Queen of the South (La Reina Del Sur)

Festivities

(With the other governors)

Camila and Epifanio walked in to meet the rest of the group. Regina stared at them. Camila glanced at the wall to avoid her gaze. For whatever reason, it just made her feel guilty. Like a child having been caught doing something wrong.

"Sorry. I do that a lot," said Regina. "I'm not sure why but I always give everyone a feeling they did something wrong."

"It's fine. I tend to do the same thing," Camila answered, sitting next to her.

"Well, about time you showed up. Where were you?" said the man next to Eduardo.

"We-"

"They were talking about important matters. A governor's work isn't always done you know. It can cut into events like these. Even if you are on vacation. It has happened to you from what we all know. Quite often if I remember," answered Regina quickly, having stopped Camila from responding.

"Well I-"

"Don't give me that shit Gustavo. You don't have any right to make fun of them for it just because it happened to them, and they're new to all of this. That isn't any fair and you of all people should know that. It's not high school where you get to pick on all the freshmen students. This is serious business we're talking about. None of us did that to you. Like I said, it isn't any fair on their part."

"Regina, calm yourself please," said her husband.

"You take your roll as governor very serious Regina," Gustavo added. "You have quite the quick mind for handling things. Something we all should learn."

"Wait, what?" asked Epifanio.

"You don't expect to have control of all the rolls now do you?" Regina answered, a smug look on her face.

"It's not just a men dominated world. I thought you learned that from our earlier business," Camila answered, giving him a self-satisfied look.

"What was your earlier business?" Gustavo asked.

Epifanio and Camila jumped at his question. They figured they had all been in a business before their runs for a governorship of their own. How would they answer?

"Well," started Camila. "I used to be a dancer before I met my husband. I quit after he asked me to marry him. He worked on a farm. I created a small business that we ran throughout the town of Sinaloa. Unfortunately, many saw doubt in it. We had become quite a strong business, but it was later forgotten. Some of what rests in it still resides, even though we left. That business tumbled down quickly. It actually affected out marriage for quite a while. It wasn't easy, but we managed to get everything together again."

"The song that was released, about someone being a crocodile and Epifanio having killed them. What was that about then? Did that involve the business?" asked Lucia, Gustavo's wife.

"Yes and no. The man was called the crocodile. No one knew his name. He did some things that were not all said and well and came from out of nowhere. Now, about the killing part. Epifanio hasn't killed anyone. That's just something also out of the blue that we don't even understand. The crocodile was found dead, and seeing as he had a connection with Epifanio, it could easily be assumed he had done it. On the contrary, the only connection he had with him was a very poor one. If Epifanio didn't do as he wanted, he'd kill him. The death penalty would have been required if he had been caught, so his death wasn't all that upsetting. Sorry Epifanio."

Epifanio grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly. "It's alright."

"Twenty-five years of marriage right? That's amazing. I've only been married to my husband fifteen," said Regina, quickly changing the subject in hopes of changing the mood.