Angel carefully opened the case. Inside was one of the most beautiful Classical Guitars she had ever seen. “Oh my gosh, is this your guitar Raul?”

“No, mi chica, it is your new guitar, and here is a history of your new guitar in Spanish and English.” Raul said, handing her a bound folder.

“You're not taking my old guitar away, are you grandfather?”

by Paula Dillon

---

 
 
Chapter 15
 
 
The discussion between Aunt Carmine, her sister and the old men went on for hours that Tuesday night. The consensus was that Angel could continue to play her guitar at home and anywhere there was at least one of them present. They would also take the guitar to New York and have it appraised by Christies on Monday.

The twins were thrilled because they would get to miss the last day of school and get to go on the trip with everyone to visit the big apple.

Angel was less than thrilled at the prospect of not being able to play her wonderful guitar whenever and wherever she wanted. She understood the reasons for all of this though.

Wednesday, Angel tried to get into a routine. She went through her closets and mixed and matched clothes before she got dressed. She would then sit in front of her mirror and practice her makeup, striving to achieve different looks. On the internet, she visited anime and manga sites to see if anything new tickled her fancy, visited some sites where she had found information about what she was going through and sent some email to some of her online friends. After lunch, she spent an hour and a half practicing on her guitar.

At about two in the afternoon she began to plan out the menu. She had found a website that had simple complete menu’s, in foods she liked and she knew her cousins and aunt would like. She used one of the menu’s she found.

She took a chicken and cut it in pieces, sautéed it with some sausage, onions, peppers, crushed garlic, salt, pepper and Paprika. In a casserole dish, she added some saffron rice, two cans of diced tomatoes, water, slices of squash and zucchini. When the chicken was lightly browned on the outside, she added the contents of the skillet to the casserole dish, covering it and setting it in a three hundred and fifty degree oven.

She began to hard-boil some eggs, drained a can of sweet peas, chopped some sweet pickles, celery, red and green bell peppers, onions and walnuts. She shelled and chopped the eggs up, added them to the sweet peas and vegetables, along with some mayonnaise. After mixing it thoroughly, she placed the bowl back into the refrigerator.

She took out the casserole, added some sour cream, plus a blend of shredded cheddar, Monterey Jack and mozzarella cheeses and put it back into the oven after covering it.

From the refrigerator, she took out some kiwis, strawberries and a mango. She peeled and sliced up the fruit, along with a couple of bananas, added some sweetener and fruit fresh.

Angel then began to set the table. Sierra and Nevada got home, soon followed by Aunt Carmine, who dashed off to her room to change.

They talked about their days as they sat and ate. Angel could see that Carmine was just like her Mom in that respect. The girls just had two days of testing left and four days of school left. They were excited about finishing their school year.

“This is good Angel,” Carmine said, “Maybe you should be a chef, instead of a musician.”

“No, I just eat to live. Since I have to eat, I like my food to taste good. It is different with music, I feel more alive when I am playing. I just can’t describe the feeling.”

“Oh, Uncle Javier called me at lunch. He says you can keep playing your guitar at home. Uncle Rolando will be by tomorrow; put him in the other guest room, Angel. Friday, after the girls get out of school, we’ll all be going to New York City. He said that you are not to worry about a guitar.”

“Great, we can see Mom, this weekend.”

“On Friday, I’ll get off early. Girls, make sure you take everything you have to turn in, to school in the morning. I’ll meet you there at three and check you two out for the year. Grandfather, Javier and Rolando will be here for lunch, Angel. Make sure you girls are all packed, tomorrow night. When we get home Friday, we are only going to have enough time to change before we go. We need to look nice when we leave here. We are going to stay in Aunt Margarita’s hotel suite. We need to pack for five days.”
 

*          *          *
 
Thursday Angel was playing her guitar, when the doorbell rang.

“Hola Tio Rolando.” (Hello Uncle Rolando.)

“Hola mi Angel,  ¿Cá³mo está¡ usted?” (Hello my mi Angel. How are you?)

“Hacer el bien y el tá­o? (Doing good Uncle and you?”)

“Muey bein. Let’s speak English. Some people are coming by to do some work around the house, soon,” Rolando said.

“What kind of work?”

“You will see, do you have any café,”

“I can make some for you.”

“Bien Angel.”

Uncle Rolando was halfway through his first cup of coffee when the doorbell rang again.

“Angel, you get the door and show the men to the garage. I will open the garage door for them.”

Angel greeted the men at the door and led them to the garage door. Uncle Rolando was just opening it for them. The men spoke to Rolando for a few minutes and then got to work.

“They are going to install a safe here and at your home Angel. The safe is burglar, water and fire proof. Keep your guitar there when you’re not using it. You, your Aunt and your Mom will know how to get in the safes,” Rolando said, as he led Angel back into the house.

Four hours later, one of the men came in and asked them to come out. Angel saw an ordinary looking wood cabinet. When the workman opened the door, she saw a large safe about seven feet high, by four feet wide, by three feet deep. It was large enough to hold two or three guitars. The safe had a dial and a keypad.

