Thirteen Senses by Víctor Villaseñor Read Free Book Online Page B

hijito, above all else,” his mother had told him, “this is why each new married couple must be very careful of their friends who are single or embittered in their own marriage. These vultures will try to drag you down into their own world of discontent, because—to see you happy—threatens their entire world!”
    Breathing deeply, Salvador glanced up at his old mother who’d come outside to water her plants. Oh, how he loved this old bag of Indian bones. He smiled. Sunlight was coming down all about her as she went from plant to plant, humming and giving love to each.
    Watching his mother, it truly angered Salvador how these two snakes from Los Angeles had no respect for love or family, and they’d come in, trying to take away his livelihood once they’d seen that he was getting married.
    But, still, if he killed them both, then it turned out that they were, indeed, part of that big outfit out of Fresno, he’d be in big trouble. His heart began pounding. He’d have to be very careful.
    After all, he was now really a married man, and so he couldn’t just take the chances that he’d taken as a single man.
    He breathed. Either way, his mother was right, this was the perfect opportunity to catch those two guys by surprise, because nobody but nobody figured that a man on his honeymoon would have murder in his heart.
    STRETCHING , waking up the day after her wedding in her parents’ house in Santa Ana, California, Lupe realized that she felt a lot better than she’d felt the night before when she’d run away from Salvador. But she now wondered if she’d really done the right thing to let her mother talk her out of going on her honeymoon.
    Because, yesterday when he’d been holding her in his arms—it had felt like heaven with all those little hot-flashes shooting through her body. Lupe continued stretching as she awoke. Oh, she’d slept so well. All night long she’d dreamed of holding Salvador in her arms, hugging him and kissing him and smelling of him so warm and close.
    She wondered how Salvador had spent his night. Had he also dreamed of making love to her all night long? She hoped so. And she wondered if her truelove was right now, at this very moment, thinking of her, too.
    AND, INDEED , at that very instant, Salvador was thinking of Lupe, too. He was thinking of how he’d awoken in bed this morning with a mangy old dog instead of his bride. But he now put all his thoughts of Lupe and the dog out of his mind and he started to figure a plan of how to get these two guys from the City of the Angels who thought that he’d become easy pickings because he’d gotten married.
    Salvador finished off his third cup of coffee with some hair of the dog. had a little breakfast, then he quickly got dressed in his old, worn-out work clothes and was out the door. He was ready.
    It was late afternoon. Somehow, the day had just slipped away. The Father Sun, the blanket of the poor, was now only five fists off the distant horizon in the west, and so he had to move quickly.
    â€œAnd where are you going in such a big hurry?” asked his old mother, Doña Margarita, who was coming in after having run Luisa’s chickens out of her garden. “Eh? Tell me. I want to know.”
    â€œLook, I’m busy, mama ,” said Juan Salvador. Hell, he’d already visited with his old mother nearly half a day, then they’d had breakfast with his sister Luisa and her two sons Jose and Pedro in the front house. He was in a big hurry. “I got to go. I’ll explain things to you when I get back tonight.”
    He had his jacket and his snubnose .38 Special Smith and Wesson in hand and headed for his truck. He wouldn’t be taking his Moon automobile for this job.
    â€œI’m going with you,” said the old woman, seeing his jacket and gun.
    â€œ Mama, damnit, I’m twenty-five years old and a married man, surely I can go out on