"Oh,
Bobby," Grace Marshall said suddenly. "I saw something at
J.C. Penny's you might like to see."
"Oh?
What's that?"
"In
the music section. There's a new album out by Carlos Santana. It's
called Amigos."
"Really?"
"Yeah,
it's on promotional sale. I can get a discount on it for you too."
One
of Grace's part time jobs was stocking the records at J.C. Penny's
department store. She always kept her eye out for things the kids
would like.
"How
much? Ramon is supposed to pay me tomorrow."
"It
will be a little over five dollars once I get my discount."
"Cool!
I can get you the cash tomorrow."
"How
about I buy it, and you pay me back?" She produced a bag from
under the table.
"You
didn't! For real? Thanks, Grace!" He kissed her cheek, giving
her a hug. "This is too cool! I love this guy."
"We
know that, silly," Maria said with a laugh. "You tell us
often enough."
"You
wait," he said with confidence. "Some of these other groups
will be long gone, but Santana, he's going to last."
"You
just like him cause he's Mexican," Rico said in a superior tone.
"I
like him because he's the most talented guitarist around," Bobby
countered.
"Jimmy
Page is better."
"No,
but he's as good." He ruffled Rico's hair. "One day you'll
look back on this conversation and say, 'You know, my crazy cousin
Bobby said Santana was here to stay.'"
"No,
I'll look back on this day and think, 'My cousin Bobby is crazy'.
That's all I'll think."
"We
should take it to Toni's and listen to it later. She's got the best
stereo system," Libby suggested.
"Good
idea."
Grace
and Consuela Menendez exchanged a curious look.
"Is
there something going on here we don't know about?"
"Like
what?" Bobby tried to look innocent, but the smile kept breaking
through.
"You
two aren't dating, are you?" Grace asked, looking at them both.
"Are you? Oh, Connie!" She clapped happily, jumping up and
down like a teenager. "I'm so happy!"
"Yeah,
Mom. Is it such a big deal?" Libby was puzzled by her mom's
behavior.
"But
it's marvelous! We were hoping, weren't we, Connie? We saw it a long
time ago, but we wondered when you would realize it yourselves."
"It's
wonderful, Grace. So, when is the wedding? I want lots of
grandchildren."
"Whoa,"
Bobby held up his hands like a traffic cop. "Who said wedding?
We're dating and I'm taking her to prom. This doesn't mean we're
choosing China patterns and stupid shit like that."
"Roberto,"
his mother chided.
"Sorry,
Mom. 'Stuff' like that. I just asked her to go steady."
"Are
you two being careful?" Grace gave them a penetrating look, then
her eyes lingered on Bobby making him want to shrink into the ground.
"Mother!
Oh, my God!" Libby turned six shades of red.
"It's
not like that, I swear!" Bobby looked flustered. "I just
asked her to go steady. Why do you assume? Can I die now?" He
asked Libby, taking her hand to comfort her. "Is it okay if we
both just like melt away? When did we become the center of
attention?"
"About
five seconds ago," Maria chided him. "So that's why Sister
cornered you? She has a sixth sense for when kids are being bad. I
swear she can smell it."
"We're
not being that kind of bad. We kissed, that's it!" Bobby wanted
it clear he was behaving himself.
"Not
entirely true. You were playing a game of tonsil hockey on the porch
last night."
"Mia,
I don't tell your secrets."
"You
don't know my secrets."
"Steve
Gutierrez after the football game, under the bleachers."
"You
wouldn't dare!"
"Steve
Gutierrez? Oh, he's cute," Libby added. "Isn't he dating
Bonnie What's-Her-Name?"
"No,
he's with Suzie Thingummy," Bobby countered.
"Oh,
her." Libby made a nasty face. "Slut." She coughed.
Bobby
patted her on the back and the two of them left quickly while the
attention was on Maria instead. As they were leaving, they heard
Grace say, "So, what's this about Steve Gutierrez?"
"What
about Steve Gutierrez?" Libby asked him as they walked to
Toni's.
"You
remember what we were doing on the porch last night?"
She
remembered, blushing vermilion. "Yeah. So?"
"So,
that, only under
the shirt."
"Ooh.
Um.... Not my business."
"And
what we were doing wasn't Maria's either."
"Maybe
not, but we should be more careful. If she could see, what about
Bitch Lady?"
"So,
next time, invite me in." He laughed, putting his arm around her
waist as he gave her a playful kiss.
©
2016 Dellani Oakes
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