Rain of Gold

by Victor Villaseñor

  By the time they arrived at the dancehall, there was already a crowd of young Mexican people walking around the block in front of the building. They were courting, Mexican-style. The girls were walking arm-in-arm in one direction in groups of four or five, and the boys were walking in the other direction in small groups, also.

  Back in Mexico, this was how the young people conducted their ritual of courtship on Sundays around the plaza. But this wasn’t Mexico, and there was no village plaza, so now the young people from Mexico did their Sunday courtship around the block of the movie houses or at the dancehalls.

  “Look,” said Domingo, seeing the procession of young people, “Mexico is gone, but they still carry our traditions in their hearts.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Nellie, seeing how happy the sight made Domingo.

  “Back home, Nellie,” he said, “you’d be with your girlfriends like that, walking around the plaza, and I’d walk around in the opposite direction with my brother and friends. And when I saw you, I’d smile and say hello. Like this. Very shy, but coquettish.” Nellie laughed, loving it. “Then, if you liked me, you’d smile back.” She did so. “And then I’d separate myself from my friends and buy an egg full of confetti and I’d wait for you to come by again and then I’d walk up and hit you on the head with the egg,” he said, laughing. “And if you gave me the eye and giggled, then I’d invite you to walk with me. But if you didn’t give me the eye when I hit you with the confetti, then I’d know I’d made a mistake and I’d take off running before you hit me with a rock!

  “Oh, I tell you, Nellie,” he said, “I can still feel the scar I have here on my head where a girl hit me with a rock. Remember, Salvador, you were just a boy, but I was oh, maybe, a man of twelve already?”

  “Yes, I remember,” said Salvador, laughing. “You pinched the girl on the rumble seat, that’s why she hit you with a rock.”

  “That’s right! I’d forgotten that!” said Domingo. “Oh, I was a terror with women, even back then, Nellie!”

  “Then I’m glad she hit you,” said Nellie. “You deserved it!”

  “Oh yeah?” said Domingo, and he grabbed Nellie, hugging her close, kissing her.

  Salvador turned away, giving them privacy. “I’ll go inside and see where Archie is,” he said.

  But then, just as Salvador was walking up to the back, the backdoors flew open and Archie came out with two men, each in a headlock under one of his huge arms. Archie’s face was terrible with rage. He threw the two men head-first into the dirt.

  Instantly, Domingo was out of the Moon and ready to fight, figuring that the big man was Archie and it was his job to help him.

  “No!” screamed Archie, as Domingo started kicking the fallen men. “They work for me! I was just showing them a few tricks in case they have to throw somebody out!”

  “Oh, so you’re pretty tough, eh?” said Domingo to the huge lawman, sizing him up.

  “I can take care of myself,” said Archie, glancing Domingo over, too.

  “All right,” said Salvador, stepping between the two big men. “Archie, I’d like you to meet my brother, Domingo, and his fiancée, Nellie.”

  Nellie came up. She was dressed to kill. No one would’ve dreamed she was pregnant.

  Seeing her, Archie took off his hat. “Glad to meet you, Nellie,” he said, taking her hand and kissing her fingertips. “Salvador told me about his brother, Domingo, but he failed to mention his brother’s fine taste in beautiful women.”

  “Oh, my!” said Nellie, blushing innocently.

  Fixing his tie and coat, Domingo came up and put his arm around Nellie. Domingo was only half a head shorter than Archie.

  “Glad to meet you, Domingo,” said Archie. “Sal has told me a lot about you. He says you play the guitar and can sing, too.”

  “We both sing,” said Domingo, pulling Nellie in close.

  Archie glanced at Salvador. “Hey, Sal, you never said anything about her needing a job, too.”

  “Don’t worry,” said Domingo. “As you can see, she has more than enough looks, and I’m real good with the guitar. So what do you pay?”

  “You willing to help behind the bar, too?” asked Archie.

  “Look, I’ll tell you what,” said Domingo, taking his arm off Nellie and grinning like a cat that had found a mouse, “in Chicago, I was in the protection business, so I’m willing to make a bet with you.”

  Salvador rolled his eyes to the heavens.

  “I’m listening,” said Archie.

