Moreno's: Moreno Brother's prequel (Moreno Brothers) Page 11
Her eighteenth birthday had come and gone with no word from Alejandro. Isabella couldn’t even begin to consider dating anyone else. She’d graduated from high school and was now working full-time as a waitress in a restaurant.
As the months continued to pass, Isabella continued to carry that first letter from Alejandro and reread all his others. So many times he’d promised and made her promise she’d forever believe they’d be together some day. But as months turned into years, with still no hope of reuniting with him, that hope began to fade.
She still hadn’t met anyone who came close to making her feel that bond she’d felt with Alejandro almost from the moment they met. But as the time passed, reading his letters or even looking through her photos with him—of her fairytale quinceañera—became something she did less and less. It was just too painful. Still, she continued to find fault with every single guy she met.
As if things didn’t look bleak enough, her grandmother became suddenly ill. At first, it was just her feeling dizzy a lot, but then she began complaining of fatigue and shortness of breath. Then one day, just months after Isabella had turned nineteen, she got the call at work that her grandmother had been rushed to the hospital. When Isabella arrived, her mom was already there. They were told her grandmother had suffered congestive heart failure.
Shortly thereafter, Isabella’s aunt arrived from El Paso. They were just going through the paperwork the doctor had given them on CHF, when they were told Isabella’s grandma would be going into emergency surgery. They hadn’t even been able to get the word to her other aunt in Mexico about the surgery, when they were told her grandmother hadn’t made it.
It was all so sudden, and they were all beyond devastated. With none of them having anticipated something like that happening so unexpectedly, no one was prepared financially for putting her grandmother to rest. They decided to take her back home to the city she was born in back in Mexico where her grandmother would’ve wanted her last resting place to be anyway. It was also much cheaper than burying her in the states.
One good thing did come of her abuela’s passing. Her mom and her sisters, who’d been at odds since the falling out that separated them, decided that, in honor of their mother, they’d let bygones be bygones. They didn’t go as far as moving back in together, but they promised to stay in touch more than they had in the months since the fall out.
When Isabella and her mom returned to Las Cruces after the funeral, Isabella’s mom suggested the idea of moving to California. Specifically, the San Diego area, near Sea World, the area her mom and sisters had fallen in love with way back. Isabella was thrilled by the idea. She visited the library more than once to get more information about San Ysidro.
She knew a few things for sure. San Ysidro was in San Diego county, and San Diego was an expensive county to live in. Most importantly, it’s where she knew Alejandro had last lived. He might even still be there. As long a shot as it may be, she had a better chance of reuniting with him if she was living in San Diego. So, instead of making less of her mom’s suggestions, she began to really look into it. They’d have to save up for the first and last on an apartment out there, and they had to have enough saved to give them time to find jobs. It’d take some time, and there was no guarantee that Alejandro was even out there anymore. But it was definitely doable and an idea that now excited Isabella.
Alejandro
The moment his family was situated in the US, Alej did what he’d promised Isa he would. He sent her his new address and waited to hear back. He didn’t immediately panic when he didn’t hear back from her. Maybe his letter hadn’t made it. Maybe he’d written the address down wrong. The addresses in the US were formatted a lot different from the ones in Mexico. So, he sent her another after not hearing back from her in over a week. Weeks later, he’d still heard nothing. There were many possibilities to why he may not have heard back from her just yet. Alej had taken all into consideration except for one.
That she’d stopped waiting for him.
Even as the months passed and he still received no word from her, he wouldn’t even entertain the idea. She’d given herself to him, in every way sin medidas ni reservas. Each one of her letters to him had been just as heartfelt as his had been to her. In each one, she professed her undying adoration for him as he’d done to her and said she could hardly wait until the day they were reunited again.
As her eighteenth birthday rolled around, Alej planned his trip out to El Paso with his father to ask for her hand in marriage. Despite the loss of contact, he was keeping his promise and he was holding her to hers, no matter what her reasons for having stopped responding to his letters. It’d been as disappointing as it’d been a relief to find out it’d been just over a six months since the new tenants had moved in. Alej had done the math. That would’ve been right around the time he’d moved out to San Ysidro. It made perfect sense, but he was at a loss now as to how to find her.
His dad, who still stayed in touch with family members and friends back home, had asked for him if they’d heard anything about the Franco women. If perhaps they’d moved back or visited, but no one had heard from them either.
As disheartening as it was, Alej trudged on, determined to find her somehow. He just hadn’t figured out how yet. He’d picked up the white pages while in El Paso and had since gone through all the Francos listed in the area. The problem was, if they were living with her aunt and if they had their phone listed, it was likely under one of her aunts’ married names. He didn’t know what those were. So, he’d hit a wall when it came to that too.
Cido and his father had made the move from Tijuana into the San Diego area once they’d fixed their visas. But by then, Alej’s dad had become an independent vendor. It had been a struggle at first and he’d had to get a steady job at a factory to be able to afford to try and live out the dream of possibly opening up his own taco shop someday. Like back home he’d started off humbly. And he insisted it was better that way than to try teaming up with Octavio again.
