Thirty-Four

Us and our bags of cookies made it to Kat's home. Even before Kat got close enough to knock on the door, a woman flings it open. "Hola!" the woman exclaims with a wide smile. In her appearance I imagine an older version of Kat.

Kat is definitely going to be one of those women who age gracefully if her mom is any indication. Kat's mom pulls in Kat by one of her arms while I follow.

After closing the door, the first thing I notice are the beautiful vases of flowers near the entryway. They all smell fresh too.

Walking further in, I notice there's a vase on every available surface. "Oh, aren't the flowers lovely?!" asks Kat's mom.

"Yes. Do you get daily delivery?" My mom likes flowers but not enough to have them cover every available surface.

Kat's mom laughs as she says, "No, nothing fancy like that. We've just been receiving flowers here everyday from an admirer." Kat's mom nudges Kat's shoulder with her arm. "We still don't know who it's from," says her mom with a sigh. "I'm hoping it's for me. I don't think I can stand my baby dating right now."

"Mom!" says Kat with an eye roll. Looking at my best friend however, I know she knows more than what she's saying.

There's no need to worry Kat's mom though. It depends on what Kat isn't saying.

"I made some Fajita meat, shredded cheese is on the kitchen counter and so are the tortillas. Put as much meat as you want!" As Kat's mom brought Kat and I to the kitchen, I couldn't help but be in awe. Kat's mom really pulled out all of the stops. "I'll leave you kids to it, I have to make a phone call, but I'll join you soon!"

I picked a paper plate to place my tortilla on. "I'm sorry if my mom is acting a bit crazy. We don't entertain ever and I never brought a friend from school over."

"What are you being sorry for?! You're mom seems great and I don't eat Mexican food often so it's a treat."

"This food is actually more Tex-mex," Kat said. "Mom wanted to make you some Carimañola's, but I told her to keep it simple."

"Okay, whoa. That's not fair, Kat."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I just said. You told your mom to make simple Tex-Mex because what? Because, you thought I couldn't handle it?!" Kat's lips make a big silent 'O' for a moment.

"No, I didn't mean it like that Kit. I just know you may be more accustomed to fancier food so something not made by a chef should be made simple."

"Okay, I understand a bit better now but it still seems unfair." As I sigh and put the shredded cheese on top of my fajita meat. "Also, I can't wait to be back in the loop, bestie."

"What does that mean?"

"I've got one word for you, Kat: Flowers." Kat looks away from me for a moment.

"Is it really hard to believe my mom has a secret admirer?" asks Kat nonchalantly.

"No, but that's not what it is, is it. You know Kat, deflection is one of the oldest stalling techniques in the book." Kat groans and gestures for me to follow her to the living room. We place our plates on the coffee table and start to eat.

Kat leans towards the stairs and hear her mom laughing on the phone. "Okay, she's still busy." She looks at me, before staring at another vase of flowers on the coffeetable. "The flowers are coming from Alejandro. That guy that called you a gringo from earlier."

"He didn't call me a gringo."

"Okay then, he called you a gringo when he was speaking with me." I shake the notion of being called a name I don't really understand away as I urge Kat with my eyes to continue. "Alejandro is the leader of South Tucson's local gang called El Leon. I patched him up one night and since then he's been delivering flowers, speaking with me whenever he sees me, and paying to clean up the carpet."

"Paying to clean up the carpet? What for?"

"For...some blood stains. That's not important Kit! What's important is Alejandro never saw me with another boy other than my cousins and here you come along into my neighborhood and waving at me?! Mirabella saved you from him today." Kat shakes her head and chews one of her fajitas for a moment. "You've got some nerve..."

"You don't get much done in this life without some nerve, Kat." I chewed on one of my fajitas too. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?" I asked her casually. Even though I didn't make the question sound important, I feel crushed that she didn't tell me anything about this.

"I didn't tell you because I wasn't expecting you to think coming into my neighborhood without giving me a heads up was a good idea, Kit." I narrow my eyes at her for a moment.

"You didn't tell me anything about your neighborhood till now and this is the first time I've been hearing about this Alejandro character. By all the flowers here it looks to me like he's been giving you flowers for quite some time now, Kat. Personally, I think this problem is bigger than you." Kat narrows her eyes at me.

"If you go off and tell my mom about this situation, we're not best friends anymore." Putting my hands up, I laugh.

"Kat, there is no way we're telling your mom. We're going to figure out how to take care of this some other way. Unless, you like Alejandro's attention?"

Kat gives me one of her mad looks that actually makes her look like a grumpy kitten. "Does it look like I do?" she asks quietly.

"No, it doesn't but I'm just a bystander in all of this for the moment." I lean over my plate and towards Kat who is sitting across from me. "And let me in."

She looks away from my eyes for a moment before sighing. "Okay, I'll let you in on what's going on. My mom would kill me if she found out that I helped out an El Leon member."

"Isn't your cousin one?" I ask Kat just as her mom comes back down the stairs.

"Is her cousin what?" asks Kat's mom.

"Is my cousin the most annoying freshman I've ever met?" She looks at her mom as she smirks. "It's debatable still."

"Good answer," replies Kat's mom as she walks over to the kitchen to fix herself a plate.

"She doesn't know?" I whisper to Kat. Kat just shakes her head, her eyes bulging in silent plea. When her mom returns, she sits next to her daughter.

Kat's mom smiles as she says, "My name is Talia. I don't remember if I told you that when I answered the door."

"No, you didn't. My name is Kit and it's short for a name I don't really like..."

"Kitrick. His name is Kitrick," replies Kat with a smirk in my direction. "You never met anyone with a name like that have you mom?"

"Sounds like a mix of two names," said Kat's mom.

"It is. My Grampa's name was Kit and my dad's name is Richard or Rick for short."

Then Kat's mom eyes lit up as she gets up from her seat. She only got around to having one fajita. "I'll be right back I'm going to get the name book!"

"No mama no!" said Kat with a frown.

"A name book?"

"Yes. It's a book with different names from around the world and their definitions." Kat sighs and looks up at the ceiling for a moment. "We're in for a treat."