Amor Prohibido | r. martinez

cuarenta y nueve

Arcelia woke up at 7 am because Oscar slapped her leg while holding a tiny cake from the liquor store in one hand with a candle.  "Feliz cumple, Celia."  Arcelia smiled and sat up, taking the tiny chocolate cake from Oscar.  Arcelia looked at the tiny cake before blowing out the candle and happily handing it to Oscar.  "You ready for your quince?"

Arcelia looked down at her pajamas before rapidly shaking her head.  "Not like this."  She stated.  "Is there breakfast?"

"There's always a birthday breakfast."  Oscar stated.  "I gotta handle something for Los Santos, but I'll be back soon."  Arcelia nodded as Oscar kissed her head and waved before walking to the kitchen. 

Back at the bus station, Cesar stood in front of Jamal and Ruby with a backpack in his arms while Monse was speed walking away in anger. "Are you sure you don't want us to call Arcelia? So you can say goodbye?"

Cesar looked down, shaking his head with a look of distress and sadness on his face. "It's her big day. I don't want her sad tonight." Cesar told the two. "Take care of both of them. Please." Cesar gave the two one final hug, before nodding his head in Monse's direction. "Go."

× × ×

Oscar still wasn't back yet, so Arcelia had music blasting through her room while some Santos were spread out on the lawn, guarding the house until Oscar was back.  Arcelia and her chambelanes didn't have to leave until 1 o'clock for the quinceañera photoshoot, so she had a lot of time to spare. 

It had just turned 8 o'clock when Arcelia started her makeup and since her door wasn't closed, the cholos could hear her music since no one brought the speaker.  It's the day of her quinceañera, so she was going crazy with her makeup because she wanted to look her best.

In the middle of putting glitter on her eyelids, she heard a knock and turned to see Sebastian, with his clothes hanging over his arm.  "You're early."

"I know, I wanted to see if you needed any help."

"Not yet, I'm just doing my makeup.  You can take a nap if you want."  Sebastian nodded his head and set his clothes down before leaning down to kiss Arcelia and hopping on her bed.  For a while, he was watching her do her makeup, completely mesmerized by the whole process, but then he suddenly fell asleep with one of the teddy bears he got her.

It was about 9:30 when Arcelia finished her makeup, so she decided it was a good time to start looking for her tiara in her closet.  Using the small ladder that Oscar got her, Arcelia started looking on the top shelf of her closet for a black box that held the tiara her dad got her before he was arrested.  It took almost half an hour, but she finally found it.

Setting the box on her vanity, Arcelia decided she wanted to whatever was leftover from breakfast. She turned back to her bed and Sebastian was still holding her bear so she skipped to the kitchen.

For it being the day of her quince, Arcelia was surprisingly calm.  Except for when it hit 11 and her hair still wasn't even brushed, let alone curled, teased and hair sprayed.  So, she ran to the bathroom and plugged in her curling iron.  While it was heating up she brushed her hair and sprayed it with heat protectant.  Everything was on the counter by the time the curling iron was ready, so Arcelia got started.

Im the middle of curling her hair, Oscar and Cesar walked into the house and when Arcelia heard the two laughs, she got confused.

"Cesar's back?"

Cesar smiled and walked down the hallway to the bathroom. He peeked in and look at Arcelia who was all twisted up. "Yup."

Arcelia nodded her head, not really giving a reaction as she turned to look at what he was wearing. "Where's your suit?"