Sofi had her hands full of different colored swim suits, she threw them into her large neon traveling bag and walked back to the closet.
"I still can't believe we're on our way to Acapulco!" Vanessa gushed. "I'm ready to party!"
Acapulco, Mexico is one of the most beautiful and exotic places in the world. It's filled with tourists from all over the world.
We're in for a real treat.
"What are all these swim suits for?" I walked over and picked up some of the two-piece bikinis in Sofi's bag. "We're only going for a week, not a month."
Sofi rolled her eyes at me. "Acapulco is full of hot guys! And I'm ready to show off my beach body" she twirled around.
Now that...I wasn't expecting.
I grabbed my bag and placed it outside our bedroom door. Vanessa was almost done packing her things; we only packed the necessary stuff. Sofi on the other hand...let's just say she still has a lot more stuff to fit into her suitcase.
I had called my mother that morning to let her know we're leaving. She sounded a little worried over the phone but I kept reassuring her that everything would be fine. I promised to call her as soon as we arrived to Acapulco.
My brother Alex had also called me, he wanted to let me know he arrived in Mexico safely, and I informed him the girls and I were going to Acapulco. He took the opportunity to remind me of what I should say if I got into some kind of trouble.
I'm a big girl, I know how to take care of myself just fine.
"I'm going to make a few sandwiches' so we can eat on our way to the airport." I walked out of the room and into the kitchen.
Our apartment was spotless, we spent most of the night cleaning around so that when we get back we can just relax and get done with things faster.
I quickly made some ham sandwiches' and packed them in ziplock baggies.
********************
We arrived at the airport at exactly seven-forty-five, our flight was leaving at eight-thirty but we still had to go through security check.
After having to go through the hassle of having strangers look through my stuff and check my body for any dangerous weapons, we finally got on our plane. We handed over our tickets to the flight attendant standing outside the gate. The rows on the plane had three seats.
Perfect.
"Please take a seat and buckle up" the flight attendant ordered us as she walked down the aisle to greet the other passengers.
"This is going to be so boring" Nessa whined slumping against her seat. "I want to be in Acapulco already!"
"You're always so impatient" Sofi said pointing an accusing finger at her sister. "This is why our parents never want to take us on vacations with them."
"Whatever" Vanessa grumbled turning away from us and looking out the window.
I spent most of the flight reading a book. Vanessa had surprisingly fallen asleep while Sofi was listening to music on her phone and seemed to be in her own little world.
I really hope this vacation was a good idea. I need to get rid of all the stress I've been feeling lately; ever since I've been hearing all this stuff about the drug war in Mexico I haven't been feeling the same.
Sure, I know I'm supposed to be used to feeling this way....but this drug war has grown to be a bigger deal then it used to be when I was younger. I won't ever be able to fully cut my ties with the drug cartels because they are my family.
Family is a a big part of your life, weather you want it or not.
"Oh my God!" Sofi gasped.
"What?" I place the book I haven't been reading down on my lap and turn to my friend.
She held a hand over her mouth while looking at me with wide eyes. "Duuudeeeee"
"Que chingados tienes Sofi?" (What the fuck is wrong with you Sofi?)
"Los Cadetes de Linares made a corrido about your dad's cartel!" she pulls out a headphone from her ear and gives it to me. "Listen!"
I motioned for her to turn up the volume and she does. My ears filled up with the sound of gunshots and the beat of a song started playing.
"Este es un mensaje para el Golfo saludando a los Zetas, Lobos, Escorpios y Los Rojos de Laredo. Clave uno señores alcon a cincuenta metros. Y arriva el Golfo bien pilas que ahora viene lo mejor. Arriva Tamaulipas! Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Reynosa y Nuevo Laredo, Rio Bravo, San Fernando, Valle Hermoso y Extranjero. Donde quiera anda la Maña andan robando dinero."
"Did you download this song?" I asked handing the headphone back to her.
She shook her head. "No, I was watching videos on YouTube and came across it.
Los Cadetes de Linares, a famous Mexican Band made a corrido about my father's Cartel.
(A/N: Corrido-a narrative song, or ballad, whose characters, events and themes are representative of the blues and history of local communities in the United States and Mexico.)
"My dad must be very happy" I whispered.
Los Cadetes sing Corrido, which are song ballads telling stories about real life drug dealers. They mainly talk about the Drug World and all the famous people involved in it. My father just made history.
