Moreno Residence

Home of the Moreno Family. Guests are most welcome here!

Swinging her hips to the up beat song playing on the radio, Lupe smiled as she helped her grandmother wash and dry the dishes. School had let out a bit earlier than normal. The reason was unknown, but Lupe wasn't complaining. Drying another one of the dishes, she set it down before moving from the kitchen sink to the door where her uncle had just entered. She pulled him into dancing with her, flashing him with a wide grin. Emilio didn't shoot her down, even if he was tired from work. He gave Lupe a tired smile of his own before she sang out "Y teeeeeeee Quierrrooooo~!"

"Dios mio, Lupita! You gonna kill me with that voice of yours!" Emilio joked, brushing past her to get to the refrigerator. Rolling her eyes, Lupe sat down by the table, staring at her uncle's back.

"Hey, Uncle Emi, wha'd ju bring back for me?" She asked, playing with a lock of her hair. This caused Emilio to turn around. He raised an eye brow before saying

"Was I s'posed to bring you somethin? You don't bring me shit when you come from school."

"I'll give you my homework. You wanna do it?" She grinned. She laughed once Emilio ruffled her hair as he passed by her. He took a bite out of his left over sandwich before saying something along the lines of 'You're full of shit, kid'. As he left the kitchen, she was going to mess with him some more before Maria called her.

"Lupita! These dishes ain't gonna do themselves, and I sure as hell ain't doin them all by myself. Ven aqui!"

"Yes, Abuelita." She sighed, slowly taking her place back by the sink. While finishing up the dishes, she and Maria talked about her grandfather's shop, and it's business. The also talked about how big Jesús was getting and that she needed to pick up Junior from school in half an hour.

"Oh yeah, your daddy called while you were gone." Maria said casually. This caused Lupe to beam with happiness. She truly missed her father and mother. She'd give anything just to see them again. Well, she didn't have a whole lot to give, and that would probably make it much more easier. "He said to call him when you get a chance - But go pick up your brother first!" She added quickly. Knowing Lupe, she would spring right to the phone and call him at that very moment. Lupe told her grandmother that she understood, and left to go pick up her brother from school.

"Oh! Go to Abuelito's shop an get a phone card! I need to use the house phone later, and I don't want chu runnin up the cell phone bill, you got it?" Maria cried, sticking her head out of the door.

"Yeah, Abuelita, I know!" Continuing her walk to the elementary school, Lupe couldn't help but wonder how her parents and other siblings were doing. Maybe if she saved up enough, she could go see them, but that wouldn't be until a while from now. A long, long while.

"...And then, one of the bigger guys went to  block me from scoring, right? So I was there for a while, and then I swirled around him," Junior explained, basketball in hand as he swirled around no one in particular. He and his sister were the only two in the living room, seeing as though Uncle Emi was out working, Abelita and Abuelito were working the shop... and who knows where Jesus was.  Lupe laid on the cool wooden floor attempting to do homework and somewhat listening to her little brother at the same time.

"Then, woosh! I scored the winning shot!" The younger sibling positioned himself just right to replicate the same exact shot that had won him the game. As quickly as the ball left his hand, it hit an un-expecting Lupe right in the head. "Oh sorry!"

Rubbing the side of her head, Lupe quickly sprung to her feet, grabbing the basketball ever so violently. "Damn it, Junior! ¿Eres estúpido o algo así? Where the hell did you think that was gonna go!?" She cried, ready to launch the ball at his head over the couch.

"Yo! Dije lo siento! Calm down!" Junior ducked quickly as soon as he saw the ball leave Lupe's  hand with great force. The ball bounced off one of the pictures hung up of Jesus before hitting the side of the couch and rolling away. Both siblings dived for the ball, but soon began wrestling one another. "Damn it, Lupita I said sorry!" the boy struggled to call out as his sister as she put him in an arm lock.

"I don't care! Admit that shit was stupid! And watch your damn mouth!" Junior wasn't going to admit it, so Lupe wasn't going to let go. It wasn't until the sound of the door knob turning that Lupe finally eased up on him, which led the dark haired boy to pounce on her. "Get offa me!"

"Yo, what're you doing, get off each other!" Emilo shouted, prying his nephew off his niece. "The hell is wrong with you?"

"She tried to murder me!" Junior screamed. Lupe's jaw went slack for a moment before saying,

"No! He needs to learn to play ball outside like normal people do!"

"And you both can wrestle outside like like normal beasts do! Out! Go ahead!" Sucking her teeth, Lupe obliged, trudging slowly to the front steps of her house as Junior followed with his basketball. She watched him for a while as he practiced on his dribbling and speed. He was good, she had to admit, but she still hated his guts for the time being.

When he was finished, he sat by his sister on the porch, running his fingers over the small bumps of the basketball. "Hey, when do you think we'll go back inside, I'm thirsty."

"Heh, you threw the ball at me. Now suffer." She smiled, pressing her back against the railing. Junior looked at her for a moment then back down at the floor.

"Are you still taking me to school tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Lupe only shrugged. "Just cause I want to," she said simply. Her brother only muttered a small "Oh," before the silence kicked in again. "You wanna go to Abuelito's shop?" Junior gave a puzzled look.

"I thought we were supposed to stay here."

"He said get out. He didn't say where. C'mon, gimmie your hand." The little boy didn't say anything. In fact, he drew his arm away from her. "I hate walking with you and not being able to hold your hand, now come on before I fight you."

Junior reluctantly gave her his hand as the walked the streets of the Samo district. "You're annoying when you do that."

"Then I'm doin' my job as a big sister right."