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“That’s wonderful!” Silvia said, wiping away tears of relief.

“It’s lucky you acted so quickly. You saved his life.”

Silvia raised her head. “Really?”

“Yes! You’re a hero. They’re going to put you in the newspaper!”

The smile froze on Silvia’s face. “What?”

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t want anyone taking my photo after I’ve been crying either. Although you wear it better than I do. My eyes are always so puffy! Let me get your name and phone number in case anyone wants to contact you. The young man’s parents surely will.”

Silvia’s panic came out of its short-lived retirement. The last thing she wanted was reporters snooping around her home. Or the police or even grateful parents. She had her own family to think about. Once the receptionist handed her a pad of paper and pen, Silvia wrote down a fake name and phone number. “Here,” she said, taking the glasses out her pocket. “He dropped these. I better go repark my truck. I’ll be right back.”

She resisted the urge to run, even when she was safely outside. As casually as possible, she climbed into her truck and slowly pulled away. When she reached the road and turned onto it, she maintained the speed limit, all the way to Omar’s house. Silvia pulled over a little farther down, checking her appearance in the mirror. Good thing she never bothered with mascara. She made herself as presentable as possible and tried a smile. It looked convincing enough. Then she reached for the raft. The bow had gotten smooshed, but she was able to fluff it up again. Silvia was just about to get out of the car when she noticed something else. A wrapped gift. Confused, she picked it up, only then remembering that the kid had dropped something. She could tell from the size and heft that it was a VHS cassette. Silvia turned it over in her hand, noticing a gift tag.

To: Omar

From: Ricky

She stared at it, the name familiar to her now. Omar had mentioned Ricky before, although they had never met. Thinking again of unwanted attention, she tried to assess the risk to her family. There was a slight chance that Ricky might have seen her in one of Omar’s videos. If so, he hadn’t seemed to recognize her. She should be fine. The receptionist had said Ricky would be okay. Crisis averted. Unsure what else to do, she got out of the truck and tried very hard to get into a celebratory mood. She would party with Omar, and with any luck, nobody but her would ever make the connection.

CHAPTER 37

November 22nd, 1992

Omar was satisfied with how the party was shaping up. Sure, there wasn’t a single bikini to be seen, but the music was pumping. He had moved his stereo downstairs to the living room so Anthony could play DJ. The dining room table was loaded up with presents, and the kitchen counters were covered in junk food, including catering from Archie’s Pizza Pi. All three rooms were filled with teenagers, with the exception of Mamani, who was in the thick of it. Currently she was standing up and using a cane to balance herself as she shook her hips. His parents only made brief appearances to clean up, or to restock drinks in the cooler, which was perfect.

After chugging a soda and letting loose an epic burp, he slowly made his way toward the living room, having seen Silvia walking that way. He kept getting stopped by people who wanted to talk to him, which was cool. He had all the time in the world. An entire day to hang out with all of his buds! He checked to make sure the TV was still playing a movie with the volume turned down. He’d gotten the idea from Silvia, since she often did the same thing at the record store.Tronwas in the VCR at the moment, mostly because the visuals were so striking, like one long music video from the eighties. Silvia was watching the screen while Dave attempted to engage her in conversation.

“You know that’s my girlfriend, right?” Omar whispered as he came up behind him.

“God dammit,” Dave muttered before slinking away.

Silvia didn’t seem to notice him go, which made Omar laugh.

“Having fun?” he asked.

“Hmm?” Silvia finally looked at him. She’d seemed distracted since getting here, but that wasn’t unusual. She was always worried about something. He had the cure for that.

“Wanna dance?” he asked, offering his hand.

Silvia balked. “I don’t really—”

“You do,” Omar interrupted with a playful smile. “Because it’s my birthday.”

“But not to this,” she said, gesturing at the nearest speaker.

“Soundgarden is badass,” Omar said, “but I agree. Luckily I happen to know the DJ.” He turned to Anthony, got his attention, and raised his hand in the air.

Anthony rolled his eyes and smiled. They’d set up the signal the other day. The current song was slowly faded out.

Anthony grabbed a record and set it on the turntable. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said into a mic. “It’s time to cozy up to someone you love, because we’re about to slooooow things down.”

Not far away, Mamani used the curve of her cane to hook Cameron around the arm. Omar grinned before turning back to Silvia. “I believe this is our song.”

His timing was perfect. “Take my Breath Away” fromTop Gunstarted playing. The tune wasn’t actually special to them. Omar had enlisted Anthony’s help in finding out Silvia’s favorite slow songs, and this was her absolute favorite. She blushed and squirmed, but when he reached for her, Silvia allowed herself to be pulled into his arms.

“Did you plan all of this?” she asked as they began to sway.