Mom frowns. “Sweetheart… money is tight right now.”
So come home, I think. But I don’t say it. As much as I want them to come home, I know they’re doing a good thing by taking care of my two dying grandparents. My grandfather has terminal cancer and not much longer to live. My other abuela has dementia and heart complications. My parents can’t just come back to Texas and leave them in Mexico.
“Jules told me you can finance cars for seven years,” I say in an effort to convince my parents. “That makes for a really low monthly payment. And then I could get a job and—”
“It’s not just a car payment,” Mom says. “You’d need another two hundred a month for insurance. And gas. And yearly registration, and oil changes… the list goes on and on.”
“But if I had a car, I could get a job and then pay for all of that myself.”
Mom takes a deep breath. “That’s a lot to pay for on a part time minimum wage job. Just wait until we get home and we can look at buying another car then.”
I don’t know why I’m so disappointed. My parents have been denying me a car for months now because they can’t afford it. But it’s not like I’m asking for everything free. I’m happy to work and pay my way. But I can’t work without transportation.
“Why do you even need a car?” Mom says as she smiles brightly into the phone. I’m pretty sure it’s a fake smile meant to make me feel better. “Jules has a car and Abuela lets you borrow hers on occasion. It’s not like you’re totally stuck at home.”
I want to explain all the reasons I need a car, but I’m also exhausted. And it won’t matter anyway. Mom just doesn’t get it. Sure, Jules can drive me to school each day, and Abuela sometimes lets me borrow her car to go out on the weekends, but it’s not the same. Having my own car and my own job would mean freedom. And privacy. It’s not just about the money. A job would give me somewhere to go after school that’s away from my annoying sisters and a car would provide somewhere to hide out when my sisters are driving me crazy. And who knows, I might just meet a cute guy at a part time job and live the flirty, romantic teenage life like everyone does in TV shows.
With a sigh, I try not fret too much about it. There is really no point in daydreaming about things that will never happen.
Two
MARK
I’m right in the middle of an amazing dream involving a beach house and a beautiful girl when my stupid brother wakes me up by throwing a pillow at my head. “Mark! Dude! Get up!”
I can tell by the tone of his voice that this isn’t some emergency and that he’s just being his usual annoying self, so I don’t open my eyes. I roll over and pull the blankets up over my head. “Go away.”
“Get up, dude. It’s Monday.”
“All the more reason for you to leave me alone until my alarm goes off,” I mutter.
“Mark, I need you to cover for me.”
I push down the blanket and roll over and look at him. Julian is twenty-two years old and he dropped out of college after his first semester. Since then, he’s been working full time at my parents’ restaurant, Caputo’s. He’s a bit of a Jack-of-all-trades at the restaurant. He works the grill, waits tables, mops floors, and greets guests. Whatever needs to be done, he does it. And he’s good at it. I also work there, but I’m not exactly in love with my job. Unlike Julian. I don’t want to take over the family business when I grow up. I want to be an accountant and work in an office that doesn’t smell like garlic.
“I’ll head over there after school,” I say with a yawn. I glance over at my phone. It’s only five minutes until my morning alarm would have gone off anyway. Time to get ready for school.
“Nah, man I need you there now. I have a date planned with this girl I met online.” My brother wiggles his dark eyebrows at me. “She’s hot. Super hot. Like, a ten.”
“And you’re going on a date with her at seven in the morning?”
He stares at me like I’m stupid. “She lives three hours away. I’m picking her up and we’re going to a music festival. It’s this indie rock music that’s total trash, but she likes it, and I like her so I’m going.”
I stand up and stretch out my arms, then grab a T-shirt from the clean laundry basket near my bed and tug it on. “I’m not skipping school so you can meet some girl from a dating app.”
“Dude, seriously?” Julian says. “Just skip school and help me out.”
I head into my closet and find a pair of jeans. “Unlike you, I plan to go to college,” I say. “I’m not skipping. Plus, I’m pretty sure Mom and Dad wouldn’t approve.”
“Missing one day of class isn’t gonna flunk you out of high school,” Julian says, his nostrils flaring. He grabs the pillow off my bed and flings it at me while I put on my shoes. “You’re being a total jerk right now."
Maybe if my brother had stayed in school he’d know the definition of irony,
