Falling Too Fast

by Malín Alegría

  Para mi papá

  De músico, poeta y loco,

  todos tenemos un poco.

  We have all been fools

  once in our lives.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  The funny thing about destiny,” Alexis Garza said as she pulled open the storefront door, “is that sometimes it needs a little shove.” Her friend Nikki Cantu giggled as she followed Alexis into the botánica. The narrow shop was dim and filled with magical wonders. On the crowded shelves there were crosses of various sizes, jars filled with herbs, and colored candles with labels like: “Money,” “Luck,” or “Stay Out of Jail.”

  “Look at this,” Alexis said, picking up a box of soap. Nikki leaned over to see. There was a picture of a man and a woman surrounded by little pink hearts. Alexis read the Spanish label with a dramatic flair: “Ven a mí.”

  “Ooooh.” Nikki smiled. “I think that’s a love soap. You wash with it and then guys can’t resist you.”

  Alexis’s eyes brightened. This was exactly what she needed to change her love life. Ever since her ex had smeared her reputation last year, no boy at Dos Rios High had asked her out. She felt cursed. Alexis had plenty of guy friends, but she wanted to go on dates and have someone to call her boyfriend.

  “You girls looking for amor?” a low, decrepit voice called from the back of the room.

  The girls jumped. Nikki crouched behind Alexis. The two girls had met in mariachi class last year and become instant best friends. Nikki was from an even smaller town than Dos Rios, right next to the Rio Grande River.

  “Yes,” Alexis said, louder than she meant to. She tried to stand up straight with her chest out like her grandma Trini showed her. Correct posture always made her look older than fifteen.

  The old woman moved toward the girls. Dull gray linen hung loose around her shoulders and hips, making her look like an unkempt mummy. As the woman shuffled forward, Alexis felt a tingling sensation race up her spine.

  “We want boyfriends,” Alexis blurted out, turning red. She hadn’t meant to be so bold. Their plan had just been to check out the store and see what kind of odd stuff it might have. But now, seeing the shop clerk, Alexis felt compelled to ask for help. Alexis had always been drawn to magic and mystery. As a child, she’d begged her grandmothers to tell her ghost stories before bed. Unlike her big sister, Fabi, Alexis loved to scare herself. Her favorite stories were of La Lechuza, a woman who sold her soul to the devil and could transform into a screech owl at night. Alexis shivered; maybe she was looking at the real Lechuza.

  The woman grabbed a red candle and set it on the counter. She then reached for a bag of prepared herbs and a small feathery thing that looked like a stuffed bird. Alexis and Nikki inched closer for a better look.

  “San Antonio is the saint of lost things. He’ll help you find what your heart seeks. If he’s stubborn, you can put him upside down in a dark oven until he brings you a boyfriend.” She pointed a trembling finger at the bag of herbs. “This is a baño de flores, a flower bath created with the nectar of the hummingbird. The dead hummingbird is powerful. It brought me many men.”

  Alexis couldn’t help but giggle. The woman recoiled, staring at Alexis with yellow eyes. Alexis felt her cheeks burn. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean —”

  The woman raised her gnarled hand and grabbed Alexis’s wrist. Alexis stiffened at the woman’s iron grip. “You think I’m ugly,” she snapped in a raspy smoker’s voice.

  Alexis swallowed hard, searching for something kind to say. “You have a very pretty smile,” Alexis said finally. She jerked back when the woman opened her mouth to reveal rotting teeth.

  “You lie,” the woman hissed, giving Alexis the chills. “You see this” — she gestured at her rags — “and believe that this is how I’ve always been. I used to be the most beautiful woman in the Valley. But I was young and stupid. Don’t you be young and stupid.” The woman forced open Alexis’s fist and traced the lines on her palm. “You will have two men come into your life.” Alexis gasped, unable to hide her excitement. “One dark and the other light.”

