Trouble

A figure appeared at the top of the alley, obscuring the only source of light that found its way into the small space between the two buildings. I looked up instinctively, popping my cigarette in my mouth, nodding in greeting.

As the shadow grew closer, I opened my mouth to ask what he wanted, but it turned out to be Alejo. He glanced over his shoulder as he advanced toward me, a paranoid look shrouding his normally playful eyes.

“¿Qué pasa?” I questioned in a hushed voice, my eyebrows drawing together in concern. It had been about a week and a half since the fiasco with Liam, and while I was nowhere near healed and normal, I was doing a much better job at pretending I was.

“Tenemos una problema,” he hurried, checking behind him again. “Una problema grande.”

“Dime,” I demanded. He was starting to make me nervous, and if there was one thing I couldn’t deal with just then, it was nerves.

“You remember what I told you the other day, right?” Alejo bit his lip, staring down at the ground, clearly reliving the moment involuntarily. I could relate.

“Of course I do,” I snapped. “How could I forget?”

“He knows.”

Those two words hung between us, and I could feel my sanity start to slip again. My palms started to sweat as my breath grew ragged. If I was interpreting his statement properly, then Cristobal somehow found out about Alejo’s sexual orientation. And if Cristobal knew that Alejo was gay, then everything was going to go straight to hell.

“¿Estás seguro?” I mumbled, checking the front of the alley to make sure no one was coming. “Absolutely positive?”

“Pretty sure,” he allowed, and I felt myself relax a little bit. Pretty sure meant there was space for doubt. Pretty sure meant that Alejo wasn’t signed up for certain death.

“What makes you think he does?” My tone had gained back a smidge of confidence, but I was still scared for my best friend. If his hunch was right, nothing would ever be the same.

“Because he told me that in three days, I have a drug deal.”

I felt my shoulders lose all tension, my stomach sinking inside. “But you’re not a drug dealer,” I stated plainly, trying to let reality sink in.

“I know I’m not.”

The two of us were thinking the same thing: someone in the gang who was not a drug dealer, yet got sent to do a deal anyway, only did so for one reason: it was a set-up.

It was something I’d seen only a few times in my long history with Los Monstruos, but there was no denying the truth. Somehow, Cristobal had found out, and Alejo was going to get killed.

But no one deserved to get killed for something so petty, something that had absolutely nothing to do with the gang family. I’d always played it safe, respected Cristobal, made sure that I did whatever he wanted, no matter the cost. I’d gotten shot for him, and I’d always kept my mouth shut whenever I had complaints.

He’d just overstepped a line that had sealed his fate with me. I knew I couldn’t take him down, but I could definitely mess up his plan.

I took a deep breath and ushered Alejo closer to me before leaning close to his ear and whispering, “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.”



“Sol,” Claudia asked, coming into the kitchen as I was making dinner the following night. The chicken was searing in a pan on the stove, and I was using the cutting board to cube some vegetables that would be joining the poultry shortly.

“Hm?” I replied distractedly, not taking the time to look over at her.

“Why hasn’t Liam been around?”

My heart stopped as I looked over at the little girl. So many things were going wrong, things were starting to get serious, and Claudia was wondering where Liam was?

Granted, she had no idea what her older sister was going to be doing in a couple of days, what she had planned to do, what was going to end up happening to her.

“Liam’s been busy,” I replied shortly. “He is in a band, if you’ll remember, and they’ve been shooting their music video.”

“No, they’re not,” Claudia argued. “Because that’s what I figured, so I asked my friend at school, and she looked it up on her phone and said that none of them have tweeted about shooting their music video yet, and a gossip column said that they’re not starting shooting for a few more weeks. So tell me the truth, Sol.”

I loved Claudia. Truly, I did. I loved walking in and seeing her on the couch, reading a book. I thought she was adorable with her little red wire frames, perched on the end of her nose, her sweet features, her soft body that was beginning to take the shape of a woman’s curves.

But she had simply picked the world’s worst time to interrogate me on Liam’s whereabouts. I didn’t need more reminders of what had happened that night, which, even though the sensory detail had diminished somewhat, still plagued me at the world’s worst times, and I didn’t need an eleven-year-old wondering why the man portraying the older brother she’d never had was no longer showing up anymore.

“You know what, Claudia?” I snapped, throwing down the spoon, pretending I didn’t see her cringe when the ringing sound echoed through the small space. “You don’t have to know everything about my life. I’m your older sister, and I don’t have to answer to you about my choices. Liam’s not going to come around anymore, and that’s all there is to it. So quit asking me.”

She looked pained as she stepped back, her expression much like a puppy that had been caught ripping apart the couch cushions. “I was just wondering,” she mumbled. “Marisol misses him, too.”

“I know,” I groaned. “But he just…can’t be around anymore, okay?”

There was a long, uncomfortable silence before Claudia cleared her throat, her face turning redder than the pepper sitting in front of me. “Wait, um, did he um…?”

“Did he what…?” I asked cautiously, raising an eyebrow. I had a feeling where this was heading, and I was starting to feel horrified that my sister knew the word.

“Did he rape you?” she whispered so softly, I almost didn’t catch it.

I sighed and leaned over, touching her cheek gently to comfort her. “No, he didn’t,” I assured her. “He didn’t hurt me. Liam’s a good guy, Claudia, whether he’s around here or not. Don’t let it ruin whatever impression you had of him.”

She took that statement as a dismissal, as she disappeared back into the living room, mumbling to herself.

I let out a long breath and shook my head back and forth, scooping up the vegetables and dropping them into the scalding pot, staying far enough away so no oil would spatter on me.

“Sol?” a familiar voice asked from the doorway. “Can we talk?”

I stared up at the boy with wide eyes before turning back to the counter, trying to ignore my racing, panicked heart. “Who let you in?”

“Claudia went to the neighbor’s house and called me, asking me to come down here because you wanted to talk to me and fix things. She said she got my number from Ale…Alejandro.”

“That wasn’t her place,” I replied stiffly. “She should have kept her nose out of things.”

“But she’s a kid, and kids rarely listen to what they’re told.”

The front door slammed shut, and Liam fought back the smile that was threatening to take over his face.

“What was that? Why are you smiling?”

“Because Esperanza just cleared the house so we can talk freely without worrying about the girls overhearing.”

I let out a loud groan and turned off the stove, putting the pan to the side. I knew nobody was going to eat the food I’d slaved over, so it was no use continuing to cook it.

“I really don’t want to talk to you,” I admitted honestly. “Because I’m afraid what I could say.”

“Then let’s get started.”