“The safe can be opened by a combination on the dial, or a number punched into the key pad. The dial is just a backup for the keypad, if the electronics go south,” he said, and he showed Uncle Rolando how to set the combinations to both. “Go ahead and set the combinations, leave the door open though. Then try them out. If they both work, you can close the door. If not, I can reset the locks.

Rolando set the dial and had Angel set the keypad. They then tried the locks and found that they both worked. They both successfully tried them, both combinations, several times.

The workman came back and Rolando thanked the men.

“Please remember the combinations; they are a bitch to open without them. Sorry for the language ma’am. It would take me up to about four hours to open it.”

Angel wrote both combinations down and hid it in Carmine’s office.

Rolando then looked at his great niece and said, “Consiga su guitarra mi hermoso Angel.” (Get your guitar, my beautiful Angel.)

Angel shrilled with glee, as she ran to get her guitar. For the next two hours, Rolando taught, Angel learned and together they played. They played well together; Rolando would lead and Angel followed; then Angel would lead, with Rolando following her. She always chose to play her most challenging music when she was with her teachers.

After finishing their lesson, Carmine and Rolando carefully detuned their instruments, wiped them down and put them in their cases. Rolando then handed her his guitar and had her lock his up with hers, in the safe.

For Rolando, years ago it was the master teaching his student, now it was the teacher struggling to keep up with his prodigy. Angel only lacked in the years of experience that her teachers had, from being great. There was hardly anything left for the old men to pass on to her. Like a sculptor, who had just put down his small chisel after years of chipping away on a marble statue, all that was left was polishing what was there.
 
 
Chapter 16
 
 
Friday, Angel made breakfast for her Uncle Rolando. He hadn’t gotten up when Carmine and the girls had. She made him his coffee, almost strong enough to get up and walk out of the cup. He liked espresso, but Aunt Carmine didn’t have an espresso maker. She also fixed him scramble eggs, fried potatoes and toast.

Sierra and Nevada were almost beside themselves with joy, as they collected all their books and the myriad other things that needed to be turned back in to their teachers, for the girls to be cleared to leave. Even Carmine seemed excited this day, as she got ready for work. Angel got her hugs and kisses, as one after another of her family left that day.
 

*          *          *
 
Around noon, her Grandfather Fernando arrived and then an hour later, Javier arrived in a full sized bus motor home, driven by one of her cousins, Marcos Dominguez. Angel ran to the bus and hugged her Uncle and cousin together.

“Ah mi, el Primo Marcos, Tio Javier, Es tan bueno verle usted dos.” (Oh my, cousin Marcos, Uncle Javier, It is so good seeing you two.)

“ ¿Como estas Marcos?” (How are you Marcos?)

“Good, but easy on the Spanish girl? I am not as fluent as you are.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Somebody has to drive this bus. Uncle Javier called and asked if I still had this motor home. He asked if the family could borrow it. I couldn’t let him down could I?”

“No of course not,” Angel said. “Is the bus stocked with food?”

“Just like a woman, worried about food. There are enough cokes and snacks to get us to New York. The diesel tanks are filled too.”

Angel and Marcos, with the old men’s help, got all of the luggage that had been set aside, loaded into the bus.

They got on the road with in a half hour of Carmine and the twins getting home. The motor home was really nice. Marco explained to the girls that he had bought a used bus back in 1990 and over the next ten years he worked on and fixed up the bus. The inside of the bus had leather couches, plush carpeting, a kitchen, restroom and shower, bedroom and a flat screen TV.

After the girl’s had a chance to peak and snoop over every inch of the bus, they sat down to relax. Angel and her Uncles got their guitars out and played for everyone. The twins weren’t happy that there wasn’t enough room to dance, but they did enjoy the concert, that the others were putting on for them.

About two hours into the trip, Uncle Javier got a call on his cell phone.

“Hola… hey Raáºl.  ¿Como está¡s?... Muy bueno.  ¿Cuando su aviá³n de la tierra? Nosotros usted recogerá¡ entonces en dos horas.” (Hello… Hey Raul. How are you? Very good. When does your plane land? We will pick you up in two hours.)

“Hey Marcos, can we be at terminal seven at JFK, in two hours.”

“We will be there in about an hour and a half, Uncle Ramos.”

“Good, we will pick up your cousin Raul Vargas there. He is one of Carmelita’s grandchildren.”

“Great, great Aunt Carmelita?” Sierra asked.

“Si, add another great for you chica, she is the family’s matriarch,” Fernando said.

“She must be what, 90 years old?” Nevada asked.

“No, she will be a 102 in September. I just talked to her, last week,” Javier said.

“She may be old, but she is a fiery woman. She chewed me out for ten minutes when I called a day late for her last birthday,” Rolando said.

“Si, she called me to tell you to call her,” Javier said.

“Yeah she wasn’t worried that she would die before you called, she was worried that you would be dead, before she could hear from you again,” Fernando joked.

“Tell me about it,” Rolando replied.

At JFK, Marcos dropped off Angel and Javier outside terminal seven. He told Uncle Javier to call him when they had Raul. Javier and Angel went to the security checkpoint outside of customs. There was a constant flow of people out from the customs checkpoint. Javier, at six feet four, saw Raul coming their way carrying two guitars, while a skycap pushed a cart of luggage behind him.

