Once Upon A Wish : Book One by Richard Poche Page A

of
Ana.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER 8
     
Nestor left the apartment while Hernan
showered. He would have to figure out a way to fix the problem
himself. He did not like the head games of Cisneros. He had to
figure out a way to get a chess move ahead of the man.
Nestor parked in front of Ana’s apartment.
He counted five rooms on the second floor and four rooms on the
first.
A young Mexican man chugged by, pushing a
cart of ice cream. He slowed as he reached the apartments and rang
the bell on his cart.
A door blasted open on the second floor. A
barefoot boy, about seven years old and wearing nothing but a pair
of shorts, bolted for the ice cream man.
Ana followed behind. She wore a red bikini
top with a large towel covering her waist. The little baby fat she
had around her waist was sexy. He understood Hernan’s infatuation.
Ana had a carnal vibe about her that made a man’s heart beat faster
whether he wanted it to or not.
“Antonio!” she called out. “Don’t
run!”
The boy did not listen and eagerly looked
inside the vendor’s cart. He smiled as he took out a red, white and
blue colored snow cone.

The boy reminded Nestor of himself, because
his own mother had been a prostitute. Nobody told him that, but he
figured it out from innuendo of his other family members. Memories
flooded his thoughts as Nestor watched the boy interact with his
mother and the ice cream man.
Nestor took out his wallet and removed a
photo in the billfold. A long faded and wrinkled photograph of his
mother holding him on a porch in Tijuana.
She had sparkling brown eyes and smiled
directly into the camera as if she had no worries at all.
Nestor could not remember exactly how old
he was when his mother disappeared from his life. He knew she had
been murdered, but he never found out by whom or what the
circumstances were. His grandmother took him in and never once
spoke of his mother or the murder. He got only snippets from his
many aunts and uncles, most of who shunned or ridiculed him.
He folded the photo and put it back into
his billfold. Then he fingered the gun in his back holster and
stepped out of the vehicle, tunnel vision on Ana.
    “ Oye , Ana!” Nestor called
out.
Ana turned around startled. She immediately
put herself in between Nestor and her young boy.
“Go inside, Antonio.”
The boy looked at Nestor with
suspicion.
Nestor could only look away. He did not
want the boy to see such a strange man talking to his mother but he
had no choice.
The boy complied and Ana shut the door part
way, keeping her eyes on Nestor the whole time.
“I don’t see men here,” her voice low and
hard.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But there is no
other way. Can we talk in private?”
“I don’t fucking see men here,” Ana said
through gritted teeth. “Get the fuck out of here.”
“Please,” he said. “Someone wants to kill
you.”
Nestor looked around nervously. He wanted
to be one move ahead of Cisneros. In the back of his mind, he felt
Karlos watching them from afar, and didn’t want to dismiss the
feeling as paranoia.
Ana glared at him and started walking down
the steps. She led him into an alcove in front of the laundry
room.
Nestor noticed the broken lights on the
ceiling of the hallway. There were cobwebs in every corner and
graffiti on the walls.
“Okay now...what!?”
“A very ruthless man wants you dead.”
Ana just rolled her eyes. “I have no idea
what you are talking about.”
“Maybe it is best that you don’t.”
Ana started to walk away. Nestor spun her
back around.
“This is serious,” Nestor hoped his tone of
voice would convince Ana of the gravity of the situation. “How much
money do you need to leave here? Go far away. And don’t come
back.”
“I don’t take handouts. My clients are
here. They call me. I do the job. I get paid.”
Nestor took a deep breath.
“Hernan and I work for the biggest dealer
in the Bay