thing that had us moving together in a circle with my arms on his shoulders and those big, big hands light on my waist. It could have been romantic and sweet… if we were anyone else. Instead, we cracked jokes the whole time.
And that was when the DJ called everyone to the floor… to do the hokey pokey.
Zac’s hands loosened, and he took a step back.
I grabbed his forearm. “Where are you going?”
His face was a little bit pink under the lights, but he was grinning. “To go sit this one out.”
“What? Why?”
One corner of his mouth went up, and he gave the table we’d been at a side look. “’Cause. It’s the hokey pokey.” He drew his forearm across his forehead before blasting me with another bright, white smile.
I blinked at him. “You’re gonna make me do it by myself?”
He was still smiling even as his head lolled to the side. “All right. Come on, I’ll do the hokey pokey with you then.”
And he did, his expression nearly pained, but he was laughing the whole time he turned himself around along with the two hundred other people at the venue.
Afterward, Boogie came over and asked me to dance, my sister gesturing to Zac to come over to her.
One line dance and another song later, my aunt came over and stole my cousin, and I took the chance to put my shoes back on, with a groan, and go get something to drink and pee. Zac was spinning Luisa, my niece around, and my sister was talking to Boogie’s dad.
That was when I got cornered by the one person in the family everyone tried to avoid. The one person who I had purposely kept an eye on to make sure we didn’t get close enough for her to feel the need to come over and say hi. We’d chosen our table by the wall on purpose.
Shit!
“Hola, Bianca,” the older woman said as she purposely blocked the exit to the bathroom.
I pasted just about the fakest smile in the universe onto my face—one that rivaled every expression I’d ever given Gunner—as I finished drying my hands. “Hi, Tía Licha,” I said, taking my time to turn around and give her a hug—the most half-assed hug in the history of hugs, but it wasn’t like she deserved more. She’d always been mean, especially to my mom, Connie, and me.
My mom’s cousin raked her gaze up and down my body as she stayed exactly where she was standing. “I like your dress.”
Wait for it.
“Did you gain weight?”
She’d gained weight, but okay. I tried to smile at her, but you try and form a smile when your damn face is made from granite. It was a grimace. It was definitely a grimace that I made at her, trying its best to disguise itself as a smile and failing big-time. Because I knew all about respecting my elders. I could remember the one and only time my abuelita called for me and I answered with ¿que?—what—instead of ¿mande?
I don’t think I’d ever backtracked so fast in my life.
But even my mom had lost her patience with her cousin a long time ago. I wasn’t sure what was said, but I did know that my dad had to grab Mom by the back of her pants and carry her out of the room like she was a bowling ball. That was after years of little cutting comments she was known to give to everyone.
So I knew I was going to be polite, but not an inch more than I needed to.
She was so mean, it honestly surprised me she still got invited places and that everyone hadn’t just had a meeting where everybody agreed to keep family get-togethers a secret so she wouldn’t go.
I settled for shrugging at her. If I didn’t say anything, maybe she’d get bored and stop talking to me faster.
It didn’t work.
“Where are your parents?”
That’s where she was going with this from the get-go. I should’ve expected it. “They’re in Nicaragua right now.”
Her “Hmmph” said everything. “Where’s your boyfriend?”
And she went there too.
I blinked at her; then I blinked at her some more. I couldn’t exactly call my aunt a nosey heifer, could I? As much as I might fucking wish I could. Knowing I didn’t have time, I smiled at her. “Which one?”
She blinked.
I hoped she got a bunion.
“It was nice seeing you, byeeee,” I called out over my shoulder as I sped toward the door and got the hell out