To the people of the RGV. Thanks for your love and support, and for sharing your valle conmigo.
No todo lo que brilla es oro.
All that glitters is not gold.
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Epilogue
Also Available
About the Author
Copyright
Santiago Reyes knew he was pushing his luck. But whenever he drank, he had to pee a lot. Maria Elena begged him not to go, but Santiago couldn’t hold it any longer. Finding a restroom wasn’t too difficult. The tricky part was getting back to her room unnoticed.
He leaned out of the bathroom, straining to listen for any sounds. The restroom, like the rest of the extravagant mansion, was furnished in Louis XIV–narco chic decor. There were Roman-style pillars chiseled with Aztec snakes, a marble-top sink, and a heart-shaped bathtub. Santiago listened to the pitter-patter of water from the interior waterfall and to the soft snoring sounds from the many bedrooms. Finally, Santiago emerged from the restroom, wearing nothing but his boxer shorts. He flicked off the lights and waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Santiago used his hands to help guide himself to the end of the hall and turned left. It was left, right? he wondered as he retraced his steps back to Maria Elena’s room.
Maria Elena Diamante was a cute thing, with her soft wavy brown hair, dancing eyes, and sassy hips. Santiago had a weakness for women in tight jeans and high heels — the higher the better. But those girls were usually trouble, and Maria Elena was as dangerous as they get — in more ways than one. Her father, Juan “El Payaso” Diamante, was a known smuggler.
There were crazy tales that tied El Payaso to incidents of beheadings and torture south of the border, but Santiago had met the man on a couple of occasions and he seemed like such a friendly teddy bear with his family.
Santiago tried the first door and it opened easily. Soft snoring came from the mound on the bed. Maria Elena must have fallen asleep, he thought, carefully making his way toward her. She’d snuck Santiago into the house while her parents were getting ready for bed and he had promised to be quiet. But the excitement of messing around with her while her parents slept a few feet away — mixed with beer — gave him a sense of boldness that bordered on recklessness.
He jumped on top of the mound, straddling her body between his thighs, and bent to kiss Maria Elena on the mouth. But when his lips felt coarse hairs from a thick bushy mustache, he realized his big mistake. Or maybe it was the deep male voice screaming loudly that tipped him off? A figure beside Santiago rose up and shrieked. But the woman next to him wasn’t Maria Elena. It was her mother!
El Payaso’s shock gave Santiago a few crucial seconds to jump off Maria Elena’s dad and run into the hallway. Santiago spun around, heart thumping wildly, hands clamming up as he hurried down the corridor, trying to backtrack. But he must have taken a wrong turn — another wrong turn — because he had no idea where he was. Luckily, Maria Elena swung open her bedroom door, eyes wide with surprise.
“What took you so long?” she whispered, pulling him into the room quickly.
Before Santiago could explain, there was pounding on the door.
“Maria Elena!” her father called out in a loud authoritative voice. “¿Qué demonios está pasando aquí?”
Maria Elena shoved Santiago into her closet. She hastily grabbed his clothes off the floor and flung them at him.
“If you value your life,” she whispered in a dead-serious tone, “you won’t make a sound.” Maria Elena shut the closet door in Santiago’s face. He fell back, banging his head against a dozen coat hangers with flashy dresses. His big clumsy feet trampled over pointy heels, bunched-up panties, and tossed clothes. He reached for his cell and texted his cousin, praying that she was awake.
Through the door, Santiago listened to Maria Elena talking to her dad. Sweat dripped down his forehead, stinging one eye. He strained to hear their conversation over the thumping of his heart.
“Did you bring a boy into our house?” her father growled in Spanish.
“Daddy,” Maria Elena said, acting shocked. “What are you talking about? I didn’t bring no boy here. I wouldn’t do that after the last time. I was just studying.”
“You take me for an idiota!” her father said, coming into the room. “Some punk jumped on me and tried to kiss me!”
“Are you sure it wasn’t a dream?”
