(Editor's note: This is the second in a series about the Todos Santos Writers Workshop, a new under-the-radar program that flourishes in Todos Santos, Mexico. Find the first post, by co-founder Rex Weiner, here. sdl)
Odds are I was conceived under a palapa. As was this:
I wrote it in 2016, at the end of my first week in Jeanne McCulloch’s memoir workshop at the Todos Santos Writers Workshop. In the course of conversation about families and how to tell those complicated stories, I said, “My mother says they only did it once.” “Great line to start a story,” said Jeanne. A couple of days later, our assignment was to write about conflict. Sitting under the palapa at magical Casa Dracula, hummingbirds flitting back and forth between the bougainvillea, it was easy to go back in time, back to the beginning of my story, and how I came to be. Bianca Juarez
HE SAYS, SHE SAYS.
My mother says they only did it once.
My father says she was the love of his life.
She says he said they had to get married otherwise he could be accused of statutory rape.
He says she said if he didn’t take her away and marry her she’d run off with my future stepfather.
He says they met at a party and she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
She says nothing.
He was a 32-year old interior decorator from Hollywood, movie-star handsome.
She was an indulged 16 year-old from the Bahamas about to make her debut in London society.
He says he was decorating the British Sheraton Colonial Hotel.
She says he was decorating the elevator boy at the British Sheraton Colonial Hotel.
He says it was love at first sight.
She says he was a gold-digger.
He says he begged her to wait.
She says he made her do it.
He says they flew off in the middle of the night with only the clothes on their backs.
She says my grandmother had detectives chasing them.
He says they thought you could get married in Puerto Rico at 16.
She says you couldn’t.
He says maybe they can get married in the Dominican Republic.
She says they couldn’t get married there either.
He says let’s try Haiti next.
She says she was wearing the same dress in all 3 wedding photos.
The newspapers said it was so romantic.
The star-crossed lovers.
Nothing could keep them apart.
Nothing could keep them together.
He says she was a spoilt child who didn’t know how to cook or clean and was wildly extravagant.
She says she was imprisoned in Beverly Hills with her mother-in-law and had to cook, clean and had nothing to wear.
He says they were sitting together reading the ‘Taming of the Shrew”and that’s why they called me Bianca.
She says my father never read Shakespeare in his life.
He says I had a Louis Fourteenth style bassinet.
She says she had to get out of there.
He says he did everything for her.
She says she was bored out of her mind.
He says there were 6 men cited in the divorce papers.
She doesn’t say anything.
He says a child’s place is with her mother.
She says that was only if she’s paying him.
He says he just wanted what was best for me.
She says he just wanted money.
The lawyers said $50,000 was more than enough.
She says they only did it once.
He says she was the love of his life.
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My parents met in January, eloped in February and I was born in November. They
honeymooned in Haiti. (BJ)
Bianca Juarez is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Southern California. From the time she first picked up a pencil, she has used her art to explain, explore and engage the world around her.
Great story Bianca! Well written.
Posted by: Nancy Burney | October 30, 2017 at 11:12 PM