“Hey, Efrain!” She steps aside to let me in as I drag the bag behind me. “What you got in there?” Then Marlene notices my chancl’as. “You must be crazy, walking the streets in them sandals in this cold!” Ignoring her, I ask, “Mind if I wait for Nes in his room?” Claudia’s toddler Joshua races past me on his way from the kitchen to the living room. Seconds later some guy in his late twenties chases behind him. Must be his father. I think his name is Robby. He does a double take and stops in front of me. “Who you?” he says. “That’s Nestor’s friend Efrain,” volunteers Marlene. “Efrain?” The guy squints at me, his breath foul with Corona. “I don’t know you.” Marlene sucks her teeth and yells, “That’s ’cause he’s Nestor’s friend!” “Shut the hell up, Marlene! I heard you the first time, damn.” He starts to say something to me when his cell phone rings. Recognizing the number, Robby flips open the phone and barks into it. “Claudia, where the hell you at?”
