Mimi's Demons

Chapter 90: Oh Yeah. My Dad's Evil.

 Mimi squinted at the black-headed kid bowing to her with his arms stiff at his sides like a soldier. Something seemed off about him. Maybe because Juli had been so cocky at their first meeting that she expected every kid raised in the syndicate to be equally as swaggery. But he looked a little sick, like he'd had just come out of a flu.

And a little grey demon had ducked out of sight the moment he walked in. It made her heart jump a little.

"Is he Serena's nephew or something?" she asked.

"He's the son of the head of the Mexican cartel. He was what I got in return for the attempted murder you happened to catch a few months back."

Ah. Mimi had pleasantly forgotten about that. Murder demons were really big, and especially scary. They reminded her a lot of the black demons that made her throw up.

She squinted at the boy, who gave her a cautious smile. Then she looked at her dad in suspicious question.

"I'm not giving him to you yet," said Duke. "He's still in training. He was a spoiled brat when he came here without a lick of sense. I can't give you a needy minion who will betray you in a heartbeat for snacks."

Abilo Garcia wilted and looked down at his shoes. Mimi felt bad for him.

"What's he got left to do then?" she asked.

"Prove himself," said her Papa, which didn't tell Mimi anything at all. "He's going to work for Travis Cromwell for a while."

She perked up. "So he'll be up in the nest?"

"He'll be wherever Trav tells him to be. He'll probably be working online for a bit."

The boy didn't look up at this or seem any happier. Mimi rolled her thumbs together, thinking.

"Hey, uh, Abilo," she gave him a smile when he looked up. "Would you like to play Mario Party with me and Juli? Before you have to go back to work." She looked back at her Papa for clarification.

He nodded, so she looked back to the kid.

He was smiling again, still tremulous, as though he had gotten out of practice lately.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I'd—I'd like that a lot."

"Sweet." She took out her phone. "Juli's coming over in a bit, I'll let him know. Are there any snacks you like?"

"Mimi," said her Papa.

Mimi rolled her eyes. "He isn't my minion yet."

"Have you forgotten our entire talk about tokens?"

"It's Christmas, Papa."

Duke gave her a look. "Human nature doesn't change just because it's a holiday."

"Fine, fine. Sorry, Bilo, you're gonna have to be happy with what you get."

"That's okay." Abilo looked down at his feet again, but he was still sorta smiling when he did so. That'd have to do.

Duke commanded the kid to wait by the entrance of the living room, like a kid who'd gotten in trouble in class and was forced to stand in the hall for a time out, and Mimi had a hard time focusing on her conversation with her Papa until Juli arrived not long after. Her lackey noticed the other boy's presence immediately and tipped up his nose in disapproval.

"You're the cartel kid, eh?"

Abilo paused, then nodded.

Juli snorted, then turned his full attention to Mimi. "I got some serious goods this Christmas, boss. Co-op games to blow your mind. We've got to get you set up with a gaming computer."