“No?” Welita turned to Chuy. “You told me he was.”
Chuy chuckled, and Naomi threw a potholder at him.
“I said there was a guy that Naomi was hanging out with after her group thing she does every Monday night,” Chuy said.
“You failed to mention that I was with another girl, too,” Naomi said. “Her name is Ellen. She’s in the group.”
“Is Ellen your girlfriend?” Welita asked Lash.
“Welita! That’s private,” Naomi said.
“Why should that be private? If he has a girl, he should be proud to show her off.” Welita turned to Lash. “Well?”
“No, ma’am. I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Really? Such a handsome fellow like you is single? And you’re so polite, too.” She patted his arm. “Take a seat here,” she pulled out an old wooden chair.
Lash sat down across the table from Naomi. “I know you didn’t expect me for dinner, Mrs. Duran—”
“Welita,” she said, pulling a lid from a huge black pot.
“Welita, I really appreciate you allowing me to have dinner with your family.”
“I knew you were coming.” Welita plopped a heaping scoop of beans onto a plate.
Lash glanced questioningly at Naomi.
She shrugged and eyed Chuy suspiciously.
“I didn’t say anything. It was a last minute decision,” Chuy said.
“How did you know, Welita?” Naomi asked.
“Rebecca told me.” Welita dipped a large spoon into a pot of Spanish rice.
Rebecca? The other angel? Lash thought. Did the guardian angel know about him? Maybe he could get more information about her from Welita.
“Who is Rebecca?” Lash painted an innocent expression on his face.
The room fell silent. Chuy and Naomi looked at each other.
“Well, uh, she’s kind of … she’s …” Naomi sputtered.
“She’s my guardian angel.” Welita placed a plate of food in front of him and sat in the seat next to him.
“Oh, I see,” Lash said casually. He picked up his fork and dug into the beans. “Umm, this is delicious.”
“Let me explain that,” Naomi said. “Welita is religious and—”
“There’s nothing to explain. Rebecca said an attractive young man would be coming for dinner tonight, and he did.” Welita ruffled Lash’s hair, and he grinned. He was really starting to like Naomi’s grandmother.
“Rebecca has good taste.” He winked at Naomi and placed a forkful of rice into his mouth.
Welita studied him for a moment. “You know, you look like her. You have the same perfect skin, and the same almond-shaped eyes—almost an exact duplicate of her.”
Lash coughed as a grain of rice went down his windpipe. Welita didn’t let anything get past her, and he feared he was close to being discovered. Although, based on Chuy and Naomi’s reactions, it didn’t seem like they believed her. Though many claimed to see angels, or even to have their own guardian angel, most unbelievers dismissed these claims as side effects of drugs or religious wishful thinking.
Naomi snorted. “Yeah, Lash is an angel.”
Welita scowled. “I didn’t say that. I said that he looks like Rebecca.”
Lash picked up a corn-husk-wrapped package. The conversation was getting too close for comfort.
“Lash, you need to—ow, stop kicking me Chuy,” Naomi said.
Lash looked curiously at Chuy.
“Don’t mind her. Go on. You’ll like it,” he encouraged.
Lash bit down on the husk and gagged.
Welita threw Chuy a glare. “Lash, you’re supposed to take the husk off.”
Chuy dramatically demonstrated the unwrapping of the tamale.
Lash did the same with his own tamale and bit down into the meaty pastry. “Mmm, this is good.”
“Told you,” Chuy said.
As they ate their meal, Lash wondered how often Rebecca came around. He didn’t notice her while watching over the house during the day. If he could somehow manage to run into her, maybe she could give him more information about what was going on with the Duran family. He shuddered to think that something bad would happen to any of them, even Chuy.
He looked around the small table. It was clear that Chuy and Naomi loved and respected Welita, even if they didn’t hold the same beliefs as she did. As much as Chuy and Naomi pretended to be annoyed with each other, Lash could see the familial love between them.
Bear started to bark, distracting him from his thoughts.
“What’s wrong, Bear?” Naomi asked.
The light above the table flickered and Bear barked again.
“That’s her.” Welita got up from the table and began to gather the dishes.
“What are you talking about?” Chuy handed her his plate.
“The light.” Welita placed the dishes into the sink and turned around. “It flickered.”
“And?” Chuy looked confused.
“It’s a sign.”
“A what?”
“A sign.”
Lash wondered if Raphael was using the light to contact him. He concentrated on the bulb and listened for any sounds that were out of the ordinary.