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“It was stupid to bet against him. His father was something of a star in Mexico. He played in the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City for the Pumas until he was about thirty, before he moved his family here.”
“What does he do now?”
“He has a small supermarket. Mateo hates working there, but his father makes him.”
“Are you really good friends?”
He shrugged. “Friends. I don’t know as I have really good friends. What do you think’s a good definition of a good friend?” he asked.
“I don’t know everything, Greg.”
“You know enough. So?”
I thought a moment. “Someone who thinks of you first and himself second.”
Greg smiled. “Yes, you do.”
“Do what?”
“Know everything,” he said, and continued us walking.
I was thinking that I was suddenly the happiest I had been for some time, maybe even my whole life. When we reached a place on the beach where there were some large boulders, Greg led me around so we would be out of sight and kissed me before I could anticipate it. It was a long, soft kiss that sent a warm trembling through my body. I had tensed up when he began, but I felt myself relax to the point where I imagined I was floating. His lips moved over the side of my face, pausing to kiss my cheeks and my forehead and come down to my lips again. This time, I kissed him as deeply as he kissed me.
“Donna,” he whispered, as if my name were enough to fully express everything he felt about me. It had never sounded as melodic or satisfying. When I was much younger, I dreamed of changing my name to something more significant, something with deeper philosophical meaning. I thought I deserved it, needed it. At least I should have been named Athena after the goddess of wisdom.
I never embraced my name as happily and completely as I did at this moment. I wanted him to say it again and again.
Together, we seemed to sink to the sandy floor. His lips went to my neck and slowly moved down to the tops of my breasts. His fingers found the zipper of my suit and lowered it enough for the top to loosen so he could nudge it gently down and over my breasts, exposi
ng my nipples. He kissed them and moaned with delight. We shifted onto our sides and faced each other. He kissed the tip of my nose and smiled. Then we kissed again and pressed our bodies closer, as close as Mateo and the other girls were when they danced.
It was more difficult for him to stop than it was for me, but he managed it.
“Let’s not be gone too long,” he whispered. “Maybe we can go somewhere by ourselves tonight. What do you think?”
I didn’t think about the answer this time. “Yes.”
He zipped up my suit for me, and we stood, brushing ourselves off. He, still damp, had more to brush. I helped him, and we laughed. Then we started back, neither of us needing to say a word.
As we drew closer, we saw what Mateo had done.
And the rage coming from Greg’s body competed with the heat of the sun.
4
Greg’s basket had been turned over, all the contents spilled onto the sand. Mateo sat there on his blanket, watching us approach.
He was eating one of the sandwiches Greg’s mother had made for us. He held it up and waved it before taking another bite.
“Delicioso, compañero,” he called, and laughed. He drank from a small bottle of what looked like tequila.
Greg said nothing. He knelt down, put his basket upright, and began to pick up his bottles of soda, water, and beer, along with the napkins that hadn’t blown away. His bag of chips had been opened and spilled onto the sand.
His rage and silence kept the others quiet, except for Mateo.
“You don’t think it’s funny? You cheated us, compañero. We didn’t say only Señorita Genius got to see your bare ass. You lost fair and square. We decided you forfeited your lunch to the winner. That the right word, Señorita Genius, forfeited?”
“No. Steal is the right word,” I said, and the others all moaned.
