My thoughts were still on me and Brynn's predicament when I pulled back into the parking lot of my shop. The second I saw my oldest sister, Lucia's, car it put me in an even worse mood. The only time she ever came down here was to get on my case about something. Otherwise, she would've just called.
This should be good.
The second I walked in, I was met by a set of furious, brown eyes. Before the door could even completely close behind me she was in my face, but at least she cussed me out in Spanish so a few of my employees and customers may have actually had no clue what she was saying.
But chances are most of them did.
"A car, Marco? After the crap grades Rosalina brought in this last quarter?" she scolded me.
I answered in Spanish, too, because so many were trying to eavesdrop. "Relax, Luce."
"Relax? You want me to relax knowing my daughter is out there ripping and running the streets in that thing?"
I didn't understand why she was so upset. Yes, the car I surprised my oldest niece with for her eighteenth birthday was probably sportier than a teenager should have, but I bought it used and got one hell of a deal on it.
"And how are Max and I supposed to compete with a gift like that?" she added. "Now the new phone we were planning to surprise her with is going to seem like a joke!" She paused to take a breath and I took that opportunity to lead her to the break room where we had a bit more privacy. "You should have talked to us, Marco. You don't just buy a child elaborate gifts like that without clearing it with the parents first," she reasoned.
"Okay, okay, chill," I said quietly, hoping to calm her down. I hadn't looked at it like that. "I was just trying to do something nice for her," I explained.
Lucia took a deep breath and I tried to see things from her perspective. Max, her husband, was recently laid off and Lucia had only been able to find work at a local supermarket for the time being. This was precisely why I took the initiative to go all out for Rosalina. With things being so tight for my sister and her husband, and because they refused to let me help in any other way, I just wanted to make sure my niece had something nice for her birthday. On top of that, she'd be leaving for college this coming fall and would need it anyway.
"I'm sorry, Luce," I repeated, waiting for my sister's eyes to convey that she'd forgiven me. "I wasn't trying to show you and Max up. You know me better than that."
After a few heavy sighs, her expression finally softened and she allowed me to hug her.
"I know that's not what you were trying to do," she said against my shoulder, now calm enough to shift back to English.
"Good." I kissed her cheek and then let go.
Lucia walked over to the table and took a seat, clearly stressed. About what exactly, I wasn't sure.
"It's just so frustrating that we weren't able to do more. Then we woke up to that fancy, red car in the driveway and it just … it made me feel terrible."
I lowered my head, knowing I was the one responsible for her being down. Justin and Carlos helped me out by dropping the car off early that morning after our workout so I could come straight here to open the shop. I would've just come in late so I could deliver it myself, but I knew I had to leave early to head to Brynn's appointment later. I meant well, had gone through a little trouble to pull it all off, but … never in a million years did I think this gesture would cause Lucia and Max such heartache.
"If you want, I can take it back," I offered.
Lucia shot an incredulous look my way. "Sure, and make me the bruja who made her kid give back her car. No, thank you."
I laughed and took the seat across from my sister. "Well, tell me what I can do to fix it and I'm on it." When I placed my hand on top of hers, Lucia smiled.
She'd practically raised me when our parents were going through hard times. I was only fourteen at the time, but Lucia didn't hesitate to take me and my other two sisters in. She was only twenty-six and all she had was a two-bedroom house, but she was good to us. There were so many sacrifices she and Max both had to make and I hadn't forgotten. They'd only been married six years, Rosalina was still little, but they made room for the three of us, too.
Just keeping food in the fridge was a struggle and I always felt bad about that, subconsciously eating less to help it stretch longer. With my father's alcohol and gambling issues, not even our parents could contribute. Luce and Max did it all on their own.
Everything.
Somehow, even in that situation, we were all happy. This was another reason I didn't think twice about buying Rosalina that car or offering to pay for college. It was the least I could do.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Lucia said. A smile broke free and I was glad to see it.
"It's okay. You gave the customers a nice little show."
Reminding her that we started this conversation with quite the audience, she covered her face with both hands as her cheeks reddened. "Ay dios mio! I shouldn't have done that."
"It's cool. But if you really feel bad, you can always make it up to me by bringing over some tembleque this weekend. You do that and I swear you can yell at me all you want."
Her face brightened with a smile again and then she stood, hugging me. She placed a hand on my cheek right after. "How've you been? You know I worry about you."
And I did know that. She didn't love my job-the other one-but she tolerated it because she knew I wouldn't let it go anytime soon. Not until I was ready. That still didn't change the fact that she lost a lot of sleep on weekends, knowing I was out ‘til the sun was damn near up. My mother and other sisters didn't complain about it as much as Luce did, but I knew they felt the same way. With Luce and I being close, she knew a lot of what went on behind the scenes-the drugs, the alcohol, the propositions-and that only made her more uneasy about it.
"I'm fine," I assured her, and that was mostly true. All that hung over my head was the ‘Brynn thing'.
For the fraction of a second I let that thought occupy space inside my head, Lucia picked up on it. Before she could ask, I repeated myself. "I'm fine."
Her eyes searched my face a little while longer, and then she let it go. "Call me if you need to, Marco," she made sure to say when I walked her to the door.
I nodded and told her I would.
She took off after that and I got back to work. I had a few customers back to back, so I was busy for a while, but then things slowed down. I used the time to organize my equipment and clean my station, and then went out to check on things up front.
Two of my artists, Pete and Manuel, were hanging out, talking about TV shows I didn't watch and music I didn't listen to, but other than that it was dead up there, too.
I checked the time. It was just a little past four, which meant I needed to head out. I told the guys I probably wouldn't be back to lock up, so closing the shop was on them this evening. They assured me everything would be taken care of and I was out.
According to my GPS, I'd driven halfway to the address Brynn gave me, which was different from where the paternity test had been done a few days ago. I had about ten minutes to get myself together so I could walk in there and not let it show that I was kinda nervous. No one knew what I was doing today but Justin, and I wanted to keep it that way. The fewer people in my business, the better.
My heart raced when I rounded the corner and the doctor's office came into view. I found a space to park beside Brynn's car and took a breath. This was it; the moment of truth, but I couldn't seem to get up the nerve to go inside.
Quit stalling and man up!
I cut off the engine and stepped out, holding my head high like I was taught to do. It was too late to be worried or afraid because what's done was done at this point, so there was nothing left to do but face the music. This could go one of two ways and I had to be prepared for either. Even if the results showed that Brynn had been wrong about it being me, I made up my mind to be gracious about it. There was no sense in rubbing salt in her wound if things didn't turn out the way she was expecting them to. I would wish her well, then we'd part ways respectfully, and that would be the end of it.
I wandered down a hallway, quickly finding the waiting room where Brynn sat. She didn't see me yet because her back was to me and her attention was focused on the magazine in her hands.
I could've walked away, could've gone back the way I came and let her think I never even showed. It would've been that easy. She didn't know anything about me-where I lived, where I worked, and there had to be at least a hundred men with the name Marco Rios in this state. I could've very easily disappeared and went on about my business.
Could have.
But didn't.