Sofia looked at the flickering flame. She thought about the dance studio three blocks away where she used to teach salsa before the layoff. She thought about the mural she’d been sketching in her notebook for two years—a massive, colorful piece about immigrant grandmothers who ran bodegas. She thought about the silence she was so afraid of breaking.
Today, her thirty-second birthday, she had planned for nothing. No club, no $20 mojitos, no reggaeton blasting from a Jeep with bald tires. Just her cat, Gordo, a plate of pastelitos , and the quiet hum of her window AC unit. MyLifeInMiami Mia Khalifa Birthday Surprise
“Uh,” Sofia managed.
Sofia looked at Mia. Mia looked at the melting tres leches cake, then back at Sofia. Sofia looked at the flickering flame