Giggling came from the video. The little girl on the pony. I remember when she was only five years old. Innocent and trusting. A sassy little spitfire with chocolate brown eyes. Never saw her again after her birthday. The one playing out on the video.
I seethed with hatred. My blood boiled. Emotions I’d buried a long time ago rushed to the surface.
“I’ll kill you for this betrayal.” I saw red as I shook the kid in front of me, my nails digging into his flesh. “What you should’ve done is bring me the purse. Not snoop through it and watch something that isn’t meant for you!”
The video continued to play. Giggles and childlike gibberish burned my ears. And then she squealed with glee, “Andy’s here!”
I dropped the pathetic loser onto the floor and stumbled back, until I landed on his bed. My lungs couldn’t expand. I couldn’t breathe.
“Play with me, Andy!”
Then I heard my voice. “Anything the birthday girl wants, she gets.”
“Yay, yay, yay!” She clapped and giggled, so damn cute.
I buried my face in my hands to hide the tears. The little fucker ran out of the room before I could catch him. He was lucky I was paralyzed by agonizing pain and unable to finish the job of killing him.
“Jefe!” Quino shouted. “Jefe, are you in here!” Boots running on the hardwoods pounded in my head.
I squeezed the palms of my hands into my eyes. Why would the universe bring Vee Avila into my life seventeen years later? It was pure evil.
“Oh, Jesus,” Quino said on a gasp. “I thought something happened to you when I saw Javi running like the Reaper was after him.”
“I want him dead!”
“What? Why?”
“He had the purse and went through it.” I lifted the brown bag in my hand.
“Well, shit, Prez. That’s no reason to kill the kid.”
I turned the laptop around so he could see the screen. “He was watching this.”
“Is that the Avila brothers?”
“Yes.” Bile spurted into my throat. I choked it back. Showing weakness wasn’t okay with me.
“No fucking way. Why did Silvia have it?”
“Because she’s their baby sister.” I pointed at the little girl on the pony with me walking beside her, making sure she didn’t fall off. “She obviously didn’t recognize me, just like I didn’t recognize her.”
“Why would you? She looks nothing like the five-year-old in the video.” Quino squatted for a better look at the screen. “She was a darn cute kid.”
“Where’s Javi?”
“Brother, you don’t want to take out your rage on Javi. It was a stupid mistake.”
“He intentionally watched a video that wasn’t his. How am I supposed to trust him after this? What if he went digging?”
“I see your point.” Quino scratched his chin. “We could just cut him loose. Ban him from joining the club.”
“He knew better, Q. Nobody fucks with the Kings. It’s our goddamn motto.”
“Such a waste of air.” Quino stood back up. “I know what will help you. A threesome and a bottle of tequila.”
“Not interested.”
“What do you mean, not interested? Women and booze are the only things that help you feel better. You need to push down the memories before they control you.” He closed the laptop and took the memory stick.” What do you want me to do with it? Destroy it?”
