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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Detours.




El Tepeyac was at the end of the block, a small and crowded place, with business people, grandmothers with small children, a front patio with outdoor seating and potted plants.
An enormous outdoor grill was sending smoke signals to the neighborhood, because soon a mariachi group walked in and started playing. Ron ordered for us at the counter as I waited for him at a table.

He returned with open bottles of beer with lime wedges poking from the lips. I laughed. Not at the sight of the lime, I had seen those before, but at his audacity to consume beer at lunchtime, on a work day. He winked and laughed back.


We sat outdoors, boungavilla and roses climbing the walls; Mariachi making everyone happy, loud and happy children dancing; friends greeting each other. Ron waved at a few people, and exchanged greetings in Spanish.

“I told you about the art cooperative down the street? No. Well, I spent a couple of years there with a friend of mine from Cal Arts. It was supposed to be an internship for me.”

“And? What happened ?”

“I still paint and I still volunteer there. I do this and that. I get tired of one project and jump to the next. Before my divorce, I was on the road all year with a couple of bands.”

“Oh? How long were you married? Do you have children?”

“Not long. No children. She was fine with the money. She just didn’t want to travel after a while. I’m still playing and traveling.”

The grilled meat, salsa, beans and rice made up the biggest burrito I ever had. It was the only time I had a proper lunch since I started working there.

Back at school, the police was everywhere.



Part four/six

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19 comments:

Sniffles and Smiles said...

Oh, you Dickens, you...a serial story...and you leave me hanging!!! What a wonderful forum for your fiction!!! I'm going to love making my regular visits here! I'm already hooked!

Amy said...

Today's entry was too short! (Listen to us complain, will you?!)

Tessa said...

Is there love in the air, swirling sweetly amongst the litter and the loud laughter? But, hey, the police..... Oh my, now what?!

Kikit said...

The police caught him drinking on a working day? Haha :)

Glad to read this post before going to bed. :)

Fire Byrd said...

I love the way this is building up. Are you writing it as you go or have you plotted it all before it gets here?
xx

Rosaria Williams said...

Dear Readers:

This is true serial writing, a page a day. The only thing I plotted in advance was the ending and the school where they first meet. The rest is developing. There are a lot of things I can't do in this format:
1. I can't redo what's already down on paper;
2. I can't rush once I established that the story was going to be in six parts.
3. Since I'm basically publishing a first draft, there are many things that would have been polished at the end.

Thank you for your encouragement.

Pyzahn said...

Rosaria...I sincerely appreciate your visit to Prattle and introducing yourself. I've enjoyed visiting your blog.

I look forward to learning more about you, reading your work, hearing about your adventures and sharing a love for Italian cooking.

Suldog said...

Dammit! Police? More, please!

Tess Kincaid said...

I want to have a beer and burrito at El Tepeyac!

Elizabeth Bradley said...

If I have alcohol at lunch, I can't go back to work. It makes me want to head for the beach, or a nap. The story is progressing nicely.

Paul Costopoulos said...

Sunny with variable cloudiness. Just the recipe for continued readership. I like it and am looking forward to the other 3 chapters.

Renee said...

For pete' sake you have me hanging at the end of my chair.

What happened when you got back.

xoxo

An English Shepherd said...

Oh and now the police, I am pulling on my lead to find out what happens next ;-)

Wizz :-)

Sheila said...

You're brave. I didn't start posting anything until the whole thing was finished and I was looking for revision input. To actually have readers before I knew what was happening would keep me from sleeping till it was finished. Please don't tell me you don't know why the police are on the scene.

Maggie May said...

I will have to come back when I've got the granddaughters off to school. I need to read the beginning!

Natalie said...

Mexican? Naughty men? haven't I brought you up better than that????

Love to you.xx♥

Dave King said...

Dickens would have been green with envy!

Lori ann said...

This is really fun, reading your page a day and on top of that all your comments! looking forward to the next.
♥lori

Eleonora Baldwin said...

Four days I'm in the Italian wilderness with no internet coverage and you manage to stir up a thriller story in episodes? I'm backtracking and getting all my detours jumbled...

I'm exhausted and in dire need of sunlight but happy to be home. Even if only for a few days.

Ciao cara, sei un'autrice impareggiabile.