Page 145 of Embriagado

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ve got a job for you.”

Saying he had a job for me was a nice way of telling me there was someone out there who had run out of luck.

“When is it due?”

“You’re already late.”

I held back from letting my emotions slip. “But sir, the hotel is holding its Christmas Eve party as we speak, and I’m to be in charge.”

“I’m sure they can handle your stupid party by themselves.”

As he spoke, I could hear carols coming from the other end of the line. And not only that, but voices, too, of his family.

There he was, in the midst of celebrating with his own family, while sending me off to kill someone as if it were nothing.

“Alejandro will send over the details.”

He went on talking while I stared ahead at the chair Mr. Rivas had sat on only a few minutes ago. It was odd, but somehow, I almost wished he were here again.

“And don’t worry, I’m not asking you to do it for free. The fee shall be deducted from your debt.”

He said it as if he were being so kind. Still, I had no other choice.

“Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.”

“You could count it as your Christmas bonus.”

The muscle in my jaw tensed as I forced myself to speak. “Again, thank you so much, sir.”

He hung up without a goodbye, and I was left to sit in my chair for a few more seconds before I got up and walked over to grab my gun from the safe. After taking it out, I hung the painting back on the wall to hide the safe and took a moment to stare at it. Seeing the blood gushing out of Holofernes’s slit throat, my eyes moved on to Judith. I wondered what she felt in those seconds. Was it relief for finally getting even with her rapist, or was the weight of his blood already weighing on her conscience?

I still carried the weight of my first kill.

He deserved to die.

He deserved to die for fooling me into thinking he cared.

He deserved to die for making me believe I could be loved.

But mostly, he deserved to die for trying to kill me that day.

And yet, despite all that, my heart still ached whenever I thought of him. Not because I missed him, but for the bloodied path his death had led me into. And so I wondered if Judith had time to savor the sweet taste of revenge or if the consequences got her before she could.

38

ARIYAN

Standing in the middle of the small garage, I cleaned my suppressed gun before glancing back at the lifeless body of the man I’d just shot. He had been one of Eduardo’s drug distributors until he stopped paying on time, and now, well, now he was dead. Although, if not for the small bullet hole in his forehead, one would think he was taking a nap.

Death is just like falling asleep.

That was what they say, no? Only it couldn’t be further from the truth. With all of this man’s systems down, his body had already begun its decomposition process. First, he’d go cold and stiff, then would come the smell, followed by the maggots and worms, and a week from now, it would be nasty. The only beauty in dying was the lack of life, but death itself was ugly.

Grotesque.

Pulling out my phone, I hit the call button. It rang three times before he picked up.