Crossing the Line

by Malín Alegría

  Instead of answering, Magda began to fidget with the fake white flowers on the table. Fabi watched out of the corner of her eye, pretending to play with the clasp of the coin purse.

  Finally, her mother looked down at her lap and said, “I don’t know where you get these crazy ideas. They must be from your dad’s side of the family.” The pained look on her mother’s face made Fabi feel terrible about what she’d said. She didn’t have the right words to explain this urge she had to run, run far away — and what could she say that wouldn’t make her mother feel like she wanted to run away from her?

  So she changed the subject. “What’s up with Alexis?”

  Her mother seemed relieved. “Your sister is just in a hurry to grow up. She wants to go to some party this weekend. I told her no.” Magda looked at Fabi to read her reaction. “I don’t care. She can hate me all she wants. She’s only fourteen. You know how your sister gets. She can’t take no for an answer. With Chuy out, we need her help here. But for Alexis, everything is the end of the world.”

  Fabi smiled sympathetically. That was Alexis, all right.

  On Saturday night, Fabiola left the restaurant early to help with Milo’s party. She pulled on her favorite pair of skinny jeans and a cute sequined top she’d bought with Georgia Rae last summer, but never wore. Then she opened the makeup tote box she got on her twelfth birthday. Most of the cosmetics were still sealed in their packaging — gifts from the Mary Kay and Avon representatives in the family. As she applied some lip liner she couldn’t help but feel butterflies in her stomach. It had been so long since she went out and didn’t have to be responsible for anyone. Her phone beeped, letting her know that Georgia Rae was outside and ready to go.

  They arrived at the party as the sun started to set, casting warm reddish-orange streaks in the sky. Her phone beeped again — the fifth text from Milo since she’d left. He was really anxious about this grilling business!

  The fancy house on the north side of the tracks was hidden behind a high wooden fence and ash trees. Fabi smelled smoke and heard a huge crash. The two girls raced straight from the truck toward the noise. Soon they found what the commotion was all about — from the back porch, flames licked the stucco roof of the redbrick ranch home. Milo was inside a cloud of smoke, unsuccessfully trying to douse the flames with a bucket of water.

  “Get away from there!” Fabi shouted, waving for Milo to move out of the way before he hurt himself. She turned off the flames on the gas burner. There was a shriveled piece of burnt meat on the grill. It disintegrated into powdered ash when she tried to pick it up.

  Fabi turned to Milo and couldn’t help but burst out laughing at his shocked expression. “Don’t they teach you boys how to light a grill in Arizona?”

  He shook his head in frustration. “I had no idea what I was getting into when I promised to cater. What was I thinking? This was a big mistake. Look what I did to the meat. I ruined everything.”

  Fabi hurried into the house, finding the kitchen and an apron that she tied around her waist. Back outside she smiled at Milo. “Why don’t you fix up your music and leave the food to me,” she told him. Then she quickly assessed the ingredients she had to work with — and decided it was a good thing she could send Georgia Rae to the store for more food.

  By the time the guests arrived, Fabi was ready. She tried to watch casually while her schoolmates checked out the food she’d made. Seeing the satisfaction in their eyes as they tried her specialties — carne asada, fresh salsa, and guacamole — made her smile. Not too bad, she thought, for throwing it together at the last minute. She also made some veggie shish kebabs, which were the hit of the evening.

  Milo was bumping to his beats on the turntables. His fingertips expertly mixed Mexican, pop, and rap dance rhythms like a chef stirring together different spices. Everyone seemed to be having a good time eating, dancing, and drinking. Fabi tried to stay away from the drinkers. She didn’t like being out of control and especially didn’t trust a lot of the guys to keep their hands to themselves. But after much cajoling from her classmates, she gave in to a wine cooler slushy that someone brought her — it was gross, but she drank some of it, trying to loosen up and have fun like everyone else. After all, Georgia Rae was driving.

  They partied into the night, watching the moon rise over the ash and oak trees in the backyard. Guests streamed in and out of the house through a glass sliding door. Milo was jumping around his DJ station making faces at her. Fabi couldn’t stop laughing. She felt kind of light-headed and kept bumping into people as she danced. She had to find the bathroom.

