Chapter Twenty
Messin’ With The Devil
Monday went by too slowly for Jose Jr. in school. He was able to get through the day with no problem and couldn’t wait to get home. Jose Jr. rushed to get his sister Maria and together they hurried home. About an hour later Jose Sr. arrived home from another stressful day at his job. He smiled when he embraced his daughter.
“Oh my little princess,” he greeted.
“Hey daddy,” she screamed excitedly.
“How’re you feeling, dad? I’m going to the library, okay?”
“Okay, but you’ve been spending an awful lot of time there. What you got a job there?”
“Dad I’ve got more than one project. I got a science project and then the geography teacher said she wanted us to be there and…”
“Oh, alright then. You better let me see some A’s at the end of the semester, that’s all.”
Jose left to get his jacket from his room and Maria followed behind him. He looked at her, hoping she doesn’t want to go with him.
“Jose, so you’re going to the library, huh?”she asked sarcastically. “Jose, I know where you’re really going.”
“What? You better shut up. You don’t even know nothing.”
“Really I do, Jose. I know you’re not going anywhere near the library, Jose,” Maria said with a knowing smile.
“Shut your mouth! You don’t even know what you’re talking about. Alright, since you know so much, where am I going then?”
“You, Jose, are going to,” Maria said, pausing to recall in her mind every exact detail of what happened.
She nodded her head before continuing. She may have been younger in years, but Maria was way ahead of her older brother.
“Go ahead and say what you don’t know,” Jose said, daring his sister.
“Alright, you’re going to the horseshoe! I saw you be—” Maria almost shouted.
But Jose wouldn’t let her. He immediately grabbed her and pulled her inside his room. Jose looked outside his room door to see if his father was about. Satisfied, he turned his attention back to Maria.
“Shut your mouth, girl!” he said, putting his index finger to his lips.
He stared at her for a couple beats as if studying her. Now he had to find out how much she knew.
“Maria, you better be quiet before daddy hears you. Maria, tell me what exactly did you see?”
“I saw you standing around with these other boys. Then they handed something to you. Then you handed to another man and he gave you money for it.”
His whole secret life was unmasked by a nosey little sister. He couldn’t take it out of her mind but maybe he could distort the picture.
“Oh, ha, I was just doing a favor for one of my friends. Ahem… ah and he was waiting for his dad. So his dad’s friend came and got it from me,” Jose lied, confusing even himself.
He could feel sweat formed around his cheeks as he spun his yarn. Jose tied himself into knots. His stomach tightened and his legs weakened.
“You are lying. Daddy don’t want us to go there because they sell crack—”
Fifteen year old Jose was sweating bricks. He had been busted by his thirteen year old sister. She glanced at him like a judge about to execute sentence on the guilty.
“Maria, Maria tell me… Did you tell dad?”
“Nope, but I’ve been thinking about it,” she said firmly.
“Good, please, Maria, please don’t tell dad, please. Maria you know dad, he will kill me if he found out I was even closely there,” Jose pleaded.
“Then why are you doing it, huh? If you know that he will kill you? That’s really stupid, Jose. Are you crazy?”
Jose offered no answer. He stared dumbfounded by his sister, thinking of the death penalty he was now facing. There was no explanation, but maybe there was another way out of this. The idea clicked in his mind. Jose smiled then hugged his sister.
“Maria, I can give anything you want. You name it. Money…?”
Jose reached into his pocket and pulled out a small knot. He peeled off couple twenty dollar bills. He offered it to his sister.
“No…” she muttered. “I’m okay.”
“Maria take it. I’ll give you a hundred dollars right now. Just please don’t tell daddy nothing.”
He tried to shove a couple bills at Maria she stared at his hand as if he was giving her trash. There was a look of disgust on her face. The contours of her expression quickly transformed, and soon Maria was in tears.
“That’s dirty money. Just like daddy says, Jose. The bible says money is the root of all evil!”
Maria was crying and Jose hugged her. She pushed him away, staring at the money he was still holding in his hand. He lined his pocket with the dirty money. Jose saw the tears in his sister’s eyes, and his heart cried.
“Jose, please stop going there to the horseshoe with those boys. I don’t want the money. I just want you to stop.”
“Alright, Maria if you stop crying, I promise I will not go out there today. I will not go out there ever again.”
“Okay, if you promise then I’ll stop.”
A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. It was their father wandering through the apartment. He pushed on the door.
“Jose, you seen your sister…?”
“Yes dad, she’s in here,” the boy calmly said.
“What’s going on in here?” Jose Sr. asked, pushing on the door. “Open the door, now.”
Jose Jr. stared at Maria then he quickly opened the door. His father presence in the room made it even tinier. He walked in sniffing the air.
“Hi dad,” Maria said.
“There you are. I was looking for you. What you doing in here?”
“Hey daddy,” Maria said, laughing. “I came in to see this video on BET.”
“Princess, why are your eyes so red? You’s crying or—”
A great hush fell on the tiny room. It landed awkwardly, and Maria stared through her dad’s perception. Jose looked on, guilty as charged. He sprang into action.
“Oh yeah, she was. This real sad documentary about the life of Aliyah came on. Then they showed the video, Missing You. And it made Maria cry. You know her, she cries for everything.”
“It made me think about her. She died so young,” Maria said sadly.
She seemed to be on the verge of tearing up again. Jose moved closer to her and gave her a hug.
“Oh, don’t worry about dying, princess. You’ve got a lot of living to do,” Jose Sr. said embracing his daughter. He glanced at his son and said, “I thought you’s going to the library?”
“Dad out of nowhere I caught a migraine headache. I ain’t going nowhere. I’m gonna try to find what I need online. I’m leaving that library thing alone for now.”
Maria and her dad walked out the door. He had his arm around her. Just before exiting, she turned around and winked at her brother. He nodded seemingly deep in his thoughts.
