Page 49 of Sleeping with the Frenemy

Saint pretended not to hear her, but Cristian answered for him.

“He grabbed him by the throat, lifted him with one hand, and told him, ‘I know many ways to kill someone and make it hurt. If you ever put your hands on my little sister again, you’ll experience them all.’ Then he dropped him and walked away.”

“Saint,” Lola gasped, wide-eyed.

Saint looked mildly embarrassed. “That was only after I heard Kamilah tell Sofi and Lucy that he’d pushed her,” he explained.

“What?” Kamilah exclaimed. “Who are you even talking about? I never once had a boy push me. I would’ve kicked his junk clean off his body myself.”

Saint shrugged. “I don’t remember his name.” He looked at Cristian.

Cristian rubbed his chin. “I think his name was Martin or Marvin or something.”

“Melvin?” Lucy busted out in laughter. “That little nerd?”

“There’s no way.” Sofi joined Lucy in laughter, remembering Kamilah’s first official boyfriend ever. “He was in robotics and chess club. Didn’t he skip a grade too?” He’d been a good three inches shorter than Kamilah, as thin as a pole, and about as menacing as a newly hatched duckling. “He was scared of his own shadow!” Sofi hooted.

“I know what I heard,” Saint said.

Kamilah was shaking her head. “I never said that. I told them he wasbeing pushyas in he was pushing me to kiss him when I wasn’t ready. It was why I was going to dump him. Instead, he completely ghosted meandswitched schools.” She gave her brothers the evil eye. “Now I finally know why.”

Saint and Cristian shared a look before Cristian shrugged his shoulders, completely unconcerned with the difference. “The horny little shit deserved it, then.”

“I can’t believe my sons are so violent,” Valeria said, looking scandalized.

“Don’t look at me.” Eddie raised his hands. “I was at school in California when all of this happened.”

“Kiss ass,” Cristian coughed into his hand.

“Hood rat,” Eddie returned.

“It’s not like Kamilah also didn’t get in plenty of fights defending her brothers too,” Lucy added.

“What?” Valeria screeched. “My daughter fighting? Como una callejera!” She looked so disappointed.

“We got it from you and Papi,” Kamilah said. “Should we recount what happened any time either one of you caught someone flirting with the other?”

“Shut up and mind your own business,” Valeria said in Spanish while wearing a scowl. “I’m a Christian woman. There’s no way I went around fighting people.”

“Yeah okay, Mami,” Cristian said. “When Leo gets offstage, we’ll ask him about the time you beat the bricks off Olga Peña right in this park because she spanked him. It’s his favorite story to tell.”

“Damn,” Lola said, still looking around wide-eyed. “And I thought my family was gangster.”

Papo Vega held up his beer. “Thug life,” he cheered.

Everyone laughed and held up their drinks.

Suddenly, the lights on the stage came on signaling the show was about to begin. Rico Vega, Santos’s twin and the alderman, walked out on the stage with their youngest brother, Gio, a DJ and producer known worldwide—who never missed the event no matter where he was living in the world. Together they gave a brief speech about the importance of the Fiestas Patronales Puertorriqueñas to Humboldt Park in celebrating the culture through food, art, and music. Then talked about how Los Rumberos were a part of the celebration since the beginning. They welcomed the band to the stage with cheers from the audience.

Sofi’s breath caught in her throat the minute Leo walked onto the stage. He’d changed out of his jeans and El Coquí T-shirt into a pair of khaki linen trousers, a tropical floral print shirt with the first few buttons undone leaving a part of his chest on display, and a Panama hat. He matched the rest of the band down to the loafers without socks. But somehow on him it just looked...better. It was the way he wore the outfit, with confidence and easy sex appeal, that drew everyone’s attention.

The band began playing the very recognizable intro to the song almost every Puerto Rican knew by heart, made famous by Frankie Ruiz and recorded by many of the island’s greatest singers after. The moment Leo held the mic to his mouth and sang the first words, “Puerto Rico,” the crowd went wild. Everyone sang along and the salsa dancing started.

Sofi sang and danced right along with them. She couldn’t help herself. The song filled her with so much pride and happiness and she knew that every single person around her felt the same. Especially when the background singers sang, “‘Boricua soy y siempre seré,’” and Leo replied, “‘Puertorriqueño y de Humboldt Park!’” and the crowd screamed. It was beautiful how so many Puerto Ricans, many who weren’t born on the island or who hadn’t been there for a long time, still felt such love and connection to the tiny island in the Caribbean.

“Let’s move closer,” Kamilah yelled to Sofi a while later. Sofi nodded her agreement and soon they were working their way toward the front of the stage with Lucy and Liza in tow. They’d just reached the front when the song the entire band had been singing together ended. The rest of the singers in the band stepped back and Leo stepped forward.

“This next song I added at the last minute,” Leo said into the mic. “The guys were nice enough not to kill me for it.”

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