May to December

Chapter Three

"I want you to get some sleep," EZ said as he tucked Letty back into his bed. "I'm going out for a while."

"Where?"

"I'm gonna go check on your dad and see if he needs any help." Yeah, help to hide your grandmother's corpse. He knew Coco well enough to know that whatever he had been planning to do was already done. It had probably been done long before Letty even confessed the truth to him.

"You promise you'll come back?" Letty was looking up at him like he was the only thing that mattered in the world to her.

EZ took a seat next to her on the bed and took her hand in his. "We're friends, right?" He smiled at her.

She gave him a little half-smile and nodded. "Right."

"Friends always come back, bebita," he promised her. "I won't be gone too long." He leaned down and softly kissed her cheek. "Close your eyes and go to sleep."

***

When EZ arrived at the apartment of Celia Cruz, he found that he had been right. Coco had killed his own mother in a fit of rage. He had her corpse lying on a tarp on the kitchen floor, and Coco was seated on the floor, leaning back against the dishwasher.

"What the hell are you doin' here?" Coco pulled a joint out of the pocket of his kutte and lit it up.

EZ sat down on the floor next to him. "Your kid is worried about you. And chaos may follow her everywhere she goes, but I still don't like seeing Letty cry. She's blaming herself for all this shit."

"Ain't her fault," Coco shook his head. "It's mine."

"It's Celia's fault," EZ corrected, "no one else's."

"I gave Letty to her." Coco wouldn't look at him. He was just staring straight ahead as he smoked.

"Only because you wanted to do right by her." EZ accepted the joint that Coco passed him.

"Hermano, what's up with you and my kid?" Coco didn't sound mad, merely curious.

"We're friends," EZ shrugged. "I care about her." He passed the joint back after taking two hits.

"Is that all it is? I know she's far from fucking innocent." That last bit was said with a guilty kind of bitterness.

"I wouldn't make a move on your kid behind your back, Coco." EZ chose his words carefully to avoid outright lying.

"I know," Coco nodded and then turned to look at him. "That's also not what I fucking asked you."

"Nothing's going to happen," EZ made sure to stress. "But, yeah, I caught feelings for her."

"You better fucking respect her." Coco put the joint out on his boot before hiding the roach in his cigarette pack. "And if you hurt her, I'll fucking bury you on top of this nasty bitch." He got to his feet. "I got this. Go home and look after your girl. I'll talk to you both tomorrow."