After the Before (19 page)

Chapter Thirty

Alex

I’m feeling like a total pendejo, sitting in the bathroom at some quickie mart
, puking my guts up while my fine mamacita is waiting for me on a bench out front. After I get the eighth burger up and my teeth brushed, I walk out to meet her. Thank God, Jasmine bought me a toothbrush and toothpaste.

When I catch sight of her, she’s watching the palm trees blow in the warm breeze, a small smile
playing on her lips, and her big blue-green eyes are open wide; taking it all in. At first, she’s too lost in her own world to notice me, so I stand a few feet away and just watch her.

The wind
blows through her hair, making me want to run my fingers through it, just as carefree as the breeze. Watching her sitting there, waiting for
me
, makes me wish never had to let her go. It’s already gotten pretty late in the day, and she’s probably getting hungry again, not that I could think of eating anything at this point.

She catches sight of me and her eyes light up. “Better?” She asks with an amused look on her face.

“Mucho. Thanks again for the supplies.” I have to laugh. When I do, I break her strong hold and she busts out laughing, tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t think it’s that funny.” I tell her, but I’m still laughing myself.

“That’s because you’re not me.” She has a good point. When she
finally gains control of her laughing fit, she wipes her eyes. “Here.” She hands me a bottled water.

“Thanks.” I take a big swig, glad to wash down the rest of the nasty taste in my mouth.

We are continuing our walk back to town a few blocks away, when Jasmine reaches over and entwines her fingers with mine. I squeeze back, letting her know I’m enjoying it. She leans into me, hanging onto my bicep with her other hand, hugging it to her chest, right between her breasts. I’m sure she doesn’t realize where my arm rests, but I sure as hell do. She’s walking with her head on my shoulder and I’m feeling all Titanic’s,
I’m the king of the world
, at this moment, with her at my side. I feel like I can do anything.

“What do you want to do tonight?” I ask her.

“I don’t know. I was just thinking about that. What would you feel like doing?”

I breathe out. Ruining tonight is the last thing I want to do. “Nothing
, really. Nothing sounds pretty good.”

She smiles at me. “How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Read my mind.” She places her head back against my shoulder. “I know we’re in Hawaii and all, but I wouldn’t mind opening our window and curtains as wide as they
will go, and just watch movies, while eating movie goodies all night.” Our ocean view room is good for something.

“Movie goodies, huh?” I lift my eyebrow.

“Yeah, you know… popcorn, ice cream, candy, and whatever else we can find.”

“I think I can arrange that. We should stop by a store here, before we get to close to the hotel
, that way we can pick things out together, before we go all ‘incognito.’” My engine is revving just thinking about my secret angel. This idea makes our relationship more daring, wilder, and way harder for me to keep my hands to myself.

“I like that idea.”

I lead her in the next store we find. It’s small, reminding me of an organic only store. They have everything a regular store has, but in smaller quantities.

By the time we leave, we have three bags full of junk food
, ranging from Zots, to strawberry cheesecake ice cream... Jasmine’s idea. She also bought some packaged, ready to eat salads for her dinner later. She said she would rather not leave the room tonight, which is fine by me. I’m all for keeping her to myself for as long as possible.

We break apart a few blocks before our hotel,
which is prime senior location. Most of the people from school hang close to the hotel, worried to venture any further into a different culture.

When I make
it back to the room, I’m surprised to see that I am the first one to arrive. I had taken a few extra minutes to stop at one of the roadside stands to buy Jasmine some orange lilies. I remember her telling Marisol a couple of years ago that they were her favorite flower. I put them upside-down in a brown paper bag, so that no one would know what I was carrying.

Housekeeping came in while we were away, remaking both beds with new sheets. I pull out and fluff the flowers I bought Jasmine and lay them on our bed. Our bed. I hope that’s how she
thinks of it, too.

I pace the room waiting
… ‘
What could be keeping her?’

Chapter Thirty-One

Jasmine

After Alex and I split up, I take my time getting back to the room
. A smile plays on my lips, just thinking about him waiting for me.

I’m wondering through another gift shop when I see the funniest thing. It’s a shot glass, only it’s in the shape of the flaming burger and reads,
‘FLAME ON!’ The words are stacked on top of each other, one on each bun, and I immediately snatch it up. I have to buy this for Alex. I’m
sure
he’ll find it as funny as I do.             

I’m giddy because I bought him something
that he can remember us by, probably one of the best moments of this trip. Well, other than the kissing… and touching him in places I’d only been dreaming of before the other night.

I’m lost in my thoughts, watching the sun make its way behind the ocean floor when a voice rings out behind me.

“Hey, Jasmine, wait up.” I know the voice and I could go without seeing the face that matches.

I turn around and wait to see what Andrew
could possibly want. When he gets close enough to me, I can see the damage Alex delivered to his face. Both of his eyes are swollen, with a blackish-blue color. His nose may or may not be broken, but there’s a large bump in the middle of it. By the looks of it, Alex knocked him around pretty good.

