Page 22 of Prisoner of War
It wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. The huge swell of heat and pain and fury inside her wasn’tsatisfied by merely dropping Carmen on her ass. Minnie stood with her chest heaving, unable to think of words that would exorcise the shockwave of emotions Carmen had initiated. There were no words that would do.
So Minnie threw herself at the woman instead.
* * * * *
Calli stood frozen for a moment, unable to comprehend that two grown women were rolling on the tiles, tearing at each other’shair, kicking, punching and scratching. Then her mind clicked back into gear and she moved forward, cautiously trying to figure out a way to separate them.
Most of the people in the kitchen had gathered around them. It was an echo of schoolyard fights, except these people were not cheering and encouraging the pair. They were watching with expressions that ranged from amusement to outright horror.Calli thought she understood the horror. They were watching an American woman trying to beat the crap out of their beloved president’s daughter.
It gave her one more reason to pull them apart as soon as possible. She had to minimize the damage this would cause.
Strong hands wrapped around her waist and lifted her off her feet. She was carried out of the ragged circle surrounding the two rollingwomen and placed back on her feet. She twisted around, only nominally surprised to find it was Nick who had her. “We must stop this!” she said.
“No. Let them go.” He turned back to watch the fight. “Let them fight it out.”
Calli bit her lip. “These people will only see Minnie beating up Escobedo’s daughter!”
He kept his eyes on the fight. “Even locked up in the boardroom I heard a repeat ofwhat Carmen said to Minnie.” He shook his head. “We’ll let it run itself out.”
Carmen and Minnie got to their feet, staring at each other balefully. Carmen was far taller than Minnie and probably outweighed her. Minnie, though, had a light in her eyes Calli had never seen before.
Minnie reached out for one of the cast iron pots sitting on the table by her hip and weighed it in her hands.
Carmenlunged for the chopping knife in Mama Roseta hands and whipped it up. “Ha!” she crowed.
Nick moved fast. He grabbed Carmen’s wrist and wrenched the knife out of it. “No, you don’t,” he said. “You want a piece of her, you take it with your own hands.” He glanced at Minnie. “You too.”
Minnie put the pot down. “Right.” She curled her hands into fists. “No problem.” She rushed forward and barelybefore Nick had stepped away, threw a punch that took Carmen in the jaw. Hard.
Carmen staggered backward but recovered and surged forward, her own fists flailing.
The fight lasted another three bloody minutes. Calli watched, amazed, as the two women sank to the floor, staring at each other and panting, the adrenaline and energy gone. Both had split lips and Carmen had a bloodied nose. Therewere scrapes and cuts on both of them. Carmen’s skin had fared worse because she had more of it exposed.
Nick waded in. He grabbed Carmen’s arm and hauled her to her feet. “You come with me. You too, Calli. You need to hear this.” He lifted his voice. “Everyone else—go back to what you were doing.” He repeated it in Spanish and reluctantly, the people who had gathered separated and went abouttheir affairs.
“Josh, take care of Minnie,” Nick said. Calli was startled to realize her uncle had been in the room all along. Josh moved around Carmen and halted. “Where did she go?”
The space where Minnie had been sitting was empty.
* * * * *
Nick pushed open the door to the dining room. Past his shoulder, Calli saw about twenty men sitting around the table look up. All twenty jaws descendedrapidly as they took in Carmen’s state.
Carmen stared at the floor, as sulky as any school girl.
“Gentlemen, I need the room,” Nick said.
At once, they scrambled to their feet and headed for the doors. Nick pushed Carmen inside and strode around the room, shutting the sets of doors.
Calli moved down to the sideboard, dug ice from the ice bucket and wrapped it in a napkin. She handed it toCarmen. “For your lip.”
Nick shoved his hands in his pockets, looking at his niece. “This time you’ve pushed my tolerance too far, Carmen.”
She looked him in the eye. “That littleAmericanahad it coming. Did you hear what she said to me?”
“I have absolutely no doubt she was provoked into it. I have no intention of opening up an investigation to figure out who said what because it would beredundant. The fact is, I’ve given you too much freedom and tolerated too much of your abuse under the mistaken assumption that you should be given time to come to terms with your father’s death, in whatever way you needed to do it.”
“You dare—”
