The Blueprint on the Kitchen Table

Elena Vasquez spread her business plan across the kitchen table at 5:00 a. m. , the way she had every morning for three weeks. The numbers never changed. A small alterations shop in downtown San Antonio required twelve thousand dollars she did not have. Her sewing machine hummed in the spare bedroom where she took in mending for neighbors, but the leap from hemming pants to signing a lease felt impossibly wide.…