“Cállate tu pinche boca, pendejo,” I cursed through clenched teeth, slapping his arm.
He chuckled and pulled me into another side hug that left my ribs screaming in pain, “I missed you, güerita. You haven’t changed a bit.”
“I know him from school,” I clarified after the stabbing had subsided. “How do you two know each other? And why the fuck do you have a diaper in your back pocket?”
“Uh, for my kid,obviously. I don’t just carry around diapers for no reason,” he laughed with an eye roll. “My wife, Eden, is Nox’s sister. Have you met her yet?”
I shook my head and Nox gestured for us to head downstairs.
“Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone,” Nox said as we descended the stairs.
My stomach started flipping with nerves as we approached the living room.
Sebastian guided me towards a woman with her back to us as she crouched over the sofa. He touched her shoulder, and she turned, smiling up at him, before giving Sebastian a questioning look at his arm around my shoulder. I gathered she was Nox’s sister as I recognized her from the family photo by the front door. She accepted the diaper from Sebastian’s hands and quickly slipped it on the squirming baby eager to leave the confines of the sofa.
“Who’s this?” She asked with curiosity, her gaze wandering to my side where Nox had stopped, and then back to my body which she flicked over more intensely.
I shifted awkwardly beneath the weight of Seb’s arm and realized Eden was probably really confused right now. I was astranger wearing her brother’s clothes and standing intimately close with her husband. Not to mention the fact that my face was fucked up. Not that I should care about what I looked like, but I wanted to make a good impression for Sebastian and his family, which included Eden and Nox and whoever-the-fuck else was here tonight.
“Eden, this is someone I grew up with. We were neighbors and I was best friends with her older brother,” Seb explained. “This is my wife, Nox’s sister, and our daughter Ruthie.”
“Hi, Eden. It’s nice to meet you,” I smiled politely, my throat feeling tense with emotions of pride and bitterness. Sebastian was doing well for himself, but I couldn’t help yearning for a similar future for my dead brother.
I waved and smiled as widely as possible at Ruthie who looked absolutely adorable with curly chestnut hair and a light olive complexion. She waved back and stuck her fingers back in her mouth to chew on them as she crawled away back to a tower of blocks on the floor.
“Wait, I thought you were from Dallas? How were you neighbors?” Nox asked Sebastian.
“I moved when I was fourteen,” he explained, wrapping an arm around Eden who smiled up at him with affection. My stomach twisted with envy and guilt. “Up until then, Shy was my annoying little sister. Speaking of, how are you and Javi doing? Did you guys ever move out?”
I cracked my knuckles anxiously. “Have-have you spoken to your dad or uncle recently?” I asked hesitantly, my stomach churning at the thought of Poncho andPedrofilo.
“No,” he shook his head slowly. “Haven’t spoken to anyone from here since my mom and I moved out.”
I let out a small breath of relief. I hated that I would have to lie, but I was glad knowing that he had cut all ties to this place. That Los Siete never got their claws into him.
“Uh, yeah. We’re doing good,” I nodded trying to smile convincingly despite the sour taste it left.
He smiled almost solemnly and repeated the question I had avoided, “You still at home?”
I bit my lip and nodded, glancing over at Nox who seemed a little too engrossed in our conversation. Seb pursed his lips in thought before releasing Eden to pull me into another hug.
“It’ssogood to see you. We’ll have to grab lunch and catch up properly. Tell your brother to come too, yeah?”
I just nodded, worried I wouldn’t be able to lie to him again.
My heart was aching for the closeness I felt when we hugged, and I didn’t want to have to let him go but I knew it would be weird if I didn’t. It somehow felt like I was getting a hug from Javi even though I couldn’t remember the last time Javi and I had ever hugged. Javi wasn’t an affectionate person, and come to think of it, Seb was probably the last person I had actually hugged, and that was at least seven or eight years ago.
Damn, that’s depressing.
“Wait, so how did you wind up here tonight? Did you know she was coming?” Eden turned to ask Sebastian.
“No, um, I invited her over. We’re friends from school.” I eyed Nox, confused at the label when we’d barely spent but a handful of hours together and knew virtually nothing about each other.
“Give me your phone number and we can set up a time to catch up,” Seb smiled, pulling his phone from his back pocket.
“Pues…es que no tengo un celular,” I answered, unable to meet his eyes, hoping Eden was just as clueless as Nox with Spanish.
“No te preocupes,” he shrugged. “Hablemos antes de que te vayas, ¿sí?
