The Puerto Rican sun began to set as I made my way down the road toward
Walter Chang's bodega, intent on getting plastered and passing out on the
road two blocks from home. I shuffled along, letting the heat warm my head.
Usually, Leon and Vince join me at Chang's, but they were.off somewhere,
doing God knows what. Since Jesse died two years ago, Leon died, too. He
goes about living his life, but it's as if he's only alive because he's too
much of a chicken shit to shoot himself.
Vince is a dad. When O'Connor skipped town to be with his "homies" in Miami, Mia was left without a shoulder to cry on. She turned to Vince, he let her, and now Leticia takes care of little Paul while Mia studies and Vince comes drinking with me.
We chose PR because of Letty. It's her hometown, we were sick of Mexico, yaddah-yaddah-yaddah. We live in a small house, in a town called Catano, southwest of San Jan. Quiet little place. We each have space and the backyard is nice. Paul likes to practice his walking and running there, Mia and Letty work on their tans, peace and quiet. Something we've needed for a long time now and didn't get too much of in Mexico.
I continued down the cracked sidewalk, pausing every now and then to let some neighborhood kid ride by on a skateboard. I approached the open doorway and stepped inside of Chang's rickety place, set back from the road and hidden from view by several ugly bushes.
"Ah, Dominic. Come for your nightly medication?" Chang chortled, stepping out from behind his disheveled counter.
I nodded. "It's just me tonight."
"I see. What is the problem today, Dominic?" Chang asked me in his Korean accent.
"What isn't the problem?" I selected a bottle of Cuervo 1800 and walked it up to the counter. Walter rang it up in the register and I paid him.
"You must understand that Leticia is a woman now, not a little girl. You need to accept the fact that things will never be the same as when you were fourteen years old and she was ten." Walter bagged my bottled prize and set it gently in front of me. "You must let her go, Dominic," Chang said, remembering our last conversation. "Please, do not keep drowning yourself in alcohol because you are afraid to talk to her. Go home."
I could take a hint. I picked up the bottle and shuffled slowly out of Chang's bodega, letting his words of ancient Oriental wisdom roll over me. I strolled over to the road and headed toward the beach. When I reached a park bench that was sitting in the sand, I plopped down into it and began taking sips from the bottle as the golden sun dipped beyond the horizon.
I must have passed out on the bench because the next sound I heard was the sound of exhaust pulling up behind me and shutting off. I couldn't see anything because it was dark and my eyes were blurry, but the smell of suntan lotion and grease filled my nostrils. I heard Letty's footsteps approaching the bench. She kneeled beside me and began talking softly to me, in Spanish, smoothing my wrinkled shirt over my chest. She helped me stand up and my empty bottle fell to the ground. She led me to her car and sat me in the front seat, buckled me in, and drove off.
Vince is a dad. When O'Connor skipped town to be with his "homies" in Miami, Mia was left without a shoulder to cry on. She turned to Vince, he let her, and now Leticia takes care of little Paul while Mia studies and Vince comes drinking with me.
We chose PR because of Letty. It's her hometown, we were sick of Mexico, yaddah-yaddah-yaddah. We live in a small house, in a town called Catano, southwest of San Jan. Quiet little place. We each have space and the backyard is nice. Paul likes to practice his walking and running there, Mia and Letty work on their tans, peace and quiet. Something we've needed for a long time now and didn't get too much of in Mexico.
I continued down the cracked sidewalk, pausing every now and then to let some neighborhood kid ride by on a skateboard. I approached the open doorway and stepped inside of Chang's rickety place, set back from the road and hidden from view by several ugly bushes.
"Ah, Dominic. Come for your nightly medication?" Chang chortled, stepping out from behind his disheveled counter.
I nodded. "It's just me tonight."
"I see. What is the problem today, Dominic?" Chang asked me in his Korean accent.
"What isn't the problem?" I selected a bottle of Cuervo 1800 and walked it up to the counter. Walter rang it up in the register and I paid him.
"You must understand that Leticia is a woman now, not a little girl. You need to accept the fact that things will never be the same as when you were fourteen years old and she was ten." Walter bagged my bottled prize and set it gently in front of me. "You must let her go, Dominic," Chang said, remembering our last conversation. "Please, do not keep drowning yourself in alcohol because you are afraid to talk to her. Go home."
I could take a hint. I picked up the bottle and shuffled slowly out of Chang's bodega, letting his words of ancient Oriental wisdom roll over me. I strolled over to the road and headed toward the beach. When I reached a park bench that was sitting in the sand, I plopped down into it and began taking sips from the bottle as the golden sun dipped beyond the horizon.
I must have passed out on the bench because the next sound I heard was the sound of exhaust pulling up behind me and shutting off. I couldn't see anything because it was dark and my eyes were blurry, but the smell of suntan lotion and grease filled my nostrils. I heard Letty's footsteps approaching the bench. She kneeled beside me and began talking softly to me, in Spanish, smoothing my wrinkled shirt over my chest. She helped me stand up and my empty bottle fell to the ground. She led me to her car and sat me in the front seat, buckled me in, and drove off.