  “Really?” Alexis gasped again. “What do they look like? Are they cute? Are they romantic? Will they fight over me?”

  The woman ignored Alexis’s questions. “Your cousin will lead you to one,” she said. Alexis and Nikki raised their eyebrows at each other.

  They bought two Saint Anthony candles and the bag of flower bath. When they got outside, Alexis howled with laughter.

  “Could you believe her? Saying that she was once a beautiful lady.” Alexis stopped to admire her own reflection in a store window.

  Nikki glanced at the botánica. She was hugging herself despite the heat outside. “I think we should go. This place gives me the creeps.”

  “Oh, come on,” Alexis teased. “Don’t tell me you believe anything she said.” Alexis rolled her eyes. “She’s just playing a part.”

  “I don’t know,” Nikki said. “She looks pretty powerful to me. What if she puts a spell on us?”

  Alexis burst out laughing. “Listen to yourself. She just wants us to buy things. And you never know, this stuff might actually work.” Alexis shook the paper bag and grinned.

  Although she swore the old lady was a fake, Alexis couldn’t shake the feeling that her prediction, about a new guy coming into her life, was true.

  So when she overheard her cousin Santiago talking about a drag race, her gut told her she had to be there with him. The palm reader did say that her cousin would lead her to one potential boyfriend. The only problem was that Santiago didn’t want her following him around. This left her with no other option but to go undercover.

  The night of the race, she tied her flat-ironed hair back into a ponytail and put on a pair of dark jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt. Her cousin would be pretty easy to follow. With his head of dark curls and his big black truck blasting Spanish music, he was hard to overlook.

  As for sneaking out of the house, it would be easy. When your family owns a restaurant, there is always work to do. However, Alexis had certain privileges. She wasn’t expected to work at the restaurant as much as her older sister, Fabi. Alexis’s passion was music, and her family fully supported her dreams. Besides, with after-school mariachi rehearsals, violin practice, and homework, Alexis had a full plate. Earlier in the day, Alexis had told her mother an excuse about going to Nikki’s house to practice for a school presentation. It sounded just plausible enough for her mother to wave her away without any questions.

  Alexis was about to leave when she remembered the glow-in-the-dark face paint Fabi had used last year to scare a couple of bullies at the cemetery. Alexis giggled to herself as she rubbed the greenish-white paint on her cheeks. Maybe I can scare Santi, she thought, dabbing a couple of finishing touches onto her lips.

  The sound of chirping chicharras in the night warned her that tomorrow would be another hot and humid day. Alexis stepped onto the wooden porch of her white bungalow-style home on the south side of Dos Rios. A smile crept onto her lips as she ran down the empty street toward her cousin’s house. She was off on an adventure — maybe to find her destiny.

  Her cousin’s truck was parked in front of his place. Alexis thought about hiding in the bushes to scare him when he passed, but she didn’t want to give him an
excuse not to take her along. Instead, she decided to hide under a musty old serape in the bed of his truck. If she waited until he got to the races — or better yet until he was actually racing — then he definitely couldn’t force her to go home.

  Soon, Santiago climbed into his truck and peeled out onto the road. They drove for a while, out of town and into the barren landscape of the Rio Grande Valley. Alexis wished she could sit up and look for some distinguishing markers, anything that would tell her where she was. Her plan to scare Santiago and meet the guy of her dreams was starting to seem like a bad idea.

  Suddenly, the truck came to an abrupt stop. Alexis could hear voices laughing and music playing from someone’s car, but she didn’t dare look out from under the blanket — not yet. Her cousin got out of his truck and greeted some passing people.

  “You came,” an excited male voice cried.

  “Please. You practically begged me to come,” Santiago replied in a confident tone. She recognized the sound of a slapping handshake. Was that one of the guys she was supposed to meet? she wondered. “Yo,” her cousin asked, “so who else is here?”

  The answer was cut short by the sound of a car honking behind them. “What the …? Aw, don’t tell me you invited those fools?” Santiago asked.

