My dad raised his hand to silence her.
“Se?ora Rivera said that you and Maribel were in my car the other day.”
I gulped. “We didn’t do anything to it.”
“So it’s true?”
I nodded.
“Is it my imagination,” my dad asked, “or are you still grounded?”
“Yes.”
“How did you get the keys?” my mom asked.
“I took them off the windowsill.”
My dad looked at me evenly. “Did you kiss Maribel?” he asked.
Flames shot through my cheeks. “What?”
“Did you kiss her in the car?”
“Why?”
“Answer the question, Mayor.”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Maybe yes or maybe no?”
I just stared at them.
“What did you do with her?”
“Nothing.”
“Did you kiss her?” my mom asked from behind my dad.
“I mean, yeah, I guess. It wasn’t a big deal.”
My dad glanced at my mom and for one delirious second I thought I was off the hook, that somehow I’d exonerated myself, and that we could all just go back to business as usual. But then my dad said to me, slowly, gravely, “You are not going to see her anymore.”
“What?”
“No more.”
“But what does that mean?”
“It means exactly what I said.”
I felt a dullness in my chest. “But why?”
“Her parents don’t want you to see her,” my dad said.
“Because I kissed her?”
“Was there more?”
“I mean, no …”
“No?” my mom asked hopefully.
“I swear, there wasn’t.”
But my dad shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. You broke the rules, Mayor. You’re only supposed to be with her in one of our apartments, aren’t you? I know you might think that’s unfair, but that’s what the Riveras want for her, so you have to respect it. And on top of that, you’re still grounded. Which means you shouldn’t have seen her no matter where you were.”
“This is because you don’t like her,” I said.
“No.”
“You never liked her!”
“Mayor, calm down,” my mom said.
“You don’t even know anything about her. I mean, did anyone even ask her what she wants?”
My dad shook his head. “You’re not going to see her again.”
“So that’s it?” I said. I felt the whole thing reeling away from me, like a rope slipping through my hands.
“Dios,” my mom said. “Qué lío magnífico.”