Chapter Text
The laughing and conversation in the bodega was punctuated by the door banging open and the bell above it chiming merrily. Usnavi looked up from the second pot of water he was boiling to greet his newest customer.
“Hey, Benny-”
“WHAT THE FUCK?” Benny yelled, throwing his hands up in the air and glaring straight at Usnavi. The bodega fell silent.
“Nina slipped out from behind him, grinning sheepishly. “Sorry, I don’t know why he’s–”
“YOU’RE STAYING?” Benny yelled again, and Usnavi flinched. Nina giggled again.
“Uh… yeah?” He responded hesitantly. He shot a look at Vanessa, who was sitting on the counter. She just shrugged in response.
“Is that… are you… mad about that?” Daniela asled curiously from where she was leaning on an aisle shelf. Her lips were pursed in that “tell me something I don’t know” pucker that only she could manage.
“MAD? I’M FUCKING THRILLED!” He yelled, balling his hands into fists and stomping his foot. The gesture was pretty much the exact opposite of thrilled, but then again, there wasn’t any sarcasm in his tone, either. Daniela glanced at Carla who, quite frankly, looked terrified.
“Then why don’t you tell us why you’re so… stompy?” Nina asked him, still smiling.
“BECAUSE I– ALL THAT TIME– AND YOU JUST– GAAAAH!” Benny threw up his hands again, turned on his heel and stormed out of the bodega, slamming the door behind him. The bell chimed merrily, announcing his departure.
Nina giggled again after a few seconds, turning to Usnavi. “He really is happy you’re staying. I don’t know, he just– when Sonny told us, he kinda just froze and suddenly he was all angry and offended or something. But right before that, he was asking me how he could get you to stay, anyway. So I really don’t know.”
“Wait, he asked ME that too,” Vanessa spoke up, jumping off the counter.
“Interesting,” Daniela intoned, more to herself than anything.
“Maybe he was mad that of all the people who could’ve made me stay, it was Graffiti Pete,” Usnavi suggested, grinning. Pete was leaning on the opposite wall, and at the mention of his name, shook his head and looked down at his feet.
“AN’ HIS MANAGER!” Sonny chimed in through a mouthful of Cheetos, jumping down from his spot on the counter next to Vanessa to clap Pete on the shoulder.
“Oye, Sonny, you gonna pay for those?”
“That depends, cuz, are you gonna make loyal customers pay for food with glass shards in it?” Sonny shot a look back at him before gesturing to a pile of punctured food bags on the counter.
“Ooh, in that case, I want some!”
“Me too!”
“A mí también!”
Sonny laughed and snatched his own Cheeto bag before any grabby hands could touch it. Vanessa ended up grabbing a packet of Skittles. Nina got Doritos. Daniela had maneuvered her hips and managed to bump everyone else out of the way and grab the family-sized bag of Lay’s Potato Chips, which she held between herself and a grinning Carla.
Usnavi glared at each of them in turn, arms still crossed. “Just because it’s damaged merchandise doesn’t mean you should eat it– in fact, that’s exactly the OPPOSITE of what it should mean.”
“Well.” Sonny waggled a Cheeto at him in response before opening his mouth to pop it in. Before he could, though, Pete’s hand snatched it up and shoved it into his own mouth.
“HEY!” Sonny protested.
“Just makin’ sure it’s safe,” Pete smiled. Vanessa laughed, and Nina joined in, and once again all the occupants of the bodega were laughing and chatting with each other like it was the easiest thing in the world. Which, Usnavi supposed, it was.
Even if things were changing, the feeling of lounging there in the bodega, talking amidst the warm aroma of brewing coffee would never get old. They sat there as people came and went, content with each others’ company. They listened to stories and songs and chatted with the customers that came through. And even though Abuela Claudia was gone, she was sitting with them. They could feel her watching over them like she always had, and not because her face was literally rolled up above the bodega door.
Even if things were changing, this would never change. It was happy. It was familiar. It was home. Usnavi couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
That is, until Pete straightened and shouldered his backpack.
“I gotta go. I got another project, and I wanna finish ‘fore it gets too hot.”
“Guess I’m headin’ out too,” Sonny added, jumping off the counter to meet him at the door.
“Uh, no, you aren’t,” Usnavi shot back. “You kinda got a job, Mr. De la Vega, and it’s not being Pete’s partner-in-crime.”
“His manager, actually,” Sonny corrected, putting his hand on the door handle. Usnavi sighed, too lazily content to argue further. There were no customers at the moment, and there wasn’t much to do. Sonny didn’t leave, though. He paused, still with one hand on the door, and looked from Usnavi to Pete and back to Usnavi, a slow grin growing on his face.
“His manager and his boyfriend.”
At that moment, Benny walked back into the bodega to a very strange sight, indeed. The bodega bell was chiming. Nina was gasping. Vanessa was squealing. Carla had one hand over her mouth, the other crumpling a potato chip bag that was clutched to her chest. Daniela stood next to her, cackling victoriously with her head thrown back. Sonny was pushing past him, one hand grasping Pete’s as he pulled him outside, yelling “Okay, byeeeeeeee” over his shoulder. The only other thing that could be heard over all the commotion was Usnavi, whose voice rang out loud and clear.
“SONNY DE LA VEGA!”