“Hey.” He repeats. Now that he’s next to me, he can’t seem to find his words. “I…
I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have touched you like that, whether I thought you were into it or not. I just got carried away, because I wanted you.” He swallows hard. “You haven’t told anyone other than Alex, have you?” He looks desperate.

“No.” My voice is barely audible.

“Cool.” he says. Cool, really? He’s more worried about himself than anything, but I shouldn’t be surprised.

He steps closer to me. “Are we good then Jasmine? No harm, no foul
?” He’s moving in inch by inch, trying to get closer to me.

My hearts
hammering in my chest. Something inside me is telling me to get away, the situation not feeling right at all. “No Andrew. We are not
good
, and I think I need to go. Please, just stay away from me so that Alex won’t have a reason to do this to you again.”

His eyes are cold, blue ice. Alex damaged his manhood,
taking away some of his self-esteem, causing his image to be at stake. He needs to regain some of his deflated ego.

“I don’t see Alex around though, do you?” He makes a show of looking around.

My brain is screaming at my body to run, but it refuses to move. I’ve always considered myself a strong person, but as of late, I’ve become a deer in headlights; confrontation freezes me in place since Margret. When she decided that beating me was a good course of action for her, I’ve become different. I’m not as strong as I thought I was.

I
begin walking backwards on the path to our hotel. There are trees, bushes, and all kinds of flowers surrounding us, blocking other pedestrians view.

“Does that matter? When he finds out
that you’re cornering me, he’ll be pissed.” I’m trying to distract him so I can get away.

“Cornering you? I’m not cornering you, I’m apologizing to you.” His voice is
sly, knowing there is nothing I can do to him but threaten him.

“Then you need to leave.” I try to turn and walk faster, but he stops me by grabbing my arm and turning me back around
to face him. “Don’t touch me!” I growl.

A cocky grin masks his face
, and before I can slap it off him, it begins to fall on its own. His eyes are growing wider by the second, and just when my curiosity gets the better of me, I hear Carlos’s voice.

“Andrew.” He says slowly, making a tsking noise as he saunters up to us. He’s holding his hands together behind his back, walking like a prisoner in cuffs
, looking ten times more menacing in this posture. “I’m pretty sure Alex warned you that you’re not supposed to talk to her, let alone corner her on a secluded part of this path, am I right?” He begins shaking his head back and forth, as if he’s scolding a child.

I move closer to Carlos as Andrew answers him. “I was only saying I was sorry
, right, Jasmine?” He actually thinks that I am going to stick up for him.

“Plea
ding with Jasmine will not save you because I was following you, so I’ve seen and heard everything.” Andrew swallows, visibly nervous now. He knows what he was doing with me, thinking he could get away with it. “You’re lucky I don’t mess you up, you pinche puto. You just wait ‘til Alex finds you.” Carlos laughs. “You think that was a warning?” He points to Andrew’s face, stepping closer with every word, placing me behind him. “Look at what he did to one of his own.” He points to Mario, who looks a hundred times worse than Andrew does.

The word, “Fuck.” slips from
Andrew’s lips.

“Fuck, is right.” Carlos says. “Have a good night
Andrew, and be sure that from now on, you sleep with one eye open, cabrón” Then Carlos turns, and guides me back to the hotel.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Alex

There’s a soft knock at the door.

“Finally.” I say aloud as I walk to open the door for Jasmine.

Only
it’s not Jasmine who greets me, it’s Carlos, along with a few of my gang around her, including Mario.

“Hey.” Jasmine says
softly.

“Hey.” I look at her confused. “Que pasa? What’s going on?”

She averts her eyes and slips past me into the room, not answering my question.

“Jefe, let me talk to you out in the hall.” Carlos
says.

I look
back to Jasmine. She’s on the bed, digging around in a plastic sack that she brought in with her. She must feel it, because she turns to look at me. With my eyes, I try to ask her if she is ok, and she gives me a small nod. I slip through the door, flicking the lock between the doorjamb so I can reenter the room.

Carlos clears his throat
. I can see in his eyes that what he has to tell me will not settle well in my gut. I’m in a hurry to get back to Jasmine, so I say, “What is it, Carlos?”

“It’s about Jasmine.” He starts. My heart begins to race at full speed.

“What about Jasmine?”

He takes a deep breath, preparing to spill. “We were passing by a shop and saw her come
out. Right after she came out, Andrew called out to her.”

I am so ready to blow when I hear his name, but I keep my cool, wanting to hear the rest of what went down.

“I followed him to make sure nothing happened. At first, he apologized to her and I thought he would leave it at that, but then he started walking into her, trying to corner her onto a part of the path that no one could see.”

At this point fire is boiling my veins into lava. I’ve never had anyone disobey me. “
What did he do?”

