Rosemarie's Revenge

September 1996 When Raul Ernoza was just eighteen years old, McKenna lived with his mother, Calista. McKenna was thirty-two at the time and considered to look a good ten to fifteen years younger than she actually was. Calista had been a psychologist, and McKenna remembered overhearing Raul’s interesting reaction to meeting her. After Calista had introduced her to her sandy-haired son with the hazel-green eyes, she went into the other room so they could have some time to talk. “That’s McKenna?” she heard Raul ask. Then she heard his mother say something she couldn’t make out. “I guess I just didn’t picture her to look like that,” Raul said. What had he pictured me to look like, she’d wondered at the time—and did he even know that his mother and I were a little more than just friendly roommates? McKenna hadn’t even lived with Calista in her three-bedroom house for a year when Calista was killed in a car accident. Her older sister immediately put the house on the market, and McKenna moved in with Raul, who had just gotten his first apartment. Before that, he had been staying with his father. Raul was a sweet kid, and McKenna appreciated him for giving her a place to stay until other arrangements could be made. Sweet or not, though, she wasn’t at all happy to stay with the handsome yet young and naïve kid. While McKenna didn’t look down her nose at Raul or see herself as superior to him, she definitely saw herself as older, more mature, and a lot quieter. Raul, who had just begun law school while helping his father out at his law firm, was like any other typical teenage boy. He partied. He smoked. He drank. He stayed up late on weekends. He had friends McKenna wasn’t sure she could trust—friends who were always coming and going. Other than a few aunts, uncles, and cousins, Raul was an only child. His parents had been divorced, but his dad had a condo in town. He was such a gentleman that he let McKenna sleep in his bedroom while he slept on the living room couch. McKenna kept the place clean in exchange for room and board and bought her own food with money earned at her job as an aircraft marshaller at the local airport in Phoenix. One evening, Raul treated her to dinner, even if it was only at a nearby pizza joint. To an eighteen-year-old, it must have felt as good as any sit-down restaurant. They split a pizza, with his side consisting of pepperoni and hers of mushrooms. “Thanks for this, Raul. It was very nice of you to treat me like this.” “You deserve it,” he said with a smile. She did? McKenna studied him from across the table. She failed to see the Cuban in him, but he was, in fact, half Cuban. His mother was one hundred percent Cuban, though his father wasn’t. Raul had been born and raised in Miami until he was fifteen, when the family moved to Phoenix. “You can stay, you know,” he said. McKenna looked at him, confused. “Huh?” “With me. You don’t have to hurry to get a place of your own.” She swallowed the bite of food that was in her mouth, not sure how to respond. She wasn’t stupid. She knew the kid had a silly little crush on her. She was petite, with long golden curls and bright blue eyes. She’d always attracted both men and women alike. She was flattered that this young and handsome boy—barely a man—admired her, but she didn’t want to lead him on either. She had no doubt that he would grow into a fine, productive man in society, but she felt she had to do the right thing. McKenna chose her words carefully. “That’s a very sweet and generous offer, hun, but I really think I would be doing right by you if I let you get on with your life and see what else is out there.” “Yeah, I know,” he said almost sadly. “I need to be with people my age.” “It’s not just that, or that I’m not flattered by your attraction for me, but take it from someone who’s lived a lot longer than you when she says you need to experience certain things at certain ages.” He nodded, though McKenna knew he was too young to understand. “I’m not trying to sound like a know-it-all, but you’re too young to pass up the opportunities that will no doubt come your way.” “Yeah?” She nodded. “I won’t kill myself trying to get out of your place and settle for some skanky dive, but live a little. Do things. Meet people. And most importantly, don’t close the door on your options in life so soon. You’re too young for that. You don’t want to end up looking back and regretting any opportunities you might pass up now.” Raul slowly and meticulously folded and refolded his napkin. He still didn’t get it.