“I was just returning the glitter from the envelope that exploded as soon as I opened it,” Benny said. “Also, no one wants to hear you sing every single song that comes on the radio. You aren’t that good of a singer.”
“Now it’s obvious you’re lying, because I’m an amazing singer and everyone knows it.”
Lola locked eyes with Rosie in the rearview mirror. The little girl shook her head sadly, like an old woman lamenting kids nowadays. “Don’t you wish we had a calming corner right about now?”
“Yesanda feelings chartanda recovery wheel,” Rosie said.
Lola looked at the two men. “You hear that? A recovery wheel. That means things are as serious as they get.”
“Don’t look at me. Benny is the one who is petty and rude.”
“Papo,” Lola warned. “I will not tolerate name-calling in my car.”
He huffed. “Fine. I’ll just stay quiet, then.”
“Por fin. Gracias a dios,” Benny mumbled.
“Benny, enough,” she told him. “I won’t tolerate bullying either.”
“I don’t know why you’re making us do this. You know we don’t get along.” Benny had a point.
“I want you two to at least try to act like the adults you are. It’s not that hard to just be courteous.”
“I’ll behave, if he does,” Papo offered.
“Fine,” Benny grumbled. “I’ll just pretend like he’s not here.”
“Benny.” Lola drew out his name so he knew he was on thin ice.
“Okay. Okay. I’m done.”
It had become more than clear that Benny and Papo were the ultimate frenemies. They hated being together but couldn’t stay away either. Her mom liked to say, “Es mejor estar sola que mal acompañada.” But Lola suspected that for Benny and Papo it was the opposite. They’d rather be in what they considered bad company than alone. She didn’t blame them.
Now that Lola knew what it was like to have people, she was terrified of going back to being alone. That’s why she’d suggested this family dinner at El Coquí.
She felt Saint pulling away.
She knew she shouldn’t have left the way she had yesterday, but she was still unsure of what she could’ve done instead. Skipping the protest had not been an option. Everything had gone fine—it had been a planned peaceful protest that ended up remaining peaceful, as rare as that was. But even if it hadn’t been, Lola made it a point to be on the front lines when she needed to be. How could she expect others to follow her if she wasn’t willing to lead? It had been crucial for her to attend. Yara had been nervous at the scale of the event and needed Lola’s support. Hell, she’d basically handed the reigns over to Lola, begging her to do all of the talking. Lola was able to keep everyone calm and focused on their message of how the gentrification of the neighborhood was causing a terrible housing crisis that was only exacerbating the social issues already present in the neighborhood. Most importantly, she was able to check in with Marcus and Ruby, who’d both hung on to her like a lifeline—making her surer than ever that she’d done the right thing.
On the other hand, she’d left Saint at her place stressed out and practically spiraling. How could she expect Saint to just be okay with the risk that involved? She was completely stumped. All she knew for sure was that she didn’t want to lose Saint over this.
Her music paused as a call came in on her car’s stereo system.Speak of the devil.She pushed the answer button on her steering wheel. “Hi, Saint, I’m pulling up to El Coquí with Benny, Papo, and Rosie.”
“Hey, I’m going to be a little late. Gabi and Alex called a last-minute meeting at the office.”
Oh fuck. Lola grimaced. She’d hoped that Avery and Teo had missed that comment Mariana had made about Saint being involved with Raven Realty, but it was obvious they hadn’t and that they’d not only found out about the project, but shared the information with Luís’s daughters. “Umm, Saint—”
“They are giving me dirty looks. I gotta go. I’ll be on my way as soon as this is done.” He said goodbye and hung up before she could even respond.
Lola pulled up to the parking lot and noticed that it was jam-packed. “Wow, there’s never any parking here. It’s always busy.”
“Tití tells Papi to park in the alley when there’s no parking.”
“Sí. Park there,” Papo said. “There’s a space next to the dumpsters.”
Lola figured that if Papo told her to park there, there should be no problem, so she did as directed.
Together they exited the car and walked around to the front entrance. As soon as they entered, Papo waved away the hostess. “We’ll wait at the bar, Dulce.”
