The Perfect Duo

Chapter 4

"I'm telling you, you haven't lived until you've tried the food at Mis Suenos. Hands down the best empanadas and tamales north of the border."

Mari was nearly bouncing in her seat as we drove to the tiny authentic Mexican restaurant in her hometown of San Jose. It had been a week since we kicked off the tour in Seattle and we travelled all night from Sacramento to San Jose. When we finally arrived I was starving and a nostalgic Mari wanted to show me what her home had to offer starting with the food.

We had a free night tonight since we weren't scheduled to perform until tomorrow so I left Mari in charge of what we would do for the next 12 hours. After ditching the convoy of buses at the overnight rest area, we hopped in the rented SUV and headed to Mis Suenos with Roman in the passenger's seat and the driver Neil.

"I was hoping after we eat we could stop at my old elementary school. My dad is there with some other volunteers building a new playground."

"I would love to meet your dad. Does he do a lot of volunteer work?" I remembered Mari telling me about the summer she helped her father build a house for a homeless family once.

"He does what he can for our community. He has his own construction company and uses his knowledge and equipment to help those who can't really afford to do it themselves. The schools around here are in desperate need of renovations but unfortunately it takes a lot of money to do just the simplest upgrade. The elementary school for instance is desperate for a new playground, when I was a kid the thing was a rusted metal trap and that was almost 20 years ago."

My desire to meet this man only grew with every word his daughter spoke of him. He was her hero and her best friend, their relationship fascinated me.

The restaurant was what I would call a hidden gem. It was wedged between an insurance company and a pawn shop. When we walked through the door I was surprised at how tiny and basic it looked. Besides a few paintings on the wall and salsa music playing over the speakers there were only 4 plain looking tables inside and the place was empty. The older man who walked out from the kitchen seemed very excited to see us.

"Hola! Hola! How many? Tres?" He held up three fingers as he reached behind the podium to retrieve 3 menus.

Neil had decided to wait with the car while Roman escorted us inside. With no intention of joining us to eat he was most likely going to stand guard at the door like he always did. I heard him clear his throat probably hoping me or Mari would correct our host but neither of us did. He slowly followed behind as we were led to a table.

The host introduced himself as Javier and graciously held my chair out for me. Roman followed suit and did the same for Mari. She blushed as she took her seat.

"What would the senoritas like for drink?" Javier asked in a heavy accent.

"I'll have a guava smoothie." Mari quickly requested.

Letting my gazed drift over the beverages on the menu I settled on the same thing.

"That sounds good."

"Senor?" Javier turned his attention to Roman who still stood next to Mari's chair clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

"I will not be joining the ladies-..."

"Of course you are joining us." Mari cut him off with a tone that surprised even me. "You can hang it up for one hour and enjoy this delicious food. I'd say you deserve at least that."

The way they were looking at each other was a conversation in itself. I stared back and forth between them and watched as Roman gave in and took a chair next to Mari. Her smug grin caused me to smile to myself, the old Mari was definitely back.