Just a Kiss (4 page)

“Alright, that’s enough.” she said, pushing her away. “I also, want to let you know, I’m leaving early today so I can get ready for my parents’ anniversary party at the ranch tonight. You are coming, aren’t you?” She looked at her to confirm.

“Of course, right after I lock up and get dressed.”

“Okay, listen, I’ve got somebody waiting, so I need to get going. See you tonight.” Valeria got up and left the office.

Chapter
6

The party

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Soto,” she said to Valeria’s parents, who were at the front line receiving their guests.

“Celina,
mija
,
how are you?” asked Mr. Soto, who was wearing a Stetson cowboy hat and a black western bow tie, tucked under his crisp white collar.  He walked over to hug her.

“Happy thirtieth anniversary,” she said, giving him a kiss on his cheek.

“Celina! How are you,
mija
?” asked Mrs. Soto, giving her a big hug and a kiss on her cheek. She too, was wearing a white shirt, denim skirt, and black tooled-leather belt to match her black boots. Her once-black hair was now dark silver. Valeria had styled it to frame her face and add touch of youthfulness to it.

Celina’s brows lifted as she accepted Mrs. Soto’s light kiss to her cheek. “Oh, doing fine. You look very nice tonight.” Celina flashed a big smile.

“Oh, why thank you, sweetie.” Her dark brown eyes sparkled with warmth.

“I hope I’m not late, but I had to close the salon today.” She sighed.

Mrs. Soto’s smile only brightened. “No, of course not, Mexicans are never late, you know that,” she assured her, with a laugh.

Celina giggled and shook her head in agreement, with a smile. “Where shall I put the gift?” she asked, holding a big box with a white bow.

“Sweetie, you shouldn’t have.” Mrs. Soto adjusted her blouse and gave her a well-mannered look.

“I know, it said ‘no presents’, but I thought maybe you could use this.” She gave a wink.

The invitation had strictly said,
'no presents, your presence is your gift,'
but people still brought gifts.

Mrs. Soto gave another big hug to Celina, who was like a second daughter to her. “Well, take it inside and put it in the living room.”

She walked over the thick gravel, on large stepping stones. The air was cool and brisk and tanged with the scent of animal and earth. Celina reached the corner of the ranch house and opened the wooden front door. She slammed it shut and walked in, making some noise on the terracotta floor with her cowboy boot heels.

“
Mami
,
is that you?” screamed Valeria, from the kitchen.
“
Mami
!”

Celina put the gift down on the coffee table, next to the big family Bible, and walked towards the kitchen. She started to laugh when she saw Valeria. There stood Valeria next to a small kitchen table, panic in her eyes, breathing heavily, holding the middle layer of a large, three-tiered buttercream cake. The cake was fancy, with ivory fondant, hand piped with elaborate scrollwork. 

“Don’t laugh! Get your ass over here, and help me, bitch.” Sweat was beaded up on her forehead, and she was breathing hard.

“Who are you calling a bitch? I’m not helping you, now,” she continued to laugh, as she got closer to the kitchen table.

“Celina, stop clowning around, and get that
fuckin
’ column that fell somewhere under the table. Hurry! I can’t hold this shit any longer. Its heavy,” begged Valeria, her short, sassy hair spiked up for the party.

“Since you called me a bitch, I’m
only
helping you because this is your
parent’s
cake.” Celina bent over, looked around the floor and picked up two columns. “What happened? Here, let me take the top cake.”

“Gee, thanks girlfriend. Kimberly was running like wild in and out of the house with a bunch of other little farts, so I got after them and told them to get the hell out of here. One little boy pushed on the table and wobbled the cake, so I tried to move the cake towards the center of the table, when one of the columns fell off, then the other. I’ve been standing here like an idiot for the past ten minutes, screaming for help. Then some other little brat came in, and I asked her if she could get her mommy or daddy, and you know what that little bitch did?”

“Valeria, she’s just a little girl, calm down,” said Celina, laughing, shaking her head in disbelief that Valeria had called a little girl a bitch.

“No, let me tell you.” She walked over to the kitchen sink to rinse her hands. “She stuck her tongue out at me, made a face, and ran away. She probably thought I was going to tell on her. Wait ‘til I see her. I’m going to tell her that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are not real.” She swung her arms in midair.

“Oh man, you are cold. And who is Kimberly?” she asked, helping Valeria put the cake columns back on the cake.

“That’s my brother’s little girl,” she replied, holding the middle cake, getting ready to place it in position.

“Oh that’s right. Xavier had a baby we almost never get to see.” Celina placed the last column for the final tier.

“By the way, now that you mentioned his name. I asked my brother what you wanted me to, and he said… okay.” She opened her eyes wide, looking for a response from Celina, and then carefully put the top tier on.

“Why did you hesitate?” she avoided eye contact, pretending to look at the cake, looking for something to fix on it.

She laughed, “Nah, I’m just messing with you. I just wanted to see your look. But…,” she drawled.”

Celina knew that look. There was more which needed to be said. “What? Please, tell me what you have to say.” Emotion tightened in her chest and she moved her face in front of Valeria's.

Valeria stepped back and let out a deep breath. “I have some
news to tell you.”

“Good or bad?” Her eyes tightened and she pressed her lips together in a thin line. By the look of things, Celina knew it wasn't good.

Valeria knotted her fingers and stared at the cake. She then s
hifted leg to leg and exhaled.

It was obvious that Valeria didn’t want to tell her. “OMG, Val. You're scaring me.” Drawing
i
n a pound of oxyg
en, she opened her eyes wider.

“Don't worry. It has nothing to do with my brother. This is something else.” She leaned back against the kitchen counter for support.

