Page 99 of Hard to Love
The room went silent. Anticipation.
A few minutes later a skinny kid wearing an oversized hoodie sauntered in, and everyone in the room let out an audible exhale.
“This is why he’ll go,” Ruben said so that only Alex could hear.
Nicolás was watching the kid in the hoodie with the kind of longing only a lovesick boy could muster up. Shit. If he didn’t get Nicolás out of here, his gang boys would eventually see that too, and they weren’t known for acceptance and understanding.
It would be a miracle if they didn’t kill him.
Ruben changed elbows and said to Greer, “You said you wanted all kinds of artists, right?”
Greer nodded.
“Well, my Jefe Mejor here is the best damn street artist you’ll ever get your hands on.”
Jefe Mejor? Wasn’t that the graffiti artist Greer had mentioned to him?
Greer’s eyes rounded. “Are you telling me…” She made a vague wave toward the kid.
“In the flesh,” Ruben said.
Greer looked the kid up and down. “You can’t be more than—”
“Fifteen,” Ruben cut in.
What the hell was he getting at? Alex grabbed Ruben’s shoulder and yanked, forcing him to look up. “What kind of bullshit are you trying to pull?”
“No bullshit.” And in his eyes was a different kind oflonging. Something both hopeful and intensely sad. “I’ll let your brother walk away as long as you take…” His attention shifted to the kid. “Lose the hood, José.”
The kid shook off the fabric, and the sight of Ruben’s kid punched Alex straight in the chest.
“As long as you take my daughter too.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Greer silently watched the whole interplay between Ruben and Alex, whose face broadcasted surprise at his former gang mate’s revelation.
“I want Maria José with you, safe and outside the city,” Ruben demanded. “Feel me?”
Alex simply nodded and said “Órale,” then returned his attention to his task. The two teenagers hurried out of the room and returned a few minutes later with a modest-sized suitcase.
As soon as Alex finished the tattoo, a freaking piece of art even under pressure, Greer stuffed his equipment in his bag and hustled her little crew out of that house. Alex slid into her passenger seat like a zombie but had enough presence of mind to click the locks. “You could’ve left the tattoo machine. My car’s about two miles from here. You can just drop us off—”
“As tired as you are, I’m not letting you drive anywhere.”
“Nic can—”
“—help you get it later.” She rolled over his words. “Should I go by your mother’s house?”
“They won’t touch her,” Alex said, leaning his head back on the seat.
“But don’t we need to tell her about…” About whatever Alex had just agreed to. Greer slid a quick glance over her right shoulder to find Nicolás and Maria José holding hands. And by the looks of it, this was more than a brother-sister kind of affection.
“Then where are we going?”
Alex lifted his head to look at her and, for a moment, he looked so lost, so confused, that Greer wanted to stop the car and simply wrap her arms around him. “Out of here.”
Fine. They would call his mother later. Greer turned onto the next major cross street. That led her to the 1604 and finally Highway 281 North. Once they were in Bulverde, Greer said, “Anyone hungry? There’s a great little barbecue place…” She trailed off at the blank looks staring back at her.
