"Hola Ricky, ¿vas a alguna parte?"(Hi Ricky, are you going somewhere?)
I pull my zipper up.
"Yeah, i"m taking Kaz out."
"Oh, como una cita?"
(Oh, like a date?)
"Not quite, I just wanna get her out of here. She"s been here for almost two months now and she hasn"t really seen the city."
"Tiene sentido, pero a tu regreso, ¿puedes recogerme un trago?"
(It makes sense, but on your return, can you pick me up a drink?)
"Ha, yeah man."
The faint sound of footsteps grow louder. I turn my head to see who"s coming down the stairs.
"Maldición, te ves increíble!"
(d.a.m.n, you look amazing!)
Kaz blushes at Carlos" compliment.
"Thank you, Carlos,"
I scrabble by her side and take her hand,
"You look nice Ricky."
"I"m nothing compared to you."
We walk down the driveway and I open the door to the tinted suv.
"So, can you tell me where we"re going now?"
"You"ll see soon enough."
***
I carefully lead her up to the terrace of my favorite restaurant.
"Alright, you can take it off now."
She takes off her blindfold and holds her hand over her chest.
"This is lovely, Ricky. Where are we?"
"We"re at a rooftop bar. I used to come here a lot when it first opened."
"Mr. Hernandez? Your table is ready."
The waitresses takes us to the table and we sit.
"Now that i"ve got you to myself, i"d like to talk about your new mission."
She sits up,
"Ok...about what specifically?"
"How we"re gonna do it."
"Very well. As you know-"
"What can I get you to drink?"
"Uh, i"ll have a sweet tea with lemon, you?"
"Just a water thanks."
"I begging to suspect that they"re listening to us."
She nods,
"I thought so too. You"re fluent in french right?"
"Ah, good thinking."
"Comme vous le savez, j"ai été formé de plusieurs manières. Tu me dis juste comment tu veux le faire, et je le ferai."
(As you know, I have been trained in many ways. You just tell me how you wanna do it, and I"ll do it.)
"Tu le tueras dans six jours, le jour de l"anniversaire de son fils."
(You"ll kill him in six days, on his son"s birthday.)
"Je suppose que c"est à ce moment qu"il sera le plus vulnérable?"
(I suppose that is when he will be most vulnerable?)
"Your drinks."
The woman sets them down,
"Are you ready to order?"
"Not, quite. We"ll be ready in a few."
"Very well sir."
She leaves.
I go to grab my gla.s.s but Kaz hits my hand,
"Don"t. Touch. It."
"What?"
"She wants prints, touch nothing."
"are you sure?"
She nods,
"I"m positive. Let"s just order our food and try not to act suspicious. We can talk when we get in the car."
"Ok,"
I wave the waitress over,
"We"re ready to order now."
***
"G.o.dd.a.m.n, that was good."
I rub my full belly.
"It really was."
I start the car and we drive home. We go over the plans and lay out each step carefully. As we near home, I pull over by a gas station.
"Hand me the gun inside the glove compartment."
She pa.s.ses it to me.
"What do you need that for?"
"We"re not really welcomed on this part of town. I"m running inside to grab a drink, lock the doors and open them when I knock on the window."
"O-ok..."
I put the gun in my pants and walk in. There are about three large men watching my every move.
"Just this please."
I put the drink on the counter. He rings it up and the men walk closer to me. I ignore them and head for the door but one of them cuts me off.
"Excuse me, i"m tryna leave."
Another one stands beside him.
"The h.e.l.l you doing over here ése?"
"Just on my way home, now please move."
Im agitated. I shove past him and walk back to the car. Kaz frantically points behind me. I pull out my gun but i"m too late.
One of the men had already pulled his out. The cold metal hits me on the head and I fall to the ground.
Kaz opens the car door and springs into action.
"Kazmariah,"
She doesn"t hear my quiet voice. She managed to kill the first man and made her way to the second.
"Ricky! Are you ok?"
She runs over to me and helps me off the ground. She helps me into the car but I see something from the corner of my eye...something"s moving!
A single shot echoes through the gas station.
"RICKY!!"
My body goes cold and look down.
"My stomach hurts...is- is that blood?"
"Ricky, please. You have to stay awake."
I hear Kaz"s cries as she speeds down the street.
"Kaz..."
I feel weak, my words suddenly won"t leave my lips.
"Ricky stop. You"re not going anywhere, please."
"I"m...sorry..."
The street light flicker as my vision gets hazy. I close my eyes and take what feels like my last breath.
"Kazmariah, if I don"t make it, you have to do it. No matter what."