Names I Call My Sister

by Mary Castillo

  It would have made more sense for them to have stayed there anyway, since it was where they’d have their bouts, but Bernardo said that they had moved to Paris to avoid confrontations with other boxing teams.

  Susu was back in my old room in Paris, laying low. She called to leave me a “mission accomplished” message regarding her hair color. In dark glasses and a subdued attitude, she would be discreet.

  I’d never seen boxing live before. From the moment it started I was on the edge of my seat. Maybe it’s because I’d just seen a bare-knuckles fight up close and personal. Maybe it was the aftermath of the adrenaline rush I’d felt after my fight with Susu in Atlanta, but as each boxer took his turn in the ring, I felt a personal stake in his fight.

  My heart was racing as Bernardo knocked out his opponent. The defeated boxer lay flat on the mat, head lolling, and the crowd cheered. Barbaric. And exciting.

  Chris turned to me. “This is what the ancient Romans must have felt like. It explains football, too. Someone should write a paper on why violence is such a turn-on.”

  Our eyes meet. I was feeling just as hot. He grabbed my hand and we stood and hurried out of the arena. We went down a staircase, avoiding the cameras that were everywhere, and went into a semidark hallway lined with storage rooms marked CHAIRS and TABLES and offices with big glass windows.

  Chris tried doors until one swung open. We quickly entered and he closed the door behind us. We didn’t turn on any lights.

  He kissed me, and I pushed against him. I couldn’t get close enough to him. He shoved me back, holding my hips to steady me, until my backside hit a low edge. A desk. He tugged at my top and I fumbled with his belt, working fast, then his pants were open and he was in my hand, hot and heavy. Oh, yeah.

  I thought I’d die if I didn’t get him in me. He tugged my jeans off and lifted me onto the desk, pushing aside binders.

  It was fast and glorious and sweaty and finished fabulously. Luckily I still had the condoms in my purse that I’d meant to use the night before, or we would have been in trouble. I was so not going to stop.

  Afterward I thought I’d feel awkward, but Chris held me close, cradling me against his chest. Perfect. He was perfect and he was going home and I’d never see him again.

  I sighed.

  “Regrets?” His voice was low and rough.

  “No. Wild monkey sex on strangers’ desks has never been in my repertoire, but you make me crazy. Actually, I’m kind of hoping for a rematch.”

  He laughed, and I heard it deep in his chest. I wanted to explore this feeling further.

  “We’ve been kicked out of one facility. Let’s not have to hunt for another hotel room tonight. I promise you, the next time we’ll have clean sheets and a hot shower in the morning.”

  He promised. I loved the sound of that.

  As we made our way back upstairs, walking a little unsteadily and holding onto each other’s belt loops, my cell phone rang. Expecting Susu, I was surprised to hear Heidi’s hysterical voice.

  “Aunt Anita, Mommy and Daddy are getting a divorce. Daddy said so. Now he’s gone and Ransom pooped on the dining room floor.” Her voice had risen in pitch with each word. She sounded like a frightened mosquito.

  “Who’s Ransom?”

  “The dog. There’s nobody to clean it up.”

  “Who’s taking care of you?” I glanced at Chris, who was frowning. I mouthed my niece. He nodded.

  “Grandma. But she had a martini and she’s snoring.”

  I glanced at my watch. It was close to midnight in Atlanta. “Do you know where your daddy is?”

  “He’s going to Las Vegas. He said he was bringing her ass home. He was real mad.”

  “I’ll bet. Well, good news, pumpkin. Mommy’s ready to go home. Go to bed, and in the morning Grandma will clean the poop and Daddy will bring Mommy home.”

  “Promise?” She sounded wistful. Poor kid.

  “I promise.”

  “If they get a divorce can I come live with you?”

  “You sure can. But they aren’t getting a divorce. You’ll see.” She hung up and I turned to Chris. “I have to go back to Paris. Carl’s on his way.”

  “I’ll drive you, but I can’t go in.”

  “Just drop me off and go to the Bellagio across the street. Pick a bar and call my cell phone and tell me where you’ll be. I’ll get Susu.”

