Luis petted her head and left her standing alone at the game. She watched his sun-streaked head bobbing toward the middle of the room. He was taller than most of the kids and stooped slightly above the crowd, accustomed to being a tall man in a not so tall country. Then he stopped to talk to somebody, combing his fingers through his hair as if he was self-conscious. He spoke to a girl sitting on one of the stools. Michelle saw that she had long black hair that ended at her tucked-in waist. He whispered in her ear and then tipped his beer bottle in the girl’s direction before disappearing into the crowd. The girl giggled and threw her hair back. But then the girl turned, and Michelle couldn’t believe it.

She marched up and asked, “Why did you change? Whose jacket is that?” She had never seen her mother act this way before.

Her mother said, “I didn’t change. I got cold and the hostess lent me her jacket.” Michelle said, “Why are you here?”

“Calm down, Michelle. I’m here same as the others. What does it look like? I’m vacationing.” Recently, it seemed as if her mother had completely changed as a result of the divorce. She acted youthful and haughty, a return to her school-girl glory days. She even spoke differently, affected, with a different cadence or diction or a tone that had bite with each word.

Michelle was so upset she hadn’t even noticed Aunt Kim. When she looked around, she saw that the hostess and the rest of the dinner party had migrated there too.

Her mother swatted at Michelle’s long billowy skirt, “You’ve got bread crumbs on yourself.” Her eyes were glassy and her breath smelled of alcohol. “Come closer, here,” she said, “the straps are uneven.” She began untying the bow on Michelle’s shoulder. Michelle stepped back and held on to the front panel over her chest. Her mother reined her in and whispered, “Stay still. Nobody’s looking. Besides, you’ve got nothing to show.” She was drunk and took her time fumbling with the straps. She was brushing nothing in particular off of Michelle’s shoulders when Luis all of a sudden returned.

He stood between them and put his arms over each of their shoulders. He swayed his hips back and forth to the beat of strumming guitars. Over the music he shouted, “Come on play!” They didn’t know what he was talking about. He pointed to the other room with the mouth of his bottle. He moved his elbow back and forth like the wheels of a choo-choo train. When she craned her neck, Michelle saw the edge of a pool table.