I had to go back to Oaxaca. My mom was coming to visit me, so I had to go back, but I didn't have to stay. Things had changed back in Oaxaca. People had left, routines were off-kilter and it was the dry season, so it was getting really hot. San Cris had been a chilly escape from the desiccating desert sun. El Primo had promised me nothing. He had told me he wouldn't mind seeing me again and that he would always be there for me in San Cristobal. Seeing the sights and relaxing at the beach with my mom, I weighed my options.
I had about two months left in my trip which left no real time to volunteer. I had explored most of Oaxaca state, but hadn't explored the rest of the country. I also hadn't found any lovers or love in Oaxaca that was worth writing home about. San Cristobal was a cool relief from the heat of Oaxaca and also a stepping stone to exploring Mexico's famed Yucatan Peninsula. With El Primo as the icing on the figurative cake, I decided to head back to San Cris after my mom's departure and on to where the wind took me. Judith told me she was going to miss me, but gave me her blessing.
* * *
Oh those mischievous gods and their crass sense of humor!
I arrived in San Cris two weeks after my tryst with El Primo. I went to the plaza in hopes of hanging out, innocently, going out for a beer or something, but to my dismay, he was no where to be found. In the place where El Primo's stall was, there was a different guy, cuter, darker, sweeter and not so coy.
His name was Kike. He told me El Primo had gone to Guatemala and no one knew when or if he would be back. He asked me if he could help me with anything, help me find what I was looking for. I sized him up and said, "No, I just got into town and was looking for people to hang out with, maybe smoke some weed."
"Well, I can help you with that," Kike said with no pretext, "I was actually thinking about going to this party later tonight, do you want to come with me?" He handed me a flyer, "I'll pass by your hostel at around ten, give you some herb and we can go. What do you think?"
I was bummed that El Primo wasn't around and not really paying attention to this sweet new boy I had just met. It’s not that I had gone to San Cristobal with high hopes of El Primo sullenly awaiting my return. I just had hoped to not be alone in San Cristobal. The universe was busy pissing me off again, tricking me into thinking there was hope for romance where none existed. Like the idiot I am, I was pouting about some random fling while sitting next to a good-looking guy who was inviting me out.
I said yes to Kike’s invitation without really thinking about it. Plans in Mexico can be flaky, so I wasn't really attached to him showing up or not. Upon finding out that El Primo had skipped town, I had begun cursing the universe and its practical jokes. Kike’s invitation sounded more like a group thing. Although he hadn’t said it, I had heard, “A bunch of us are going out, wanna come?”
That night while half-waiting for Kike to pick me up, I was already planning my route through the Yucatan. At ten on the dot, in a very un-Mexican fashion, the hostel's doorbell rang. Quickly, I realized that I was being picked up for a date. There was Kike, by himself, looking cuter in the light of the street lamp with a smile on his face that literally made my heart skip a beat.
Suddenly, I forgot all about El Primo, my past and my future. As I hooked my arm around Kike's offered elbow, I was living entirely in the moment. I was on a date and the butterflies were all a flutter in my tummy. I giggled nervously and Kike asked, "Que?"
"Oh nothing," I answered, "I'm just happy. I'm happy I decided to come back here, so I could go out with you.
Kike just chuckled quietly and gave me that silly grin that I would soon grow to love. “The party isn’t going to get started for about another hour. I was thinking we could dar la vuelta, walk around and I can show you some of the cool plazas. Se ponen mas chidas, they're cooler at night when no one is around.”
“Sure,” I said, tightening my arm around his and feeling his bicep flex.
“I don’t know what it is but,” he took a deep breath and I thought he sounded nervous. “You just really caught my eye. You’re guapa, I mean, obviously, you’re pretty, but there’s something about you. I just felt like I had to ask you out and I don’t usually ask gueras out.”
“Why? ‘Cuz the white girls usually ask you out first?” I asked sarcastically.
“No,” he laughed, “I just want to get to know you.”
It was a storybook perfect first date complete with an awkward, but endearing first kiss. It was a first date that ended up lasting a year because from that night on Kike and I were inseparable. It was a first date that showed me my stubbornness in letting my own fate take care of me. I surrendered myself to Kike that night and to whatever plans the gods had for me.
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