15. 🔧 In the Trunk

**JUSTICE**

After surreptitiously watching Keke for most of the night, I regretfully leave her to return a call.
It wouldn’t do to keep Pepito waiting because the man is as dangerous as they come. I’ve helped him in the past, and as a “thank you” he sends his fleet of vehicles and those of his men to my garages. I soup them up, trick them out, and get paid a lot of money to do so.
If he wants to talk about cars, that’s fine. Anything else is a no-go.
I plop into the chair behind my desk, pressing the button to pull up his number through speed dial.
He picked up at the first ring.
“What can I do for you, Pepito?”
“Justice, mane, she gone again.”
I let out a deep sigh. Something I wouldn’t have done when I first met Pepito three years ago. Why? Because the man is a straight-up psychopath and his sister, Maria, the one he is calling about, is just as bad, if not worse.
Three years ago, I rescued a seventeen-year-old Maria from the hands of a rival gang leader called Bane. Bane was using her to gain leverage with Pepito. It was tough going because Maria thought she was in love. To bring her back to her brother, I had to have one of my men infiltrate Bane’s gang. The operation was slow going, too slow for Pepito who almost took matters into his own hands. I had to daily reassure him that not only could I make sure his sister dropped Bane, I could also take the guy down.
He just had to trust me and give me time.
I can laugh about it now, but getting someone like Pepito to trust anyone outside his circle was like pulling teeth from a chicken.
After a lot of back and forth, Pepito finally relented.
Three months in, my man on the inside recorded the gang leader saying, “Maria was a dumb bitch that would do anything he asked her to do.”
If I were a betting man, I’d say his derisive laughter, rather than his words, sealed his fate.
The next day, they found Bane in his carport with a screwdriver to the temple. Earlier that morning, Maria had come, acting as if nothing happened.
There was plenty of speculation and finger pointing, but no one, not even the police, knows who killed him.
It all worked out as Pepito took over Bane’s men and territory, I was paid, and everyone was happy.
And during those months of the operation, Pepito and I became friends.
Well, as much as anyone can be friends with someone like him. Pepito is chill one minute and deadly the next.
When I beatdown on someone, I never go overboard. I leave just enough damage to make sure their infraction doesn’t happen again.
Pepito, however, takes things to another level.
Take that time he invited me over for a barbecue. We had some drinks, and some laughs, but no food before dinner. When we sat down, one guy started fixing his plate while Pepito was making a toast.
Pepito stopped mid-sentence, his thin face dark and angry.
His wiry body leapt into the air. He came down on his man’s arm, tearing it from the socket, as he dragged the guy from his chair. Unheeding his soldier’s screams, Pepito went to work, a vein in his neck ticking in time with the kicks to the guy’s body and head. He didn’t stop until the man was a bloodied mess.
A bit extra in my opinion.
And that’s why I don’t like to do jobs for him. I can’t afford to get into deep with a man like that.
“Pepito,” I begin, intent on cutting the conversation short so I can get back to Keke. “I don’t do those jobs anymore. I can refer you to—”
“Justice...” he cajoles, “come on, mane.”
“I have the kids now, you know that. I have responsibilities.”
Desires.
Keke…
“Look, Justice, Maria trusts you. You tell her to come, she will.”
True.
Maria is crazier than a headless roach, but she likes me, and I like her. I admire the way she can hold her own and doesn’t take shit from anyone. Just like…
Keke.
Dammit.
Why can’t I get her out of my mind?
I tell myself every night that tonight’s the night I’ll pick up some random woman and do what I do best. I never follow through. The thought of Keke… how much I want her, is too ingrained.
No substitute will do.
Even my hand and images of her don’t do the trick. And believe me, I’ve tried.
Almost every damn night.
“So, how about it?” Pepito presses.
I roll my eyes to the ceiling, noting it could use a coat of paint. “Look, Pepito, I’m not saying ‘yes’, but if you tell me the details, I’ll let you know how I can help.”
“Bruh, you will ‘coz its easy earnings, mane. She’s with one of my men and he ain’t got no other muscle to back him up.” Pepito makes a spitting sound and curses in Spanish.
From my limited knowledge of the language, I gather he is disparaging the guy’s mother and several of the guy’s body parts.
At least his statement has gotten me intrigued enough to ask, “Who is she with and where are they?”
“She’s with Tino, and this time I don’t know where she is. The puto must be hidin’ under a rock somewhere.” He lets out a dark chuckle. “When you dig him up, mane, you leave him to me. I got special plans for his ass.” Pepito again lapses off into Spanish, mentioning more body parts and something to do with a blowtorch. He comes back to English with, “I’ll triple the fee from last time and I’ll send some men to help.”
I contemplate his offer, staring at the empty part of my wall where Ms. November used to hang. Sam must have taken the Women of Cali calendar down when I asked him to tidy up the room for Keke. I owe him a solid for that. I wouldn’t want Keke thinking I’m more of a big, buff, and sexist cliché than I already am.
“So, you’re willing to triple the fee?” I say to buy myself a bit more time to think things through.
“Hell yeah, mane.”
I hear someone mumble on the other end and Pepito sighs, “Gotta put you on hold, mane.”
The line goes silent.
Tapping my fingers on my scarred desk, I reason the amount Pepito is offering is the high end of six figures.
That should cover Seth’s college tuition, easy.
Yeah, the money is spectacular, but that isn’t why I’m giving the job some serious thought. I like Tino and I wouldn’t like to see him hurt. He’s a good soul, despite working for a lunatic.
Tino usually brings in Pepito’s cars into my garages. We started shooting the breeze, and little by little, we got to know each other.
Tino always wanted to work with cars, but he gave up his dream of owning his own garage to work for Pepito. He had a need for quick money to take care of his ailing parents and his two younger siblings and slugging through the process of opening his own place wasn’t going to cut it.
Devotion like that makes him worth saving in my book.
Besides, like Pepito said, the job wouldn’t be hard and there would be little to no danger. With Maria and Tino on their own, I just need stealth and the element of surprise. I also think with some persuasion on my behalf, Pepito won’t make use of the blowtorch he was talking about.
Pepito comes back on and right away I say, “Okay, Pepito. I’ll do it.”
Pepito’s loud whistle is his only sign of appreciation.
I continue talking before he dictates the direction of the mission, “And don’t send any men. I only work with my own.” That way, Tino will at least get to explain his actions before they go to work on him. “Does Maria have a phone on her?”
“That girl’s smart, mane. She gave it to some junkie the night she left. When we tracked him down, guy was so scared, he pissed himself.” Pepito chuckles at what I assume is the fright he caused or Maria’s cunning.
After we hang up, I call Sebastian, telling him to send out feelers for information on Maria’s whereabouts. As I’m doing so, I pray I’m not getting in over my head.