Weeks later, Romero still struggled with the fact that if he hadn’t made it his mission that night to bag her, she wouldn’t have gotten slapped. In hindsight, that slap probably wasn’t the first she’d gotten from Fred and definitely wouldn’t be the last. Those kinds of women couldn’t be helped. At least that’s what his grandmother said about his own mom. “Les gusta la mala vida.” They loved the bad life. Yep, Cici had to know the risk she was taking that night, and she’d taken it so eagerly.
After that night, Romero never touched another of his uncle’s employees again. Any time one of them flirted with him now, it brought back the memory of Cici being slapped. It was a memory he’d probably never forget. He couldn’t stand it.
Isabel
All summer, Isabel had had her dorm to herself. It was heaven. She’d always been a neat freak, so she dreaded having to share a room with anyone. She’d been warned that fall would be different. With twice the amount of kids enrolling in the fall, there was no chance she was going to keep her room to herself. She could only hope she got someone she got along with.
She was still holding out hope when she got back from her second class and no one was in her room. Then there was a knock at her door. The door opened and in walked a petite blonde girl, with her hair in a ponytail. She read the paper in her hand. “Are you I. Montenegro?”
Isabel nodded as disappointment sunk in. “Isabel.”
“Oh good, then I’m in the right place. I’m Valerie.” She dropped the two bags she carried, then peeked out the door. “This is it, Alex.”
Valerie held the door open. Isabel had seen some muscular guys in her time, but this guy took the cake. Not only did his head nearly hit the doorway, he barely fit through the frame. He carried her luggage in and dropped it just inside the door. He glanced at Isabel who immediately felt inadequately dressed. She’d taken her bra off when she started reading. She hugged herself. “Meet my new roommate, Isabel.”
“Hey, Isabel.” He smiled at her politely, showing off a very nice pair of dimples before turning back to Valerie. “I’ll go get the rest.” He kissed Valerie before walking away.
The rest? With the bags Valerie dropped and the ones her boyfriend dropped, they were up to five. Valerie looked around for a few minutes.
“I take it this is mine, right?” Valerie plopped down on the empty, sheetless bed.
Isabel nodded, still hugging herself. “That whole side is yours.”
Valerie took everything in and was about to say something when Alex walked in with two more bags. “This is it,” he said, dropping them on the already crowded floor.
Valerie stood up and climbed around all the luggage to get to him. She tiptoed to reach him and gave him a peck. “Thank you.”
Her boyfriend wrapped his arms around her, picking her up effortlessly, making her screech. Isabel turned back to her laptop and tried not to think of how invisible she felt. They stood at the door smooching for what seemed like an eternity. Valerie kept giggling because he wouldn’t let her go. “I have to unpack, Alex.”
They went silent for a while. Isabel dare not look up, since they were obviously making out right there in front of her. She could literally hear the exchange of bodily fluids.
“Stop,” she finally heard Valerie whisper. “Alex, we’re not alone.”
Thank you!
Isabel pushed her glasses up a bit and pretended to be engrossed in the screen of her laptop. After an unbelievable few more kisses, Alex finally left.
Valerie closed the door. Now Isabel could look up.
“Sorry about that,” Valerie said, still standing by the door. “He gets a little carried away sometimes.”
Isabel nodded, not sure how else to respond to that. She only prayed this is not what she would have to put up with for the rest of the semester.
“I’ll just unpack and let you do whatever it is that you’re doing.”
Two hours later, Valerie had unpacked most of her stuff, but as far as Isabel could see, she hadn’t really put much of it away. For the past half hour, Valerie had been on the phone with Alex again.
“Yeah, I’m done unpacking.”
Isabel jerked her head up from her book. Most of her things were still all over the floor and she’d stacked a lot of stuff along the walls. They had drawers, bookshelves and a closet. Was she not planning to use any of them?
“No, I’m not coming home this weekend but you can come here.”
Isabel squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath.
*
Two months later, Valerie’s things were pretty much in the same place where she’d unpacked them, and there was never a dull moment. Valerie and her boyfriend had a turbulent relationship. Things were wonderful for a few weeks then Valerie would get into a noticeably bad mood, grumbling that she hated him and slamming things around for days.
Isabel never asked her anything about it. They hadn’t exactly warmed up to each other. Things got tense between them after the few times Isabel had to remind Valerie about not leaving her clothes on the bathroom floor after she showered.
Isabel had a ritual when it came to studying. She needed absolute silence. She’d explained this to Valerie, who said she understood and would try to keep it down, then proceeded to blow-dry her hair.
“I didn’t know you were studying,” she’d responded to Isabel’s complaint. “Who studies on a Friday night anyway?”
After a few more blow-ups, they officially hated each other.
Isabel sat on her bed. It was Friday night and she’d decided not to head home until the next morning. One of her friends told her about a party tonight just off campus, but as usual, she passed. She’d just finished talking to her sister, Gina, who couldn’t believe Isabel was sitting in her dorm room on a Friday night. Isabel had always envied her sister who was not only smart, but always fit right in with the popular, party crowd.
