“Isis, I have no idea what’s going on. He’s gone by the time I come in or comes back by the time I fall asleep. I hardly see him. Today he texted me again, saying that he has things going on and can’t come in. Something is not right.” Abuelita was crying. A very intimidating thing to do when you’re holding a shotgun with one hand and a large metal spoon with the other.
I walked slowly over to her. I had no idea what to say, so I did the only thing I could think of. I hugged her.
“I’m sorry, Abuelita. I’m sure he’s OK.” I wanted him to be OK. I hoped that counted as the truth.
“Isis, you’re a horrible liar. But thank you, dear. I needed that.” With another pat on the back, she let me go. Abuelita put the shotgun down and started mixing her pot.
I took a deep breath and dropped my head. “I think Angelito is messing around with the witches.” I blurted it out before I could stop myself.
Abuelita stopped and stared at me. That was a lot of eye contact to handle from one intense lady. “Are you sure?”
“Kind of. He mentioned that his girl hangs out with the biker gang in town. It just so happens that our sweet local coven is a biker gang. I don’t know how involved he is.”
I was worried about Abuelita’s reaction, but she squared her shoulders and looked focused. “Well, that explains things better. I should have known something wasn’t normal. That boy doesn’t fall that hard for anyone. He’s way too selfish for that. We might need to fix this.” I had no idea what “fix this” meant, but I felt bad for the witches. Abuelita’s look promised it wasn’t going to be pretty.
“Do I want to know what you’re planning to do?”
“Nothing to worry about, dear. Nothing dangerous—not yet. I do need to go home and pick up a few things of his. Do you mind watching the restaurant? My cousin is coming in to help out, but not till four o’clock. I’ll be right back.” That was a rhetorical question, since she was heading toward the door before I had time to agree. Abuelita gave me one last wink, and she was out the door.
Great. Now I was stuck at work. I wasn’t dressed in my normal Abuelita’s clothes. I had khaki cargo pants and a gray T-shirt. If Abuelita was jumpy, I was paranoid. I had pepper spray, a Taser, two pairs of butterfly knives, and keys in my pants pocket. If someone was jumping me today, they were going down hard. I refused to unload anything from my pockets, but I couldn’t just sit there doing nothing. My hair was in a ponytail, so I decided to at least wrap it in a messy bun.
Nothing was set up for the dinner crowd. Chairs had to be taken down from the tables. Silverware needed to be wrapped in napkins and plates pulled out from the dishwasher. In other words, everything needed to be set up quickly. I was praying that her cousin would show up soon, but I wasn’t holding my breath for that one. Abuelita’s family members were never on time for anything. They would be the ones to be late to their own funeral.
Abuelita was true to her word. She was back in less than forty minutes. I was still busy setting up the place when she entered the kitchen with an armful of stuff. I gave her a quick glance, and I was sure she had a teddy bear under her arm. I hoped she wasn’t planning on sacrificing the poor thing.
“Isis, my cousin called. She’s running late. Do you mind covering till she gets here?”
“Sure thing, Abuelita. I just need to be home early, but I can cover.” No need to get mad; I should have seen this coming. Between the nieces, the cousin, and Angelito, no wonder Abuelita thought I was amazing. They made me look good—they were totally irresponsible. That was the reason they never worked the weekend shift.
My body went on autopilot as I thought about Abuelita this weekend. I was feeling guilty for leaving her alone. Unfortunately, if I didn’t do my main job, a lot of people were going to end up dead. It had been a while since the result of my job was death. It was an odd feeling. I wasn’t sure whether I was happy about it or disturbed. By the time 4:00 p.m. rolled around, I was completely depressed with my own thoughts.
I went over to the kitchen to check on Abuelita before opening the restaurant. On the far stove, she had a small pot boiling. It actually looked like a small cauldron. I had no idea what she was doing, but she was whispering who knows what into the cauldron.
I cleared my throat for her benefit. “Abuelita, are we ready to open?”
“Yes, dear. Please get the door. Beans are ready to set in the front area.” Abuelita’s voice was distant, almost muffled with a weird accent. Not Spanish but almost Cajun. Her loose hairs were starting to flow in their own invisible air current. That was way too much for me. I did a quick U-turn and headed back to the dining area.
The last thing I needed was for Abuelita to go all Exorcist on me. If her head started spinning, I was out that door so fast, I could break Olympic records. I was not as brave as I hoped. I almost ran to the door to get away. I was totally distracted, because I missed Gabe standing on the other side. By the time I noticed, I had jumped five feet off the ground in pure horror.
