A bulb of garlic near the cutting board and a few cloves resting next to it like a squat loving mother with her babes. That's what he thought looking at the small tableau.

"So," he said by way of breaking the silence, "Mama called." Sarah sat at the table while he worked dicing peppers. "While you were asleep."

She exhaled in the direction of the open window and only blinked in reply.

She pulled her foot onto the chair, hanging her toes off the edge, her heel in her crotch. She always smoked in his kitchen because they were siblings and she could get away with it.

He used the flat of the blade to scoop up the cuttings into a bowl and then he started on the onion. The scent was sharp and sudden. The view from the window overlooked the plaza, where youths on ladders hung strings of lanterns and garlands of small piñatas from poles for later that night. Clustered in the shade of the cork tree sat town elders, fanning themselves and slouched. They were jovial, he could tell that much, though at this distance, only tone of voice carried.

"She called and asked about you again, wanted to know how long you were going to stay here." Sarah shrugged and carefully tapped her ashes. She looked at him and he watched his fingers, the garlic nearby like small sugar skulls.

"She said it wasn't right for you to be away like this. Away from your husband." Sarah brushed her hair behind her ear.

"And what did you say?"

"What could I say? 'I don't know', I told her. I said you were still figuring things out. I said you were asleep."

Sarah furrowed her brow, assessing this carefully. She nodded and pulled up her other foot, now sitting crosslegged in the chair. She crushed out her cigarette and then dug both hands into her thick hair and scratched her scalp vigorously.

"Thanks," she mumbled, sighing out a tired grunt. She flopped her hands down into her lap and sniffed.

"What am I going to do? I have to go back for my clothes if nothing else." He nodded and listened; he cut the onion into futher smaller pieces the way he knew she liked it.