Even back then, he hadn’t been too crazy about the idea of the two of them teaming up forever. Alej’s father had always said his ultimate dream was to set his kids up so he knew they were set, but his intentions were to eventually retire back in his homeland. A handful of times he and Cido’s dad had disagreements regarding the money and such. He didn’t want his kids having to deal with that ever. So, his father was determined to get this going on his own. He’d decided, no matter how long it took or how slowly he could progress his little business, he’d do it alone. So, while Octavio and Cido did help his dad and his dad paid them for the help, his dad paid all the overhead. He also paid for any fines they got for selling in the parks without a permit out of his own pocket, so the business was his, and Octavio was more of an employee than a partner.
When Cido first arrived late last year, he’d been surprised that Alej and Isa weren’t married yet, but was downright stunned that they were no longer in touch. Alej had told him how he’d had every intention of marrying her when she was eighteen, how he and his dad had even taken the trip to El Paso to find her, but she’d been gone over six months.
It was one of the questions Cido was still asking even now. “So, what are you gonna do?”
“I’m gonna keep looking.”
“Yeah, but for how long? It’s been over a year already. She could be married by now.”
Shaking his head adamantly at the infuriating suggestion, Alej kept to himself that he’d claimed her in every way and she was all his forever. But he did share something else.
“We both made promises, Cido.” Cido stared at him in obvious disbelief. “I have every intention of keeping my end just as I know she’ll keep hers.”
“So, you’re not gonna ever be with anyone else?”
Needing to lighten up a subject that had tortured him for too long, Alej smirked. “Didn’t say all that.”
Cido eyed him suspiciously, and Alej knew why. Alej shrugged, not feeling the heaviness of this subject li
ft—at all—but didn’t elaborate. Cido didn’t need to know the truth. For months since he and his dad had arrived in San Ysidro, Cido had been incredulous that after over a year of not seeing Isa and over nine months of not hearing from her, Alej’s pansy ass was still waiting loyally. Tired of hearing his shit, Alej had since started keeping his private life vague. He even threw in a couple of “just because I’m waiting doesn’t mean I haven’t taken care of business” and “I’m only a man after all” comments to shut him up. But it was such a joke. Even the past New Year’s when he’d had the open invitation in a limo no less, with a beautiful girl, his taking care of business had gone as far as holding hands with her.
Cido was still eyeing him, so Alej decided to share a little about something else. While Alej hadn’t been able to bring himself to actually take care of business, he’d since tried pulling himself out of his funk by hanging out with chicks a handful of times. Cido could interpret it however he wanted to. Only thing those instances had done was confirm what he’d always known anyway.
“Taking care of my needs has actually helped me further strengthen the belief I’ve had since Isa left Mexico.”
Peering at him in question, Cido shook his head. “How?”
Exhaling harshly, Alej shook his head. “As improbable as it’s beginning to feel that I might ever find her again, hanging with other girls has made me certain of one thing. Not one of these girls has come even close to making me feel what I felt—what I still feel—for Isa. It’s a fate thing, amigo.” He clapped his hand on Cido’s shoulder because he was ready to move on from this heart-wrenching topic. “If you’re lucky enough to ever find your soulmate, you’ll understand.”
Since then, they’d discussed Alej’s undying devotion to Isa on more than one occasion in length. Alej knew Cido thought he was loco for refusing to even consider any type of relationship with anyone because he was waiting for Isa. But it was the truth, and he’d be sticking by it. Until he found someone who could make him feel what Isa had, he’d hold out. And he was pretty damn sure that’d be nunca.
Lucia was in the kitchen, dancing to cumbias as she cleaned up after dinner. Alej had been sitting at the dining room table, reading a book he’d checked out at the library. For weeks now, he’d been going to the library to research how to find long lost family or friends. Short of actually setting out on a quest to find them or hiring a private investigator, which he couldn’t afford, his chances were slim. He had paid for a weeklong ad in the El Paso Times newspaper, but even that he couldn’t afford to do often. It might all be for naught anyway if she was no longer in the El Paso area. Though he did plan to do it again as soon as he could save up a little extra cash again.
He heard a car pull up into the driveway and the engine shut off. “I got it!” his dad yelled from outside.
Alej jumped up from the dining room table. If it was what he was thinking, then this just might be the turnaround to his unproductive and disappointing day he needed. He rushed to the front door, along with his sister, and shoved it open. The huge smile he was already wearing nearly flattened until his eyes met his dad’s excited eyes.
“What do you think?”
Alejandro knew Lucia must be thinking the same thing he was because she didn’t say anything and sort of nudged him to say something first.
“I know it needs a little cosmetic work,” his dad said before Alejandro could respond to his first question. “But your cousin Nacho is coming up next week, and you know he’s artsy. I’m gonna have him paint our name on the side of the truck and have him add some other colorful designs.”
His dad was speaking in fast Spanish now and Alej knew that meant one thing. He was nervous.
Things between them, Octavio and Cido hadn’t worked out. About five months after they’d started working with Alej and his dad, they’d gone their own way. When Alej’s dad let them know he was ready to buy a truck, Cido’s dad said he wanted in fifty-fifty, but his dad let him know he wasn’t looking for a partner. Which meant they were officially doing this on their own now. Alej hadn’t heard from either Cido or his dad in months.