  “Oh, sorry,” Fabi said, accidentally colliding with a group of girls dancing together in a circle.

  “Watch it, gorda,” Melodee spat, pushing her back.

  This town is just too small. Fabi sighed and continued to make her way toward the house and the bathroom as if she hadn’t heard that comment. Would she ever escape people like Melodee Stanton?

  Fabi pushed through the crowd into the hallway. She hoped it led to a bathroom. There were a bunch of closed doors — some locked. At the very end she found the restroom. Upon opening it, hot air pressed at her. It was so stuffy that she had to open a window. Standing on top of the toilet, Fabi poked her head out to breathe in a breath of fresh air. But what she inhaled instead was marijuana smoke. She jerked back, coughing. Fabi was about to close the window when she heard a voice drifting up along with all the smoke.

  “Bro, it was so easy. They practically give you their money …. Sure, I roughed them up a bit …. You have to, nothing really bad, just having a little fun …. Nah, there’s nothing to worry about. They won’t tell the cops. They don’t want to get deported, that’s the best part. They’re like walking ATMs, man. Walking ATMs.”

  Fabi felt like she’d been smacked sober. She’d recognize Dex’s bragging voice anywhere. It took all of her strength to keep from peeking back out the window. Who was he talking to? Who else was in on this? He was definitely talking about illegal immigrants. Was Dex responsible for what happened to Chuy?

  Someone banged loudly on the door. Fabi jumped, afraid that she’d been caught spying. But there was nowhere to hide. The door banged again. Fabi was trapped. Slowly, she flushed the toilet and opened the door. Thankfully, it was just some girl who needed to throw up.

  Back in the living room, Fabi found Georgia Rae dancing with a boy from the debate team. Fabi grabbed her hand. “We have to go.”

  “Now?” Georgia Rae stared back at her, bewildered. “I thought we were having fun.”

  Just then Dex walked through the front door with two other jocks. Fabi could feel his eyes on her. He knew! She spun around, looking for another exit. All of a sudden a girl screamed, a high-pitched drunken wail. It was Melodee and she was running to Dex, like a toddler seeing her daddy at the end of the day. Dex ducked under one of his boys and spun away, leaving Melodee to fall headfirst into the couch, where a couple was entangled in each other’s arms. A few of the people nearby laughed at Melodee’s expense.

  “Please,” Fabi pleaded, grabbing Georgia Rae’s hand. “If you don’t give me a ride, I’ll find someone else.”

  “Fine,” Georgia Rae huffed in annoyance, and wiped the sweat off her brow. She said good-bye to a couple of friends while Fabi went to grab their stuff from under Milo’s turntables.

  Fabi led Georgia Rae to the glass side doors. Her heart was racing. Dex was once again making his way toward her. Thankfully, the mass of dancing bodies was slowing him down.

  Just as she was about to get out of the house, the glass door slid open in front of Fabi and Alexis stepped inside. Fabi stopped in her tracks. She glanced back and saw Dex wave at Alexis. Dex wasn’t coming to get Fabi. He was coming for Alexis, who didn’t even have permission to be out tonight.

  “What are you doing here?” Fabi cried, despite herself.

  Alexis shot her a sneaky grin. “What does it look like I’m doing? I came to party.” Alexis began to nod to the music, glancing eagerly around t
he room.

  Fabi shook her head. “Mom said you weren’t allowed to be here.”

  “Oh, come on, Fabiola,” Alexis groaned, rolling her eyes. “Why are you always trying to ruin everything? Stop acting like my mother.”

  “Your mother?” Fabi yelled. She was livid and couldn’t control herself. Her hand reached out and pushed Alexis out the door, hard. Alexis cried out as Fabi followed her and started pulling her away from the house.

  “Ouch! Stop it!” Alexis tried to fight her sister off, slapping wildly. But all those years carrying heavy plates had given Fabi strong, solid arms. Alexis didn’t have a chance. Fabi half-pushed, half-dragged Alexis to the street.

  “I hate you!” Alexis cried, beginning to sob. “You are such a bully. You never let me do anything. It’s not fair! I wish you weren’t my sister. I wish I didn’t have a sister.”

