anything goes. If you play a word and it’s not in the dictionary, we take a vote on if it’s fair play.”
I nodded at him, accepting his terms, and anxious to see what anything goes really meant. We started playing, and I quickly realized anything goes really meant anything . English, Spanish, Spanglish, slang, dirty words. No cuss words, but I had a feeling that was only because I was playing. I had to admit, Anything Goes Scrabble was way more fun than regular Scrabble. I was laughing my ass off at some of their words.
Angelica played the word TIN. Ramón went next and added SOX to the end of it. TINSOX.
“No, no, no. There is no such thing as TINSOX.” Marcos, the unofficial referee, declared.
Angelica chimed in, “Give him a chan ce to explain. You know the rules. He explains. We vote.”
I loved how they had rules in this seemingly rule-less game.
“Fine,” Marcos said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms across his chest. “Explain.”
All eyes were on Ramón, and I wondered if he was starting to rethink his play. “Uh, like socks, you know, that are made out of tin?”
I broke out into a fit of giggles. He was really stretching it with that one.
“Oh, hell no. Sorry, Elle,” Marcos said in regards to his cussing. (Hell? Really? I was OK with hell, but I guess I wasn’t supposed to be.) “Vote,” Marcos demanded.
Marcos and Angelica voted no, which apparently counted as two votes despite the fact that they were playing as a team. Ramón voted yes, which also surprised me that the person who played the word in question got a vote.
“Yes. Let him have it,” was Genesis’ vote.
It came down to me. I was the tie breaker. Part of me wanted to give it to him. Was it a word? Oh, hell no. Did I feel like he should score points for creativity? Absolutely. It was my competitive nature that won out in the end though.
“ERRRRRRR.” I made the sound of the big, red X on the Family Feud. “Not a word.”
“Yes,” Marcos said with a fist pump.
“You guys suck,” Ramón mumbled, taking his tiles back.
“Sorry, bro. A+ for giving it a try though,” I told Ramón, patting him on the shoulder.
We finished ou r game, and I forgot all about Chris, J and my fucked up life. The kids were filing out the door, some to walk home, others taking a bus the Center chartered.
“You’ll be back next week?” Marcos asked.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I told him.
“Good. We’re gonna show you how to play Uno Mexican style.”
“The card game?” I asked.
“Oh yeah.” Marcos rubbed his hands together. He was more competitive than me it seemed.
I said my goodbyes to Penny and told her I’d be back the next week. I went home with a bounce in my step, and feeling better than I had since before my fight with Chris.
I stripped my clothes off and crawled into bed when I got home. I was exhausted. I’d had fun with the teens, but I wasn’t running at full power. As I nestled into my sheets, my mind began t o wander. I smelled the sheets, even though I knew they’d ceased to smell like him some time ago. I thought sleep would come quickly that night. I’d struggled Monday and Tuesday night to sleep. I thought my time with the teens and sheer exhaustion would have me passed out in a heartbeat.
I was wrong.
It seemed that the minute I slowed down and let my mind wander, it wanted to wander to the one place I didn’t want to go—J. Fuck. When the house was full of people, it was easy to ignore the thoughts that crept into my head about him. Now that I’d shooed everyone off, I had plenty of time to think. I thought about every moment I spent with J. Running though each second we spent wrapped up in one another. I thought about his promises to never hurt me. Most of all, I thought about the night he shot me.
I knew it was stupid to even begin to exonerate him. I knew he probably didn’t de serve my forgiveness, but despite what I knew, my heart kept telling my head that it was an
I nodded at him, accepting his terms, and anxious to see what anything goes really meant. We started playing, and I quickly realized anything goes really meant anything . English, Spanish, Spanglish, slang, dirty words. No cuss words, but I had a feeling that was only because I was playing. I had to admit, Anything Goes Scrabble was way more fun than regular Scrabble. I was laughing my ass off at some of their words.
Angelica played the word TIN. Ramón went next and added SOX to the end of it. TINSOX.
“No, no, no. There is no such thing as TINSOX.” Marcos, the unofficial referee, declared.
Angelica chimed in, “Give him a chan ce to explain. You know the rules. He explains. We vote.”
I loved how they had rules in this seemingly rule-less game.
“Fine,” Marcos said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms across his chest. “Explain.”
All eyes were on Ramón, and I wondered if he was starting to rethink his play. “Uh, like socks, you know, that are made out of tin?”
I broke out into a fit of giggles. He was really stretching it with that one.
“Oh, hell no. Sorry, Elle,” Marcos said in regards to his cussing. (Hell? Really? I was OK with hell, but I guess I wasn’t supposed to be.) “Vote,” Marcos demanded.
Marcos and Angelica voted no, which apparently counted as two votes despite the fact that they were playing as a team. Ramón voted yes, which also surprised me that the person who played the word in question got a vote.
“Yes. Let him have it,” was Genesis’ vote.
It came down to me. I was the tie breaker. Part of me wanted to give it to him. Was it a word? Oh, hell no. Did I feel like he should score points for creativity? Absolutely. It was my competitive nature that won out in the end though.
“ERRRRRRR.” I made the sound of the big, red X on the Family Feud. “Not a word.”
“Yes,” Marcos said with a fist pump.
“You guys suck,” Ramón mumbled, taking his tiles back.
“Sorry, bro. A+ for giving it a try though,” I told Ramón, patting him on the shoulder.
We finished ou r game, and I forgot all about Chris, J and my fucked up life. The kids were filing out the door, some to walk home, others taking a bus the Center chartered.
“You’ll be back next week?” Marcos asked.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I told him.
“Good. We’re gonna show you how to play Uno Mexican style.”
“The card game?” I asked.
“Oh yeah.” Marcos rubbed his hands together. He was more competitive than me it seemed.
I said my goodbyes to Penny and told her I’d be back the next week. I went home with a bounce in my step, and feeling better than I had since before my fight with Chris.
I stripped my clothes off and crawled into bed when I got home. I was exhausted. I’d had fun with the teens, but I wasn’t running at full power. As I nestled into my sheets, my mind began t o wander. I smelled the sheets, even though I knew they’d ceased to smell like him some time ago. I thought sleep would come quickly that night. I’d struggled Monday and Tuesday night to sleep. I thought my time with the teens and sheer exhaustion would have me passed out in a heartbeat.
I was wrong.
It seemed that the minute I slowed down and let my mind wander, it wanted to wander to the one place I didn’t want to go—J. Fuck. When the house was full of people, it was easy to ignore the thoughts that crept into my head about him. Now that I’d shooed everyone off, I had plenty of time to think. I thought about every moment I spent with J. Running though each second we spent wrapped up in one another. I thought about his promises to never hurt me. Most of all, I thought about the night he shot me.
I knew it was stupid to even begin to exonerate him. I knew he probably didn’t de serve my forgiveness, but despite what I knew, my heart kept telling my head that it was an
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