  “Okay.” We stopped and he kissed me long and hard again, then gently. My lips rubbed across his cheek, tasting him, soaking in his scent. I’d never felt this way about a man before. It was dizzying. Frightening.

  He dropped me off at a side door. I came in through the casino and went straight up to my floor. I didn’t have a key, since Susu had relinquished hers to security when she had supposedly left. I’d given her mine. It was ironic, since her husband was paying for the room.

  She didn’t answer my knock. I banged harder, keeping an eye on the security camera at the end of the hall. The last thing I wanted to do was call attention to myself.

  I thought I heard muffled weeping come from inside. “Susu? Is that you? Open up, it’s Anita.” No answer, but there was definitely a woman crying inside.

  I walked around the halls until I found a housekeeping cart at the junction of two halls. I thought it was abandoned until I heard a Spanish radio station coming from an open room. I stuck my head in the door. “Hello?”

  The room was disgusting. Beer bottles littered the floor and the beds had both been stripped of covers. Used condoms were draped over the lamp shades. People were pigs. I added hotel housekeeping to my mental Not in this Life careers list.

  The housekeeper came out of the bathroom wearing thick yellow rubber gloves and smelling of bleach fumes. “Si?”

  “Have you done all the rooms on this floor?” I asked her in Spanish.

  “No, just the three corridors on this side. I only do the ones where people check out. They’re empty, you see?” She waved around the room, her lip lifted in disgust. Her uniform had Carina embroidered in flowing script over her left breast.

  “So you haven’t done 725?”

  “No, not if someone is still there.” She looked me over. “Why, señorita?”

  “My sister’s in there. She’s very upset, and she won’t answer the phone. Can you let me in?” I hoped I looked like a caring sister and not like a hit man or an international jewel thief.

  She frowned. “No, but I’ll come with you.” I hustled her down the hall toward the room. “Normally, when there is a problem like this, señora, we call Security.”

  “Please, no Security.”

  Carina looked at her grimly. “It’s her husband, verdad? I hate that.”

  She listened at the door, nodded to me, and opened the door. The room was dark.

  “Susu?”

  Her voice was clogged with tears. “Go away.”

  I put my hand on Carina’s shoulder. “I’ll take it from here. She’ll be okay.”

  “Miss, you know this girl?” Carina waited stolidly by the door, not letting me in.

  “She’s my sister.” Susu started to weep again.

  Carina looked doubtful, but she left.

  “Susu, I’m going to turn a light on.” I felt for the bathroom light and clicked it on.

  Susu was sitting in bed, dressed, the covers up over her knees and a box of tissues next to her. More of them were on the floor, crumpled. Carina would have work to do there tomorrow.

  “Rod’s gone.” Susu blew her nose again. “We had an awful fight.” She sobbed. “But I’m okay. I’m just feeling stupid, that’s all.”

  “Where is he?”

  “Gone back to Princeton.”

  Chris would be relieved to hear that. “Carl’s on his way. Heidi called me.”

  She stopped crying and stared at me. “Oh my God.”

  “I thought you wanted to go home.”

  “I do. When’s he going to be here?” She turned the clock radio around and stared at the time.

  “I’
m not sure.”

  She jumped out of bed and ran to the closet. “We don’t have a moment to lose. Let’s go have fun. Come on.”

  She started to rummage through the clothes. She pulled out a tiny black leather skirt and a fishnet top and threw them at me. “Get dressed. You can’t go out in jeans. Let’s go dance at Ra.”

  Why not? I stripped and pulled on her clothes. Serious hooch outfit. “So we go to Ra, dance a little, and then you’ll be ready to go home, right?”

  “Right. Here, use these.” She handed me a pair of tall wedge sandals. Wearing the same size clothes and shoes as her was a mixed blessing.

  While she got ready, I called Chris. “We’re going dancing at Ra.”

  “Hold on. Did you say dancing? I thought you were going to tell her about her husband.”

  “I did. She wants to go dancing. Can you meet us there?”

  He sighed. “You Suarez girls will be the death of me.”

  Funny how a lot of people thought the exact same thing.

  In the hallway, Carina was pushing her squeaky-wheeled cart toward the elevators. She stopped when she saw us. “You’re twins. I didn’t know.”

