"Rosie, I'm no fucken angel. People like me are the ones I'm trying to protect you from."-Mateo De Leon
"What if I don't need protection? I'm old enough to handle myself now Teo."-Rosie
Rosie is visited by her godfather Angel Del Leon and his son Ma...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Levantate! Get up hurry!" mother yelled as she pulled of the warm blanket off me. Your Nino (godfather) is coming to see you today Rosie!" My godfather's real name was Angel De Leon. Today was my 25th birthday and so my parents were all scrambling to get our tiny apartment where me, my sister Zaira, and my parents lived cleaned and organized.
I had been looking forward to seeing him today as it had been a couple of months since I had seen him and his kids who happened to be my favorite people in the world Mateo and Elena.
After finally deciding to listen to my mom and get up before she came back in the room angry, I tossed off the covers and tied my messy hair into a bun and did the bed. Mexican moms don't like repeating themselves twice and I'd much rather be awake than be hit in the face with a chancla (shoe) . After the bed was made I made way down the narrow hallway full of my younger sister Zaira's many shoe boxes and bags of clothes. It didn't take long to reach the family closet where we all have our clothes. I picked out a cute pink floral ruffled tube top and a pair of light blue jeans and hit the shower before our guests arrived.
Once I finished getting ready I made my way to the tiny kitchen where my mom and dad were having their morning coffee with bread. My mom had turned around in her chair and checked me out from top to bottom and whistled at me, "Who are you getting all pretty for Mateo?" she teased. My face burned hot as I felt myself turning red like a tomato, and turned around pretending like I hadn't heard her. Just then out the tiny kitchen window that rested above the kitchen sink I saw a big blacked out Suburban pull into the driveway. I knew it was my godfather because no one else would ever visit us in a brand new year model of that car.
We all shuttled our way into the living room where my godfather and his son Mateo had just let themselves in. My godfather quickly pulled me in for a hug as soon as I had approached him.
"Mija how are you?" he asked as I looked up at him and smiled, "I've been good, you know living life and what not." His fair skin seemed pale and his smile that always reached the corner of his eyes was missing. Something was off about his presence. He had always been strong and had a presence to him that commanded respect as soon as he stepped into the room but for some odd reason he looks broken today. His black hair finally showing hints of white giving away that he was aging.
I smiled at Mateo as he walked in behind his father. Mateo, and his younger sister Elena and I have been the best of friends since we were children. He had always been overprotective, kind and caring to me since we were children. Things have been kind of awkward between me and Mateo as we've gotten older, especially with Elena always teasing us about how she thinks we secretly love each other.
Mateo is an exact copy of my godfather when he was younger with his same fair skin tone and black hair and eyes to match it. He was taller in height getting that from his mother. Paired with a strong lean body. He ruffled my hair as his eyes finally met mine. I noticed they were also sunken and tired and couldn't hold in the curiosity any longer, I grabbed him by his hand and led him into Zaira and I's room, closing the door behind us.
