CHAPTER FOUR
Elisa is standing outside my front door when I pull into my driveway. “Happy birthday!” She’s practically glowing under the overhead porch light, her dusky Italian skin and wild, riotous hair give her an exotic, almost otherworldly appearance. The flowing yellow skirt and oversized button-down shirt tells me she’s ready to kick back and relax over a few drinks. Her giant smile brings a mirroring grin to my lips, which grows as I spy the bottles in her hands.
I glance over my pride and joy, my three-bedroom house. In the dark, all I can see of the red and brown brick façade and cream-colored tin roof is what is lit by the porch light and the streetlight at the end of my block. The shadowy shapes beside my car are the young bottlebrush bushes that run the length of the gray co
