never happen. Very little eludes the attention of the cartel, and it’s a miracle I’ve been able to keep Frannie off their radar. Otherwise, she’d be the perfect pawn for my enemies.
My allies, too, seeing as loyalty is nothing but a fragile thread in this industry.
First thing Julio taught me: Sever all ties. Because in this world, what you love most is the first thing they’ll strip away before the bullet even hits your skull.
10
Céleste
“Thanks for nothing, Russ.” Asshole. I set the bottle of Tequila back on the shelf, irritated. As a parting gift, before he died, he had a whole fake identification, with passport, made by a buddy of his, and decided to list me as my actual twenty years old, something that, I’m sure, was intentional to keep me out of the bars. “You couldn’t have made me just a few months older?” What a waste of a perfectly good fake identity.
Was probably overkill, as I’m sure no one would remember the grainy picture of the girl on camera after nine years, but he certainly wasn’t above obsessive paranoia.
Keeping on down the aisle, I peruse the limited selection of pop that lines the shelves of Gaspard’s Grocery, a name that sounds fancy, but, judging by some of the outdated food I’ve already stumbled upon, really isn’t.
Sighing, I nab a six pack of Coke bottles and move on to find something for dinner that doesn’t require a stove.
From inside the refrigerator, I grab the last freshly made tuna sandwich from a mostly empty shelf, only to find it’s already two days old. And five bucks. On a groan, I toss it into the basket hanging from my arm, and feel the burning stare of too-curious eyes coming from my left.
I twist to find a young boy, maybe three, or four, years old, with scraggly brown hair, his bright blue eyes watching me from behind thick glasses that seem to magnify them. I’m guessing the woman reaching for a gallon of milk next to him, with her back to me, is his mother. With a smile, I wave back at him, and he turns his head away, as if shy.
It’s when I turn back to what I was doing that I notice his mother’s profile.
Not the glowing, olive skin tone of her Houma heritage, or the exotic upturn at the corner of her eyes, giving her a sort of feline allure that sets my memory off. I’d never remember her that way, given how much she’s changed over the years. No, it’s the long, black, spiral curls cascading over where Dejarae, her family name, is tattooed on her shoulder that has the back of my neck prickling the way it does when I get a feeling about something.
The woman takes the little boy’s hand and moves along toward the cereal aisle. Keeping a short distance behind them, I follow, careful not to draw the attention of the little boy, who seems far more aware of his surroundings than his mother.
“Which kind you want, baby?”
At the sound of her voice, I’m taken back nearly ten years into the past.
“What candy do you want, Cely?” Brie’s older sister, Marcelle, stares down at me, holding the change from the cash my daddy gave me. “They got JuJuBes, bubble gum, or Good & Plenty.”
“No Red Vines?” The only kind of candy I liked was Red Vines. Not Twizzlers. And definitely not the kind she rattled off.
“Ain’t enough money for those and popcorn, too.”
I had to sacrifice some of my cash to pay for Marcelle’s ticket, otherwise we wouldn’t be going to the movies, at all, since she spent all her allowance on makeup.
“Okay.” It’s hard to hide the disappointment in my voice. “Get what you want.”
“JuJuBes it is.” As she pays for the popcorn and candy, Brie and I wait at the opposite end of the counter, where I eye the rack of more expensive candy.
Behind me, Brie toys with the fountain drink machine, trying to catch ice cubes from the dispenser. The theater is mostly empty, aside from one, or two, people standing in line for snacks.
Biting my bottom lip, I stare at the pack of Red Vines. Right there. In front of me. I mean, why would they set them there, where someone could easily take them?
“Excuse me.” The voice brings me to staring back at the woman, who tips her head, expectantly.
“I’m sorry?” Confusion hangs like a cloud inside my head, having gotten caught up in daydreams.