Emilia's POV
It was a nice afternoon. Alex and I were helping Abuelita make lunch while Schneider taught Elena how to fix a leaky sink.
"Papito, taste the pollo con ajo. My abuelita taught me how to make this when I was a little girl. The key is to add just a little bit of cigar ash." Abuelita shares feeding Alex a spoonful. Alex was at first disgusted by the thought but then his face morphed into a pleasant surprise.
"My abuelita used to put Vicodin in her coffee. And her lemonade and her sandwiches. Maybe she had a problem." Schneider states thinking out loud.
"Okay, I'm finished. No more leak." Elena says standing from under the sink.
"Wow. Nice work. As my father said to me on my ninth birthday, "You don't need me anymore." By the power vested in me by the Guild of the Custodial Arts... Not a thing. It is a thing. I'm the president. I dub thee handyman." Schneider says taking a wrench and knighting Elena.
"Eh, check this out. I was actually thinking Handy ma'am." Elena says excitedly thinking of the nickname.
"Oh, my..." Schneider starts and they both make explosions to state that they were mind blown.
"Mami, where have you been? I've been cooking these frijoles for 20 minutes. Ugh, i try to make a house a home." I asked mom as she walks through the front door.
"I was driving in freaking circles, looking for a spot. I had to park by the lake again and get chased by the geese. That big one either hates me or is in love with me. Either way, I don't like it." She says angrily and poiurs herself some coffee.
"Why don't you just park in your garage?" Schneider asked. That makes Abuelita perk up from where she was setting the dining table.
"What? We don't have a garage." Mom furrowed her brows in confusion.
"Yeah, you do. It's part of the lease. Schneider continues. This makes Abuelita wave her arms motioning for him to stop talking.
"I figured you were using all the garages for storage." Mom shrugs off.
"Don't be ridiculous. I use my garage for pickling and sea horse breeding. Anyway, of course you have a garage. It's downstairs. It's..." Schneider starts but is cut off when Abuelita smacks his butt.
"Oh... There seems to be a misunderstanding. See, um... Little parched. Let me just hydrate here." Schneider says and slowly drinks his cup of water.
"Why did I not know I had a garage?" Mom asked starting to get mad all over again.
Schneider lets out a heavy sigh and leads us out to the garages. Once he finds ours he lifts the door to display a wall of boxes.
"I may have put a few things in there." Abuelita says when we all turn to her mouths agape from the shock.
"I cannot believe that you've been hiding this from me all this time." Mom exclaimed as we find a pathway to enter into the garage.
"Oh? I thought I had mentioned it." Abuelita says sarcastically.
"It rained for 17 days in a row this winter. I walked from my car every night!" My shouts at her.
"Oh, I wish you had told me that. There's a box of raincoats somewhere." Abuelita says looking around.
"Whatever, Mami, I am too excited to argue. Now I don't have to keep those traffic cones in my trunk to fake out my parking competition." Mom says excitedly.
"Does that work?" I asked her.
"When I wear my yellow vest, it does." She says with a smirk.
"Come on, everybody, let's get this junk out of here so I can park my car!" Mom says grabbing a box.
YOU ARE READING
The Days of Emilia
ChickLitEmilia Alvarez is the younger twin sister to Elena Alvarez. They are as close as twins can be. The two are opposites in some ways, but find common interest in other things as well. Sometimes living with a younger brother, mom, and Abulita can get a...
