“I’m not even sure at this point.”
Technically, I could move out and sign a new lease. But I don’t have the money to break my current lease. Especially since Claudi had to close La Cuevita for a week for investigations.
PJ fusses, and Mireya unswaddles him to nurse. Watching her cradle her son makes me unexpectedly sentimental. Had my own mother ever held me like that? Or had something already gone wrong by then? I know now that Missy wasn’t my biological mother. Detective Johnson ran several DNA tests, but I still have no idea when our paths crossed.
My earliest memory of her is hazy but warm. I must have been four when she found a battered dollhouse at a yard sale and poured herself into fixing it. She painted the walls, glued tiny shingles back in place, even cut strips of fuzzy fabric for carpet. When we left it behind during one of her impulsive moves, I think we both cried the entire drive.
“I have an idea.” Mireya’s voice pulls me back. She’s watching me intently, as if she’s been waiting for the right moment. “Why don’t you take mine and Adrian’s old penthouse?”
“Really?” The word slips out, half hopeful.
“Yeah, why not?” Mireya bounces PJ gently as he settles against her. “You’d save on gas by being closer to work. And it’d give me peace of mind knowing you’re here.”
“I’d still want to pay you.” My voice drops. Pride won’t let me take anything for free, even from her.
“Then we’ll come up with something.” She shrugs like it’s nothing.
I hesitate. “Don’t you need to talk to Adrian first?”
“Nah.” A quick smile appears. “What’s Paquita say?Aqui las mujeres mandan.”
“Okay, look at you, Reina del Sur. Your Spanish is leveling up.” I laugh, but secretly I want to climb across the table and hug her.
Houses, apartments, motel rooms—home in a physical sense—has always been temporary for me. A concept that slipped through my fingers with every move. But home as a person? That is Mireya. Her voice grounds me when my thoughts spiral, and her stubborn loyalty gives me hope when I want to give up. Everything else in my life feels borrowed, but this friendship is the one treasure that’s mine to keep.
The time we spend together passes quickly. It feels like old times. Adrian eventually comes down and steals Mireya from me. I’m standing in the lobby when I remember I left my to-go box.Not in this economy.
Rushing back into the restaurant, I stop dead in my tracks when I see the man working behind the service window. He’s wearing an all white chef suit, a brown bandana tied around his head, and his emotionless eyes stare back at me.Efren.
Chapter 10
Alma
“Idon’t understand?” Penèlope asks, confusion written all over her face.
Penèlope, who goes by the stage name Penny Toxiquita, is the only one of my coworkers who, like me, took up Claudi’s offer. We weren’t given much detail from the text message other than the crime scene investigation had led to a safety violation from the Fire Marshal. Claudi was forced to close down for another two weeks.
Good news: it gave me time to pack. After a long talk—well, more like two minutes—with Larix, I decided to take Mireya up on the penthouse offer. Luckily, one of Larix’s bandmates can take over my lease.
Bad News: the documents Curtis left me the night he was killed were taken as part of the investigation. Claudi said he’d talk to a friend he had in law enforcement about getting them back.
“What don’t you get,mamacita?” La Madrina asks Penny.
La Madrina is an OG stripper who Claudi sets on a pedestal. She’s intense, but the top in the industry when it comes to teaching young strippers like me how to own the stage.
“I thought you said no one was allowed inEl Purgatorio?” Penèlope asks Claudi about the closed-off room.
“I’m no one.” La Madrina smirks. “And that room belongs to me. The Fire Marshal said we needed to shut down business until the stage was fixed, but he didn’t say anything about the back rooms.”
Penny and I exchange similar confused looks. La Madrina sighs, her eyes burning a hole through a nervous Claudi.
“They won’t tell anyone,” he says in our defense.
“Tell anyone what?” It’s the first time I’ve spoken since I arrived.
“Listen,chamacas, considering you’re the only two who showed up, I take it you need money, no?” La Madrina’s voice is low and stern. “If you want to keep your jobs and keep this club running, then you’ll assist me with these rooms. I expect a clean setup and take-down after every session. You’ll receive more than a night’s worth of wages, and Claudi will get a cut from the top. If either of you wishes to leave, right now is the time.”
Wearing a patent leather body suit and boots, La Madrina stands confidently before us. A silent moment passes between the four of us. When Penny and I don’t move to exit, she continues, “Do either of you have any experience with dominatrix work?”