Raul smiled and nodded his head at Javier and headed his way.

“Hola, Tio Javier, Es tan bueno verte de nuevo.” (Hello Uncle Javier, it is so good seeing you again.)

(The following italicized conversation is in Spanish although your brains see it in English. You are getting better at thinking in two languages.)

“Raul this is you Cousin Angel Marquez. Angel this is your Cousin Raul Vargas.”

“So this is the beautiful child, the one that is causing the stir. You are a sight for sore eyes, my little chica.”

“Thank you Raul, tell me you have some pretty senorita back home,” Angel said, flirting with her cousin.

“Not as cute as you, but you are way too young for me,” Raul said, flirting back at her. “You didn’t lie Javier, She is quite charming. Here, carry this guitar for me Angel,” Raul said, handing her one of the cases.

Uncle Javier called Marcos on his cell phone, as he led their way to the passenger pickup area. They all talked on the way to Margarita’s hotel. The conversations were slowed, as someone translated for Marcos, who spoke mostly English and Raul, who spoke mostly Spanish.

Finally, Raul told Angel to open the guitar case she was holding.

Angel carefully opened the case. Inside was one of the most beautiful Classical Guitars she had ever seen. “Oh my gosh, is this your guitar Raul?”

“No, mi chica, it is your new guitar, and here is a history of your new guitar in Spanish and English.” Raul said, handing her a bound folder.

“You're not taking my old guitar away, are you grandfather?”

“No we aren’t, that is your guitar now, but we do want you to keep it safe. Use this new guitar in places where your old one might not be safe,” her grandfather said.

“We know that you might not like using a new guitar, but if the old guitar is as valuable as we understand, then you just can’t take it everywhere you go,” Uncle Rolando said.

“This new guitar, you may do with as you wish, and you may still play your grandfather’s guitar on special occasions. It is still your guitar, but accidents can happen to break it and it can be stolen when you play, like you did at the park.” Uncle Javier said.

“How much did this guitar cost? Who do I pay for it?”

“Don’t worry about such things, Angel. Just make beautiful music with it, that is all it costs you.”

Angel understood what they were telling her. She had been shocked to hear how valuable grandfather’s guitar might be. She took the new guitar out of its case. She carefully tuned it. She was surprised to hear it sing as she tuned it. It wasn’t better than her old one, but neither was it worse. It was different. It was definitely louder and brighter, but it wasn’t as warm toned. It was most definitely better to her, than the guitars she had played at Leo’s.

She then began playing some of her more technically challenging pieces she knew, Arabian Dance, El choclo, Classical Gas and Bohemian Rhapsody. She would have played more, but they arrived at her mother’s hotel.

Angel carried her two guitars off the bus, ahead of her aunt, cousins and uncles. A doorman opened the door for her and she saw her mother waiting for her in the lobby. Margarita rushed over to hug her daughter and the rest of her family. She stopped when she saw Raul; she saw the familial resemblance, but couldn’t place him at first. Raul just stood there grinning at her; her uncles were strangely silent.

It slowly came to her, she said, “ ¿Raul Vargas, es eso usted?” (Raul Vargas, is that you?) She asked a little uncertainly.

“Ah, usted me recuerda mi hermoso primo. Nosotros no hemos visto uno al otro desde que nosotros encontramos en Barcelona, hace veinte aá±os.” (Ah, you remember me my beautiful cousin. We have not seen each other since we met in Barcelona, twenty years ago.)

“Es tan bueno verte de nuevo.  ¿Cá³mo has estado haciendo?” (It's so good to see you again. How have you been doing?)

Javier translated for Marcos and then said. “Vamos a conseguir nuestros clasificados y equipaje en nuestras habitaciones. Marcos tiene que aparcar el autobáºs en un garaje y coger un taxi de vuelta. Conoce aquá­ en el vestá­bulo, en una hora. (Let's get our luggage sorted out and into our rooms. Marcos needs to park the bus in a garage and take a taxi back here. Meet back here in the lobby in an hour.)

Margarita then took charge and had Angel’s, Carmine’s and the twins’ luggage taken up to her suite. Javier then began to register the rest of the family into rooms.

“Angel, why are you carrying two guitars, does one belong to someone else?”

“No, Momma, they are both mine. Uncle Javier arranged for me to get another. Raul brought it over from Barcelona, Spain. It is so beautiful, wait till you see it.”

“Is Grandfather taking back his old guitar?”

“No Momma, he isn’t, but the old men want me to keep it safe.”

“Is it really that valuable?”

“We don’t know yet. Leo thinks it may be worth over a hundred thousand dollars.”

“Who is this Leo?”

“Leo Granger is the proprietor of the music store I went to. I played his guitars at his shop and earned thirteen hundred dollars, helping him sell his merchandise.”

“Oh my, what did you do?”

“I just played his guitars.”

“She is telling you the truth Sis; he called me in and talked to me.”

“He has a jam session every Tuesday, at the mall, near Aunt Carmine’s home. He invited me there and I took Grandfather’s guitar. We played a lot of songs and the clerks were selling the guitars I was playing.”

