Free Broken Rules by Olivia Jake Page B

mihijo! Oh I’ve missed
you so much !” pulling him into a big hug, then pushing him back while still
holding onto his shoulders, and then exclaiming how handsome, yet too skinny
again, and pulled him back into a hug rocking back and forth. Next was his
grandmother Patricia, a shorter, plumper, greyer version of his mother. Alex
could see that her fingers were stiff with arthritis and she moved slowly, but
some of the comments coming out of her mouth, calling Marco Mr. Hollywood and
chiding him for it being so long in between visits, and also calling him too flaco ,
Alex could tell she was a spitfire. Marco then hugged his three sisters.
    Through it all, Alex and Jesús hung back in the
doorway taking it all in. This type of family was foreign to both of them. Alex
didn’t really have any family to speak of, and even though Jesús did, there
wasn’t one tenth the love and warmth in his family that there was here. Alex
was starting to wonder if Marco’s charm wasn’t just an act. She could see, even
from this brief interaction, that he was raised with love and support.
    Patricia, the grandmother, finally said, “ Well,
Mr. Hollywood, have you lost all your manners already? Aren’t you going to
introduce us to your friends? Leaving them standing there like that … tsk-tsk-tsk .”
She shook her head, and to emphasize the point, she reached up and hit him on
the back of his head which made everyone chuckle, even Jesús.
     “Mama, abuela, this is Alexandra, the
photographer for the story I was telling you about, and her assistant, Jesús.
Alexandra, Jesús, this is my mother Lydia, my grandmother Patricia, and my
sisters Christina, Maria and Teresa. ” They all exchanged smiles and hellos, with Patricia calling both Alex
and Jesús flaco as well. 
    They were a striking family, everyone had those
beautiful crystal clear blue eyes and jet black hair, except for Patricia’s who
had greyed. The eldest, Christina, was warm and friendly. Maria, the middle
sister was a little stand-offish, and Teresa was shy. She looked down a lot, but
Alex caught her looking up at Jesús when she thought no one else was looking.
    They stood around chatting, catching up for a
little bit when Alex asked Marco if it would be ok if she shot some of this. He
asked all the women and there was suddenly a flurry of “ I need to brush my
hair and change my clothes and put on lipstick …” Alex broke in, “ You all
are beautiful just the way you are. Please, if it would be ok with you, I’d
love to capture the real Flores family, not some made up version. Would that be
ok? We can do a proper portrait tomorrow or the next day, but I think Marco’s
fans would like to see this side of him .”
     “ Mama, Alexandra is right, the piece
they’re doing, they want it to be about my life, my upbringing. Ok?” he
shot a pleading look.
    His abuela was quick to answer, “Does
that look work with all those women in Hollywood, Marco?” again everyone
got a kick out of her.
     “ I don’t even have to work that hard,
abuela .” He winked at her and she rolled her eyes muttering “ dios mio!”
    Alex laughed and pulled her camera out. They were
obviously going to be shooting with available lighting, but Jesús did some
exposure tests to see what they were working with. Alex started shooting and
everyone was so stiff, like they were pretending to cook and talk. After a
couple shots, Alex said, “ Ladies, and Marco, pretend I’m not here. Please,
just go about your cooking and talking. I’ll show you all the shots after and
we’ll make sure we only pick ones you’re comfortable with, ok?” They nodded
and mumbled and started cooking and talking for a few minutes before Alex
started shooting again. She let them get comfortable and then began. After a
little while, they almost forgot she was there and were laughing and talking
and at least a few times, Alex got his abuela hitting the back of his
head, clearly a favorite show of affection for him.