𝘋𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘴 - 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙈𝘾

Veinticinco/Twenty Five

Being back inside Carnicería Reyes was weird. The shop had been closed for weeks and it sure smelt like it. The stench of rotting meat from the freezer was so overwhelming it was noticed the moment Felipe unlocked the front door. When Izzy received his call, "Hi. Are you busy?" she didn't even think about the old meat products that were abandoned along with the piles of dirty dishes and surfaces caked in dust. The moment the natural light shone through the windows, illuminating all of the work ahead of them, she looked around, "If you expect me to pick up rotting, bloody meat, you better have gloves and a mask."

The old man waved off her concerns, "I'll take care of that. You work in here."

"Mind if I crack a door?"

"Knock yourself out."

As she opened the door, waving the stale air around, she thought of running down the street to buy air fresheners, or even a candle, to help with the horrible stench.

~ MAYANS ~ ~ MAYANS ~

"You gotta say something. Please. Fucking anything. I didn't think I was gonna see you again. Where's the baby? Luisa, where's our baby?"

"Dead."

"Will you tell me what happened to him? Will you tell me what happened to you? Talk to me. Let me help you."

"You want to help me?"

"I do."

"Like when you helped me and put me in a brothel?"

"I was trying to keep you safe."

"Safe?"

"Yeah, I didn't want anything to happen to you."

"After I lost my family, I had nowhere to go. Just the street. I was taken in by some women, to keep me safe. I didn't know what a brothel was, but I cooked, I cleaned. I watched the men come and go. Pigs. When I turned 11, they said it was time. I had to earn my keep. So that same day in the kitchen... I took a paring knife, and I... I cut my own throat, just how I watched them do to my father. My mother. My brother. I decided I'd rather be with my family in the ground than let someone else control my body. You want to know what happened in there? With Potter? I couldn't get my hands on a knife. You look like a man, Angel. But you're just a little boy grown tall."

~ MAYANS ~ ~ MAYANS ~

Felipe stood behind the counter, staring down at the family photos before him, listening to the girl pace back and forth in front of the store with the door wide open as she took a call. Letty sat at a table in the shop, trying to concentrate on the several textbooks laid out before her.

"What the hell are you talking about, Happy?" Izzy hissed into the phone, "I can't even talk to you-"

"Because you don't wanna fucking listen to what I say! You-"

"No, I listen! I listen plenty! You keep saying the same thing over and over again and-"

"You're moving down here! You're not staying in fucking Santo Padre surrounded by fucking mayans!"

"Newsflash, Happy! I'm dating one!" As Izzy listened to his cussing, she had enough, hanging up on him and temporarily blocking his number so she didn't have to deal with his mass calls and texts in anger. She took a deep breath before entering the shop, apologizing, "Sorry you had to hear that."