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“Come on, parce—”
“Fucking idiot.” I kick him in the mouth, my combat boot knocking out a few front teeth and I rub the sole against his mouth, making him swallow back the red substance. “Die with dignity.”
“I don’t want to die!” He wails, now fighting me. His weak attempts only make this sweeter.
“Did you know my mother was supposed to fly out in two weeks to Chicago? We’d planned it, but it’d become difficult when she caught a small cold and we decided to push it back.” This time my foot kicks his chest and he falls over, trying to breathe through the burn. “She was supposed to meet my girl and love her as much as I do.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Your apologies mean shit,” I snarl, lip curling up in disgust. In pure hatred for this piece of shit not worthy of breath.Gino coughs when I remove my foot, but his reprieve is short lived when I lean forward and land the first punch to his face. I don’t stop after one and rain down blow after blow to his mouth, nose, and the corner of his left eye.
The skin becomes red, his flesh breaking just above his orb and still, it’s not enough.
My fist doesn’t pause. My anger won’t simmer.
“Por favor. No more.”
“I’ll only stop when you’re dead.” The car picks up speed then and I look up, catching Alejandro’s eyes in the rear view mirror. He nods and Emiliano turns in his seat, reaching back to open the van’s door. “Thank you.”
“Enjoy yourself.”
“Oh, I will.” Then I’m leaning the bitch over and smirk as his screams rend the open road. He’s cursing, crying, but nothing fills my heart with peace like the sound of flesh rubbing off on asphalt. His face leaves behind a bloody streak from one end to the other, and back again when we make a circle back. Gino’s body convulses in pain, fighting and squirming, and the scent of his piss infiltrates my senses when he soils himself again.
I pull him up, and half his face and scalp is gone. His eyeball is missing.
“...” he slurs, but it’s unintelligible and I scrunch up my face in mock concern.
“What was that?” His head lulls back, and spit mixed with blood dribbles down his chin. So nasty. “You want more?”
Head shaking, a few tears roll down his good eye. “No.”
“Si.”
“Please…compassion.”
For a second, I nod. Give him false hope before elbowing him in the one eye he has left and lowering him a final time out of the van’s door. I’m holding him a little above the moving asphalt. His squinting eye is trying to focus on me, his body no longer fighting.
“Javi, I—”
“Thank me.”
It takes him a moment, but he does. It’s low and weak and I shoot him twice in the head before dumping his body over.
It bounces off the paved road, lying still and waiting for the birds to arrive. They don’t take long; the scavengers wait nearby on trees and watch—wait for opportunities to present themselves.
“Are you heading straight to the airport from here?” Emiliano says as the sight of Gino’s corpse becomes distant, and I turn my face to meet his eyes. “Or are you picking anything up? We can handle the cleanup alone.”
“I'm taking Chulo. She loves him.”
“Then I’ll text Lourdes to have him and your bags ready. Let's get you back to Mariah.”
Closing my eyes, I nod and sit back. Relax a bit knowing I'm going home.
I miss you, Muñeca.
***
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