Dante huffed. “You really think he’s even looking? He’s got it easy here. You feed him—I know you do—and he just lies around all day? We should all be so lucky.”
Mina winced. That was harsh, even if she’d wondered the same herself.
Momma Cora sighed. “Viejo mio, I know there’s no love lost between you and my son—”
“I’ve told you before. That man tried to kill my son. Most people don’t have to like the man who tried to kill their son.”
“Carlito’s our son, and you don’t have to tell me what Valentin did.” She took a deep breath. “But that was a lifetime ago, and he was no more than a boy himself—an angry, misguided boy. He did his time. He’s been struggling to be a good man ever since. I’m not asking you to like him, but he’s still my son. If I tell you he’s looking for a job, I expect you to believe me.”
“You I believe,” Dante said grudgingly. “So, what? I should just accept he’s a ghost in this house? He can’t come downstairs and face us all like a man? Sit at the table when we’re all here for dinner? He wants to be part of this family again, but he wants to sit upstairs like a roommate who doesn’t have to pay rent?”
Mina jumped when she felt a warm hand against her back. She looked over her shoulder just as Val leaned in, peering through the crack in the door like she was, his head above hers.
“He has his pride,” Momma Cora said again. “I think that’s all he has right now. You said some pretty nasty things to him when he lived here before. You and Carlito both used to tell him how he would fail, how he couldn’t be a good father, how he’d never amount to anything.”
“We weren’t wrong.”
Behind Mina, Val shuddered, and his breath fell hot on the back of her neck. Her stomach churned, and her heart ached. For years, whenever Val’s name came up, she wouldn’t join in but would silently nod at Dante and Carlito’s derision for him. After he’d left the way he had, she’d thought they were right. He was as undependable and selfish as they always said. Still, it couldn’t have been easy to hear those things, even if he did deserve them.
Given that she’d spent the last three weeks wishing he’d just go away again, her sudden sympathy was confusing, but beyond that, her brain was muddled by his nearness. Her skin writhed. It wasn’t a creepy sensation, like she couldn’t stand someone in her personal space. This feeling almost made her nervous and hyperaware of her body. She should push back, shove him away from her.
The strange thing was… she didn’t want to.
“He knows exactly how you feel about him, and you wonder why he’s trying to stay out of your sight,” Momma Cora said, her tone wry. “Just let him be for a little longer. Let him sort himself out.”
“You’re babying him, and he’s far past the age where he should be able to stand on his own two feet.”
“That’s the point, Dante.” Momma Cora huffed. “Soy su madre. You and I are not young anymore. I want to know my children will be okay when I’m gone. Carlito’s fine. He’s a good man, and he has a good woman to take care of him. Mina’s doing well. I know she’ll be fine. ¿Mi hijo? ¿Mi niño? My Valentin? Oh, I worry about him. Maybe a little babying is what he needs. God knows he never had that when he was a child.”
Val huffed, and his hand was gone from Mina’s back. She turned, watching him take the stairs two at a time, his steps silent as if he were made of air.
Disgruntled, Mina pushed the study door open. Cora and Dante, leaning across the desk toward each other, both straightened up. “Heya, folks.” She sat down in the chair leaning against the wall nearest to the door. “How’s it going?”
Cora and Dante exchanged a look, but their expressions were gentle. Cora went over to her and ran her fingers through her hair, kissing the top of her head. “Hola, mijita Minina. Is something wrong?”
Mina didn’t blame her for thinking so. Every serious conversation the family had had taken place in this little room. “That’s what I came in here to ask you.” She looked around the room pointedly.
“Nothing to be concerned about, princesa,” Dante said. “We were talking about Valentin, about his situation.”
Mina blinked, the picture of innocence. “What’s his situation?”
Dante huffed. “I suppose I don’t have to worry about you turning out anything like him.” He smiled at her. “You’re not so young and impressionable anymore, are you?
