“Three salbutes, two garnachas and a soda,” I told the waitress at my favorite local food restaurant.
I took my seat at the big picnic table that was already occupied by Jose and Mario, two construction workers on their way home.
“Mario, don’t forget,” Jose said. “Tomorrow we got football practice.”
“I can’t go,” Mario said. “Tomorrow night my brother-in-law is getting a trophy for winning the big bicycle race and the whole family is going to be in Belize City.”
“Why you got to go?”
“When somebody gets some kind of award it’s a big deal. The family got to go support him.”
“Did I ever tell you about my uncle in Chicago?” Jose asked.
“No.”
“When I went to visit him he had great big trophy for bicycle racing.”
“Yeah?”
“But, that’s nothing,” Jose said. “He had ribbons for boxing and even a medal for swimming the 200 meters.”
“Hey, that’s pretty good,” Mario said.
“That was two years ago,” Jose said. “When I went back last year he had a trophy for Most Valuable player of the Chicago Cubs and a Super Bowl ring.”
“Your family must be proud to have an athlete like that in the family,” Mario said.
“Athlete? Tío Mikey is not an athlete. He owns a pawnshop in Chicago.”
Share
Read more