“One customer even paid to have Angel autograph the guitar she was playing, Sis.”

“You sold four guitars for seventeen thousand dollars?”

“I was paid eight hundred seventy some odd dollars commission for the guitars and I was paid five hundred for autographing a guitar. They were all high end instruments from three thousand to eight thousand dollars.”

“How much did your new guitar cost?”

“I don’t know, the old men won’t say, but it did come from a luthier in Barcelona. Raul brought it with him.”

“I didn’t know this was going to happen either, Sis. Uncle Rolando installed a safe in my garage and is going to install one at your home for Angel’s guitars.”

“I wish they would have talked to me about this.”

“Yes, but you know what they are like, Sis.”

“Yes I know.”

There were two rooms in Margarita’s suite; Carmine roomed with her, and the girls were in the other room. They all took time to clean up a bit and then headed down to the lobby.

The men were waiting somewhat patiently for the women to come down. (Yeah right, they were fidgeting like cats.) Javier led them into the dinning room where they had reservations for ten. After they ordered drinks and food, they sat back and talked.

(In Spanish, translated in English for Marcos by Carmine who sat next to him.)

“It is good for all of us to be together again,” Javier said. “Monday we go to Christies Auction House to have our guitar appraised. I said ours, because after I talked with Carmine, I talked to my brothers and other members of our family. There have been many guitars passed down in our family. Rolando and my guitars are very old too. I found out that they may also have a famous heritage and be valuable too. It is good that Angel caused such a stir.”

“More importantly, our visit has another purpose. Since I informed the family about Angel, there have been many inquiries, and Angel, if you will, we want you to talk to these people. We have scheduled a family meeting in a conference room. Marcos said he could do some internet thing and the others can listen and watch back home. Angel, don’t be afraid, no one will insult you at this family meeting. Carmelita and I will not allow it. Will you do this Angel?”

“Yes I will. I can do this.”

Angel was nervous about it and her therapist had told her that she should talk to all of her family about it sometime. Now was as good as anytime.

“Good. Can you translate and type in Spanish Margarita.”

“Of course I can, Uncle Javier.”

“Good, can you work with your cousin Marcos and translate for those who don’t speak English.”

“I can speak in Spanish well enough, Uncle Javier.”

“Yes I know, but this gives your Mom some control over what goes back and forth.”

Margarita hadn’t realized what her uncle had done for them and appreciated him for doing this.

“I will allow this Uncle Javier, as long as my Angel is protected.”

“If they don’t fear me, they will fear Carmelita’s wrath.”

Everyone that knew Carmelita shuddered and shook their heads.

“Good, then I have made arrangements for the girls tomorrow. Carmine here is the schedule for you and your girls, and Margarita here is the schedule for you and Angel,” Javier said, passing the women a sheet of paper.

They were scheduled for a salon and clothing fitting. Carmine and her girls, were to go to the clothier early, and then to the salon. Margarita and Angel were to go the salon and then to the clothier.

They talked about other things for a few hours and called it a day.
 
 
Chapter 17
 
 
Angel and Margarita’s first stop after a quick breakfast was the hotel beauty salon. They both had their legs waxed, it was fortunate for Angel that she didn’t have much leg hair. She nearly bit her tongue when the first strip was pulled. Her Mom had been through this before and knew what to expect. It was a pain having to shave several times a week, or wax twice a month, but she couldn’t understand her European relatives’ love of hairy pits or legs.

Next, Margarita needed to have her nails filled in. Angel’s new nails were just slightly damaged from her guitar playing, they just needed a bit of filing and fresh coat of nail polish.

Lastly, they were taken to the hair station; they were both given a shampoo and conditioning. Margarita’s had her hair trimmed and wound into a severe bun. Angel’s hair was turned into a mass of long curls, with six falls to lengthen and to add to the volume of her hair.

From the salon, they headed to a clothier that supplied various ethnic costuming. Angel and Margarita introduced themselves to the sales clerk named Monica and talked about what they wanted. Angel didn’t want to be dressed in the skin tight Flamenco dresses that her Mom favored. She never understood how she walked in those form fitting dresses and skirts she preferred. She and her Mom found what she was looking for. They had a heavily embroidered jacket and vest, which had an ankle length skirt, which she loved.

The clerk took them in the back and had Angel take off her sundress. Standing there in her bra, panties and slip, the clerk took her measurements.

“Angel hasn’t begun to develop much of her womanly figure yet. You know Margarita, with the right foundations, she would look so nice.”

“Yes, but she is still quite a doll right now.”

“Oh, I am sorry. I didn’t mean she wasn’t pretty.”

“Yes, I know what you mean. What do you have in mind?”

“I would suggest a basque; push up pads and a heavily padded brief. Come with me, Margarita.”

Five minutes later, Margarita returned carrying some lingerie and the clerk hung Angel’s chosen outfit and a ruffled blouse, on a hook before leaving.

Angel took off her slip and bra and Margarita began to hook up the basque. The basque had a built in push up bra and covered Angel down to about two inches below her natural waist. Angel had to suck in her stomach to help her mom get it hooked up. She turned Angel around and positioned a push up pad into each cup, before stepping back to look.

