Page 179 of The Slayer
“Yeah,” Tino snorted. “I feel guilty. Bullets are never preferred. They’re the only thing that can prove a murder on the off chance a body is found, ’cause those gators make it pretty hard to determine cause of death. Not that they’re ever found. Lotta fucking alligators in the Everglades.”
“Coño, I feel guilty too,” Chuito agreed. “There were some nasty bullets to dig out.”
“Do you really feel guilty?” Tino asked skeptically.
“No,” Chuito admitted after a long moment. “But I’m sorry he had to dig those bullets out of Angel.”
“Yeah, Nova probably paid him enough to retire five times over for that shit. Glad I didn’t have to do it.”
“Have you done it before?”
“Why do you think I prefer sinking motherfuckers?” Tino shuddered and took another drink. “Nova has a fucking thing about bullets.”
“Jesus, for a motherfucker who doesn’t like using bullets, you’re a really good shot.” Chuito couldn’t keep the admiration out of his voice. “How’d you learn to shoot like that?”
“Lots of practice.” Tino shrugged. “Only thing I was ever good for. The dumb ones get to be enforcers.”
“You’re not dumb. You kept your shit together today. That was—” He shook his head. “That was pretty fucking amazing, Tino.”
Tino stopped walking and closed his eyes. “Don’t—”
“Tino—”
“No, Nova told you to come talk me. He paid you or something and—”
“Motherfucker,” Chuito growled at him. “I’m not out here because Nova told me to be, and I certainly didn’t take cash for it.”
“He talked to you.” Tino said it like he was certain.
“What makes you so fucking sure?”
“Probably because I sat in the car and cried on his shoulder after we got here.” Tino sat down on the front lawn to the house Luis had been renting from Chuito. “I’ve done a lot of terrible shit in my life, Chu.”
“I know,” Chuito agreed as he sat down next to him.
“But that was the worst.” Tino rested his forehead on his raised knees and just sat there in misery. “I think it was the worst. I couldn’t lose you. I just—” His voice cracked with emotion. “I couldn’t do it.”
“Alaine’s okay,” Chuito reminded him. “Junior didn’t hurt her.”
“I didn’t know that.” Tino sighed. “You didn’t either. I stood there and listened to that shit, thinking they were destroying her. I watched them humiliate you, and I just stood there and let it happen. That was my rule, you know? I don’t hurt women. It was my only rule. They could beat me until I died, and I wasn’t doing it. I never broke it until today.”
Chuito was sort of glad he was still blitzed off his ass, because even with all the bud in his system, the surge of anger those memories churned up were white-hot and completely irrational.
“What if Junior hadn’t been on our side?” Tino voiced Chuito’s fears out loud. “Where would we be right now? Do you think Nova has enough money to pay you off if it had been real?”
“Nova didn’t pay me off,” Chuito snapped at him. “Say it again, and Iamgonna be pissed.”
“Then why are you here?” Tino lifted his head and looked at Chuito, his dark gaze swimming with tears. “Why are you sitting next to me, motherfucker?”
“I dunno. I guess ’cause I love you enough not to think about the what-ifs.” Chuito shrugged. “Enough to recognize you saved Alaine from a bullet in her brain. You saved me too.”
“But—”
“Look, I’m still here. Alaine’s still here. We’re okay,” Chuito cut him off. “We are alive because of you. They found my weakness, but you stepped in, and you were strong for me. I owe you. I’m sorry for saying the shit I did. For making it worse on you. Attacking you was easier than attacking myself. I’m the one who touched her, Tino. I’m the one who dragged her into this bullshit. The only one who is allowed to sit here and hate himself is me.”
Tino was silent for a long time before he asked, “Are you blitzed right now, ’cause I think somewhere in there you told me you loved me?”
“So blitzed,” Chuito agreed.
