[Complete] Ariel and the Bandits

24 - I'll See You Soon

I fear that if I explained my distaste for the word goodbye to someone, it would ruin their view on it. Or maybe it's already ruined and their distaste stems from the same reasons. Then again, it's been a while since I've heard anyone actually say goodbye. I only ever use the word bye for phone calls. Because every goodbye is a premonition of disintegration, a foretaste of death, another step on the path to adios. A dios. To God. I get chills just thinking about it.

I imagine myself like Ash Ketchum on his way to becoming a pokemon master. Except you know, I have a five-foot Mexican grandmother instead of my mom sending me off. I stand outside my grandmother's front door with my duffle bag slung over my shoulder.

"Que Dios te bendiga, proteja, y te acompañe," she whispers. She lifts her hand and touches my forehead, chest, and shoulder before finishing her blessing off with a kiss on the cheek.

I smile. "Igualmente."

"I know whatever waits at home will be hard but not impossible to face." She caresses my cheek. "If you can take hits from big, heavy men, then you can take some from life too."

"I rather not take any of those hits, if I'm honest. They both hurt like a..." I hesitate to end my last sentence.

"Bitch?" My abuela says.

I laugh awkwardly and nod. "Yeah."

And although mi abuela has spent most of her life here than the country she was born in, she smells like Mexico with a hint of VaporRub. Every time we come back to the U.S. from our trips, I procrastinate unpacking and washing my clothes. Unzipping my luggage exposes the lingering scent of Mexico on my clothes-- the scent of the home that is and isn't mine. So when I hold mi abuela, I know this is a home that is mine.

Abuela half smiles. "Andale, you should get going before you miss your flight."

"I'll see you soon."

Yes, I'll see you soon feels right.

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When I land in Massachusetts, I don't even know who I should call to pick me up. I could call an Uber, but Liam might have my head. Once it logically occurs to me that I should call Liam, I wait for him out by the curb. My Dodgers hat hides me well. At least up until Liam's arrival.

When Liam spots me, he eagerly honks the horn as he pulls up to the curb. "Get in bitch," Liam says in a high-pitched voice. "We're going home."

People standing outside waiting for Ubers or Lyfts look at me. They point their phones in my direction, so I offer a smile and a small wave. I step into the car and toss my duffle bag into the back seat.

"How was time with your Mamá Luz?" His tone is casual, which means he probably hasn't spoken to Ariel. Or maybe he has, and she hasn't said anything to him.

"Great actually, very enlightening," I answer.

"Oh? In what sense?"

I cringe. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. I could have left it at great and he would have taken that for a response. But it's almost second nature to talk openly about anything with Liam.

"Oh, you know." I shrug. "You return to a place you haven't been in a long time, and you think of how different it feels since the last time you were there."

We stop at a light, and Liam drums the steering wheel with his thumbs. He brings down his sun visor and checks his hair in the mirror before flicking the sun visor back up again.