Her daughter looked good in the basque, she was bigger in the bust and she didn’t bulge out at the bottom. Margarita had to help her with the padded brief because Angel couldn’t bend very well at the waist. This padded brief had more padding than the ones she had bought before. Angel was afraid that she was going to look positively huge now. The basque and pushup pads added an inch and a half to her bust and took off two inches at her waist. The padded brief added just over two inches to Angel’s hips.

Angel finished getting dressed, starting with the ruffled blouse. The blouse was a long sleeved, linen blend, blouse that had ruffles up the front and at the cuffs. She then wrapped the skirt around her, fastening the two buttons and the two buckles on the left side. The vest fit quite well and made the outfit.

Monica wrapped a red scarf and ran the tag ends through a ring and turned the scarf to the left. She then took a black Sevillano hat and helped Angel put the hat on, so it hung by its lanyard on her back. The look was completed with chandelier earrings and ankle high, brocade boots, with wider stack heels. Even though she didn’t get to dance much, she tried to mimic the way her Mom, Aunt and cousins dance. It was clear that she wasn’t a beginner, but she really needed a lot of work.

“Your daughter dances beautifully.”

“Unfortunately, that was only fair, Monica. My sister, her daughters and I all dance much better, only we can’t play the guitar the way that Angel does. Still I expect her to put more effort into the dance,” Margarita said, with a wink at her daughter.

“Yeah, my younger cousins are way better than I am at dancing. They are almost as good as Mom and Aunt Carmine.”

“You play the Flamenco guitar?”

“I can, but I usually play Flamenco on my classical guitar.”

“Are you any good at it?”

“I guess I am pretty fair at playing the guitar.”

“Don’t listen to her, she is being too modest. She is very good at playing her guitar,” Margarita said. She took her phone and showed Monica, a short video that she had saved on the phone. “This is her cousins Sierra and Nevada dancing, while Angel plays the guitar.

“Those girls were in here about two hours ago. They must have tried on every dress we have in their sizes.” Monica said, as she watched and listened to the video, “I think that the outfit Angel has on, will look so good while she is playing her guitar.”

Margarita then spent the next couple of hours selecting an outfit for herself, with her daughters help. Angel tried to get her Mon into a less form fitting dress, but it was an uphill battle. Angel did see that the material of the dresses, did have a little stretch.

Mother and daughter changed to the clothes they had worn that day, although Angel left her new lingerie on and returned to the hotel. In the suite, they went to Margarita’s room and spent some time talking. An hour before the meeting, they changed into their outfits and went back to the hotel beauty salon for makeup.
 
 
Chapter 18
 
 
Carmine and her daughters went to the costume shop with Raul and the old men. The mountain girls spent half the morning criticizing the clothes the men were looking at. The men usually just went out and picked what they liked. That wasn’t good enough for Sierra and Nevada who wanted to see them in a half dozen of the outfits the store had for men. Even though the men questioned the wisdom of shopping with the girls, they had to admit that the girls had good taste in clothing.

Carmine had taken the time while the girls were busy bothering their Uncles and grandfather to pick out her outfit. She and her sister, Margarita had the figures that made the tight dresses look good. That is what she gravitated to.

When it was Sierra and Nevada’s turn to shop for clothes they literally tore through the stores whole collection for something that fit their tastes. They eventually settled on some of the first dresses they tried on. They almost spent as much time looking at all the different accessories, from jewelry to scarves, shawls, veils, combs and shoes.

From the costume shop, the men took the ladies out to eat. The old men chose to spend this time with Carmine and her daughters, Angel and Margarita got to see them more than Sierra and Nevada did because of her guitar lessons. The men wanted to make sure that the girls knew they were loved no less.

After lunch the old men dropped the ladies off at the entrance to the hotel’s beauty salon and skedaddled while they could. Carmine couldn’t help herself as she shouted, “Aww come on, are you sure, you guys don’t want to come in,” as the car slowly pulled away.

Sierra and Nevada just had to giggle at the retreating males.

Inside all three received the same treatments that Margarita and Angel had received, but their hair was trimmed and wound into the buns that classical Flamenco dancers wore. Instead of individual semi-permanent lashes they received pairs of false eyelashes for the stage. The eyelashes were longer and more dramatic. Lastly before heading to the meeting they all had their makeup done in a dramatic fashion.
 
 
Chapter 19
 
 
The conference room for the family conference was set up with tables in a standard U-shape, with the head table away from the entrance. A smaller table was set up in the open end of the U and three video cameras looked at both forks and the head table. A buffet was being set up next to the entrance.

There were about fifteen family members, many dressed in their festival best, milling around talking. Carmine was taking her twins around the room and introducing them to their distant cousins.

