Mexican Goodbyes

Excerpt

Hector stood outside the metal door of his father’s studio as if he were bolted into place, twisting a stray lock of hair around his index finger, a nervous habit since his teen years. He smoothed out his eyebrows, massaged the skin beneath his eyes, felt the cut of his cheekbone. He told himself to stop stalling: Díaz would arrive at two, bringing all of the world’s possibility with him, and there was so much to do before then. Yet the bag of pastries from the corner panadería hung like an anchor from his left hand and the studio key was cemented in his pocket. A low droning came from the other side of the door, like a heavy ship rumbling in its berth. Outside the building, several trash cans had been upended, and dingy pigeons were flocking the sidewalk. He had tried to shoo them away, but they kept coming back.

He hauled out the studio key and shoved it into the lock. And that’s when he felt it, this time at the base of his neck. The same thing he had felt in bed that morning, and yesterday, in the shower, and a dozen years ago in A.P. Biology class. The blood cells swollen and bloated. Changed. Once again, he was on the edge of a dock, looking down at the dark, churning water.

He would make an appointment. He would do it today.

But Díaz. This visit. It had to go well.

Dino Enrique Piacentini

Dino Enrique Piacentini’s stories and essays have appeared in Pembroke, Gulf Coast, Confrontation, The Masters’ Review, The Atticus Review, The Globe & Mail, and The Massachusetts Review, among other places. His debut novel, Invasion of the Daffodils, about a Mexican-American family living on an island off the coast of California during the Korean War, was just published by Astrophil Press in October 2024. Currently, he lives in Denver, where he teaches creative writing at the University of Denver’s University College and Lighthouse Writers Workshop. Before becoming a writer, he worked at various visual arts organizations throughout San Francisco, including Galería de la Raza, Yerba Buena Center, and The Mexican Museum.

Patrick Ryan on “Mexican Goodbyes”

Lucero is an elderly painter who’s had some success in his life but is reluctant to sell his largest and most personal painting. Hector is the devoted son worried about his father’s finances. He ‘s scheduled an appointment at his father’s studio with an art collector and potential buyer named Felipe. “Mexican Goodbyes,” by Dino Enrique Piacentini, opens just as Felipe is about to knock on the studio door.

One of the things I love about this story is its affirmation of the power of art. Lucero’s masterpiece depicts a tender moment from the past involving Hector and his long-dead birthfather, Rudy—who was also Lucero’s lover. The painting has a different emotional impact for father and son, but also for Felipe, the potential buyer. The more Felipe looks at the painting, the more he’s drawn not just into the artist’s (and Hector’s) past, but his own.

The painting in this story functions almost like a silent character. Rudy is another silent character—a presence felt not in a ghostly way, but in the way that our memories of the dead become a tangible, living part of us. While the perspective moves from person to person, the narrative that unfolds is complex, intimate, and incredibly moving.  I invite you to spend an afternoon in Lucero’s studio as you experience the many layers of  “Mexican Goodbyes.”