Page 40 of Raspados & Regret

He takes a few moments to respond, and I hate how much I like watching the little dots dance across his side of the chat.

Ugh… gross. Feelings.

Fabi.Sin.Filtro

Ricky.

Of course.

Lalo.Con.Limón

lmao

Is he still mad about the dent?

Fabi.Sin.Filtro

The dent was there before I beat the shit out of that culero.

I laugh out loud, and Anita makes a sound like she has just found treasure under floorboards.

I glare at her. “What?”

“You laughed at your phone.” She does a stupid little shimmy and slides closer to me in the prep space.

“I laugh all the time.”

“Nuh uh,” she teases. “You laugh at people but not like that.”

“Like what?” I say, looking her dead in the face.

“All ugly and soft.”

I gasp. “Bitch, did you just say ugly?”

“That’s the word you heard?” She rolls her eyes and then moves back to her prep area.

I turn my back on her and respond to Fabián.

Lalo.Con.Limón

You used a man for bodywork and still refuse to take accountability.

Fabi.Sin.Filtro

He swung first. I just made sure to finish it.

Lalo.Con.Limón

Yeah, with Rickey’s bumper.

Fabi.Sin.Filtro

Tell Ricky to buy better bumpers.

I bite my lip. Hard. No, that’s not funny enough to make me smile like this, and yet here I am, smiling at my phone like an idiot while my sister gathers evidence for my eventual public execution.

Another message pops up.