All three of them were in festive Flamenco garb. Carmines, a pale blue silk, lace and taffeta dress, was fitted tightly from her shoulder to just below her knees, it flared out sharply into a circle of black and blue ruffles at her ankles. The twins wore opposite colored red/black dresses, fitted at the bodice and waist, before flaring out to a wide hem that had lots of ruffles. Sierra’s dress was red, with black lace and Nevada’s was black, with red lace. They each wore brocade Flamenco shoes, with metal taps on their heels and toes. Their hair was pulled back into severe buns, with large combs inserted at the top of the buns. Contrasting lace veils hung over the combs. They each wore heavy, almost stage grade, makeup, including oversized, but not too gaudy, false eyelashes. Their outfits were accessorized by large chandelier earrings, beaded necklaces, matching bracelets, rings and castanets.

The guests were appreciative of the girls’ efforts, by those present. The people were just drawn to the lovely girls.

At the appointed time, Margarita came in and sat down by Marcos, at the media table. She was dressed like her sister, in a pink/white dot dress. She and Marcos had a short chat about the system and she pulled the laptop’s keyboard into a comfortable position.

Fernando was the first of the brothers through the door. He looked magnificent in his new Paseo jacket, waistcoat, breeches, black Sevillano hat and black high boots. The black jacket was closely fitted to him and was heavily embroidered, the pants showed his lean muscled form.

When he was well into the room, there began a swell of guitar music and a trumpet. Javier came in dressed similarly to Fernando. He was playing his Flamenco guitar. He was followed by Rolando and Raul similarly dressed and playing their guitars. Finally, Angel came in playing her old guitar.

The room was full of gasps, as the relatives saw Angel for the first time. Not even Carmine and the twins knew what to expect, as they hadn’t seen her all day. Angel looked simply divine as she wore a dark gray, fitted jacket and matching vest that were ornately embroidered, over a white ruffled blouse. Her skirt was a black ankle length, wrap around skirt that had two buckles on her left, just below mid hip. Her hair was a mass of curls, which now came to the middle of her back. Some of the curls draped on the front of her jacket, with the rest of them controlled by her black Sevillano hat, that she wore only by the lanyard around her neck. The salon had given her individual, semi-permanent, eyelashes, which feathered out from her eye. Angel’s makeup had been expertly applied, just minutes before she appeared.

Sierra and Nevada did a double take of their cousin. Her chest and hips looked bigger and her waist narrower.

Carmine and her girls began to dance to the music and playing their castanets. The appreciative audience began to clap to the music, some of them joining in on the dancing.

After about ten minutes, the playing and dancing came to a close. Javier got everyone’s attention and said in Spanish and English, “Welcome my family. It is good to be here with all of you. A buffet has been set up in the back. Please eat, drink and have a joyous time.”

The guitar players all carefully put their instruments away and joined the line at the buffet. They had to stop and say hello to this person, shake that hand, and hug this person.

Angel sat at the head table, flanked by her Mom and her Grandfather. Javier sat in the middle, with Rolando and Raul to his left. The family sat around the U and ate, talking with their neighbors. The seating had been jumbled, so cousins were seated by cousins they didn’t know as well. There was a mixture of English and Spanish being spoken around the table. The bilingual family members had been dispersed about the room and translated where necessary.

Most of the people had finished eating, except for a few chow-hounds that needed an extra meal like a drowning man needs more water. Javier stood and addressed the crowd in English, “Hello my, friends and family.” Margarita was again at the media table, “The first thing I want to cover are the guitars that are in our family. I have found out that there are many that have been handed down from generation to generation. We recently discovered that many might be very valuable. I implore you to have your guitars appraised by a reputable appraiser. We have found one guitar that may be worth several hundred thousand dollars, and my bother Rolando’s and my guitar may be valuable as well.”

“Secondly, there has been a stir created by one of our family. Angel Luis Marquez is now known as Angel Louisa Marquez. Some of you don’t agree with this apparent change of gender. She is here to speak for herself. You may not agree with her change of gender, but she is still family, you will treat her as family.” Javier turned to Angel and she stood. “Angel the floor is yours.”

Angel walked over to the podium and turned towards the people assembled there.

“Hello, I am Angel Marquez. I am fourteen and my mother is Margarita Delores Ramos-Marques. It is good that I get to speak to all of you. I guess I have known most of my life that I was different from all the other boys I have known. It wasn’t until I was six that I realized that I was a girl trapped inside the body of a boy.”

“Just before my sixth birthday, I told my parents just that. My dad couldn’t accept that and left. My mother though, was very understanding and took me to see a psychologist. I spent four years in counseling with this therapist trying to convince him I was a girl, as much as he spent questioning my belief. He finally agreed with me.”

“I am still seeing this therapist once a month. About two years ago, I began taking androgen blockers; it is the same medicine a balding man takes to help keep his hair. So I have avoided going through puberty.”

“I know I look pretty and feminine right now, but physically I am still a boy. What you see is not all me. The women out there will probably understand that better than the men. I will say that this is how in my mind and my heart, I know I should look. Since I was discovered dressed as a girl, I have spent all the time I could, looking like this. I was even given the approval of my therapist to transition to living full time as a girl. So since school ended this year, I have lived this way twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. When school starts for me in the fall, I will be registered as a girl.”

“I don’t want special treatment from the family because of my decision; I just don’t want to be treated badly. I am sorry if you can’t understand what I am going through. It is hard for me to even understand the why’s and how’s and I have lived through this.”

