amor || alex alvarez

• The death of Mrs. Resnick pt 2 •

The four arrived back at the apartment after all that trouble with Mrs. Resnick to see their Abuelita sitting on the sofa, cross legged with a face mask on her face.

"Hello." the grandmother greets
"What're you doing Mami?"
"This is supposed to make your skin glow. It's called a shit mask." Lydia says in her accent as she shuts her eyes again.

The four start laughing, "Mami, sheet, it's called a sheet mask" Penelope corrects.
"That's what I said, 'shit'"

"So would you say you're sheet-faced right now?" Amelia says while the other two kids laugh.
"Ah! Stop, or the sheet will hit the fan" the Mom says while she joins in to laugh.

"You are back so late I decided to have a little me time."
"Can you feel it working?" Schneider says as he walks into the living room, also with a mask over his face. As soon as the man sits down beside Lydia, an alarm goes off.

The two slowly remove the mask, "And... we are 29 again" Schneider says while Lydia laughs.
"Where have you guys been"

"Mrs. Resnick broke down again and had to be towed to the mechanic" Elena answers and turns to her Mom.
"Hectors looking at it now"
"Oh, how is Hector?" The grandmother asks her daughter, " i feel like i haven't seen him for days. Did he ask about me" Lydia smirks.

Alex places his bag on a chair facing the kitchen, making his Abuelita notice the rip in his pants.

"Ay Papito what happened to your pants?"
"I ripped them getting out of the trunk."
"You keep him in the trunk now?"
"No, the doors got stuck again so we all had to climb out through the back." Penelope says.

"It was terrible, now the whole team calls me 'Butt trunk boy'"
Amelia puts her hand on his shoulder, "Could've called him 'junk in the trunk.' It was right there" she shakes her head and walks away while Penelope gets a phone call.

The call went on for a little under a minute when she finally hung up and looks to the family in sadness. "Guys, Mrs. Resnick is- "
"Muerta..." Lydia says looking down at the table.
"I can't believe it. You know, your papi picked me up for our first date in that car. It was brand new. Only 60,000 miles on it. We drove Mrs. Resnick up the coast and at sunset your papi bet me $5 that he'd marry me. He even wrote our initials in a little heart on the bill. I still have it somewhere."

Penelope smiles as she reminisces the memories with her past husband.

Alex groans after a moment of silence, "You never take us to Malibu."
Amelia turns to Alex, "That's what you got out of that story?"

"Yeah, but the good news is you're getting a new car." Schneider pitches in, trying to enlighten the mood.

"Oh sure, i'll just get the butler to pick it up" She says in sarcasm.
Schneider laughs, "Oh, butlers work at the estate. Chauffeurs pick up cars."

"Lupe if you need money for a car, i will help. I will teach dance again! It is a gift that i have withheld from the world far too long."

"She taught me how to salsa, she was amazing."
"I do it for the joy," she laughs then stops to take his mug, "you owe me $30"

"Okay why don't we take public transportation and reduce our carbon footprints. it's the best way to save money and besides, I don't want you to go into my college fund." Elena mentions.

Penelope laughs at her daughter. "College fund? You see that fish of change by the door? That's your College fund. Well not the quarters, 'cause i need that for laundry"

"Elena, mi niña, a family needs a car. In Cuba, my best memories are long rides with my Papi in a chevy the size of this apartment. It was glorious. His beloved little daughter on one side and on the other, his beloved bottle of rum."

"That sounds dangerous" Alex comments.
"No, no, no, no, we didn't have seatbelts then. We would just roll out quick."

"Well, i'm going to start taking public transportation, you know, to help atone for the environmental devastation that my ancestors and their gas-guzzlers so cruelly left to this earth." Her granddaughter speaks up.

"Why does everything have to be a crusade that is also annoying?" She says and walks away.

"Elena, your Abuelita is right. You need a car" Amelia speaks.

"But we can't afford it, unless we get a crazy good deal, which means we're screwed because car salesmen are scary"

"But not to you, you were in the army!"
"Yeah, you're always saying you're a badass" Her two kids say.

"I am a badass... but i'm also kind of a scaredy cat, you know, because I never bought a car before, you know? That salesman is gonna see me coming from a mile away. Then he's gonna do that thing where he talks to that guy, and they're gonna say something about floor mats, and then blah blah blah i wake up in an ice tub., because someone took by kidneys. I am a total stereotype, a women that doesn't know anything about cars. It would be so much easier if Victor were here. I hate to say this but this is husband work"

"Okay, Mom, this is not a just a car anymore. It is the symbol of the oppression that bonds of marriage have placed upon you as a woman. You can do this" Elena encourages.

"Oh, so you're for the car now?" Amelia questions the teen.

"No! But as a crusade, yes."
"Annoying" Lydia says in a sing-song tone.

"Yeah, i can do this."
"Of course you can" Schneider says, jumping down from the kitchen counter he was sitting on, " Yiu need t do a little research. In the meantime i'll take Alex to baseball, and Amelia too if she decides to go with us. Gives me a reason to break out the athleisure wear."

Penelope furrows her eyebrows, "what the hell is that?"

"It's workout clothes you cannot sweat in."

~

translations
muerta- dead
mi niña- my little girl