Singing was not useful. Singing was not productive. And yet that was basically all she did when she was with Hector.
They would meet up every Wednesday after school, when she would tell her parents she was meeting with her friend Laura. Laura's parents owned a very profitable business in Mexico City, unlike Hector's parents, who were dead. So obviously her parents would be more pleased about Imelda becoming friends with one over the other.
Yet she didn't let that deter her as she made her way to the pueblo square, where Hector was already waiting for her, a smile blooming across his face when he caught sight of her. He had his guitar on hand, and was strumming a melody, his hat overturned at his feet, a few meager coins lying in the bottom. She approached him and dropped a peso in his hat, a ritual she always did. At first he had refused her, but now he simply accepted the singular coin, and she knew it would go towards a hot meal. A single coin, so insignificant to her, meant the world to him.
"Imelda," he sang softly, looking at her with a lopsided grin. He continued strumming his guitar, now shifting into an upbeat little tune. "The sweetest name I've ever heard."
She rolled her eyes to hide the blush blooming across her cheeks. If only he actually meant it. If only that wasn't just a pretty line that made for a catchy song.
"And I wonder," Hector continued singing, his voice almost a whisper, as if he only meant for her to hear. "I wonder if she would say yes to dinner sometime, if I asked?"
He stopped strumming and looked at her, his eyes questioning, his face a mix of nerves and hope. Was it possible he actually liked her?
"Maybe," was her clever reply, as she dared to hope. "If he asked me."
Hector cleared his throat nervously, and Imelda pursed her lips to hide her smile. He was cute when he was flustered.
"Would you like to go out to dinner sometime?" He asked, his hands fiddling with the strings of his makeshift guitar, filling the air with discordant notes.
"I would love to," she answered honestly, and his huge smile was no match for hers.
YOU ARE READING
La Bikina: Through The Years
FanfictionHector and Imelda through the years. How they met, got married, grew apart, passed away, and their life in The Land Of The Dead. Will they ever reunite? -- A series of one shots, blurbs, and drabbles.
