his smile and turns away, pulling his hat down.
“ Yeah, and why did I break it? You want to tell him why ? ! ”
“ ’ Cuzyou two don't know how to effectively communicate without getting all crazy ! ” His brother shouts from behind him, laughing with the others.
“ Ey, shut up, Alejandro , ” Anthony says, holding up a hand. “ Mind your business. Al, you come around here, asking me for favors, for this and that, but only when you want something, right? You use me,girl, and I do n’ t hear shit from you otherwise. And then you show up here with this pinc hé , guerro boyfriend, asking me to fix that piece of shit car again for free? Come on ! ”
“ First off, again, h e’ s not my boyfriend. And second, Anthony, this isn't the time or place. We both know you're gonna fix it. Stop embarrassing me."
“ Fine, right, okay, give me the money, you get your car tomorrow . ”
“ Anthon y …”
“ No, i t’ s cool. Yo u’ re right. Yo u’ re always right. Give me the money and you get it tomorrow . ”
Alice sighs and hands him fifty.
“ Wher e’ s the rest ? ”
“I’ ll get it to you tomorrow, when I get the car . ”
Anthony licks his lips, as his brothers roll their eyes and saunter back to the shop, knowing he is defeated despite all his big talk. “ You come to my house tomorrow, with the money, and you pick up your car . ”
“ What?!No way ! ”
He holds up his hands, unmoved. “ Nope, no. You will. You will come over,you will come in and say hi to Mama. She misses you, she asks about you all the time. I t’ s selfish you do n’ t call her nomore. And you will visit with Felicia. She has n’ t seen you in months, either. You owe her that. You ca n’ t just cut her out of your life because you do n’ t wannasee me, tha t’ s fucked up . ”
Alice rolls her eyes and he stares at her. “ Okay, fine. Tomorrow. But only for them . ”
“ Tha t’ s fine. See you then . ” He glares one last time at Julian before turning back towards his brothers.
“ You can drive now , ” she sighs, tossing him the keys and slouching down into the passenger seat.
“ Wh o’ s Felicia? Your daughter ? ” Julian asks.
“ Hell no! Felici a’ s his fucking Chihuahua . ”
Julian laughs and starts the car, flooring it as they peel away.
“ Are you hungry? I’ m starved , ” she says, stretching and wrapping her arms up under her hair, letting it fall in a lazy pile around her shoulders.
“ Yeah, I could eat. Where you wannago ? ”
“ Oooo! My choice ? ”
“ Yeah, sure . ”
“ Anywhere I want? Any fancy place I want? ‘ Beverly Hill s ’ fancy, even ? ”
He laughs. “ Sure, why not . ”
“ Okay! Take me to a place the stars go . ”
They sit up at Griffith Observatory, picking through their vegetarian sandwiches and sipping their drinks, watching the sunset. She frowns at him and down at her healthy food.
“ This is where the stars go ? ”
“ It is an observatory , ” he smiles, giving her his pickles.
She snorts and bites into the sandwich, instantly making a sour face at the healthy taste of sprouts.
“ I like this place. I t’ s kind of quiet. I use to come here all the time befor e… before , ” he shrugs.
“ This is what the stars eat? Blech . ”
“ I t’ s what you eat when you have a shoot coming up and you start training 6AM tomorrow, four hours a day, six days a week . ”
“ Are you serious? Really ? ”
He nods, chewing through the sandwich, staring over the city. "Yeah...this role is...very important. I really like the character but I'm gonna have a hard time, I can feel it..."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Usually
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