Page 53 of The Slayer
“Does he say he loves her?”
Chuito hesitated before he admitted softly, “Yeah, he says it.”
She opened her eyes, giving him a long look. “So itisa love story.”
“A dirty love story,” he said with a glare, as if he sensed they weren’t talking about the song anymore. “With a man she should probably stay away from.”
“But still a love story.” She smiled as she went back to listening to the music. “A beautiful love story with a happy ending.”
“Ay, mami.” Chuito sighed, but he played it eight more times before they got to the Cellar.
He parked in the back corner of the lot, far from the other cars, which was odd. Alaine reached for her phone, deciding to text with Jules while he did whatever he had to do.
Chuito reached to the backseat, grabbing his gym bag, and Alaine asked without looking up from her phone, “You’re not working out?”
“No, I’m not working out,” he said as he searched through his bag.
“What are you getting here?”
“I forgot something in my locker.”
“Can’t we get it after?”
“Give me this.” He took her phone out of her hand and set it on the dash. Then he replaced it with a card. “This is for you. Open it now.”
“You got me a card?” She looked at the envelope, seeing the wordmamiwritten in Chuito’s messy scrawl. “That was thoughtful.”
“You think you can graduate from college, and I wouldn’t get you a card?” Chuito asked incredulously. “After I’ve watched how hard you worked for it?”
“Thank you,” she said as she opened it. “I’m going to keep it forever.”
The card itself was simple, withcongratulationswritten across it, but before she looked inside, something slipped out and fell onto her lap. She picked it up, looking at the check in shock.
Then she turned to Chuito and stared at him in stunned disbelief, words failing her completely.
“I looked it up,” Chuito said before she could find her voice. “That’s how much it’s supposed to cost. I know you have scholarships, but books are expensive and—”
“This is sixty thousand dollars, Chu,” she whispered, the check feeling hot in her hands. “Youcannotgive me sixty thousand dollars.”
“Jules can give it to you, but I can’t?”
“I worked for that money from Jules. I worked hard, and I wasn’t going to take any more from her. I was going to get student loans to cover law school.”
“I don’t want you to get student loans.” Chuito took the check out of her hand and set it on the dash next to her phone and turned to her. “Look—”
“No!” she interrupted him before he could finish. “I can’t take that much money!”
“Let me explain—”
“No!” She shook her head frantically. “Just, no, I can’t—”
She stopped when Chuito put his hand over her mouth. He put his other hand behind her head, holding her trapped as he leaned into her.
“Listen to me, mami. You have to take this money,” he said slowly. “It’s important to me. I want to see you do something. I want to see you succeed.”
She gripped at the hand over her mouth, trying to pull it away, but he wasn’t letting her, because his hold on her was iron tight.
“My brother was smart like you. He worked hard. Very hard. He lived in the hood, but he never saw the hood. He didn’t see the world like I saw it. He saw happy endings like you see happy endings,” he whispered as he looked down at her. “He was supposed to go to college. He died instead.” He looked at the windshield, his dark eyes glassy. “Letting me pay for your law school will make that easier. I have all this money. I can’t save Marc. Just like I couldn’t save Juan. I need to do this for you. It’s a waste if it doesn’t help you. I don’t want to waste it. I don’t like to see things wasted.”