Mina smiled sweetly. Her foster father didn’t know the half of it.
“Valentin has always been a lesson in how not to live your life,” Dante said. “But at your age, he was on parole and barely beginning to think about going to school. You, however, have a degree and are smart enough to know better, even if he did try to fill your head with nonsense.”
It was lucky her parents had cured her of the habit of rolling her eyes at them when she was a teen. A whole month without her car. She’d always thought it was unfair, because her habit was mostly their fault. How else was someone supposed to react to their drama?
“What kind of bad things would he be filling my head with?” she asked, her tone light. “He’s fine whenever we talk. A little thick-headed, but that’s Val. He’s not cruel; he’s clueless.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed. “He’s spoken to you?”
“When was this?” Momma Cora asked.
Mina glanced between the pair of them. “We do live in the same house. It was bound to happen sometime.” Had he really managed to avoid Dante completely? “He made me a sandwich the other night.”
“And he was nice to you?” Momma Cora asked.
“Yeah. He was fine.” She had to laugh. “You guys talk about him like he’s some gangster or something. He’s not dependable, but he’s not an asshole. Well, not that kind of asshole. Not mean.”
“I thought you didn’t like him,” Dante said.
Mina shrugged. “I don’t like him, but that doesn’t mean he’s some hardened criminal. He made it on his own for years, didn’t he? Never asked for your help, though it kind of sounds like he could’ve used it. I don’t like him, but I’d rather he be here with us than out on the streets.” Another shrug. “He’s still ours.”
Dante looked dubious but remained quiet. Momma Cora smiled and kissed her hair again. “How did you get so sweet? My beautiful girl.”
Mina didn’t think she was being sweet. There was plenty about Val not to like, but he’d never been the monster Dante treated him as.
Then again, as her foster father had said, most people didn’t have to put up with the man who’d tried to murder their child. Just because Val had been an angry, messed-up kid didn’t mean that Dante had to forgive him. It’d been even more awkward when Val had stayed there in his twenties—in the same house with Carlito, who’d grown up knowing his older brother tried to kill him.
Life in her mixed household had always been interesting, to say the least.
“Things aren’t so easy out there,” Mina said to Dante. “You don’t have to be messed up to end up with nothing these days. The system’s stacked against us. Sometimes it’s a matter of luck that anyone succeeds, no matter how much they try.” She made a face. “Except for the whole bit about him abandoning his kid. That’s a dick move, for sure.”
She stood again, kissed Dante’s cheek, hugged Momma Cora, and headed out the door. She stopped short, jumping when she saw a figure by the stairway. Her eyes locked with Val’s and held for several awkward beats.
He looked at her like he wasn’t sure what to make of her. Had he heard what she said?
Deciding she didn’t care—it was messed up that he’d kicked his kid to the curb—she brushed past him and headed up the stairs to her room.
Chapter 5
Val had to work hard not to gnash his teeth. He concentrated on standing still while the man across the counter pored over his application and resume.
The fact he’d brought a resume in the first place was laughable. This was a gas station, and the position h
e was applying for was gas station attendant. It was good, honest work, but it didn’t take a college degree.
Regardless, Mr. Crenshaw seemed to be going over each line, making a face here and a “hmm” there. They’d already been over the fact Val had a felony on his record. If he was going to reject the application, Val wished he’d just get on with it.
“You bounced through a lot of jobs when you were in Texas.” Mr. Crenshaw’s voice was light, just a hint of condescension, which was par for the course for the conversation so far.
Val cleared his throat. “My years in Texas were, uh… Well, let’s just say there was a situation there that prevented me from giving my all at my day job. You’ll notice I consistently held a night job at a convenience store for the first two years. It was hard to keep a day job when I lived there.” His heart gave a quiet pang. “Either way, that situation doesn’t exist here in California. There’s nothing here preventing me from doing my job, day or night.”
