Twenty minutes later he was sitting at Ruben’s kitchen table watching Smiley inhale one taco after another.
“Damn, prima, you preggers or something?” Dopey asked.
She slugged him in the arm.
“Rude. Malcriado!” she yelled. “No, I’m not pregnant. Worrying about aliens makes me hungry.”
She ate one last taco de buche and sipped delicately at her horchata.
“Damn these tacos are good. Where’d you get ‘em Dopes?”
“Pasadena Avenue,” he said. “I’ll take you there tomorrow.”
“Órale,” she said.
Smiley glared at Ruben from her heavily mascara-covered eyelashes. He sighed. She had that look on her face that boded trouble about to erupt. Before she could start in on him, he winked at her and smiled.
“Mija, here’s the thing,” he began.
“Oh shit, it’s a thing,” she said nervously. “Whenever it’s a thing, shit happens like aliens landing in the park or a spaceship landing with frozen homies. What in the hell is happening, now?”
“Nah, nah, Babe, nothing like that,” said Ruben.
He passed her the book.
“My abuela had that book down in the basement forever and I was there the other day and she gave it to me and told me some of the story. I read what i could of it and went to talk to Dopey about it. On a whim, he decided to take a drive to Hollywood to check it,” he said.
Smiley turned the pages of the book, listening to Ruben tell the story of the grail and how he believed it was hidden in one of the Ramses heads at the Egyptian. She shook her head at him, pointing to a page of scribbles and diagrams as she did so.
“It’s not there,” she said.
“What do you mean, it’s not there?” asked Ruben.
“Look,” she said. “Here in these diagrams and notes, it says he moved it because he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to get back without drawing attention to himself.”
“Shit.”
“Well, wait,” she said. “There’s more.”
She showed him another page. “Mario says that he took the grail to the cemetery in East L.A. – Calvary. He said it was buried with the ancestors.”
“Dang. I don’t remember any of our relatives buried there, they’re all at San Fernando Mission.”
“Someone is buried at Calvary,” she said. “I’m trying to make out this name, but it’s so faded.”
“I guess I should ask my abuela,” Ruben said. “But damn, a cemetery is even worse than trying to break open a head at the Egyptian!”
Smiley shrugged.
Dopey said, “Damn, I wasted gas going over there.”
Smiley shrugged again. “That’s what you fuckers get for not picking me up first and dissing me on the tacos.”
Dopey and Ruben looked at each other and shrugged.
“No mames,” Ruben said to Dopey. “I guess I’ll go talk to my abuela and see what’s up, but you’re coming with me, cabron.”
Smiley laughed and Ruben glared at her.
“You come too, Ms. Yo se todo.”
“Fuck,” she said. “Just fuck.”