Hallows: Eulalie

What Just Happened?

Frankie Smith- Double Dutch Bus

Ashley:

Chavela Jimenez is sitting at the back of her restaurant with Morena and Gustavo Cervantes. Also known as the Terror Twins. Her two favorite enforcers. The universe is punishing me for making my mom worry last night, I'm sure of it. She waves me in as soon as she sees me.

Chave's bright red hair is the first thing that can be spotted anywhere. She'd probably be prettier if she didn't draw on her crazy chola eyebrows the way she does. Just two high arches on her forehead. She's wearing a black tube top that covers her heavy breasts. There are tattoos all over her arms. She's sitting with her legs spread like a man. I can see her Cortez's sticking out from under her dark gray Dickies that are a few sizes too big for her form. I take a seat in front of her. My heart is racing.

"Hey," I greet her.

"Como te fue?" she asks. Her lips are outlined with a dark blood-red lip liner.

"Good," I say and slide the pack over to her. She opens it and takes the roll of money out and tosses it at Morena.

"You fighting, Reyna?" she asks, reaching over the table to pinch my chin. She looks over my face. I have a bruise on my chin from when Jessica swung her bookbag at me when I was coming out of the dorms this morning.

"Not because of this," I pull away. I reach into my back pocket and hold up the card Dante gave me.

"Que es?" she asks, reaching for it. She turns it over and then looks up at me. The color drains away from her face.

"Uh, there's this guy. Dante Blackstone. He won't leave me alone," I tell her. She hands me the card and nods.

"You work for him now."

"What? What about our deal?" I ask confused.

"He's going to pay me. We're done," she shrugs. I look over at her friends not sure what to do.

"I don't understand,"

"Mira, this guy runs with Japanese Yakuza. Chiquita con hojos chinos," she shakes her head.

"Kelly," I nod. I am very aware of the rumors running around the school about Kelly Hayashi. I didn't think they were true until now.

"Esa, mera. If they want you. They get you. You get me?"

"So, I work for them now? No questions asked?"

"Sabes mejor que preguntar, Queen," she leans in, putting her hand over mine. She's the one that made me everything I am in the Southside. "Here's some advice. Keep your head down. Dante and Kelly are not all there. Rich people," she shakes her head. "They're something else. You get me?"

"Yeah," I nod. "I've been around them a few months now."

"Nothing is going to happen to your mom's store. You're a good one, Queen. Don't get yourself killed out there," she looks at Morena and bobs her head in my direction. Morena tosses the entire roll of money I just handed her at me.

"All of it?" I ask catching it.

"All of it, mija. Cuidate. Let me know if he needs anything," she dismisses me. "Ahora vete a la chingada, Queen. I got s**t to do,"

None of them look at me again as I put the money away. She keeps the pack and I don't ask for it. I get out of there a little startled wondering what the f**k just happened. I look down at the card in my hand to see the three shiny sixes on it.

I wasn't working with Chavela Jimenez because of some rebellious bullshit. My dad owes her dad two hundred and fifty thousand. Two hundred since I started working for them. My dad's been sick and can't work. The night I sold my soul to the Jimenez family, he was in the hospital while they held me and my mom at gunpoint. I know there's something wrong with him, but neither of my parents are talking.

I walk home to find that my mom is still at the store. I grab my skateboard and take six hundred of the money. The rest, I put into my mom's safe. She needs it more than I do. I close up and head over to the Boost Mobile store to get a phone. The guy behind the counter is dressed in all black. His hair is spiked up and he's wearing heavy eyeliner. On his wrists are leather straps with spikes on them. He looks like a f*****g asshole. The music playing sounds familiar. Everyone at the academy is playing this.

"Who's playing?" I ask. He scoffs.

"Satanic Couture," he answers, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. See, asshole. "You know, Dante Blackstone,"

"That's him singing?" I ask. He nods. "Give me some extra minutes, yeah?"

He rings me up and I pay him. I put the sim into the back of the little green phone and walk out of the store. I already hate this thing. I ride my board back to school not wanting to be out here too late. Hellbourne isn't safe at night. Well, ever but s**t goes down at night no matter where you are. You don't want to get caught out and about alone in the dark.

As I approach the front gate, I see a black Tahoe pulling away from the curb and a shadow standing in front of the gate. Kelly Hayashi scares the hell out of me. Her icy blue eyes rarely show any kind of emotion, but she's fun. Whenever Aubrey and Tiffany get on my case she's always there telling them to f**k off.

"You got a phone?" she asks when I skid to a stop a few feet away from her. I kick up my board and tuck it under my arm. It takes me a moment to realize that it's a general question and that she's not accusing me of buying a phone just now.

"Yeah," I nod. She reaches into her coat and pulls out her own.

"Number," she demands. She's been like this since we first met. I'm starting to get used to it. I give her the number. "You got a chirp?"

"Yeah," I hold my phone up. She takes it from me and takes down that phone as well. She presses the side button and my phone goes off.

"That's my favorite part of this s**t," she shows me her much fancier one. I shrug. "I'll meet you outside the dorm tomorrow. We're gonna run some errands,"

"Okay," I nod. She looks me over and smiles. She says something in Japanese as she walks through the gates.

The two of us walk in silence. When we reach the dorms, she heads in the direction of the boy's dorm rooms. I can hear music coming from inside. I didn't know Dante was in a band, but it really doesn't surprise me. He has a big presence. It's the first thing I noticed the first time I saw him. It was on the first night I slept here in the dorms.