“Uh-huh.” Mr. Crenshaw moved to the side to collect a $20 bill from a customer, nodding and smiling before he returned to Val. “And it looks like you’ve kept your nose clean. This felony’s almost twenty-years old.”
“Yes, sir,” Val replied, trying not to clench his teeth.
“It says here you went to school for a little bit. Didn’t finish your degree?”
“Uh… No, sir.” Val did his best to smile. “The, er, situation in Texas took me out before I could complete my Bachelor’s, but I did complete the AA.”
“Never completed your schooling in Texas, huh?”
Val’s temper flared. Wouldn’t he have included it if he’d gone back to school in Texas? “It wasn’t a good situation there. That’s why I left.”
“Are you thinking about going back to school? Finishing up your degree?”
“Frankly, sir, right now, I’m just trying to pull my own weight. I can think about things like school once I have some steady work.”
“Uh-huh.” Mr. Crenshaw straightened up. He crinkled his nose, looking down at the paperwork in front of him.
“Listen, sir, I don’t have a family.” Another pang. “I don’t have anything else going on for me. I can take any shift you need at any time, and I’m a hard worker. I have a letter of reference. One of the jobs I was let go from was because my schedule at the time didn’t fit my needs. My manager there wrote a letter stating it wasn’t because I didn’t work hard.”
Mr. Crenshaw’s lip twitched. “It was because you couldn’t be at work.”
Val frowned. “Right, but—”
“But that situation is back in Texas and you’re here.” He nodded. “Okay. How about you come back at 6:00 tomorrow evening? Bring your social security card and your license.”
Val blinked. “You’re serious.”
Mr. Crenshaw looked bemused. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Belmonte.”
~0~
For once, Val was in a good mood when he got home. Life had been something of a shitshow for the last two months, since Johana appeared at his door waving an eviction notice in his face. He’d finally caught a break, small and pathetic as it was.
That was his life in a nutshell, though—disaster with the occasional reprieve dotted here and there. It was just enough to make him think he could get his feet underneath him before the next disaster struck.
No such luck. His good mood only lasted a few minutes. Just as he got out of his car, another car pulled up right behind him. His little brother stepped out.
The only things Val and Carlito had in common were their height and dark hair, and even the hair was a point of contention. As could be expected, Carlito was everything his parents could hope for. His hair was cut neat and straight, whereas Val’s was wavy and always too long for his mother’s taste. Val almost always had a shadow scruff that his mother hated and Dante said made him look like the bum he was; Carlito, of course, was clean-shaven. He was cut thinner, but that was mostly because he didn’t work out the way Val did. Of course he didn’t. Who had time for that when he was so busy making a good life for himself?
Carlito cocked his head to his side, glancing back up the street a moment before he turned back to his brother. Val swore he did it on purpose, because there was another difference. Where Val had two normal ears, Carlito’s left ear was all kinds of messed up. It was mangled, with the scar tissue crawling down his cheek a bit before it petered away into smooth skin.
“Hello, Carlito.” Val was careful to keep his voice measured. “Where’s the family?”
His little brother narrowed his eyes. “Are you going to pretend to care about my family?”
“It was just a question.” He headed up the walk. Carlito followed, limping as he had for most of his life. “How’s Junior? Is he excited about being a big brother?”
“Okay, can we cut the crap? Don’t act like you’re a caring uncle all of a sudden.”
“Little Carlito’s my nephew.” Val opened the door and went inside. “Why wouldn’t I care about him?”
“That’s what I came to ask you. Are you planning on being a functioning member of this family, or are you going to stay in your room until we forget about you again?”
Val turned and leaned up against the wall, determined not to lose his temper. Carlito was good at getting him angry. He clucked his tongue, tsk-ing and shaking his head. “Now, was that nice, little brother? What would Mom and your father say about you coming at me with guns blazing?”
Carlito crossed his arms. “I came here to see you, because I’m sick of listening to Mom make excuses for you.”
