They’re talking in fast Spanish, which means I can only understand every third word. I linger in the shadow just outside the kitchen entrance, trying to angle my ear in as much as I can without being seen.
“You’re telling me you don’tknow?” Sonya whispers, switching back to English.
Nadia shrugs, then responds in Spanish. It’s a question and I think it’s something like “Why would she come back now?”
“Es mi hija. She does whatever she wants. There’s no sense to any of it. She’s always been that way.”
“But you didn’t even see her, Sonya.”
“I’m her mother! I don’t need to—”
They both freeze when a cup balanced on a plate in my arms slides, making a disturbingly loud screeching noise. I walk in the kitchen immediately, humming. I stop when I see them both narrowing their eyes at me. “What is it?” I demand.
“Nada.” Sonya points her pointy acrylic nail right at my heart. “Next week I am taking both you and Sky shopping. No more of—” She waves a hand over my body. “This.”
“Gee, thanks,” I respond, but Sonya’s out the door before I can finish my sentence.
When I turn around, Nadia’s gone, too.
I put the dishes in the sink, my heart beating fast.
A milagro.
This feels like that. Like a miracle is close by.
When I go upstairs, before I wash my face and change into my nightgown, I stop at my dresser. I grab the small carved wood box, curl open its lid. Inside, I keep my most precious jewelry. Big, gold-filled hoops from Nadia that spellTealin a flowing font. A pair of two-carat flawless diamond studs from Amá. The moss agate necklace Sage made for me last year. She carved both herself and Sky an almost-identical necklace with the same stone. “It’s us,” she’d said when she showed it to me for the first time. The stone captures all the colors of sage, teal, and sky put together.
I don’t touch the jewelry, though. Instead I reach for a small, roughly folded-up piece of torn paper. I spread it out, sliding my fingers against it to smooth the wrinkles.
New Year’s Resolutions for Teal Flores
Stop being selfish.
Make it up to Sage.
Make it up to Sky.
Become best friends with Carter again.
Leilani had made fun of how “negative-energy-filled” these wishes are. “Come on, Teal! There’s nothing but love in the world! Focus onthat.”
Butthisis all the shit I’m struggling with. Even tonight, when an opportunity came up to criticize my sister for leaving us, I couldn’t help myself. A few years back, when Sage was visiting us when she lived in Philadelphia, I punched Sage in the face fortrying to convince me to leave my abusive ex. What kind of sister does that?
