Then, the next time I worked, there was my one (Pentecostal) (Guatemalan) coworker again, which made me realize that he wasn't just coming back to fill in, probably, but something had happened, and he had returned to the restaurant permanently.
So, I said hello to him, but, to keep up the schtick like I had started last time, I made sure to introduce myself.
"?Como te llamas?" ('How do they call you?'), I was like.
And, he was like, "[My first name]," to f*ck with me.
"Oh," I was like, "Yo [my first name] tambien" ('I'm [my first name] also').
Then, I could tell he was watching me, to see what I'd do.
So, I gestured to the back where he worked and was like, "Tu sabes mucho sobre la cocina" ('You know a lot about the kitchen'), "Y con poquita experencia" ('And with little experience').
Then, I leaned my head in, and, holding his eyes, I emphatically tapped my index finger against the side of my head.
"!Que intelligente!" ('What a smart guy!').
And with that, a smile just shot across his face and he let out that high-pitched tee-hee-hee again, in the only second time in my life that I've ever heard him laugh.
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