“Nothing.” Carlos holds his hands
up. “We followed them. When things got tense, I went in.” He smiles. “I didn’t touch him; I thought you’d like the privilege.”

“Si.”

“You want to go now? I’m sure he’s not far from where we left him.” Carlos is pointing over his shoulder, looking ecstatic about getting into a fight.

“No.
We will go when he’s least expecting it. I want his ass to sweat and worry about when it’s coming, because it will.”

I turn around without another word, shutting and latching the door once I’m in
side. Jasmine is looking at me from across the room, and she can see that I’m angry.

“Why didn’t you come straight back here?”

“I went into a gift shop.” Her sweet voice drifts to me in the quiet room.

It’s impossible for me to stay mad at her. I cross the room to stand in front of her, placing my
hands on her cheeks as she leans into me.

“
Jas… I’m supposed to protect you.” However, it’s not as if I can tie her down. I’m clueless about what to do.

“I’m alright.”
Her eyes are so intense, that they suck me right in. She holds my gaze for a long time before saying, “I got you something.” Her smile is gigantic and her eyes are bright.

“Que?” I ask her.

She digs into her plastic sack and pulls out something wrapped in brown paper. I eye her suspiciously; why would she buy me something?

I open the brown paper and pull out a shot glass
, but not just any shot glass… it’s a flaming burger shot glass that reads ‘FLAME ON’ in capital letters, accentuating the flames hotness.   No matter how mad I was a moment ago, I start to laugh. Soon Jasmine joins me, wiping a tear out of her eye.

“I saw it and had to get it for you. This way you have something to remember us
, and our time together.” The
after we go home
, goes unsaid.

The weight of the unsaid sentence leers over both of us. Her eyes are happy and sad at the same time.

“Thank you.” I whisper. The thought of us ending is already causing an ache in my chest. Just knowing we have an expiration date pulls at my heartstrings.

Jasmine must reciprocate my feelings because she changes the subject. “Did you look to see what movies they have to order from the TV?”

“No. But I
did
get you these.” I lean over and hand her the bouquet of lilies.

I can see
it in her eyes that her heart melts. She holds the flowers to her nose and inhales their sweet perfume. “Thank you, they’re beautiful. I love them.”

She moves to the counter next to the coffee maker and grabs the ice bucket. She tosses the plastic bag
aside, and fills the container full of water. She unties the flowers and arranges them in the bucket, fluffing them a few times to make sure you can see their full effect, their aroma already filling the entire room. If I had known they smelled this good, I might have bought some sooner; they work better than any air freshener does. 

She stares me down as she walks back to me. On her way, she clicks the TV on as she passes. Somehow,
she makes even that look sexy.

“Let’s find something to watch.” She flops on the bed, bouncing around before settling in. I can’t help but watch her full breasts bounce around with her.

Get your head in the game, Alex
. I scold myself. Jasmine is more than a beautiful face and body. Just her presence means more to me than any superficial looks. I walk to the side of the bed, but before I hop up next to her to get comfortable, I ask, “Lounge wear first?”

She nods before answering. “Yes, great plan. This is going to be so nice.” I can see
she is excited to have a quiet, drama free night.

We grab our
nightwear for the evening and begin to strip, neither of us moving to another room. She keeps her eyes on her task; however, I can’t stop staring at her the entire time she dresses. If you asked me what she’d taken off, I couldn’t tell you. The only things my eyes lock on are the very black, lacy bra and panty set she’s wearing. My God, she owns them. Her panties are low cut, silky and lacy, and the bra matching much the same, perking her large breasts up and out. She covers up with a pair of pink and blue cloth shorts, and a light blue tank top, that almost matches the color of her eyes. When she finishes, she discards her clothes into a laundry bag and tosses it aside.

Sitting back on the bed, she notices I’ve only taken my shirt off and
I’m standing there in a trance. “Are you alright?” She asks, concerned.

“Si,
I’m more than alright.” I smile at her, because she has no idea that looking at her like that has left me breathless.

I finish removing my shirt and nonchalantly wipe my mouth with it,
just in case I drooled while I was gawking at her. Unlike Jasmine, I toss my clothes on the floor next to the end of the bed. On my way back to the bed, I open the window to our ocean view room, letting in the soft, warm salty breeze. Jasmine beats me to the remote and skims through the movie selections on the TV guide.

“What will it be? Comedy, drama, horror…” She
says the last one in an ominous tone.

I chuckle. “Anything you like is fine with me.” I place my hands behind my head and lean back on the headboard, very aware of Jasmine’s shoulder and the length of her arm against my side.

I close my eyes, taking a moment to feel her warmth, absorb her heat… her scent; everything I will have to give up in a couple of days when we leave. I think about continuing what we have, but then remember how selfish it would be of me to put her in harm’s way. It’s not only because of her mother, but it’s also because of the ties to my gang. I already have to do cleanup work with a few of the guys in my own gang, so what would happen to her if my rivals found out about her, and what she means to me?