“A dream? ¿Estás loca? I know what I saw. There was a boy and he was on top of me!” Santiago could hear everything clearly now — Maria Elena’s dad was just outside the closet door.
“Okay, Daddy, calm down,” Maria Elena said. “I’ll tell you what really happened. But you have to promise you won’t get mad.”
Santiago’s heart sank.
That’s when Santiago realized that his luck had finally run out. Can’t trust no woman, he thought. Maria Elena set me up. She must still be sore about me taking her cousin to the dance last week.
His whole life passed before his eyes, even though he hadn’t lived very long yet. He thought about his funeral. His mom, tías, uncles, and cousins would be so pissed at him for getting involved with a narcotraficante’s daughter. He should’ve known better. Grandma Trini would probably strangle his corpse to make sure he was really dead. And his mom would have to marry that loser vice principal just to move out of town.
Santiago heard the moving of furniture. Was Maria Elena’s dad looking for him? He swallowed, knowing that he was going to be caught and that would be the end. In a last fit of desperation, Santiago grabbed his Virgen de Guadalupe medallion and prayed harder than he’d ever prayed before in his life. He swore to give up women and alcohol and go to school and even to class. He’d even go help his tía and tío at their restaurant, if only La Virgen would save him from ending up with two shots to the back of his head in some dirty ditch.
The doorknob started to turn.
“Dad.” Maria Elena’s voice grew loud and desperate. “It was Gordo.”
The room became very quiet. Santiago leaned into the door to hear better. He heard her father say in a surprised voice, “Your brother?”
Santiago held his breath.
“Yes, he’s back. And he was drunk. I threw him out. He was making such a ruckus. I can’t believe you slept through that. You know how he gets when he drinks — all kissy and lovey-dovey.”
Just when he thought he might be saved after all, Santiago’s phone started to ring. It was so loud he swore the whole neighborhood could hear the bumping reggaeton ring tone. The closet door swung open. El Payaso Diamante stood in front of him, wearing nothing but a white T-shirt and zebra-print briefs. The look in the drug dealer’s dark eyes was pure rage. Maria Elena’s father was incredibly muscular, like a wrestler, from the waist up. Waist down, he had short skinny chicken legs. But Santiago only had eyes for the baseball bat in El Payaso’s hands.
Maria Elena screamed and jumped on her father, who seemed to lose his balance. They both fell to the floor. It gave Santiago a second to leap from the closet and out the door.
“Run! Run!” Maria Elena cried.
In the hallway, he bumped into her mother, who was wearing a sexy nightgown. She screamed, horrified, and her glasses fell off her face. Santiago realized that he was half-naked, but there was nothing he could do about it, so he continued down the stairs and toward the entrance door. El Payaso released a string of curses behind him. Santia
go didn’t look back. He heard the family’s dogs bark as he slammed the door. He wasn’t sure if they were tied up or coming to maul him into a pulp. Santiago swore at himself for getting into this mess as he ran across the lawn, barefoot and wearing only his boxers. He knew he couldn’t outrun the dogs. Suddenly, the sound of gunshots burst into the night. His heart jumped. Santiago glanced over his shoulder to see three figures standing by the lit-up entrance of Maria Elena’s house. Her place was way out in the boonies. No one would find his body unless they knew where to look, and that would only be after all the coyotes and birds had their way with his corpse.
Suddenly, Santiago saw the headlights of a truck coming toward him. He hesitated a second. Maybe Maria Elena’s father had called for reinforcements? Would he be gunned down out in the open? But then he saw the worried expression of his cousin Fabiola Garza staring back at him from behind the wheel. He wanted to laugh out loud, but then he heard the hair-raising growling and snapping of the dogs. Santiago put his hands on the fence gate and pulled himself up.
Before he could jump over, Santiago felt a sharp, searing pain on his left buttock cheek and cried out into the night. It felt like a knife had carved right into his butt. With all his strength, he pulled himself over the fence, landing hard on his right foot. Santiago’s legs gave out. He couldn’t get up. Fabi was at his side, along with her little sister, Alexis. Santiago looked up, gasping for air, into Fabi’s big brown eyes, sunbaked brown skin, and dark hair that she always wore tied back in a messy bun. He winked. The two girls rolled their eyes and half dragged Santiago back to the truck.