“Look, I wouldn’t really be great company right now. That’s all.”
“It’s not about being good company.” Carlito shook his head, a hint of disgust in his eyes. “That’s the problem with you, Valentin. You only do family when it’s convenient for you. That’s not what family’s about.”
Val clenched his fists at his sides. “You don’t need to lecture me about what a family is.”
“Oh, no? Maybe someone should. You’re so concerned about my son, right? How’s yours? How’s my nephew? Did you bring him home with you?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Val pushed off the wall and headed for the stairs.
Behind him, Carlito made a disgruntled noise. “Hold on, Valentin,” he said, his voice much gentler now.
Val paused, trying to unclench his jaw, but didn’t turn to his brother. Carlito sighed again. “I don’t know why it has to be this way between us. I got to meet Emile once. You’ve seen Junior once his whole life. Now Mom says we’re not going to see Emile again. I don’t understand any of that.
“But that’s all beside the point. You’re here now. Whatever it is that’s keeping you away, just get over it.” He paused a beat. “Unless you’re going to leave again.”
Val grunted and shifted his weight. “I don’t want to leave again,” he said softly, grudgingly.
And he didn’t. His family didn’t like him, but they were all he had left. He needed somewhere to be, and he knew his mother loved him, even if only because she’d given birth to him.
“I don’t want you to leave either,” Carlito said. “Mom worries too much. She’ll be less stressed if you’re here where she can see you.”
“Right.” Nothing like being a teenage troublemaker all over again. And Carlito, of course, was the adult in this situation.
“So if I bring Ava and Junior over, you might actually be here? My son thinks you’re a myth.”
“Like Santa Clause? I hope he doesn’t expect me to bring presents.”
“No. Even he knows better than that.”
For some reason, that stung. Val pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth and let it go. Carlito slapped him awkwardly on the back. “Okay. Good. Lots of things to talk about. I’ll see you at dinner.”
Val went to the window and watched his brother retreat down the walk. Even with the limp, he was strutting. It was th
e walk of someone who thought he’d accomplished something.
Val was something to handle for his family. His mother had been trying to handle him since he’d walked back in her door. He knew damn well the things Dante wanted to say to him, which was why he’d done his best not to give him the chance. Now he was being handled by his baby brother.
Tonight was going to be interesting.
Chapter 6
“All right, all right, all right.” Mina all but threw the car into park as she pulled into the driveway of the house and took her phone from where it sat in the cup holder. The damn thing had been buzzing nonstop for the last two miles of her drive—doubly annoying because it vibrated against the plastic. “Damn. Take a hint, you needy jerk.”
It was Celeste, but Mina had known it would be. Celeste was the kind of person who didn’t understand why her call—or, in this case, text—wasn’t the most important thing in your world.
Got another thing tonight. Be ready. Pick you up at 10:00.
Mina frowned at the phone. “Twice in one week?”
Don’t you think we’re pushing it?
She got out of the car and headed for the door. Her phone buzzed almost instantly. Christ, did Celeste ever put it down?
Trust me, doll. Would I put you in danger?
“Whatever,” Mina muttered with a sigh. She put her phone in her pocket so she could open the door. The phone buzzed again, but she ignored it this time. It was high time Celeste learned some patience. Mina wasn’t her lover, after all. There was no reason she should be accessible 24/7.
Once Mina got in the house, all thoughts of Celeste vanished. “Ooooh. Om nom nom.” She followed her nose to the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Momma Cora’s waist in a hard hug.
“Oof.” Momma Cora chuckled and reached back to give Mina’s hair a caress. “Mi Minina.”
Mina let her go and started poking around in the various pots on the stove. Rice and beans were a given. “You’re cooking chicken mole.” Mina had to stop herself from bouncing in place like a six-year-old as she watched Momma Cora push juicy chunks of chicken around the chocolate-brown mole sauce.
Never Enough Page 3