Page 12 of A Dish Best Served Hot

It gave Lola a brief glance at the commanding officer he’d become in the military. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

Saint maintained his focus on Papo. “You went too far and you know it. Otherwise you’d be here trying to defend yourself.”

“I would never put someone in danger on purpose,” Papo exclaimed. “I thought he would get churra and then he’d leave me alone.”

“Leave you alone?” Saint asked.

“¡Sí! He’s a bully and he’s always messing with me. One time, in front of everyone, he told me that my dentures make me look like a horse and everyone started calling me Mr. Ed! He looks for ways to mess with me all the time. ¡No me deja en paz!”

That was news to Lola. She looked at Benny, who was very purposefully not meeting her gaze. She guessed it wasn’t totally out of the realm of possibility given Benny’s antipathy toward Papo, but that still didn’t make what he did okay.

As if to echo her thoughts Saint said, “¿Y qué? That means you get to poison him?”

“I told you already that it wasn’t Ex-Lax. I kept adding prune juice to his grape juice.” He paused briefly. “And I sprinkled some fiber powder on his Caesar salad like parmesan cheese. But that was only one time.”

“Abuelo...”

“Okay, fine, two maybe three times, but he barely even ate it.”

Saint closed his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face as if completely at a loss. “Don’t even try to be cute. You need to face what you did.”

Lola felt her own righteous fury slowly extinguishing. It was hard to be mad when someone was agreeing with her and saying exactly what she would say. But then he started talking again.

“I don’t think kicking him out is the answer,” he told Maria.

“Yes, it is,” Lola stated, she kept her attention on Maria. “I don’t want him around Benny.”

“I don’t blame you,” Saint said, “but he wants to get kicked out. He doesn’t want to be here without Killian, so he’s actively trying to get himself kicked out.”

Papo’s jaw was on the floor, clearly surprised that his grandson so clearly saw through his motives. He snapped his mouth closed and glared at the wall.

“That’s not my problem,” Lola said, still refusing to meet his eyes.

“True, but him getting kicked out isn’t really justice. It’s an easy fix. He needs to face the consequences of his actions and make reparations for all of his recent recklessness.”

Lola considered his point. If he was kicked out, Papo would just go live with one of his many family members and be coddled and spoiled. Which was clearly what the old man wanted. Well, he shouldn’t get what he wanted, at least not before justice was truly served.

“What are you suggesting?” she asked Saint.

“I think Abuelo should be grounded and forced to make it up to everyone he’s inconvenienced with his childish actions.”

“What does that mean exactly?”

“On top of personal apologies to everyone, he can no longer just come and go as he pleases. He is not allowed out of this building unless he has a doctor’s appointment or it’s an emergency.” He looked at his grandfather as he emphasized the last word.

Papo glared back at him. “You’re going to abandon me here so I can get even more depressed.”

“I didn’t say no visits. I said no field trips.”

Papo crossed his arms and looked away.

“While we are discussing his mental health, he should be required to see the in-house therapist.”

“We cannot force him to receive therapy,” Maria interjected.

“Fine, if he agrees to see the therapist, then he can have one outing a week in which he will be escorted by me andonlyme.”

Papo gasped. “That’s blackmail!”

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