SCOUT
It was ten-thirty.I sat on my steps, drinking my jungle juice, kicking my legs, waiting for Desi to show up. If he would at all.
The party was both inside and out, but mostly everyone was in the back. I sat alone in the front, looking like a fool. I bobbed my head to SWV and stared out into the darkness, trying to not feel so deflated. I should have known he was too good to be true. An attractive man with a job, a car, and interest in me? That didn’t happen.
“You’re too pretty to be looking so sad.” I turned to see a man with dark long hair smiling down at me. “Care for a drinking, buddy?”
I motioned to the spot beside me. “Go for it.” I took a large gulp of my drink. No one else was going to sit there.
“You’re the waitress from that diner.” He pointed playfully at me as he sat beside me. There was plenty of room on the step, but he sat so close our thighs and legs touched. I flinched but then looked up at him. He wasn’t unattractive.
And Desi wasn’t coming.
“I’m Mick.” He extended his hand to me. I shook it and quickly let go.
“Scout.”
“Scout. I like it. Why are you sitting out here all alone, Scout?”
“My friend was supposed to come, so I was waiting for him.”
“Ah, you got stood up. What an idiot.” He smirked and brought his beer to his lips. “Well, I hope you’ll take my company as a replacement of that loser.”
“He is a loser.” I wasn’t particularly in the mood to socialize. I thought I might get sick now that I had accepted the truth. It was so stupid. I barely knew Desi. Why was I so attached to a stranger?
Because Desi wasn’t a stranger. Not to my heart.
“I saw your drawings in there. You’re pretty good.”
“Thanks. I get bored and I’m poor.”
Mick laughed too hard. “Same here. I work at the foundry seven days a week. Me and my buddies go to the diner sometimes on Fridays after our shift.”
I nodded, not really listening.
“Is this friend something serious?” Mick asked.
“It doesn’t matter, it’s dumb. What about you, Mick, what made you come out here? You’re missing the party.” I turned to point to my front door.
“I came out for a smoke.” He reached into the pocket of his flannel. “Do you mind?”
“Go ahead.”
“You smoke?”
“I tried once when I was sixteen. I was trying to impress a boy.” I recalled that day with Nalida. She wanted to hang with all the other cholas and we had to prove we were chingonas just like them. “I ended up throwing up on his feet.”
“Probably for the better. Cigarettes are a nasty habit,” he said as he put one between his lips and lit it. He took a long drag and blew out smoke. “But damn if it’s not nice to have one with a beer.”
I sipped my juice and bobbed my head to the music. While I wasn’t enthused by Mick himself, the company was oddly welcomed.
“This is your place, right? How long have you been here?”
“Two years. I rented it with Brenda, but she just moved out.”
“Do you have someone lined up to move in?”
“I’m gonna try living solo for a while.”
