Spices (FIRST DRAFT) ~ An Alejandro and Alfred Story

𝓕𝓲𝓿𝓮

I thanked the lady at the counter, took my bag, and left the tailor shop. Each day I was more sure I would have to leave Louisiana, and if I was going to find a new car parts company to work with, I had to have a new fancy suit to really make a good impression. 

Clutching the bag handles tighter, swimming in my thoughts, wondering how I’m going to manage to pull this off, I speed walk down the main street. I decided to take a detour through a kids' park to not get slowed down by the crowd. 

It feels nice to look around. Tree leaves yellowing, children running around, parents with strollers taking walks. The atmosphere was a lot different from the main roads, which I was so used to. I should use quieter streets more often.

On the right side of the park, there was a playground, red and full of metal structures, which kids ran through, climbed, or screamed on the top of. A group of parents sat under the park gazebo, watching over the little things causing chaos. One of the parents was out of place. A dad had his arms crossed and was leaning against a street lamp pole off to the side, not engaged in the parents' conversations. I did a double take walking by. It was Alejandro.

At first, I kept walking, but I looked back for some reason, and that’s when he spotted me. He smiled and waved. Awkwardly, I turn back and walk up to him. “Good afternoon, Al,” he tells me.

I open my mouth to respond but then pause. “Al? Since when are we using nicknames?”

He shrugs. “Since now I suppose. Is that okay?”

I’ve only had girls nickname me ‘Al’, never friends or close ones. Business partners just use my full name. “Yeah,” I tell him. “I like it.”

Alejandro looks down at the bag in my hand. You can see the navy blue suit inside. I want to take the bag and throw it away, burning it while watching. 

“So, I guess you are leaving,” he uttered quietly. 

I chew the inside of my cheek. “Still not sure. It’s likely, but not official.”

Alejandro chuckles softly. “Who’s gonna feed you while you’re away, huh?”

“And who’s gonna keep you distracted with nonsense information?”

“It’s not nonsense!” He brushes my arm with his hand. “I like the stuff you say. It’s interesting.”

A little girl's voice pierces the air of other screaming children. “Papa!” she shouts urgently, running toward us. 

She has dark curls and wears an orange raincoat. I recognized her from the cemetery. She must be Selena. 

Alejandro gets on his knees and lets her throw herself against his chest. “What’s wrong, mija?” he asks lovingly. I’ve never heard his voice be that soft and gentle.

Selena points at her knee with her small finger, tears filling her eyes. "I fell," she whined as she sat on Alejandro's thigh. "Okay, let me take a look at it,” he said, examining the patch of blood. It wasn’t too severe. She simply scratched the top layer of skin off, and some blood accumulated on her knee. 

He sighs as he brushes her leg with his hand. “I don’t have anything to clean your leg with Selena, I think we’re gonna have to go home.”

“I have a tissue in my pocket,” I suggest, pulling it out.

Alejandro thanks me and presses the material to her leg, little splotches of red forming on the other side of the tissue. She sits patiently, watching her father clean the wound. When he lifts the tissue, blood stops flowing, and only a small scratch is visible on her knee. Alejandro holds her head and kisses her forehead. “All better,” he tells her.