Page 31 of Finding Molly Parsons

Carmen waited for Faith to disappear before turning to Mateo. Jabbing him hard in the ribs, Carmen got a face full of pillow. “Mateo, get up. We have to make this right.”

“She’s fine. We are not.”

“We cannot let that girl look after us. We’re supposed to be the responsible adults.”

“Caarmmeeennn,” Mateo whined.

“You know I’m right. Jesus, Hermano, that was her first Pride party.”

Rolling over, Mateo pushed himself up the bed. “I hate you.”

“Tough shit, we need to get up. I’ll make the coffee and order breakfast.”

Together, they stumbled out of bed, still dressed in their party outfits. “I’m going to shower,” Mateo croaked. Carmen made it to the kitchen. Faith was sitting at the table messaging someone from her phone.

“Hey, sorry, I got distracted.” Faith went to get up, but Carmen stopped her.

“No, you carry on doing whatever you’re doing. I’m going to order breakfast.” Just the mention of food was making Carmen feel unwell. “Then we can talk about tomorrow.”

“Are you sure? No offense Carmen, but you look almost green.”

“I’m sure. I just need some caffeine.”

By the time Mateo made it out of the bathroom, Carmen was in a much better state. The fact she still couldn’t remember a thing weighed on her mind, but maybe she didn’t want to know. God knows she and Mateo had done some questionable things when drunk before. Hopefully yesterday wasn’t one of those times.

“Okay kid, give it to me straight,” Mateo sighed dramatically. “How much of an ass did I make of myself?”

“No more than anyone else,” Faith giggled. “There was a lot of singing. You were particularly into Cher,” Faith laughed.

“Well, that’s not too bad,” Mateo smiled. “If singing Cher badly is the worst of it, I think we can relax.”

“I didn’t say that was the worst of it,” Faith grinned. Carmen let her head hit the table. “I’m not sure I want to repeat some of the things I saw last night.”

Carmen groaned out loud. “Faith, please believe me, when I say that is not usually how I behave. What the hell was in those drinks, Mateo?”

“How should I know?”

“You handed them out!”

“I just passed them along. Rita made them.”

“You let us drink Rita’s cocktails? Are you insane?”

For the next ten minutes, Carmen laid into Mateo. Rita was a legend for her strong drinks. Both Carmen and Mateo had sworn never to touch her mixtures ever again after a very unfortunate incident with a police officer and a pineapple.

“Are you finished?” Mateo deadpanned. Carmen rested her head back on the table and nodded.

“Good. Now, forget about our sorry state and tell us, Faith…” Mateo grinned wickedly. “How was your night with Nathalie?”

Carmen laughed at the way Faith ducked her head. Every inch of skin was red. “Yeah, Faith, how was Nathalie?” Carmen couldn’t help but join in the gentle teasing.

“So, tomorrow,” Faith interjected, ignoring them both. “Are you sure you want to drive? We could look into taking a train.”

“I prefer driving. At least that way we are in charge of the travel time.”

“I’m sorry we can’t fly.” Faith was twisting her fingers together. A sign, Carmen knew, meant the young woman was feeling uncomfortable.

“Hey, we get a road trip out of it. And, as soon as you get your driver’s license, you’ll be good to fly.”

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