“Palo, talk to me! Do you know them?” I asked, exasperated.
He housed silent anger. I could sense it. He cricked his neck. “What were they wearing? Let’s go inside and you can describe them to me.”
Now I felt scared. Palo dropped his keys on the table as I sat down.
“Sit, tell me, sis.” Palo’s stern voice let me know he meant business.
“One of them was kind of weedy, wearing black and his eyes were dark. He had a long nose. The other one was fat and wearing black. He had the teardrop between his fingers.”
Palo got up from the seat he sat in and came back with his phone.
“These guys?” He showed me a group picture of Las Balas and pointed to them. One was kneeling in the photo and the other one was standing off to the side.
“Shit! That’s them. Yes.” My body tensed up as I recognized them. Palo balled up his fist, his lip forming a hard line. He truly looked like he was going to punch a hole in the wall.
“You’re proving my point! This is why I didn’t want you becoming president.” I flailed my arms around.
“Shhh, relax! I got it handled. This is exactly why I need to be president. Don’t ask me no more questions!” he spat back. He drove his index finger into the marble table. Perplexed and worried, I looked at him.
“Palo, what do you mean? What are you going to do? Did they know I’m your sister?”
Palo was already walking away from me. His voice traveled as he walked. “Of course they did, motherfuckers!”
El Diablo was dead, but he was still haunting everybody from beyond the grave.
FIVE
DIEGO
Cogs were turning in my mind and my whole operation was moving in the right direction. I found a sweet little place off Santa Fe Drive.
Another glorious sunshiny day in Cali and a new goal to scout the hotspot for a repair shop. Time to get this chapter going.
Ryder rang through. “Hey, my man. How are you settling in? Things okay up there?”
“Real good. Merced is shaping up real nice. I’m checking out a warehouse shortly,” I said.
“Okay. Nice work. If you need any connects up there, let me know. Watch your back; the Las Balas crew run out of Merced. We ain’t been cool with them for a minute.”
“I hear you. I’m laying low. I haven’t seen or heard anything,” I responded.
“All right. Nothing major my end. Just a check-in.”
“Definitely, I expect nothing less. Hook up with you soon. Bye, Ryder.”
“Peace.”
I rode out the back of Merced. The warehouse had popped up in the classifieds so I made it my business to go check it out. Brown specks of dust flew up from the road as I turned into the place. A good-sized warehouse. Windows on all sides and solid aluminum. I got off the bike and peeped inside. I tapped the glass. Concrete floors inside, great for what I needed.
“Hello, Diego, is it?” I heard a professional voice behind me as I looked in. A lady in heels and a corporate outfit showed up.
“Hi, Sue, right?”
She cast her greedy eyes over me. Oh. She wanted me. I might be able to charm her into a discount.
“Is that name Spanish?” she breathed.
“Yeah. Argentina.” I grinned.
