“Actually,” John finally said with a bit of an embarrassed cough. “I wasn’t thinking of just us. I’d heard Lucy complaining that her father and stepmother both have to work on Thanksgiving.”
Debra felt sad that Lucy’s family had to work, especially her stepmother working at the Heroes chain. She wondered why fast food stayed open on such a major holiday that geared toward other kinds of meals.
“I’m guessing she doesn’t want to be with her half-sister Juanita and baby Miguel. But how comfortable will she be around her ex-boyfriend’s family?”
John shrugged.
“Guess we’ll have to ask her,” he said. “You want to fly out that way and talk to her?”
“I’m ready if you are,” Debra said with a smile.
Next, she flew with him in her arms across town to the Casa Casa Apartments in the MacArthur Park area of Los Angeles, where Lucy lived. They went up to the apartment and knocked on the door. Lucy’s younger half-sister Juanita answered, balancing her baby son Miguel on her hip.
“We don’t want anything, go away,” she mouthed off without even looking them in the eye.
“Hey!” Debra snapped back. “You’ve made it clear before you don’t like me, but that’s pretty rude.”
“Not any ruder than you,” Juanita jabbed in return.
“Look, Juanita, is it?” Debra heard John ask, who never met her before. “I’m John. Deb and I are here to visit with Lucy, please.”
Juanita looked John up and down with an interested eye, which irritated Debra for reasons she couldn’t explain.
“Come on,” Debra pushed, as she noticed John rather speechless over the whole thing. “Get your eyes off your next potential conquest and go find your stepsister.”
Juanita hurriedly turned, shouted something in Spanish down the hall, and then hurriedly moved away. Lucy came to the door.
“What are the two of you doing here?” Lucy said, skeptically. “Last time Debra showed up, she burst in here trying to make good after thinking she could write lyrics better than I could.”
“It was my idea,” John spoke before Debra could say anything. “Debra and I don’t have plans for Thanksgiving tomorrow, so we were thinking of going to Vito’s and wanted to see if you would come along.”
Lucy’s expression turned to one of displeasure.
“I’m not excited about going to a restaurant run by my ex-boyfriend’s family.”
“See!” Debra insisted. “Told you she wouldn’t go.”