“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Vero asked him as he searched for the toolbox.
“Maybe we should call an electrician,” I agreed, stalling for time.
“I can handle it,” Javi said, walking out the back door. He stood, hands on his hips, squinting up at the security camera overlooking the backyard. “Where’s your mom’s ladder?”
“Ramón put it in the back of his van after he caught mesneaking out to meet you. That’s probably a sign. We should just wait until he comes back.”
“No way. I promised your mom I’d keep an eye on her house and keep you safe while Ramón is gone, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
“You don’t have anything to prove to my mother.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Where are you going?” she asked as Javi went back inside.
“To your bedroom,” he said as we chased him up the stairs. “The camera is mounted pretty close to your window. I can probably reach it from there.”
Javi set his toolbox on Vero’s bed and opened her window. He ducked his head through the opening and leaned out far enough to see the camera to his left. “Hand me the screwdriver,” he called over his shoulder.
I passed him the screwdriver. He tucked the pointy end of it into the belt loop of his jeans and leaned out even farther, holding on to the frame with one hand. I felt sick watching him. Vero’s former boyfriend was in a shower curtain at the bottom of a river. The last thing we needed was for her current one to fall out of a window and break his neck. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
He laughed. “Are you kidding? Vero’s been climbing out of this window since we were kids. It’s perfectly safe.”
“Because I was using both hands when I did it, Javi!”
He grinned. “If you’re that worried about me, you can hold on to my leg.”
Vero gnawed her thumbnail as she watched Javi’s hips slide farther through the opening. She sat on the floor and grabbed hold of Javi’s thigh.
“I told you messing with the camera was not a good idea!” I whispered.
“I know!” Vero whispered back. “It’s too late to argue about it now. Help me anchor him.”
I looked for a safe place to grab him. Javi wasn’t wearing a belt, and his jeans were riding precariously low, revealing the waistband of his boxers as he stretched his body out the window. I sat on the floor and looped an arm around his other leg. “I can’t believe you’re letting him do this.”
Javi loosened his grip on the frame to extend his reach. “I think I see the problem,” he grunted. “Looks like a loose wire. Hand me a set of pliers?”
Vero’s face pinched with guilt. “Javi, there’s something I need to tell you.”
I could practically hear Javi grin. “That you would be devastated if anything happened to me?”
“Yes, but—”
“And you really did mean all those things you said in that chapel in Atlantic City?”
“Sure, but—”
“And when I come back inside the house, you plan to show me the depth of your love by stripping me naked and kissing every inch of my body?”
“Yes, Javi, but also—”
Javi yelped. Vero screamed as he slipped off the sill and his body tumbled sideways out the window. His legs shot out of his pants like they’d been fired from a cannon. His jeans slid all the way down, bunching around his calves and catching on the tops of his sneakers. Vero and I scrambled to hold on to them as Javi shouted and flailed. With a final shriek, he popped out of his shoes and his feet flew past us out the window.
Vero and I stared at each other, clinging to his empty jeans. Horrified, we listened for the thump of his body against the ground.All we heard was a quiet grunt. We clambered to the window and poked our heads out.
Javi clung to the camera by the tips of his fingers, his bare legs swinging below his boxers, his socks scrabbling for purchase against the house. An ominous creaking sound came from the mounting brackets as Javi stared up at them.
“Don’t move!” Vero shouted. “Stay right where you are! We’ll figure something out!”
