It was sunup, and Tita’s New Year’s Eve party was starting to end. The host had long gone to bed. Her niece, Chabelita, who took over for her, had fallen asleep de amadres on the sofa. The perrada that came in just after midnight had kept things going, and they kept perreando hard all night, telling jokes and stories about life in the pinta.
“So a vato acting all cletcha was talking like he was gonna come at me, but then he saw the tattoo with the 62 Comet lowrider,” a coyote among the perrada said.
“And what’d he say?” someone from the crowd asked.
“He knew what it meant and asked if El Low Rider was still in solitary, like somehow it mattered he was out of sight,” the coyote said.
“Siról, I said. But, shhhhh, don’t say it too loud cuz he’ll hear you, ese. And the vato backed off quick and never came back,” this elicited a light rumble of laughter.
“Sssst, El Low Rider finds out and a la fregada with that vato,” somebody said.
“A la brave, I did my time and never saw El Low Rider, but what my jefito said about them paying his jefita to cover me in the pinta was for real de amadres. Didn’t matter the vato was in solitary my whole time in the pinta,” the coyote said.
“Pos, the walls in solitary don’t mean anything to the devil,” someone said.
The laughter peaked. This rousted Chabelita awake.
“Qué fregados!” she said loudly after looking around and seeing she was the only woman at the still crowded party.
The perrada hushed.
Chabelita got up from the sofa and made her way unsteadily to the restroom.
Before closing the door, she looked back and shook her head, as if resigning herself to something inevitable.
“Bárbaro!” she yelled from inside the restroom.
Everybody stayed silent.
When Chabelita came out, she had a smile on her face.
“I wasn’t expecting that. I said, these suras for sure left the toilet all nasty and the seat up, but nel, it’s all neat and down.”
“Qué onda?” she asked.
“Bárbaro! You don’t think there’s manners in the pinta, o qué?” somebody said.
“Pos I heard that the devil’s there,” Chabelita said.
“Simón, but he’s in solitary,” somebody else in the crowd said to cries of laughter.
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