This Is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves

Author:Aaron H. Aceves
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 2022-08-23T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

We’re eating at the kitchen table (a first for me and my parents this summer), halfway through the meal, when my mom brings up my hangout with Saleem (or Fabiola, if you’re Saleem; or Arturo, if you know the truth).

“What’d you two get up to?” she asks Saleem.

He’s (relatively) calm on the surface, but I know him well enough to know he’s a ball of nerves right now. There’s a sheen of sweat on his forehead, he’s scratching his face more than usual, and he’s barely touched the chiles rellenos my mom made especially for him. He clears his throat to speak, but Fabiola interrupts him.

“The usual stuff.”

My mom turns to Fabiola. “Oh, you were there?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“I didn’t know that.”

I chime in. “She invited herself over.”

“Yes, I did,” Fabiola says. “You two just stand around in the pool for a couple hours when I’m not there!”

“But that’s exactly what we did!” Why is this coming out so easily?

“I know, but with me there it’s an experience.”

“Whatever you say, Fabiola.”

Seriously, I feel like I’m starting to believe our own lies.

“It was fun,” Saleem says. His speech was labored, but he relaxes a bit after saying it, proud of his contribution.

“I’m glad you all have each other,” my mom says before taking a sip of wine.

“Me too,” I say. “Me too.”

After dessert, my friends and I offer to clean up the kitchen while my parents go relax in the living room. Fabiola washes the dishes, Saleem dries them, and I put them away.

“I think that went well,” Fabiola says in a low voice.

“I think so too,” I say.

Saleem dries a plate in silence. The look on his face has me concerned.

“You did all right,” I tell him.

He looks up. “Thanks.” He doesn’t sound like he means it.

“You could use a little more practice though.”

He hands me the plate. “I never want to do that again.”

The intense way he says it makes my stomach drop. I don’t know what to say.

“From now on we’ll keep you out of our shenanigans,” Fabiola says, handing him a glass.

“That would be appreciated,” he says.

I watch with a sinking feeling as he dries the glass, not taking his eyes off of it. What have I done?

The three of us eventually join my parents in the living room. I should feel happy and calm with my chosen family and my actual family in one room together, but I can’t get the look Saleem gave me, the one before he started avoiding eye contact altogether, out of my head. He’s angry with me and, worse, hurt.

“He deserved it,” Fabiola says.

The narrator of the show just revealed that the reason Jessica Allard-Keleman killed Calvin Kelemen was that Calvin married Jessica for her money and was trying to run off with her fortune and a much younger person.

“Agreed,” my mom says.

“Why did he say person?” Saleem asks.

“Did he?” my mom says.

“Who exactly was Calvin Kelemen’s significantly younger paramour?” the narrator asks. “His name was Ali Caplain, and he’s a community college student where Calvin teaches oceanography.

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