Page 33 of A Dish Best Served Hot
Papo Vega continued, “I haven’t done marijuana in a long time. I forgot how hungry it makes you.” He paused for a split second and his eyes lit up like he’d just had the greatest idea known to man. “Hey, do you know what we should eat?” He didn’t wait for anyone to answer. “Fried chicken.” He slapped his hand on his leg. “Ojitos, you should make some. With mashed potatoes and gravy. And some corn. Oh, and cookies. You know the peanut butter ones with the chocolate kiss on top? Or the ones with the jelly in the middle. I know! You should make quesitos con guayaba.”
“This is fucking amazing.” Leo began cracking up.
The other two brothers started laughing as well, which set off Papo Vega. Soon the four of them were like the audience at a stand-up comedy show.
“It’s not funny,” Kamilah snarled.
Lola had to bite her lip because it was kind of funny. She risked a glance at Saint and found he had his hand covering his mouth in a suspicious fashion.
He turned his head and met her gaze. His eyes were full of amusement. He tilted his head toward the door.
Lola nodded.
Saint turned on his heel and started for the door and she followed.
“Hey, where are you going?” Kamilah called to him. “You’re the one who told us that we were coming tonight to play games with Abuelo and keep him company.”
“Game night is obviously canceled,” Saint replied. “And you don’t need me.”
“Oh, si claro, déjame sola con estos payasos,” she scoffed. “Because I’ll handle this. I handle everything.”
“You sound like Mami right now,” Saint told her.
Kamilah gasped in outrage. “That is the worst thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“With your personality? That can’t be true,” Cristian said, causing the other three to laugh again.
Saint put his hand on the door handle and pulled it open.
“Princesita, you need to chill out,” Leo told his sister.
They stepped into the hallway right as Papo Vega asked, “Do you want one of my gummies?”
The sound of him and the remaining three Vega brothers laughing uproariously was cut off as Saint closed the door. He led her down the hall and around the corner before he stopped, rested his back against the wall, and covered his face with both hands. His shoulders started to shake. A snort escaped, which was more than enough to set Lola off.
She too began laughing, but she didn’t try to hide her amusement behind her hands.
Saint’s head turned in her direction just enough for him to look at her out of the corner of his eye.
Lola could see the tears of hilarity he struggled to not release, which made her laugh even harder.
They stood there for a long while, laughing together. Like in the old days.
8
Saint took his first deep breath in minutes and used his shirt collar to wipe at his eyes. Never in his life did he ever think he’d stumble upon the scene he’d just witnessed. He couldn’t believe his eighty-one-year-old grandpa had gotten stoned. Yet at the same time, he very much could believe it. If there was any senior of his acquaintance that he could see doing it, it was Abuelo.
Next to him Lola let out one of those deep sighs you let out after laughing hard for a long time. “Is it weird that this actually makes me like your grandpa a little bit?”
He froze for a moment. Shocked that anyone who’d met Abuelo Papo wouldn’t like him. Then he remembered the circumstances in which they’d met and Benny’s overall animosity toward his grandpa. “Abuelo has always been a character. With age he’s only gotten more...” He trailed off, unable to think of the right word.
“Animated? Extra?” Lola supplied.
Saint nodded. That worked. “He’s been more reckless lately. Unhinged almost.”
“Because of his friend that died? The one whose edibles he ate.”
“Killian,” Saint replied, ignoring the pang he felt at the mention of his abuelo’s best friend. While Saint had never had the type of relationship Kamilah had had with Killian, he’d still viewed the man as family. In many ways he was more of a great-uncle than Abuelo’s actual brothers who lived spread out around the US and had only visited Chicago a handful of times. Saint grieved the man’s loss just like the rest of the family did. “Don’t get me wrong. The two of them together caused plenty of problems, but Killian was the anchor that moored Abuelo’s chaotic energy. Without him Abuelo is just bouncing around like a racquetball.”
