Page 27 of Embriagado

“Well, sorry for not wanting my girl to break up with me for being a broke loser.”

My brows pulled close. “So you’re doing this shit for her?”

“Yes. No, fuck.” His face twisted. “I did it cause I hate being so fuckin’ lame. I wanna be able to buy shit without begging for it.”

“So you go to that fucker Ace?” I hissed, anger steaming through my voice.

“You did the same!”

“I ended up in prison, you dumb fuck!” I screamed, not giving a shit we were still out in the street. “Is that what you want for yourself? You think Mamá and Papá would approve?”

Finally, Nacio shut his mouth and looked at me with those damn puppy eyes of his that made me feel shit for raising my voice. And when his bottom lip quivered? Yeah… that was my brother in a nutshell, a fucking crybaby.

“Shit.” I clicked my tongue, then, despite still being pissed, grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into a half hug. “I didn’t mean to snap, okay?”

With his head shoved against me, he nodded.

“I don’t want you to fuck up your life like I did. Got it?”

He sniffed. “Yeah.”

“So you stay the fuck away from Ace from now on, ’kay?”

He nodded.

Ruffling his dark hair, I kissed the top of his head. “Vamos, pendejo.”

I let go of him, and we began walking.

“Santi.”

“What?”

“Did you mean it… when you said you’d kill him?”

“What d’you think?”

Holding my stare, he swallowed hard, then looked down at the ground.

“You were kinda cool, though,” he then added, a grin on his face that showed off his dimples.

“Just cool?”

“A total badass.” He bumped his shoulder with mine. “Bet he was shitting his pants.”

My brother’s ability to bounce back like a fighter was one of the things I liked most about him. Nothing kept him down, and even though he was whining just a moment ago, it was all about smiling now. And so, he continued joking around all the way back home while I stayed quiet and listened to him talk. He was a good kid, and I wanted to keep it that way, only it wasn’t that easy with me being away most of the day. I’d probably have to give him more of my attention.

“How about we go to the gym Saturday?” I asked.

“Dad’s old gym?”

I nodded.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.” I rubbed my neck. “It’s been a while since we sparred together.”

“I thought you hated that place since Carlos took over.”