𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑.
penelope and alex led the way.
"okay, let's find 4 seats. one for me, one for you, one for you, and one for the bag of money we're gonna save." penelope grinned.
"oh god, those kids are from school." alex pointed out.
"oh shit." i spotted them.
"you wanna sit with them?" penelope asked.
"no, no, no! let's just stay here!" alex said, a little bit too loud.
the kids looked over.
alex waved awkwardly. "hey, guys."
the group laughed.
"oh, shit. hey, cher." one of them greeted.
"hi." i waved, with a smile.
alex frowned. "first i have no money, now i have no dignity."
i took a seat in an empty row, and alex sat beside me.
"maybe, but you know what you do have?" penelope pulled out boxes of candy. "where'd these come from? my pockets."
"is that why you're wearing cargo pants?" alex questioned.
"i'm wearing cargo pants!" i looked down.
"yeah, you look terrible."
i rolled my eyes, and he laughed.
"i'm kidding. you look decent." alex reassured.
"you look more than decent." i grinned.
"i know, you tell me everyday."
"yeah, and then you kiss me."
"because you beg me too."
"liar!"
"you want me to prove it?"
"yeah. so maybe you should kiss me right now."
"my mother is right there!"
penelope pulled out a bag of licorice from her pockets.
"where'd you get these? the 99 cent store?" alex questioned.
"no. the 98 cent store. yeah, your mami ain't no chump." penelope grinned.
suddenly, a worker came walking down with a flashlight, trying to search people for any snuck-in food.
they hid the food, and continued to watch the movie.
"aren't we breaking the law, or something?" alex questioned, when the usher walked away. "i don't wnana end up in jail."
"i'll bail you out." i grinned.
"of course you would." alex shook his head. "if the other prisoners ask me what i'm in for and i say gummy bears, i don't see that ending well."
"there is no law against outside food. there's a rule, but that's really different." penelope explained.
"it's okay to break the rules?"
"absolutely not. unless the rules nuts. speaking of nuts.."
i started laughing.
"goobers!" penelope said, trying not to laugh.
"they're so.. warm." alex set them down.
"i'll take them." i joked.
"you're welcome! we saved 8 dollars. you know how much a box of goobers costs to make? a penny." penelope said.
"you really know that, or-" alex began.
"a penny! i scored these at a gas station on pico. mislabeled at 49 cents! i bought every box. we're gonna be serving goobers at your wedding." penelope ate the popcorn.
"our wedding." i looked at alex.
"you're insane." alex shook his head.
"you have any soda in your pants?" he questioned his mother.
"no." penelope frowned.
she made sure there were no workers, and pulled open her jacket, revealing sodas in her pockets.
"you look like you're offering me drugs." i said, and penelope handed me a soda.
"what's the difference between coke and pepsi?" i questioned.
"that pepsi is better." alex said.
"you're wrong, but i'll only drink pepsi from now, just for you." i flirted.
alex didn't answer, and went to open his soda.
"no, no, no! the usher will hear you. you have to wait for an explosion." penelope instructed.
the trio opened their cans when an explosion happened, and then hid them when an usher came to look.
"why do they keep coming over here?" i questioned. "they want me."
"they can have you." alex said.
"wow! you want me so bad, why would you just give me up like that?"
"i definitely don't."
«───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ─────»
elena burst through the door.
"come on people, let's go! we gotta get there before the polls close!" elena said.
"they close in 11 hours." penelope called out.
"i'm excited, okay? i mean, abuelitas never voted before. i can't wait for my first time. and i hope i do it right. i was really hoping my first time would be with hillary, but i can picture myself doing it with elizabeth warren." elena ranted.
"you and me both, sister." schneider agreed.
"what the fuck are y'all talking about?" i questioned.
"hey, mom, if you have time tonight, maybe we can go see another movie?" alex asked.
i stared at him.
"we as in cherry, you, and me." alex said.
"you guys want to hangout with me again? i don't know if i wanna 3rd wheel." penelope laughed.
"it's not a date." alex reassured.
"yes it is." i stood up, and stood beside him.
"it's an r-rated movie, so we kinda need too. but we had fun, right?" he ignored the comment.
"yes, we did." penelope nodded.
alex and i walked to his room to hide our joints.
elena waited impatiently for lydia, who was pretending to be sick.
she said she'd broken her leg, and schneider offered up his halloween costume wheelchair.
the entire family walked out, and lydia locked the door behind them.
"shit, i left my phone in there!" i complained.
"what the hell is happening? why is he locking us out?" penelope questioned. "schneider, i need your key to the apartment."
"sure." schneider handed it to her.
"thank you. i've been trying to get this away from your for 2 years."
"nice try, these are all your apartment."
schneider held up a bunch of keys.
"let me have one." i said.
he placed one in my hand, and i shoved it in my pocket.
"now i'll visit you everyday." i grinned.
"oh, god." alex groaned.
penelope opened the door.
the entire family called out to lydia.
"abuelita?" elena and alex called out.
"bestfriend forever?" i shouted.
penelope spotted her, in the fire escape.
"my leg is feeling better." lydia said, awkwardly.
"mami, what'd going on? why are you acting like such a loca?" penelope questioned, helping her mother back in the house.
"are you afraid to vote? is it because in cuba, any act of political expression was met with violent repercussions?" elena asked, as they walked back to the living room.
"yeah, sure. make that the reason." lydia nodded her head, taking a seat on the couch.
"que te pasa?" penelope asked.
"okay. i don't vote because.. i am not a citizen." lydia revealed.
"what?" elena questioned.
"yes you are. you and papi had your citizenship interviews while i was deployed in afghanistan." penelope remembered.
