A CALIFORNIA ROSE
Chapter Sixteen
Monday, April 21, 2003
Ruth brought Rose home the following
afternoon. The doctor had declared her well enough to return to college,
although he cautioned her to visit the campus health clinic after she returned.
Rose had little to say to her mother on the
way home. She was still angry with Ruth for not staying with her the day
before. Ruth, for her part, ignored Rose’s sullen silence and chattered on
about the upcoming wedding until Rose was ready to scream.
Rose had never been so happy to return to
school. After picking up her books and clothes, she gave her mother a curt
farewell and headed back to college.
Mari was in the dorm room, working on a term
paper, when Rose arrived back on campus. She looked up from the computer when
Rose entered the room.
“Rose! We were worried about you!” she
exclaimed, turning to look at her roommate. She caught site of Rose’s bruised,
cut face and gasped. “Madre de dios! What happened? Did your fiancé beat you
up?”
Rose winced. Mari had an uncanny ability to
put her finger on what had really happened. She shook her head.
“I fell down the stairs and hit my head.
That’s why I wasn’t back last night.”
Mari looked at her skeptically. “Did the
stairs suddenly develop fists?”
“No one hit me!” Rose snapped, irritably. Her
head still ached slightly, and Mari’s comments weren’t helping.
“Okaay.” Mari returned to her term paper
while Rose put her belongings away and pulled out her calculus textbook.
Mari turned back around. “So, other than ‘falling
down the stairs’, how was your weekend? How was that wedding you went to?”
“Fine. It was great. Fabrizio and Helga are
going to be very happy together.”
“So, I take it you’re looking forward to your
wedding then?”
“Of course I am.”
Mari looked at her skeptically, but didn’t
comment. “Have you found a house yet?”
Rose sighed, looking up from her textbook.
“Yes. Cal closed the deal on a house about two miles from here on Saturday.”
“Does it have any stairs in it?”
“No, it’s one story--shut up!”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You implied it!”
“What did I imply?”
“That Cal is responsible for me getting
hurt.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You implied it.”
“Whatever.” Mari returned to her paper. Rose
glared at her for a moment.
Michelle came in, slamming the door behind her.
“That little pig is going to get it--what happened to you?” She stopped,
staring at Rose.
“She ‘fell down the stairs’,” Mari
volunteered, ignoring Rose’s glare.
“You fell, or you were pushed?”
“Can anyone think about anything else?” Rose
snapped, slamming her book down on her bed. They both stared at her.
“We were discussing your wedding,” Mari
pointed out, “before Michelle came in.”
“Hey, that’s right,” Michelle said, tossing
her backpack down on her bed. “Your wedding is what--June twentieth?”
“Yes,” Rose told her, wishing that everyone
would shut up. She didn’t want to think about her upcoming wedding, or about
Cal.
“Well, we’ll both be there,” Mari told her.
“To see you enter wedded bliss.”
“Shut up.”
“Oh, come on,” Michelle told her. “He’ll
probably shape up after the wedding, once you are legally joined together.”
“Things are fine already.”
“I hope so,” Mari said, clicking on the mouse
to save her paper. “You’ll both be very happy, I’m sure. Of course, if you’re
not, you’ll have to make the best of it anyway, because you can’t divorce
unless one of you is committing adultery, and only if the other person wants a
divorce. You have to prove it, too, and if you’ve already got kids, you have to
wait until they’re grown, so you don’t ruin their stable home life.”
“I know the law, Mari,” Rose told her,
irritably. “Things are going to be just fine.”
“I know they will.” Mari started printing her
paper. “I just hope there aren’t too many staircases for you to fall down.”
“Dammit, Mari, stop implying things!”
“I’m not implying anything. I just hope
you’ll be careful around ‘staircases’.”
Rose had had enough. “I’m going out,” she
told them, setting her book aside. Getting to her feet, she added, “I need to
visit the campus health clinic, to make sure my head is okay.”
“I’ll say,” Mari mumbled under her breath,
but Rose heard her anyway.
“Mari, one more word out of you...” She
stalked out the door.
“Watch your step!” Mari called, as Rose
slammed the door behind her.
Mari was right, Rose reflected as she headed
down the hall. She didn’t want to admit it, but there probably were more
“staircases” in her future. Still, Rose thought, things might improve after the
wedding. And even if they didn’t, perhaps she convince Cal that she could be
trusted. Besides, she thought, he had promised not to abuse her anymore, and
maybe this time he would keep his promise.