“We have to take him to the hospital!” Alexis cried in near hysteria as Fabi started the truck. “I think he’s going to pass out. Oh, my God! Do you think the dogs bit him? He could have rabies.”
They were barely onto the road when the truck stalled. Fabi swore under her breath. She turned the ignition key again, but the truck only jerked and bounced abruptly. Fabi thought about where they were. They were ten miles northeast of the town of Dos Rios, out in the middle of South Texas open country. There was nothing but thirsty dry land, thorny brush, and mesquite trees. Another gunshot rang out in the night. No one would hear them scream, she thought.
“Try it again, Fabi — that guy has a gun!” Santiago shouted, as if she didn’t know all this. “We gotta go!”
Fabi hit the steering wheel with the palm of her hand. “Okay. I heard the shot, too. Don’t make me nervous. I’m still learning how to drive stick shift, okay?” Fabi tried again. Suddenly, the truck sprang to life, and she shifted the clutch into first gear. They drove away from the lit-up house, gunslinging father, and bloodthirsty dogs as quickly as possible.
Santiago awoke lying on his stomach at the Starr County Medical Center. A heavy book smacked him on the head.
“Hey! What was that for?” Santiago cried, stretching his neck to see who had hit him.
Abuelita Alpha, his cousins’ grandmother, stepped into view. She was a petite woman who carried the fury of God and the devil in her eyes. Her soft white hair contrasted with the pale wrinkled hand waving a thick leather Bible wildly in the air. “Niño malcriado. That’s for scaring the hell out of us.”
“Ya déjalo,” his grandmother Trini interrupted. “The boy is fine. That’s all that matters now.” Grandma Trini leaned over to play with Santiago’s curls. Her face was made up as if she’d spent the night at a dance club — a look completed by her animal-print sequined halter top, ruffled miniskirt, and heels. “Here, mijo,” Trini continued, “I heard you lost your clothes someplace, you naughty boy.” She pulled out a bedazzled checkered shirt and glittery jeans. “They used to belong to your grandfather, but you know how everything old comes back de moda. I did the sparkles myself. Nice, huh?”
Fabiola couldn’t help but laugh from the opposite side of the room. Her cousin Santiago was always getting into some sort of mischief. It had only been a couple of months since his court hearing, where Fabi had to prove his innocence so he wouldn’t be charged for the muggings he didn’t commit, and go to jail. Santiago swore that he had learned from his mistakes and promised not to get in any more trouble. Obviously, Santiago had a short-term memory. Lucky for him, she was around to rescue him — again.
Santiago looked at the shirt and turned to Fabi for help. When he realized that Fabi wasn’t going to say anything, he smiled at his grandmother. “Oh, thanks, I love it … but I don’t feel so well. I think I may need to stay in the hospital. I just went through a vicious attack.”
Fabi walked over to his bed and raised two fingers. “Two stitches. All you got were two stitches from the dog bite. You were crying like a baby and telling us your last wishes.”
“No, I wasn’t.” Santiago pushed himself up to his elbows. The bandage on his butt was showing through the opening of the hospital gown.
Fabi turned to her sister, who was smirking at them both from a chair next to the bed. “Alexis, tell him.”
Alexis sipped on a cup of weak hot chocolate. She was still wearing her favorite pink heart-print pajamas. Everything about Alexis was petite and cute. “Yeah, you made us promise to donate all your clothes to the church. You told us about the five hundred dollars stashed away in your closet that you wanted us to give to your mom.”
Santiago’s eyes widened.
Grandma Trini smacked him. “I thought you said you had no money. ¡Mentiroso!”
Alexis laughed and went on. “You wanted us to give locks of your hair to every girl in your phone book. And you promised me and Fabi your Pokémon card collection.”
Santiago shot out of the bed. “Now I know you’re lying. I would never give you two my collection! That stuff will be valuable one day on eBay.”