  Susu and I looked at each other and laughed. With her brown hair and—yes, gold highlights—we did look like twins. We descended to the lobby and then crossed it, walking quickly. We were trying not to attract attention, but the way we were dressed, that was just about impossible. Heads turned as we made our way to the street, and outside, a cab screeched to a halt the second I raised my hand.

  Ra was rocking. We disappeared into the mobbed dance floor, sucked into the vortex of pumping, writhing bodies. Chris never showed, but I figured he was on the outskirts watching. Maybe he wasn’t the dancing type.

  I was about ready to take a water break when I got yanked aside from my partner, a businessman there for a payroll convention.

  “Hey, stop it.” I turned to the guy who had pulled me away. It was Chris. “Hi. Where were you?”

  “I’ve been at every bar and dance club on the strip. The folks at Paris said you left in party clothes, talking about dancing.”

  “Wow.” I couldn’t imagine going to every single bar. “I told you we’d be at Ra.”

  “I didn’t know it was a dance club inside the casino. I drove up and down the strip looking for it. Then I drove past the pyramid and it hit me.” He looked pissed off and was yelling to be heard, so I smiled apologetically at Mr. Business and pushed Chris toward the restrooms.

  Susu saw us and hurried to catch up. Chris’s eyes bugged out when he saw us together. The Fabulous Hoochie Twins.

  Chris glanced at Susu and then focused back on me. “I thought you were the sensible one.”

  Susu laughed. “Her? Sensible? She’s the one who had the affair with the married lawyer when she was underage.” She gave me a raise-browed look with a broad smile.

  Chris looked at me, aghast.

  “It wasn’t as bad as it sounds.” I’d heard all of these fun accusations before. Susu paraded them every time she felt threatened by me.

  She launched another salvo. “She’s the one who got kidnapped by a warlord in Morocco and had to be rescued by the U.S Army.”

  “Kidnapped?” He stared at me.

  “What? I didn’t need to be rescued. Hassan was going to take me back.” He’d been so cute about it, too, wanting to add me to his harem. Turned out there was no harem, and his dad was a college professor, not a sheik, but he was still cute.

  “Oh yeah? What about this need to hang around with boxers?”

  I’d had enough. “What are you saying, Susu? Spit it out. Rod told me what you said I was.”

  At the mention of Rod her bravado slipped a little. “Slut,” she hissed. She tugged up the strap of her corselet, which had slipped off her shoulder. Definitely a case of pots and kettles calling each other names.

  “Am I a slut because I know what I want and go after it?” I was in her face now. We were going to end it once and for all.

  “I don’t fuck everyone I meet, like you do.” Her eyes were blazing.

  “I don’t, either.” Not anymore. My eyes shot to Chris. I wanted him to have a good opinion of me. That was a first. “And I want you to get over this, Susu. You did what you wanted, I did what I wanted to do. And now we’re different. You’re not the person you were at twenty-one, are you? Well, neither am I.”

  “Anita, that was three years ago. You haven’t changed that much.” She tossed her hair and put her arms on her hips. Even though she was trying for defiant, she came across as wounded.

  I put my arm around Susu. “We Suarez girls are maniacs.”

  Susu looked quickly at me. “Yeah?”

  I hugged her. “Yeah.”

  “I could have told you that.” Chris looked at me, and he didn’t look angry. He looked hot. “Come on ladies, back to Mandalay.”

  “You need to come, too, Susu. I don’t want to get into any trouble with the Paris casino folks.” I didn’t want to sink my chance of the job I’d been inquiring about.

  “Okay.” Susu’s voice was soft. “Can we go back and get my stuff? I didn’t unpack anything, so we just need a bellman to stack it on a cart.”

  I glanced at Chris, who nodded. “Let’s do it now,” I said. “There’s someone I need to see while we’re at it.”

  “A sheik, a boxer, or an attorney?” Chris grinned at me.

  “Ha ha. The head of catering, actually.”

  Chris and Susu exchanged glances, apparently baffled by my reply.

  At Paris no one seemed to notice when Chris and Susu went upstairs. I headed toward the employee-only area in the back.

  The head of security was still there.

