Fate (3 page)

***

Plucked out of his dream as the bedroom door swung open
,
Vince squinted at the sight of his mother who stood at the doorway with a puckered expression. “Get up and get ready, Vicente. We’re leaving in a half hour.”

With that she was gone. It’d been a couple weeks since the whole getting arrested thing had gone down. Ever since, this is
what
his conversations with his mother consisted of—strained orders. She could hardly stand to look at him for very long, but Vince knew he deserved it. He’d let her down one time too many
,
and now he’d have to prove himself all over again.

Pulling himself up on his elbow, Vince turned to his brother Lorenzo who lay in the other bed. Lorenzo turned over
,
closing his eyes and making himself comfortable again.

“How come you don’t have to go to this shit?”

Without even opening his eyes Lorenzo mumbled, “Because I’m not grounded like you, remember?”

Vince let his head hang back with a groan.
God
,
he hated these family functions with his perfect cousins who were just another reminder to his parents of what he was not. Normally he’d have a choice to stay home and clean or come along
,
of which he happily chose the former. Now he had no choice. As his mother put it so bluntly, since he couldn’t be trusted to behave without parental supervision, he’d be treated like the irresponsible punk he’d proven himself to be. He’d now be taken along everywhere with mommy and daddy.

Even a simple trip like this to a family party was digging deep into his parents
’
pockets. Gas wasn’t cheap
,
and his cousins didn’t live close. They’d also have to buy a gift. But this added expense
,
one they might’ve ducked out of, was necessary—necessary because of Vince.

After a shower and grabbing what was left of the chorizo with eggs, he got dressed. He now sat grudgingly in the back seat of his dad’s old
C
utlass ready to make the two
-
hour drive to La Jolla. At his mother’s request he’d worn something suitable for a baby shower
–not
just any baby shower either. His
A
unt
Isabel
was notorious for going all out
,
and this would no doubt be huge
,
especially since the shower was for their first granddaughters—twins to boot!

His mother had allowed the jeans and
the
newer dark sneakers he’d chosen
,
but he was forced to wear one of his dad’s polo shirts.

As they walked into the backyard
,
Vince frowned at how these parties seemed to get bigger and bigger every time. The huge canopy covered almost the entire backyard. There were balloons everywhere
,
and the tables were as professionally decorated as they had been every time he’d attended one of these functions. He’d gotten out of attending most
of them
,
but
he and Lorenzo had been dragged along to
the bigger ones
,
like all the weddings and wedding showers
.

They stood there near the gate. His dad was already mingling with some of the relatives they hadn’t seen since the last one of these parties. His oldest cousin Sal made his way through the crowd
,
and to Vince’s surprise
,
Sal
was introducing what appeared to be a girlfriend to everyone.

Vince laughed to himself and was about to nudge his mom to let her in on how her theory about Sal holding out on love to put
his career first and to get more restaurants going was a bust. Bringing a chick to a family party of this size could mean only one thing—it was serious. Then he spotted the young girl with them.

Curious, Vince continued to watch as Sal introduced them to the next table they came to. Had
C
upid not only nailed Sal finally
,
but also saddled him with an
insta
-
family
?

As they came around giving Vince a clearer view
,
he thought better of it. The girl whose hand Sal held was way too young to be the other girl’s mom. They were probably sisters. There was a definite resemblance. The younger girl came around the table also. Vince’s eyes were immediately on her long
,
tanned legs. She wore a short
,
denim skirt that showed off the muscle along the side of her upper thigh
s
and calves nicely—an athlete.

Vince smiled
,
remembering the senior on the cross country team he’d hooked up with a few times. He loved running his hands up and down those soft but very firm legs. The young girl with Sal and his girl
friend
looked up
,
meeting his eyes for just an instant until her attention was called back to the older lady she was being introduced to.
Cute.

Maybe this party wouldn’t be such a drag after all. She looked to be about Vince’s age
,
maybe a tad younger. Even at sixteen
,
Vince was used to older girls
,
but he’d had his share of younger ones, too. Like most
of
the kids in his neighborhood
,
even the girls weren’t immune to growing up too fast
:
s
omething his mother reminded him and Lorenzo of often
.
She’d
warned
them that
they could barely afford the cell phones and
I
nternet service at their place. Grandbabies were nowhere in their budget
,
so they
’d
better
“
keep it in their pants.
”
Thankfully, their dad being more realistic had provided him and his brother with a longer talk. The talk had ended with a box of condoms
,
and
he’d
made them promise that if they needed more
,
they’d come to him no questions asked.

