GRINGA (68 page)

             
‘How can you smile?’ I
demand, my voice high and shrill.
‘I just killed two people
.
’

             
‘They
evil,
’ Maria says and feigns spitting on the ground. ‘Tongue, he whip my husband, then leave him in the mountains to die like a dog. Me Senorita, I live for this day,’ she says,
pummelling
her chest with her fist.

             
‘
Si
!
Si
!’ Rosa says, her nostrils flaring.
‘Christa
,
she did kill my li’l boy.
She a bitch. Sh
e die
, is good
.
We make party.
’

             
Okay, so they were evil, but where does that leave me?

             
Christa has three sons of her own
. Surely, they won’t allow me to get away with killing
both their mother and their uncle
?
They are the type to take revenge. They’re as evil as their mother. Fuck!
I’m
doomed. I
’m
dead
. I’m f
inished.

             
‘Diago’s gonna kill me
,
’
I groan with my hands on my head. ‘Oh God!’

             
‘No,’ Maria says and pours two shots of bourbon for her and Rosa. ‘
We
tell Diago what they do.’

             
‘
Si
,’ Rosa says, as she accepts the bourbon from Maria. ‘We will stay here and help you. Do not worry.
We
talk to him.’

             
‘You will? Thank you so much.’ I’m so grateful for these women. Diago will understand when they tell him. He’ll realise it wasn’t my fault.

             
Just then,
Diago and
Troy
arrive.

             
The ladies
exchange shocked looks
then
dart out of my room
.

             
‘Hey, where you guys going? Hey come back!’ I cry, but they’ve gone.

             
Unaware of the drama,
Diago
enters our room, smiles at me and
begins pawing me straight away. He shoves me onto the bed and kisses me
, then tries to take off my towel.

             
I force a smile. ‘Diago, how …how was your day? B … baby?’

             
‘Is good. We go to the …’

             
I zone out. How the hell can he tell me about his day when I am going to be sent to jail for life? I snuggle deep into his arms and force myself to stop shaking.

             
Then
I hear the sound of
vehicles approaching.
Pedro’s voice. I
jerk upright and wait
for the hurricane heading my way. Hurricane Christa. Fuck!

             
‘Where are you going?’ Diago asks
, a frown on his forehead.

             
I don’t answer, I just give a weak smile as I
shed the towel and
slip on some clothes in anticipation of the looming drama.

             
Just as I
finish
dress
ing
, the men crash into my room
.
Digger, Pedro and Rocky
,
all yelling in Spanish at me, guns drawn.

             
I look at them slack-jawed. ‘What! Me? H … how …how do you ..um …know it was
me
? Maybe it was …
Rosa
?’ My behaviour right now is childish and even shameful but I
make no apologies; I’m fighting for survival here.

             
‘What!’
Diago leaps out of bed
,
stands in front of me
and shields me from them. ‘What are you talking about?’ he demands.

             
As they explain
in Spanish
, he turns
his head slowly to look at me, his eyes filled with shock.

             
I shrug and curl my lips. I must be doing a good job acting confused because
Diago is shaking his head as if he doesn’t believe them.

             
One by one, the men raise their weapons at me.
If they shoot me now, Diago will stand no chance
. It’s three against one
.

             
Then I spot
Troy
standing
in my doorway, an automatic rifle in his hand
.
He shakes his head slowly at the men.

             
Oh thank God for that! The odds have improved slightly.

             
The mini lynch mob
continues
making all sorts of threats at
me but they lower their weapons. 

             
Diago and
the
men race of
f
to Christa
’s room
.

             
I sink into a chair and cover my head with my hands. ‘Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!’

             
I hear a sound and look up.
Troy
is
still there
watching me. He knows now. Christ!

             
He’s always been a little protective of me in the past
so
how’s he going to re
-
act now? Why is he lurking around? Why has he not rushed of
f
with the others to
view
the crime scene?

             
Maria and Rosa burst into my room
.
‘Wha
t
did he say, Senorita? Senorita, tell us!’

             
I look past them. They have
failed to see
Troy
standing in the corner of the room.
Slowly, t
heir eyes follow mine to
Troy
. 

             
‘Eh ...
Hola
Troy,’ Maria
says
,
slowly backing out of the room.
’ Eh ... we jus
t
wan
t
to know if Gringa ... eh ... he is ready for breakfast.’

             
‘
Si
,’ Rosa says
also backing out of the room
,
‘
we jus
t
wan
t
to know if Senorita wan
t
breakfast. That’s all
Troy
, just b
reakfast
…
’

             
Troy
looks at us three with
slanted
eyes
, just the way Diago does when he’s suspicious of something. ‘It is
dinner
time!’ he snaps.

             
Maria and Rosa
look at each other, then
turn and
bolt off.

             
Mental note to myself: never rob a bank with these two
women
.

             
Troy
walk
s
over to a chair and lower
s
himself into it. Now what?
Is
he keeping guard? Making sure I don’t run of so they can bring
in
the flamethrower
?

             
Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!

             
We stare at each other.
I
wish I
knew what he was thinking.

             
Then Diago bursts in, grabs my
shoulders
and shakes me. ‘F
ark Payton!
You kil
l
them!
Why
?’

             
I
snivel and look
at
Troy
. Diago follows my eyes and
sees
Troy
. He frowns but does not ask
Troy
to leave.

             
Outside the men
call out to me. ‘Paaaayton! Griiiinga!’

             
I
start to shake now. ‘Diago please!’ I beg, as his fingers dig into my arms. ‘It wasn’t ... ’

             
He
slaps
me hard
across the face
. ‘Liar
!’

             
I crash into the bed.

             
‘Paaaaayton!’ Digger
calls outside
. ‘Today you die.’ I hear the sound of a whip cracking, followed by gun shots
probably into
the skies. Petrified,
I cover my mouth a
nd look at Diago who for the first time since I
’d met him, l
ooks
worried
.