  “Well, you’re a pretty big, strong man yourself, and you handled those two men with ease, but I’m willing to bet you can’t throw me through that door like you did those two men. And if you do, then my woman and I are yours free for the whole night. But if you can’t, then you pay us good. Twenty-five dollars each!”

  “Twenty-five each!” yelled Archie. “Why, that’s five times more than I pay anyone!”

  “Yes, but you’re way bigger than me, so hell, why not?” said Domingo.

  Salvador was mad. He’d told Domingo not to clown around. “That’s enough,” he said, stepping in. “I’m sorry, Archie. I didn’t know anything about this hustle. Let’s just forget everything. You don’t have to give my brother a job.”

  “No, hold on,” said Archie. “This ain’t no bet. Hell, I haven’t been beaten in a wrestling match since I turned fifteen!”

  “So then fifty it is?” asked Domingo, winking at Nellie.

  “Right,” said Archie, “fifty it is.” And saying this, he made a mad rush at Domingo, arms stretched out and hands open like claws, so he could ram him through the two huge, open doors.

  But, when he went to grab Domingo in his famous bear hug, something happened. And it happened so quickly, so suddenly, that no one saw what it was. Archie went sailing through the air, ass-end pointed to the sky, and he landed so hard on the ground that he shook the building.

  Salvador didn’t know what to think. He’d never seen such a thing. Only Nellie didn’t seem surprised. In fact, she was in ecstasy, she was so excited.

  “All right, Archie,” said Domingo, offering him a hand up, “we better stop. I’ll show you sometime how that’s done. It’s just a trick I learned with Al Capone’s people. I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

  Salvador glanced toward the heavens.

  “Hurt me, hell!” yelled Archie. “You just woke me up! That bet is still on!” And he leaped to his feet like a great cat, pulling up his suspenders.

  “All right,” said Domingo, “but you better put up those fifty dollars before we go any further. Collecting money from dead men is a tough job.”

  “Don’t worry about me, little pigeon,” said Archie, “it ain’t me who’s going to fall this time, amigo!” And Archie spat in his hands, rubbed them together, and made another mad rush at Domingo.

  But, once more, Domingo just took three quick steps back and one to the side, ducked in close and grabbed Archie’s outstretched arm, then dropped, flipping Archie through the air. This time, Archie landed against the building itself, hitting so hard that it rattled his teeth. His two bartenders came rushing out.

  “Son-of-a-bitch!” screamed Archie.

  “Oh, yes!” screeched Nellie with joy.

  Salvador stepped in. “All right, no more,” he said. He’d seen this type of setup before. Nellie was the type of woman who loved violence, and Domingo was the type of man who loved to do it for her. It was a stupid game and had absolutely no place in business.

  “No more?” yelled Archie. “Hell, I’m just getting warmed up!”

  “Archie,” said Salvador, “this is no good. You got a dance going on inside.”

  “Out of my way!” bellowed Archie, seeing that Nellie was sucking her fingers. She was a she-goat in heat. “I’m gonna kill the son-of-a-bitch!”

  “Domingo,” said Salvador, “you tell him, this has gone far enough!”

  “It’s up to him,” said Domingo, running his right hand up and down his woman’s waist.

&n
bsp; “Damn it, Domingo!” said Salvador.

  “Out of our way!” yelled Archie to Salvador, and this time Archie didn’t just attack; no, he picked up a two-by-four that was lying alongside the building and came charging with rage.

  But Domingo only ducked and dodged and whirled around, stepping in and hitting Archie in the stomach. The big man dropped the two-by-four, gasping for air and grabbing his stomach, falling to his knees.

  Nellie jumped up and down, kissing Domingo all over in a frenzy. Domingo was in ecstasy. Salvador felt like shooting his brother. He was a fool. And he now knew very clearly why he’d never backed up his brother in rock fights when they’d been kids. Salvador hadn’t believed in fighting just for fun, but Domingo did. He was strictly a Villaseñor. He had no Pío Castro blood in his veins at all.

  Going over to Archie, Salvador offered him a hand up, but Archie knocked his hand away.

  “That son-of-a-bitch!” said Archie between gasps. “That son-of-a-bitch!” He started puking.

