He tilts his head down to me. “And you have no idea how hard my brother and I have worked either. It’s ridiculous for you to assume you’re the only one around here who’s trying to get their business off the ground. You think you have the right to monopolize this area?”

A gravelly throat-clear causes us to twist our heads to the side. Again, we’re surrounded by spectators, and again, they film us with their phones. I choke down the urge to scream.

“If I may interject.”

The throat-clearer raises his hand. Matteo Roderick from Matteo Eats Maui stands at the front of the crowd. He runs the most popular food vlog on the island and gets thousands of views every day. He dines at our food truck weekly, always giving us positive reviews online and on his social media accounts. Tourists visit our food truck often because of him, and for that I have to be grateful. It’s why I resist the smart-ass remarks dancing on my tongue when he uses phrases like “flavor profiles” within earshot and when he offers unsolicited advice on how we should adjust our seasonings, why I ignore him even though he loudly chats while filming himself eating. It’s why I haven’t ripped his sandy-blond man bun from his giant head and tossed it into the ocean.

Matteo lifts an eyebrow. “As much as I love passionate discourse about culinary arts, I don’t think this style of conversing is conducive to a pleasant dining experience.”

I cross my arms over my chest, hoping it gives me an extra ounce of patience to deal with Matteo’s long-winded and patronizing monologue. I notice Callum does the same. Matteo is maybe in his late twenties but talks like a snobby food critic who’s approaching retirement age.

“I can only assume you two have heard of the Maui Food Festival coming up in May?” Matteo asks.

Callum and I nod. Everyone—every food truck, every restaurant, every tourist, every local—knows about the Maui Food Festival. It’s the unofficial kickoff to summer, with every popular local place participating in it. Any eatery with any hope of making it on the island registers for the festival. Maui restaurants set up booths and food trucks congregate in downtown Lahaina to sell their dishes. People vote online for their favorite. Those that do well are guaranteed a boost in their business for the season, but the winner gets the sweetest prize: ten thousand dollars and a spot in a commercial for the Flavor Network.

“It’s only the beginning of March, but you both plan to partake, I assume?”

Again, we nod.