By the time the end of the year rolled around, something happened to Hector that had never happened before.
He’d reached the end of his rope.
His entire life, he was used to rolling with the punches. Teasing, names, bragging, none of that ever really phased him. And the first few dozen times Gustavo called him “Chorizo” didn’t bother him. Neither did the first couple months of Gustavo loudly saying how anyone could play guitar and la directora clearly made a mistake hiring some two-bit musician. Of course, she could have asked him, an accomplished violinist, to take over the music department (which, of course, he would decline, because he had to think of all the students who loved his history class.) But then again, music teachers didn’t really do much, did they? Hector was able to laugh all of that off at first.
But by the end of the year?
By the end of the year, he was done.
Hector was the one who suggested Gustavo bring his violin to the end of year party at Maestra Selena’s place, so they could have a game of dueling instruments. Just a little bit of friendly competition between musicians, of course. Naturally, Gustavo didn’t back away from a chance to show off his ‘sweet, sweet skills,” and the rest of the staff were all excitement (even la directora popped by to see it, and she’d been downright icy toward Rivera since one of the students spilled about their relationship a couple weeks ago.)
The party went silent as the two of them started to tune their instruments, and Gustavo was the one who asked, “So what’re we playing, Chorizo? Classical? Jazz? Our choice?”
Taking extra care to make sure his E chord sounded right, Hector serenely said, “Oh, I think we should just settle for ‘Estrellita’. Something simple, you know?”
Gustavo snorted. “Seriously? A kid’s song?” He smirked at the other teachers as he played a quick scale. “Come on, Chorizo, give me some kind of challenge.”
Hector gave his guitar a quiet strum, then looked up at Gustavo. He was smiling, yes, but everyone could see the way his eyes blazed as he said, “All right. Then let’s switch instruments.”
Gustavo’s smile died, but before he could give any form of protest, Hector held out his guitar. “Ah, come on, amigo. Anyone can play guitar, right? Show us your best.”
There wasn’t any way for him to protest. So, tilting his fedora back, he took the guitar with a little puff. He gave a quick glance around the room, then adjusted the guitar in his hands before very, very slowly plucking out a surprisingly competent and on-key “Estrellita.” He finished with a smirk as the staff gave a small round of applause.
“See, it’s pretty easy to switch between string instruments,” he said with a shrug. as he handed the guitar back to Hector. “Though violin’s gonna be pretty tough; if you don’t have control over your bow, it sounds like a dying cat. So get ready to cover your ears, damas y caballeros.”
Hector gave him an appreciative nod. But, as he walked over to take Gustavo’s violin, he said, in a voice soft enough that only Gustavo could hear, “Do you know who Alina Marquez is? The one who’s playing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic?”
Gustavo looked at him curiously. “Uh, obviously. Any Mexican who’s touched a violin knows who she is.”
Hector nodded, looking over the bow before he said, in a whisper that was barely audible, “She taught me this in university.”
Without another word, he launched into Mozart’s rendition of the song. It wasn’t flawless, but, given the look on Gustavo’s face and the enthusiastic claps from the rest of the staff as he finished, it was pretty clear that Hector won.
He didn’t ever tell anyone that that was the only song he could play on violin. But, given the way that Gustavo immediately stopped calling him Chorizo once the new school year started, it wasn’t like anyone needed to know.