“I would love for all of you to accept this, but I am a realist. I know there are people out there that can’t, and won’t accept me, for who I am. If you can accept me, I would love to count you as one of my friends. I can use all of the friends I can get. If you can’t accept me, I will try not to make waves that will hurt you, after all you are family. I only ask that you do the same for me. Thank you.”

Angel started to return back to her seat.

“Excuse me Angel, do you plan to go all the way, with surgery and hormones?” one of the cousins asked.

“Yes, but I can’t do either until I am eighteen. I have to be old enough to give an informed consent.”

“What about sex? Do you like boys or girls?”

“I don’t know at this point. This isn’t about sex to me; it is about gender and what I see myself as. I am not out to seduce anybody or turn them over to the dark side. I may live my life celibate, at this point I just can’t say.”

“What about the church, Angel?”

“I know most of the church won’t accept me like I am, but I still believe in God and Jesus. Our church claims to be infallible, but look how the church treated Galileo, look at the cruelty that the Spanish and French inquisitions have done, in the name of the church. Many of the popes in the past have been just as corrupt as the heathens they were out to save. There are people in the church who have made grave errors and many who go to church on Sunday, but come Monday, lookout. I am not going to cast any stones. I have tried my hardest to be as good a person as I can be, seven days a week and I pray that that is good enough for God. I can’t believe a loving God would hate me for being like I am.”

“Thank you, but that is all I can say, right now.”

Angel took her seat and Uncle Javier stood again and took the podium. “Thank you Angel, you have given us much to think about. I just ask that you do think about it and remember, she is still family. Family is our strength.”

“Now, we have a special treat for everyone. There are seven guitarists here tonight. We are going to have a battle of the guitar. All of you get your guitars out and let’s tune them up with each other. We will play until we see that the rest are better than we are, and then we will step aside. When there are two left, we will speed up the music, till one can’t keep up.”

The seven guitarists stood inside the U and tuned up their guitars. Angel chose to use her new guitar, because of the way they were crowded. Javier then call out the name of a piece and they all began to play. He started out fairly easy and then the music began to get more challenging. One cousin dropped out, then another and finally a third. It was Javier, Rolando, Raul and Angel left. Javier called out a particularly challenging Master class piece and stepped out himself. Rolando stepped out in the middle of the same piece. Angel and Raul turned towards each other and played their best, through the end of the piece. Javier called out the name of another piece and they played on. When Javier clapped, they would pick up the pace of the music. They were into the third piece and both Raul and Angel were strained in concentration. Raul missed a chord progression then and bowed out. Angel finished the piece and another one so she could relax. When she finished, she was surprised at the applause she received.

Margarita handed Javier a slip of paper. He took the slip and read it. When he finished reading it, he whistled an almost ear shattering whistle.

“Excuse my rudeness, apparently our Great Aunt Carmelita has stayed up to see this, although the time is very early in Spain right now. She has asked if it would be possible for Raul and Angel to come play for her. I am sure that Raul can and we will try to get Angel there as well.”

For the next hour the guitars played and the dancers danced. Margarita danced with Raul and Carmine was on the floor with Marcos, the twins found themselves on the floor with a male cousin.

As much as Angel liked playing for the family, she had been on the go since nine that morning. She was glad when Carmine and her Mom led them out and back to their room. Angel had to have her cousins’ help getting out of her bustier. The bustier was longer than a long line bra and much prettier. It wasn’t really tight; she only had to reduce her waist a couple of inches. They helped remove the many falls that made her hair look so long.

On their way back to the room, Angel asked her Mom, “Well how did I do?”

“I think you did alright. Most of our relatives that were here were already on your side, so to speak. I think you convinced those that support you and gave the others something to think about.”

When they got in bed, Sierra and Nevada had to tell her everything they had done and extracted everything Angel had done that day.
 
 
Chapter 20
 
 
Monday, after a relaxing Sunday seeing the sights, Angel accompanied her Uncles and Grandfather to Christie’s Auction House, with their guitars. The four of them were introduced to Michael Dunn, the supervisor in charge of appraisals.

The old men began to tell Mr. Dunn about the history of their guitars. There had been several guitarist of renown in their family, but none who could be regarded as being famous. Michael showed interest in what the men were saying and took copious noted. He asked them about any provenances that they might have. Other than their family’s oral history, they didn’t have any written statements detailing who made, sold or bought the instruments.

“Are you certain of your family’s origins in the Madrid area, from the late 1800’s?”

“Yes, our family has lived in Madrid and the area within 30 kilometers of Madrid, since the early 17 th century. The first birth in the Madrid area I could find, was a Felipe Ramos. I found records of his birth at a church in Madrid, on March 23, 1643. I found the records in the archives of San Pedro el Viejo, a church that dates from the 13th century, in old Madrid. I think I can identify the original owners of our guitars,” Javier said, taking out a large sheet of paper that had their family tree recorded on. “That is according to my family’s traditions. There are holes in my research, but I am very confident about this tree.”

Michael took notes of where Javier first linked each of the three guitars they brought in today.

