This would mean another trip out to her rattrap duplex to try to find her. I wondered when she’d most likely be there. Morning? Afternoon? I should probably go to the office first, see if any of the courts had called me. Frustrated, I opened the refrigerator although I wasn’t really hungry. There was a small dish with tinfoil covering it. I peeled back the foil. Lupe’s guacamole. There was orange juice Lupe must have bought. I had to tell her to leave. A bottle of Stoly was hidden in the freezer. Putting the phone down on the counter, I wrestled out the ice tray.

“What time is it?” Lupe stood in the doorway pulling on a T-shirt, the dark place between her legs visible.

Looking away, I poured some Stoly into a glass. “About six. I’m leaving now. You have to go this morning. Today. Not mañana. Understand?”

The sun streamed into the kitchen window, throwing a chunk of light onto the yellow linoleum floor.

“No problem. I’ll leave. Where are you going?”

“To find the bitch who sent me off on this wild goose chase, settle up with her, then I’m coming back here. Alone. To my apartment. And I’m going to take my time getting drunk.”

“You’ll be careful, won’t you?” She looked at me beseechingly.

I turned slightly so she wouldn’t see my jaw. “I promise to stay away from sharp ice cubes.” My voice sounded fresh, smart. Why did I feel like a kid around her? I was older than she was. I was doing a better job of surviving the mean streets than she was. Wasn’t I?

“I’ll come with you.”

“No, you won’t. Go home. I’ll take care of this myself. These people aren’t interested in you. Just me.”

Lupe stepped into the chunk of daylight. “That guy last night, that was an accident, some bad luck, la vida loca. A brokenhearted Romeo. He’s not the one you have to worry about. I don’t think it’s that stupid shit Rudy either. I don’t know who it is or how many of them, but if you’re right, if it’s about drugs, pués, those people kill people.”

“Great, thanks.” Did she think that thought hadn’t crossed my mind? I threw more ice cubes into the glass.

“I’ll leave this afternoon so you don’t have to worry about my brother.”

Lupe adjusted the oversized T-shirt that was falling off her shoulders.

“I’m not worried about your brother. I haven’t done anything to him.”

“He’ll think we’re together.”

“So?” I poured orange juice into the glass.

“That we’re lovers.”

Orange juice spilled onto the counter. “Lovers?” I laughed.