“Hey! I was trying to eat that.”
“Explain. Now.”
“I heard you talking to Uncle Jim this morning. You said Brooklyn was related to someone at school. I didn’t catch the name. And we thought maybe it was Robert Hunter or Matthew Caldwell?” She emphasized each of their last names.
Kennedy was a worse liar than me. But I wasn’t mad about it. The question was out there now. We should have just flat out asked to begin with. Then her mother wouldn’t think I was a hussy.
“I…” Mrs. Alcaraz’s voice trailed off. “It’s not my place to say.”
“But, Mama.”
“This is not our place, Kennedy.”
“But I know that you know. And Brooklyn deserves to know who her father is. You can’t keep this from her.”
“It’s not my place to say,” her mother repeated.
“But what if she ends up sleeping with her brothers…”
Brothers? Plural?“Kennedy stop,” I said. “Please stop saying I’m going to sleep with both of them.” I was pretty sure my face was bright red. “But Mrs. Alcaraz, I really do need to know. I want to know.”I think.
“You have to talk to your uncle about this, mi amor. Not me.”
“I’ve already tried.”
Mrs. Alcaraz started eating again like the conversation had come to another end.
“Where is he tonight?” I asked. “Did he say?” That annoying feeling of a clock ticking down in my head had returned. And I had no idea why. If Matt showed up again tonight, I wasn’t going to sleep with him. But still the clock was ticking.
“He had to take care of some business,” she said.
“What business?” Janitorial work didn’t have a night shift. Well, maybe it did. Wait, did it?
“Por favor!” She threw up her hands. “Would you two both just eat? I made your favorite, Brooklyn. Por favor.”
“Sorry,” I said.
Kennedy locked eyes with me and gave me a sympathetic smile. “Lo siento, Mama.”
“Sí sí.” Mrs. Alcaraz lifted up her fork and started eating again. And this time it was the end of the discussion.
***
I was filling out the daily crossword puzzle my uncle always did when the door to our apartment finally opened.
“I thought you’d still be at the Alcaraz’s,” my uncle said as he placed a satchel down on one of the kitchen chairs. A satchel I had never seen before. He was also in a suit. I didn’t even know he owned a suit. It was a little baggy on him because of the weight he’d lost. I wanted to comment on it. To give him a compliment. But the air felt heavy between us.
“I had dinner there. Hours ago. Where were you? I was worried.”
“I’m the adult.” He kissed the top of my head. “Let me do the worrying, kiddo.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Six across is colonel,” he said.
I glanced down at the crossword puzzle. It was one of the only answers I didn’t know. And he was right. That definitely fit. I looked back up at him. “I meant the ‘where were you’ question.”
“It’s late, kiddo.” He yawned. “You should be getting to bed. We can talk about this tomorrow, okay?”
