Cubanita Read Online Free PDF

girl appears at our side. A little older than me, blond and pretty. “Andrew, hi!”
    He looks up, his eyes go wide. “Hey, Jenny! What’re you up to?”
    The navel-ring-baring chick points at a group of giggling girls waiting to cross the street. “Nah, I’m just here with my friends. Came over to say hi.” She swivels at the waist like a toddler.
    â€œCool, this is Isa,” he says.
    She looks at me for, like, a fraction of a second. “Hi.”
    â€œHi.” Remove thyself from the premises, Blondie.
    Before she can say anything else, Andrew adds, “Great, well, I’ll see you around.” Kind of a sudden way to end things, but good for him. Fifty points.
    â€œOkay.” Jenny smiles in my direction, like she gets the hint, but leans in to give Andrew a quick peck on the cheek anyway. “See you, bye.”
    Yes, bye-bye, run along and play. “Who’s that?” I ask with a smile.
    â€œGirl from school. She lives in my building. Always saying hi, even though I hardly know her.”
    â€œGotcha.” I was correct about the girls-gone-gaga thing. This happens to him a lot.
    He shrugs and takes a swig of his Grande Caramel Macchiato with skim milk, hold the whipped cream. What’s the fun of a macchiato without the whipped cream? Or whippee creen , as Mami would say. He twirls a wooden stirring stick in his cup. “Why does she act that way? Your mom.”
    â€œMy mom? Oh, my mom.” I almost forgot what we were talking about before Blondie broke the flow. “Why? Who knows? It defies explanation. I believe researchers are still working on it. They’ve listed her under Freaks of Nature.”
    Andrew stares, not sure whether to nod in sympathy or laugh out loud. So I go on, “If you’d like to help the cause, send a donation to the Deciphering Cuban Mothers Fund of Little Havana.”
    Then he loses it. He cracks up, drawing attention from people at neighboring tables. “You don’t even live in LittleHavana!” He covers his face and goes on laughing.
    Me, I’m trying hard not to laugh, so he won’t think I amuse myself on a regular basis. “You think I’m kidding? I bet you never had to put up with this kind of stuff. I bet your mom’s normal, and she gave you free reign over your life while you were home.”
    Suddenly his laugh dies down. He clears his throat, and an uncomfortable stillness fills the air between us. Uh-oh, what did I say? “Andrew? I’m sorry. Did I just stick my foot in my mouth?”
    Looking down, he shakes his head and softly pounds the table with his fist.
    I lean in and try to peer into his face. “Andrew? Please don’t tell me—”
    He looks up, deep brown eyes locking with mine. “My mother died. When I was nine.”
    â€œOh, Andrew.” My hand flies to my mouth. “I’m so sorry! I should’ve thought about that before I said anything. I’ve only known you a few weeks, and here I am making such a stupid comment! I’m really sorry. Please don’t hate me.”
    He shakes his head some more, biting his lip, but it doesn’t look like he’s upset, it looks like he’s…And then he can’t hold it anymore. He loses it. He’s laughing and snorting, and I’m just an idiot who fell for the oldest trick in the book.
    â€œYou jerk!” I chuck a few napkins at him, while he continues to crack himself up. “I can’t believe you did that! I felt really bad! I really thought your mother had died.”
    His face does that thing again, where it goes from intimidating to sunny. He’s got the coolest smile ever, wide and sexy. “She lives in Orlando with my dad and little sister. Spends half her time on the Internet and makes Key lime pies the rest of the day.”
    â€œYou freak!” I pull my earlobe. I always do when I’m nervous. Why am I nervous? There’s nothing