Santiago called out to a slender brunette with sapphire contacts. There were so many pretty girls at la pulga he didn’t know where to begin, so he planted himself on a corner and talked to the girls as they passed by. “Did it hurt when you fell?” The girl blushed as her eyes flickered back toward her group of girlfriends. Her friends encouraged her to talk to Santiago. The pretty girl shook her head, not understanding, and whispered, “What?” Santiago licked his lips ever so softly. Girls liked his lips. “Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” he said. The girls giggled. “Would you like to —” “There you are, mi amor,” a girl interrupted. Santiago was so startled by the sight of Maria Elena that he almost dropped the platter of smoothies. Maria Elena, his ex and the beloved daughter of known smuggler Juan “El Payaso” Diamante. After he’d been caught in her bed-room in nothing but his shorts, El Payaso had shipped her off to Mexico and warned Santiago to never speak to her again.