When I was a little girll my father listened to corridos all the time, he seemed to block everyone away when he listened to that music. Almost as if he was daydreaming. He would tell people that one day there would be a corrido about him.
Only the most powerful drug lords get corridos written about them, now my dad has finally reached another one of his dreams.
"It's not a surprise" I grumbled.
Sofi put her phone inside her purse.
"Do you ever wonder what your life would be like right now if you and your mom had stayed with your dad?"
"Sometimes...I do." I responded. "I probably would be working alongside my brothers and father right now. Most women don't like to be involved in the business, but I wouldn't have liked to just stay home and do nothing. I would have probably convinced my father to let me work with him."
Sofi looked shocked. "Are you serious?"
I nodded
"How does it feel to be the daughter of a famous drug lord?"
"When I was younger I used to be very proud of having a dangerous and powerful father, I enjoyed watching everyone as they looked up at my father with respect and I was one of them. When I was about...thirteen years old, I dreamed of becoming a famous drug dealing queen, of forming my own cartel just like my dad. I wanted him to feel proud of me."
"Gabbs..." Sofi reached out to squeeze my hand.
"When I told my dad about what I dreamed of becoming, he was speechless, he didn't say a word to me. But I remember the scared look on his face."
" Why would he look scared?"
I laughed. "Trust me; I was very confused at the time too. I thought he would have been glad to hear me say that. I didn't ask him why he felt that way...but I did ask my mom about it."
"And..."
"She told me about the night my father had gone to bed after I had told him my plans for the future."
I felt the tears in my eyes as I recalled the conversation my mom said she had with my father.
"Dad had walked into the room and straight into my mom's arms. My mom was surprised to see the painful look on his face."
"What's wrong Salvador?" she had asked him.
"Soy un mal padre, Victoria!" dad shook his head with glassy eyes. "No meresco ser padre." (I'm a bad father, Victoria. I don't deserve to be a father)
"Por que dices eso?"
"I'm setting a bad example for my kids. Gabby se quiere convertir en narcotraficante...eso no es normal para una niña de su edad. Soy un mal padre, yo no mersco tener una familia" (Gabby wants to be a drug dealer...that's not normal for a girl her age. I'm a bad father, I don't deserve to have a family.)
Sofi put her arms around me and I leaned my head on her shoulder.
"He really cares about you Gabby. And you miss him, don't you?" she mumbled.
"You have no idea how much..."
"Then why won't you talk to him?" she leaned her head back to look down at me.
"There's too much at risk, and I don't want my mom to worry about me too. My father has a lot of enemy's and they won't hesitate to hurt the people that are closest to him."
The Mafia Cartels aren't ones to mess with; they'll hurt the people you love just to get back at you. My mom hated to live with fear of something happening to us and my father, she tried to get us all out but I was the only one who she could save.
**********************************************
When the plane landed we each grabbed our luggage and walked out the plane. The terminal was full of people, and when we finally made it to the front of the building there were cabs parked along the sidewalk waiting for passengers that needed a ride.
"This place is beautiful" Nessa said, twirling around in circles.
"We have to take a cab to the hotel" Sofi quickly walked over to the cab parked closest to us and hastily knocked on the window the get the young driver's attention.
A man that looks to be in his early twenties quickly stepped out of the car and walked over to help us with our bags. "A donde quieren que las lleve señoritas?" (Where do you wish to go young ladies?)
"Al hotel Mexicali, por favor" I responded as I handed him my bag. (To the Mexicali hotel. please.)
Nessa and Sofi took the back seats while I got in the passenger seat. The guy cut his way through the long traffic and drove down the big road with no problem.
"Vienen de vacacciones?" the driver asked, trying to make conversation. (Are you girls on vacation?)
"Si" Nessa answered him. "Tenemos una semana de vacaciones, venimos desde Chicago." (Yes. We have a whole week of vacation; we came all the way from Chicago.)
"Oh, then you speak English?" he asked with a very thick accent..t but we're still able to understand.
"Yeah, how did you learn?"
"I have a second job that requires for me to know English." he explained..
Wow, he must work in something very important for him to have to be able to speak English. I'm tempted to ask him what he does, but I change my mind since it's kind of personal.
"What's your name?" Vanessa leans forward to stare at him like the little creeper she is.
"Me llamo Diego" he smiled. "But everyone calls me El Chamuco" (The Devil)
"Why do they call you that?" I laughed
"People say I'm a troublemaker, I never follow the rules." he smirked. "What are your names?"
