Somos Familia •|•|•

Chapter 4

Senor Guzman was shocked when he came to the Rivera household to find Héctor, the man who had supposedly abandoned his wife and child to achieve music stardom, sitting in living area with Imelda, eagerly requesting that he take him on as an apprentice shoemaker as well. Having taught Imelda and her brothers the fine art of shoemaking for the past few months, she had remained tight lipped about her husband and so he had stopped inquiring about his whereabouts. But now here she was with him, smiling at him with love and pride as he prattled on about wanting to learn the trade to support his family. Given her fiery temperament, Senor Guzman wasn't going to ask what had happened in the last two days that had warranted such a drastic change. Nor was he going to question why Héctor had two wads of damp cloth shoved up his nostrils.

After a nice lunch, the twins started to clean the kitchen and wash the dishes while Imelda put Coco down for her afternoon nap. This is when Guzman pulled Héctor aside to speak with him privately.

"I know this is sudden Senor Guzman, but I want to thank you again for agreeing to teach me." Héctor beamed. "I guarantee you that my hands are up to the challenge. They're so callused from playing guitar I bet a needle wouldn't even be able to pierce them."

Guzman patted him on the back. "It's no problem at all Héctor. And it's true; you need good strong hands in order to craft shoes. Big, strong... manly hands."

Héctor's eyebrows quirked up a little at that, but he shook it off and chuckled. "Well, I don't know about that. My Imelda has strong hands as well. You've never been on the receiving end of her boot."

"Héctor, my boy." Guzman smiled and held his hands out to his sides, trying to explain. "Let us end this little game. I only agreed to teach Imelda because, basically, it was the only way to shut her up. For three months, ay Dios mio, the nagging! Always with 'Please Senor, I'm the only one in town who is able to do it' and 'Think of my poor daughter, I need to feed her'. I must admit, that's what got to me in the end. I only agreed because she was a poor mother with no husband to provide for them. But I can tell that a tiny woman like her would never be able to craft such magnificent boots by herself, so I made her bring her brothers in as well. And now," he said, slapping Héctor happily on the shoulder, "now that you're here, I can teach you in her place, and she can go back to where she belongs: Taking care of your daughter and feeding her family like a proper wife and mother!"

Throughout his little spiel, Senor Guzman didn't notice Héctor's confused smile slowly fade into a frown, nor the creaking of his teeth as his jaw clinched and his cheeks slowly turning a deep shade of red. Carefully he plucked the pieces of cloth from his nose and slipped them into his pocket and hummed a little laugh. Then he clamped a hand hard on Guzman's bony shoulder and gave him a hearty shake.

"Ah, Senor Guzman, throughout my life me and my amigos would wonder why you never had a wife of your own. See, I always thought it had been because you were too short and had the face of a gecko. But now I can see it was because of your... glowing attitude towards women a little bit stronger than you. That is all women."

Guzman sputtered at that. "What are you?!-"

"You see, the thing is, senor, I am a musician. It is my passion. I think about music and songs and playing my guitar all day long. Shoes, on the other hand? Bah, it's just a way for me to make money. But for Imelda?" Héctor sighed wistfully. "Ay, yesterday she gave me such a speech about shoes with such a reverence it was inspiring! It was beautiful! Now, I thought that it was something you had told her, but after hearing the way you speak I now know that those words came from her heart. Shoes are her passion."

Héctor bent down to Guzman miniscule height and growled, "So, you are going to continue to teach Imelda how to make shoes, everything down to the smallest detail, so that she will build her own business and become the finest shoemaker in all of Mexico. And if you do anything or say anything to make her lose that passion, I'll take one of your magnificently crafted boots and shove them up your-"