Page 25 of Duty

“Yeah, I know you are.”

John looked like he was waiting for Andino to say something—like everybody else always did to him. People voiced their concerns, or bothered the hell out of him to make sure he was doing everything he needed to do. Like he didn’t know how to take care of himself, or some shit.

Andino wasn’t one of those people.

He had his cousin’s back.

For everything.

“You need help tomorrow?” Andino asked.

John nodded. “I could use an extra pair of hands.”

“I’ll be there, then.”

FOUR

“How did the meeting go?” Haven asked the second Valeria walked through the door.

Her friend passed a look to her daughter, and then to Haven she replied, “Well, someone didn’t tell me the whole story about what went on.”

Five-year-old Maria huffed in her pretty pink dress, and crossed her arms over her chest as she glanced away from her mother with a humpf under her breath. “I was right.”

Haven had to force herself not to grin—as she was learning from Valeria, it was never good to let a kid think bad behavior was acceptable just because an adult found their antics cute. Give a kid an inch, and they would undoubtedly take a mile.

For the most part, Maria was a good little girl. Sweet, and cute. Loud a lot of the time, but quiet when it counted. She listened, and behaved when told. Haven had very few problems with Maria since she and her mom moved in with her.

“Anyway,” Valeria said, “The niñita here thought it was okay to tell her classmate that the way she ate her fruit was stupid.”

Haven literally had to press her lips together for that one to stop the laughter or smile. It made her words come out in a mumble. “Oh?”

Maria sighed loudly, and threw her tiny hands in the air. “She doesn’t even put sauce on it like my mamá’s! It’s gross.”

“Well, hot sauce on fruit is a little yucky,” Haven told the girl.

“Is not!”

“I kind of think it is.”

“Is not, Haven!”

Putting her hands on the countertop, Haven stared Maria down. “See, you didn’t like it very much when I said what you eat is wrong. Right?”

Maria quieted, and considered what Haven had said. Valeria, on the other hand, shot Haven a wink and a grin.

“Well, that’s not nice,” Maria eventually said.

Haven nodded. “And it’s not nice for you to say those things to someone else. Food is food—sure, we can make it better or worse, but it’s still food, and everybody likes their own kind of food at the end of the day.”

“Still think it’s gross with no sauce.”

“But?” Valeria asked.

Maria let out another one of her loud, child-like sighs before saying in a monotone voice, “We don’t tell other people that.”

“That’s my good girl.” Valeria patted her daughter on the top of her black curls, and then added, “Take your backpack to your room, and I’ll be in to start your homework with you.”

“Okay, Mamá!”