“I have enough to start my research, now follow me to our lab where they will inspect your guitars.”

The group followed Mr. Dunn into a secure area of Christies’. He had to use his ID card twice to get to the lab. “This is where we will have technicians inspect each guitar. Everyone here has at least a master’s degree and most have one or more doctorate degrees.”

“This is Dr. Wilson; he has doctorates in chemistry and forensics. He will be in charge of your instruments.” Michael said, introducing a colleague at a cluttered desk.

Jeremy Wilson appeared to be a balding man, in his early fifties. He was about five foot ten inches tall and sat a little too close to the dinner table, as he must have weighed about two hundred twenty pounds. He wore horn rim glasses, powder blue lab coat and all that was missing was the pocket protector.

“Please call me Jeremy,”

“Right Jeremy, this is Javier, Rolando and Fernando Ramos along with Angel Marques. They have three guitars they would like to Vet and appraise.”

“Hello Ma’am and Sirs.” Jeremy said, shaking their hands. “Are these the guitars,” he said, indicating the cases.

“Yes they are. All three came from the area around Madrid in the late 1800’s,” Javier said.

“Good, then. If you would please lay them out on this table for me,” he said, indicating a large table.

Angel, Javier and Rolando each took out their instrument and carefully placed them on the table. Jeremy picked up each instrument and gave them a precursory look.

“Given the age you purport them to be, they all appear to be in good condition. We have two Flamenco guitars and one classical, or more correctly, Spanish guitar. May I hear them played one at a time?”

The old men lightly pushed Angel forward. She picked up her guitar, tuned it up and played the first ten measures of Recuerdos de la Alhambra. When she finished, Javier motioned for her to play the other guitars. She had done this before, but only rarely. She played the same ten measures on each instrument.

Each instrument had its own unique voice. Angel could pick out the three guitars just by listening to them. Angel’s was more warm and mellow, Javier’s was the boldest and Rolando’s was the brightest.

“Very well done, my dear. I see you have been well taught.”

“Thank you, my uncles and my grandfather, along with two other gentlemen are my teachers. Give them all the credit.”

“Well I can tell already that we are dealing with superior instruments. Let me get the other researchers in now,” Jeremy said. He picked up his phone and asked a Karen to come to his office with William and Carl. He then told them what was going to happen. Jeremy also gave them a receipt for the guitars and said that they could watch if they liked. If not, they could pick up the guitars on Wednesday. The report might take a couple of weeks.

Three people soon entered and were introduced. Karen Long was the crack researcher, William Caldwell was the expert on musical instruments and Carl Dowdy was an acoustics expert. They were each in their late twenties to early thirties and each had a blue lab coat on. They first carefully photographed and documented each instrument, before they began to carefully examine them from their point of view.

Angel and her teachers, stayed for a little while, but once they saw that their instruments were in capable caring hands, they left. They talked about what if. The conclusion they came to was, if they were as valuable as some thought, they would still play them. A guitar that never leaves the case is just some wood, metal and string.

Angel felt a sense of loss at not having her prized instrument, but at least she still had one she could play.
 
 
Chapter 21
 
 
It was a long two days for Javier, Rolando and Angel. They wasted no time when they got the call that they could pick up their instruments. They met Michael at his desk, at Christies’. He was wearing his poker face and they couldn’t tell what he was thinking. The three guitar cases were behind his desk.

“Well I won’t keep you in suspense. We have examined all three guitars and have our preliminary report ready for you. Javier Ramos and Rolando Ramos, we are certain without a doubt, that your guitars are indeed Jose Ramirez guitars. Javier, we recommend that you insure yours for three hundred thousand dollars. Rolando, yours is a bit newer, but still you should insure it for at least two hundred fifty thousand. My people are pleased with the condition of your guitars. Your family has taken good care of them over the years.”

“Now Angel, your guitar was a bit harder to nail down. Your guitar, like your uncles, is a superior instrument. It is consistent in everyway with an Antonio de Torres guitar. We want to do a bit more research, before we put our reputations at stake. If it is an Antonio de Torres, it was made early in his second epoch, when he worked in his shop in Almerá­a, Spain. There are fewer known A. Torres guitars that remain in existence, than J. Ramirez guitars. So if we are correct, it could substantially be more valuable. I therefore have the documentation so that the guitar can be insured, till we can be certain. We are suggesting that you have it insured for at least a half a million dollars. If it turns out to be true, it could be more valuable than that. A provenance or documentation would add substantially to its value.”

“I don’t suppose any of you want to auction your guitars off, considering how long they have been in your family and how well you have taken care of them, am I right?”

“No, these instruments will be passed on to the next generation of guitarists in our family,” Javier stated, and his brothers concurred.
“It would be like selling my sister, in fact I would rather sell my sister,” Rolando said.

“We don’t have a sister that is still living Rolando,” Fernando said, laughing at his brother.

“Thank you Mr. Dunn for helping us out,” Javier said, elbowing his brothers.

“No, I want to thank you for bringing them to us to appraise. While it isn’t rare for us to see instruments of this caliber, it is rare to have three of them with us at the same time. You should receive our final reports on them by the end of the month.”

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To Be Continued...