and turned it as it cooked slowly over a fire. They paused and took turns sprinkling
seasoning and sauces on it.
As crazy as it sounds, I could relate to the pig. I mean, our lives really weren’t that
much different. I didn’t live in a nasty pigsty and I never had to eat my own shit. But we
both were tortured and picked on every day. I wondered how long it would be before
someone stuck a knife into my throat. I sighed and looked around. Ali was standing next
to Nico and he was motioning for me to come over. Oh shit. I walked over slowly.“Nico, this is my sister, Nelly,” Ali said.
For some reason, I couldn’t move or speak. I had seen him once before, but this time
I was up close and personal. And the view was much worse from here. My heart started
to pound. My palms were sweaty; I rubbed them on the sides of my jeans and took a
couple of deep breaths. I was scared. I had mind visuals of him being thrown out of the
bar. Then the word brujo popped into my mind. Where did that word come from?He said something in Spanish as he extended a black bearish claw with yellow
fingernails. Did he really think that I was going to shake his hand after he just killed and
tortured that poor pig? I imagined it becoming severed, breaking off cleanly from his
wrist and then crawling around my body like a giant size critter. I shivered with disgust.
Nico seemed to feel my animosity and kneeled down and planted a wet sticky kiss on my
cheek. Blazen, fearful that was I hogging all of his attention, ran over. She flashed a huge
smile while seductively resting her hands on her hips.
“Nico, Papi are you still throwing a party for me?” she said. “Anything for you,
baby.”
“Oh Nico,” she said while inching forward to give him a hug.
I struggled to hide my repulsion and keep down my breakfast as I watched Nico’s
mobile hand travel down her body and rest on her backside. She squealed and then
hurriedly pulled away, but not before Nico managed to give her left buttock a playful
smack. She waved her forefinger at him, motioning for him to behave.
“What? What?” Nico said, pulling away and revealing a devilish grin that was full of
rotten teeth.
“Not in front of the guests,” she said giggling. I looked over at Ali. His jaw
hardened. They held hands, but Nico turned and focused on me.
“Mija, make yourself at home. Me casa is tu casa,” he said, right before he was
pulled away by Blazen.
I was happy that Blazen had forgotten about me being her maid. She had moved on
to bigger and better things. I spotted her by a tree, twirling her hair while flirting with a
young man. Then, I saw her and the man walk into the house, my curiosity got the best of
me and I followed them inside. After all, Nico did say to make myself at home.I searched the many rooms of the house until I came across a door that was left ajar. I
thought that I saw a female’s bare breast. I zoomed into her face and saw a teenage girl,
with chestnut brown hair and honey brown skin staring back at me. I jumped and was
about to run away when I realized that she was not looking at me, but a man who was
walking toward her. I got a full view of the girl again. She looked like she was in a daze,
almost like she was intoxicated. I inched the door open just a little more and saw that she
was sandwiched between two men. I couldn’t see their faces. She looked lost, confused
and scared. A black hand slapped her across her face. My view was blocked again. All I
saw was a head with a bald spot and a ponytail.
When he stepped back, my heart stopped. The woman’s head was wobbling from
side to side and she was salivating out of the side of her mouth. One of the men lifted her
up like she was an oversized potato sack and flung her onto the bed. He grabbed a hold of
her ankles and began to pull her to him, like a fish being reeled by a rod. Wham! The
door was slammed shut. My heart was pounding. What the Hell was going on in there? I
needed to tell someone, quick. I heard laughter. I looked around and realized that it was
coming from the room across the hall. Hurriedly, I ran over and eyed the yellow beam of
light that shot from beneath the door. I knocked loudly before I pushed it open.I found Blazen sitting on the floor with her shoes off. Her spring dress was
disheveled and hiked all the way up to her hips. A long slim cigarette dangled from her
fingers. Her eyes, normally as big as full moons, were lazy with half shaded lids. A
young olive skin man, with Hollywood looks and a chiseled body was seated next to her.“Get the fuck out of here!” she screamed.
I watched as she adjusted her dress and scurried around the room to hide their used
condoms. I worked hard to hide my indifference. Something terribly wrong was
happening in the other room, and she was in here, getting busy.
“Nico!” she yelled.
The man shot up, startled by hearing Nico’s name. He quickly dressed and abruptly
left the room.
“Tony,” Blazen called after him, “Tony, don’t be like that” “Tony, that’s really
fucked up,” she said. She turned back to me looking very annoyed.
“What’s going on in here Mija?” Nico asked while standing in the middle of the
door.
“I can’t live with her.” Blazen began to rant while standing up. “I swear Nico if she
