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“She is,” I said softly, finally focusing back on him, this boy wise beyond his years. “I’m just an exposed king –” I moved Rio’s queen and bishop where they needed to be – “a step away from checkmate.”
I felt her more than saw her come closer, but I glanced up at her as she leaned down to kiss my forehead and flip my sad huevos bacon-frown over to make it a smile. “Jago’s on the way, Rio.”
When she walked away, Rio surprised the hell out of me. He reached over and picked up my king and his queen, then set them down so they were touching. “I think they belong together.”
“I think so too, Little Hombre. Would you be okay with that?” I felt bad for asking, for putting that on him and stepping over the line, but I was damn near as crazy about him as I was his mother. I didn’t want him to resent me.
His face was priceless as he nodded enthusiastically. “Heck yeah! I don’t think you’re a butt at all.”
“Yeah?” I smiled wider than I had in days. “Let’s see if you still say that after I kick your butt at chess,” I said playfully. “Let’s see how good your memory is.”
It was cute how nervous he was when he took his first move, especially when he too noticed how Mia was watching us. “He’s a pawn, right? And he can go here?”
“Yep. You’re already good at this. Now what would you do if I moved here?” I moved my own pawn up diagonal from his to give him the easy capture.
“I’d go here to capture him and —” Rio knocked it over and made an explosion noise — “right?”
I giggled, I couldn’t help it. “Yes. Boom.”
He was an excellent student and a quick learner like I’d expected him to be, and I found myself actually trying about halfway through. I’d guided him off to a good start and had to play catch-up — but the sneaky, brilliant kid distracted me with his queen and trapped me with his bishop and knight.
I was dumbfounded. “Were you yanking my chain earlier?” I asked. “You’ve played before.”
“No!” His laughter was like music that made other patrons look over. “I promise. You just kinda suck.”
He covered his mouth like he felt bad about it, but I couldn’t argue with him.
“You’re not wrong. I love it, but my big brother has always been a lot better than me at it. That’s okay, though. It’s still a lot of fun.” I tipped my king over and held my heart like I’d been shot, giving Rio an entirely unnecessary show as I faked my own death, flailing my arms and groaning loudly as I slumped over.
Seeing him as happy as he was made my whole world feel lighter. “Can we play again?”
“Hell yeah. Bet you can’t beat me again,” I challenged.
We only got halfway through the second game when Jago showed up to get him, and I was fucking grateful for it. Without any help from me, he was poised to kick my ass again. I took the distraction as an opportunity to clean up, then shook Jago’s hand as he sent Rio to the bathroom.
“You good?” I asked. “Everything been okay?”
“Kind of rushing, but Titi asked me to bring her bag. Can you give it to her or are you still in the dog house?”
I rubbed my jaw and wondered if every damned one of them knew. “Both. Leave it with me, I’ll make sure she gets it. Hoping real hard to get out of the dog house tonight.”
“Fó,” he joked, and I’d been around Puerto Ricans long enough to know that he called me gross. “Hey, can I ... ask a favor?”
He blushed, so I chose to let him slide on the insult. “Of course. What’s up?”
“Can you — I mean if you’re not busy of course, and I know you’re busy with the house and Titi and stuff and you probably have better things to do but —” He was rambling, but all that told me was this was important to him. “Can you take me driving? They take me as much as they can but I need a certain amount of hours before I can take the real test.”
“You know you’re supposed to get a responsible adult for that, right?” I quipped. “Not the first piece of riffraff you come across. But yes, I’d friggin’ love to. I’ll swing by tomorrow afternoon and grab you, if that’s cool?”
His face-splitting grin made him look younger than he was. “Really? Thank you! Coño, I thought I’d have to keep waiting on them. I’ll be able to help out so much more if I could drive us.”
It was an eternal struggle not to take him on a road trip until he had all his hours in and then buy him a car, but I had a feeling that wouldn’t go over very well. “Absolutely. Do you guys need a ride back or anything? I feel bad you walked here.”
“No, it’s not far. We do it all the time. The Suburban died once and Titi had to walk it every day. It’s fine now, though.”
Rio came out to grab his backpack and hug my leg. “Bye. Mamá’s got your back, King.”
I ruffled his hair affectionately and glanced back to see Mia walking toward us. “I hope you’re right, Little Hombre. I sure hope you’re right.”
