sitting a couple of seats away and I was next to José and Salome, who were both intensely rehashing the ongoing season of Drag Race and not even trying to look like they were watching the game.
I loved baseball and being in a fancy ballpark suite was sort of a wish come true, but I couldn’t focus. I kept looking over at Rocco, who was now turned to the side, so his back was to me and I could clearly see the edge of his tattoo. I wanted to see that tattoo bad. I wanted to touch him even worse.
“Damn, you got it bad for that gringo, girl.” Salome’s amused whisper snapped me out of what was obviously not very discreet staring.
“He’s only like two seats away. He can hear you.” She just shook her head and sipped from her glass of wine. “What’s going on with you anyways?” I needed a distraction and focusing on Salome was the way to go.
She’d shorn off most of her hair last week and just left a mop of curls on top, which were swept to one side. With her tattoos and light hazel eyes, she looked striking. She was tall and very slim, and if she hadn’t gone the academic route, she could’ve been a runway model.
I looked over at Rocco, who was still watching the game and chatting with Tariq and Dani, and turned to Salome. “Seriously, girl, how’s work?”
José perked up then. I’d heard him giving her some advice earlier about handling her coworkers. She lifted a shoulder and put down her glass.
“Eh, que te digo? My department is all older white dudes and me. They’re nice, don’t get me wrong, but they’re clueless and it’s annoying.” Her tone was neutral but her expression serious, and I wondered what she was putting up with. “Well, they’re not all nice, but most are. It’s just hard.” She waved her hand then, as if conceding a point. “Not that I didn’t know that would happen. Applied economics is a man’s world, and honestly landing a tenure-track position that was willing to sponsor my work visa is nothing to be mad about.”
I nodded, remembering all her family was still in the DR. I wondered how that was for her. To me the island had always been a little mysterious. We’d gone to visit my mother’s family often enough, especially before my grandmother made the permanent move to the States. It was wild that Salome had actually grown up there.
“Are you going back to the DR for the holidays?”
She nodded and a reluctant smile spread across her lips. “Yes, I’m going for Christmas, but my mom and sister are flying to LA for Thanksgiving. I’m meeting them there. The LACMA has this big exhibit on Latinx Queer History I’ve been wanting to go to and they’re going to come with me.”
It always made me smile when Salome talked about how great and accepting her fam was. “That sounds fun! How about you, José?”
José’s eyes went a little cloudy and I remembered talking about home was still hard for him.
“I’m going to Santa Fe with my in-laws for Thanksgiving. They’re retired now, and moved to Phoenix a couple of years ago. So I’m flying there and then we’ll drive together to New Mexico.”
He was still very much in the grieving process. I tended to get all “therapist-like” on the people I cared about, as Alba liked to point out, so I tried to keep it casual now and not get into José’s business.
“It’s nice that you’re so close to them. Are you seeing them for Christmas too?” He shook his head and a small hopeful smile appeared on his face. “No. Tariq invited me to spend it with his family. They’re coming here to escape the cold—well, at least the ‘colder.’ Apparently, there will be Honduran tamales and sopa de caracol. Not missing that!”
I moaned at the mention of the delish seafood soup. “Oh man, that sounds yum.” I turned around to where Tariq, Dani, and Rocco were sitting, and before I gave it too much thought I was asking for information I was better off not having. “How about you guys? Any plans for Thanksgiving? Also, Tariq, I want some tamales.”
I got a thumbs-up from the Honduran hottie since he had his mouth full of wings. Dani smiled wide, his booming voice filling up the room. “Going to see my folks in NYC. I also have some gigs for appearances at clubs.” He grinned