Page 76 of Raspados & Regret

Or better, it really depends on who you ask.

I feed the people—not literally, though also literally. I give them banter and the drama, giving them just enough to keep their phones up and their money out. When a group of college guys orders raspados and one of them says, “You’re funnier in person,” I put a hand over my heart.

“Only funnier? Not prettier?”

The guy laughs, his cheeks pinking. “That too.”

Fabián closes the cash drawer so hard the whole table jumps. I glance at him, and he is too busy mean-mugging the guy.

I turn to the camera someone is holding nearby. “He’s friendly. I promise.”

“No, I’m not,” Fabián says.

The person filming laughs so hard their phone shakes. Another customer, an older guy with salt-and-pepper hair and a nice watch, asks me if I’m single while Fabián is counting change.

I say, “Depends who’s asking.”

Fabián drops three quarters.

So to be kind, I bend to pick them up before he can.

Slowly.

I am still me, after all.

But most of all, the black shorts are doing God’s work, and I believe in honoring labor.

When I straighten, Fabián is staring at my ass like he wants to file a complaint with the city.

“Problem?” I ask.

His gaze drags up, furious. “You dropped something.”

“Actually, you dropped something,” I say, giving him the sweetest smile. “I was being helpful.”

“You bent like that on purpose?”

This man wouldn’t know obvious if it slapped him across the face. “So you were looking?”

His mouth shuts.

The older customer laughs. “This part of the service?”

“No,” Fabián says.

“Yes,” I say at the same time.

The man tips twenty dollars. “Whatever makes it fun in the bedroom later.” He looks over at Fabián and gives him a smirk.

My mom sees the tip jar and says nothing.

Capitalism has made her morally flexible.

Around eight-thirty, someone in the line starts chanting, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

It spreads like wildfire—not everyone, but enough for Fabián’s shoulders to go hard.

Enough for my stomach to twist because funny is one thing and strangers demanding pieces of us is another.