Elias watched them for a few minutes since she seemed okay. Then Vince said something that made Eri smile in mocking amusement. It didn’t seem that his cousin could tell from the smug look on his face. When she responded to whatever it was. Elias watched in real time as the other man’s face fell. His expression went from smug to confused to irritated to pissed as his girlfriend laughed. He got up and approached them.
“Let me in on the joke. What’s so funny?” he asked.
Eri leaned into his side. “Vince here is a comedian. He should try stand-up. Say it again,” she told the man across from them.
“I’m all for a good joke. Let me hear it,” Elias agreed.
“It was nothing major,” Vince countered.
“Oh, you don’t want to tell him? That’s okay. I will.” Eri turned syrup-brown eyes to him. “The setup for the joke was that he knew something that would give me a great time. The punchline was that something was him. I don’t think I’ve heard anything more hilarious in my life.” Elias chuckled as mischief shone in her eyes. “I don’t know anyone who has ever purposely made themselves the butt of such a bad joke.”
They turned their attention back to Vince, who was gone a second later, and Elias was sure he would go cry to his mother.
“He’s an odd one,” Eri said once they were alone. “He said all that shit unprovoked.”
Elias lifted an eyebrow in curiosity. “All what shit?”
Eri shook her head. “I’ll tell you when we leave.”
“Eris,” Elias started. “What else did he say to you?”
“Nothing you need to worry about because even if he were the last man on earth, I’d fuck an animal before I let him touch me. And since I’d never fuck an animal. Yeah, no.”
“I’m not worried about it. But if he said some out-of-pocket shit to you, I’m not letting that go unaddressed.”
“He asked why I was with a boy when I could be with a man.” She draped her arms over his shoulders. “Another terrible joke. And the two of you are what, two years apart in age?” Elias nodded, and she rose on her toes, and he leaned down and kissed her. All too aware that his mother might decide to take a picture. “Come on. I want to play next,” she told him, pulling him over to the seat he once occupied.
Elias didn’t miss Vince sitting in the corner, irritated, and he held back the temptation of laughing in his face.
25
Elias stood outside the building with his family, Tony, Michael, Mickey, Willa, Nesiah, Javier, and Ricardo as they waited for Eri and Avian to come out after graduation. The ceremony had been packed, and they figured it would be easier for the two to find them outside. It wasn’t long before they trickled out, joining them. Elias handed her the bouquet, and she kissed him before congratulations went around.
He, like the rest of the tattoo artists, moved all their appointments to later dates since Marco had decided two weeks ago that the shop would be closed for the day. They took pictures for the next ten minutes before they headed to the parking lot. Elias walked her to her dad’s car and opened the passenger door.
“You don’t want me to ride with you?” she asked.
“Ride with your dad, Amate. He’s only in town for a few hours, and I get to have you for the rest of the weekend.” He kissed her forehead before she got into the car, and he closed the door.
His Zia Lorna had reserved a table at one of Avian and Eri’s favorite restaurants after asking how many people would be there celebrating both women.
When he pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot, he found a parking spot beside his uncle’s car. The two older couples rode together and they headed to the front. The five stood outside the doors as they waited for the rest of their party to arrive. Once everyone was in attendance, they went inside and were led to the reserved tables.
Several conversations broke out around the table after their orders were placed, and Elias split his attention between the conversation between himself, Eri, Marco, and Avian, and the one with his mother and Tony. He knew his mother well enough to know she would try to plan some sort of family vacation, even though he’d already told her not to rush his relationship.
“Avi, you didn’t invite your mom?” Eri asked.
“Nope. She still doesn’t respect my marriage, so she doesn’t get access to me,” she responded with a shrug. “I’m not missing out on anything with her not being here. We both know she would try to take credit for my graduating, or make it about herself somehow.”
While Elias had never met Avian’s mother and wasn’t privy to the depth of their relationship, he knew what had gone down between the woman and his cousin when the two met. It was crazy how often people judged one another without knowing them.
“True,” Eri agreed. “Besides, you’re surrounded by people who care about you.”
“She sent a present,” Mickey said from where she sat beside Avian. “She looked up when it was and dropped a gift off at Mama’s a few days ago. I’m surprised she didn’t show up.”
“She might have, and you didn’t see her,” Elias pointed out.
In his way of thinking, if her mom went through the trouble of sending a gift, she might have shown up and remained unseen.