  “Hey.” Santiago’s friend lowered his voice. “The Salinas brothers have a lot of cash. I don’t know where they got it and I don’t care. But they want to race you … only you.”

  “Who’s that guy with them? I’ve never seen him around.”

  Alexis perked up. A stranger? She risked a peek in the side mirror — she didn’t recognize the guy in the Salinas brothers’ truck, but maybe he was her destiny? He was definitely her type: cute.

  “So how ’bout it?” his friend asked, growing serious. Alexis jerked back down under her cover. She was dying for a better look at this stranger.

  “Dude.” Santiago cut him off. “I don’t know. I promised my moms. I’ve got to keep a low profile. I’m already in enough trouble.”

  “Just one race. Look, I’ll even sweeten the deal for you. I’ll give you fifty bucks just to race. Win or lose.”

  The car behind them honked twice. A voice Alexis recognized as Brandon Salinas’s called out. “So what’s up? Is that punk in or out?”

  Santiago sighed deeply. Then Alexis heard Santiago’s friend say, “He’s in.”

  Alexis’s heart pounded frantically. She didn’t know what to do. Should she come out from under the serape now, before the race? Drag races were off-limits. Her mother warned her and her older sister to stay clear of them if they didn’t want a whack from their mom’s floppy chancla. It was bad enough she was here at all, but to stay in the truck made her an actual participant.

  Alexis thought about coming out of her hiding spot. Her cousin would be mad. But better he be upset now than later, when her body was thrown from the back of the truck. Alexis knew she would be a lot safer standing along the sidelines than in the flatbed. But she was tired of living on the sidelines. Her whole life she’d been guarded by her overbearing relatives, who were always looking out for her. They never let her do anything fun. This could be her chance to make her own high school memories. A thrilling sensation seized her. Maybe she could even help her cousin win. Then he might let her hang out with him more often. Santiago’s engine started up.

  The truck made a wide circle, getting into position. Although she was nervous, it was also kind of thrilling to be in a race. She had forgotten all about finding a boyfriend. Santiago was going to get a big kick out of this, she thought.

  A gunshot rang out into the air and Santiago’s truck jumped into life. Alexis held her breath. The wind whipped the serape off her and it disappeared into the desert night. The moon was especially bright. Over her shoulder she could make out the shape of the Salinas brothers’ black Escalade racing alongside them. Just then, Santiago’s truck kicked into a higher gear and accelerated ahead of the Escalade. This was the moment Alexis had been waiting for.

  Travis Salinas was focused on the windy dirt road ahead of him. His brother, Brandon, started to poke him in the ribs.

  “Bro,” Travis cried in annoyance. “What’s your problem?”

  Brandon didn’t utter a word. He gestured at the back of Santiago’s truck.

  Travis sighed and glanced at where his brother was pointing. He gasped and his eyes grew round at the sight of a dark apparition with a ghostly white face reaching out toward them. Both brothers screamed. Travis’s leg pressed down on the brake and the Escalade spun to the right, barely missing Santiago’s truck. The car whirled out of control until it finally crashed into a mesquite tree and stopped. Neither brother seemed hurt, but they both looked shaken up as they climbed out of their vehicle.

  A few feet away, Santiago’s truck came to an abrupt halt, throwing Alexis’s body across the flatbed. She screamed. Santiago jumped out of the cab and ran a couple of feet toward the Salinas brothers’ crash. When he registered Alexis’s scream, he rushed back to his truck.

  “Alexis! What the …?”

  “Surprise,” Alexis said in a small voice. This can’t be good, she thought, staring at the crash she’d caused. “I’m sorry…. I just wanted to slow them down….”

  Her cousin opened the tailgate and motioned for her to get out. “I can’t believe this…. Do you know how bad this could have been?” Santiago wiped his brow, sweeping his soft curls out of his face. “Damn, girl.” He let out a tight breath and leaned on the edge of the tailgate of his truck. “You scared the hell out of me.”

