Sierra did not answer. Staring at the floor mat, she began counting the checkered squares printed around the edge of the carpet. She felt tears run down her face and drip onto her jeans. She couldn’t ever remember being so ashamed, not even last Friday night. Now here she was getting sent home from school for fighting.
She had never thought of her mother and dad having sex. She knew they did, but she never thought about it. Now to have her mother guess what had happened between her and Randy and to discuss it sitting in a car parked in front of their home was more than she could bear. She remained silent, her eyes opened wide, gazing intently at the floor in the car. There were seventy-two squares around the floor mat.
They sat for a while longer, her mother waiting for her to say something. When she saw that Sierra was not going to answer her, Anna got out of the car and went into the house. Sierra continued to sit in the car. Sweat and tears ran in pools and soaked her blue and white Magic Valley team shirt. She thought about suicide, but quickly decided that was not the answer. Besides, she was afraid to die.
She’d thought about death. She remembered asking the priest about it. He had told her not to worry. He said that it was all part of God’s plan. She had told him it seemed to her that dying was a lot like not being born and wondered if they were the same. The priest sternly told her that there was no spirit life before birth, but that God’s children would live with God in Heaven forever.
Somehow she could not comprehend the difference. At times she believed in reincarnation of the spirit. At one time she was sure she had been a nun in some far away place many years ago. When she had told Sandra what she thought, Sandra had laughed at her and then told her mother.
Finally, Sierra got out of the car and went into the house. Her mother was already steaming tamales for the official victory rally. For the second day in a row there would be food, speeches and dancing at the celebration that was being held again tonight in the West End Park. Papa and Sandra were at work. Rosemary was still at school. She helped her mother prepare the food in silence and she felt a little sick. An uneasy feeling began at the top of her head and ran down her spine, then deep into her body, a very uneasy feeling that something was very wrong.
Chapter 10
Smoke from a barbecue pit singed the air. Sierra jumped when a boy wearing a red shirt threw a firecracker and a group of young girls squealed, as they ran in make-believe terror. The crowd was loud and jubilant over their grass roots political success. The fiesta was the beginning of a nightlong celebration proclaiming Rey Garza’s victory.
The band continued to strum a steady rhythm as Sierra watched the soon-to-be sheriff and his wife, BJ drive up. Sierra had never met Mrs. Garza. She was surprised to see how beautiful she was with her short blond hair and moss green eyes. Garza stretched his neck and tugged at the red, white and blue tie around his neck. At thirty-three, Garza was a handsome man. His dark, almost black, curly hair was cut short. His brown eyes were sparkling with energy and kindness. These were the features you noticed first. But she was also aware that his outstanding personality and determination were what had won him the election to be the next sheriff of Rio County. She thought, He’s a different breed, a man who’s not afraid. You can see that in his eyes. Garza walked with confidence and came straight to where Sierra stood with her parents.
“Tony, mi amigo. Thank you and your family for all your help. My friend, without your help, none of this would have been possible. Just yesterday, I didn’t think I had a chance of winning the election.” Rey spoke louder and said to everyone around, “So much has happened to me since I returned to Texas. I remember clearly that day I drove back into Magic Valley to find Mama on her deathbed. Then to discover that Sheriff Smart and the Bommer gang had murdered both Mama and Papa was horrible. I’ll never forget what Sheriff Smart did to my family. I’ll always see him in his sweat-stained, felt hat pulled low to cover his balding head and his beet complexion as the evil man he was.”
There was a murmur that ran through the crowd as they agreed with Rey. He paused, thinking. Then he said, “The night Smart almost beat my brother Johnny to death will live in infamy, to be remembered over and over. Thank God, Johnny turned out okay in spite of all that happened to him. You all know h e’s working in Laredo and going to college at night. Heck, I think he might just become a computer tech after all.”
“Rey, I’m so proud of you,” Tony said. “And we’re proud of Johnny. Just think, it wasn’t very long ago that your new bride was working undercover for the DEA in the cantina.” Tony shook BJ’s hand and introduced her to his family.
She said, “I’ll never forget the night Rey and Maria came in looking for Johnny. I can still see Bommer’s reaction when Rey stood his ground with him that night. Even now, I can’t say I’m sorry that Bommer’s dead. One of my biggest regrets is that Alonzo Custer escaped. I hope they find him before he hurts someone else.”
“You both have the right to be proud. You too BJ. Without your help, Rey wouldn’t have had a chance. How many doors do you think you all knocked on?” Tony asked.
“About a million,” she answered.
“I love you BJ,” Rey said and put his arm around her shoulder. “Tonight, I love everyone. I’m the luckiest man in the world. I’ve never been so excited about the future of Magic Valley.” The West End Park was already crowded. The smell of food hung in the warm night air and the sounds of the mariachi made toes tap.
“Tomorrow morning,” Rey continued, “at ten o’clock, I’ll be sworn in by the District Judge at the County Courthouse in Rio City. Everyone here is invited to the ceremonies.”
Tony was grinning from ear to ear. Waving his hands, he gave a yell that could be heard for blocks. Sierra turned red with embarrassment. She looked around and, even though everyone was smiling and laughing, she wanted to move away from the center of attention. They were surrounded by so many exuberant people. It was hard for her to make her way through the crowd.
When she finally pushed through the crowd, there was Randy and, before she saw it coming, he gave her a big hug that almost squeezed the breath from her. She saw right away that Randy had already started partying and was more than a little tipsy.
Chapter 11
“We did it, Sierra,” he slurred.
“What? Don’t you dare start that again, Randy.”
“What’s the matter with you? I was talking about the election. Hey Sierra, I’m sorry about the other night, okay. Things just got out of hand. That band sounds good, doesn’t it? Come on Sierra, let’s dance.”
“Get the heck out of my way, you low life.” Sierra pushed by Randy and hurried away from the crowd. She walked, her head down, away from the music and the merrymakers, out of the park and past the football field. She followed the dirt street around the vacant Tec-Cal building and past her father’s restaurant. When she passed Alonzo Custer’s unoccupied house, she wondered if Alonzo Custer really had murdered Mr. Bommer. Sierra shivered when she thought of all the awful things Alonzo Custer was supposed to have done when he was Chief of Police in Magic Valley.
Every time I waited on Mr. Bommer he seemed nice enough. But, that Custer, he looked right through you, she thought as she recalled Custer’s tall slim frame towering at six‑six or more. In her mind, she could see his long gray hair fall from under his wide-brimmed hat and cover his ears. Dark from the Texas sun, he had squinted crows feet around hot, raging blue eyes. Sierra could still picture the round silver badge on the man’s shirt glimmering in the sun. She recalled that people said he was bad to the bone. “Junkyard dog bad” is what Papa said about him.
She