The Take by Mike Dennis Read Free Book Online Page A

great day, it had held up pretty well.
Before anyone sat on it, her mother always placed towels on the cushions to
keep them as free from wear as possible.
    Felina
hugged her and kissed each cheek, wishing there were something like that she
could do to protect her mother’s once-flawless face from the onset of aging.
    She
knew her mother was at least forty, or maybe older, and the woman’s classic
Latin beauty was being slowly devoured by time. The first etchings of lines
were just now attacking her around the eyes and cheeks. Her satiny skin had
grown thicker and dryer, surrendering the resilience Felina had always felt
when she touched it. It no longer emanated that honeyed glow, and while she was
still a lovely woman, she had relinquished her youth forever.
    Upon
seeing this, Felina recoiled slightly. With a touch of horror, she saw herself
twenty years from now, and heard the ticking of a clock for the first time in
her life.
    Ticking
second by second, downward to zero.
    Even
though she was now only twenty-four,
she realized these same forces were right now planning out their attack on her
own radiant skin and sleek figure, patiently waiting for the first moment when
they would decide to show themselves. When they did expose those first tiny
signs, Felina realized, the floodgates of aging would be flung wide open, and
she would be helpless to resist, able only to kneel and surrender, as her dear
mother was doing now.
    Suddenly
aware of this time limit, she knew she had to do something with her life before
the zero hour arrived.
    As they
broke from the hug, their eyes met. Smiles leaped off their faces and Felina
embraced her mother once more for good measure.
    They
exchanged loving phrases in rapid Spanish, and her mother went to the bedroom
to retrieve her can of Dr Pepper. When they finally sat on the toweled
loveseat, Felina asked, “How is everything?”
    “Oh
honey, it couldn’t be better. I have picked up two more houses to clean. One is
for a city councilman of Pasadena. That’s a very good one. Four days a week.”
    “Mami,
that’s wonderful.”
    ”And
with the extra money, I now have cable TV.”
    “Cable
TV?” Felina knew the breakthrough that represented. Even with the taped-together rabbit ears, her tiny,
antiquated TV could barely pick up the Houston stations out here.
    “Yes
honey. I now get Univisión. The all-Spanish channel. I can watch all my telenovelas , and even Don Francisco
every Saturday night.”
    “I’m so
happy for you, Mami. But I don’t want you to overwork yourself.”
    “I’m
not,” she replied as she finished off her Dr Pepper. “Even with the new jobs, I’m
only working about fifty hours a week.” She got up and went to the kitchen
area, depositing the empty can in the trash. “Speaking of work, how’s your job
at the cleaners?”
    “Well …
that’s why I came here today, Mami. I won’t be working there any longer.”
    “No? Do
you have a better job? Modeling maybe, like you always wanted?”
    “No,
Mami. Not modeling.” Her mother’s jaw sagged just a tiny bit. Felina picked up
on the disappointment. “In fact, I — I — well, I won’t be working
for a while. I’m —”
    “Won’t
be working? Not working? Why not? That boy Val, is he making you quit? Is that
it?”
    “No, no
Mami. It’s not Val. In fact, I’m not with Val anymore. He’s …” She sighed while
she tried to think of how to explain it. “I’m with someone else,” she said, gesturing
over toward the window.
    With a
little effort, her mother looked out over the sill to where the dented orange
Toyota was parked, Eddie inside reading his paper.
    “Who is
this?” she asked, ready to add another male name to an ever-lengthening list.
    Felina
took her mother’s hands in her own. “Mami, I’m leaving Houston.”
    “ ¡Ay! ¡Diós mío! What is happening? What
is wrong? Why are you —”
    “Everything
is all right, Mami.” Felina squeezed her mother’s hands. “I promise