Santiago! I didn’t hear you come in!” Mamá said when I emerged from my bedroom. I jumped.
“Yeah, I just barely got here,” I said, trying to look, well, not guilty.
“I didn’t hear you come in,” she said, sounding suspicious.
“Oh,” I said, trying to come up with an excuse for why that might be. “I guess I was pretty quiet.”
She stared me down, but then her entire countenance changed. “How was your morning, hijito? Did you have fun helping Ms. Belfry?”
“I kept busy,” I said evasively.
“You’re probably starving. I’ve made lomo saltado.”
“Really?” I asked, grinning.
Lomo saltado was my favorite. Papá used to make it all the time, but Mamá didn’t like cooking.
“I had some ingredients to use before Michael and I go to Portland tonight for the conference,” Mamá said.
I’d almost forgotten they were going to be away tonight. Mamá was asked to be a keynote speaker at some conference tomorrow morning, so she and Michael were going to drive there and spend the night.
“It’s not ready yet. Go shower yourself and it will be ready when you’re done,” Mamá said. “I’m sure you’re exhausted!”
It was my turn to be suspicious. This seemed unusually accommodating.
“Thanks, Mamá,” I said, hesitantly, as though expecting her to take it all back.
“Por supuesto, hijito!”
Two hijitos in as many minutes? Yeah, this was unusual. But I didn’t question it as I hurried off to the shower.
Fifteen minutes later, clean and wearing fresh clothes, I sat at the kitchen table.
“Where are Camila and James?” I asked as Mamá took what was normally Hayden’s seat next to me. I figured Michael was working and Hayden was at cheer practice.
“Camila is at–” Mamá began, only to be interrupted by the front door opening. “Michael is that you?” she called.
“It’s me!” Camila’s voice yelled back.
“Why aren’t you at Sophia’s?”
“I totally forgot that Sophia’s family is at Disneyland.” My sister walked into the kitchen. “Oooh you made lomo saltado?”
“Yes,” Mamá said. “Are you going to Bella’s house instead?”
“Nah, she’s at swim camp until tomorrow.”
“So are you going to go to–”
“That looks delicious,” Camila said. “Can I have some?”
“OK. Un momento,” Mamá said, standing up and walking back to the counter.
Camila took a seat across from me, grinning from ear to ear. “If you’re making everyone’s favorite meals for lunch, my favorite is–”
“Aji de Gallina,” Mamá and I finished for her at the same time.
Camila smiled from ear to ear, apparently pleased we’d remembered the thing she reminded us of several times each week.
“Yes, mi princesa, I know,” Mamá added, scooping rice onto a plate.
Mamá set down a plate in front of Camila as the door to the garage opened and Hayden slunk in, still sweaty from cheer practice. If he noticed that Mamá had made a special meal, he didn’t say anything.
Mamá looked even more flustered. “Hi Hayden, did cheer practice end early?”
Hayden grunted in the affirmative.
“Would you like some lomo saltado too?”
Hayden shrugged, then took the seat Mamá had been sitting in a couple minutes earlier. After catching a whiff of him, I resisted the urge to scootch away. He was a bit ripe. Too bad Bess’s plant was all the way upstairs.
Looking agitated, Mamá brought another plate, which she ended up putting in front of her normal chair.
“It’s so unusual for us to eat lunch at the same time anymore,” Mamá said. “How was everybody’s day? Santiago, do you want to start?” she asked, somewhat pointedly.
“How about we play the question game,” Camila interjected. “Remember when we used to play that with Papá?”
Mamá looked like she was about to object, but then seemed to change her mind.
“Of course, hijita–”
“Can I go first?” Camila asked.
Mamá nodded.
“If you could have any magic ability, which would you choose?” Camila asked.
Was she looking at me when she said that? Did Camila know my secret? Or was I just being extra sensitive? I looked down intently at my food trying to look as normal as I could.
“I’ll go first,” Camila continued. “I wish I could be super smart. Then I’d invent something really cool. Like a robot.”
“You already are super smart,” Mamá told her affectionately.
Camila beamed back at her, then asked, “What about you, Mamá?”
“I wish I could read minds,” Mamá said. “Then I could figure out how to help all my kids when they needed it.”
I thought that last part seemed directed toward me. I hurriedly took a large bite.
“Don’t know why anyone would want to read minds when there’s social media,” Camila said. “By the way, can–?”
“Not until you’re 16,” Mamá interrupted. Predictably.
“I thought you said you couldn’t read minds,” Camila said.
“You make it easy,” Mamá said.
“Your turn, Hayden,” Camila said.
“Invisibility,” Hayden said, stuffing his mouth.
Sometimes I wondered why Hayden was a cheerleader.
“And what about you, Santiago?” Camila asked. “If you had any magic ability, what would you choose.”
I took another bite. It really was delicious. I could taste the tomatoes, the meat, and the fries blending together in my mouth. I breathed in deeply, thinking about the question more than I normally did, then said, “I guess I’d see into the future.”
“So you could become super rich?” Camila asked. “Buy the right lottery ticket?”
“Yeah, and so I could, you know, help people not get hurt,” I said. It sounded so sappy and stupid coming out of my mouth, but the worst part was that I found myself getting a bit choked up. Who gets emotional over a stupid get-to-know-you question? What kind of sap was I? And here I was, with the possibility of actually seeing into the future, and I didn’t want it. I couldn’t stand the idea of it being me.
Not when– I swallowed. Not going to go there. Especially not during lunch.
Camila eyed me suspiciously. Or did I just think she was eyeing me suspiciously? Was I the one being overly suspicious?
Come on, Santiago, I told myself. Get a grip!
“OK, my turn,” Mamá said. “Have you ever kept a secret from Michael and me?”
All of us were quiet as Mamá eyed us beadily.
“I’m super glad you can’t read minds,” Camila finally said, then added, “Next question!”
Mamá scowled.
The rest of the meal seemed like a blur. I think I came up with a question when it was my turn, but I don’t remember what it was or what anyone else said after that. For some reason, I couldn’t take my mind off Camila’s question.
Mamá reminded us that she and Michael would be spending the night up in Portland. Hayden would be in charge yadda yadda. We were all old enough now that we all usually did our own thing when Mamá and Michael went out.
After that, Camila disappeared again, presumably to a different friend’s house. Hayden sequestered himself in his room and Mamá headed off to pick Michael up from work.
Seemed like the perfect time to read some tiny books.