"What are you doing, Flower?"
"What does it look like? I'm cooking." She puts a bit of oil in the pan, and once it's melted, takes a cutting board full of vegetables and dumps them in.
Miguel takes a slab of meat and holds it in the air while looking at me and speaking.
"And I still don't know what you're saying. But Salud." I hold up my glass and take another sip while trying not to grimace.
Vanessa reprimands me. "Hunter."
"What?"
She shakes her head. "He wants to know if you like peccary."
"What's that?"
"Some people call it a skunk pig."
"Skunk pig?"
"Yeah."
Ryker and Julieta enter the room.
"Well, I've eaten stranger things with Dirk, so bring it on, big guy!" I take another swig, and the alcohol burns my throat a little bit less than the time before.
"Don't call him that," Julieta says.
And add another strike to my name.
I spin. "You have looked at him, right?"
Ryker scoffs. "Knock it off, Hunter."
"Hey, it's all respect. He makes my six-foot-four frame look tiny." I rise and stand next to Miguel. I point to his torso and wave my finger in a V motion. "Do you see that? That's legit."
Vanessa gazes at me in disproval. "Now you're acting like he isn't even in the same room as us."
Miguel takes a step back and says something to Julieta. Vanessa spits her drink out, laughing.
"What did he say?"
"He wants to know if you're gay and hitting on him." Julieta crosses her arms and raises her eyebrows.
"Tell him that he is and has the hots for him," Ryker says.
"Not funny."
Julieta quickly says something, and Miguel leaves the room and comes back with a T-shirt on.
"Seriously? You told him I was checking him out?"
"No. I said I didn't think you were since you've been all over Vanessa the entire time, but I've never asked if you batted on both sides."
Ryker and Vanessa both snicker, and Miguel picks up the knife again.
"Vanessa, are you okay finishing up? I need to talk to Miguel," Julieta asks.
"Sure."
"I'll help you, Flower."
Julieta and Miguel speak, and he walks toward me with the knife straight up in the air.
Two steps to the backpack.
He'll slice me to pieces before I can pull my Glock out.
"Hunter, take the knife," Ryker commands.
I reach for it, and Miguel widens his eyes and jerks his head toward me.
I jump with my hands in the air, and Miguel throws his head back, roaring.
What the fuck?
The others join in his laughter.
He holds the knife out again.
"Everyone done with their fun now?" I slowly reach for it.
"Be back soon," Julieta tells Ryker.
Miguel pats me on the head like I'm his child, which no man has ever done before. It feels disrespectful but there isn't anything I can do about it.
I join Vanessa and continue cutting up the meat that Miguel was dissecting. Vanessa leans into me. "Hey."
"Hmm?"
"You don't swing both ways, do you?" She bites back a smile.
"Funny."
Well, at least she isn't having a panic attack around the beast.
"You should have seen your face," Ryker chides.
"Dude, did you see the V?"
Ryker nods. "Beast."
"Yep."
"So, what's the deal with Julieta?" I ask.
"Not my story to tell."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. Ask her if you want to know."
"Like she would tell me."
"Maybe if you were nice to her."
I grunt. "I am nice to her, except for a few occasions we've disagreed."
Ryker crosses his arms and scowls. "You think telling her to get out of the car, or you'll remove her is nice?"
I groan. "Drop it."
"Why wasn't Julieta's husband listed on her paperwork?" Vanessa asks.
"She goes by her maiden name; Interpol must have missed it."
"Has he been looking for her?" I ask.
Ryker picks up a goblet and the bottle of rum. He pours three fingers. "You'll have to talk to her." He downs a mouthful and grimaces.
"There's juice for that."
"Think I'll pass on the Kool-Aid."
"Suit yourself."
We're almost through cooking dinner when Julieta and Miguel come back into the kitchen, having a heated conversation.
Miguel pulls the drawer open and yanks out a folder of papers then slams down a pen. At the same time, a little girl in a nightgown comes running into the room, crying and yelling, "Tata." She looks like she might be five.
Miguel crouches, and she leaps into his arms. Another woman who looks like a carbon copy of Julieta busts through the doorway and freezes.
The woman gapes and finally says, "Julieta."
"Josie." Julieta's voice cracks and her face pales.
Josie puts her hand to her mouth, and tears fall down her cheeks. She speaks, and I don't know what she says, but she gets choked up and can't finish.
Julieta responds, and they go back and forth.
After a few minutes, Julieta wipes her eyes. She turns to us and says, "This is my twin sister, Josie, and their daughter, Liliana."
Julieta picks up the pen then signs her name on several forms in the folder. She motions between Miguel and Josie while talking fast, and the only word that sounds familiar to me is divorcio.
Did she just sign divorce papers?
She grabs her glass of rum and the bottle before leaving the room.
"What did she say?" I mumble to Vanessa.
"She said she hopes they are happy together, and since she moved into her bed years ago behind her back, she can keep it."
11
Vanessa
"Julieta." I follow her outside.
"I'm fine. You can go back inside and eat." She sniffles, sits on the step, then takes a long drink before pouring more rum in it.
I take the rum bottle out of her hand and take a swig. The alcohol burns my throat as it slides toward my stomach.
I'm already a little light-headed from the half glass I had in the kitchen, but I take another sip.
"You didn't know, did you?" I gently ask.
She snorts. "That my twin sister was screwing my husband?"
"Yeah."
"Nope. I was too busy and stupid building my career." A tear slips down her cheek. "A lot of good that did me. Not only did I lose my husband, but I lost my sister and the rest of my family. They all sided with her because of their beautiful child. And to throw it in my face, those two named her after me. As if that would make up for it. But I know it's so my sister can act like his tattoo was meant for his daughter and not me."
"He got it before she was born?"
"Yep. When we were kids."
I put my arm around her. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine how painful that must be."
"But while she was rolling around in the sheets in my bed, I was signing up to work extra flights to pay for this land, so my lovely husband could have his dream. Well, I got way more than property. I got forced into all the things I wanted no part of."