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table and held the tray under her arms to get the notepad back out. “You all ready to order?” she asked with the tip of her tongue sticking out at the edge of her mouth.
    “Yes,” George said, folding up his menu.
    “Actually, can you give us a few minutes, I’m still looking at the menu,” Celeste said, reading glasses and all.
    George held his hands out in protest. “But you always order the same thing. A potato n’ egg taco with a cup a’ menudo.”
    “Well, what if I want to try something different this time, George .”
    The waitress looked at me, searching for an answer as they continued their small argument. I shrugged, unable to give her one and sipped my tea.
    “I’ll just give you all a couple of minutes. My name is Sarah by the way, call me over when you all are ready,” she backed away and went on to the next customers, “Do you all need refills?” she asked the table of senior citizens.
    I studied the atmosphere around the room, the people, and the art. The inside was cozily decorated. Small Mexican-style artwork hung around the brightly painted room, and a strong aura of coffee and various spices drifted about. But my attention soon turned to a small curly haired boy, who had made his way over to the claw machine beside us. He stuck two coins into the slot and moved the joystick to try to win a purple teddy bear that laid on its back surrounded by other cheaply made toys. The first try lifted the bear up a few inches, before dropping it back into the place it was originally. The persistent little boy tried again—and this time, the claw grasped the teddy bear firmly and lifted it up. He pressed his face into the glass window in anticipation. Yet again, the claw loosened up and dropped the toy a few inches away from the drop box. He searched his pocket for more change, turning them inside out, but all that fell out was a dime and the wrapper of an eaten candy. The little boy’s parents called him back to their table, and when he arrived, begged them for more quarters, pointing with his tiny finger back at the machine. His parents shook their head in unison, and the little boy sank in his chair with a pout and arms folded in his chest.
    I felt bad. And besides, I had a couple of quarters to spare. I dug into my purse and placed each one that I found on the table.
    “What are you doing, Rini?” George asked, eyeing the quarters already on the table.
    “Um, I’ll be back,” I scooped up the coins into my hand and went to the toy catcher. After I put about two into the slot, a cheap generic song played. My first try nudged the bear closer. The second didn’t have any effect at all. But on the third try, the claw grasped the purple bear and dropped it into the box. I couldn’t help but smile and reach in to retrieve the toy. Success! After I removed a small piece of string that had gotten stuck on the bear, I looked up and walked toward the now sobbing little boy, whose parents were trying to calm him down to keep from making a scene.
    “Excuse me,” I said, waiting for the little boy to look up from his hands. “Here you go.” He took the bear and stared at it. There was a brief moment of confusion in his eyes as he looked from the bear to me, then back at the bear.
    “Oh, how thoughtful!” his mother burst, clasping her hands together. “Thank you so much!” she smiled at me then looked over to her son. “What do you say?” she nudged.
    The little boy looked up at me, with his sweet blue eyes. “I didn’t want the stupid bear!” he screamed and threw it to the ground, “I just wanted to win!”
    You little shit! I wanted to say. Instead, I just smiled at his parents and headed back to George and Celeste, who were already placing their orders with Sarah.
    “On second thought, I think I’m just going to have a potato and egg taco with a cup of menudo on the side,” I heard Celeste order. From his seat, I could see George tense up. He was probably annoyed for having to wait.