To her surprise, the door opened and in walked Valerie. Ever since the beginning of the semester, Valerie had gone out every weekend and sometimes during the week. She glanced at Isabel, her eyes and nose bright red.
“You okay?”
Valerie shook her head and walked into the restroom. Isabel had witnessed many of Valerie and Alex’s over-the-phone arguments. She’d been mad at him plenty of times, but this was the first time she saw her cry over him, if her tears now in fact were because of him.
Valerie came out of the restroom and pulled a t-shirt out of a bag from the floor. She took the blouse she wore off, and pulled the t-shirt over her head. Isabel had already decided she’d let her be and not pry, until Valerie sat down on her bed and buried her face in her hands, sobbing.
Out of pure reaction, because it was what she’d do if it was one of her sisters, Isabel jumped from her bed and sat next to Valerie, putting an arm around her. Valerie leaned against her, welcoming the comfort of Isabel’s gesture.
“I don’t even know why I care anymore,” she said, finally looking up. “It’s not like he’s ever promised me anything.”
Isabel stared at Valerie’s wet face. She grabbed the box of tissue from the desk and handed it to Valerie.
“He does this all the time.” She stopped to blow her nose. “And I pretend like it doesn’t bother me, then I find out the truth and…” she put the tissue to her eyes and took a deep breath. “It hurts like hell.”
Isabel had only been in one relationship in her life. It was long, but boring by most standards. She didn’t have much to offer in the way of advice. “What did he lie about?”
Valerie told her how long she’d been going out with Alex, and that she’d been drooling over him since grade school. Theirs was an open relationship, which Isabel didn’t get. Supposedly, they were both okay with seeing other people. From what little Isabel knew about Alex and the body language she saw when he was with her, he didn’t strike her as someone who would be okay with that kind of understanding. But she listened without interrupting.
“The longer I keep this up, the more
it hurts to know I won’t be spending time with him because he’s with someone else. I used to shake it off, but sometimes it really hurts, especially coming off a week like this one.”
“So why don’t you tell him?”
Valerie shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Why?”
“It’s always been like this between us. Either I accept our relationship for what it is—take what he will give me—or walk away and lose him completely.” She took one final deep breath, and wiped her eyes. “I’m done crying. This isn’t the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last.” She gave Isabel a pathetic little smile. “I’m starving. You wanna split a pizza?”
They ordered a large pizza. As tiny as Valerie was, she devoured more than half within minutes. They sat on the floor exchanging stories about high school and their families back home. “You live in La Jolla and you’re paying for a dorm? Isn’t that like twenty minutes away?”
Valerie nodded. “Alex.” Valerie must’ve read the look of confusion on Isabel’s face because she clarified, “I was hoping the time away from home would help me eventually get over him.”
Valerie told her more about her relationship. Isabel told her about her high school sweetheart, Jacob. They talked until almost three in the morning.
“Two and a half years, really?”
“Yeah,” Isabel smiled. “We started going out my sophomore year.”
“So why’d you break up?”
“It wasn’t so much a break up, as it was a to-be-continued type of deal. He enlisted in the Navy. He wanted us to stay together, but I just didn’t think it would work. Plus,” Isabel shrugged. “I was kind of over it already anyway. When he told me about enlisting, I was actually relieved. I’d already started to practice my break-up speech.”
“You weren’t in love with him?”
“I thought I was. But looking back now, I think I was just in love with the idea of being in love, you know? He was my first everything, and even though that was exciting, it was never spectacular. I’ve read so much about that warm fuzzy feeling and how you can hardly wait to see him again—when you’re with them the world seems to stand still.”
Valerie pouted. “I know that feeling.”
Isabel pouted too. “Well at least you’ve felt it. I never did. I think we were just too comfortable with each other from the very beginning. Everything was perfect all the time. I don’t even remember ever arguing with him. We agreed on everything.”
“What about the sex?” Valerie grinned.
“It was okay.” Valerie’s expression made her laugh. “I mean at first, of course it was. We were both each other’s firsts, so that was exciting. But neither of us knew what we were doing, it was always over so fast—never mind-blowing like I’ve read so much and seen in the movies.”
She left the part out about how after two years with him she’d never even had an orgasm. On her own, certainly, but never with him. A big part of the reason was since they were so young, most of the time they were sneaking around so they had to make it quick. That was probably the most exciting thing about it. That she was doing something bad, and though she never admitted it to Jacob she liked being bad sometimes. It was so unlike her she doubted Jacob ever knew how thrilling it had been for her to take such risks.
Isabel didn’t even have to ask, but she did anyway. “How ‘bout you and Alex?”
Valerie smiled so big, and although it made Isabel green with envy, she laughed anyway. She was really enjoying her time with Valerie. If she could get past her roommate’s messy side of the room and her habit of leaving things everywhere, she might actually get used to this.