  “You’re right,” said Salvador. “He tricked you. You should have got him with that two-by-four.”

  “Damned right,” said Archie. “I’ve never lost a fight. But I just ate twelve tacos! Chrissake!”

  Then, to Salvador’s surprise, Archie wiped the puke off his face with his wide, colorful tie, and he started laughing. “You’re okay,” he said to Domingo, calling him over. “Next to me, you’re the strongest man I’ve ever met!” And he laughed again, not looking mad or revengeful in the least. He pulled out his money. “Here,” he said to Domingo, “ten for you and ten for your woman.”

  “Hey, we agreed on twenty-five each,” said Domingo.

  Archie jerked the two ten-dollar bills back. “Yeah, we did,” he said, “but I never agreed on getting a beating, too! Come on, let’s go have a drink inside together,” added Archie, and he put his arm around Domingo, “and we’ll talk things over.”

  “All right,” said Domingo, going along with him.

  And just then, Archie got hold of Domingo by the back of the neck, and sent him flying through the doors, kicking him in the ass as he went sailing across the dance floor.

  “There! I got you through the doors!” screamed Archie. “Now I don’t owe you NOTHING! You son-of-a-bitch! And you and your woman work free all night!”

  Domingo leaped off the floor, dusting off his pants. “¡Cabrón indio!” he screamed. “You tricked me!”

  “I outsmarted you, you cabrón indio—greaser yourself!” said Archie.

  Archie laughed and laughed, and Domingo didn’t like it, but then he started laughing, too. They went up to the bar and Archie ordered drinks for everyone.

  “Well, Sal,” said Archie, downing his whiskey, “you got any more relatives you need straightened out, you just bring ’em to old Archie!”

  The band started to play, and people were entering. Domingo and Nellie went up to the stage to go to work, and Salvador helped Archie unload the rest of the barrels, putting them in the backroom. Salvador was just coming back inside the dancehall when he saw Lupe and Carlota walking in the front door.

  His heart exploded, and his mind went reeling. Oh, the sight of her just sent him spinning. She was truly the most beautiful woman in all the world. No wonder he hadn’t felt like going with any more of Liza’s women up in Pasadena, he was consumed by his love for Lupe. She was his angel, his life, his everything! And, seeing his truelove come walking into the huge open ballroom with such a regal posture, Salvador just knew that he’d done the right thing in buying her the biggest, most beautiful diamond that money could buy.

  Why, this young lady from La Lluvia de Oro was the queen of California, dressed in her simple, pale rose dress. She wore no make-up, except for a little red coloring on her lips; but with her tall, strong posture and her smooth, clear skin, she looked as fresh and pure and beautiful as the newborn day. Her poor sister, Carlota, who stood alongside her wearing lots of make-up and a flashy red dress, looked pale in comparison; and she was good-looking, too.

  Then, Lupe turned and saw him, and her whole face came to life. Salvador felt his heart wanting to burst. He could see it in her eyes, she loved him, too. She really did. He went striding across the room to meet his queen.

  But then Carlota came like a shot, cutting in between Salvador and Lupe. She was in Archie’s huge arms, and they went dancing across the room in a wild, happy storm.

  Salvador laughed, and Lupe did, too. They just stood there, eyeing each other.

  “Will you do me the honor of dancing with me?” asked Salvador.

  Lupe blushed. “I don’t know how,” she said.

  “Truly, you don’t?” he asked.

  “No, I don’t,” she said.

  Suddenly, Salvador loved his truelove all the more, for he now realized that men hadn’t been putting their greedy hands all over her beautiful body, as men did to women when they danced with them and, therefore, she was even more pure than he’d ever imagined.

  “Oh, Lupe,” he said, “come, and I’ll show you how.”

  “Oh, no, please, don’t,” she said, feeling embarrassed.

  And, yet, she opened up her arms to this man who’d asked her about her dreams, and they went gliding across the shiny hardwood floor, and she loved it, feeling so secure and all warm and good in his thick, hard arms.

  They danced and danced, and when the music stopped, they went outside to cool off in the evening breeze along with everyone else.

