“Now why would I do something that hurts my business?!” Mom retorts. “We were catering together! I’d be sabotaging myself, too!”

“Because you’re already in talks with Deals Deals to sell Salt! I know it! You couldn’t care less about the job and decided to take Sugar down!”

I glance at Pedro, worried he’ll believe his mother’s words. “It isn’t true,” I tell him. “Deals Deals must be behind these lies, too, putting pressure on your mother.”

He doesn’t look at me, his eyes still glued on the fight outside.

“You’re a snake, Alice!” his mother goes on.

“Get out of the way!” Mom shouts back.

“You’ve always known you were going to sell out, haven’t you? Admit it! If I find out you’ve been discussing with Deals Deals from day one, while you had the whole neighborhood fooled with that boycott you started, I’m selling Sugar first! I won’t be made a fool of! I’m not leaving this godforsaken neighborhood with nothing!”

This is a nightmare.

We wait until our mothers go their separate ways so we can come out from behind the shelf. But even when they finally step away from the store’s entrance, Pedro and I still stand staring at each other. I can’t help but feel like we’re getting swept back into the feud. And now I’m too afraid to move.

I can’t make myself walk away from him before I know what he’s thinking. And somehow I feel he’s wondering the same about me. When we hear the shuffling of customers nearby, Pedro grabs my hand and pulls me into another empty aisle.

I need to tell him about that business card. About the way Mom keeps it clipped to the disconnection notice like it’s an emergency number, but after hearing Dona Eulalia’s threats, I’m stuck in an overwhelming dilemma.

Is it safe to expose all of my families’ vulnerabilities to this boy who has always been my enemy?

I gave him my word. I promised I’d warn him if I noticed Mom was about to cave.

But if Dona Eulalia gets so much as a whiff that Mom is considering selling, she could take it as the sign she’s been waiting for to sell Sugar first.

I feel small.

I feel like a coward.

“I have to go,” I say, my throat dry like sandpaper.

But he looks into my eyes, his fingers entwined with mine, and I can’t leave.

“I’m sorry,” I say. Without thinking, I wrap my arms around him.

“I’m sorry,” he says in my ear, sending a shiver down my back.