Fast Break

fifty-five : spring cleaning

TW‼️ Racism, homophobia, family issues, mentions of death.

The boys woke up rather early, they wanted to enjoy a full day here on the ranch before they'd have to return home in two days. They ventured to the kitchen, where Christopher's grandma sat sipping on her tea, gazing out the nearby windows; forever thinking of the happy memories she had with her late husband. She noticed them and invited them to sit.

"Good morning boys, how'd you sleep?" She asked.
"Better than usual." They chuckled.
"Tea?" She gestured to the kettle on the stove.
"No thank you abuelita, I'm good." Christopher smiled.
"I'll have some." Matthew smiled back.

She poured Matthew some tea in her finest tea cup and saucer. She carefully placed it on the table in front of him, she slid over the sugar.

"Thank you." Matthew smiled.
"You're welcome." She smiled back.
"Do you need help around the land today abuelita?" Christopher asked.
"No mijo, i might do some light spring cleaning." She sipped her tea.
"Do you need any help?" Christopher asked.
"If you want to root through old photos and clothes in the basement Mijo." She chuckled.

They chatted and drank their tea. They made some breakfast as they waited for the rest of the family to wake up. The whole family sat down for breakfast.

"Niñas your brothers are coming today."Christopher's grandma said.
"All of them?" Angela asked.
"Yes." She responded.
"Are my cousins coming too?" Evangeline asked.
"No mija, you and Chris are the only grandchildren that care to visit." She said.
"Oh thank god." Christopher whispered under his breath.
"Mamá they're not trying to borrow money again are they?" Victoria chimed in.
"No. I told them I was going to do some spring cleaning and to come get their shit if they don't want it thrown away." She chuckled.

They finished up breakfast. The girls washed the dishes since they hadn't cooked breakfast. Christopher, his grandma, and his boyfriend went to the basement to start cleaning. She sat down on one of the old recliner chairs sitting in the basement as the boys started bringing around boxes. Christopher saw a box from afar that had a label, it read:

"Angel & Jason, senior year"

"Senior year abuelita?" Christopher asked.
"Ah! Senior year! Let me see that." She smiled.

She opened the box and sifted through the old memories. She found lots of things, she found old Polaroid pictures of her and her late husband.

"Is that you and abuelito in high school?" Christopher asked.
"I was hot back then." She chuckled. "You look just like him." She handed the picture to Christopher.
"Wow, I do." Christopher smiled.

Matthew glanced at the box and saw the names. He realized who his boyfriend had been named after, his mind spun thinking about how difficult it must've been to walk around with a constant reminder of what he's lost. Matthew found a note in the box, it said:

"My dearest Angel, we shall find each other in any universe. Te quiero mucho mi vida."

Matthew smiled at the note, he didn't really understand the Spanish but he knew it was sweet nonetheless. He handed it to Abuelita. She read it and smiled.

"He gave this to me when our parents came between us." She smiled fondly. "There was a brief period when my parents wanted me to focus on learning English, getting a job, and focusing on school. They thought he was a distraction at first." She sighed.

Christopher found another note, he unfolded the paper and read it.

"You look sad angel. Here's a flower since I cannot provide a bouquet at the moment."