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When I tried to shake her hand, it felt like grasping a dead fish She just put absolutely nothing into it, and she avoided eye contact and gaveHer husband, on the other hand, ar hair and a stocky build, and despite the expensive suit, he gave off a used car salesman vibe
Stan Marquez tried his best to keep the conversation flowing as a server took our drink order He was very proud of his restaurants and told us how hout the Florida panhandle “We’re even starting to work our way down the peninsula,” he said, with a big sround on a new location in Gainesville just last oal is to open Crab Queens all over the state and later throughout the south, but one thing at a time”
The conversation ground to a halt at that point The server returned with our drinks, and Lorenzo and his mom both tossed theirs back and ordered another That was the first tieted with the cuffs of ray suit jacket for a few?”
Lorenzo answered for ht now that’s being directed by Gage Lang, the action star After our vacation, he’ll go back to fil on location in San Francisco” Now I sahy he’d usedabout me
“Oh, that’s great,” Stan said “I’ I ht’ve heard of?”
I glanced at Lorenzo to see if he was planning to answer forbreak Before this, I did some commercials, and I had a small part in an action movie”
“That’s gotta be a tough line of work,” Stan said “You’ve got sofor a handful of parts”
“Yeah, but Will’s great at it,” Lorenzo said It was unusual to see hi to be a huge star Just watch”
Stan went off on a tangent about his favorite h the appetizer course Then Jackie stood up abruptly and said, “Please excuse me I need to visit the ladies’ room”
We all stood as she hurried froone, Stan turned to Lorenzo and patted his arm “Your mom loves you very much, kid,” he said, as he looked up at him with a sincere expression “She really does She’s proud of you, too Jackie’s always telling her friends about your ith the dog rescue in Mexico City, and how you’re now looking after the buffaloes on Catalina Island It’s just that, you know She has a hard tiestured back and forth between Lorenzo and me
“It was ato change who I a to accept it, is she?”
Stan shrugged and said, “Honestly? Probably not But she’s still your ree with your lifestyle”
“It’s not a lifestyle, it’s who I aer crept into Lorenzo’s voice
I took his hand and asked, “Do you want to go?”
He shook his head “We’ve coh one meal”
His ht to the table We all sat in aard silence, picking at the lobster tails Stan had insisted we order, until Lorenzo finally said, “I e of plans We need to leave for Louisiana first thing to, so we’ll have to cut our visit short” Our original plan had been to stay in Florida for three days, but I could see why he’d changed his h not to hate his mother when she looked unmistakably relieved
“Well, we’re awful glad we got to see you,” her husband said He turned to me and added, “Both of you”
Stan tried so hard to make small-talk We learned he was an alumni of the local university, and he told us all about its famous football team, which at different points in its history had included Dion Sanders and Burt Reynolds I didn’t know shit about college football, but I tried h questions to keep the conversation hout the rest of the meal
Meanwhile, Lorenzo and his et up fast enough when the oodbyes followed, and then Jackie excused herself again to use the restroom The rest of us walked out to the lobby, and Stan started to tell us which route we should take through the panhandle