Page 23 of Fruit
“You—what? Youmadethis?”
“It’s not that hard.”
“Holy crap. You should open a bakery.”
“I think I’m good with the youth centre.”
“You can make it half youth centre, half bakery. You could teach the kids to bake. They’d learn a trade and the proceeds could go into the business. Two birds, one stone,” I say.
Sebastián opens his mouth before closing it slowly, frowning.
“I just gave you the best idea in the world, right?”
Sebastián snorts. “Are you going to ask for joint custody of the business, now?”
“Obviously.”
Sebastián shakes his head, smiling.
“So do you, like, own the youth centre? How does that even work, are they funded by the government or something?”
“No. Normally, youth clubs have a board of directors who fund the setting-up of the centre, but I co-own it with a silent partner who did most of the funding. Now, we’re mostly fundraiser and donation based.”
“Jeez, how did you find a rich person who would fund a youth centre? That was lucky.”
“Met him in juvie,” Sebastián says, and then presses his lips together as if he hadn’t quite meant to share that.
I have to admit, I’m a little surprised. He seems pretty straight-laced, and there are a lot of preconceptions about the types of people who go to juvie. My curiosity is immediately piqued, but I don’t pry.
Despite popular belief, Icanbe tactful.
“I was almost arrested once,” I say. Sebastián raises his eyes to look at me.
“No way,” he says in a deadpan voice. “You? I’m shocked.”
“Okay,Shawshank Redemption. Now you’ll never know the story,” I say haughtily.
“No, come on. Tell me,” Sebastián says with the smile that makes me cave immediately. Fucking straight-ass teeth and bright brown eyes. I’m such a sucker.
“I grew up in a town down by the coast, and in the summer there was a neighbour that had this huge-ass pomegranate tree. I used to sneak in to steal some and he would chase me away, but I’d always come back.”
“You’re literally Peter Rabbit,” Sebastián says. I laugh.
“But they were so good! I used to go off and hide, and it was such a ritual, you know? Like, opening the pomegranate carefully, but never being able to avoid a bit of the pink juice spilling over to stain my hands. I had to dig through it with my bare fingers, picking out the seeds, and, just, the way they burst slightly in your mouth when you bite into them. A taste that’s almost tasteless, in a sweet way. It leaves your mouth almost…I don’t know the word in English.Aspero. It means, like…sort of rough to the touch? Like, that’s probably a weird word to use, but…” I shrug.
Sebastián is looking at me a little strangely. Intently, almost. It makes the hair on my arms stand up. I almost shiver.
“I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a pomegranate,” he says quietly.
“Really? Well, I almost went to jail for them. I mean, not really, I think the owner just wanted to teach me a lesson when he called the police.”
“Let me guess. It didn’t stop you,” he says. I grin at him mischievously.
“Itdidmake me a lot sneakier, though.”
Sebastián laughs, and I feel warm and settled inside.
We finish eating in casual, companionable conversation, completely unlike our earlier interactions. I go to the toilet when we finish washing up, which I insisted on helping him with mostly to watch him roll his eyes.