"I'm Gabby"
"And I'm Vanessa and this is my sister Sofia" I heard my friend say from the back seat.
We spent the rest of the ride talking about ourselves and when we finally arrived to the hotel, Diego helps us carry out our luggage. A few of the hotel servers offered to help us carry our stuff but we politley declined their offer, we already had an extra person helping us out so it wasn't really necessary.
Nessa went to the front desk to check us in and came back with our room key.
"What floor are we on?" I asked.
"Third. C'mon let's go, these bags are heavy." She led us toward the elevator and Chamuco followed right behind.
"Acapulco is the best place to come, you girls are going to have a lot of fun" Chamuco nodded approvingly.
"You should hang out with us sometime, whenever you're not busy with work." Sofi said smiling.
Diego grinned at us. "I was going to suggest the same thing, there's going to be a party at the beach tonight."
"But don't you have to go to your second job?" I asked remembering what he told us.
He stiffened a little but then immediately gave me a small smile. "Umm, my boss is going to be there so I'll also be working. But we can still hang out."
Why would his boss be at the party? That's a little weird.
"Sounds good" Nessa said.. "Can you come pick us up?"
"Sure"
When we exited the elevator we walked down the long hallways and Nessa stopped right in front of room 212, Diego placed my bag carefully down on the floor and then turned to us.
"Be ready by 7:30, is that alright?"
I nodded. "That's good. We'll be waiting for you outside of the hotel."
Diego took one last look at us and waved goodbye.
**************************************
"Diego is really cute" Nessa commented.
We were standing outside our balcony and looking at the view.
We finished unpacking our things a few hours ago. There were three twin sized beds for each of us and a large bathroom that could fit all three of us, which is perfect since we always fight over the bathroom whenever we're trying to get ready to go somewhere.
"He seems like a really nice guy" Sofi nodded in agreement.
I tuned out my two friends as I looked out at the beautiful view in front of us.
Acapulco truly is the best place to visit, the beach is full of people who are either hanging-out, partying, strolling down the shore, swimming, and having a good time.
There's people everywhere!
"I had a feeling Chamuco is interested in Gabby" Sofi laughed.
No way.
"I don't think so" I replied to my friend "He was just being friendly..."
Sofi scoffed, "Didn't you see the way he kept looking at you?"
No.
"You're crazy" I shook my head. I don't see Diego in that way and I completely agree with Sofi in the whole not getting romantically involved with anyone, we're here to have fun and that's it.
"Whatever you say Gabbs..." Nessa said sarcastically.
We spent the rest of the afternoon just chilling in our room, ordering room service and calling home to let our parents know we arrived safely. Around 5:30 we started getting ready for the beach party.
I slipped on a purple bikini and covered myself up with some short-shorts and a white see through tank-top. Nessa had a red bikini with some white shorts and red shirt while Sofi wore a pink polka- dot bikini and a cute little see through dress.
I didn't bother to put any make-up on since we're probably getting in the water, so I waited for Sofi and Nessa while they finished getting ready.
"We're gonna party tonight! Woahhhhh" I heard Vanessa's voice. "And Gabby's going to get a kiss from Chamucooooooo. Oh yeahhhhh!"
"Nessa shut up and hurry up!"
"Chill Gabby!"
I heard the phone in our room ringing and walked over to pick it up.
"Hello?"
"There's a young man waiting for you in the lobby Señorita." The receptionist said in a very professional tone.
"Tell him we'll be down in a minute, please" I replied.
"Sure thing"
I hung-up the phone and walked over to knock on the bathroom door. "We have to go, he's waiting for us!"
I quickly grabbed my white purse from the night stand and my friends rushed out of the bathroom in a hurry to get everything they needed.
"He's here early" Sofi said as she ran all over the room picking up her stuff.
We walked out of the room and I locked the door behind us. When we got down to the lobby we spotted Diego sitting in a small couch waiting patiently, as soon as he saw us he walked over with an apologetic look on his face.
"Sorry for coming earlier but my boss just called me and told me I have to go in early."
"It's okay"
"We should get going then" he motioned for us to walk ahead.
His cab was parked right outside the entrance and we madeour way quickly over to it , just as before I take the passenger seat while the girls go in the back,
"Vamonos a la fiesta!" Diego yelled excitedly pulling on some aviator shades.
Tonight is going to be unforgettable.
Gulf Cartel Corrido to the side-----> Listen if you understand ;D