Chapter 1 #2
For some reason his shirt struck me as hilarious, and as he was pushing up his Ray-Bans to look at the screen on the pump, a laugh burst out of me.
He turned around with a startled expression, probably looking for the jackass laughing at him for no reason.
The intensity of his blue eyes, and the way his mouth pursed and then turned up into a smirk like he wasn’t sure if he should be pissed or join me, made the laugh die in my throat.
He was so pretty, and currently looking at me like there was something seriously wrong with me.
I put my hand up in an attempt to apologize for my bizarre behavior. “Sorry, man. Ignore me. I’m just a bit punchy from a long drive.”
He didn’t respond, just kept staring me, looking confused. I quickly finished up and almost left without saying anything. But at the last second decided not to be an asshole and called out, “Have a nice day” before jumping in the truck.
I sent a quick text to my mom to let her know I’d be at her place soon and pulled out of the station.
As I drove, I mused that if the blond was a sample of the men running around town, I’d need to look into some socializing opportunities.
Then I remembered I was here to run a business, not to get laid.
I needed to get my head in the game and remember if this plan didn’t work out, my only prospect at the moment was going back to TPS reports and coming up with ways to make fro-yo sound “a little more urban.”
After a few minutes navigating my truck through the tight residential streets of Ithaca, I turned onto my mom’s block and saw her waiting outside.
She was wearing a flowing white linen shirt, her long salt-and-pepper curls falling down her back. As a boy I thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, and that was still the case. These days she was embracing the natural look; had given up wearing makeup and relaxing her hair.
I parked the truck in the empty space in front of her house, which I knew she must have been guarding furiously all day.
“M’ijo! You made it,” she yelled out as I walked over to her. “Look at you, so handsome. Your hair is getting long, papí,” she griped as she gave me a bear hug and kissed both my cheeks.
“Mamí, you look gorgeous. I like this blouse. Very Stevie Nicks.”
Complimenting her on her clothes and how great she looked was first and foremost.
She smacked my arm but the big smile on her face gave her away.
“Muchacho, Stevie Nicks is a lot older than me!”
She pulled on the hem of the shirt as we walked, as if only now noticing what she was wearing. “Besides, this old thing? Your Tía Maritza got it for me at some hippie clothes sale she goes to. You know how she is, goes overboard, buys too many things, and then I end up with half of them!”
I raised an eyebrow, because she was just as bad as Tía Maritza with the shopping.
“You two are hilarious.”
She put her hand around my waist as we walked up the sidewalk. “Tell me about the drive. Did you have any trouble?”
I was thinking how much I’d missed having my mom and sister close by, when a pinch on my arm got my attention. “Sorry, Mamí. Drive was good,” I said as we got to the door of my mom’s little house.
One thing was certain, even if things flopped with the truck, it would be nice to have family close again.
My mom moved up to Ithaca eight years before.
She wanted a more sedate environment for my little sister Minerva to go to school and decided to join Tía Maritza and Tío Tonin who’d been here for years.
I’d been out of college and working then, so I stayed behind.
I looked down at her smiling face as she ushered me into the house.
“Good. Come in, your sister should be home soon, and your tíos are on their way over. We’re all so happy you’re here, papí.” I got another squeeze.
“The guys are inside,” she said, trying her best to look grumpy, and failing completely. “They’ve only been here for fifteen minutes and Juanpa’s already eaten all my food.”
I just grinned down at her. “Don’t even act like you’re mad, Mamí. I know you love having a house full of people.”
She looked up at me with a blank look on her face, as if she wasn’t sure what my point was. “Nesto’s home!” She called while she went for another hug.
I loved seeing my mom in her home. She’d busted her ass as a single mom for so long to give us a good life. She’d kept us out of trouble and was an amazing role model, but it all came at a cost.
She never stopped. She worked hard, and always knew what was up with school, with friends, and on the block. All while going to night school, and sending money home to help the family back in the DR. If anyone deserved to slow down and smell the roses, it was Nurys Maldonado.
We stood by the door arm in arm and then my mom waved toward the kitchen. “Let me go start some coffee.” She gave me one last peck on the cheek before she hurried off.
I spotted Milo sprawled on the couch messing with his phone. “Did Milo do anything to my car?” I asked my mom, who was already in the kitchen.
Mamí smiled in Camilo’s direction while she bustled around. “Car looks fine to me, but you know Milo. As soon as he got out of the car he started moaning about getting lost three times and cursing out Juanpa and Patrice for not picking up when he called them.”
I looked over and saw my friends filling my mom’s living room. My brothers. I wouldn’t have them just a few subway stops away anymore. I tried to shake off the feeling of unease the thought brought me and focused on all the stuff we needed to get done before they went back to the city.
But before I could get to them, my uncle and aunt were barreling into the house making a fuss over me and talking over each other asking about the truck.
“Nesto! M’ijo. Look at you. You look more like your abuelo every day. Doesn’t he Nurys?” My aunt asked my mom as she engulfed me in a tight embrace.
Tía Maritza was a slightly thinner and older version of my mom.
The same bronzed skin, the curly hair, tall and curvy.
She didn’t look a day over forty-five, even though sixty-two was just a few months away.
She and Tío Tonin had been married for almost forty years and still looked at each other like they were high school sweethearts.
“What’s good, Tío? You letting Tía Maritza feed you too much of that platano?” I asked, patting the little bulge around his waistband.
He laughed heartily as he went in for his own bear hug.
Tonin, as always, had a big smile on his face, and at sixty-five his dark brown skin was still free of any wrinkles.
My uncle had always been like a father to me.
He taught me by example how a man should act toward those he loved.
I hoped when the time came, like him, I could be the type of man who put his people first.
“It’s good to have you home, mi muchacho. Your mother’s been putting the pressure on us all week getting everything ready for you. We’ve been talking up the truck in town, too; people are excited for the Caribbean burritos.”
“That’s good man, I need to sell a lot of them if I’m going to make rent!” I joked, clapping his back as he moved to put his arm around Tía Maritza’s shoulders.
“Tía, you’re looking younger every year.” She preened and gave me another kiss.
“We’re so happy you’re here, papí.”
“It’s good to be here. How’s Pri doing? I haven’t seen her in a minute.” At the mention of my cousin, my aunt’s face shone with pride.
“She’s great. She may be here tomorrow. Hopefully you can see her.”
“Definitely.” I nodded and looked over at the guys who were lounging on my mom’s furniture. Juanpa’s stank face told me he probably heard us talking about Priscilla.
He was ridiculous.
Those two had a love/hate thing going on since we were kids, and apparently they were back to hating each other again.
“Yo, are you bums just going to lounge over here all afternoon? We got shit to do!”
Juanpa squinted up at me while he sipped some kind of Frappuccino looking thing.
“I’m taking a break, son. I just drove five hours hauling all your shit out here. Let me enjoy my independent coffee shop beverage, pa.” He lifted his cup. “They got a drive-thru barista situation in town. This shit is fire. They need to open one of these places in the city.”
He looked so happy sucking down on that straw.