be careful, though, because she’ s not totally blind. I need to keep it low on the colors if she’ s around.’
‘ Clever. Too bad you couldn’ t hide those good grades from her, too.’
She caught my sarcasm and returned it in kind. ‘ Rose ratted me out on those.’
‘ You’ re probably the only teenager in America hiding her good behavior from her mother. Anyway, what I was going to say is that you’ re adorable.’
‘ Thanks. You’ re not going to tell her, are you?’
‘ How?’
‘ Oh yeah. Heh.’ Then she added, ‘ She can speak some English, and she understands a lot more than she lets on. They talk English around her at the restaurant where she works.’
‘ She works?’
‘ Yeah, she works. She’ s a cook. Real fancy restaurant.’
‘ That’ s amazing. I’ m a terrible cook, and I don’ t even have a disability. You’ d think she’ d burn herself, or-’
‘ She never burns herself. She’ s too perfect.’ Deedee picked at a button on her jacket. ‘ I hear every damn day how much she can do even though she can’ t see. She’ s always harping on how I need to make something of myself like she has. Not follow so many of the girls who start popping out the kids right away. She wants me to go to college first and make a lot of money.’
‘ Isn’ t that what you want?’
‘ Sure, but maybe I want kids first. You know, before I’ m all old.’ She must have realized what she said as soon as she said it, because she added hurriedly, ‘ Not that being old when you have kids is bad.’ A few seconds passed before she asked, ‘ You ever thought about having kids?’
‘ Sure. Even though I’ m so aged that I’ m certain my ovaries are shriveled and filled with dust, I may give it a shot.’
‘ Or maybe you can adopt.’
‘ I’ m thirty-four. You act as if it’ s hopeless.’
‘ I didn’ t mean it that way. It’ s only that where I’ m from, women your age are grandmas.’
WE MET SEBASTIAN and Kip at a laser tag in Pasadena. That hadn’ t been the original plan. I’ d set up lunch so that Sebastian could talk to Deedee about her writing. He asked if Kip could come along, however, and since it’ d be the four of us, couldn’ t we have a little fun? I’ d switched plans, and watching them together, I was glad I had. They had a blast. Deedee let loose in a way she rarely did-screaming back and forth in Spanish with Kip, making up Mexican mafioso games, and laughing hysterically.
Unfortunately, the whole concept of laser tag eluded me. The room was so dark that I kept getting lost in the maze. The gun didn’ t shoot anything I could see, and I never did catch on to how I was supposed to recharge. They made fun of me later because I’ d been killed and didn’ t even know it. Apparently, I walked around for three rounds already dead-nothing but a ghost pulling the trigger over and over with no effect on anyone.
We parted ways at the laser tag, and I took Deedee home. ‘ Good luck sneaking in without being seen,’ I called as I let her out of the car. ‘ And don’ t let me catch you doing anything good!’
She rolled her eyes.
The phone was ringing when I walked into my apartment, and when I picked it up it was Kip.
‘ Calling to gloat about your victory?’ I asked. ‘ Because I’ m wondering if the term poor sportsmanship rings any sort of bell for you.’
‘ I need to talk to you about Deedee,’ he said, his voice stiff.
‘ Did something happen?’
‘ I could be wrong about this& ‘
‘ Okay& ‘
‘ But I don’ t believe I am. I’ m speaking as a medical doctor who’ s worked with a good number of young women recently, almost exclusively Latina, so I know the body type, and I know what their skin tone usually looks like, and-’
‘ Kip& what?’
‘ I think your Little Sister has a bun in the oven.’
I SPENT THE REST of the weekend fretting. Could Deedee really be pregnant? She was only fourteen! Of course, Kip could be wrong-but what if he was right? I should say something to Rose Morales. There was probably Big Sister-Little Sister protocol I should be following. Not that a situation such as this would be in the handbook. Not that there was a handbook.
But if I talked to Rose and I was wrong, Deedee would never trust me again.
The devil perched on my shoulder told me to pretend Kip had never called. Que sera, sera and all that. The angel perched on the other shoulder, however-who looked suspiciously like a thin, baby-faced gay man with a goatee and glasses-said I had to do something& fast. The things he’ d noticed-the protruding belly and the discoloring of the skin-were signs she was getting pretty far along. If that was the case, every day mattered if she wanted to um er
‘ Wanted to what?’ I had asked Kip earlier on the phone.
‘ Not have the baby,’ he’ d replied.
‘ Oh.’
‘ All I’ m saying is that-if that’ s what she decides-the sooner the better. The worst thing would be if she missed the time when a doctor would be willing to do it. You don’ t want to know what these girls resort to when they get desperate.’
He was right about that.
