Kids birthday parties

I spent Friday evening not on a date with my husband, nor watching some stupid show on TV, nor did I spend it having a nice dinner with my family. No, instead I spent it at Peter Piper Pizza for some kid's birthday party. Dan'l knows the birthday girl's brother and I guess so the brother doesn't have to hang around a bunch of five-year-old girls, they invite Dan'l. But that means dragging me along too--to spend the evening with all the aunts, uncles, cousins, abuelitos and abuelitas and mom's co-workers, too.

Last year I tried to hide in a corner while reading a book. They were nice enough to feed me, so I tried to be a bit more social this year, except when you're son is in a cast, you have to be in two places at once. When I got back from tending to Dan'l and his coupons, I went back to the table where I noticed someone had already taken my seat had also moved my stuff. I was really annoyed, but then noticed that it was my junior high school nemesis' mom and sisters (by the way, who takes their older teen and maybe 20-something daughters to a five-year-old's birthday party?).

Luís was the annoying tubby kid in elementary. His mom was a teacher at the same school, so he acted like a brat and was untouchable. Once, some girls had squeezed his cheeks so much that his mom had to go to the girls' classroom and explain how Luisito went home crying and his cheeks took forever to get back to normal. I wasn't in that class, but Luisito was in the same classes as me in junior high and sat between me and my best friend. He would intercept our notes and threaten to blackmail us. Fortunately, he had a crush on my best friend and she could make him do anything. But one thing she couldn't do was keep him from blabbing to everybody that I was passing off a bastard nephew as my brother. Yes, my sister had him when she was very young, but my parents raised him and I always thought of him as my brother. But times were more conservative and for everybody to know that sealed my fate as low class poor ignorant trash. And I hated Luís for it.

Others hated him too, but for different reasons. He was a damn good clarinet player, and he liked to brag, that is until Joe David kicked him in his male parts hard enough that Luis had internal bleeding. Well, at least that was the rumor.

Last I heard Luís dropped out of college, drove a Camaro and was married to someone from Nuevo Laredo who no doubt needed a green card (the guys in my class had dubbed him Luís obese). Joe David is a fancy doctor of music somewhere and me? I got you guys reading my rantings.