Hustle.

Chapter 10: Breakfast

> Samalia Reese in MM <

Lauryn P.O.V.

"I know a place," he responded after thinking for a while. I smiled again.

He began driving really fast and I could tell that's how he usually drove because he wasn't phased by the high speed at all. Looking over at me, he reached over and placed his hand on my thigh. I placed mine over his.

This felt good. These moments. But I only just met him.

Ten minutes later we arrived at a shop on the end of Regal Avenue called Benny's. It was small and there were only a few small tables inside and out. It was cute.

He led me in and greeted the owner I assumed who was a short, Hispanic man who looked to be in his late 60's, and had a full mustache. "Buenas días tío Benny. ¿Qué pasa?"

"Hola mi sobrino, estoy bien. Quién es este?"he responded cheerfully. I had taken Spanish since I was in the 6th grade, so I had a pretty good gist of when he said "Hello my nephew, I am well. Who is this?"

Chris looked down at me. "Uncle Benny, this is Lauryn,"Chris introduced. "Uncle Benny" reached over the counter and gripped my hand in both of his, kissing it.

"Very beautiful girl," he said, looking into my eyes. I smiled.

"Gracias, el restaurante es muy bonito," I stated, thanking him and complimenting the beauty of his restaurant.

His uncle raised his eyebrow before saying,"Pretty and speaks Spanish." He winked as well.

Chris chuckled. "How about we have a seat over here?" he asked, motioning me to a small table by the window.

On the table, the menu sat untouched. I opened it to find a wide variety of breakfast, lunch, and dinner entrees. I didn't even know where to begin.

"I can see you struggling to decide," Chris said, smirking. I smirked back, nodding.

"Try the Sabroso Omelette. It's the best." I smiled, placing my menu down, now that I had a decision. He called our order out to his uncle before looking at messages quickly coming through on his phone.

"C! C! C!" I heard a girl scream from behind. I saw a little girl, no older than 4, running up to our table. She had two curly pigtails wrapped in pink scrunchies, a soft face with a button nose, and a wide smile.

"No one told me Baby SiSi was here!" Chris exclaimed, jumping out of his seat and picking up the girl.

"CC!" she wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her high. "I missed you CC!" I smiled lightly at their warm embrace.

Uncle Benny came out of the kitchen with two drinks and placed them on our table. "Andrea simplemente la dejó en el medio de la noche. Tenía que ser por lo menos dos de la mañana. Es una lástima lo que le pone a ese niño a través," he whispered in Spanish, probably hoping the little girl wouldn't hear. He walked away shaking his head.

From my understanding, he said, "Andrea just dropped her off in the middle of the night. Had to be at least two 'o' clock in the morning. It's a damn shame what she puts that child through."

"Fucking Andrea man," Chris muttered under his breath.

"Bad word Chris!" she squealed. I giggled.

"You're right babygirl," he said, patting her head. "Look, I have someone I want you to meet." He pointed at me before bringing her over, and sitting her on his lap.

"What's your name?" she asked politely with a huge smile.

"My name is Lauryn beautiful girl." I winked at her.

"I have a friend named Lauren!" she exclaimed. "She goes to my day care and she's three years old like me! But I turn four in dos semanas. She also dresses like me though. Everyone dresses like me. At my school, we all wear the same thing. Except the boys wear pantalones and the girls wear faldas. They are muy feo. All of our shirts are the same navy blue. But my mommy put a pink flower on mine, so I could be different. My mommy looks just like me but her hair is very straight. She is very lucky because curly hair is muy difícil. She also works a lot. She is very good at making amigos, I've met a lot of them. Most of them are guys. But her one friend, uh, Cecilia, is always over. They drink wine and complain about money and boys. Her other friend, KD, is over a lot. He doesn't talk to me much but he le gusta besar mommy. They always go in her room and lock the door, sometimes el baño. I hear her scream a lot but she doesn't answer me when I ask if she's okay. I don't like hearing mommy scream but--" She rambled on and on, taking barely a breath as she alternated between Spanish and English.

I looked up at Chris to see when he would make her stop but he was too consumed in his phone at the moment to even notice.

"That's enough mi nieta!" Uncle Benny said, coming over. "How about you help me cook another Sabroso Omelette?" She squealed as they went back into the kitchen.

"Sorry. More work business. And Samalia likes to talk a lot. We don't know who she gets it from." He smiled.