When The Shadows Began To Dance

my mouth with my napkin. Alijondro plucked a singlecigarette from its package and placed it into his mouth. He offered me one and I decidedto try it. It felt weird in my mouth. He leaned over to light it for me, and I remembered toinhale deeply. My chest burned like a smoky chimney. I wanted to cough, but instead, Iswallowed, and my saliva tasted like the muck from chewed up snuff. I wanted to spit itout, like a backwoods sailor. But I needed to be mindful of my manners. Instead, I justtook a long sip of water.

I looked over and saw Alijondro staring at me.

“You’re so sweet and innocent,” he said, almost lovingly. “I am?”

“Yeah. There ain’t too many chicas like you in this town,” he said leaning back inhis chair.

“I don’t really think that’s true,” I said.

“Well, they might come here sweet and innocent, but this city changes people,” hesaid.

“Is that what happened to Maria?” I asked.

“That’s what happens to everybody,” he said while resting his arm against an emptyheadrest.

“It happens because everybody puts on an act. They buried all this misery inside ofthem, and it piles up like a toilet with a bunch of logs of shit,” he said, leaning over totake a sip of water.

Okay, now he was being incredibly charming. I smiled widely, trying to mask mydiscomfort. He continued, staring at the water while turning it gently in his hands.

“Then everybody comes to a point where they got to use it or flush it.”

“How would you use something like that?” I asked, just a little disgusted. I reallydidn’t think that this was proper dinner conversation.

“Nobody wants to be trapped in a room with a toilet full of shit. They’re repulsed byit. Like it’s something that didn’t come out of them.”

“Can we please change the subject?” I asked.

“The smell alone is repugnant and has power to keep the meanest motherfuckeraway, and yet, it attracts some of the nastiest fucking rodents and insects in the world,”he said ignoring me.

I cleared my throat to remind him that I was a lady and was not receptive to this kindof talk.

“But here’s the thing, shit has power too. You can put it in the ground, use it asfertilizer so it can grow new life. Now, that shit’s power,” he said chuckling and taken along drag from his cigarette. He stopped when he realized that I wasn’t laughing.

“I’m sorry, where are my manners? Sometimes I get a little carried away. It happenswhen you work in a car shop all day,” he said.

“You’re a mechanic?” I asked.

“Yes, for the last five years, that’s how I know Maria. I am always working on herpiece of shit wagon.” We both laughed.

“See, I knew that I could change the conversation and win you over again,” he saidwith a wink.

“So have you thought about what you’re going to do?” he asked.

I placed the napkin on my plate and looked down at my hands.

“I’m going to go back and find Maria,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. I was a littleconcerned. I had been gone for a while and was secretly hoping that Maria was back atthe apartment building, waiting for me. The last thing that I wanted was for him to driveme back home. I didn’t know much about men, but I knew that it was best to take thingsslow. It was also good to not come off as being desperate. But my insides were tingling,and I realized that this was the first time that I felt any kind of real emotion. I wasexcited, and yet, I knew I needed to proceed with caution.

He looked at his watch.

“It’s late. I can’t let you walk around this neighborhood by yourself.”

“No. You really don’t need to do that.”

“I insist. Knowing Maria she probably drove home drunk and is passed out on hersofa,” he said, taken out a couple of dollars out his pocket and laying them on the table topay the bill.

“I think that I am going to have to drive you home,” he continued, smiling.

I followed him back into the old apartment building. It was completely empty.

“Where did everybody go?” I asked.

“This building had been boarded up for some time now, squatters and drifters comehere from time to time, but nobody stays,” he said.

“But Maria said that this is where Nico lives,” I said.

“Maria is crazy, especially for Nico. Nobody lives here,” he said, stuffing his handsin his pockets.

I buried my head in my hands. I really didn’t know what to do. Should I let thisstrange man drive me home? Or should I attempt to try and call Maria? I had to admitthat I was angered by the fact that she would just leave me in a strange city with nomoney and no way to get home. I wanted to believe that she had changed, that she wasn’tthe person that Sister Abigail said she was. But she wasn’t making a very good case forherself.

“Luisa, it’s not my place. But I feel like there’s something that you should know,” hesaid.

“Oh really,” I said with my eyes tearing up. I knew what he was going to say.

“Maria is a bruja, a damn good one, and she’s playing you. She does this shit toeverybody,” he said.

“Yeah. I was warned, but I was hoping that things would be different between herand me,” I said.

He mumbled something under his breath. It was dark in the room and I am not sure ifhe was laughing or coughing. He wiped his hand with his mouth before he continued.

“It has nothing to do with you. It’s just human nature. It’s a bruja’s job to sniff outweakness. So they can use it to their advantage,” he said.

“But it’s different between us. She’s my mother,” I said with my voice shaking.“Naw, there’s no difference. If it’s not her,