Part 9 (1/2)
”What?”
”Those were his exact words. Actually, he said 'it's a good thing that f.u.c.ker is a dead f.a.ggot, or I'd kill him myself, just like I do to people who p.i.s.s me off by interrupting my day asking about traitors.' And then he made sure I saw the gun in his waistband.”
”What?”
”Yeah. He was packing heat, girl. Serious gun.”
”Oh my G.o.d,” I said, grabbing her arm and linking mine in it.
”I've never met a murderer, Maria, so I don't know what they're like, but I'm guessing they're something like that guy.”
”You think?”
”He had crazy eyes. I did not like him at all.”
”Maybe you'll listen to me now and stop with all your sheltered 'we are the world' c.r.a.p.”
”Please don't lecture me.”
”But I told you not to go up there!”
”I realize that. And when you stop gloating maybe you can focus on how we can get the h.e.l.l out of here before those dudes rape and kill us.”
I turned to look back. ”We're okay. They're not following us or anything.”
”Let's just get out of here.”
”Well, think about this. That guy, he's obviously a liar,” I said. ”Because we've seen Demetrio, and unless that guy killed him in the last few hours, he's very much alive and well.”
”I know. But still. It's not every day a guy looks you in the eye and tells you he wants to kill someone, and then shows you his gun.”
”Maybe he was just trying to scare you.”
”Probably,” she said. ”And guess what? He did a really good job. I think we need to get as far from here as quickly as we can.”
We hurried on, and soon arrived back at the Land Rover. I was about to get in when I noticed a piece of paper underneath one of the winds.h.i.+eld wiper blades. I grabbed it, and unfolded it.
Maria. Come in the church. D.V.
”Hey,” I called to Kelsey, as she waited for me to unlock her door. ”Look at this.”
Still shaken, she hurried over, looking around nervously. She read the note, and looked at me briefly before we both turned our eyes to the church. The gate, which had been padlocked before, stood open now.
”This is freakin' weird,” she said, hugging herself.
”Do you believe me now?” I asked. ”You and my mom think I'm going crazy, but I'm not. I am telling you. There's something really weird going on here.”
”I believe you,” she said. ”But I think we should go home. If he's one of them, this could be a setup.”
I realized, depressingly, that she was probably right.
”Let's go, then,” I said.
But when I turned to open the door to the Land Rover, Demetrio was standing in front of it, blocking my way. I hadn't heard him approach, or seen him, and all I could do was gasp before he grabbed me by the wrists, and pushed me up against the car.
”Hey, mamita,” he said, smooth as silk, as though we often ran into each other in the church parking lot. ”'sup?”
”What are you doing?”
”How did he get there?” asked Kelsey, and I could see in her eyes the same panic that now washed through me head to toe. She looked as though she was weighing her odds if she attacked him.
”Don't be afraid,” he told us in a hushed voice, his eyes looking around wildly in a paranoid way. ”I'm not going to hurt you, but you have to stay quiet.”
He put a finger to his lips, and pulled me over to Kelsey, grabbing her hard by the wrist, too. He wore a black long-sleeved t-s.h.i.+rt, with the name of the old band Led Zeppelin on it, with a chain that appeared to have dog tags on it, around his neck. The s.h.i.+rt wasn't overly tight or anything, but you could tell how nicely shaped he was beneath it - a strong young man, not overly so in a stupid, grunty kind of way, but rather perfectly so. He glowed with good health. He wore jeans, too.
”Hey!” Kelsey shouted. ”Let go of me!”
”I will, don't worry, but in there.” He jutted his chin toward the church.
At that moment, we heard the sound of a car rumbling up the dirt road we'd just been on, and when we looked toward the noise we saw that it was the low-rider Bronco from the trailer, still a good ways off, but barreling down on us, fast. Demetrio saw it, too, and his face registered alarm and worry.
”I was afraid of that. Come with me. Now.”
His grip on us was nonnegotiable as he yanked us away from the car, across the cemetery and through the open door of the church. I was astonished by his strength, which overrode our protests and struggling with ease. It almost felt like we flew behind him.
”What the h.e.l.l are you doing?” Kelsey shrieked, while I was too afraid to utter a peep. ”Help! Help!”
Once inside the earthen chapel, he closed the enormous wooden door behind us with a dark, incontrovertible thud, locking it with an old-fas.h.i.+oned enormous metal key that hung from a hook in the wall.
”Shh,” he said, putting his finger to his lips. Kelsey and I looked at each other, utterly terrified, as we listened to the sound of the Bronco pulling up next to the Land Rover outside.
”Help!” screamed Kelsey, once more.
Demetrio clamped his hand over her mouth, and steadied her with his other arm. He spoke with his face very close to hers. ”You need to stop that, if you hope to live,” he told her in a harsh whisper.
”OmiG.o.d, we're going to die,” whispered Kelsey.
”Not if you can control your outbursts,” said Demetrio. ”Don't let them hear you.”
”Who?” I asked.
”The guys from the trailer,” he said as he regarded me with disgruntlement. ”You shouldn't of gone there, mamita.”
”I know that. I didn't want to go there. She did.”
”Don't blame me!” hissed Kelsey. ”You're the one who fell in love with him.” She pointed at Demetrio. ”Now we're going to die.
Demetrio registered what she had just said, and he seemed momentarily pleased by the news of my adoration of him. I, on the other hand, was horrified, until he kept talking as though she hadn't confessed my crush for me.