Celina released her breath. “Oh, thank goodness. I was already getting ready to leave. Whew!”

“Well, I think this is much worse.”

Chapter
7

The news

What could be worse? Her parents were dead, and she just saw Valeria's parents, and they looked pretty healthy and happy. Their business was doing well. Actually, it was doing damn good. It was booming, with the addition of the café and bar inside the hair salon. It was an instant hit. In the morning, customers were drinking healthy
Organo
Gold coffee with breakfast tacos. For lunch, until closing on the menu, were soups, salads, sandwiches, fruit cups, and of course, the bar. The ladies enjoyed Margaritas and other fruity drinks, and the men enjoyed having a beer while they waited. Some customers stayed until closing, and for others, it was becoming a typical hangout. More manicures and pedicures were done on Men in Uniform days. It was an excuse for the women to go, using that day to see and meet the hunks. Their salon was The Place to Be. Why wouldn't it? In the end, both men and women were coming out looking their best and ready to mingle. Valeria and she had even joked about building a hotel next door and making even more money. What else could be so horrible? What bad news could there be?

“Shit! Valeria, just come right out and say what
you think
I need to know.” There was pleading in her eyes.

Valeria squirmed around. “I just don’t know how I’m going to tell my best friend this horrible news. So here it goes.
Listen up girl
, ‘
cuz
I'm going to say this quick, since I don't know how else to tell you.” She took a deep breath, inhaling through her nose, and then released it hard. “Xavier got word that Homer is out on the loose. He escaped from prison a few days ago.” The words spat out of her mouth, as if she had held vomit. She felt relieved, finally telling Celina, since she had held that in for the past two hours.

Celina's eyes rounded and instantly went pale. The strain of worry was on her face already. She placed her hand over her stomach and leaned against the wall.

Homer
Cortinas
, a former Border Patrol agent, who routinely went to the hair salon, lost his marbles when he became infatuated with Celina. She had met Homer on a Thursday, the day for Men in Uniform for Border Patrol agents- that had been Celina's sexy hunk that day. They seemed to hit it off well, for two months, until he became very jealous with her other male customers. He had told her that she was going to have to stop cutting men's hair and that she could only tend to women customers. After a week of arguing with him, Celina decided to break it off, and that was when all hell broke loose. 

Celina felt dizzy after hearing what Valeria had just told her.

“Let’s get a beer.” She walked to the refrigerator, and took two. “I myself need a beer as well. The incident with the cake almost coming down, and then having to tell you about Homer, has my nerves in knots.”

“Yes, I’d like one.” She pulled out a wooden chair from the breakfast nook and sat down. Moments later, Valeria set a beer in front of Celina. She took it and gulped.

After a moment of silence, Valeria said, “They think they
ID’d
him on a camera at a bridge going into Juarez, Mexico.”

“When was this?”

“The day we left the hair show,” she muttered under her breath.

“You mean you knew since then?” Anger crept in her eyes.

She shook her head. “Of course, not! Xavier told me about two hours ago. Like when I got here, or actually when he got here.” She then took a big sip of her beer. “Xavier said not to worry--Juarez is too far from here, and when they, you know the
c
artel, find out he is an ex-Border Patrol agent… well, his ass is history.”

“You think so?” There was relief in her voice. It might have been selfish of her, but after what he did to her, she didn't care. “An eye for an eye, because I can't have him run my life…
ruin
my life,” she corrected. “He shouldn't have that kind of power over me. Damn him to hell.”

“Xavier said the U.S. Marshal’s office released Wanted posters, and he personally sent some to the clubs in Juarez that he knows are owned by the
c
artel. He said that he also included the dates of some big drug seizures, even if Homer wasn’t in on them,” she let out a laugh. “He won't last a week there. It's going to be brutal for him.”

Celina let go of a deep breath, as she stared at a painting of “The Last Supper” that Valeria's mom had hanging on the kitchen wall.
I hope you'll have your last supper too, you creep.
She then gulped her beer.

Valeria got up and said, “Come on girl. Let's not think of that idiot anymore. Let's go outside and make fun of people. I need a good laugh.” She pulled on Celina's shoulder.

Celina smiled, shaking her head.
Only Valeria could say something like that.

Valeria opened the refrigerator, pulled out two more Coronas, and opened the back door. She nodded her head with a smile. “Come on!”

The girls walked outside and sat on patio chairs, away from the other party guests.

“We have the perfect view from here,
Cel
,” she giggled. “Look at that one over there,” she pointed. “She was mean to me when I was a little girl. She called me names, like Miss Piggy, and look at her now, she's bigger than me. As a matter of fact, she caught her husband in bed with the maid last month.”

“No!” Celina's mind was taken away from her problems in listening to Valeria gossip about her family members.

“I’m so embarrassed to see your brother,” she said, changing the subject, looking at her beer, wishing she could crawl inside the bottle and swim in the bitter amber liquid.

“Don’t be, we’re not living way back when, we’re in modern times. It will help you to release some of this stress too,” she said, looking out into the crowd.

“Oh, look who's coming,” said Celina, taking a big sip of her Corona Beer.

Valeria focused in, blinking several times. “My vision is deteriorating.” Then she sucked in a gulp of air. “Oh, it’s Ana Laura.” She groaned.
“That’s Xavier’s wife, right? I thought so, but wasn't sure, since we
never
see her. How long has it been since I've seen her? I wonder who does her hair.”

“Yeah, I know. You would think that she'd come to our salon. After all, I am part owner.” She then turned, to look at her sister-in-law with a fake smile.  “Hey, girl!” Valeria said, trying hard to be polite. There were no traditional hugs or kisses exchanged, just words.