"Ave Maria!"

Clink, sputter,clank. Spill! Clank. "Ave Maria!"

Small metal cups, dented and scratched from use, clink into place beneath the firm grip of an espresso maker.
A hiss, the machine sputters out the remaining coffee from it's molten hot spout.


Clank, the sound of the cup hitting the tiled floor after an unaware hand grabs the molten hot handle.
Then the spill!
A clank from the mop bucket.

"Ave Maria!"

It's loud, it's rarely polite, but it's warm, and the people love it. Driving down 8th street, you'll find people dancing to a voice that has spanned the ages. It's salsa, it's bolero, it's cha-cha-cha, and it's Miami. It's a cafecito con tostada, it's a restaurant where the yelling isn't uncomfortable because it reminds you of home. And it keeps you perfectly grounded in reality.

The bar stools are occupied by veterans of Versailles, a cigar lodged between their pudgy fingers and talking amongst each other," por que la cosas en Cuba no son buena". We take are usual breakfast seats by the window, I take my position on the East end of the table, taking a full dose of sun to the face. Before the menus touch the tables, our server is scribbling into her notepad.

"Dos cafecitos, dos tostadas, una orden de croquetas y dos pastellitos de guayaba."

Anything else, she asks. We shake our heads no.

"Gracias"

Works Cited

Bruno World. Vintage Car. N.d. Photograph. Miami Beach. Bruno World. Web.
Versailles. Croquetas. 2013. Photograph. Miami. Https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=632857213412309&set=a.268050753226292.70580.114215478609821&type=1&theater. 16 Sept. 2013. Web.