Hallows: Eulalie

Talk Sh!t. Get H!t

Groupo Firme & Carin Leon- El Toxico

Ashley:

The party I sent Benny is two blocks down. I park the car and the three of us walk in. Benny is doing shots with Clara and her crew. She's already hammered. My goal right now is to have Clara drive her home passed out in the back seat of her Chevy.

"Oh, my god. Queen," Benny shouts when she sees me. She jumps into my arms and is able to give me a quick hug before Alice is pulling her off me.

"Hey, keep your filthy hands to yourself, pony girl," she shoves her.

"Ah! Alley Cat, you're here too," she laughs and hugs her as well. "What the f**k are you doing here, Espinosa?"

"How do you know, David?" I ask her, playing my part.

"His boss has a b***h ass little Mustang they think can take my Gypsy. In your f*****g dreams," she boasts. Clara and her girls laugh.

I look over at David and see just how much he hates her.

"Shots for Gypsy," I shout, and the girls all cheer. They hand her two shots. I take two as well. I take one and toss the second one behind me. I point at her and they are quick to keep giving her drinks.

Fortunately for me, this party was the closest. Unfortunately, this place is known as La Cantina. This is where the hard-core Paisa guys at Hellbourne high come to party. There aren't any fun activities to keep them busy and more times than not, this place gets raided. The loud banda music is pounding away from the speakers hooked up to a crappy old stereo. Even the way they're dressed is different. They've got on Mexican cowboy boots. Shiny Satin button-ups. And their tejanas aka, fancy cowboy hats.

The dance floor here is a huge patch of dry dirt. There aren't any pretty strobe lights or smoke machines. The cloud of dirt around the people is from them dancing and kicking up the dirt. There are coolers stationed around with Budweiser and Corona bottles in them. This was my party of choice before. The guys and the girls here aren't organized or as tamed. Here, when s**t goes down, people die or end up in the E.R. Paisas don't f**k around like gangsters. They're all about respect and power. Question either and you might not live to ever do it again.

In the back, sitting on a lawn chair is Eli and on his lap is Lacy f*****g Bermudes. She's wearing bell bottoms and black cowgirl boots that kind of match his. The white and pink flannel she's got on is tied so it barely covers her heavy breasts. Her makeup is caked on heavily, Southside style. Her dark hair is down and fluffed up with hair spray and mouse for a tousled look and her bangs are slicked against her forehead. Two huge pink hoop earrings dangle from her ear lobes. She's chewing gum just really smacking it around with her mouth open. Gross.

The old me would have walked by them real petty-like and he would have pushed her ass off his lap and gone after me. I would have caused a scene and then slammed her on the ground if she tried to get crazy with me. I was fully prepared to do it this morning but, seeing them now. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. David bumps me slightly and makes me look over at him. Busted.

"I should stop," Benny laughs. "I've gotta be up early in the morning,"

"Don't be a party pooper, Benny. We haven't even danced yet," I hand her another shot. She takes it and Clara takes her hand to pull her into the crowd so she can shake her up a little.

"Is that your ex?" David asks.

"Something like that," I shrug.

"Do you want to dance with me?" he offers me his hand.

"Do you know how?" I laugh.

"My last name is Espinosa. I know how to dance banda, baby face," he smirks and grabs my hand.

He pulls me into him, putting his arm around my waist so we're pressed up together. His right leg is between mine and as the next song begins he leads with ease. I put my arms around his neck when he spins us around.

David doesn't have the insane domineering presence Dante does, but he's not someone who is easily missed. He's six feet tall maybe. Lean, like a soccer player. He's obviously of Latino descent. His skin is almost a few shades darker than mine from being out in the sun all the time. My tan has been fading since I started at the Academy. His dark brown eyes have hues of green in them and he has this sort of imperialistic sway in his step. Like he's more than he lets shine through. I bet if he wanted to run things the way Dante does, he can. Yet, it feels a lot like he has other things to do with his time. Better things.

When the song comes to an end, I look up at him about to take a step back, but he pinches my chin to keep me from moving. My heart begins to beat wildly as he leans in and gently presses his lips to mine. For a moment, everything around us fades away. We're nowhere and no one. But that's not the world we live in and I panic. I reach up to try to clean off my lip gloss from his lips.

"What are you doing?" he laughs.

"If he finds out you did that, I'm dead," I shake my head. He thinks about it for a second and then takes a step back, stepping back down to reality with me.

