Canto 24 – Girl Talk
Maria found herself limited to riding along in her own naked body as she and Esperanza labored to run back to the hacienda where Imelda lived.
“Do we have to run all the way?” Maria asked in her head.
“We do. Time is short. Imelda and your Yesenia are in grave trouble. But your body is so much better than mine…”
“What do you mean?”
“In life I was a little bit of a gordita.”
“Gordita?”
“Little fat girl. Not athletic like you.”
“Oh.”
“You know some Spanish. I can see it in your mind.”
“My mom and my real dad are both Spanish speakers. But they got divorced when I was four. And we found my stepdad, Stanley. He only speaks English, so…”
“So, you got out of practice.”
Maria’s body was panting, wheezing, and gasping for air as it ran. But that didn’t affect either voice in her head.
“And you were out of practice at running. Let me control the breathing.”
“Okay. But that might be against the rules. Promise you won’t use it against me later?”
“We want the same thing,” she reminded Esperanza.
“We surely do.”
The body fell into the trained running style that Maria used in high school track and cross country. The breathing became regular and easier by far.
“You are definitely good at running,” Esperanza noted.
They pulled up at the gate to the hacienda.
“¿Por qué corres, Esperanza?” asked the guard at the gate. Maria knew instantly from Esperanza’s memory that the young man’s name was Juanito, even though he was a rust-colored skeleton dressed in gray ghost clothing that you could see through.
“¿Dónde está Imelda? Necesito hablarle.”
“Ella está en el segundo piso. En su dormitorio, creo.”
“Gracias, Juanito.”
They were instantly running again. The hacienda would’ve been gorgeous in an expensive and colorful way, Maria thought, if only she weren’t seeing it in black, white, and gray.
Esperanza found Imelda’s bedroom door and banged on it with both fists.
Then the door was opened from the inside.
“Yesenia!”
“Maria, you must not say things out loud using your actual voice! You must tell it to me and let me speak it!”
“You are breaking the rules!” said Imelda in Yesenia’s voice coming out of Yesenia’s tear-stained face.
Maria was hardly listening to the scolding. She was at once filled with joy at having found the girl she betrayed. But at the same time she was jealous of how beautiful Yesenia’s naked form would obviously look to Rogelio.
Catch a Falling Star 