“Sure. Whatever.”
Ferrol took careful aim and squeezed the trigger. The BB missed and the gun wasn’t very loud, so the girl didn’t notice she was being shot at. The boy swore and tried again. This time the BB must have grazed her scalp, because she swatted at her hair, perhaps thinking that an insect had dive-bombed her, forgetting it was the winter.
The boys broke out laughing.
The girl heard them and looked up at the hatch and shouted at them, “What did you do?”
“He shot you!” Hugo called back.
“Come up here,” Ferrol yelled.
“Why?”
“We want to talk to you.”
As she headed to the barn, Hugo said, “I don’t want to talk to her. She’s stupid.”
“You didn’t call me, Your Majesty,” Ferrol said.
“That was if you hit her tit,” Hugo said.
“No, it was if I hit her anywhere.”
“No, her tit. Come on, don’t cheat.”
Ferrol made a face. “I could have hit her tit with my first shot.”
“She would have felt it.”
“Maybe not. She’s wearing a jacket.”
They were still bickering when she climbed the ladder to the loft.
“What are you arguing about?” Mariana asked.
Ferrol explained his bet with Hugo and said that she could settle the matter if she bared her chest. Hugo sniggered, but she wanted to know what she’d get if she stripped off.
“Fifty pesetas,” he said.
She said, okay, sending Hugo into more hysterics.
Soon, her jacket, shirt, and bra were off and both boys stared in awe at her big breasts. Ferrol’s breathing got husky.
“See, I don’t have any red marks,” she said.
“We should check,” Hugo said.
“Yes, we need to check,” Ferrol said, grabbing one of her breasts.
She told him to let go, but he didn’t and soon he was cupping both breasts and pushing her on her back onto the hay.
“Go away! Stop!” she said, trying to wriggle free.
She was a big, strong girl and Ferrol was having trouble keeping her still. He straddled her, but she was still bucking him off.
“Hold her down!” he told Hugo.
Hugo didn’t hesitate. He held her shoulders down and Ferrol gave her a good feel-up, squeezing her the way he’d seen the family cook squeezing melons for ripeness. This was his first time and he was getting excited.
“Keep going,” Hugo said. “She likes it.”
“Do you?” Ferrol said. “Do you like it?”
“No! Let me go!”
Ferrol pried open her legs and got in between them and began humping her.
With every thrust of his pelvis, Hugo pressed down harder on her shoulders and said, “Go!”
Ferrol kept thrusting, until all of a sudden, he groaned and said, “Shit,” then rolled off.
“Why’d you stop?” Hugo said, letting go and allowing Mariana to get up and grab her clothes.
Ferrol felt wet and squishy in his pants and he got red with embarrassment. “No reason. I got tired of this game,” he said.
Mariana started crying and Ferrol turned to damage control.
“You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?” he asked.
“I’m going to tell my mother.”
“I’ll give you a hundred pesetas if you keep quiet,” he said.
She finished dressing and made for the ladder.
“Two hundred,” Ferrol said.
“Leave me alone! I’m going home.”
“If you tell, I’ll make sure your mother is fired!” he shouted at her as she disappeared down the ladder.
“Hey, Your Majesty,” Hugo said. “That was awesome!”
*
The next day, the Gaytans were having their Christmas feast in the castle banqueting hall when the door chimed. One of the servants entered and whispered something to Señor Gaytan who excused himself. Ferrol’s mother and grandmother asked each other who could possibly have come calling on Christmas and after several minutes, Señor Gaytan returned and asked Ferrol to come with him.
“What’s happening?” his wife asked.
“Nothing,” she was told. “Don’t interrupt your meal.”
Mariana’s mother and father, dressed in their Sunday best, were standing nervously on the yellow and black tiles of the grand reception hall. They did not or could not look at Ferrol.
His father had always been cold to him, but now, his voice was like an ice dagger. “The Martíns have made a serious accusation against you, Ferrol. They say you violated their daughter yesterday.”
Ferrol stared at the floor and denied it.
His father continued, “Were you in the hay barn yesterday afternoon?”
“Yes, sir.”
“The girl, Mariana, was seen going into the barn yesterday afternoon. Did you see her?”
Ferrol played the angles in his head. It was possible that someone had indeed seen him and Hugo playing in the barn just before the girl came in.
“Yes, sir,” he said.
“Are you denying that you shot at her with your BB gun?”
“I didn’t do that, sir.”
“Are you denying that you offered her money to touch her breasts?”
“I didn’t do that, sir.”
“Are you denying that you pulled her legs apart and got in between them?”
“I didn’t do that, sir.”
“Are you denying that this girl was violated?”
“No, sir.”
His father looked astonished. “You’re not denying this? Explain yourself.”
He blurted out, “Hugo did it.”
“Hugo touched her breasts? Hugo got in between her legs?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And what were you doing while this was going on?”
“Nothing, sir. I was scared to do anything. Hugo said that he would kill me if I tried to stop him.”
Señora Martín broke her silence. “My Mariana never lies. She said that Hugo helped to hold her down, but it was Ferrol who violated her.”
Señor Gaytan reacted forcefully, surprising Ferrol with his vigorous defense. “I must stop you there, Señora. I don’t know your daughter, but I know my son. Ferrol never lies. We are an ancient, honorable family and Ferrol is an honorable young man. It is not acceptable that he failed to intervene and he will be punished for that—by me. However, it seems to me that it is the boy, Hugo, who should bear the overwhelming responsibility for this despicable act.”
“Please don’t hurt Hugo, father,” Ferrol said. “He’s my friend.”
“Go back to the dining room,” his father ordered. “And say nothing of this to your mother or grandmother.”
Señor Gaytan invited the Martíns into his study to continue the discussion. Negotiation was his lifeblood and he
