Page 15 of Brandishing Betrayals

I smiled and shook my head in awe. The kid was nine. What did he know about girls and ‘hanging out’?

There was a knock at the window, and we looked over. Maya was motioning us to come in and eat.

“Food!” Luke cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

“Let’s eat,” Marcos agreed, picking up his shirt off the table and pulling it over his head.

I also pulled on my shirt, feeling the clean cotton stick to my sweaty skin. I’d kill for a shower right now, but I was not about to ask Maya for that.

We followed Luke inside and slowed to a stop when we saw Elaine Henderson dishing up spaghetti. She gave us a look of contempt before she said, “Hello boys,” like we weren’t forty-year-old men.

“Hello, Mrs. Henderson,” Marcos and I said almost in unison.

“I’ll eat with your father, dear,” Elaine said, picking up a bowl and plate and setting them on a tray.

Maya looked up from the salad bowl she was prepping and frowned. “Ok,” she said, looking a little confused.

I watched the two women with interest. Maya never used to get along with her mother. They would butt heads constantly. She also never would have let her mother just walk away when she clearly had questions. This new Maya, the post-move and non-confrontational Maya, didn’t say anything to disagree. Instead, she pulled out another tray and quickly made up another place setting, before she poured two glasses of milk andadded them to the tray. She walked away, following after her mother, with the tray of food and drinks.

Luke sighed and watched her go. “I don’t think Grandma likes you much.”

“Why do you think that?” I asked.

Luke shrugged and played with the food on his plate.

Maya walked back in a moment later, cutting off the conversation as she breezed past us and began making another plate, before she moved on to the large salad bowl and dished herself a portion.

She moved to the table a moment later and set down her dishes, then she turned back to the fridge. “You guys want a beer?” she asked, over her shoulder as she opened the fridge.

“Sure,” Marcos grunted.

I just nodded when Maya met my gaze. She looked away quickly, opening the fridge and pulled out three beers. She left them on the counter for us to grab and walked over to the table.

It was a six-person table. Maya took a seat next to Luke on the far side of the table. Marcos walked over and took the seat across from Luke, leaving both ends of the table open. Deciding to ruffle Maya’s feathers a bit, I took the seat next to her, at the head of the table.

Her movements froze only slightly as I sat down my plate and beer. Had I not been watching; I wouldn’t have noticed. She hadn’t expected me to sit down next to her.

When we were all seated at the table, I grinned internally. Maya was utterly uncomfortable as the awkward silence descended on the table.

“Mom, when does football start?” Luke asked, starting up the conversation.

“Next week,” Maya and Marcos responded.

Maya looked up from her plate to Marc who sat across the table from her. He nodded once at her, and she nodded in agreement.

“So what are we doing next weekend?” Luke asked.

“You’re meeting up with your friends Saturday at the pool,” Maya said, pulling out her cell phone and opening her calendar app. I looked down at all the dates filled in and narrowed my eyes. Her schedule was full, every single day of the week had several colors of things going on, even the weekends. “Sunday, you have Tyler’s birthday party.”

“Oh yeah,” Luke grinned.

“You’re going to Chicago?” I asked, not bothering to pretend like I wasn’t looking at her calendar, taking note of every damn appointment listed. There were several doctor’s appointments listed each week. I could only assume it had to do with taking care of her parents.

“Uh yeah,” Maya said, not looking at me, as she set down her phone and locked the screen. “It’s Jenna’s birthday. We’re going to spend the weekend at her place. Luke’s going to hang out with his cousins and some old school friends.”

Marcos frowned, glancing at Luke as the boy cheered happily.

“You’re pretty busy,” I commented, staring at Maya.

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