Electric Tacos (Wattys 2023)

TWELVE

Ricky woke up at half past eleven the next morning, after several hours of Pops, Dory, Jose Max, and Fur Ass trying to get him up earlier.

He yawned and pulled open the curtains. He squinted as the strong sunlight filled up the room. His head was spinning, and his mouth felt like it was filled with dust.

He felt greasy, and he smelled of sweaty weed and tequila.

Going for a drink with Chuck in the park wasn't the best idea, since he'd wanted to do some studying at Electric Tacos with Mateo, during his break.

Speaking of, his stomach was growling at him. It hadn't been filled in about fourteen hours. He was craving something fatty and salty to get him going, along with the strong kick of a triple espresso coffee.

His skin was tingling, and his ears started to ring as he heard the faint vocalizations of Javier Solis coming from the kitchen.

The same album that Pops played when he was cleaning the house every Saturday without fail. He'd memorized every accentuation of his voice, along with every note and lyric.

The Cruz Weekend routine went like clockwork without fail; Pops woke up at half seven and made breakfast before starting to clean up, Dory went off to boxing practice at nine, Fur Ass went to Drama practice at ten, Max left at eleven to train with the Angels senior team, Pops walked Chico at noon, made lunch and then rested the whole afternoon.

He even continued it during the week he was sick with the flu.

Walking into the kitchen, he let out a cough as he inhaled the scent of Windex.

Pops was up on the countertops cleaning the glass.

Ricky went over to the fridge and pulled out the bottle of water that he'd put in there yesterday and slugged it into him before putting the plastic into the trashcan at the corner of the room.

"Enrique," Pops said. "Can you go to the store and buy me some rice, dog food, and wipes por favor?"

Ricky nodded. "Sure, I'll need money though."

Pops passed him a ten-dollar bill. "Bring back the change."

"Aight."

Ricky had a quick shower, changed into some fresh clothes, and headed to the general store to buy the items for Pops, and a small snack for himself. Half an hour later, he came back and left the items on the table when Pops was out walking.

He made his way back out, heading toward Electric Tacos with the midday sun beating down on him. It was still hot and in the low 100s. The Sonoran desert heat was unforgiving for most of the year, but he was going to a place of refuge.

He was greeted by a gust of cool air as he opened the restaurant door. He made his way over to the counter, where Mateo smiled at him.

"Sup?" Ricky asked him.

"I'm good, and I'm sorry about last night," Mateo said back.

"It's aight." Ricky smiled at him. "Can I have a taco grande combo meal with tortilla fries?"

Mateo smirked. "I dunno, can you?"

Ricky fake glared back. "With a large coffee, thanks."

Mateo grinned. "Sure, go and sit down at the back and I'll bring it down."

Ricky nodded and walked around the restaurant, which was quiet just before the lunch hour rush. The local news station headlines were being broadcast in the background on a cheap color TV, and a mixture of oldies, new wave, and Mexican music was playing over it.