My Gym Trainer Counted Every Rep and Then Counted Me In novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: Her Mother's Table
My mother's house in Maryvale has not changed its paint since I was eleven.
It is a low yellow block with a chain-link fence, an orange tree in the front yard that never fruits, and a screen door that sticks.
I stood on the step on Sunday with a pan of tamales in my arms and Rudy behind me with a bag of tortillas.
I heard my sister's laugh through the wall.
"You can still leave," I said.
"I'm not leaving."
"My mother will ask you everything."
"I'd like her to," Rudy said.
I opened the door.
The kitchen smelled of red chile and onions.
My mother stood at the stove in an apron, five feet tall and fierce, stirring a pot with a wooden spoon.
She looked over her shoulder at Rudy for a long time.
"Mamá," I said. "This is Rudy Villalobos."
"Hello, Mrs. Ruelas," he said. "Thank you for having me."
"Hm," my mother said, and went back to the pot.
The table was set for eight.
Pilar sat at the far end with her son on one side and her daughter on the other.
Her husband carried the pot in.
My mother pointed with her spoon to the chair at the head of the table.
It was my father's chair.
Nobody had sat in it in four years.
I opened my mouth.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of My Gym Trainer Counted Every Rep and Then Counted Me In are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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