Afterglow ❃ l.m.j

• chapter five •

Thanksgiving morning started the way any morning should - with me rubbing the sleep from my eyes and an eerie amount of silence for a full house. I'd be suspicious of it if my stomach wasn't demanding food within two seconds of consciousness.

I rose to my feet with a stretch. Sleeping in my parents house was always so weird because they moved ever since I left home. So this house isn't my childhood home and instead of a twin bed, I'm on the couch. A comfortable couch, but a couch nonetheless.

From where I stood, I could hear a faint humming that could only be my grandpa. If there was one thing I could count on, it was him singing in the mornings.

A yawn escaped me again as I walked into the kitchen after brushing my teeth. Papi was perched at the table with a newspaper in his hands. He took a minute to notice me.

His bushy, silver eyebrows lifted in surprise and then a delighted smile. "Bueno Dias, mariquita. Uh, hm, hermosa como siempre!"

Most of his words ran over my head but I could always pick his nickname for me out of a lineup. Mariquita. My mom said it stands for ladybug but he won't tell me why he calls me that. I just know it makes me feel fuzzy inside.

I laid a kiss on his cheek. "Buenos Dias, papi. Happy thanksgiving!" I lifted the paper in his hands, looking at the headline. "Oh my goodness, sixty seven dead?"

"Yeah! Crazy."

I rubbed his shoulder in agreement. "Yeah, crazy is right!"

We communicated a lot through chopped and screwed words because while him, my mom, and my dad were fluent in Spanish, my siblings and I were not. I caught onto a few things over time but I gave up on trying to learn a long time ago.

He gave a warm chuckle to a comic he was reading while I sifted through the cabinet for a bowl. I spotted a box of Trix on top of the fridge that I had all intentions of stealing.

I poured my cereal and carried my bowl with me through the kitchen. I was footsteps away from the bend when he spoke again.

"Ah! Tamale?" I turned with a goofy grin to see him gesturing to a plate he must've wrapped himself. I shook my head no and mumbled a thank you before resuming out of the room and back down the hall.

"Dad!" I called out. Maybe me and Papi were just up early and everyone else was sleeping. But someone who definitely was not my dad answered instead.

"He's not here." My sister, Taylor, noted. She was laying on her bed typing away. Her ankle was propped up on her knee.

I shoveled another spoonful into my mouth, not bothering to swallow when I asked, "Where is he?"

She paid me no mind. "Him and mom went grocery shopping to pick up some last minute stuff."

"What? It's Thanksgiving!"

"Yeah, I guess they forgot something, I don't know. Alex said he heard them talking about it, I was asleep. I'm surprised you didn't hear it, you were right there."

"Yeah, also asleep. And why is it so quiet? Get off your phone, play some music, go talk to Papi. It's fucking thanksgiving!"

"Yeah, we know, how many times are you gonna say it?" My brother interjected, opening his door wider to reveal him tossing a basketball back and forth in his hands. "It's not some big national holiday, the food and Papi will still be here later. It's like eleven right now."