Page 20 of Capicú Summer

Alex groans, dragging a hand down his face and blowing out an exaggerated breath. He’s losing the game and still runs his mouth like a winner.

“You say that every game.” With that, he drops his final tile. And I play the five-two to keep the chain alive. Adri’s eyes flick to me, then to her fichas. She plays the two-three, and Ruben whistles. “She’s setting herself up to win.” Using his middle and index finger, he motions to his eyes. “Watch.”

Manny throws down a three-six, and Ruben follows with the six-zero. The board is finally getting tight, options are shrinking, and the music dips into a slower grove bachata again. Romeo crooning about heartbreak and second chances. Adri plays her last tile, another fucking double.

One-one.

“Capicú,” she shouts, rising to her feet, brushing off her shorts and straightening out her shirt when she’s offered the victory shot. Adri takes it in one go, shaking her limbs as the warm cognac slides down her throat. Manny throws his hands up, while Alex continues to run his mouth before getting up from the table and trailing off with one of the girls from the salon. I blink once, then another time, hoping that the board changes and somehow she got her win fucked up. There’s no way I lost.

By the time I’m done licking my wound, she’s halfway down the street, already running away from me. I wait a beat, trying not to make it obvious before I follow her path. Going past the bodega and up the rusted fire escape behind the laundromat. Sure enough, she’s there. Sitting on the rooftop, legs stretched out, eyes on the stars barely visible through the city brightness.

Quietly, I move closer. She doesn’t look back when she hears me approaching, instead she moves over, making space for me like it’s the most natural thing. I sit beside her, close but not touching.

“I guess some things never change.”

“You lost,” she mutters lowly. “I can’t work with you.”

“Why?”

Finally, she looks at me, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“Why?” she parrots. “Why?”

Adri opens her mouth to speak but slams it shut before the words come out. Her shoulders rise, jaw clenched tight, and then I see it. The war behind her eyes. The grief. The guilt. The ache. And the one emotion that kills me to notice—the accusation.

I reach out, my fingers brushing slightly against her wrist. I expect her to pull away. When she doesn’t, I let out a shaky breath. So many questions run through my mind. To the forefront comes the one that haunts me the most. Why?

One single word has me vomiting all the emotions I kept buried under nonchalance and swagger.

“You left,” I say quietly. “You left me and got with my cousin. And yet you can’t work with me? You can’t even give me answers? Why?”

She turns away from me, her breath catching in her throat, lips parting like she might speak or maybe cry. “Yael, please… it’s been so long…”

“For you.” My tone comes out harsher and louder than I intend. But it’s what happens when you have years of heartbreak locked inside of you. “Por un minuto⁠*, sit down and imagine what it’s been like for me. I lost everything and I never knew why.”

“Please.”

I lean in, just enough to feel the heat between us. Enough to make my pulse jump and hers, but she doesn’t move and I don’t push. Instead, I let her go and stand. Letting the silence settle between us. Letting the fucking stars hold whatever we couldn’t say. She’s not wrong, it’s been years, and she’s been with Lenny for all of those. What am I even doing?

“I’ll see you around, Adri.” I mutter as I walk away before I change my mind.

* La morena consentida del barrio Altura. - The favorite brunette of the Altura neighborhood.

* Mujer - Woman

* Coño - Fuck

* Oye, dique - Listen

* Frambuesa - Raspberry.

* Oye, oye - Listen, listen.

* Por un minuto - For a minute

CHAPTER 7

Adriana