Page 194 of The Slayer
“The ocean,” she whispered in awe, even if the setting sun was about to ruin her view of it. “I forgot it was here.”
“You forgot the ocean was in Miami?” Chuito asked with amusement.
“I’ve had other things going on,” she reminded him and then turned back to Chuito, who crawled on the bed with her. She couldn’t help but ask in a hushed whisper, “Is Tony a good guy or a bad guy?”
Chuito held his finger to his lips and mouthed the word,Feds.
“Here?” she asked in disbelief.
“They probably cleaned the place, but just in case.” Chuito shrugged. “We’ll just keep it general.”
“Good or bad?” she asked again.
“I don’t know for sure,” Chuito said as he looked past the bedroom door thoughtfully and then turned back to Alaine. “But when I was twelve, my brother Juan adopted this fucking cat. He wanted the cat, so we let him keep the damn cat. It was Juan’s cat. Only, he was a kid, so you know, he didn’t feed the cat. Marcos fed the cat, ’cause that’s what Marcos does, takes care of everyone else’s strays.”
“Okay,” Alaine whispered, because she understood Chuito was telling her something else. She just had to decipher it. “Go on.”
“So, this fucking cat loved Marcos, and it didn’t matter how many times Juan said it washis; the cat still crawled into Marcos’s bed every night.”
“’Cause he fed it,” Alaine whispered in understanding.
“Yeah, the cat wasn’t loyal to Juan. Who the fuck was Juan to him? Just some kid who stomped his feet and said it belonged to him. All the cat knew was the one putting food in his bowl every morning was Marcos.”
“Is that a true story?”
Chuito nodded. “Yeah, that’s true. My cousin’s still taking care of other people’s strays. Only now, it’s teenagers. I wish he would’ve stuck with the cats.”
Alaine laughed but then sobered as she looked at Chuito. “How many cats does he feed?” she asked, hoping Chuito understood she was asking about Nova instead of Marcos. “Do you think the cats understand he’s the one who feeds them?”
“I thinkthatcat understands,” Chuito clarified as he tilted his head to the door, indicating Tony. “I think most of them do.”
“So, the old man was pissed off the cats weren’t his anymore?” Alaine asked.
“Yeah, egos are a bitch,” Chuito agreed.
“I had someone tell me pride fucks up business faster than a love story,” Alaine whispered, remembering Nova telling her that in the house the night before everything went bad. “I guess it’s true.”
Chuito snorted. “It’sverytrue.”
“Can we do this, Chu?” Alaine asked him, because knowing they had others on their side made it seem a little easier. “Do you think we can do this?”
“Yeah,” Chuito whispered, sounding confident. “I think we can do this.”
“Will there be cats to help?” she asked, because it seemed so daunting with just the four of them. “Lots of cats.”
“Maybe more than we realize,” Chuito said thoughtfully. “He has spent a lot of years solving a lot of problems for a lot of people.”
Alaine looked at her hands, hoping it was true.
That Nova had fed enough cats to help them all survive this.
“I’m sad about the fighting, Chu,” she whispered, because it was easier than admitting she was still scared. “It seems like such a waste to retire so young.”
“Well, you know, mami.” Chuito stretched out on the bed. “There’s something to be said about going out on top, with all my faculties intact. Fighting’s not exactly great for my health.”
“Luckily you plan to just retire to a life of nice, easygoing luxury,” she said sarcastically as she fell down next to him and stared out the window. “But the view is nice.”
“Some days it feels good to be a gangster,” he offered in a lazy voice. She turned to look at him in horror, and he laughed. “It’s a song.”
