Solivagant

~3.3 - Diego~

I followed Karla inside, chuckling as she looked around. The interior wasn't what you would imagine from looking at the exterior. It was almost an uptown-rustic-bar look. You don't find many coffee shops like this. Karla turned to me, gaping. I chuckled. "Told you you'd love it." Going around her tiny form, I headed towards the counter.

A woman smiled from behind the glass display. Her strawberry hair flowed freely behind her, trailing down her back. Her keen green eyes picked up everything, just like a mom. She was always working here—and I was here so often—she had kind of become a mom to me. On my first visit here, she gave me a free donut with my coffee. It had been like she knew I was hurting and needed some love. "Diego, mijo." She rushed around the counter to hug me. "¿Cómo estás mi niño precioso?"

I chuckled softly. "Estoy haciendo gran mamá. ¿Y tú?" I let go of the woman, smiling big. I hadn't seen her at all in the past few weeks. I hadn't even realized how much I had missed her until now.

"He sido maravilloso. Se mantuvo ocupado con este lugar." She looked up at my eyes, then down at my feet. "Te juro te has vuelto otro pie, eres-"

Karla cleared her throat softly, drawing our attention to her. She smiled timidly, looking a little confused for some reason. Probably doesn't know much Spanish you idiot. I blinked, feeling my cheeks starting to heat up. That hadn't even occurred to me as a possibility before. "Um... Jennie, this is my friend Karla. Karla, this is Jennie."

She waved a little, trying to be polite. I tried to hold back my laughter as Jennie raced over to her, hugging the petite teen tight. "You're so beautiful dear. Diego es tan afortunado de tenerte." Jennie pulled back, smiling at Karla's befuddlement. "You don't speak Spanish, do you dear?"

Karla shook her head, looking a little embarrassed. "I-I don't. Sorry ma'am."

Taking Karla's hand, Jennie pulled her gently over to the counter. "It's no problem cariño. What would you like dear? For being Diego's friend, it's on me."

Blushing nervously, Karla turned to look at me. "T-That's very kind of you Mrs... um... Jennie, but-"

"No buts!" Jennie pointed at herself. "I will take care of the cost. And please cariño," She smiled big. "Call me mamá, or some variant of mom if the English translation is more comfortable for you."

I bit my lip hard. Don't scare her away mamá. Please. I had enough trouble just getting Karla inside the coffee shop. It would be horrible if she ran out now because of my boisterous, yet motherly friend.

Slowly, a small smile inched its way across Karla's face. She nodded. "Of course..." She thought for a moment. "Is it okay if I just call you Jennie for now?"

Jennie nodded, clapping in excitement. "Absolutely, just no miss or ma'am. Now, what would you like cariño?"

I watched the two of them talk, tuning out their words. They looked like they were hitting it off pretty well. Both of them were smiling, and Karla seemed relaxed compared to her posture and expressions at school. Although... Everyone that comes in calls Jennie some variation of mom, even the most closed off and irritable people. I gazed at Karla curiously. So why won't you?

They kept talking and I kept not listening, at least until Karla's smile started to falter as she spoke. I barely caught some of what she was saying. "-just been difficult after that." She looked down at the wood floor, her grey eyes staring somewhere my sight couldn't follow. "I've tried to get away from it all the best I can, but..." She gripped the edges of her sleeves tightly. "Sometimes I can't keep the fire inside of me."

Jennie smiled sympathetically. She took Karla's hands in hers, making Karla look back up at the older woman. "Don't worry cariño. I understand."

"You do?" Karla breathed. "I never would've thought you would if I'm being honest."

Jennie sighed. "I know. I keep it all hidden well, but I have many battle scars of my own that not even mijo knows about."

I flinched away instinctively. Battle scars? Mamá? Why would she keep it from me?

She pulled her hands away from mamá, rubbing her cheek gently. "I keep needing to move because people find out when it's not for them to know." She looked over at me, catching me by surprise. "I don't wanna move anymore. I'm tired of it."

Mamá drew her gaze over to me, smiling softly. She pulled Karla into a hug, making me feel a little jealous if I was being honest with myself. "You can call me anything cariño, I don't mind at all."

Karla smiled gratefully, closing her eyes and resting her head on Jennie's shoulder for a moment. "Thank you. Very much... mom."

They let go of each other, though I could've sworn that Karla had hesitated a split-second longer. I frowned, thinking. What the hell did she tell mamá? What battle scars? And what made Karla change her mind about saying Jennie? I wasn't getting the whole story. I'm getting left out. I could feel my anger boiling up, and I grit my teeth to keep it down. It wasn't a story for me to hear. Just for mamá. She always knew how to get people to talk when they needed it most.