GRINGA (75 page)

             
He grunts
and twirls his index finger next to his temple.

             
‘Why not?’

             
‘Imashy,’ he says, a hint of fear in his voice.

             
‘Imaknow,’ I say mimicking his voice, ‘but Imadoncare.’

             
Then men are excited and badger me with questions. I answer them all and we set a date. 

I enlist the help of the village elders. At
first
, everyone seems
suspicious of Diago
.

             
‘It is not a good idea,’ one of the elders says.

             
‘
Si
, Senorita, Diablo’s men, they …’

             
‘Diablo is paying for everything,’ I point out. ‘Food, drinks, prizes … we’ll even have a band so we can salsa.’

             
‘Diablo is paying? Okay then! Soon e
veryone gets involved in preparation. 

             
Diago is intrigued but
still
refuses to attend, giving all sorts of excuses
:
‘I’ll be busy washing Taxi, I have to kill someone, I don’t know how to dance
...’

             
‘You don’t know
… you don’t know
how to dance? That is so sad
, Diago
. I’ll teach you.’

             
‘No
.
’ 

             
‘Come on
.
’

             
‘No.’ T
o my disappointment, he’s will not be swayed. Diago is
still fairly
reclusive and
is still not still not comfortable with
people in his personal space. Something to do with
being paraded by Jimo like a circus monkey when he was little.
I understand all that, but
I’m
mad at his refusal and
I
sulk.

             
As for the men
,
I’ve never seen them so excited.

             
Santana is excited
too
. She, Maria
,
Rosa and myself go shopping for clothes.
We try on make-up and clothes and shoes and I’m
having fun. It’s a great bond
ing
session and I feel like
I’m
back in
LA
with my girlfriends preparing
for a
party
to pick up guys
.

             
At the dinner table we continue
discussing the fair
. I tell them about the kissing booth we
held at a university fair.

             
Santana is intrigued
. ‘I want to hold one,’ she says. ‘I can kiss good.’

             
‘You do? Attagirl!’

             
‘That is stupid!’ Diago says. 

             
‘I’ll come give you a hand,’ I say
and wink at Santana
.

             
Diago’s head snaps to look at me. 

             
‘I’m kidding!’ I laugh.

             
‘
You’ll
get lots of money for it,’ Santana goads
, retuning my wink
.

             
Diago glares at her.
‘Suuuuntana!’

             
‘You think?’ I ask,
ignoring
Diago’s
outburst
. ‘Okay then,
count me in. We must remember to get some cherry lip gloss and mints.’

             
Diago
storms out of the dining room. W
e collapse giggling.

It’s the evening of the fair and Diago is lying on the bed watching me get dressed.

             
‘You wearing that?’

             
I smooth my hands over my short strapless denim dress. ‘Mmm ... yes. It’s sexy
without being too
slutty
, I think.’

             
‘Is too short.’

             
I slip on my shoes.

             
‘I sa
id
... ’

             
‘I heard you. But
I’m
gonna dance and this is how I dress when I dance. So there!’

             
‘Who you going to
dance with?’

             
I shrug. ‘Everybody.’

             
‘
Him
!
’ Dia
go jerks upright in bed. ‘
He’s
going to
be there?’

             
I shrug again. I haven’t heard from my family since they were escorted out of Tana-Mera by the three bouncers
-
Santana, Rosa and Maria.

             
‘You go
ing to
hold
him and dance?’
H
e swings his legs off the bed and sits on the edge of the bed, his eyes fixed on my face.

             
I preen in front of the mirror. ‘What does it matter Diago? You don’t want to be there, so drop it and enjoy watching
,
I glance at the TV, ‘whatever
crap
you’re watching.’

             
We are interrupted by banging on our bedroom door.

             
I open the door
for Rosa and Maria.

             
‘Wow, look at you guys! You look fabulous
– all dolled up
. You gonna break some hearts there, huh?’

             
 
The ladies blush and preen.

             
‘And you, Senorita
,
you look very pretty too,’
Rosa
says, her eyes sweeping over me. ‘Is very sexy.’ She looks at Diablo and frowns. ‘You let her go by herself, Diablo?’

             
Dia
g
o purses his lips, his nostrils twitching.

             
Maria tsks
.
‘Y
ou
are
stupid
!
’
 

             
‘
Idiotez
!’
Rosa
mutters
.

             
‘Let us go and be fair
,
’ Santana says. ‘The boys are waiting to kiss us.’

             
‘
Si’
, Rosa says, ‘the boys are waiting to kiss us. I got my lip gloss.’

             
Diago crosses his arms across his chest, his lips curling downwards.

             
I just smile, grab my purse and plant a hurried kiss on his head. 

             
‘
Wait! Eh, w
ha
t
time you come back?’
he asks.

             
‘Whatever time I feel like,’ I say. ‘
First I’m gonna get plastered then
...’

             
‘Mfff!’

             
Troy
and the men appear
. ‘Let’s go. Let’s go.’

             
I look at them. ‘You guys look
cool.
Wow!’
They
are
clean shaven, neatly dressed and looking
spiffy
.
‘B
etter than the Chippendales
.’
  

             
Especially
Troy
, he
looks really good today. He’s dressed in jeans but his hair is neat
. Overall, they all
look approachable. 

             
‘Well Diago,
Troy
’s gonna get all the girls today
and he might even get laid.
’

             
Troy
colours for a moment then
sticks out his arm. I take it and we
skip to
the Jeep.

             
‘Don’t forget
,
you must say
please
and
thank
you
to everyone, especially the Senoritas you want to dance with,’ I remind the men. 

             
They
snort and hiss and
make all sorts of smart remarks as we drive away.

             
‘Whatever. Just behave or I’ll make you dance with all the old ladies.’