Chapter 2

Ella

“After this morning’s arraignment, many critics of the former “Pride of East Los Angeles” boxing champ Felix Sanchez are asking if maybe L.A. prosecutors didn’t make a deal with the devil himself. It seems—”

“Whoa, whoa, put it back,” Ella Castellano’s brother Memo said as he walked out onto the patio where she was making breakfast on a mini propane stove.

She’d just changed the channel on the television and frowned because she was so over hearing about Sanchez’s antics. It was as if he and Lindsay Lohan were competing for air time on the news every other week. “Really?”

“Yeah, I wanna hear what they’re saying about Sanchez. Is he in trouble again?”

Ella handed him the remote to the small TV that sat on top of one of the extra refrigerators just outside the storage house. “I’ve lost track of whether or not he’s in jail or rehab,” she said, spooning some of the eggs and potatoes onto a paper plate. “What a waste.”

She handed the plate to Memo, who was engrossed in the news coverage of the fallen champ. Ella half listened. She was more interested in finishing up breakfast so she could finish getting ready for school. The reporter was saying something about Felix having avoided jail time because of a plea deal he’d made.

“Figures,” she muttered, turning off the small stove. Celebrities never had to face the music like real people. “I’m done here. Remind dad he promised he’d work on the front room.”

Her brother didn’t even look at her when he laughed. “Like that’s ever gonna happen.”

“He’s been working on the garage,” she reminded him as she walked to the kitchen door.

“Yeah, working on squeezing more stuff in it.”

“No. He promised no more garage sales until we get rid of some of this stuff.”

Ella squeezed through the kitchen and hallway to get to the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth quickly then worked her way back to her room. It was the only room in the house where she could breathe easily. She was already dressed, so she grabbed her purse and applied a little lip gloss and some mascara. Smacking her lips in the mirror, she smiled big to double-check she didn’t have anything on her teeth and rushed out.

Today would be a busy one for her. She had two finals and half a shift at Starbucks, and then she’d be meeting her friend Carmen at 5th Street to check on Sonia and the class she’d neglected these past few weeks. With finals looming and papers to turn in, it’d been a while since she’d been to the gym. Maybe she could even work out a little while she was there. Most likely she’d be too tired, but she threw her gym bag in the car anyway.

The day went by fairly quickly, and aside from her manager offering her the position of shift manager, which she knew was coming, the day had been pretty uneventful until she got to the gym. She’d already circled the packed parking lot twice and was about to give up and just go home when she found a parking space.

She was still standing next to her car, debating whether or not she should take her gym bag in with her. Judging from the packed parking lot and the small crowd just outside the front door of the gym, something was going on.

“Hey, Ella.”

She turned, surprised and a little annoyed that she had never even seen Gabe approaching her. One of the first rules she and Sonia talked about with students taking the self-defense classes they ran now was to always be aware of their surroundings. “Hey.” She smiled, looking down at the boxing gloves he held. “You boxing now?”

“Nah.” He chuckled. “These are my brother’s. He’s a huge fan of Sanchez, so when he heard he was gonna be here tonight, he asked me if I could bring them down and get them signed.”

“Is that why this place is so crowded?”

“Yeah, isn’t that why you’re here?”

Ella couldn’t help laugh. “No. I didn’t even know he was gonna be here. I just stopped by to check in with my brother’s girlfriend. She and I help out with the self-defense classes, but I haven’t been able to for a few weeks because of finals and work.” She turned back to get a better look at the crowd and winced. “Maybe I should come back another time. I’d hate to get stuck waiting in line. I thought I’d just be in and out in twenty or thirty minutes, tops.”

“You don’t have to wait in line unless you’re getting something signed. You can just go around those people. That’s how they did it last time anyway.”

Conceding but deciding against grabbing her gym bag, she began walking with Gabe toward the entrance.

“So how’ve you been?” he asked.

“Busy,” she said, looking straight ahead. “School, work, and before finals I was spending most of my free time here. I’ll likely go back to that routine again now that finals are over. And you?”

“I’ve been working for my uncle.”

“That’s good.” Ella continued to stare straight ahead. “I remember you having a hard time finding a job.”

“Yeah, I’ve been working there almost six months now.”

They’d almost reached the front entrance, and Ella thought she was home free. They’d made small talk the whole way without getting into anything personal; then he hit her with it.

“Are you still seeing that cop?”

She pressed her lips together in an effort not to frown, because talking to her former and first boyfriend ever about her latest ex was just too weird. She shrugged, making Gabe laugh softly.