Page 101 of Love me, Maddie Mendoza

Maybe I was already in hell, and Maddie was the devil.

“You’ve got to eat more, Zeek. You’re a big boy, no?”

“Tía, I’m sure Z had plenty.” Maddie tugged my hand.

Tía Silvia accepted and let Maddie guide me away. “I like your aunties feeding me.” I weakly protested.

“You had too much food, Zeek!” She pretended to scold me, but I saw the little smile on her face.

I broke into a smile too as mom’s voice interrupted us. “I raised you better than eating all the food yourself.”

Mom was sitting on the couch with a plastic cup with soda in her hands. Like Maddie’s, her words had no heat.

“I’m a growing boy.” I played, sitting beside her. “Haven’t you heard what Silvia said?”

Mom laughed, “You’ve grown too much already.” She was taller than the Mendoza women, but still small for someone who supposedly birthed me.

Xio’s party raged away, food, music, and laughter. Gifts that Xio felt were too much, hugs that made her blink away tears even as she pretended it was nothing.

Dad was not far away, stuck in a deep conversation with André and a few of his co-workers. And right when I thought Maddie was going to her mom, she surprised me by landing on the couch just beside me.

Her hands on my legs, she bent over to talk to mom across my lap.

“Did you see Cinthia?” Maddie whispered.

“Oh…” mom bobbed her head animated.

Mom and Maddie gossiped about this woman called Cinthia and things she did or didn’t do. Maddie’s torso rested on me, so I opened my arm to let her in. I got lost twirling her curls with my finger while they talked about the woman.

They laughed together, and Maddie relaxed under my arm. I put a hand on her shoulder, and she breathed deeply. I couldn’t stop myself from feeling relaxed, too.

“Oh, I need to refill the soda,” Maddie said, noticing the multiple empty plastic bottles. Shuffling on the seat, she turned. “I will be back in a second.” And with that, she gave a sweet kiss on my neck.

I nodded dumbly, and she hopped away to be a good host. I followed her with my eyes as she talked to several family members. Including getting into a conversation with a family friend, but while she smiled at them, she made a face at me. I chuckled a little, shaking my head. I missed her already.

The party kept going for a few hours more, but it was soon clear that Xiomara was exhausted. Mom helped to tidy up a little but asked the Mendozas to wait until tomorrow so we could help once everyone was rested.

We left, crossing together the short way to our house. Dad closed the door behind us, and mom sighed. “It’s good to see her like that. So much energy.” She talked to herself. “This is good.”

Dad went to the living room and promptly turned the TV on, and I dragged my feet upstairs. I was almost disappearing through the hall when mom requested; “Ask Maddie to leave a note for her parents, ok?”

I could pretend I did not know what she was talking about. I could groan and act all teenager on her again. But there was no use. Instead, I just nodded. “Ok.”

The tree shook an hour after I made myself comfortable in bed. Sheets drawn loosely over my bare chest, a paperback of Outlander - Maddie’s copy- folded in one hand and my other arm behind my head.

My upper lip curled as I watched her coming. The branches snapped on her face when she landed on the roof, making her head reel back. I openly laughed when she spat a curse. I could tell she was trying hard to be quiet, but was so clumsy, she ended up and making tons of noise. Finally, she pulled the window open and stumbled in.

“How many times you climbed those trees, Maddie Mendoza?” I rested the paperback on my chest.

Maddie narrowed her eyes. “Don’t start.”

“How aren’t you more graceful?”

She crossed my bedroom toward the bed and sat on top of me. Her legs straddled my waist. “Same reason I watched years of basketball and can’t throw a ball to save my life.”

I laughed. Maddie took the paperback from over my chest, turning it over to see its cover. “Thief.” She said and threw the book away.

My hands covered her legs. “I thought everything that was yours was mine.”

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