“Sorry. I just haven’t known a lot of good guys.”
“Maybe you would’ve if you let them in like you did me.”
“Maybe.”
“Sorry, that was the opposite of something a good guy would say. I get why you don’t; I do. It’s hard to let people in after constantly being let down.”
She doesn’t respond; instead, she plunges a nugget into her barbeque sauce and tosses it into her mouth. As she chews, she pops off the lid from her Frosty, and I lean forward, scooping some of it out with a few of my fries.
“Hey!” She swats me away. “Why didn’t you get yourself one if you wanted to dip your fries in a Frosty?”
“I did get myself one. I finished it on the way here.”
“That sounds like a you problem.”
“I didn’t have to bring you anything. I could’ve had both Frosty’s for myself. And technically, I never said it was for you.”
“But you were the one who said I always get the same thing. And on the list was a chocolate shake,” Avalon points to her cup, “which this basically is,cabrón.”
“I’m sorry, what did you just call me?”
“A fucker.” She laughs. “Sorry, I got caught up in my argument.”
“That was hot.”
She rolls her eyes.
“No, seriously. I didn’t know you spoke Spanish. I remember you calling your grandma Abuela, but I just—”
“I don’t speak Spanish.” She argues, and I raise an eyebrow. “Not often, anyway. I usually only use it with my mom, and even then, it’s a bit broken. I understand it better than I speak it.”
“Have you spoken Spanish your entire life?”
“No,” she replies. “I didn’t really start to learn until after my mom’s accident. My dad didn’t care to learn it, so mymom stopped using it. My grandparents didn’t live here when I was little. They lived back in Colombia, not because they had to, but because that was their home. My mom tried to convince them to move out here for years, especially once I was born, but they didn’t like my dad.”
“That’s fair,” I add. “We came to the conclusion that your dad’s a dick, so.”
She hits my thigh with the heel of her foot, telling me to shut up.
“Anyway, after my mom’s accident, they didn’t want to be so far away. She was their only child, so her nearly dying really put everything into perspective for them. They quickly became my main support system, which led to myAbuelateaching me Spanish. I’d only speak Spanish at home because she wanted me to get it into my system. But she died not long after that, and since my mom wasn’t really coherent those days, a lot of my Spanish faded. I tried hard to keep it up in middle school, but it didn’t feel the same.”
“But you still speak Spanish when you talk to your mom?”
“Yeah. Again, it’s not perfect, and I switch back and forth between Spanish and English, but it’s also a great feeling when words come back that I didn’t even realize I knew. Sometimes my mom will say something, and it’ll trigger something myAbuelataught me, and it’s like my vocabulary expands.”
I take another bite of my burger, trying to hide my small smile.
“What?” I should’ve known she’d catch it. She’s good at that.
“Nothing. I just, I don’t think I’ve seen you this happy. Sure, I’ve seen your post-sex glow, but there’s a light in your eyes when you talk about yourAbuela.”
“Yeah, well, when I think about her, I feel like a kid again. Like anything is possible, and the world isn’t out to get me.” She sighs. “Then I’m back in reality and it sucks.”
“Well,” I jump off the counter, “I have the perfect cure for that.”
I close the gap between us, standing in front of where she sits on the counter. I grab her legs, wrapping them around my body and pulling her off the counter.
“Zeke!” She laughs. “What about my food?”