"we were supposed to, but we never did." lydia said. "we ended up spending the whole afternoon in the park together, bird-watching, which of course is what we call love making."
"okay, mami."
"which is ironic, because the birds were watching us."
"that's gonna be us." i looked over at alex.
"you're disgusting." alex shook his head.
"stop trying to change the subject! especially to that subject." penelope ignored the comment. "how did you never become a citizen?"
"i was busy, you know!" lydia excused. "i was working, raising a family, helping my family to raise their family! oh, you're welcome! but anyway, it doesn't matter, because i have a green card. i get social security. i pay taxes."
"whoa, you have to pay taxes with a green card?" schneider asked, shocked.
he groaned, and pulled his phone out.
"i am a permanent resident, so it's almost the same thing. it's no big deal." lydia shrugged.
"this actually makes me so much happier, abuelita. i understand. it's not that you don't want to vote, you can't." elena realized.
"yeah, of course!"
"well then this is great! because green card holders can become citizens easily. you just have to take a couple tests, i'll download the forms, we'll get you in line to become a citizen."
"no thank you!"
lydia ran off, and shut the curtain behind her.
"she is so infuriating." elena complained.
"i know, but right now she's embarrassed, and you being all over her is not the answer. let her calm down. i'm gonna go vote in this very important election, and we're gonna all talk later. okay?" penelope questioned.
"yeah." elena walked off.
"it's fine, i'm all good, guys! i just texted my accountant, and he said 'cause i'm in the highest income bracket, i don't have to pay taxes!" schneider cheered.
«───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ─────»
alex, cherry, and penelope walked into the theater.
"i can't stop thinking about abuelita. i can't believe she never told us she wasn't a citizen." alex took a seat.
"some people just carry around secrets." penelope grabbed a bag of popcorn from inside her purse.
the trio waited for the first explosion, and popped open their sodas.
"perfect, now let's break out those hot dogs while they're still warm." penelope suggested. "although, i could always warm them up."
"you're gonna love this. i improved on what you taught me. they'll stay warm 'cause i double wrapped them in wax paper and foil." alex said, and pulled out the hot dogs.
"it smells like bacon." penelope said, out of nowhere.
"what?" cherry questioned.
"i brought bacon." alex said.
"no, the ushers coming! get rid of that evidence! give it!" penelope hid the pack.
the usher shone a flashlight in the trios eyes.
"excuse me." the usher walked over. "ma'am, we don't allow food that was not purchased at our concession stand."
alex tried not to laugh.
"i'm gonna have to confiscate that food, ma'am." the usher looked over at penelope.
"confiscate? okay, officer." penelope laughed. "there's a jumbo soft pretzel in it for you if you keep walking."
"i'm gonna have to ask you to leave, ma'am."
"seriously? let me tell you something. i get that you're trying to do your job, but come on. i'm a mom out with my kid, and.. a little homeless girl."
"i don't know her." alex said, and glanced over at cherry. "or her."
"we're literally in love." cherry frowned.
"since when?"
"since forever. we're soulmates, bitch."
"yeah, we broke your rules. but you know who else broke the rules? our founding fathers!" penelope continued.
"security." the usher said into his walkie-talkie.
"but i will! i will leave with my principles, and a fully loaded baked potato." penelope glared.
«───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ─────»
cherry and alex re-entered the house.
elena was nervous that her grandma would somehow get deported.
"elena's right, mami. what's the problem?" penelope took a seat beside her mother. "don't you like being in this country?"
"of course. i like to be in america." lydia said.
"i know you do. so what is the problem?"
"when berto and i learned that in order to be sworn in as americans we would have to renounce our cuban citizenship, we could not bring ourselves to do it. cuba is home. home-home."
"but you've been here for almost 60 years, mami. this is home now. i know you miss cuba, but you know there's no going back, right? even now that castro's dead, nothing has really changed."
"yes, but you know, maybe someday it will. my papi made sure that i had the deed to our house. and i still have it, just in case we ever go back there."
"mami."
"i know. it's silly. but becoming an american citizen would be like giving up. i just wish you could have seen it like it was. i'm sorry. being cubana is who i am, so much so, that i even bring it up now and then."
"that will never change. me, elena, alex. you brought cuba here and you gave it to us."
"it's true. whenever someone asks me what i am, i say i'm cuban. i don't even think about it." alex said, and took a seat next to his family.
"yeah. when someoen asks me what i am, i say i'm a human being, not defined by labels or the artificial construct of borders. but i'm also say i'm cuban. so please, abuelita."
"i hear what you are saying." lydia placed her hands on elena's face. "and i love you. and i will think about it."
lydia returned to her room, closing the curtains.
"well, i've made my decision. i'm gonna become a citizen! now the english test should be a breeze, but as far as the civics test goes, i better put on my thinkin' toque, stock up on timmies, eh?" schneider said.
"i wish people would learn the language." alex said sarcastically.
«───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ─────»
alex laid on his bed, joint hanging from his lips.
it was second nature now. he didn't question it. the smell of weed didn't bother him.
he had special candles, and made sure to keep his windows open.
cherry entered his room.
they had a short conversation about whatever was on their minds.
they'd makeout, and then she'd leave.
that was all it was.
sure, cherry made jokes and acted as if she was infatuated.
but she wasn't really.
she couldn't care less about alex.
and, for some reason, that kind of.. stung.
it's not like alex hated it.
he loved it.
he loved being able to make-out with her, and have her just leave after.
no strings.
nothing.
no expectations, no dates.
they'd just kiss until neither of them could feel their lips, and cherry would leave.
alex would sit and finish off the joint to distract himself from the uncomfortable feeling he was left with after she left.