  Fabi was speechless. She shoved Alexis into Georgia Rae’s truck and jumped inside next to her, breathing heavily as her sister cried and her best friend got in and started the engine.

  The tension in the car was suffocating, but Fabi couldn’t break the silence. She wanted to tell them about what she’d heard, but she didn’t know how to begin. And besides, she couldn’t believe what a brat Alexis was being!

  Georgia Rae drove in silence. The night was dark and empty.

  “How did you even get out here?” Fabi finally asked.

  Alexis stared angrily out the front window.

  “Alexis, tell me!”

  “I ran, okay?” Alexis shouted back, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “I ran.”

  Fabi just shook her head. Alexis would do anything to get what she wanted.

  Georgia Rae pulled the truck to a stop in front of the Garzas’ old white bungalow. The paint was flaking off the planks of wood like old skin. Leonardo had promised to repaint it, but he never had the time. As soon as the truck had stopped completely, Alexis climbed over her sister and jumped out, slamming the passenger door in Fabi’s face.

  “Alexis, we have to talk!” Fabi cried, yanking the truck door back open and following her sister up the front walk.

  “I’m not talking to you!” Alexis slammed the metal gate to their yard, making a loud clang. Inside the house, their baby brother started to cry. Then a light blazed on behind the curtains. Fabiola squeezed her eyes shut in frustration.

  “Can you at least try to keep it down?” Fabi hissed. “People are trying to sleep.”

  “Be quiet. Go to class. Talk to these people. Don’t talk to those,” Alexis spat in a mocking voice. “I’m tired of you always bossing me around, telling me who I can and can’t be friends with. You’re such a hypocrite. You think you’re better than everyone, but then you go and party with those same people and tell me I can’t!”

  “Alexis —”

  The porch light came on, illuminating the sisters standing toe-to-toe.

  “No, Fabi. You can’t tell me what to do anymore. I’m not a little girl.”

  “I know that.”

  “Do you? Do you really? Look at me.” Alexis stood taller in her too-tight shirt and painted-on jeans. “I’m practically grown. I can make my own decisions.” She locked eyes with her sister. “I’m not like you. I’m sorry high school sucks for you. I really am. But I don’t want to be you. I want to be my own person. Why can’t you just understand that?”

  Her words stung like a hard slap across the face. Fabiola wanted to shrink into a little ball and cry, but just then the front door opened. Their dad, wearing a faded Spurs T-shirt and boxer shorts, filled the doorway with a menacing frown. Behind him, their baby brother wailed as Magda tried to rock him back to sleep.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Leonardo demanded.

  “I don’t want to talk about it!” Alexis said as she pushed her way past her father. “I hate you. I hate all of you!” she cried, storming down the hall and slamming her bedroom door.

  Leonardo turned to Fabi for an explanation. He folded his arms in front of his chest. Fabi cowered under his disapproving stare. She couldn’t stand to disappoint her family.

  “It’s not what you think —”

  “So, what is it?”

  Fabi paused and licked her lips. Her throat felt really dry. “I’m the one who dragged her home.”

  “What was your sister doing out? You know she is not allowed to go out.”

  “I don’t know. I was just as shocked to see her show up at the party.”

  “Fabiola.” Her father sighed. She could feel the disappointment in his voice. “You are responsible for your sister. You know that. Your mom and I can’t do everything. It’s hard enough running the restaurant, especially with your new baby brother …. There are a lot of people depending on us.”

  “I understand.”

  “I don’t think you do.” Leonardo sniffed. “Have you been drinking?”

  “No, I swear. Okay, so maybe a little sip.”

  His eyes blazed with anger. “Don’t lie to me!”

  “I’m trying not to!”

  “Just stop! Stop talking. I can’t trust you just to watch your little sister. You can forget about the trip to New York with your aunt.”

  “But, Dad, that’s my quince —” Fabi reached out to him, but he jerked away. She tried again. “You don’t understand. I had nothing to do with what Alexis —”

  Leonardo raised his calloused hand in a threatening manner and Fabi jumped back instinctively. Her dad caught himself and stopped. He would never hit her, but the moment startled them both.

