“Can you both just calm the fuck down?” Xavi spat. “And please, Lulah, don’t tell me we’re making a cross-country trip during winter in that FIAT 500 you just pulled up in.” Xavi scratched the back of his neck, because yes, it was in fact looking more and more like they were. He eyed Lulu’s three suitcases, silently doing the math in his head. Lulu had a prominent part in a Christmas show in Portland two nights after the wedding and claimed he needed an entire suitcase for his costume and makeup alone.
“Okay,” Tallulah grinned disturbingly. “Here’s the thing…”
“Oh, shit,” Lulu groaned.
“I wasn’t expecting Georgina to get a callback because she pooped under the judges’ table at the audition last week, but guess what?” She beamed at Lulu, then Xavi, and then raised her hand that wasn’t clutching what Xavi assumed was Georgina in the air, making a celebratory gesture. “Ta-da! We got a callback, and it’s in Vegas, baby!”
Lulu looked like he’d been slapped in the face with a wet poodle. Eyeing his suitcases regretfully, he kicked at the wheels on one of them. “So you need the van,” he sighed.
“Yes! Sorry,amiga.” Tallulah batted her lashes again. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance.” She smiled. “Vegas isda shit.”
Xavi nodded, eyeing the blue FIAT 500, which was definitely not ‘da shit’ as Tallulah had put it. More likeapieceof shit. But they just had to make it work. Telma was using her Mustang all week, and they didn’t know anyone else who could lend them a car on such short notice.
“You better fucking win,” Lulu mumbled, pouting.
“Oh, I’ll win,” Tallulah puffed out her chest. “Georgina is gonna beat the shit out of those other bitches, ain’t you, baby girl?” she cooed, ruffling the poodle’s fur. Georgina, who was just looking more and more like a delight, snapped at her owner, then started barking hysterically.
“Keys?” Lulu held out his hand.
“Patience,princesa.” Tallulah’s gaze drifted to Xavi. “You’re driving, right?” Xavi nodded. “Okay, so just a few things,” Tallulah blinked, a nerve under her eye ticking nervously. “Sometimes there’s this sound from the back. Especially on the freeway. It kinda sounds like the one wheel is coming off…” Lulu’s eyes widened, and Tallulah held up a hand. “But it’s not! It just sounds like it. Alio checked it out, and he says you’re good. It should hold.”
It. Should. Hold.Right. Those were three words you didn’t want to hear just before you embarked on a long-ass trip with your neurotic sidekick.
Lulu gaped at Tallulah, then at Xavi, then back at Tallulah again.
“What do you mean?” Lulu squeaked. “What does she mean?” He looked desperately at Xavi. “Xavi, what does she mean?”
Tallulah groaned, then stepped right up into Lulu’s face, knocking her clenched fist against Lulu’s forehead a couple of times. “Hellooo?What did I just tell you? It’s gonna hold. Alio says so.”
“Alio says so,” Lulu mocked. “Alio?!” he yelled, his eyes wild, and Tallulah quickly took a step back, wobbling ominously in her heels. “Alio, who nearly electrocuted himself last month?!TheAlio?!Atención Alio?!” Lulu’s chest heaved, and Xavi couldn’t help laughing. Yeah, that’s what they’d called poor Alio since they were kids. Because everyone knew Alio was a walking, talking accident waiting to happen. If you had anything you were fond of or of any kind of value, you’d better hide it away if Alio was around. Hence theAtención!Unfortunately, Alio loved fixing stuff—if you could call it that—and had settled on a career as the neighborhood handyman with his lethal combination of ten thumbs and bad luck enough to last him two lifetimes.
Xavi clenched his hand, the skin rough and tight where the doctors had removed his destroyed fingers. Some things were still difficult, but over the years he’d managed to handle most stuff around the house. Still, he understood what it felt like to be clumsy. Poor Alio.
Xavi took a step toward Lulu, wrapping his arm around his shoulders. His friend was positively vibrating. “It’s okay,hermano. It’ll be fine. I’ll just be mindful when driving.”
“Mindful?” Lulu looked up at him, his eyes still wild, and Xavi noticed the underlying fear. “Of what? Of a wheel suddenly flying off as we stare death in the eye?”
“I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Xavi chuckled, then threw a warning glare in Tallulah’s direction. “Right?”
She nodded eagerly, her voice soft when she spoke. “Of course not. Would I let my favorite co-worker get into a death trap?Pfft, what do you take me for?”
Death trap was obviously the wrong word to use, not the least bit reassuring, since Lulu winced next to him, murmuringla madre que lo parióunder his breath.
“It’ll be fine,mano,” Xavi spoke into Lulu’s soft hair, smelling of pineapple and coconut. Lulu relaxed against him, sighing into his chest.
“Yeah, it’s not like we have a choice, right?” Lulu’s voice came out frail and resigned. Something inside Xavi shifted, and that protectiveness was suddenly back full force. Easing Lulu away from him, he wrapped his hands around his upper arms, locking eyes with his friend. Nerves flickered amidst the grayish brown as Lulu worried his bottom lip.
“Hey, you always have a choice,” Xavi said, his voice firm. So many things in Lulu’s life had happenedtohim, without him having any say in it or any kind of control. From his mother bailing on him and Manu to his father knocking him around whenever he felt like it, culminating in that awful night, Lulu must’ve often felt powerless. Xavi didn’t want him to feel that way. Not now. Not ever. He hated the idea of Lulu feeling like he didn’t matter, because to Xavi, he mattered more than anything.
Lulu’s gaze dropped to the ground. “What do you mean?”
“Look at me.” Xavi tapped the tip of his boot against Lulu’s. “Please look at me.” Tentatively Lulu lifted his head, regarding Xavi warily. “If you don’t feel comfortable getting in that car, we won’t. Okay?”
A small gasp left Lulu’s lips, his breath ghosting across Xavi’s chin, breathing life back into that familiar longing inside Xavi’s chest.
“We won’t?” Lulu whispered, quickly eyeing Tallulah, who was looking at them like she had front row seats to a movie premiere.
Xavi shook his head. “No. We’ll figure something else out.” He meant it. Every word. He would never allow Lulu to feel anything but in charge.
