Page 16 of Fruit
“The delightfuliest,” I agree.
The rest of the group share a look Ezra and I are graceful enough to ignore.
“Point is, Imma figure out a way to get Dumpster Kitten back,” I say, punctuating the declaration by stuffing a handful of popcorn into my mouth.
Jack snorts, her tattooed arm coming into view as she takes a handful of her own. “Where was this youth club, anyway?”
“Downtown.”
“Hmm,” Jack says, chewing thoughtfully. “I need to get in touch with more youth centres. Maybe that way…” she trails off, muttering slightly to herself. I know from experience that she’s thinking about one of her cases and let her be.
“Anyway,” Ezra says, turning to Iván and Isadoro. “How’s the house hunting going?”
“Slowly,” Isadoro sighs.
Iván squeezes his wrist subtly, stroking his thumb over Isadoro’s skin. “But surely.”
“Well, it’s a big decision,” Joaquin says. “One of those things you want to take your time with.”
I see Ezra get a faraway look in his eyes, running the hand that hasn’t been buttered by the popcorn through Joaquin’s dark hair. I look at Jack.
“I feel left out. Let’s cuddle,” I tell her. She laughs, signalling me over, and we copy Ezra and Joaquin’s position. Just like Joaquin is broader than Ezra, I’m thicker than Jack, but we fit together nicely as I lean against her, the bowl on my lap.
“Ah, yeah. This is the life. All I need now is a cat,” I say, and everybody groans around me. I stick my tongue out at them, huffing.
“What movie are we watching, anyway?” Jack asks. “I vote for The Wailing.”
“What’s that about?”
“It’s a Korean—”
Ezra groans dramatically.
I can feel Jack looking at him. “Seriously? You have a problem with Korean films?”
“No, I just don’t want to read subtitles, okay? It’s my day off.…So many words…I just want to look at pictures…” Ezra whines.
“Okay, Mr. Journalist, what’s your vote?” Jack asks.
“Moana.”
“Oh my…”
“What. Don’t pretend like your cold cop heart doesn’t like Disney.”
“Fine.”
“Whoo.”
Isadoro puts his hand up. “Wait, don’t the rest of us get a vote?”
“Moana,” I cheer at the same time as Ezra says, “No.”
Isadoro sighs. “Fine.”
Joaquin gives him a look. “See what I mean?”
“We are delightful,” Ezra insists.
“The delightfuliest!”
It takes us a while to get to the movie, but no one complains.