  After a moment Leonardo glanced at his watch and cursed. “Get changed.”

  At first Fabi thought he meant she should put on her pajamas, but then he added, “Put on some old jeans and a T-shirt. We’re leaving.”

  “But, Dad, it’s almost two thirty in the morning.”

  “That’s right,” he snapped, shuffling toward the bathroom. “If I can’t go back to bed, neither can you. You’re going to help me scrub down the restaurant. Top to bottom!”

  By eight the next morning, Fabiola was ready to pass out on top of the counter. Her whole body ached from scrubbing the floor on her hands and knees all morning. Garza’s was due for an inspection from the Texas Department of Health. A couple of years ago, they were fined severely, almost losing the restaurant, because they used her uncle’s goat meat, which wasn’t USDA certified. So now her dad wasn’t going to risk a single infraction.

  In addition, Santiago kept bugging her about his merchandise. He showed up as the restaurant opened and Fabi couldn’t deal with his incessant pestering, so finally she handed him her keys. She popped a handful of gumdrops into her mouth and washed them back with some Coke, hoping all the sugar would help keep her awake a little longer.

  “Child, you are practically going to fall asleep standing up,” Grandma Trini scolded. “Take a break. Sit.”

  Fabiola joined her grandmother’s table. She greeted the other people there: Officer Bobby Sanchez, a distant cousin with pockmarked skin; Cynthia Perales, a school librarian; and City Councilman Rey Garcia III, who moonlighted as an insurance salesman. Trini was filling them in on the details of the mugging. Almost a week later it was still on everyone’s mind.

  The councilman bit off the tip of a corn tortilla that he had rolled in his right hand. “I’ve been telling Leonardo to put up security cameras for years now.”

  “But stuff like that never happened before,” Cynthia pointed out, wiping the side of her mouth with a paper napkin. “Dos Rios is changing. There are a lot of new faces now. Families are coming over in droves. We can hardly keep up with all the new students.”

  “Well, I hear that’s how it starts,” Trini whispered, leaning in. Fabi was embarrassed by her grandmother’s super-low-cut shirt and hoped Trini wouldn’t spill out — again. “The cárteles mug the poor mojaditos and force them to do their bidding. That’s how they get tangled in the gangster life.”

  Officer Sanchez, who’d been quiet for most of the conversation, cleared hi
s throat. He was a man of few words, but when he spoke, everyone listened. “It’s not the cárteles.” He flicked crumbs off his uniform dismissively. “Too small-time. Sounds like some huercos just fooling around.”

  “Dex Andrews did it,” Fabi blurted out. Everyone turned to her. Their surprised expressions switched to disbelief, and then they all started to crack up. Loudly. Her grandmother Trini laughed the loudest, slamming her hand on the table.

  “Fabiola,” her grandmother cried between chuckles as she tried to regain control of herself. “Your sister told me you were jealous, but this is too much.”

  Fabiola could feel her face getting hot.

  “I’m not jealous,” she stammered, feeling ridiculous.

  “Fabi.” The school librarian looked at her over the top of her glasses. “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

  “That’s a serious accusation you just made,” Officer Sanchez said, cleaning off his plate with a piece of tortilla. “I wouldn’t say that kind of stuff without proof.”

  Councilman Garcia gestured for Officer Sanchez to relax. “Hey, Bobby, don’t you remember being a teen? I know it’s been a while, but try. I’m sure Fabiola was just kidding. It’s hard to be the oldest. I’m the oldest of ten. You have all the responsibility without any of the fun,” he said, winking to her in understanding. “I’m sure she didn’t mean to accuse Dex Andrews of anything. Right, Fabiola?”

  Fabiola wanted to kick him — kick all three of them. Dex Andrews, for all purposes, was untouchable. He was a football star and his family owned the town’s Amway business, where locals purchased their animal feed and house products. Even more important, his grandfather was a judge.

  “Did you see the catch he made in the fourth quarter?” the councilman gloated. “Andrews has the fastest feet in the entire Valley, I tell you. He just appeared at the five-yard line like nothing. You heard it from me, that boy is going places.” The conversation switched to high school football and then turned to Valley politics. Fabiola had enough and snuck away without notice.