Perversion (Perversion Trilogy #1)(14)

Leo looked between me and Gabby like she was considering something. “Fine,” she grunted. “Come here.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “It’s only fair to warn you.” She blew out a breath. “God knows I wish someone would have warned me.”

She led us into the bedroom where there was only one twin bed with a thin mattress and worn blanket. No pillow. Aunt Ruby’s house started to look more and more luxurious by the minute, but I had a feeling that our accommodations weren’t going to be our biggest problem here.

“So, this is where Marco lives?” Gabby asked.

Leo grunted. “No, he lives in the main building. It’s just the two of you in this apartment.”

She opened the nightstand and pulled out a bible. She uncapped a lipstick from her back pocket and opened the book to the back page. She started drawing what looked like a map.

“Here, in the center—” She drew a big circle. “—is the Indian reservation. In the middle of that is the casino. Right outside the walls is where mostly migrant workers live in dilapidated shacks and tents made from tarps. The casino built a wall around the place to keep the blue hairs and suits from having to gaze upon the poor while they spend thousands of dollars on what amounts to video games,” she said bitterly. “The casino is Bedlam territory. They run security for the chief and for the casino itself. They also move weapons and blow. Their territory extends through here.”

She drew a line through the center of town. She then circled the outskirts of town on the east side.

“This is Immortal Kings territory. They stick mostly to the highways and the beaches.” She slashed a big line across the last portion of town not yet marked up. “Here is where we are.” She then sketched a few squares that I assumed were supposed to represent the complex we were standing in and circled a large area around it. “All of this is Los Muertos territory, who mostly…” She paused. “Marco mostly just does whatever the fuck he wants. Whatever you do, stay inside Los Muertos territory. It’s not a suggestion. It’s a rule. You’re one of us now. It’s not safe for you anywhere else. We can’t go there, and Bedlam and Immortals can’t come here. The park in the middle of town is the only neutral territory.” She sighed and looked to the ceiling as if she was remembering something fondly. “It wasn’t always like this, you know. Things were different when your papa was in charge.”

Gabby’s head snapped up. “Papa was…”

“Yeah,” Leo confirmed. “He was the head of Los Muertos until he got locked up for life. Then, Marco took over when he came of age. Things were more relaxed for a little while.” She frowned and shook off whatever she was thinking. “But Marco’s out now. And he’s the one in charge.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, feeling confused and frustrated. “Bedlam? Los Muertos? Immortal Kings? What kind of town is this?”

Leo pointed down to her drawing. “This is the town of Lacking, and these—” She stabbed the drawing with her lipstick, smashing what’s left of the tube into the page. She, then, pointed out window down to the men with guns walking below. “—and those are the gangs who run it.”

Gabby dropped the bible onto the floor, sending a poof of dust from the stained carpet into the air. Leo quickly picked it up and shut it just as Marco walks through the front door.

“What’s going on in here?” Marco asked, leaning casually against the doorframe. “I told you to bring them up here, not to host a welcome home party.”

He glanced to the bible on the floor. Leo hung her head. I’m wasn’t sure what she did to piss him off, but she was clearly in trouble.

I picked up the bible and clutched it to my chest. “We were praying. Thanking God and Jesus for our new circumstances and for this great new apartment.” I smiled, the lie flowing easily from my lips.

“Ahhhh,” he said with an amused smile. I was a great liar, but he wasn’t buying it. He walked around Leo so that her back was to his front. “Into prayer now, are we, Leo? I tell you what. Why don’t you go to my office and wait for me on your knees? When I get back, we can pray together.”

Leo kept her eyes to the floor as she hurried out of the apartment.

“Now.” Marco rubbed his hands together. “It’s time to learn what’s expected of you.”

“Expected?” Gabby asked.

He gestured to the bed and the walls of the room. “You didn’t think all this luxury was for free, hermanita?”

“I-I-I…” Gabby stuttered, shaking her head. “I didn’t really think anything.”

“You’re in my house now. My town. You’re going to have to earn your keep just like everyone else,” Marco told us, plucking the bible from my hands and tossing it onto the bed.

“How?” I asked. “We’re kids.” A terrified feeling ran through me like static electricity on the back of my heels or a thousand fleas biting at me all at once.

It was probably the fleas.

Marco shrugged. “You’re not kids anymore. And I don’t give a fuck HOW you earn. But I tell you what, since you’re both new here, we’ll start small. One thousand.”

“How are we going to come up with a thousand dollars a month? And what about school?”