  “Lupe,” said Salvador, feeling so nervous inside himself that he was beginning to tremble now that they weren’t dancing, “well, I managed to get the little present for you that I spoke to you about in Hemet. And, well,” he added, putting his hands in his pockets and kicking the ground with his right foot as he glanced up at the sky, “I was wondering if, you know, your dreams and my dreams, if maybe they can’t accompany each other and make a life together.”

  “Our dreams?” she said, loving it.

  “Yes,” he said, “our dreams, our wants, our . . . oh, I’ve missed you so much,” he said.

  “And I’ve missed you, too,” she said.

  “Really?”

  “Oh, yes!”

  She reached out, taking his huge hand in hers as she’d reached out so many times across the warm-smelling bed to take hold of her mother. She felt so very happy. He hadn’t asked her if she loved him or if she’d accept his hand in marriage. No, he’d simply asked her if their dreams, their most private secret parts of all their lives, could accompany each other.

  Oh, she felt so free inside herself. She was soaring over the towering cathedral rocks of her youth.

  “Lupe,” he said, trembling close, “well, I’d like to know when it would be appropriate for me and, you know, my spokesman, to come by and see you and your parents to, well, ask for your hand officially.”

  “Oh, my God!” she said, looking up at him and seeing his long, dark, thick eyelashes fluttering like frightened birds, he was so nervous. She was glad that it was the man who had to do the proposing. Oh, she’d go crazy if she’d had to do it.

  “Well,” she said, soothing his hand, “my family and I will be home all this week, working the peppers, so any evening is fine.”

  “Then you’ve said yes,” he said.

  She smiled. “Yes, I’d love for my dreams to accompany yours.”

  “You would? Really?”

  She nodded. And, yes, he could see it in her eyes. She was really saying yes to him, yes to his dreams, yes to their having a life together, yes forever and ever.

  “Oh, good,” he said, realizing that he’d just taken the most important step of his life. “Then this week I’ll be by. Oh, Lupe, this is the happiest day of my life. And, well, I’d like you to know,” he went on, not being able to keep quiet, “that I’ve also been looking around for a place for us, and, well, I found a little ranch for rent in Carlsbad, overlooking the sea, that has avocados and two little houses so that your parents will also have a place to stay.”

 
Tears came to Lupe’s eyes. She drew Salvador’s hand to her lips, kissing it. “Oh, thank you, Salvador,” she said, eyes dancing. “This is the day I’ve dreamed of, too.”

  “You too?”

  “Oh, yes!” she said.

  “My God, I love you,” he said, trembling.

  And Lupe wanted to say those same words, too, “I love you,” but they just wouldn’t come out of her. “Salvador,” she said instead, “I’ve been thinking about nothing else but us since I saw you in Hemet and, well, I’ve decided that I think that the first few years of our marriage we shouldn’t be living near any of our relatives.”

  He stared at her. He couldn’t believe his ears. He was stunned. Why, she’d always been the one who’d spoken of needing a place big enough so that she could bring her parents to live with them, but she’d changed her mind. She wanted to be alone with him. She truly did love him! Oh, his mind went reeling.

  Seeing how he looked at her, Lupe laughed. “Salvador,” she said, “don’t tell me that this disappoints you, especially after being cornered by my mother so much.”

  It was his turn to laugh. “Oh, no,” he said, “I’m not disappointed, querida. I’m thrilled. It’s just that, well, it surprised me. You and your mother always seemed so close.”

  “And we are,” said Lupe, “but, lately, I’ve been thinking about my sisters and how they’ve done with their own marriages . . . and, well, I just think that the first few years of any marriage should be lived alone.”

  “I agree,” said Salvador. “Why, my own mother and I were speaking of this very same thing.”

  “You were?”

  “Yes.”

  “And what did she say?”

  “Strangely, it surprised me, but my mother said that maybe her own marriage would’ve turned out better if she and my father hadn’t settled on my grandfather’s ranch. That the proverb that says that the son-in-law who moves in with his in-laws must either be a simple fool or a very brave and capable man.”

  “You know, I’d always heard that same thing all my life, too,” said Lupe, feeling so free to talk with him. “But not until recently did it really start to make sense to me. In fact, growing up I always swore that I’d never leave my mother’s side, and if my husband didn’t want to live with the two of us, then he could get out!” she said, laughing.