Chapter 18: Russian Moon
Francesca stared at the painting and traced the outline of the womans face with her fingers. Heart-like with high cheekbones, brow flat but not too wide and a diminutive mouth revealing little while saying much. Without thinking, she stroked her own face. It was if she was the young women reincarnated from a past life.
Senor Mendez returned, pushing a wheelchair occupied by a very old man. He placed the old man next to the table and waved Francesca to come closer. Still, overwhelmed by the feeling of being somehow connected to the woman in the painting, she moved to the table.
"Francesca Da Rimini, meet Senor Eduardo Mendez, your true and rightful grandfather.
Francesca tried to speak but could not. Sergei continued.
"He will not know who you are. He doesn't even know who I am now. He has been this way for many years. The doctors say he has memory loss disease. There is nothing I can do for him, except keep him comfortable in his state.
Francesca witnessed vacant eyes in his distant look and a chill overcame her.
"But Senor Mendez, how is that possible? I think I need to lay down. I dont feel so well.
She rose from her seat and collapsed. When she awoke, she was lying on a small day bed in the anteroom attached to the restaurant. This all seemed like a dream. She learned more about her family tree in the past couple of hours then in her entire lifetime. Why wasnt she told these things by her mother or Uncle Paolo? What were they hiding? She opened her eyes. Senor Mendez was sitting at the end of the bed. He grasped her hand and held it.
Your father had the same markings on his hands.
Where did my fathers family come from? The woman in the portrait doesnt look Mexican.
Your fathers family were Molokans, they traveled from Russia during the pogroms to Mexico to escape religious persecution.
Mo-lock-cans?
Yes, your grandmother was born in Russia and adhered to the very strict religious practice of her people. But your father was a free spirit and shunned the practices of his elders. When he was a small child he was bitten by a wolf and the people said it made him rebellious. I never believed any of it. Alek was just different from all the other young boys in the village. A Mexican father and Russian mother made it difficult for him to fit in with either group. He thought it would be different in America.
I really don't understand how any of this makes any sense. My grandfather is Guido Da Rimini.
I know child, that is what you were led to believe, but your maternal grandmother and my father, the old man you just met, were lovers long before you born. My father, just like yours, was a migrant worker in Santa Barbara before he moved back to Mexico. Before he became ill, he confessed to his wife he once loved another woman. He told my mother that he suspected they had a child together and that the child was named, Sorpresa.
Reeling with a thousand questions running through her head, Francesca inquired further.
If what you are saying is true, my mother, and my father were sister and brother?
Yes, same father but different mothers. You can see why this would be a problem. It would bring shame to both families!
So now I know why my mother hid all of this from me?
If its any consolation, Francesca, I dont think she knew, Sergei replied.
Later that evening Sergei showed Francesca photos of her father. He was tall and thin, with very black wavy hair, just like hers. His eyebrows were thick, just like hers. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen. He was her father without question. When she tired of looking at old photos, Sergei showed her a letter that his father, Eduardo, kept hidden in his wooden travel chest. Although the correspondence was in Spanish, Francescas rudimentary knowledge of Spanish allowed her to understand its contents. She stopped reading when she came to the phrase:
Ellos no pueden casarse! (They cannot marry!)
She set the letter down and held her hands to her mouth when she read the signature:
Fr. Paolo Da Rimini