CHAPTER 3
Moving On
Romero
Manny and Max weren’t happy when they found out that not only was Romero not going into the family business, he wouldn’t even be doing the doorman gig anymore. Of course, he’d help out if they were ever in a bind and needed him, but he had a goal and he was sticking to his plan.
After a year of doing the doorman thing exclusively, he started landing jobs at other bars and clubs. He needed the experience of dealing with more than just throwing a bunch of drunks out on their asses.
He landed a job at a sports arena working security during concerts and events. The bigger celebrities had their own security, but the small-time celebs needed to be escorted in and out. As different as the venue was, compared to his uncles’ bar, the sexual encounters were surprisingly similar. His choices in this case, were of a more sophisticated caliber but the outcome was still the same. The women may have been classier on the outside, but to Romero they were just as hollow on the inside and the act itself, just as meaningless.
The biggest difference was while the women at his uncles’ bar looked up to him as if he were on a higher level because his uncles owned the joint, these women had the fucking nerve to look down on him because he was the security guard to their gig. They’d spread their legs just as easily as the girls from the bar and moaned just as loud. It was laughable. Though most of the time he didn’t feel much like laughing.
One night he walked the back stage, keeping an eye out for any eager fans that might sneak back to get a closer look at the musicians performing that night. The music blared so loud you could actually feel it vibrate through the halls.
Thoughts of his next step to get to his goal consumed him. He’d already enrolled in an online course required by the state to get his business license. Talking to Angel and Eric helped him stay on course. They were always talking about the next semester and having to pass this or that prerequisite. Even though he never talked about his own goal, he had a lot to take care of before he got to where needed to be.
The main thing slowing the process for him now was money. His uncles had it, but he wasn’t about to hit them up. He was doing this on his own. That was part of the reason he sought out another job—more money. His uncles had offered him more money to stay but he knew it was a hand out. Most of the time he sat out there for hours. Some nights he saw no action at all. How the hell could he justify a raise for doing nothing more than sitting and keeping an eye out?
Loud voices jolted him from his thoughts. He turned to see a man and a woman arguing just outside the ladies’ room at the other end of the hall. He hurried toward them. From what he could see, they both seemed to have the proper backstage passes around their necks. Their argument was escalating. The music was loud, but so were they, and Romero could make out what they were arguing about.
“You don’t talk that way to a man in his position!” The man barked right in her face, but she didn’t back down.
“The hell I don’t. He insulted me!”
The man grabbed her arm and she pulled it away. “Get your paws off me!”
The second Romero saw his other hand go for her throat, he broke into a sprint. He felt something ignite in him and the memories of that night with Cici in the parking lot assaulted him. “Get your fucking hands off her!”
They both turned, startled by his voice. The man backed away from the woman just seconds before Romero reached them. Romero slammed him against the wall. “You think you’re a tough guy, hitting women? Hit me, mother fucker!” He held his hands open to his sides dying for this guy to take a swing.
People from inside one of the backstage rooms walked out after hearing the commotion.
“I didn’t hit her,” the guy said, holding his hands in front of him warding off any punches Romero might take.
Romero grabbed him by the neck and squeezed. “You like how this feels, asshole?”
“All right that’s enough,” someone from behind Romero yelled. Romero kept squeezing and the man’s face began turning red. The rage he felt got worse by the second. The coward didn’t even try fighting him off. Romero reached for the passes that hung around the man’s neck with his other hand and ripped them off. He had every right to throw anyone out who started trouble. This guy had started more than that.
He pulled his hand off the guy’
s neck and grabbed him roughly by the collar of his shirt instead. Romero hauled him off toward the exit. “Where are you taking him?” A bald man surrounded by a few bodyguards asked.
Romero didn’t even turn to look at him, trying desperately to calm himself before he did more than he should and responded. “He’s out of here.”
“Do you know who that is?”
“I don’t give a shit.”
As it turned out, he should’ve given a shit. The man he’d thrown out was the brother of one of the boys in the wannabe boy band performing that night. Even though the band was still up-and-coming, their clout was big enough to get Romero fired.
It was a pisser, but a well-worth-it pisser. All this time he thought he was over what had happened to Cici that night. Seeing that man put his hands on that woman brought back the ugly memory. He played the scene repeatedly in his head every night. The look in her frightened eyes just before he slapped her, then seeing her body fly backwards. Images of her swollen bloody lip made him squeeze his eyes shut. There was no doubt in his mind that if he had to do it over, he would pound Fred’s face into the ground until he was unconscious.
After what happened at the concert, he was wondering about Cici again. Was Fred still beating her? Was she even alive still?
His uncles had been arguing, going back and forth all day. This time it was about Aida. “I’m not busting your nuts, Man. I’m just saying you’ve only been seeing her a few months and already you’re talking about moving her in? How do you know she’s the one so fast?”
“I just do. She’s not like them other skanks I’ve dated. She’s different, okay.”