“I’m sorry,” I said again.
“Stop apologizing,” Mayra sighed. “Just don’t do that again.”
I nodded, knowing full well that I couldn’t guarantee anything like that but not wanting to really talk about it in front of her father. I couldn’t believe I was in the same room with him and not having another episode. Maybe it was because I still felt numb.
“So…Matthew,” Mr. Trevino suddenly said, “you like sports?”
“Um…sure,” I said. I tried to make eye contact with him, but the mustache was in the way. I just kept looking at that until I realized that I was looking at that, not him. I quickly looked back to the ground. “I hope to see Mayra play soccer when the season starts up, and my dad used to take me to a Reds game every summer.”
“Baseball, huh?” he remarked. I could see him nodding in my peripheral vision. “I usually watch them at home. Got a flat screen just for that.”
I nodded back, not sure what else I was supposed to say.
“What do you think about fishing?”
I glanced over at him, trying to understand his questions, but looking at his mustache definitely didn’t help.
“I like fishing,” I finally said.
Mayra chuckled, and I peeked up at her. There was a huge grin on her face.
“Did you coach him?” Mr. Trevino asked as he winked at her.
“Not a bit,” she replied.
“Why do you like fishing?” he asked.
I thought about it for a minute before answering. I had the feeling my answer was going to be important, but I didn’t know how. I decided to go with the truth.
“It’s quiet,” I said. “Peaceful.”
“Yeah,” Mr. Trevino said. “It is. We’ll go sometime.”
I froze again and wondered if he was serious.
“So—what you said in the car,” he added before I could even fathom a response, “was that true? You get straight A’s?”
“Um, yes,” I replied, and then I realized what I hadn’t been saying that I should have been saying the whole time. “I mean, yes, sir.”
He nodded again as he turned to leave.
“Well, Mayra,” he said, “this one’s definitely got that Lords kid beat.”
With that, he tossed the curtain aside and left.
Mayra laughed, and I just shook my head. I didn’t understand the joke, so I just pulled Mayra back close to me.
Without a doubt, this day belonged in the lose column, but I couldn’t help but feel like a winner in Mayra’s arms.
Chapter 10—Follow the Cake
Mr. Trevino wasn’t kidding when he said the hospital bill wasn’t going to be an issue. Something about him being the one to call the police who then called the ambulance meant I couldn’t be charged for the ER visit or some
thing. I was still a little too dazed to comprehend it all. The doctor came in and checked me out thoroughly, then said I was free to go but not before he slipped me a half dozen sample packs of Valium.
I must have dozed off in Mayra’s car on the way home because I didn’t remember the ride at all, just Mayra shaking my arm a little bit and opening my eyes to see the door to the garage in front of me.
“Come on, baby,” Mayra said softly.