Boy learned a lifelong lesson about romance when he was still in grade school. It came in the form of an ill-fated boast by his uncle Tavo.
Tavo, who as a teenager was growing up in Boy’s household, thought of himself as a ladies man. That is, he always claimed to have more than one girlfriend. He thought this was something to show off.
Of course, Boy’s jefita—also Tavo’s big sister—didn’t think this good, and she wanted to make sure Boy didn’t pick up this behavior from his uncle.
“Don’t you ever waste a woman's time doing what Tavo does,” she once cut off Tavo at the dinner table to make a point to Boy and his brother, Flaco.
Tavo just laughed. Boy, who looked up to his uncle like a big brother, didn’t know which way to go. He looked over at his jefita and got the stern “ni madres” look.
It didn’t take long for fate to show him which way was right.
A year later, Boy’s family suited up for a big wedding for a Montoya cousin, where Tavo was gonna be in the court of honor and, therefore, in the marcha.
The dance hall was packed de amadres.
When the marcha was about to start, Tavo stood up with a beautiful bridesmaid by his arm. He grinned widely as he took his station in the line of men and stood side-by-side with his date in the women’s line. He winked at the other girls in the presence of his companion all sura. His date looked straight ahead, expressionless.
The marcha launched with both lines moving in parallel and each couple marching side by side at first. The men and women then separated into separate circles. The male and female circles touched precisely where the paired couples came face to face.
Everything seemed normal until Tavo marched near the female circle and found nobody to pair with him. The young women marching in front of and after the bridesmaid he started marching with made sure to leave a big hole for Tavo. The marchers quickly noticed the anomaly.
The circle went round and round a few more times, and each time Tavo was out a pair.
The circles then turned into straight lines, each chamberlain matched up with his respective bridesmaid. Tavo, on the other hand, was marching alone.
Soon everybody in the crowd took notice. Chatter turned into laughter. And polite laughter turned into raucous laughter.
Tavo could hear it. He looked all around, but he saw nothing.
“He ‘s been bailado by the ruca he trujo,” he heard someone shout from the crowd.
As soon as he could, he separated from the line and walked out of the dance hall.
He wasn’t at breakfast the next day.
“Where’s Tavo,” Boy asked.
“Trujido and bailado,” his jefita said.
