Spectrum

4

"Natalia! Where are you?" Nathaniel asks me urgently.

"I'm like five minutes away." I speak into the phone. I wait impatiently for the red light to turn green, but this few moments feels like an eternity.

"Okay, well please hurry. Mom and Dad are doing the usual thing." My brother groans at the other end of the line.

I know that the thing  he's talking about is our parents lack of understanding towards anyone who isn't Hispanic. I know that they're more than likely interrogating Grace for whatever they can come up with. The poor girl has probably had enough, and the dinner hasn't even started yet.

"Okay, just hold them off until I get there." I joke. He gives a sarcastic laugh before hanging up the phone. I see my parent's house from just up the road and cringe. Nathaniel and Grace just bought a brand new G-Wagon and have been bragging about it on Facebook. Although I know they don't really view it as bragging, everyone else in the family sees it that way.

I pull into the driveway and glance down at my much less luxurious Toyota Camry. As simple as this car might be, it has been my absolute favorite car. I don't need some fancy car to drive around LA to show my worth. I'm perfectly fine with what I have.  

"Mama! Papa!" I yell out as I enter my childhood home.

"Natalia! Come, come!" My mom exclaims as she enters the living room and guides me into the kitchen. I see Nathaniel and my smile grows immensely.

"Baby sister." Nathaniel says as he stands up from his seat and engulfs me in a hug.

"It's been so long! I can't believe you allowed us to be apart for this long!" I jokingly blamed him.

"Hey, I told you to come to Miami!" He tells me.

"I know, I know. School and work had been crazy." I say. Although I could have made the time to travel to Florida, I always talked myself out of it. But as I'm standing in front of Nathaniel now, I really don't know why.

"It's so good to see you again, Nat." I hear a soft voice say. I pull away from Nathaniel and go to give Grace a hug. She hugs me lightly and gives me a bright smile.

"It's so good to see you, too! I'm so glad you two were able to make it over here." I tell the two.

"Dinner is almost ready." My mother says, entering the dining room.

"Can I help you with anything?" Nathaniel asks. My mom hands him a large wooden spoon and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

"Elote, son." She tells him with a smile.

"She's making you make it because you make the best elote in the family." I inform him.

"Oh trust me, I know." He laughs.

"What's elote?" Grace asks with a small laugh.

"You don't know what elote is?" Nathaniel asks with mock surprise.

Grace laughs and nods her head.

"Oh baby, you're going to learn today." He tells her with a wink. I roll my eyes at the two, but honestly love watching them interact with one another. He's so carefree and happy with her. I'm happy for him.

"So Grace, how is the YouTube channel going?" I ask. When Nathaniel was first talking to Grace, he informed all of us that she had a very interesting career. Once we found out that she was a YouTube vlogger, we were shocked to say the least. Hell, my parents barely even know what YouTube is. She may not have millions of followers, but she does have a few thousand. She definitely has enough to make at least some money. My brother loves it, too. He loves how much fun they are able to have because of it. He claims that we missed our shot in LA while we had the chance.