Page 3 of Nocturnal Sins
CHAPTER TWO
Santana
“Working here will build character.” Pop spoke with a cigarette hanging from between his lips, seemingly stuck there by sheer faith. I hated that I was being crammed into a nine-to-five atPapa’s Family Mexican Restaurantbut after Pop decided to take it easy on me last night, I couldn’t refuse.
I got to see what really happened after hours at the restaurant and it blew my mind but it made perfect sense at the same time. If I had to work a legit job during the day then I would, especially if it meant I got to work with Pop once the sun went down.
I looked over my shoulder at him and scoffed a bit, “I’m not looking to build character, old man. I have that shit in spades.”
“Yeah, well, you need more of it,” he told me. His narrowed eyes crinkled at the corners. It was the only sign of his age. Other than that, he looked like he could have been my older brother instead of my father and that’s saying something since I’d only been alive for twenty-one years.
“You need to learn to navigate all sorts of customers, son,” his tone took on a double meaning and I dialed back my arrogance. In this arena, Pop was the king and I was the apprentice. “Get back there on the grill and start scrambling up some huevos.” I let my shoulders slump as I pushed my feet to the kitchen.
I had to build character.
Yeah right.
I wished like hell that I could skip all theKarate Kid Mr. Miyagishit and get straight to business. “I don’t know what scrambling eggs has to do with learning the business, Pop,” I called over my shoulder. I heard his rough laugh behind me as he approached. The squeak of his black shoes was unmistakable.
“You have to learn hownotto stand out, Santana. That’s your problem. Your energy sticks out like a sore thumb. You’re fucking huge and your whole vibe matches your stature. Scrambling eggs will help you not be such a bull in a China shop.”
“You’re a bull too. Where do you think I got it from?” I cracked the egg’s thin shell and dropped the contents onto the hot grill top. I cracked one after another until I had a dozen in front of me.
“Ah, but I know how to be subdued. I know how to operate as a day-walking, law-abiding citizen and I know how to operate as a nocturnal predator. You only know how to be nocturnal, Santana.” He placed a heavy hand on my shoulder and sighed as if I’d never get it. “Scramble those eggs, mijo.”
“Yeah, okay.” So, I scrambled the fucking eggs while counting down the time until the sun sank in the earth. It was all I cared about since last night.
Anyone else would have been thanking God that they didn’t get chewed out for being expelled from school. Not me. I was pissed that my father had been keeping such a major secret from me. That secret trumped my expulsion. It made me wonder if Sammie knew what I’d only found out about last night. Had my mother known too?
Pop studied me as the day wore on and customers packed the cozy restaurant. Papa’s was the most popular place in town, easily. It had the type of atmosphere that made people settle in like they’d lived there all their lives.
Maybe it was the lived on couches that lined the exposed brick walls or the smallish round tables in the sitting area that made people sit close and talk to each other. Could have been the colorful art on the walls depicting family scenes from Mexico or the upbeat music always going in the background. Hell, the smell alone pulled people in from the street. Whatever it was, people flocked toPapa’s Family Mexican Restaurant.
I used to hate being there during business hours. There were too many people. Too many conversations. Too much of…everything. I liked solitude and sitting in the middle of Papa’s during the day was not how you got solitude.
All the talking and laughing was more my sister’s thing. She was the social butterfly. Sammie was sunbeams and warmth. She was like a sunny day at the beach and I was like a storm on the horizon.
The more I thought about her, the more I missed her. My eyes turned to the front doors of Papa’s, waiting for her to breeze through. My father glanced at me and said, “She’ll be here soon, mijo. She gets out of school at one.” He lifted the cuff of his sleeve and checked the time on his Swiss watch.
It made sense that he had that watch now. At least I knew for sure it wasn’t just money from running the restaurant. “You’re putting all the pieces together now, aren’t you?” Pop’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.
“I am. Now I know how you’re able to put Sammie and me through Ivy League schools.”
“I’m not putting you through shit, Santana. You got kicked out for selling drugs on campus, or do I need to remind you?” The smile dropped clean off his face as he regarded me.
Was he really mad though?
“No need to remind me,” I grumbled. I didn’t need a reminder for something that only happened one day ago.
I was minding my business outside the dining hall when a few of my boys walked up talking about a frat party. Naturally, I wanted to be the supplier. I’d been selling drugs on and off campus for months and I had a nice amount of product to unload. I wanted to get rid of it quickly because I knew the payout would be lovely. I told my boys that I’d get the shit from my room and go to the quad where I knew the frat boys would be.
The deal went fine. I had everything sewed up. I headed back to my dorm to get ready for the party without a care in the fucking world until campus security banged on my door. It trembled beneath their eager fists.
Evidently, a new teacher that looked a hell of a lot like a student spotted me on the quad making the deal for the party and reported me. I couldn’t dispute the claims once they showed me video of myself handing off the product.
They handed me off the state police and I got thrown in jail. Pop had to come bail me out and it wasn’t like the drive from Rhode Island to New Hampshire was a short one. I sat in a cell for more than three hours until he got there and a part of me wanted to just stay the fuck in jail because the ride home with him was hell.
I got lectured for hours until I exploded with frustration when we got home. Shards of anger went everywhere. I didn’t care that I was yelling at my father because he blew up too. We collided like two massive suns until he calmed down enough to bring me into the fold.
