Bad Habit by JD Faver Page B

held a school photo of Angel in a navy blazer with a crisp
white shirt and burgundy tie. The thick dark hair and large brown
eyes were the same. Angel’s sons would look like this.
    Teri shook herself and threw back
the covers. In the real world, her life was a mess. She was in
danger and she had endangered people she cared about. Teri put her
bare feet on the cool oak floor. She tied the belt to her
terrycloth robe and peeked out into the hallway. The smell of
coffee and bacon wafted up the stairway. She made a quick dash to
brush her teeth and wash her face but hadn’t finished before
someone was banging on the bathroom door. She stuck her toothbrush
in the pocket of her robe and ventured out into the
hall.
    Angel’s brother Mikey leaned
against the door frame. “Oh! I didn’t know it was you.”
    “ Sorry if I took too long,” she
said.
    “ No. Take your time.” Mikey flushed
and dropped his razor. He held it up to show her. “I can’t leave it
in the bathroom or one of the girls will use it on their
legs.”
    Teri laughed and padded back to
Angel’s room. When she dressed and went down stairs she found Angel
at the table reading the newspaper. His great-grandmother had
finished eating and was sipping hot tea from a dainty porcelain
cup.
    Isabel flashed a smile and pointed
to the food on the sideboard. “Help yourself.”
    “ First, let me return these.” Teri
held out her hand and placed the sapphire earrings in Isabel’s
palm. “Thank you so much for allowing me to wear them. Knowing that
they belonged to your mother made the experience even more
special.” Teri folded the black lace shawl over Isabel’s arm and
gave her a hug.
    Isabel gazed briefly at the gems in
her hand and glanced at Angel, raising her brows in an unspoken
question.
    “ Come sit down, Teri.” Angel poured
coffee into a cup at the place next to him.
    Wordlessly, Isabel closed her
fingers around the earrings and slid them into the pocket of her
apron.
    Teri slipped into the chair and
smiled at Angel. “Good morning.” She gazed into his eyes,
acknowledging the pleasure she found there.
    “ Right back at you. Did you sleep
well?”
    “ I was asleep before my head touched
the pillow...Your pillow.”
    “ I kept thinking about you there. I
felt so far away from you.”
    “ Me too.” She dropped her gaze.
“You were an adorable little boy. I didn’t realize you were a
Metallica fan.”
    He rolled his eyes and grinned. “And I ate, slept
and breathed baseball.”
    “ I could tell.”
    Elena and Rosario came down the
stairs followed by Mikey.
    “ Where’s Esme?” Angel
asked.
    “ Dead to the world. She’s not used
to staying up so late,” Rosario said. “Last night she fell asleep
in the car and Pop had to carry her inside like she was five years
old.”
    Teri pushed away from the table and
helped herself to scrambled eggs and bacon. As she returned to her
seat Isabel placed a stack of fresh flour tortillas on the table.
Angel took one and loaded it with bacon and eggs and spooned a
healthy dose of salsa down the center before rolling it up. Teri
followed his lead, giving him a questioning look as she pointed to
the salsa.
    “ It’s a little spicy,” he
said.
    “ It’s pica,” Rosario
said.
    Teri spooned some of the salsa on
her eggs before biting into the filled tortilla. It had enough heat
to make her eyes water.
    “ Too hot?” Rosario
asked.
    Teri nodded, chewing as rapidly as
she could.
    Isabel brought her a glass of milk
and Angel took her plate and filled a new one.
    “ Why don’t you start over?” he
said.
    She couldn’t taste the next few
bites but they served to quell the fire raging in her mouth as well
as fill her stomach. The fact that she was unable to speak went
unnoticed because everyone else was talking.
    The Garcia family seemed to be able
to communicate without anyone completing a sentence and each member
was capable of conducting more than one conversation
simultaneously.
    By the time Teri