salvador had ever seen him do.

  “Thank you!” he said, looking at Salvador right in the eyes. “Very much.”

  “You’re welcome,” said Salvador, and he took his brother-in-law in a big abrazo.

  Life was really crazy, thought Salvador. Who on earth would’ve ever predicted that he’d be embracing Epitacio, whom he’d been hating for so long, and that he’d end up wanting to kill his brother when he’d been longing with such love to see Domingo for years? Oh, his mother was absolutely right; life was twisted with surprises, and good ones, too, if we only lived long enough to see them through.

  He laughed, and he and Epitacio went to the front part of the house, looking for Domingo and Nellie.

  “All right, you two,” said Salvador to Domingo and Nellie, “I’m going over to Santa Ana with these first barrels, then I’ll be right back. You two get ready to go. Epitacio will help you pack up your things. I want us out of this place by nightfall. We got to move fast. Remember, the slow always get killed.”

  “You got it!” said Domingo. “But wouldn’t it be easier just to kill the sheriff?” he added, putting his arm around Nellie, wanting to impress her.

  Salvador just looked at Domingo. His brother made him want to puke. He couldn’t believe that they were even brothers. He was as different from him as Carlota was from Lupe. Blood just wasn’t always blood.

  “No,” said Salvador, “it wouldn’t. You get ready. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “All right, if running is how you like to live,” said Domingo.

  Salvador didn’t even bother to answer him. To give him any more attention would just go to his head. He was a fool, no doubt about it; he was an idiot trying to impress his red-headed girlfriend.

  Arriving at the well-lit place where Archie was putting on the Ortega Chile Dance, Salvador thought of Lupe, and he wondered if she was already back from Hemet. If she was, then she’d probably be coming to the dance with her sister Carlota. But, he also realized that he didn’t have the time to go by and find out. He had a lot to do before sundown. His big, handsome brother was really going to put them in jail if he wasn’t careful.

  “Well,” said Archie, coming to the backdoor when he saw Salvador drive up, “you got the liquor?”

  “Yeah,” said Salvador, “the first three barrels.”

  “Well, hurry up, then,” said Archie, “let’s unload ’em and get ’em inside so you can go and get the rest.”

  “Just hold on a minute,” said Salvador. “We got to talk, Archie. You and me, we’ve been doing business for over two years now, and well, I need a little favor.”

  “Sure, you name it,” said Archie enthusiastically. He was in a good mood. He was sure he was going to make a killing on this dance.

  “I got this brother of mine, Domingo, and, well . . .

  “It will cost you fifty dollars,” said Archie.

  “Fifty dollars!” said Salvador. “But what the hell are you talking about? I haven’t eve
n told you what I want yet!”

  “Sure, you have,” said Archie. “A man mentions his relative with a long face, and I know his relative ain’t worth a shit, and he’s trying to pawn him off on me for a job!”

  Salvador had to grin. “But, Archie,” said Salvador, “he plays the guitar good, and he has a beautiful voice.”

  “Sixty-five dollars,” said Archie.

  “Sixty-five!” shouted Salvador.

  “Sure, you just told me he’s lazy, not dependable and chases women and drinks!”

  “You son-of-a-bitch!” said Salvador.

  “You damn right!” said Archie. “But not a stupid one! I got a lot of worthless relatives, too!”

  Archie laughed and laughed, slapping Salvador on the back, and they unloaded the three barrels of whiskey, while having a good time. Then Archie told Salvador to bring Domingo by this evening and that maybe he’d hire him to sing with the band.

  Leaving Santa Ana, Salvador drove by Lupe’s house and he saw that no one was home. He assumed that they were still gone. He took the diamond ring out of his pocket and looked at it, then gazed at Lupe’s home. Ever since he could remember, he’d always known that one day he’d fall in love and marry. But he’d never really realized what falling in love truly meant until now. It meant that he wasn’t lost and searching anymore. He now had a face, a person, a human being to dream about. Not lots of women, as he’d always had, but one specific woman—one face, one body, one mind, one certain kind of smile and twinkle in the eyes—on whom he could focus all his secret thoughts and feelings. Oh, it was such a joy, beyond all understanding. A person to dream of, a person to hold, here, inside your heart and mind, with such all-consuming power that it took your breath away. This was love!