He watched as Sal, his girl
friend
,
and the younger girl continued to zigzag their way through the crowded backyard, stopping at just about every table.

“Let’s get a table before there are none left.” His mother hurried in the same direction Sal and his girlfriend headed.

Just as Sal and the two girls got to one of the last empty tables available, Vince’s mom reached and claimed the remaining seats at the same table.
Perfect.

Vince’s ever perfect cousin, Sal
,
turned just as they reached the table and smiled. “
Tia
Letty, how are you?”

“Hi,
mijo
.
Oh
,
I’m hanging in there.” She gave him a knowing look then turned around searching the crowd. “There he is. I swear that man gets caught up so quickly. I knew he was right behind me.”

Sal looked up and smiled at Vince’s dad as he approached
,
greeted him
,
then turned to his girl. “This is my girlfriend
,
Grace
Zendejas
,
and her baby sister, Rose.”

Both
of Vince’s
parents reached out to shake the two girls’ hands as they smiled politely.
Rose
. Vince couldn’t think of a more fitting name as his eyes took her in at this closer range.

“Hey, Vinnie
,
” Sal patted him on the shoulder
,
“
d
amn, you get taller every time I see you. What are you fifteen now?

“Sixteen,” Vince said
,
adding as his eyes met Rose’s shy but sweet golden
-
brown eyes
,
“
s
eventeen in a couple of months.”

“Wow that was fast
!
” Sal smirked then turned to Grace. “This is my c
ousin Vinnie from La Puente.”

Vince rolled his eyes at the tag added to his name
,
but the near frown dissipated as
his
and Rose
’
s eyes met again. There was something so delicate about her features. Everything from her lashes to the curve on her lips seem
ed
so well defined
,
and he noted how much younger she looked up close. Maybe she
wasn’t
his age.

Wiping his hand quickly on his jeans, Vince dried his suddenly sweaty palms before reaching out and shaking Grace’s hand first then smiling at Rose as he shook her soft hand
,
“Nice to meet you.”

“How was that two
-
hour drive?” Sal asked
Vince’s
parents as they all sat down.

After a few minutes of small talk, Sal excused himself
,
saying he’d be right back. Vince was now having a hard time keeping his eyes off Rose. She was far more interesting than all the baby shower crap
,
and he was trying to figure out just how old she was. She was as tall as her sister
,
who was obviously old enough to be with his twenty-something
-
year
-
old cousin’s girlfriend
,
but minus the makeup—
any
makeup.
Was she not old enough to wear any?
He knew thirteen-year-olds that wore full
-
on makeup back home.

Rose leaned into Grace and whispered but not hushed enough. “They hired waiters for a baby shower?”

“They hire waiters for everything
.
” Vince smirked trying to overcompensate for the irritation the very thought caused him. “My aunt’s known for outdoing everyone in the family with her parties.”

His mom nudged his leg under the table and gave him a look which Vincent ignored.

“We’ve never attended any of the Moreno’s parties
,
” Grace explained
,
glancing back at him then looking around again.

Vince had to chuckle at that. “Well if you’re with Sal now, get used to it. It’s like this
every
time.”

Rose lifted an eyebrow. Even something as simple as her eyebrows said
“
young
”
to him. It wasn’t bushy
,
and it arched nicely
,
but it wasn’t anything like
the ones on
some of the girls he knew. Vince could tell it was naturally thin. Most of the girls in his neighborhood and school had been plucking their eyebrows for so long
that
they had to pencil them back on. It looked so stupid, too. Many of them even sported that permanently surprised look.

Before Grace could respond to his comment
,
Rose tilted her head and her light
-
brown eyes stared at him curiously. “Where is La Puente?”

He hadn’t really noticed
earlier
when she first made the waiter comment that her voice was a bit husky. But unlike her sister
’
s noticeable accent
,
Rose’
s husky voice was accent free.
She may look young
,
but that voice sounded older. Unexplainable hope crept in him
,
and he couldn’t help
but
smile.

Why the hell did he care? She lived two hours away
,
and he didn’t even own a car. Not to mention over the years his mom had often talked about how incredibly protective his cousins were over their own younger sister. If he had to guess, Sal was probably the same way over his girlfriend’s
baby
sister. Vincent wouldn’t dream of trying anything here. So why would he hope even for a second that they were in any way compatible?

He explained it was a half hour before Los Angeles and near the LA county fair. But since Rose had never been
,
she still had no idea. Sal came back just then with a tray of drinks for everyone. After giving the girls
and Vince’s mom
their drinks
,
Sal handed a beer to Vince’s dad and finally a soda to Vince.