"Are you sure you're alright?" asked EZ as he looked at Angel sitting on the barstool. "You seem as though you're elsewhere ever since you saw Isabella."
"Just brings back memories," replied Angel shrugging.
"Good or bad?"
"Both. We didn't really leave things in a good place, you know."
"Not really. You never wanted to talk about it."
"I can't believe she has a kid."
"A kid? You mean a teenager."
"I mean, I guess it makes sense, most of the people our age, are married and have kids," added Angel.
EZ eyed him as he zoned out again. "Chucky said to me that sometimes the past comes back to us. I guess he couldn't have been more right when it comes to you."
"What's that even supposed to mean?"
"Isabella is back in Santo Padre. Maybe you can make amends."
"It was a long time ago."
"It's never too late, even if it's just to get peace of mind."
"You're one to talk. I don't see you doing the same with Emily."
EZ narrowed his eyes. "Emily is married to Galindo, who made it quite clear, the only time I even got close to her, to stay away. I don't have a death wish."
"And I do?"
"Unless she's married to a drug lord, I don't think you have much to worry about."
Angel stood and headed for the door, shuffling his feet.
"Where are you going?" asked EZ.
"I'm going to grab a bite to eat and then go home."
EZ didn't say anything as he watched his older brother walk out.
Isabella sat in the sofa reading a book when Sam plopped down next to her. It was almost eleven pm and regardless of the past two days of traveling, she didn't feel the fatigue send her off to bed. Margaret had gone to sleep a little after nine on a full stomach and happiness.
"The food was good," said Sam as he looked around the room attentively for the first time.
"It was. I forgot how Taco Bell's chicken quesadillas were so industrial."
"Don't even get me started about the tacos. They were to die for. I could have eaten more."
"You ate 7. How is that even possible?"
"I'm growing, I need the energy," replied Sam laughing before standing. "I'm going to go to bed, I'm tired."
"OK, I'll see you in the morning."
"What are we going to do tomorrow?"
"I don't think we have anything planned. Abuela doesn't have any appointments until Monday and as it's the weekend, I don't need to work."
"You think we could go into town and have a look around? We didn't really have a chance to before or after dinner."
"Sure."
"Goodnight, Mom."
"Night, kiddo."
She watched as he went up the stairs then returned to her book. After what seemed to be an eternity, which only ended up being fifteen minutes, she put her book down, realizing she had been reading the same sentence repeatedly. She stood and walked over to the open front door and pulled the screen door open and stepped out on the porch.
It was a pleasant evening, the heat was still present and as it was early June, she knew it would only get hotter as the weeks went by. She sat down on the lowest of the front steps and took in the quiet of the night. Every now and then a dog would bark, breaking the silence of the night, but she didn't mind. As she looked up and down the street, she wondered if the people that lived now on the street were still the ones that did when she had lived there. Most of them were probably around her mother's age and she doubted that they had moved elsewhere…at least those that were still alive.
Her attention shifted to a silhouette walking on the sidewalk. It stopped as it reached the house and walked in its direction. As it neared her, she recognized Angel in his cut, hands in his pockets.
"Hey," he simply said as he came to a stop in front of her.
"Hey."
He looked at the house. "Everyone else asleep?"
"Yeah."
He took the liberty of sitting next to her. "I'm sorry to hear about Maggie."
"Thanks."
"Is it bad?"
"Breast cancer."
"That sucks. What do the doctors say?"
"It's too soon to tell. She's going to need surgery, then most probably chemo. Within six months to a year after she can get reconstructive surgery if she wants and if she's cancer-free."
"That's going to be hard. That's why you came back."
Isabella nodded. "I can't let her go through that alone. Maybe if I had been back more often, I could have made sure she got checked regularly."
"You can't blame yourself. Nothing proves that she wouldn't have developed cancer, even if you had come back more often."
Isabella shook her head. "Still, I should have been less selfish and wound up in my own little life. I guess it was easy for me to use that as an excuse instead of coming back to what I fled. At least you stayed and I'm sure your parents are happy that you did." She turned her head and looked at him. "How are they, by the way?"
"Mom was killed 9 years ago," he said.
"What?! Oh my God, Angel, I'm so sorry, I didn't know, my mom never said anything. What happened?"
"She was attacked at the carnicería, while my father was at the bank depositing money. There was nothing we could do. EZ found her, but it was too late," he said staring out in the void of the night.
She placed her hand over his and he lowered his head to look at it. Seeing their hands together after all these years was odd, even if at a time it had been the only hand he had ever wanted to hold.
"I can't even begin to imagine what you all went through."
"I think you do, Bella."
They exchanged glances and in that one flittering moment, both were transported to another time. The last time he had called her Bella, had been the night before she had left for college. A turning point in her life and his. Another turning point, just as most probably for them, had been her father's death. Just as Angel's mother's death, it had been unexpected, as he died coming home from work, rammed into by a drunken truck driver that had burned a red light. Life was twisted in that way, taking the people you loved the most, when you least expected it. Had the trucker hit the passenger side of the car, her father would still be alive today. Instead, fate would have it that he was taken from them, while the trucker walked away from it unharmed. Nothing was ever the same after that.
"It changes everything," Isabella said softly as she removed her hand from over his.
"How old is your kid?" asked Angel wanting to put an end to the sad topics of their lives.
"17. He's going to college in Arizona in August."
"Smart kid…like his mom."
"Nah, he's way smarter than I am."
"I assume your husband and you will drive him there."
"Just me. I'm not married Angel," she said nudging him. "You never knew how to ask very direct questions."
He passed a hand through his hair and laughed ever so lightly. "I didn't see a ring on your hand, just wanted to check."
"You know, even if it's been years, when two people who knew each other meet up again, it's OK to ask those kinds of questions."
"OK. So, no husband. A fiancé or a boyfriend?"
"Nope. You?"
"Nah. At least nothing steady."
She laughed out loud, then placed her hand over her mouth, realizing how loud she had been.
"What?" he asked, "What did I say?"
"Do people today still use the term 'steady'?"
He looked at her and then shrugged. "I don't know. It's actually a good question."
"So, no husband, fiancé or boyfriend for you either," said Isabella jokingly.
For the first time in a long time, Angel found himself smiling sincerely. They'd only been talking for ten minutes, and it felt like old times again.
"I'm sure chicas around here are crazy about bikers."
"There is a group that hangs around the club, but that's where it ends. No one at the club is ringing wedding bells if you see what I mean. You never wanted to marry…"
"Samuel," said Isabella helping him.
"Samuel's father?"
"His father hasn't been in the picture for a long time. It's just me and him."
"Sorry to hear that."
"Don't be, it's been a really long time and we didn't need him."
He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he took it out. "Ah, I'm sorry, something's come up, I need to go."
"No worries, it's getting late anyway and I'm tired from the trip."
Both stood at the same time, and he started to walk away before turning back to look at her. "Does Samuel like bikes?"
"I don't know."
"We've got a thing tomorrow late afternoon at the club, you know like a barbecue, maybe you could stop by. It could be fun."
"Ah, I'll run it by him. Are you sure we can join? I thought biker clubs were a pretty closed off group."
"I don't think it will be an issue, the guys bring people around regularly to these things. I'll check and let you know."
His phone vibrated again in his hand, and he stuffed it back into his pocket. "Right, I'm out of here. See ya," he said finally walking away.
"Goodnight, Angel."
