THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE

It's the day after I've brought Esperanza to my school to show her the mural I've painted of her in the artroom, and after a long kiss from her - I am filled with confidence!

So, today after school, I call Esperanza from The Fox Hole, brimming with confidence. There’s no interference from that annoying Philly this time, and the call flows free and easy. She tells me over and over again how much she loves the mural, and how she’s so touched by it! We’re going to the Liberty Theater in Elizabeth this Saturday, to see this new double feature, she says. She’s going to take care of everything. All I have to do is meet her at the shop.
Saturday arrives, and I realize I have to convince my father to let me go out tonight. Basically, I’m still grounded from the window breaking incident, and he knows I’m off from work today. So we’re out in the backyard raking up leaves, and talking about the Giants-Cowboys game coming up tomorrow. I come up with this story that a couple of the guys are all going to the ‘big dance’ at Girls Catholic tonight, (there really was a dance, too), and they wanted me to come. There was this girl that I really like that’s going to be there, and it’s so important that I go. I’m so thorough in my storytelling that not only does my father consent to let me go, but actually gives me five dollars - and tells me to have a good time!
Holy shit! I really am a master storyteller, I think to myself. But, I would never tell him about Esperanza, it wouldn’t be what he wants to hear.
I change into my gold outfit, and apply some Jheri-Curl into my hair to give it that wild, wet, curly look. Then I gaze at myself in the mirror.
I chuckle, remembering that Kyla had invited me to go to the movies at Park Theater tonight with that whole gang. Briefly, I fantasize about what it would be like, stepping in there with Esperanza. Man, I’d love to see the reactions on their faces. But I don’t think Esperanza would dig seeing Herbie the Love Bug, which is what is playing there.
When I arrive at the usual chaotic busyness that is the Tijeras de Oro, it’s nearly closing time. And Esperanza is finishing up with her last customer. She looks up at me smiling broadly, and I think I detect a different kind of expression this time, almost, like… I’ve graduated. Or something akin to that in her eyes. Sort of like I’ve moved up a notch, become more esteemed.
“Muy guapo, papi…you look cute.”
“Thanks Esperanza.” I beam back.
As she puts on her coat and we get ready to make our exit, one of the ladies yells out –
“Saltacuna!”
Now all the rest of the ladies are joining in with the same thing, whistling and giggling.
“Saltacuna! Saltacuna!”
Esperanza hides her face in her hands, cracking up, and sticks her tongue out at them through her fingers, as we leave.
“What does that mean - saltacuna?” I ask, as we step outside.
“Nothing papi, you don’t want to know,” she’s still laughing.
“C’mon - is it bad? Tell me, c’mon…it’s bad, right?” I persist.
“Ok, ok, calm down baby…it means…like, um, it means - robbing the cradle. Cradle robber.”
“Oh.”
“Satisfied now?” she asks, smiling.
We hop into her MG Midget, as the blustery night wind howls, and this time she keeps the top down. Cruising through some fairly decrepit Elizabeth real estate, we head towards ‘El Barrio’, Spanish for ‘the neighbourhood,’ where she lives. We whiz down a few more blocks, and now it’s like we’ve entered freakin’ Puerto Rico, man! The posters, the signs, and billboards are all in Spanish, one featuring a super sexy Puerto Rican girl in a super sexy bikini, drink in hand, touting the sexiness of, Ronrico Rum. My eyes fixed on that for a while, even though the sexiest girl in the world is sitting right next to me. I wonder why it’s like that? It doesn’t matter if you’re with a beauty queen, you’re still going to look at another chick, almost no matter what she looks like. Strange. The requisite pulsating lights adorn every awning of every bodega on the street, as well as the rear windshields, and license plates of the jacked up Puerto Rican mobiles speeding by, down the strip. Honking their horns to the tune of La Bamba, or whatever it was, and making kissing noises at Esperanza from the windows. I move closer to her now, as close as I could get