  “You work twenty-four hours, or are you a clone?”

  He looked up from his desk and smiled at me. “I could say the same to you, only I’ve met your scary clone.”

  “I got your message earlier and meant to call, but figured I’d see if you were really the workaholic you appeared to be.”

  “And I am, to my wife’s sorrow. I was going to call you again in the morning about that package you dropped off.”

  “Yes.” I held my breath, hoping I hadn’t shot down another opportunity, although really, it would have been Susu’s fault.

  “I’ve made some inquiries since our call. Your coworkers speak highly of you, and your former employer does, too.”

  “You’ve talked to all of those people since yesterday?”

  He smiled thinly. “Security has always been an important part of our corporate culture.”

  I remembered the cameras in housekeeping and nodded. It certainly made sense that a casino would be concerned about security.

  “I think we can agree to your terms. We need to speak again. The head of the catering staff would like to join us. Say, tomorrow at ten?”

  “Sounds great.” I shook hands with him and he winked at me. The fix was in. Just like that, I had a job.

  We headed back to Mandalay and booked a room for Susu. Chris headed back to his room while we did the paperwork. I think he’d had his fill of the Suarez sisters.

  I trailed Susu to her room, ostensibly to help her, but actually to make sure her ass wasn’t getting me into any more trouble.

  She opened the door and then turned, looking like a sleepy raccoon. “You don’t need to come in. I’m going to hit the mini-bar, get drunk, and then go to bed. Alone. And in the morning, I’m going to call Carl and grovel. I am going to beg him to take me back.” She hugged me. “I’m sorry, honey. I guess I did get to be just like you, and it messed up everything.”

  “You needed to stretch a little. And you did, didn’t you?” I wiped her eyes with a tissue, getting most of the smeared makeup off. Now she just looked a little goth.

  She sniffed. “Yeah. I did. It’s not easy to be you, chica.”

  “It’s not easy to be you, either.” I hugged her, and we stayed in each other’s arms for a little while, savoring the warmth that reminded each other so
much of our mom. “I promise I’ll stand on my own two feet, okay?”

  She laughed, tears in her eyes. “You’d better.”

  “Need help getting to bed?”

  “Nope. I’m not drunk yet.” She walked off, slender and strong, just like Mom.

  At two A.M. our hotel room door at the Mandalay crashed open.

  The delicious stroking on my skin stopped. Chris’s head popped out of the sheets. He looked adorable with his hair standing up in untamed spikes and swirls. “Carl, I presume?”

  “Yes, it is,” I said. “Carl Dunne, this is Chris Patterson.”

  Chris looked at Carl appraisingly. “Beefy and buttoned-up. You looking for Susu, I suppose?”

  “Where is she?” Carl’s nostrils were wide and he was snorting like a bull. It would have been hilarious, except he looked like the preview minutes on Law and Order, where they set up the crime that gets solved later.

  I started to pull the sheet around me to get up. Chris grabbed it and tugged it up around my neck. I couldn’t move.

  “What are you doing? Let go of me. I have to help Susu.”

  “She can help herself. She expects you to do the same, doesn’t she?”

  “Anita, is this man hurting you?”

  “No, Carl, I’m fine. Chris, you meathead. Let go of me.”

  “Nope.” He looked at Carl appraisingly. “Big guy, your wife is in the room down the hall. Twelve thirty. She’s sleeping alone. Got it?”

  Carl stared at him for a second. “I get it.” He started to back out, then stopped. “Thanks.”

  “Wait.” I glared at Chris, who had just given up my sister. “What are you going to do, Carl?”

  “I’m getting Susu back. I’m ready to grovel.”

  “Great. That’s two of you. There’s a copy of her key card in my jeans pocket, on the floor.”

  I heard him rummage. “Got it.” The anger seemed to have drained out of him, leaving him sad. Not as sad as he’d be when he got his credit card bill next month. But I had a job now. I’d pay him back. Maybe.

  Guilt made me want to be nice to him. “Carl? She really loves you.”

  Our eyes met over Chris’s muscular sun-browned arm. Carl’s gaze was steady, no longer lost. “Thanks, Anita. For everything. I’ll see you back home.”