“Yeah. I can break a cinder block with my face.”
He senses the game immediately. “Well,Ican break one with my pinky.”
“I can catch a hummingbird with one hand.”
“Ican juggle twenty-five grapes at once.”
“Oh, well, I definitely can’t do that. You must be better at kung fu than me.”
He’s very pleased with this exchange. “I actuallycando five roundhouse kicks in a row.”
“That sounds really hard.”
“It is. Abuela gets mad when I do it in the house.”
“But where else are you supposed to do it? The grocery store?”
His eyes grow round, he’s seen me anew. “That is averygood point.”
“Quit making trouble,” Esther says to me with a scowl. “Fabi baby, go get Abuela a cup of water over there. And be good.”
He follows her directions immediately. Roundhouse kicks or not, they’ve got a good thing going. She’s eyeing me quizzically.
“You have kids, Roz?”
“Oh. Nope.” I honestly don’t know why I volunteer this next bit, other than the fact that Esther is a little bit magic, of course. “My husband and I thought we’d try, but then…”Then we got into a life-altering accident.I shrug instead of saying anything.
“There’s time. I didn’t have Fabi’s father until I was forty. And then, if you think about it, there’s even more time. You never know what the world is gonna give you. Because I didn’t think I’d be raisinganotherbaby at sixty.”
“He’s been with you since he was a baby?”
“Yup. His father is overseas. Back a few times a year. Gracias, chico.” She takes the dangerously full cup from Fabi as he returns, his knuckles wet.
“Shan knows a place around the corner,” Lauro says as he returns to us, putting his arm around Esther’s shoulders and kissing her temple. “She says kids can come.”
“Nah, nah.” Esther waves a hand. “Fabi and I have a date with a couple milkshakes at home.”
He straightens up like she’s electrocuted him. “Really?”
“Let’s go look at the art first,” she says, mock sternly, leading him away and waving to us. “See you on Friday.”
“Bye, Fabi!”
Lauro is looking at his phone. “Daniel said he’d meet us at the restaurant in a bit, if you’re interested.”
Shan and Reggie are already sidling toward the door. “Sure.”
We go to a taco joint for a late bite and I get the shock of my life when I hear Reggie speak for the first time and hear his New Zealand accent. He peels off after tacos but Daniel still hasn’t joined us and Shan knows another joint around the corner.
“I know all the joints around all the corners,” Shan tells us.
“You must have a very rewarding nightlife,” I say.
“No.” She shakes her head sadly. “I work for a food and drink distributor.”
The three of us get to the next bar and it’s a real sexy beast. The drinks take eight minutes to make and the clientele all look like they’re extras inEyes Wide Shut.
Before the drinks even come, Shan is checking her phone. “Oh, Em just texted.”
