Second Hand (Tucker Springs) by Marie Sexton, Heidi Cullinan

tomato sauce in her eye, started screaming. Already mentally lighting up a cigarette and drinking a whiskey, El pushed his chair back, herded the kids into their bedroom, and turned on the TV. After cleaning up Gabi, El positioned her in front of Dora the Explorer with the others and went back to the argument in the kitchen. Both women were shouting and pointing fingers and, to varying degrees, sobbing, Rosa mostly in fury, Patti largely in hurt. He broke them apart, sending Patti to sit with the kids while he helped Rosa with the dishes, teasing and distracting her until she calmed down.
    Patti was still there when Noah showed up, and El liked him on the spot. It was a shame he was the babysitter, not the boyfriend. A little young, but super-sweet and great with the kids, who came running out when they heard his voice, their faces bright and eager. The guy was good: he had a bag of popcorn, three boxes of candy, and a Disney movie in his hand.
    “Good to meet you, El,” he said when Rosa introduced him, enclosing El’s hand in his grip. He was slight, mocha-skinned, and drop-dead gorgeous. Not El’s team, though, from the longing looks he cast at Rosa.
    El wanted to bang his head on the wall as he realized Rosa had no idea those looks were coming her way.
    Noah was gracious to Patti too, giving her the line about seeing where Rosa came by her beauty, which of course El’s mom ate up with a spoon. It was all going so well, neither Rosa nor El saw the disaster coming.
    “You’ll have to come by my house next weekend. We always have a Fourth of July party, and we’d love to have you,” Patti said to Noah.
    Noah beamed, clearly touched to have been invited. “That’d be great. Usually I get together with my family, but my brother’s deployed and my parents have a wedding out of town.” He glanced at Rosa. “That okay?”
    Rosa said nothing, only stared at El like she wanted him to whip out a gun and put her out of her misery.
    “Hey, that sounds great,” El said, his mind working overtime, “but the thing is, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that, Mom. We should have the party here at Rosa’s house. So much more room, and more for the kids to do.”
    Now Rosa looked like she wanted to kill him. Her house had just enough room to squeeze the kids into it, and that was all.
    “Don’t be silly. We always have it at Abuela’s house,” Patti chided.
    “Yes, but your projects have gotten very large, haven’t they?” It sounded lame, but El couldn’t very well say your hoard . “With extra people, we’ll want room to move around.”
    It was as if the peace accord hadn’t happened. Patti bristled. “One more person isn’t too much trouble.”
    El’s head spun as it tried to keep up with his mouth. “Rosa wants to host it, Mami. Besides, I’m bringing someone too.”
    Rosa and Patti both turned to him, stunned into silence. El was right there with them. What the fuck had he said that for? Who the hell was he bringing to Fourth of July?
    Paul. You want to bring Paul.
    “I don’t want to get in the way,” Noah objected.
    Rosa, thank God, finally came to life. “No—no. It’s fine. I want you to come. I was going to ask you myself”—like hell—“but El’s right, I wanted to talk about hosting it before I offered. I can’t wait to have thirty people in my house and backyard. And El can’t wait to help me clean up and get ready for it.”
    Everyone laughed at that, but inside, El was groaning and imagining his very own orphanage again.
     

     
    As soon as he could escape, El chain-smoked his way down Rosa’s street, but once he made it to the Light District, his phone rang. It was Rosa.
    “What the fuck, El? I don’t want the party at my house!”
    “Hey, I was thinking on my feet. Mom had already invited Noah—”
    “Then how about I uninvited him later, or something that doesn’t upend my life, huh?”
    El winced. “I know. Sorry, Rosa. I’ll help you clean.”
    “You’ll do