Page 25 of Girls Night
She’ll beg me not to tell Papa and let me know when the next man will die.
And the cycle will repeat itself because she can’t help her compulsions any more than I can.
Chapter Seven
I’m sitting on the back patio with a beer in my hand. I’ve decided to bury Mateo’s head tomorrow with the rest of his body. I’ll explain to Papa that I didn’t have the heart to display him like the others.
He’ll understand and forgive me.
He always does.
I let out a sigh as I raise the bottle to my lips and take another sip, tucking my legs beneath myself on the opulent wicker chair.
When a strong hand rests on my shoulder, I gasp and almost drop my bottle. I look up and see Papa smiling down at me with tired eyes, and I wonder why he hasn’t gone to bed yet.
“I’ll sit with you until you’re ready to go to sleep,” he says as he takes the seat across from me.
It’s not an offer, it’s just how it is, and honestly, I love being in his company when it’s just the two of us.
He seems more human then.
“It’s good to see you smiling again, mija,” he says tiredly. I glance over at him long enough to see him rub his eyes, then look back into the yard again. I don’t like seeing him so damn sad.
“I smiled before, Papa. You just didn’t see it,” I tell him with a bright smile. Granted, I’m not looking at him when I say it because I don’t want him to see the blatant lie in my eyes.
He chuckles as I watch him lean back in his chair out of the corner of my eye. I can tell there’s so much more he wants to say but doesn’t know how to, and that’s okay with me.
Not everything can be healed by words, not even those of El Señor.
“So, how was your day?” I ask, taking another sip and turning my eyes toward him. I’m hoping that he’ll mercifully follow my lead and change the subject.
“Good,” he states with a nod. But I watch his eyes harden for a moment, and I can see him grinding his teeth.
“It’s okay,” I promise him with a dismissive wave.
He clasps his hands behind his neck and turns his face away for a moment before they settle on me again.
“But it would have been better had I known where my daughter was,” he says, his tone as stern as the look in his eyes.
I smile at him as I hold the bottle out. He reaches forward and swipes it from my hand, drinking down the rest quickly, then placing the empty container on the ground next to his feet.
“I’m sorry, Sofi,” he grunts.
“For what?” I ask, tilting my head to the right. “For being a good father? That’s the last thing you should ever be sorry about.”
He nods as he crosses his leg over his thigh. I can see that the interrogation is still lingering in his mind, so I may as well just confess.
“I walked to Bachimeto today,” I begin slowly. When he stiffens, I look down at my hands and being picking at my nails. “The Federales were there. Fucking up someone else’s business, I guess.”
“What the hell were you doing all the way over there?” he barks. I can tell he’s trying so hard to control his tone right now by the way his voice shakes. I wait until he takes a deep breath, then settles back into the chair again.
“I went for a walk after I left the bar,” I reply with a shrug. “I don’t know why. I just felt like going somewhere. Anyway,” I furrow my brow as I begin to concentrate on picking away at the dead skin, “I saw Omar.”
Papa takes a deep breath and gets to his feet. When I look up at him with my little girl eyes, he grunts and sits back down again.
“And?” he presses.
“Nothing. I had a little bit of fun while he was working. No big deal,” I state with a shrug.
