Dynasty

The younger grandchildren weave around tables and chairs. They understand Spanish but don't speak it, Maggie says. She can't predict whether the youngest generation will continue the family legacy at La Tropicana or other businesses.

"Restaurant labor is hard. It's hard to drop the business and take off to see your kids' school projects or soccer games," she says. "We're hoping our kids get an education so they can do whatever they want to."

Ashley Keith, the remaining original Slow Ride employee, recalls April's lavish graduation party last May.

"When the Del Campos throw parties, they go all out. April's graduation party was huge," says Keith, 20, who once dated Angelo and now is close to April and Maggie. "She's accomplished quite a bit, so she's set on a pedestal. But she lives up to it."

April, who throughout college lived with her mother in a house they bought together, is preparing to leave Lawrence and her family. She doesn't know where her career will take her — maybe to Brazil, whose growing economy inspired her to emphasize Portuguese in her studies. She isn't concerned about leaving Lawrence, her family and her mother for the first time.

"That's why I went to college — to learn and grow and gain," she says. "Of course, I'll always come back to Lawrence and to the restaurant, and if they need me while I'm back, I'll help," she says.

But she admits that she has stepped into a world most members of her family have not seen.

"They didn't know what to expect. With us, it's family first, and then work before education. You have to be able to do it all," she says.

April stands at a display that her aunt Kathy created with photos of Severina and her family. Snapshots reveal the matriarch holding daughters in black-and-white Mexico, holding grandchildren in colorful Kansas. April points and explains the pictures to a young white guy who has worked for the family at La Tropicana for six years, longer than any other non-Del Campo employee. He's just a friend, but she'll likely show these same photos to any man who wants to be more than that.

"She told me the only way she could marry someone is if he loved her family and loved her culture," Maggie says of her daughter. "I said, 'And if he loved you, too?' She said, 'That's beside the point.'"

"My mom and I both have traditional Latino ways," April says, explaining why Maggie is impressed by admirers who lavish her daughter with gifts. The man who wins April's heart will be old-fashioned — he'll open doors and offer financial stability.

"You know," April says. "The fairy tale."