“He didn’t choose this life, sis, and you know it. He was born amongst the bullets, just like us, and he…”
“Stop fucking making excuses for him, Julio. Are you seriously telling me that you have forgiven him?”
“I had nothing to forgive, crazy. It was an accident. You and mom shouldn’t have been there, but whatever, I’m not here to talk about Dad,” he said, and I could see the anger boiling up inside him.
“Then why are you here?” I rolled my eyes.
“He’s throwing you a welcome home party. A ball. Our family and closest friends will be in attendance, and he sent me to ask you to be on your best behavior?”
“No shit,” I laughed, but there was no amusement in it. “He has me kidnapped, drugs me, and smuggles me across the border. He doesn’t even have the balls to come in here and face me, and he actually expects me to be on my best behavior?” I mocked his words.
Julio grinned as if he expected nothing less than mayhem from me, and although I didn’t want to give him that satisfaction of seeing me as what I was before Arella Santino, I also didn’t want to be what my father wanted.
Being back in that house returned me to the skin of the teenager who lost her mom to the bullets, and I had to remind myself I wasn’t one anymore. I was an adult, and I had all the tools to turn my father’s welcome home party into a disaster without actually causing a disaster.
“I took the liberty of buying your outfit and any other girly shit you might need,” he said, pointing to the things he left on the bed, then turned and headed for the door. “Party starts in an hour, crazy. Don’t be late,” he said as he opened the door.
“Whatever,” I rolled my eyes. “Do you have any cigarettes?”
He arched an eyebrow, but then pulled his pack out of his back pocket and tossed it to me, doing the same with the lighter.
“When did you start smoking?” he shook his head as I shoved one between my lips and walked to the window.
I flipped him off, not answering his question as I lit it and took a long drag.
His sigh sent a shiver down my spine.
“Give them hell, sis,” was the last thing he said before the door clicked shut behind him.
Oh, that’s exactly what I was going to do.
I took the boxes off the bed and opened them, surprised that Julio didn’t choose a pink dress, or something overly feminine, as was customary for a ball.
I didn’t expect the black leather high-heeled boots, nor the long black satin dress with a slit so high that it would probably end just below the elastic of my underwear. It shocked me that my brother chose this outfit, but I didn’t question his choices, because I knew it would piss our father off to see me in something so inappropriate, so far from the imaginary lady he wanted me to be.
Julio was dressing me for war, and I was going to deliver.
“I wonder…” I muttered as I jumped in place, then opened the wooden chest at the foot of my bed with the cigarette between my teeth, grinning like a maniac when I saw that my knife collection was still intact.
I didn’t think I would find them just as I left them.
As members of the Sánchez cartel, my brother and I were trained from a young age to defend ourselves in case we ever found ourselves in aggressive situations, but while Julio had no problems with firearms, as he was probably one of the best shots I ever saw, I didn’t like guns very much, even if I had a Glock at home.
Knives were my weapon of choice.
While they may not have been as effective as a bullet, if handled correctly, they could be just as lethal, not to mention silent.
I had put those days behind me, and I hated that, to an extent, I missed them.
I picked up one of the blades and carefully analyzed it, my brain actively trying to talk me out of it, but after throwing the blade directly at one of the picture frames on the wall, adrenaline surged through me and won, and my choice was made.
After I took out one of the holsters and a military knife with a black blade, I threw them on the bed and slammed the chest closed.
I knew that I was playing with fire, but I was burning brighter.
*
The woman in the mirror stared at me resolutely and defiantly. She seemed ready to take down the world and win or die trying.