When Aldous first saw the woman named Beatriz who would seize his heart and affections, he was cursing at the actors of the black box theater for leaving so much garbage. He was lost in the work of cleaning when he heard her voice.
“That’s my job.” She said and when Aldous looked up at her she was smiling at him. She was much older than him but she was beautiful for her age.
Aldous stammered, “I was just…I was…”
Beatriz laughed at him. “I’ll take care of it.”
Aldous nodded and stood to get out of her way. He watched her bend to pick up garbage and she had the backside of a girl his age.
“A woman in today’s America faces many disadvantages…” Aldous rambled when he was nervous, “…a latina woman definitely faces significant challenges…if you don’t have legal status, things must be particularly hard…I don’t know if you do…”
Aldous didn’t notice that Beatriz was wearing headphones and eventually she removed one plug from her ear.
“What were you saying?” She asked.
“Oh nothing, just making conversation.” Aldous said with a smile that Beatriz returned. She thought that he was a handsome young man and his obvious nervousness made him even more attractive. “Do you have legal status?” Aldous asked, not realizing how dumb the question would sound.
“What?” Beatriz said angrily.
“I’m just wondering if you are like a US citizen or resident or something.”
“I’m Puerto Rican, not that it’s any of your business.” She was angry and stormed away from the corner of the black box theater where they were talking.
Aldous followed her. “I’m sorry,” he wasn’t sorry, “I was just hoping we could make conversation or…” He didn’t know what he was hoping. He hardly ever felt this way, at a loss for words with any person. Normally he really enjoyed the opportunity to hear his own voice articulate his very mature and respectable opinions. That day, he just wanted to hear Beatriz talk and he didn’t want her to walk away from him.
“Can I buy you dinner?” He asked. “To make up for being rude.”
Beatriz smiled. “You want to take me to dinner? I could be your mother.”
You promise, Aldous thought, but he said, “It would be a true honor to buy you dinner.”
The two exchanged information and Aldous left the black box theater happier than he’d ever left it. They met the next day for dinner at a restaurant that was frequented by students of the university.
“So how do you like it here?” Beatriz asked as she helped herself to the heaping plate of thai noodles on the table.
“Its everything I ever imagined. A lot more drunk assholes, but just as many studious academics.” Aldous loved the chance to judge his peers. “The smartest people here are a bit of a disappointment though. It’s like they’re only smart because they were never allowed to have a childhood, like they were locked in rooms with only calculus books and they didn’t have a chance but to become smart. That’s not real intelligence if you ask me. Real intelligence is a natural curiosity and propensity toward scholarly things, like I have.”
Beatriz rolled her eyes. She had worked at the university for a little under ten years and in that time she had met many a pompous blowhard.
“But I’m learning a lot and I have confidence that this school will make me into the man I always wanted to be.”
Beatriz was enjoying the food and she nodded as Aldous finished.
“So when do I get to see you again?” Aldous asked.
“We’re still together now, let’s get to the end of the night before we discuss that.” THere was definitely things about Aldous that annoyed her, particularly his name that she struggled to pronounce, but she couldn’t deny that she was attracted to him. He was by far the youngest man who had ever shown interest in her and it made her feel good.
The rest of their dinner was dominated by Aldous’s talking about himself and the things he would change about the university if given the opportunity. They agreed to meet again soon and weeks later they were practically a couple. Practically because for all of the information that Aldous had shared about himself, he knew little to nothing about Beatriz that didn’t involve her physical appearance. When Aldous met her in Time Square for the tree lighting, Beatriz sprung a surprise on him that he would not easily forgive, or that he could not forgive. As she approached him, on the street, she was with two young children. Aldous smiled at them.
“Are these your niece and nephew?” He asked earnestly.
“My kids,” Beatriz said. “I thought it was time you met them.”
Aldous looked perplexed. In all the time that they had been together, they only ever spent time in his room because he didn’t have a roommate and Aldous wasn’t very interested in seeing her home. And she had never mentioned kids.
“I didn’t know you had kids.” Aldous said and he was backing away before he realized it.
Beatriz stood there with a look of anger that made her kids uneasy as she watched Aldous abandon her on the street.
PRL Serials 