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46 Nine Secrets the Recto Family Can’t Tell the Boy The Mole of Maria Elena’s Armpit Roughly the size of a quarter. Her husband calls it her beautiful armpit. Once with Domingo, she wore a sleeveless shirt to the grocery store—just once. Before patrons could stare at her as she reached for a can of peas, he slid a hand under her arm. Now she has two wardrobes:“Public”and “Private.” Love Postcards There are three of them. When Domingo is away he’s not one for words. On the back of a portrait of the Columbia River, it reads,“Gone Fishing.” The self-critical one from Seattle reads,“I’ve just realized how much I hate the weather here and it saddens me.”The insightful third: a buxom blonde sends greetings from Venice Beach with Domingo’s note,“You can’t live here without wheels.” Overheard Long-Distance Phone Conversation “You mean you can’t distinguish between a lychee and a longan?”Cost: six dollars. The Boy’s Ears They think Fidelito gets them from great grandfather Carlos on Maria Elena’s side, the way they stick out like an awning. He was the talk of the barrio then. On hot days, people paid him to turn circles and circulate the air. Saturday nights, the people would say,“Meet you under Carlos,”and huddle under his earlobe. Often, they used him to eavesdrop on conversations. At one point, he was the most hated man in Luzon. The Pearls They’re glass, of course. Domingo was poor. Maria Elena with a pencil sometimes runs the eraser-end along the grooves while her husband sits in front of the television. It distracts him. He thinks she’s unzipping the back of her dress and chopping onions in the nude. 47 The Inherited Autographed Photo It’s of Sophia Loren in her younger days, playing her role as Dulcinea. Domingo keeps it locked away in a safety deposit box at the bank. Her hair, tied back, wants to roam. The red dress she clutches twirls into the script of her “Sophia.” When he thinks of her, Domingo hums in adagio. The Bag of Soil It was from under the house where Maria Elena was born. She and her husband also lived there until the boy was born. She keeps it in her stocking and underwear drawer. The corpses of three ants float in and out when she shakes the bag. She thinks, when she dies, this shall be the first earth thrown on her casket. The Matchbook A reminder that Domingo quit smoking when Fidelito was born. Now, in every restaurant or hotel, he seeks them. One matchbook has a picture of Aurora Diamond on the inside flap, a one-time headliner for the Topless Girls of Glitter Gulch. He keeps it apart from the others. On the cover, a blue boot moves when tilted, and the small print says “Keep your spurs on, cowboy.” A Night on the Town Some Saturday evenings, they leave Fidelito at home with the babysitter. He does not hear where his parents are going, despite the largeness of his ears. Domingo makes reservations for dinner with Maria Elena at a seafood restaurant along the wharf. She wears her white “Private” labeled spaghetti-strap dress, and faux-pearls. Her hair tightly braided in a long black rope drapes over her shoulder, covering her armpit. Domingo drives with the window rolled down and puffs away at a Cremosa lit by Aurora Diamond. They descend on the Embarcadero to soft operetta. And in the moonlight, the smell of the ocean and stars. ...

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