Chapter 68

Villalobos was shocked to the marrow. “Are you telling me you know about your daughter’s lifestyle, you know about her perversion, and you are okay with it? What madness is this?” He spoke rapidly at the top of his voice.

Don Alonzo leaned back in his seat and crossed his right leg over his left leg. He grimaced, and Villalobos knew he had struck a nerve. He smoothed a nonexistent crease on his thigh. Villalobos could imagine the fabric cost a ridiculous amount of money. Don Alonzo gave him a lopsided smile, “Yes, I know my daughter is in love with someone who makes her happy. And I respect that. What does it matter if it is with a woman?”

“What nonsense is this?” His voice rose higher, as though wanting to ask everyone in the hacienda that question. “Did you invite me here to tell me that? I can’t believe what I’m hearing.” Talking in an almost whisper, he asked, “You called me over to your house just to tell me your daughter loves my daughter?” Villalobos looked repulsed, as though he was on the verge of vomiting.

Don Alonzo seemed so comfortable and calm. He stated in an even tone. “Not only that. Your daughter does not have to marry Carlos for you to have to do business with me. I know you are an astute businessman. You have great prospects. I’m open to having new friends, too. Let us not stand in the way of our children’s happiness.”

Villalobos just looked on.

Don Alonzo leaned closer to the edge of the seat and placed his elbows on his knees. “Has your daughter not mentioned anything about her being in love with Esmeralda?”

Villalobos was seeing red. He stated hotly, “She is in love with Carlos. She has gone on a trip to get prepared for the wedding that is definitely holding on Saturday. Your daughter has things mixed up in her head. Aurelia is not a homosexual. There are many young girls out there who can indulge your daughter, but it is definitely not Aurelia.”

“Your daughter lived here for a month, remember? And I saw her interaction with my daughter. She did not even have to tell me about her feelings for Aurelia. It was so clear. The feelings are mutual. Aurelia was not that way with Carlos. They have zero chemistry.

“For me,” Don Alonzo went on, reclining into his seat, “I was waiting for Esmeralda to tell me about it. I don’t know about you, but my child and I have a great bond. She knows she can trust me when she tells me things. I try to understand her. And honestly, there are things about her I don’t understand, but I tell myself I would have been the same if I was born in the same generation as she.

“You might not understand that two people of the same sex can be in love. It is fine. We don’t have to understand everything in life, you know. We don’t even understand why we are even on this planet. But we still move on, no? Love happens, and it does not ask who, why, what, where, or how. It just happens. Love can come from anywhere, if we open our minds to it.

“Emiliano, you can open your mind to your daughter being happy. You don’t to get her to endure the horror of an unhappy marriage. Please, if you love her, agree with me to call off the wedding.”

“Over my dead body!” Villalobos thundered. “If I didn’t respect you, I’d say you’re a sick pervert!”

“Well, you just did, but no offense taken.”

Villalobos shuddered. “You’re making me sick right now.”

“What problem do you have with my daughter and your daughter being together?”

“It is wrong! Sex is meant to be between a man and woman.”

“And love is meant to be between or among any kinds of people. And making love is one of the ways people in love show their love to their lovers. Why would you reduce romance to just sex, Emiliano? Is that only what you think of love?”

“I might not go to church like you, but I know the bible condemns it. It is an anomaly!”

“It was humans like you and I who wrote that bible.”

“It was god!”

“For someone who does not go to church, you are so defensive of something you don’t believe in.”

“It is common sense,” Villalobos maintained. “The penis was meant for the vagina.”

Don Alonzo chuckled, “There you go reducing romance to just sex. There are many ways for people to express themselves. Nothing is black and white. And you don’t have a valid reason for being against two people in love. You have not told me anything concrete so far. All you have done is speak from your previous biases.”

At that, Villalobos stood up. “I can’t keep hearing this nonsense. Aurelia is going to marry Carlos. And I will not have anything disgraceful happen to my name.”

Don Alonzo stood to his towering height and said, “In that case, you leave me no choice. The wedding is off, and I don’t want to do business with you. I can’t do business with a bigoted person. Gays might not be the only people you hate. You possibly hate Blacks. You possibly hate Asians. You possibly hate women. You possibly hate anyone that is not like you. I cannot, and will not, do business with you.”

“You can go to hell, Don Alonzo!” Villalobos cussed with all his might. “I will not trade my morals and values in order to suit your depraved ideas.”

“I guess tolerance and compassion are not part of those values you claim to have.”

Villalobos had a stony look on his face and stared long into Don Alonzo’s eyes. “You sick bastard!”

Don Alonzo chuckled, feeling genuinely amused. “Whatever you say, Emiliano. The offer still stands when you decide to come to your senses. I understand it takes time to unlearn deep-rooted prejudices.”

Villalobos huffed and shook his head. “I will see myself out.”

“Please, do.” Don Alonzo graciously gestured at the door. “Thank you for coming by. We would have had lunch together if you stayed longer.”

“I can’t share a table with you.”

“As you like it.” Don Alonzo shrugged.

Villalobos stormed out of the study and made sure he slammed the door behind him. He recalled he had to turn left to get to the staircase. As he went downstairs, he could not help but play the strange conversation in his head. He wished he could see the de la Cruz girl. She was the one who destroyed his plans. The whore! Don Alonzo must have believed he got the last word, but the man was dead wrong.

Getting to his office, he put a call across to Carlos.

“Carlos!” he barked. “You father has called off the wedding!”

“What?” He could hear the young man’s surprise.

“So he did not tell you? You did not know about all this?”

“No, no...”

“Your father knows about your sister and Aurelia, and he is okay with that rubbish.”

“I knew he would. He agrees to everything Esmeralda. She can do no wrong in his eyes. That was my reason for telling you about it. I knew he would not see anything wrong with them being lesbians.”

Villalobos cringed at the word. So his daughter was a lesbian? He cringed some more. “He has called off the wedding, Carlos!” He pounded his fist on the table.

“He can’t possibly do that. He has not even talked with me.”

“Even when I told him you love Aurelia and she loves you back. He refused. He said he was going to go on with the business deal, even without the wedding.”

“What?!”

“Your sister is to blame for all of this, Carlos.”

“I know. What can I do?”

“I don’t know.”

“She has something to hold over me. She came to the office yesterday to confront me about telling you. She cannot know that it was me who told you about them.”

“I have half the mind of hurting your sister, but I will not, because she is your sister. She has turned my daughter into a homosexual. Now, everyone will think of me as the father of ...” Villalobos could not even complete the thought.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“We cannot let Aurelia go down that unfortunate degenerate path. Something has to be done.”

“What do you have in mind?”

Villalobos had a big sneer on his face and he said in a menacing voice, “I will tell you when I finalise things. And you’re going to be useful.”

“Will anyone get hurt?” He could detect the hesitation in Carlos’s voice. Was he afraid to hurt his sister?

“I can assure you that what I have in mind does not affect your sister in anyway. It is Aurelia who is my problem. I have to do something, lest she brings me shame.”

“Okay, sir. Please, let me know what you come up with, and let me know how I can help.”

“Yes, I will call you.”

The line went off.

Emiliano Villalobos stared blankly ahead of him. Aurelia would not know what hit her. No child of his was a homosexual. That would never happen.