Jeté to Stardom

5. Dying to Dance

Paloma links arms with her oldest son as they pursue the selections of phones. "What do you think, Dom?"

"I think Lux and Nova are gonna be over the moon," Dominic replies. "Aren't they the only ones out of the other girls that don't have phones?"

Paloma nods. "Si. Even Mackenzie has one."

"They're ten; why do they need a smartphone?" Rafael complains; he and Lysander wandered back to them from where they were staring at the flat screens.

"You were ten when we got you your first phone," Paloma reminds him. "The Samsung Z500. You wanted it so bad and begged your Tata and me for it every day leading to your birthday."

"Yeah, but it was a flip phone," he counters as Paloma calls a sales clerk over.

Lysander snorted. "Blame technology, not Nova and Lux. How are they supposed to know that six years later, everything can be controlled by their finger."

"Exactly. Thank you, Sander. Rafael, remember, you should be in school right now, but you're not, and two, you're getting one too," Paloma tells him before turning to smile at the sales clerk. She points at the black phone, the iPhone 4S. "We'll take nine of this. Thank you."

"I'll be right back," the sales clerk says shakily before heading for the back.

"You know, I think it was Lux that dropped it in the toilet too," Rafael says.

"¡Cortala! She was four."

"Fine. You know June is coming up fast..."

Paloma cocks her eyebrows at him, already knowing where this was going. "Uh-uh."

"And I'll be taking my driving test."

"Yeah. You will."

"Mamá put him out of his misery," Lysander complains. "You know what he wants."

"Let's see how you do on your test first, then we can talk about cars."

Rafael, lets out a long-suffering sigh. "You got Dom a car. And I heard you and Tata talking about getting Sander a car next year."

Lysander's eyes pop. "You are?"

"Why can't I get a car!?"

The sales clerk returns with the phone, and Paloma smiles at her before handing over her card. While the sales clerk checked them out, she sent a sharp look towards Rafael that instantly shut him up.

I got this Mamá," Dominic wraps his arms around Rafael's shoulder. "You darling insensitive little brother of mine, don't have a job. You know the rules. Wanna car? Pay half the car note. This means you need a job! No job, no car."

"Thank you, love," she accepts back her card. "Did your brother explain it clearly enough, or do you want to have a conversation with your Tata?"

Rafael's face was mulish. "I understand, sorry."

"Wait? What about my car?" Lysander asks, looking hopefully at Paloma.

"You still have a job next year; you'll get a car," Paloma admits. "It was supposed to be a surprise, but your brother has a big mouth."

"I said sorry."

"Now you get to go home, and I have to spend the next five hours with moms that act more like five-year-olds than the adults they are," Paloma says as they exited the store.

Dominic pats her on the arm. "Good luck."

Paloma rolls her eyes. "Thanks."

Hours later, almost two, Paloma stood in studio 'A' waiting for the pyramid to start.