Carol wanted to ask more, about the father and the little brother, but let the topic drop when Ricardo moved on.
“Then we have Nelson, the guitarist. Noel met Nelson after high school graduation and brought him in. They were inseparable during their college years, both adrenaline junkies. After Monica got married, Noel found he didn’t like coming home to an empty house, so he and Nelson rented a big apartment near Nicolau and Monica, and moved in together.”
“They’re an item?”
Ricardo snorted. “They’re as much gay as I am.”
“It sounds like you’re all close,” Carol said into the silence that followed.
“We’re all a big family, blood relation or not.”
“It must be nice. After my mother died, our house lost its brightness. It was like she took all the warmth and light from it.” She remembe
