Thirteen Senses Read Online Free PDF Page B

years of nuestro matrimonio, as my mother told us that every young couple must plant, instead of always having to listen to this little barking-bitch-voice of your crazy -loca jealous sister!”
    â€œLupe, don’t listen to him!” yelled Carlota from down the hallway, waving her cane as she spoke. “He’s lying! You two wouldn’t be here today with all your wonderful children if it wasn’t for me! Who forced Archie to wire you money when the distillery blew up and you two were running from the law! Who loaned you the money when you wanted to buy this ranch that we’re standing on right this very minute? It was me, me, me, Salvador! And you know it!”
    â€œNo, I don’t know it!” Salvador yelled back at Carlota. “All I know is you got a tongue so big and fat and twisted that even the words that come out of your mouth don’t know their own origin!”
    â€œ ABORTO del DIABLO! ” screamed Carlota. “That’s what you are! An abortion of the Devil!”
    Lupe had tears running down her face, she was so upset. Salvador came back across the room and took her in his arms.
    â€œLupe,” said Salvador, “Lupe. Lupe. Lupe. It’s okay,” he added, stroking her gently. “It’s all right. God’s just having a little fun with us like He always does, that’s all. Kiss me. Come on, let’s make the kiss.”
    She nodded, and they were kissing softly, gently, and fully.
    Linda had tears running down her face.
    Teresita, Gorjenna, RoseAna, they were all crying, too.
    This was love!
    This was the key of living between a man and a woman . . . after fifty years of marriage to kiss and kiss again with an open heart and soul!

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    And so he, the nineteenth child, having come to his mother at fifty years of age, now found his second truelove, and . . . they married.
    C OMING OUT of the Holy Catholic Church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe on Third Street and Grand in Santa Ana, California, Salvador and Lupe were met by a crowd of well-wishers who showered them with rice and flowers.
    Cameras flashed!
    People shouted with gusto!
    Lupe and Salvador lowered their heads, hurrying down the steps of the church, and quickly got into their beautiful ivory-white 1926 Moon automobile and drove to their reception across town.
    And it was a huge, glorious reception with an abundance of food, announcing to all the people of the barrio that the terrible days of the Mexican Revolution were over, and it was now time for all of them to start a new life in this fine country of the United States!
    Deputy Sheriff Archie Freeman, who was dating Carlota, had barbecued a whole beef á la Archie Freeman. And Doña Guadalupe, Lupe’s mother, had cooked fifty chickens in mole, her specialty. There were barrels of rice and beans and chopped-up salsa. And next door, hidden from the nondrinkers—particularly Lupe’s family, who were totally against drinking—was a ten-gallon barrel of Salvador’s finest bootleg whiskey.
    People had come in from all over the Southland and Mexico. Manuelita’s family—Lupe’s closest female friend since childhood—had come in from Arizona, too.
    For months Salvador and Lupe had planned this event, wanting to see their two families finally intermingling, and especially their two great, old mothers, Doña Margarita and Doña Guadalupe. Salvador and Lupe were each the baby of their familia, and so this celebration—after so much hardship—was now the crowning event of their two mothers’ lives, a pure blessing straight from God!
    The Father Sun was going down when Lupe and Salvador were finally able to steal away from the wedding crowd. They went behind Lupe’s parents’ home into the walnut orchard to be alone. Here in the privacy of the walnut trees, they finally began to really kiss after months of courtship and preparation for their great wedding.
    The light of