She deserves to be happy with someone hot and cool and uncomplicated and unattached. Someone who isn’t the neurotic, boring father of a young child.
I walk away.
* * *
I almost wish that Tita Gloria and Tito Ben didn’t live twelve feet below us, that we didn’t have to pass their home on the way up the stairs to ours. Because there’s no feasible excuse for us to not attend the big Flores dinner they’re having.
Frankie loads the last bit of decoration from the festival into one of the bins. Oliver ties up another garbage bag. My other cousin Izzy, Oliver’s sister, takes the last banner down. Tita Gloria claps her hands. “Let’s go,” she announces.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Lina slowly backing away towards the school. I hope she’s successful, but obviously nothing gets past the women of our family, because Izzy snatches her hand. Lina’s other side is quickly flanked by Tita Gloria.
“Oh,” Lina says brightly. “I have to go back to the building. Lock up and stuff. I’ll… see you guys later.”
“We’ll wait for you,” Tita Gloria tells her, while winding her arm through Lina’s. “The boys can go ahead and start setting up. The girls will stay behind.”
Frankie has attached herself to Lina’s waist.
Lina is now quite literally corralled by Flores girls. Until this very moment, I had forgotten how touchy feely our family was. I’m feeling quite jealous of Frankie right now.
I haven’t shared our breakup with anyone in our family except for Oliver, but now I’m wondering if word has spread.
“Ma…” Ollie attempts.
“Go,” she commands.
He looks at me helplessly. I shrug, avoiding eye contact with Lina. “Let’s go.” As long as that fucking restauranteur guy isn’t invited.
“Ready to tell me about it?” he asks, when we’re a few blocks away.
“No.”
“Because even if you’re not,” he continues cheerfully, “you’ve gotta stop with the self-flagellation. It’s quite pathetic.”
“I seem to remember your own Great Depression after Georgia broke up with you. Let me have my moment.”
We wait at a crosswalk for the light to change. “So,” he continues, as if I haven’t said anything, “she left, you said? Was that metaphorically? Or actually?”
I know how relentless Ollie can get, so I know he’s never going to drop this. “Physically, I guess. We were on a date, had an argument, she snuck out of our hotel room while I was sleeping, and I didn’t hear from her for two days.”
“Seriously?” he asks, incredulous.
“Seriously.” I’m pleased he gets it.
“She didn’t leave you, you drama queen. She took two days of space.”
He doesn’t get it. “She dropped off the face of the planet for two days, Ollie. What the hell was I supposed to think? This has happened twice to me and Frankie already, that’s not okay for someone to do to us.”
He shakes his head. “That’s not fair, Dom. Just because you had a bad string of luck with?—”
“Bad string of luck?” NowI’mincredulous. “Is that what you call getting a whole-ass baby dumped on you? And Viv?! Viv playing house with us for a year, for fun, before leaving us too?”
We dodge a group of kids bouncing their basketballs down the sidewalk. “Fine, poor choice of words, but what I’m really saying is just because two women did really shitty things… well, that’s not Lina.”
“Maybe not, but it happened, and she’s sorry now, but I can’t take that fucking risk again, Ollie.” I rub my eyes. “You weren’t there,” I say more quietly. “You weren’t there when Frankie asked me if her mom left because of her. You didn’t hear her voice, you didn’t see her face. And thank god she was too young to know about Viv. But I think a part of me broke that day. I’m not doing that again. I’m not taking that risk.”
We’re silent for a few more blocks.
“You know, Mike really fucked Lina up,” he finally says. “I’m not excusing what she did, but… For as long as I’ve known her, she’s put everyone else before her. Maybe that was her come-to-Jesus moment. Maybe she’s finally looking out for herself.”