His dad had been shopping around for months now, but each time he had one excuse after another not to take the plunge and use all their savings on this. Now that he had, he didn’t seem so sure, and Alej couldn’t blame him.
“Is this even a food truck, dad?” Alej asked. “It looks more like a . . .”
He wasn’t even sure what it looked like, but a food truck wasn’t it.
“An ambulance,” Lucia said, finishing for Alej.
Unbelievably, their dad nodded as he walked around the back to open the back doors. “It was an emergency response vehicle once upon a time, but it was converted, and for the past eight years, it’s been a food truck. Look.”
He opened the door and started naming off the amenities. It did have everything they needed, albeit in a very cramped space: a refrigerator and freezer, a three-burner propane stove, a small grill, a work bench where they could prepare the food, lots of storage areas, and a tiny sink.
“And look at the size of the concession window!” His dad pointed proudly at the sliding side window of the truck. “I know the truck is small,” his dad continued, climbing in and motioning for them to follow. “But if I made a homemade cart on wheels work for years on the unpaved roads back home, this is a palace. We gotta start somewhere, right? You have to remember it’s not just the cost of the truck. There are still all the license and permit fees. And don’t get me started on the insurance and LLC along with all the other things I have to pay for to get this business up and running legally. I’m tired of getting shut down and having everything I worked so hard to buy get thrown out by the health inspector assholes. If we’re gonna do this, we’re doing it right. So, if we have to start humble, then humble it is. The important thing is I had a mechanic check it out and it runs well. The last thing I want is mechanical problems. All that matters is how good the food is anyway, right?”
Alej nodded, trying to think positively, but it was hard. They barely fit in there. He couldn’t imagine two or more of them moving fast enough to get orders out as swiftly as possible. He squeezed by his father to get past him as Lucia squeezed in a corner to let his dad by.
His dad noticed the exchange between Alej and his sister. He stopped midstride and crossed his arms in front of him. “Is this not better than what we’ve been working with for the past year?”
Alej and Lucia had no choice but to give him at least that. For the last couple years after making the big move to the U.S, Alej had been helping his dad push and sell food at the local parks on the weekends because he’d finally been able to save enough money to buy a food cart. The one he’d made in Mexico he’d had to sell and split the money with Octavio to help pay for the move. But it wasn’t like in Mexico. His dad couldn’t afford all the permits and licenses required here. So, they’d done it like many of the other vendors at that park—trying to stay under the radar. Only it didn’t always happen, and Alej had been there on the several occasions his dad got fined and was forced to throw all his food out.
Those were low days in the Moreno household, especially because some of those times his dad had used everything in their savings until his next paycheck from the factory, to purchase the food for their vending. They’d been in the US for just over two years now, and in that time, his dad managed to buy the small pushcart they’d used at the park. But not before they were able to settle in the small house they rented because his dad said he wanted to secure that first. His dad had since sold that pushcart to save up for this truck. No matter what this truck looked like, Alej was proud of his dad.
“We’ll make it work,” Alej said finally, smiling as big as he had before he’d seen the truck. “I’ve seen smaller trucks thriving out there. I believe in you, Dad. We’ll fix this up and get this business going already.”
Even Lucia smiled big, as if she too was remembering those somber weekends Alej and their dad had arrived home from the
park with little money and stripped of all the food their dad had spent his entire paycheck on. All the food Lucia had worked so hard all morning helping get it prepared for the day, thrown out. Their dad brought them in for a group hug and even got a little teary-eyed.
Then his dad pulled away to look at them both. “Thank you, Alejandro, and you know I’m doing this all for you guys, right? This dream is not just for me. It’s for you guys. And I wouldn’t have so much passion and faith that this will be a success if I didn’t know I had you two believing in this business.”
“It’s gonna happen, Dad,” Alej said feeling a little choked up himself. “Because it’s not just your dream. It’s all of ours. In a few years, Moreno’s won’t just be a dream. It’ll be a reality.”
They went in for another family hug, and as nervous as this made Alej, he wasn’t lying when he said he believed in his dad. So far, he’d accomplished everything he’d set out to accomplish. He’d got them to the US, legally, set them up in their new home, and now they were one step closer to making that ultimate goal of a restaurant happen.
Capítulo 13
San Ysidro or Bust
Two Years,
Nine Months,
Three Weeks, and
Four Days
Since she’d last heard from Alejandro
Isabella
It took them almost a year, but Isabella and her mom had finally saved enough to make the move to San Diego. Her mom had tried in vain to convince her sisters to make the move with them. Not only had her aunts adamantly refused, they’d actually tried to discourage them from making the move. They said it was too big a risk. If they couldn’t get jobs right away, they’d burn through their savings too fast, and San Diego was expensive.
Isabella had done her homework. National City was one of the more inexpensive places to live in the San Diego area, and it was only twenty minutes from San Ysidro. She’d been able to find a trailer park where they could rent a mobile home with all the amenities they needed in the price range she’d calculated they could afford—if they found jobs fast enough.