“If you’re asking − a car,” Micah said.“Hell, I need two, one for Alita, but she keeps saying she wants a Vespa.That woman likes to vex me.”
“She is attending Uni as well?”
“Sí, she got a partial scholarship in digital storytelling,” Micah said.“Now she is going to want to walk around with a camera recording nonsense to evoke emotions on the life of the coffee borer beetle or some shit.I hope she can record it having a fast death with the cinnamon oil I'm adding to cut down on the little fuckers.”
“That mind of yours is a wondrous thing,” Yuñior said.“Any kind of car in particular?”
“Non-descript, college-kid kind of thing suitable for life in Bogotá.We don't want to be targets,” he said.“I know I could buy my own, but I just bought an apartment, and you have more money than me, so help your brother out.”
“I got you; anything else I need to know?”
“Yes, I just toldAbueloI wasn't going to pick any of the breeding stock he is planning to parade in front of me to marry.I toldAbuelaI didn't like her and neither did Angel, but he wanted them to send him some steaks, and I'm in love with Alita and want to marry her,” Micah said.
Yuñior stopped making peanut butter and jam sandwiches.“You know that probably hurt their feelings?”
“And you know that I don't give two fucks,” Micah said.“That man used Papa's guilt over his daughter’s death to steal his two healthy sons to take over for him herding cattle and selling shit as fertilizer.I made it clear he wasn’t getting his hands on me or taking me from our father.”
“There are times when you should pull back a little,” Yuñior told him.
“And there are times when a man needs to pull back on the trigger and fire off a few rounds center mass, two in the chest and one in the head,” Micah said.“He is done punishing my father by pawning off his daughter for a life she wasn't prepared to live.The same can be said for the women he's trying to palm off on me.My life is in Colombia.Alita is meeting with her parents now and coming to that realization as well.When she makes up her mind, then I shall move forward.”
“Move forward with what?”
“We will live in that flat as man and wife,” Micah said.“I love her.I like the way she smells.I even kissed her and shared saliva.”
“What?Who are you, and where is my little brother?”Yuñior said, laughing.His face turned serious when he asked, “Have you done anything else?”
“I can only do that as her husband,” he said.“I want to do that really badly.I really want to do that, so yeah, I'm marrying that girl.I was even considering maybe having some really smart babies with her.”
“Okay, then,” Yuñior said shifting the conversation a bit, “Will your paramour be here this weekend?”
“Over that shit too,” he said.“The next and only woman in my bed is going to be Alita, so keep fuel in your plane in case I need you to fly home to be my best man.”
“I will, but don’t you think you are too young?”
“Not planning to have kids right away,” he said.“We have college to finish and mountains to climb, and your place in Aruba is perfect for a quick honeymoon, if you’re okay with it.She really wants to see a sunset on a beach in Aruba.She mentioned that once.Can you help me make that happen, I mean, if you’re okay with it.”
“I'm okay with it,” Yuñior replied.“You seem determined.”
“If I can feel happiness, I do when I am with her.My nervous system isn't in flux, the anxiety isn’t taking over my brain, plus she is so smart,” Micah said, “and she understands me, and I understand her.Isn't that what a good relationship is about?”
