Rosa Delgado's Secret Admirer
Story
by Samuel Blackwell
The bus is cold tonight. Looking out the window all I see is my
reflection. "Where are we?" I say to myself as I press my face against the
window, cupping my hands to the side of my face trying to block out the
light from the bus, just passed McKinley Avenue. Two more stops and she
gets on. Rosa Delgado, The most perfect woman ever. She'll get on, our
eyes will meet; she'll smile that shy smile and I will smile back, as
we have done for the last 12 years, never saying a word to each other.
It's perfect; love at first sight everyday. I would never say hello and
risk the chance of ruining the perfect moment. You might think I'm
crazy, but you must understand that if I took it any further it would only
go down hill. I would do something stupid and she would no longer be
perfect.
Magnolia and 3rd, this is were she gets on. She works two blocks from
this stop, at The El Toro Market as the daytime supervisor; she has been
working for this market for almost 15 years. Starting out as a box
girl, and quickly moving up the ranks to cashier. I am very proud to say
that due to her hard work, dedication, and intelligence she has made it
to the daytime supervisor position. Now with out further adieu ladies
and gentleman may I introduce, Rosa Delgado. She makes her way up the
steps and onto the bus. As she shows the bus driver her monthly pass, I
watch intently waiting for the moment. She limps toward her seat, it is
subtle but it's there. You can't tell that she has an artificial leg; it's just another one of the things that makes her perfect. Our eyes meet,
She smiles, and I smile back. Quickly she sits, two seats in front of
me, and I will stare at the back of her head for the next seven blocks.
My stop is actually two stops before hers, but I stay on until she gets
off, then I walk back several blocks to my apartment, that way we can
spend more time together.
Rosa lives in the downtown area in a small apartment with her mother
and her sister's two children; she supports her mother and the two
children on her income with some help from the WIC program. Rosa took the
children in after her sister Martha was arrested for murder. Martha had
caught the children's father with another woman, after getting a tip
from a co-worker. She secretly followed him to the woman's apartment; the
cheating husband never made it out of the woman's bed alive.
Unfortunately Martha had a bad attorney; a good one could have gotten her off
with a crime of passion, or at least manslaughter.
Her brother Anthony lived with them for a brief time, until he joined
the service last year, I believe he is stationed in Afghanistan.
Rosa's cell phone rings, it's her mother. Her mother is wondering
where she is; Rosa tells her the bus is running a little late, her mother
worries about her since the incident. The incident that left her without her right leg.
It was in all the local newspapers. Five years ago while she was
waiting for the early morning bus, she was attacked and had her right leg
hacked off just below the knee. The papers said the assailant jumped out
of the bushes and attacked her with a small ax, taking her leg and her
cell phone. He used her phone to call 911, and tell them what he had
done and where they could find her. The police found the cell phone a few
blocks away, but the leg was never recovered. They dusted for prints
and looked for DNA on the phone but couldn't find anything. The papers
called him a maniac; in fact the whole community was in fear for weeks,
thinking they might have a serial attacker on their hands.
A lesser person would've spent years in therapy for mental anguish, but
not Rosa. Within months she was back at work, fitted with a new leg.
She used crutches for about 6 months, and then a cane, but being the
woman she is, she quickly stopped using the cane.
As I said she has barely a limp now. In fact due to the incident she is
taking night courses to become a physical therapist specializing in
amputees. Rosa is one of the those rare people who exudes positive energy,
no matter how bad the situation she is always able to turn it around
and make something good from it. I'm just the opposite, I can take any
good situation and make it bad, maybe that's why I love her so much,
opposites attract.
Brockton Avenue, Rosa's stop. I watch her as she leaves the bus, "Good
night my sweet Rosa, I'll see you tomorrow". I think to myself. I then
press my face against the window as the bus pulls away, watching her
until she is out of sight. I pull the string for the next stop, and then
quickly make my way to the seat behind where she was sitting. I will
find a few strands of her hair that have gotten caught on the crease of the chair. Taking the strands and putting them in my pocket, off
the bus I go and into the cold night air. I walk three blocks back to
my apartment. Walking up the stairs to my apartment, I am greeted by a
very loud cat, "Hi girl, I bet your hungry". Unlocking the front door we
make our way into the small dingy apartment. In the kitchen I open up a
can of tuna and place it on the counter next to the sink. The black and
white cat leaps to the counter and begins devouring the tuna. I open a
drawer and pull out a clear plastic baggy full of black hair and add the
strands from my pocket to the collection. My hand reaches into the baggy
as the hair engulfs my fingers; I shut my eyes and imagine her smiling
at me.
Putting the hair back in the drawer, I make me way to the freezer, just
past the frozen dinners and under a bag of ice, I pull out a large
plastic freezer bag. Sitting at the small kitchen table I reach into the
bag and gently run my hand down her calf, to her ankle, feeling the
arch of her foot. My fingers caressing her five frozen toes, as I take a
slow deep breath remembering our perfect moment together. Her gasp as I
grabbed her from the bushes, her fear as I pushed her to the ground. My
knee on her lower back to hold her down, I could feel her pulse racing
through her whole body. Her scream as the ax came down on her leg. The
newspapers called me a maniac, would a maniac practice for months on
wooden logs to make it as quick as possible, it only took two hits and
the leg was mine. Taking the frozen leg out of the bag I begin to rub the
side of my face against it. It is so smooth and cold, and prefect. As I
have said, we can never take it past the smile, if we did I would
only screw it up, but this way I can always keep a piece of her with me.
Rosa Delgado's Secret Admirer© COPYRIGHT 2005 Samuel Blackwell. Reproduction prohibited without permission from the author. 03/28/05
