For a dozen years it has been this way – from the moment he first set eyes on Belita Ciera Vega and she slapped him hard across the face.Belita had been carrying a jug of water from the kitchen along a baking cement path to fill the water trough in a birdcage that held two African grey parrots. The jug was heavy and water sloshed from side to side, spilling down the front of her thin cotton dress. She looked barely out of her teens, with long hair that was so dark it had a purple tint like satin under a black light; and it was plaited like a horse’s tail, reaching down to the small of her back, where her dress was tied with a bow.Audie hadn’t expected to meet anyone coming around the side of the house and neither had Belita. The cement was hot and she hadn’t worn her sandals. She danced from foot to foot, trying to stop her feet from burning. More water spilled until the front of her dress was plastered to her skin and her nipples stood out like dark acorns beneath the fabric.‘Let me help you,’ said Audie.‘No, señor.’‘It looks heavy.’‘I am strong.’She spoke Spanish and Audie knew enough to understand her.