Well, I couldn't sleep and I decided I was stupid enough to go for a walk. He was sitting at the picnic tables outside of the Music of the Arts building. While I was walking past him, I swear my entire body trembled the way it would if I were walking past a group of drunk assholes in a dark alleyway. I wanted to run, but I didn't. I didn't look over at him even when every muscle in my body urged me to turn around. And I feel that way every time I see him.

He was gone when I went back to my room. After that, I always find him in the back of the theatre. I think he doesn't know I can tell he's there in the darkness. I can't see him but I feel his presence there. I can always tell when he's awake and when he falls asleep. I'm glad he doesn't give me s**t about me playing in the middle of the night and well into the early hours of the morning. If he did, I probably would have told him to get f****d. We probably would have gotten in trouble for being there that late if we argued.

I walk past the girls in the common room. I can hear them as I approach but they quiet down when I walk inside and head up the spiral staircase. It doesn't bother me. I've always had to take s**t from a hater. I'm from the Southside of Hellbourne. You can't just put your head down in hopes you'll be left alone there. If you don't fight for peace, you'll never have it. I knew what I was getting myself into when I accepted the scholarship and moved here. It's actually a lot quieter here than it is out there. The danger is just low-key and borders on passive-aggressive.

The moment I stop in front of my door, I know something is wrong. The door is cracked a little. I lock my door because I f*****g know what these bitches are capable of. I push the door open and turn the dial on the wall to light up the room. There's not a single thing out of place but it smells like s**t. As I step forward and get close to the bed I see why.

"Aww look, someone left a gift for you. How romantic," Aubrey Fitzgerald and Tiffany Kennedy are standing in the doorway behind me.

I turn around to face them. Tiffany doesn't meet my gaze. She actually doesn't strike me as the kind of person that would go this far. Sure, she'd kick and scream about how much better she is, but this petty bullshit is all Aubrey. Years of chasing away her step-moms have probably given her a false sense of security. I'm going to have to break this b***h and fast because I've got another year of this and if I have to put up with her I'm going to kill her.

"This is cute," I say. "I feel like maybe I haven't been giving you enough attention, Aubrey. All you had to do was ask, baby,"

"Don't talk to me like that, street rat," she steps inside of my room. "I saw you get into Dante's limo this afternoon,"

"Is that what you saw? You didn't think that maybe that f*****g asshole was trying to f*****g kidnap me?" Okay, maybe that's not what happened but that piece of s**t forced me into that car and it was not pleasant. She laughs with her entire obnoxious gut.

"Why the f**k would someone like Dante Blackstone kidnap some poor mediocre ass w***e like you?" she balls her fists as she takes two more steps toward me.

"He made a few requests," I shrug. "Things I'm not as inclined to give a f*****g psycho like him,"

"Shut up," Tiffany shouts. "Don't you ever f*****g talk about Danny like that,"

"Oh, s**t. Did I strike a nerve there, Kennedy?" I laugh. She steps into my room and shuts the door behind her.

"If you ever disrespect Dante in any way again, I will cut your pretty little face up, Villanueva," she takes a little pocket knife out of her front pocket.

"What is it about that guy?" I challenge. "Are you really going to use that? Do you even know how?"

"You want to find out?" Aubrey asks with a little playful smile on her glossy lips. "She's really good with it."

"Is this what you two are into?" I point between them. I laugh as I stick my tongue through a peace sign and wiggle it.

Tiffany shakes her head like she just snapped out of a violent trance, but not Aubrey. Aubrey loses her s**t and charges at me. I sidestep her, reaching for her arm. I tuck it under mine and slam her face first into the bed. She screams when I jump up and shove her face into the turd she left on my bed. I laugh, getting a moment of satisfaction before Tiffany is coming at me with the knife. I dodge the swing of the knife as I jump over Aubrey and rush for the door. I rip it open and run for the stairs. All of the girls are still sitting down here since it's still pretty early.

"Ashley," Aubrey screams at the top of her lungs.

"Aubrey Fitzgerald has s**t all over her face," I point to the two of them as they come out of my room. The other snakes immediately start laughing and taking pictures.

"I am going to f*****g kill you," Aubrey screeches as she runs down the stairs. She freezes when she's halfway down the stairs. Her pretty blue eyes are as wide as saucers. I feel the odd sensation without having to turn around. "f**k," she chokes out and turns around. "You're so f*****g dead,"

"Aubrey," Tiffany looks her over shakingly.

"Get out the f*****g way, Tiff," she shoves her hard and runs past her. I laugh along with the other girls. I turn around and find him and Kelly standing at the entrance. Kelly grins. Her chinky eyes get smaller as she shakes her head.

"How did you get s**t on her?" she asks.

"She s**t in my bed. My dad says that the only way you can teach a dog not to do it again is if you rub its face in it," I shrug. Dante doesn't say anything, he just turns around and walks out.

"Wait," she laughs. "That's her own s**t?"

"Yup," I nod.

"This is going all over MySpace," one of the girls laughs.

"Come out here, short stack. Boss wants to talk to you," she points behind her as she goes over to the girls. "Share your treasures with me, ladies,"

"Kelly," they all flock around her, trying to hand her polaroids and disposable cameras.

I sigh mentally preparing myself to walk out there. I really hope we're not alone because I'm already on edge. I rather just thank him for getting my family out of this s**t we were in. Okay, Ashley. You know he's going to want something in return. You can't say no. You can't say no. Well, you can and you probably will. f**k. Why me? Why do I always f*****g pull the shortest straw? It's probably because all I do is worry my poor mother.