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you hear me?”
    “I’ll work on it.”
                              Alfonzo smirked, “You better.”
    “Shit,” Domingo grinned, “I t’s good to see cuz .”
    “ Same here but don’t let me come back for this shit again , I might put a serious hurt ing on you, for real ! ”
     
                                                
     
                                          
                                           ***
     
     
     
    Alfonzo arrived home with lofty expectations. All he wanted to do was kiss his kids good-night, climb in bed with his wife and fall his tired ass to sleep . Instead, he noticed Jessica’s car , walked inside the house and found a trio of conspirators waiting .
    ‘I can’t catch a break today!’
    Jessica, Emilio and his wife turned simultaneously in his direction. Whatever prompted this gathering he got the feeling he wasn’t going to like it.
    Selange remained seated on the sofa. “Hey, what happened to you ?”
    H e’d changed clothes and cleaned up on the plane but the angry red bruise on his face couldn’t be disguised. He shrugged, “Nothing, what’s going on here?”
    Alfonzo’s eyes didn’t miss how tired his wife appeared. She looked under tremendous strain . Could this meeting have anything to do with it, he wondered?
    Emilio rose, “I wanted to talk to you and your wife.”
    Alfonzo walked into the center of the room, put his hands in his pocket s. “Yeah, about what?”
    Jessica for the first time since he’s known the girl was quiet. Alfonzo’s jawbone clicked tight. He wondered why she needed to hold his wife’s hand. W hat was so bad she required moral support , or did someone die and they were there to gently break the news ? But, no , that couldn’t be it, this involved Emilio which kind of killed the question.
    “Jessic a and I wanted to tell you we’ re a couple.”
    Alfonzo’s face tighte ned . Okay, he figured as much, he wasn’t blind , besides from Emilio’s face he could discern more was coming.
    “And we got an apartment together last week.”
    Last week, he was slipping , that he didn’t know . Shit was going on right under his nose . No wonder Jessica decided to stay in Bayamón after getting her degree. She got an apartment downtown, near her new job, he knew that much –but he didn’t know she was shacking-up with Emilio.
    Selange released Jessica’s hand and went to her husband , “Hun, Emilio and Jessica wanted us to know first about their relationship because they don’t want it to affect Emilio’s job . They’re hoping you’ll listen and not get upset.” Her eyes were on his flashing blues. They were warning signs of his impending loss of control. She could tell, that’s why she stood there, making sure he didn’t hurt Emilio. “Just listen, okay?”
    He relaxed his stance, “I’m listening Emilio, is there more?”
    Jessica was up, at her man’s side. Alfonzo and his wife were facing their younger counterparts. He found it an unbalanced face-off because t hey all knew something which he did not . “Damn people, quit with the episodic build-up and get to the point, for crying out loud!”
    “Primo, I’m pregnant.” Jessica said bluntly. “I wanted to come and tell you myself. Emilio hasn’ t done anything wrong so don’t be mad at him.”
    “How far along are you?”
    “ About three and a half months .”
    Alfonzo’s eyes went naturally to her stomach for visual proof , he couldn’t tell, the cut of the blouse disguised any baby bump . Alfonzo assumed they’d recently started going out, not that they’d been hooking up for…he counted backwards…since the summer…since Miami. He’d been screwing Jessica the whole time , really? Now he was pissed. His fist landed in the young man’s face before Selange blinked . T he kid took it, even managed to stay on his feet.
    “ W