Alexis smiled guiltily. “I just thought I’d add that little part.”
“Ha!” Fabi pointed at him. “You’re obviously well enough to get up. So get dressed. We can’t afford this emergency visit. I told the nurse that we found you on the street and that you were homeless. Hopefully they won’t charge us.” She looked at the door as if she expected the cops to walk in at any moment to make them pay the bill.
Santiago buttoned up the flashy shirt and tight jeans. He posed playfully like he was a model. As the oldest boy cousin, he got all the attention growing up. It didn’t help matters that girls went gaga for his dark curly locks and mischievous smile. It just encouraged his crazy behavior, Fabi thought.
Grandma Trini clapped cheerfully as Santiago dressed, then tossed him a pair of snakeskin boots to complete the vaquero look.
“Ay, mira,” she purred, elbowing Abuelita Alpha. “So handsome, no? He looks just like Alejandro Fernandez.”
“But shorter and dumber,” Abuelita Alpha added, frowning with her arms crossed in front of her chest. “We better go before the nurse comes back and wants us to pay for the plastic water pitcher and cups you have in your purse,” she added to Grandma Trini.
“I didn’t …” Trini blushed. “Ayyy, well, they don’t need it anyway. They have so many. They won’t even miss it,” she dismissed, holding tightly to her big, sparkly bag.
Fabi stood at the entrance, looking down the hallway. Was everyone’s family this crazy? “Okay, guys, the coast is clear. Let’s go before anyone notices.”
The five of them walked out of the clinic. At four in the morning, even that large a group didn’t stir up much notice, especially when Santiago’s glittery cowboy attire was all the rage in South Texas.
But they didn’t quite reach the door.
“Excuse me!” a nurse called out, catching up to them outside the lobby. She was a young Filipina woman with an accent. Fabi and the grandmas smiled and acted surprised. The nurse handed Santiago a clipboard with the release forms that he had to sign.
Alexis pinched Fabi softly on her side. “You always assume the worst,” she whispered.
Fabi hated to admit that her little sister was right. She did always assume the worst. But she had good reason. Every time life seemed to go her way,
like her quinceañera trip to New York City, someone or something would happen to ruin her plans. Although Fabi had forgiven her little sister for getting her in trouble, their father still held Fabi responsible for her sister’s actions. Her dad was big on building character and believed that sacrifice and hard work were the keys to success. That’s why he kept Fabi close to his apron strings — as an example. Now there was definitely no chance that she would go anywhere for the remainder of her teen years. Fabi was counting the days until she graduated high school and went away to college.
But for now she’d settle for getting out of this hospital and back to bed.
Something was up. Fabi felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck and shivered, even though the school marquee told her it was 90 degrees. That couldn’t be a good thing, she thought. She watched in shock as Santiago grabbed his backpack from behind the car seat and followed Alexis and her into Dos Rios High School. The parking lot was crowded with trucks and SUVs parking or dropping off students. Usually, Santiago had some excuse as to why he couldn’t go to school. But this time, he climbed the steps with them. He smoothed his curly locks out of his face as if he were nervous about something. Was he called in and going to be suspended? she wondered.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Fabi teased.
“Where does it look like I’m going?” He blushed. “To school. I’m still a student, you know. At least, I think I still am.”
Alexis saw a bunch of her friends gathered by the big fountain (which never worked) and ran over to them excitedly. Fabi couldn’t help but be happy for her sister’s renewed popularity. For a while, Alexis had been taunted and bullied by a couple of football players. They called her a slut and bragged that she did all kinds of freaky things to them. Alexis’s ex, Dex Andrews, had not only tried to ruin her reputation but had also tried to frame Santiago for a crime he didn’t commit. But when Alexis helped Fabi prove Santiago’s innocence, everyone at school realized that Dex was a lying bully. His family quietly transferred him to a military school near San Antonio. Alexis was remarkably thick-skinned, and in no time at all, things had gone back to normal.
Quince Clash Page 1
