Boycotting Blue

02/Blue

02/Blue

 

“It’s too damn hot for underwear,” I growled, throwing my boxers on my bed and opting to slide on my pants instead. My huevos were free to roam, just like I liked it. Downstairs, I could hear that girl laughing, and I found myself picturing those dark gray eyes focusing on mines, wide and serious. Those eyes seemed to stare right through my soul earlier. Frowning, I shook the mental picture off. It was nothing but imagination working overdrive, thanks to a lack of anything messing up my system. The first two weeks here, I was curled into balls, pacing holes through the floor, and pushing myself on the court to contradict the withdrawal I was having. I didn’t smoke mota, pasto, or whatever else they called it; I only sold it. Little bags of crippy zip-locked to perfection so not a single piece falls out. Drug heads coming up to me with shaking hands and crumbled bills, or even promises they know they wouldn’t keep.

    I grimaced. I had to stop thinking about that life. It wasn’t me anymore. You WILL do better, half-breed. Those words echoed around my head, the words of my probation officer, Paul, who was somewhere in Florida, trying to help some other troubled chico from making a mistake.

    I grabbed my backpack and headed downstairs, hoping I would be able to slip past Tio and the girl. I didn’t need a friend. I didn’t Tio to threaten me and tell me to watch her, protect her. I didn’t know what kind of hold she had on him anyway; he wasn’t the type to fool around with young chicas, and she didn’t seem like the type to even fool around. Even if she was shorter than me and curvy.

  “Blue!” Tio shouted, sticking his head in the door. He had put on a shirt at least, masking the tattoos that covered his body. He wasn’t as inked as me, but that didn’t mean anything.

   “Si?”

    The girl was leaning against the counter, an easy smile on her face. She had that just-finished-laughing look. Y’know, sparkling eyes, fading grin, the traces of laughter still in the corners of her eyes. I pulled my eyes away from her to focus on Tio.

   He glanced between the two of us, face neutral. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “Come eat breakfast with us.” His eyes were hard, and his voice left little room for denying his request.

   I rolled my eyes and sat, tossing my backpack in the corner of the room. Since I was being forced to be here, I decided to test the girl out, see who she was, how far I could go with her. “Como te llamo?” I questioned in Spanish. If she didn’t know basic Spanish, we wouldn’t get alone.

    “Me llamo Lou.” She smiled, pleased with herself.

    “Tu hablas Espanol?”

     She shrugged. “Not much. What’s your name?”

    “Blue.” I didn’t want her to ask questions and stumble on something personal, so I asked more about her life. “How old are you?”

    “Seventeen.” She smirked, coming to sit down by me. “I have one brother, Mario. My favorite color is blue… or orange. I love basketball, an’ I want to be a pediatrician when I grow up. Did I miss any questions you were gonna ask?”

    It bothered me she was spot-on with what I was going to ask her, so I made up a question on the fly. “If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go, chica bonita?”

   Her face turns red slightly at my compliment, but then I see a little sparkle in her eyes. “Puerto Rico.”

   Hm. My home country. Well, half of it. Does she know that? “Por que?”