Page 80 of Liar
Dead silence.
“Don’t hang up,” I quickly say.
He clears his throat. “I never expected to hear from you again. Are you okay?”
Outrage rises up inside me, but I push it down. “I could be better.”
“I want to explain. I ... um ... miscalculated my steps.”
I pull the phone away from my ear and glare at it. The nerve of him.
“I feel terrible ... are you there?”
I’m three pesos shy of calling him out. Reminding him of what he said while I was splayed out on that stage. Tamale girl? There’s no mistaking Ignacio’s role in this.
“Luciana ... please ...”
Drawing on the tiniest sliver of patience I have left for this man, I bring the phone back to my ear. “You said you’d make it up to me.”
I hear his sigh of relief. “I did. Whatever you want.”
“Convince your uncle to meet with the Bastard.”
More silence. I count to three, then ten. “So much for false promises—”
“Okay. It’s just ... he has a mind of his own, and once his mind is set, it isn’t easily swayed.”
“Did he give those bags of money you hid inside my business to the Colombians?” I snap. He could have ruined my business just like he’s ruined everything else.
“I’m sorry, okay. I should never have involved you.”
“El Calaca accused you of spying on the Z22. Were you, for your uncle?”
“He’ll kill me if I talk about it.”
I can feel it in my bones, the coward is about to shut down. I inhale sharply, drawing on what remains of my patience and good-will. “After you were beaten, I asked the Bastard to do something about El Calaca.”
“And now,” Eduardo’s voice cracks with emotion, “he’s dead.”
“Friends should have each other’s back,” I say, flatly. Eduardo is going to assume what he’s going to assume. Who am I to correct him?
“He butchered El Calaca. Everyone is talking about it. My uncle is even impressed. And the Bastard did so as a favor to me?”
As if.“Yes,” the lie rolls smoothly off my tongue. “For us,” I flavor the lie with a little more truth, even if the truth is as harsh as it is unbelievable. “Mention that to your uncle when you speak to him. How the Bastard handled El Calaca on your behalf and out of respect for your family.”
“I owe the Bastard. And you.”
That’s right,estúpido, you do.
I don’t give him the satisfaction of a goodbye and simply hang up.
Time will tell if there’s any honor left in his miserable, cowardly soul.
24
It’s just past three o’clock in the morning when Hayden returns from his meeting with Ignacio. I’m in the middle of winning a poker game when the front door bursts open.
Six men enter, stumbling, cursing, and drunker than a group of American spring-breakers after an all-nighter in Cabos. If I light a match, the fumes of their combined breath will set the Hole in flames.
