GRINGA (66 page)

             
‘How old are you?’ I ask.

             
‘Twen
ty
one.’

             
‘My age. Wow.’

             
‘One day, you will go away, back to
America
and then me and Diablo, we be together again. One day ... ’

             
My turn to shrug. I don’t know what the future holds and at
twenty one
,
does anyone
really
grasp
the
one day
concept
?

             
‘My mother tell me this.’

             
How dare
Christa
give
her
false
hope
?

             
‘But we mus
t kick you sister’s
ass now. Come.’ She stands up and holds out her hand to me.

             
I’m
still
di
strustful because of our history, but s
ince we’re now kindred spirits - insecure women ganging up against the pretty
and
popular cheerleader
who
monopolises all the
guys
in school; I take it
.

             
I find Diago sitting on his horse.
Paris
is standing a few feet away talking to him.

             
Diago smiles when he sees me.

             
‘
Payton,
get you
r
horse. Let us go for a ride. Is a beautiful evening, no?’

             
‘Oh please
,
’
Paris
says, clapping her hands. ‘Can I come
with
? Can I ride with you? I love evening rides. Please! Please! Please!’

             
Santana and I
look at each other and wait for Diago to
answer. If he says ‘Yes’ to
Paris
; I wo
n’t
ride with him.
Fuck no!

             
He looks at me, then at
Paris
, then at me and says,
‘No
.
I wan
t
be
a
lone with my
baby.
’ He
smiles and
extends his hand to me. ‘Don’
t
worry ’bout you horse. Ride with me.’

             
I glance at Santana
. S
he is smi
rking
.

             
Sporting an even bigger smirk, I ta
ke his arm and
mount
Taxi
.
Nestled
behind Diago
,
I
slip my arms around his muscular waist and rest my head on his back.

             
‘But it’s so boring here!’
Paris
whines
.
‘Can’t we take turns?’

             
Diago ignores her and rides off.

             
Later we sit and talk. ‘Your sis
ter,
she is ... she make me ... annoy? Annoyed
…
?’

             
‘Annoy
s me. Really?
She
annoys
you
?’

             
He nods.

             
‘Really? I thought you said she was pre
t
ty
.
’
I cannot keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

             
He makes a face. ‘
I say tha
t
to make you happy. She look like
Casper
, The Friendly Goat
. ’

 
             
‘
Ghost.
’

             
He smiles beautifully at me. “’
Ghost
”
.’

             
I burst out laughing and give him another hug for not finding her pr
et
ty. ‘Diago, why didn’t you kick her and Elaine out when I left?’ 

             
He shrugs. ‘I think ... if they are here, maybe you will come back one day. If they go, maybe you never come back. So I let them stay.’

             
I restrain myself from
whistling and
clapping. 

             
The next day Santana runs up to me. ‘Gringa!’ she calls.

             
I stop and turn around to look at her.

             
‘
Your sister … yo
u worry for nothing
.
’ 

             
I’m
so thrilled that she’s coming around and that we’re actually able to have a conversation without fighting.

             
‘Well, he told me ... ’

             
‘One day I will kill you, Gringa!’ she suddenly snaps, her index finger in my face.

             
What the fuck?
Torret or schizophrenia?
I frown at her
mood swing.

             
Something tells me to turn back. I do and I see Christa nodding
her approval.

             
Aaahh! Now I understand – to impress Christa, she has to be bad, evil, angry. But it’s too late –
she’s busted.
I already got a glimpse
of
the real Santana.

             
I need to say something right now.
‘Bitch, get
the fuck
out of
my face
!’
I yell.

             
She’s
stares with huge eyes and quickly withdraws her i
ndex finger.

             
I wink
at her and this time
and I see the corners of her mouth curl.

             
I glance at Christa. She is smirking.

             
Yeah well, we may have fooled bitchface.
 

*
             
*
             
*

I’m searching for Taco Bell, who once again has disappeared. Probably fast asleep under someone’s bed.

             
‘Senorita
! Senorita!’ Maria calls. ‘
Christa, she ask you come to her villa
.’

             
‘I must go
to
her? What for?’
Christa has never asked for the pleasure of my company before.

             
Maria lifts and drops her shoulders several times. ‘She say …
she
say she
ha
ve
something she wan
t
to
show
you.’

             
‘
Sh
o
w
me
? Maybe she found Taco Bell?’ I race towards her room, feeling a little hopeful.

             
I
knock and
enter Christa’s villa
. She eyes me over a glass of whisky and gives her trademark cynical smile. ‘Hello gringa.’

             
‘Did you find him?’ I ask, glancing around the room. 

             
‘He’s there,’ she says and points to her bedroom.

             
I take a step towards her bedroom.

             
‘Bebe!’ I hear Tongue say behind me.

             
The moment I hear his voice, I know I’m in trouble. Me and Tongue in a room with no Diago and no
Troy
– trouble. ‘Tongue …what …what are you doing here?’ I say, fighting a rising trepidation. ‘What’s going on?’ I retrace my steps but Tongue steps in my way.

             
With each second, my uneasiness grows but
I know I have to appear tough and nonchalant.

             
Christa cocks her head to one side and looks at me.
‘So
gringa
, how are things with the FBI these day?’ 

             
‘Wha …?’ The room starts to spin and I quickly lean on a chair.

             
This time her smile reaches her eyes.
‘Tongue
, he follow y
ou
,
Bonita
.
’

             
‘F …follow …’
I close my eyes and
fight to breathe.