last week my mom and i began the arduous process of stripping wallpaper from the kitchen and laundry room. after a few days of sweaty, glue-y work, including climbing ladders, scraping and scrubbing the ceiling, my dad convinced my mom to let professional painters take over the project. so over the past few days, gizmo (guillermo), joey and hector have been taping, covering, sanding, and primer-ing our kitchen.
all of these guys are around my age, in their late twenties, also mexican american. i've chatted with them a bit, found out that gizmo graduated from highland high school the same year i did; joey has two kids, gizmo three, hector none. they were a little surprised to find out that i don't have any kids of my own.
at some point, hector asks me if i have a boyfriend. i tell him no. later that same day he asks, "so why don't you have a boyfriend?"
my favorite question. "i don't know," i respond, smartly.
"you're not ugly," he says matter-of-factly.
i didn't know quite how to respond to that. veiled compliment? does "not ugly" = "pretty"?
"maybe i have a bad personality," i suggest to him while he washes paint brushes in the sink. he gives me a long sideways glance like maybe i'm crazy.
crazy! that's probably why i don't have a boyfriend. ;)
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