  He kissed the diamond ring and decided to drive by Harry’s and order another suit, then go by and see his mother. But he wouldn’t tell her what had happened in Escondido with Domingo. The main thing was to keep Domingo and Nellie out of his mother’s home, so she didn’t see how they behaved. They were people with very little shame. Love was lust to them and nothing more. They just didn’t know the difference.

  Harry was happy to see Salvador and they had a fine visit. Bernice was friendly with him for the first time, too.

  “I can’t wait to meet your fiancée,” she said. “She must be very beautiful!”

  “Oh, she is!” said Salvador. “The most beautiful woman in all the world!”

  “I’m so glad to hear that,” said Bernice. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll create a special wedding dress just for her!”

  “Thank you,” said Salvador, leaving the store.

  When Salvador arrived at his mother’s home, he was feeling ten feet tall. He had money in his pocket, a woman that he loved, a Jewish tailor and his wife who couldn’t do enough for him, and a deputy sheriff at his side. Walking into the little shack in back, Salvador felt like a hero and he found his beloved mother in a grand mood, too.

  “Mi hijito,” she said, “I’ve been in church praying every day, trying to solve our problem of who should ask for Lupe’s hand, and then there it was, before my very eyes.”

  “Another vision?” he asked excitedly.

  “No, the priest,” she said. “He came to tell me that he enjoyed your last gift very much.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure he did,” said Salvador, feeling disappointed. “Man, that priest can drink! He’s costing me a fortune. But what does this have to do with our problem?”

  “Salvador,” said the old woman, “think, don’t make me have to show you how to eat at the table of miracles, too.”

  He still didn’t get it.

  “The priest,” she said. “He’s our answer; he’s the one who should ask for Lupe’s hand for us.”

  “Oh!” said Salvador, the light coming on inside his mind’s eye. “I’ll be damned! You’re absolutely right. Lupe’s family is very religious. Why didn’t I think of that?”

  “Because you’re not as smart as me, mi hijito,” she said, grinning good-naturedly. “And, also, I’m a woman, so I’ve had to figure things out all my life. Men can just go out and get things done without thinking. They have all of history and the good church behind them. Poor things.”

  “You’re right,” said Salvador, thinking of his brother and how he’d just stood at the doorway with the pint bottle in his hand, as if he were daring the whole world to try and do anything to him. His mother was absolutely right; so many men were so cocksure, that they never even learned how to think.

  “You know, Mama,” he said, “that’s what Duel taught me, too. Oh, I wish you could’ve met that man.”

  “What ever became of him?” she asked. “You never said.”

  Salvador’s whole stomach came up into his throat. “I don’t know, Mama,” he lied. “We just kind of went our different ways.” He stood up. “Well, I got to be going. I have another delivery to make.”

  “When will you see the priest? We mustn’t lose time.”

  He laughed. “Tomorrow, Mama.”

  “Good. I want you married soon!”

  “Yes, I know,” he said. Salvador kissed his mother and thanked her, and then took off to get Domingo and Nellie. He didn’t have much time. Oh, how he’d wished that Lupe were back from Hemet and coming to the dance so he could propose to her. The diamond was burning a hole in his pocket.

  “Now remember,” said Salvador to Domingo as they came into Santa Ana that evening, “Archie is a deputy sheriff and he seems friendly and easy going at first, but he’s not. He’s as cagey as a fox, so you be respectful. No playing around, understand? He’s very important to me.”

  “Hey, stop worrying,” said Domingo, patting Nellie on the thigh. “I know how to handle lawmen. Like I told you, protection was my specialty in Chee-a-cago.”

