Page 93 of Hunter's Hidden Camera
“You took my money!”
Mrs. Garcia steps between us. “What’s he talking about, Blanca?”
“Go back to bed, mom.”
Mrs. Garcia yanks Blanca’s ear again. “What is he talking about?!”
“Ow! Ma!”
“Tell me, girl, or I’m gonna kill you!”
“Ow! Okay, okay, okay, one day when Oscar and me were in Hunter’s living room, I made like I was going to the bathroom, but instead I went into Hunter’s bedroom and took his money. I’ve seen him before, reaching in there and pulling out cash.”
Blanca’s mom starts yelling at Blanca in Spanish. She smacks Blanca on the head several times. It’s brutal.
“Give him back his money! Go get it!”
Blanca, crying, runs to her bedroom.
“Sorry, okay, Hunter? Sorry, okay? Don’t call the police. I didn’t raise my children to be thieves. But sometimes they turn out to be thieves. Don’t call the police.”
I nod my head.
Blanca returns, stacks of bills in her arms.
“I can’t walk around with this tonight,” I tell Mrs. Garcia. “Can you hold it for me? I’ll come back for it. But right now, I gotta go find Oscar.”
Mrs. Garcia shoves Blanca. “You go help him.”
Mrs. Garcia takes the money.
“Fine,” says Blanca.
Mrs. Garcia shuffles back to her bedroom.
“How could you steal my money?” I ask. “That’s a shitty thing to do.”
“Shut up, Hunter. Like you ain’t never done some shitty things.”
“I don’t want to get into it with you right now,” I say. “Because I’m not kidding around. Some very bad men took Oscar, and they’re going to kill him. Do you understand me? If we don’t help him, Oscar is going to die.”
“You serious?”
“Look at me. I’m serious. I would go find him myself, but then it would be me against a whole bunch of mean-looking dudes who could snap me in half like that. I know you and Oscar aren’t together any more, but are your brothers still tight with him? Would they be willing to help him?”
Blanca has two brothers—Carlos, who is twenty-two, and Manny, who is twenty-three. I’ve only met them a couple of times when Oscar and I have run into them around town, so I don’t know much about them. But I’ve heard Oscar talk about how they used to shoplift and jack cars and beat dudes up when they were in high school. They barely graduated, but, when they did, they both got jobs working in a warehouse and cleaned up their act. They got girlfriends and wanted to start families and decided to leave their wild days behind.
But maybe some of that wildness is still there, willing to come out in order to help a friend. They both really liked Oscar because he always made them laugh, and you can never underestimate a person who can make you feel good, the way a genuine laugh always does.
Blanca nods. “Let me change and get my phone.”
She goes to her room.
I should be pissed about Blanca stealing my money. I should want to choke her out for not saying sorry. But nothing matters any more—nothing matters except saving Oscar.
40
Justice