  “Sorry.” Alexis’s solemn face split into a grin. “You should have seen the look on Brandon’s and Travis’s faces, though. It was like they were seeing an actual ghost.” She rubbed her face clean with the sleeves of her shirt.

  Santiago couldn’t help but smile. He swung his right arm around Alexis’s neck and pulled her in a gentle headlock. With his left hand, he gave her a coscorrón. “That’s for scaring me.”

  “Ouch!” Alexis cried, trying to push him away. “Hey, you can’t treat me like that. Not after I helped you win. I want my ten percent.”

  Santiago released her and laughed. “We haven’t won the race yet.” He nodded down the road at a series of lights where the finish line had to be.

  “Well, c’mon.” Alexis pulled at his white T-shirt. “Let’s go. What are we waiting for?”

  “We?” Santiago shot her a stern look. “There ain’t no ‘we’ here. I’m not even supposed to be here, you know? If your mother finds out …” His eyes bulged. “If my mother finds out …”

  “I won’t tell,” Alexis cut in. “I promise. I can keep a secret.”

  Santiago twisted his lips into a frustrated scowl. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You want something, don’t you?”

  Alexis blushed. “I sorta kinda thought that maybe you could introduce me to some of your friends….” she said, looking down at her dusty shoes. Because you’re supposed to introduce me to my new boyfriend, Alexis added to herself.

  Santiago shook his head. “No way. I don’t want you talking to any of the fools out here tonight. You stick with me — and don’t drink anything, you got it?”

  “Ay, you’re worse than Fabi,” Alexis complained. “Oh, please, please, please.” Alexis put her fingertips together in a praying gesture. “I just want to meet one guy. I promise I won’t ask you to do another favor for me.”

  Brandon Salinas’s voice interrupted them. “This is not over, Santiago! You cheated!”

  Santiago jumped up and made his way to the front of his truck. Alexis rushed over to the passenger side and got in. He looked at her as he buckled his seat belt. “This stuff is dangerous. Didn’t you just see what happened to Brandon and Travis back there? Not everyone comes out alive, you know.”

  He started the engine. The truck rolled toward the brilliant beams of the parked car lights at the finish line. Alexis watched wide-eyed as they entered the clearing. The crowd of onlookers rushed up to Santiago’s tru
ck, cheering loudly. Her cousin jumped out of the truck and into the arms of his adoring fans. Alexis took her time getting out. She searched through the crowd, not sure who she was actually looking for. Alexis breathed deeply. The air was cool and fresh. A country tune was playing behind her. A small flame ignited in the middle of her chest. Her destiny was here somewhere, she thought.

  Alexis piled out of the yellow school bus along with a group of classmates in matching yellow-and-black Dos Rios High T-shirts. On this November morning, they were visiting the local university for the annual college day celebration. Alexis had signed up for the field trip because it got her out of school for the day. She didn’t really have much interest in college. Her plan was to get a major recording contract before the age of seventeen. There were dozens of other high school buses from neighboring towns in the parking lot: Donna, McAllen, Mission, Hidalgo, and Weslaco school districts. Alexis wondered how many cute single boys were also visiting the university today. She reached for the side pocket of her backpack, where she kept her makeup.

  “Are you looking for a pen?” a gentle voice asked from behind her. Alexis turned to see the round face of Justin Peña.

  “A pen?” he repeated, turning bright red. “I’m sure you want to take lots of notes. I hear it’s very competitive to get into college nowadays.”

  Alexis stared at Justin as if he were speaking a foreign language. Why was he even talking to her, she wondered. Justin Peña was like a lost puppy that followed her home — which is exactly what he had done the first day of kindergarten. Alexis had hoped that he would grow out of his crush.

  She gave Justin a tight smile. “I have a pen, thank you.”

  “Would you like some bottled water, or how about a —”