"Mira nomas," her voice freezes me in place. He did not stop to kiss in front of Eli and Lacy. I look up at him and he gives me a little knowing smirk. Oh, you deviant sweet son of a b***h. "You got a lot of f*****g nerve, Ashley," Lacy gets off of Eli's lap. He just sits there looking up at us amused. "La Cenicienta is back from her posh ass school and looks like she's brought prince charming with her,"

The music is turned down and the crowd forms around us trying to listen in on the drama. Lacy is all about the drama. The bigger the spectacle the better and she has always made a huge deal when it concerns me.

"Lacy, I didn't see you there. Hard to believe since you and your gut are hard to miss," I give her a petty once over.

Obviously, she doesn't really have a gut. There's a little puff spot on her lower abdomen but that's only because we're Mexican and if you've ever had the privilege of a mother whose parents were raised on a ranch in Mexico and migrated this way, you know good food is never something that will be missing at your table. But the crowd laughs at her anyway and I see her fight the urge to cover up with her pink flannel.

"Not everyone is anorexic like you, b***h," she sneers. I laugh. I've been called a lot worse honestly. "You're on the wrong side of Hellbourne, Ashley," she says my name as if to remind me that I'm no longer the Queen. "Take your f*****g prince and get the f**k out of here, traitor,"

"You want to come closer and say that to my face?" I step away from David. No one, I repeat. No one calls me a f*****g traitor.

"Ash," he grabs my arm and shakes his head. "Remember why we're here,"

"Don't talk to my friend like that puta," Benny slurs from behind me. "Talk s**t, get hit,"

Eli gets up and steps close to Lacy when the crowd tries to get rowdy. His eyes stay on me. He pulls her back and walks up to us. His eyes search my face until they move over to David. The last thing I want is for David to get hit and for Dante to come down here and lose his s**t because someone put their hands on his really pretty boy.

"You here with him?" he asks me and I know this is it. Depending on how I answer his question will determine my social status among the Southsiders. I look over at David and take his hand.

"Yeah, I am here with him," I answer clearly for everyone to hear. I know I'm not betraying them, I've just moved on. Grown past my need to be the top b***h. At least, among them.

"You're not welcome in La Cantina anymore," he calls over the crowd."You heard her. She's here with them," he shouts. "Your reign is over, Villanueva. You aren't s**t to us anymore, b***h,"

"Don't-" David stops when I squeeze his hand to keep him from moving. I shake my head as the eyes of those around us zero in.

"Let's not catch each other on the streets, Eli. I may not be your Queen anymore, but I made you who you are, p***y, and I'm not going to forget this. You never bite the f*****g hand that feeds you," I turn my gaze to Lacy. "Especially not for a ten-dollar blowy special,"

"I'll f*****g kill you, b***h," Lacy screams from behind him.

"Get out, Ash," he demands. "I never want to see you here again."

"Tough s**t, gardener. You're going to start seeing her everywhere," David scoffs at him. "Let's go, baby. You don't want to be seen talking to the help,"

"This is why Arturo kicked your ass out of the house?" Eli shouts as David leads me and Benny toward Alice. I stop trying to calm myself. "You call him the help too? Pinche Judas,"

"Puta," someone else shouts.

"Perra,"

We all make it to Alice's car in one piece and without incident. Benny is beyond drunk as I drive us back to Scrappy Torres's place with Clara following behind us. When the three of us get out, Clara comes over to a barely coherent Benny.

"Get her home safely," David hands her some money.

"Hey," she catches my attention. "He's just being a d**k. Don't feel bad for getting out,"

"I don't. f**k them," I shrug. She boops my nose and helps Benny into her Celica.

"You should get back," I tell David. He nods and heads back inside through the side gate. Alice and I go back inside the house. We end up on the stairs.

"You're really not going to come back, huh?" she says. I shake my head.

She smiles and leans into me. Her lips press against mine a little aggressively but I welcome it. I pull her into me and she takes it as a sign to escalate things. I pull her little tube top over her breasts and grab them hard enough to make her arch back and laugh. She lets me get away with a lot before she finally pulls away.

"Did I hurt you?" I ask.

"I saw you with him," she whispers against my neck and presses more of her red lipstick all over my neck. "You don't belong to us anymore," she says, getting off my lap. She pulls her top over her breasts.

"Alice," I call after her as she tries to straighten up. She escapes into the crowd. I fix myself up and walk out of the back door. The guys who saw us go in together, all cheer for me as I make my way through them.

"You can take the Queen out of the Southside but you can't take the Southside out of the Queen," Jesus, one of Eli's guys, laughs with his buddies and I'm offered a beer. I take it and join them and their dice. This night didn't end the way I thought it would, but in the very least. I got what I wanted.