Page 53 of Dirty

“They’re bags. Saddle bags, mother, not saddle boxes.”

“They look like boxes,” she said, forming a box in the air with her fingers. “You can put it in the boxes.”

Adam looked at me. I shrugged and then smiled. “I’d love to take some home.”

“Fine. Put some in a Tupperware for her,” he said. “Make it small.”

“I’ll make it how I make it.” After a short glare at Adam, she looked at me. “You’re never married?”

The question surprised me. “Oh. No, ma’am. Never married.”

She placed the palm of her hand over mine and grinned. “Do you like children?”

“I do.”

“After you marry. How many children do you wish for?”

I smiled at the thought of having kids. I hadn’t given it much serious thought, but my kneejerk reaction to her question was three.

“I don’t know. Maybe three.”

She squeezed my hand, and then looked at Adam. She raised three fingers in the air and grinned. “Three is a good number.”

“Nobody is having kids, mother,” he said, his voice conveying his annoyance with her questions. “We just came for dinner.”

“These are things that need to be discussed. Go shine your motorcycle.”

He waved his hand toward her and pushed his chair away from the table slightly.

She gave him the stink eye for a moment, and then looked at me. “Are you Catholic?”

“I am.”

“Do you use the drugs?”

“Mother!” Adam howled.

I laughed. “No ma’am. I’ll drink a few beers, that’s it.”

She squeezed my hand again. “You’re a good girl. Come with me. We’ll make you a plate to take home.”

Although Adam didn’t seem to appreciate her prying information from me, I thought it was cute. I followed her to the kitchen, and together we prepared a dish for me to take home. As she handed it to me, she looked me in the eyes.

“He’s my only boy,” she said. “Don’t break his heart.”

I had no idea if the questions and comments she had made were a result of wishful thinking or if he had confided information in her that I knew nothing about.

I decided it didn’t matter.

I had no idea where Adam and I were headed, but I knew if there was a heart that was going to be broken, it wouldn’t be his.

I accepted the dish and gave her a hug. With my chin resting lightly on her shoulder, I responded.

“I won’t,” I whispered. “I promise.”

FIFTEEN

Cholo