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Edmund and I meet our gazes from the other side of the circle. We’re the only outsiders at the Precio family farm in Arizona and I can’t help but wonder if this is some kind of test.
“What exactly are we supposed to do with the tortillas?” I ask Mateo.
I glance over at Ignacio a few spaces over from me in the circle for help. His brothers didn’t let him stand next to me, thinking we’d cheat somehow. He throws me a helpless expression, like he’s in the dark, too. I’m not so sure about that.
“You use your tortilla to slap someone in the circle,” explains Mateo, passing around bottles of water to everyone. “Take a swig of the water but don’t swallow, and when you get tortilla slapped, try not to laugh.”
“So the water just stays in our mouths?” asks Edmund.
“Exactly.”
Sebastian goes to the center of the circle to stand next to Mateo.
“We’ll demonstrate for you so you get an idea and then we’ll start the game,” he says. “Just to recap, you all take a swig of water and hold it there. Then one person slaps anyone he—or she—wants with the tortilla. If the slapped person doesn’t get out, they can slap anyone they want. And it just goes around until somebody wins.”
“Hang on,” I say. “How does someone get out?”
“You get out if you laugh and spit your water,” replies Mateo.
“I’m not sure if I like this game,” says Francesca.
“If you don’t want to spit,” says Nate, “swallow your water instead of spit and you’ll be out.”
“Yeah, Francesca,” adds Sebastian. “If you don’t want to get spit on, get yourself out early.”
Ignacio crosses his arms and glowers at his brothers. “Who’s idea was this? Sebastian? This has your name all over it.”
“It’s a fun game they play at the frat houses. It’s good, clean fun.”
“Just let us demonstrate,” says Sebastian. “Ready?”
Mateo adjusts his stance and takes a mouthful of water and holds his tortilla at his side for the showdown with Sebastian. Sebastian does the same, mirroring Mateo’s position.
Sebastian goes first, slapping Mateo squarely across the face with his tortilla. Mateo holds in a laugh—and his water and slaps Sebatian in turn. The two go on like that for a few rounds, and then step away, swallowing the water.
“See?” says Mateo. “Easy.”
I’m sending telepathic messages to Edmund. I have a bad feeling about this. But he’s so invested in proving himself to Francesca’s brothers, he’s not reading my warning eyes.
Mateo and Sebastian take their places in the circle with their water and tortillas and nod to all of us.
“I’ll start,” says Mateo. “Everyone, take a mouthful of water and…”
He takes in his water and begins by slapping Nate with the tortilla, who’s already shaking with laughter. Nate slaps Sebastian, who slaps Ignacio. Francesca is right next to Ignacio, so he slaps her gently. I can tell Francesca doesn’t want to slap anyone, but after a few seconds of indecision, she tortilla slaps Mateo. His chest convulses and for a second I think he might lose his mouthful of water, but he keeps it in. This goes on for a few rounds—the brothers are cracking up, faces turning red, and eyes bulging out of their heads, but they’re surprisingly not spitting out the water. I find it strange that no one is slapping me or Edmund. The water is getting sloshy in my mouth and I just want to swallow it. I wonder if anyone will notice if I do. I could just puff out my cheeks and pretend they’re full of water.
At last, Nate smacks Ignacio so hard, his tortilla breaks, and Ignacio’s water goes flying out of his mouth.
“You’re out,” says Mateo. “Water break.”
I guess this means we’re allowed to swallow now?
Mateo kicks Ignacio out of the circle and shoos him off to sit under a tree, where there are benches and chairs. I get a shrug from Ignacio as he walks away.
“Round two,” Sebastian announces. “Take your water and slap!”
