Chapter 4
Chapter 4
"So why are you here, freeloader?"
Mauricio sneered as he took another threatening step toward her.
His grease-covered finger pointed inches from Elena's face.
"You think dragging this old man here is supposed to scare us?"
"Get out of my shop before I call the police for trespassing."
Elena slowly opened the blue plastic folder.
The entire workshop seemed to freeze.
"This shop isn't yours, Mauricio."
Her voice was calm.
"It belongs to both brothers."
"Or at least that's what your father wrote in the incorporation documents before he died."
She removed a thick stack of official papers.
"And because Arturo's share is marital property..."
"I have legal rights too."
She laid the documents flat on the hood of the truck.
The grease instantly stained the edges.
But the seal remained unmistakable.
The Office of the Attorney General of the State of Mexico.
"This is a criminal complaint."
"For aggravated assault."
"For domestic violence."
"The medical examiner confirmed the injury to my unborn child."
"The investigation has already been opened."
"You'll receive your official summons tomorrow."
"I simply wanted to hand you your copy personally."
"So you have enough time to find yourself a lawyer..."
"...one who doesn't accept payment in tequila."
Mauricio stared at the papers.
Three full seconds passed without a word.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
His smug smile vanished.
Arturo instinctively stepped backward.
As though the official seal itself might burn him.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
Mauricio exploded.
He threw the heavy wrench across the shop.
It smashed into a bucket of used motor oil.
Black liquid splashed across Arturo's legs.
"No one sues me in my own neighborhood!"
He pointed furiously at Arturo.
"Tell your damn wife to get rid of those papers!"
"Right now!"
"Or I swear to God I'll kick her out of this entire district!"
"You tell me yourself, Mauricio."
Elena suddenly raised her voice.
For the first time...
She stepped closer.
Less than three feet separated them now.
"Go ahead."
"Hit me again."
She spread her arms.
"Do it."
"Right here."
"In front of Don Sergio."
"In front of every mechanic watching."
"Come on."
"Hit me."
"Let's see whether the judge grants you bail this time."
Arturo hurried between them.
He pushed lightly against Mauricio's chest.
Not out of courage...
Only panic.
Several mechanics from neighboring repair shops had stopped working.
Pretending to inspect shock absorbers.
Listening to every word.
"Elena..."
Arturo pleaded quietly.
"Please."
"We can settle this ourselves."
"Don't involve the government."
"My brother was drunk."
"You know how he gets."
"He didn't mean to hurt you."
"Or the baby."
"Withdraw the complaint."
"I'll talk to my mother."
"You can move back into the upstairs room."
Elena looked at him.
There was no hatred in her eyes anymore.
Only pity.
The kind of pity reserved for creatures born incapable of standing on their own.
She calmly pulled her arm away from his greasy fingers.
"He was drunk?"
She let out a bitter laugh.
"He's always drunk, Arturo."
"And you're always sober..."
"When you watch him beat me."
"The upstairs room?"
"You can keep it."
"I'm not the same fool who waited every night with dinner on the table..."
"While you wasted your paycheck at the corner bar..."
"Trying to impress this idiot..."
"So he wouldn't call you whipped."
"My son..."
"Will never grow up in that house of snakes."
Don Sergio finally stepped forward.
His weathered hand rested gently on Elena's shoulder.
"I knew your father, son."
He looked directly at Arturo.
"Don Rodolfo was an honest man."
"A hardworking man."
"He would die of shame..."
"If he saw what his sons have become."
"One's a coward..."
"Too frightened to protect his own family."
"The other's nothing more than a bully..."
"Who beats pregnant women."
"Mind your own damn business, old man!"
Mauricio shouted.
His fist tightened.
"This is family business!"
"Go back to your little carpentry shop..."
"Before I smash your holy wooden sticks over your head!"
"Watch your mouth when you talk to Don Sergio."
Elena stepped in front of the old carpenter.
Her courage stunned both brothers.
"He did more for me in one afternoon..."
"Than either of you did in three years."
"He went with me to the prosecutor's office."
"While you were busy hiding an injured dog..."
"So no one would see what you'd done."
She locked eyes with Mauricio.
"Speaking of that..."
"Where is he?"
"Where did you leave El Jefe?"
Mauricio forced himself to laugh.
He spat onto the street.
"That mangy mutt?"
"He's probably dried up by now."
"I dumped him near the farms outside Chimalhuacán."
"Close to the drainage canal."
"His ribs were shattered."
"He wouldn't have lasted three days anyway."
"So if you're looking for him..."
"You'll have to dig through the garbage."
For one brief second...
Elena's heart broke all over again.
But she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
Instead...
She turned toward Arturo one last time.
He couldn't even meet her eyes.
He kept wiping his hands over and over with the same filthy rag.
Unable to look at the woman he had once promised to love.
"You're nothing but human trash, Arturo."
She spoke barely above a whisper.
"It hurt you more..."
"That I returned your five hundred pesos..."
"Than seeing your own child's blood on the concrete."
"Stay with your brother."
"Stay with your mother."
"And when you're old..."
"When you're completely alone..."
"I hope their broken engines..."
"And greasy quesadillas..."
May you like
"Can give you the hug..."
"You refused to give your own family."
