Almost Never A Novel

41


The roll of money glowed, stuffed as it was into a barely visible cranny; high, separate: the roll still whole, and almost magnetic, just to look at; like twisted rays: what an imagination—could that be? It was tempting to touch the bill-stuffed projection. A brush, an inadvertent stroke from Renata, who stretched out her arm, a surmise, then finally the arrival of some certainty when she realized that it would cover even those details one thinks of only after the initial accounting … The unexpected minutiae remain for the end, and can often be of considerable expense.

And one day among many Renata took hold of the roll. The spending would now begin. We must also say that little by little, over the course of a few months, relatives living in Sacramento had been approaching Doña Luisa and Renata. They knew about the upcoming event (full speed ahead) and, of course, more than enough helping hands were tendered. Also obliging were some clients who offered any help that might be needed in good faith. And the roll: come on!: time to take some practical steps. What would the first one be? Knowing she was facing a mountain of quite simple issues, let’s mention three that stand out: first the food, quite a predicament, because you had to figure on the slaughter of a lamb and a pig, for example, though it would also be a good idea to ask the obvious question: who would the butcher be? Then deciding on the first course: tomato pasta soup or celery soup; then dessert: what sweets would they have—nothing too expensive? Second: decorating the church: with what? How about carnations, lilies, or gardenias, or some other kind of flower, and the question: where to get that, or this, or something else even more improbable? and also—who would do it? And third: the wedding dress: which beauteous garment would do?, what trim and whether more or less of it, and the price: which shop in Monclova: hence the need to go, and come: exhausting: carrying an enormous box. This task was Renata’s alone, as opposed to all the others, which could be assigned to third parties. Other issues would crop up in dribs and drabs. Nevertheless, we see that once she had the roll in her hands, Renata knew that the first order of business should be the purchase of the wedding dress, so she extracted a hefty number of bills and put them in a safe bag. The next step was to go to Monclova by bus, spend the night in a hotel, not an expensive one, but not a very cheap one, either. It would take her more than one day to pick a dress.

We understand what a nuisance it was to make the trip, although, on the other hand, the gem she bought justified the sweat. When she arrived home she wanted to spread the dress out on the bed. It took her mother half an hour to give her approval, though when she did so, ah, she began to cry like a baby. Let’s understand her, let’s try to understand her …