  Salvador just couldn’t stand it anymore. He pulled the Moon over to the side of the road. “Come on, Domingo, we got to talk alone,” he said, getting out of the car.

  “Okay,” said Domingo. “Now you’re talking.” And he got out of the Moon, thinking that he and his brother were finally going to have it out, man-to-man, without the women around.

  He followed Salvador into a grove of trees. There, Salvador whirled around. “Look,” he said, “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you, but first you tell me that you know how to make liquor and then ruin five barrels for me, costing me a fortune. And now you bullshit me again, saying that your specialty was protection!”

  Domingo only grinned. “So how are we going to settle this?” he asked. “With fists or what?”

  Salvador stared at him. Why, the stupid fool thought that he’d called him out to have a fight with him. He had no concept of what it was to work out a problem.

  “Jesus Christ in heaven!” yelled Salvador. “I’m talking about you lying all the time! About you not being able to tell the truth! Not about fighting, don’t you understand?”

  “Sure, I do,” said Domingo, taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves. “You’re trying to make a fool of me, and I’m not going to let you do it.”

  Salvador stared at him, at his bright blue eyes and fine, handsome features, which were so different from his own.

  “Domingo, I didn’t come out here to fight you or make you look like a fool. I came out here to get you to understand that I got my whole life riding on this bootlegging, and I need for us to be careful and truthful with each other or we’re going to go to jail.”

  “Bullshit! You just want to insult me!”

  “Insult you? My God, don’t you understand? I want to get married. I want to buy a big ranch. I’d like for you to be my partner so we can work together as brothers should, from sun up to sun down, as Don Pío and his men did when they settled those mountains of Los Altos de Jalisco. And I’m sure that we can do this here, too. You and me, we can buy half of Oceanside and Carlsbad, from the sea to the mountains, and build us a great ranch, just like our grandfather. But we got to be careful. And no more bullshitting me. You be straigh
t with me. I got to be able to depend on you a lo macho!”

  “You mean it, Salvador?” said Domingo.

  “Of course, I mean it,” said Salvador.

  Domingo threw down his coat and raised his arms to the heavens, swaying back and forth like a giant under the shade of the tall oak trees. Tears came to his eyes. “Oh, Salvador!” he screamed. “I will never lie to you again! I swear it! You are my brother! My flesh and blood! All these years that I’ve been moving from Texas to Chicago I’ve dreamed of a man saying these words to me. A ranch, a big one, so we can work from sun to sun like free men, like our grandfather Don Pío and his men did! Free to breathe, to dream, to raise our families!”

  Tears were streaming down his face. He lunged forward and grabbed Salvador in a huge abrazo, lifting him over his head. Holding him up to the sky with outstretched arms, he bellowed, “I love you! I adore you! I’ll do whatever you say! You are my king!”

  And they hugged and kissed, and it was wonderful.

  “Oh, I’ve been so lost!” said Domingo, putting Salvador down. “So all alone. I left children everywhere I went, like a dog! I wanted to rebuild our family, but I didn’t know how.”

  He talked and talked and Salvador listened, and it all started making sense now. His brother was a good man, but he just didn’t know how to behave.

  “Yes, I’ve been lying to you about everything, Salvador,” he said. “I saw you doing so well, and I just wanted you and Mama to be proud of me, too. No, I never met Al Capone. That’s all bullshit. And I don’t own a house, and I never made any liquor, but I drank a lot of it.”

  “And this protection business?” asked Salvador.

  “Well, that I did do for some people for a while,” he said.

  “I see,” said Salvador, not knowing if he could believe this, either. But he let it go.

  They went back to the Moon and drove off. Nellie wanted to know what had happened, but Domingo simply patted his hand on her thigh very affectionately and told her that it was between brothers, winking at Salvador. Nellie asked nothing more, enjoying the affection she was getting. Salvador was amazed. His brother just had no end to his charm. He wondered if their father had been like this, too.