Unable to hold back, I use all my weight and strength to sucker punch him. The sensation of my knuckles colliding with his nose is uniquely strange and empowering for some reason. Although all this is new, I distinctly feel something crack under my fist.
I’m not expecting the pain radiating through my hand, but the look of pure shock on Stefano’s face is worth everything when he grabs his nose with a cry.
“Did you not hear me just now?!” I yell at him, shaking my hand to diffuse the pain. “You do not even look in her direction, you daft fuck. Is that clear?”
He nods, still holding his nose. “I think you broke it,” he whimpers, moving his hands away to check on them.
Oh, wow. That’s a lot of blood.
His lower face is covered in thick red liquid, seeping from his nostrils and the cut on the bridge of his nose. Whimpering like a wounded animal, Stefano walks down the few steps and enters his car, double-parked in front of the house.
Kate and Rafa swiftly come to me. “Are you alright?” she asks, examining the side of my face.
“Yeah, don’t worry about me.” It still hurts a lot, but now so does my hand, so I feel it less.
“You should have let me beat him to a pulp,” Rafael signs with angry gestures.
“I broke his nose. I think I’m avenged. Why are you here?”
“You texted me about baking powder.” Oh, right… We ended up having enough, so I completely forgot about that. Rafa points to the front yard before he signs, “I think I threw the can in Kate’s hydrangeas when I saw him slap you.”
The heavily tattooed guys come our way to introduce themselves, and I do the same with Kate and me. We thank them profusely for their intervention. “I don’t know how we can repay you for everything,” I say.
The biggest one, Antonio, looks down at me with an amused expression. “It’s all good,chica. You’ve got somecojoneson you. I like it.”
“Well, still. Thank you for your help.”
“Oh!” Kate suddenly lets out. “Wait right here! I’ve got pastries. I’ll give you some.”
As she’s about to go in, Rafa stops her, grabbing her arm. “Leave some for me, yeah?”
“There’s more than enough for everyone,” she laughs. With that, she disappears into her house, leaving us on her porch.
Five minutes later, Rafa’s friends are gone, and I’m back inside with Kate and my brother. As I hold a bag of frozen peas on my cheek while a bag of frozen strawberries rests on my hand, I look at everything we baked. Yeah, we got a bit carried away.
I can’t wait to tell Lex I broke some asshole’s nose. I’m confident he’ll be proud. I know I am.
When we get back home, Mom and Abuela are playing a game of Spanish Scrabble—which means MC is wiping the floor with her. Rafael is off to the kitchen with boxes filled with pastries, and I stand behind my mom to see her letters. When I find a word worth a lot of points, I bend to her ear to whisper the solution, not even trying to be discreet.
“No cheating!¡Condenada chamaca!”MC protests.
“Oh, come on. We need the combined power of two brains to stand a chance.”
My abuela smiles with pride, my flattery sweetening the offense. Inconspicuously, I go around the table, and as soon as my mom looks up, I quickly sign the letters to form the word I have in mind. MC catches it, so she sends me a colorful collection of threats while she bends to grab herchanclaunder the table. I expertly avoid it when it flies my way and grin when my mom winks at me and plays my word. Because it’s this household’s rule, I fetch my abuela’s slipper and return it to her.
“Your dad is out back, finally repairing the fence,” Mom explains. “We all know how it ends when he gives home improvement a try, so maybe you could check and see if he needs help?”
“On it!” I agree without hesitation, looking forward to quality time with him.
“Before you go. What happened to your face,mija?”
Fuck, is my cheek that red? “I, uh, walked into a lamppost.”
“Again?!”
“Yep.”
As I enter the kitchen on my way to the back door, I grab a few homemade cookies from a jar my mom always keeps filled. It’ll be a reward for my dad’s hard work and mine for potentially helping him.
