Amber's

My dad says there are three new Teslas on the cul de sac and the nextdoor neighbors are grandparents twice over now and the old couple in the corner house moved out in June. I remember measuring the time of day by the sight of the old man walking his jack russell. I hope by move out he didn’t mean pass away but I’m pretty sure he meant pass away and I hope someone is taking good care of their jack russell the way their jack russell took good care of them. That’s what they do. Dogs I mean. Even ours with her slow-moving oversized frame. She waits by the table never begging mostly just sitting with optimism hoping to be included. Insists on holding her own leash on our abbreviated strolls I pretend not to see the new patches of grey in her coat. Our favorite spot was closed on a Wednesday with no explanation just a note in the window that said they’d be back tomorrow. We went to Amber’s instead because their Mexican food is pretty good I ordered us three Modelo negras and my brother did a double take but not in a bad way just in the way you do when you’re pleasantly surprised. She noticed the tiny trace of ink on the edge of my wrist except I know she spotted it hours before, my mom I mean. A table of eyes begging for explanation so I did, tell rather than explain there was nothing to explain. Then we got quiet. The noise around us kept going but we stopped for 30 seconds a few minutes maybe longer. I think they started crying first or rather I thought I saw my dad’s face change shape before the rest of us but maybe it was the other way around it didn’t matter by the end the order of it all. They grabbed my hands until the tears slowed down.