CHAPTER 1

High School Graduation

Romero

Manny was on his third disposable camera. His girlfriend Aida stood next to him, wearing a dress that looked like he just picked her up on a street corner.

“Can you wind up your plastic camera a little faster so we can get out of here?” Max said. “It’s hotter than shit out here.”

“Shut up and get in there, will you? I’m sending every damn one of these to Cousin Lou in Texas. That ass**le didn’t think we could raise this kid.” He smiled at Romero, and if Romero didn’t know any better, he’d think Manny was getting choked up again. Jesus. “C’mon smile, will you?”

Romero’s uncles had always insisted he use their first names

“You know, if you break down and buy a digital camera like everyone else, you can send them to him tonight in an email,” Max said.

Manny took a few more pictures. Romero got tired of telling him about his finger on the lens. Let him be pissed about it when he got all the pictures back. All he could think of was getting the hell out of there to go party with his friends.

“I can do the same with these as soon as I get them back. They give you a disc over at the drug store, smartass. Besides why would I buy a digital camera when I got a load of these?”

Romero frowned. His uncles had plenty of friends with “connections.” They constantly hooked him up with things that fell off of delivery trucks, in exchange for favors. Because of the business his uncles ran they had plenty of favors to barter with that those types of guys would really enjoy. The latest hook-up had been a few dozen boxes of disposable cameras. “Are we done?” Romero asked.

“Yeah, with this one.” Manny dumped the camera in a tote and pulled out another brand new disposable camera. “Go get your friends. I want a few with them in it.”

Romero began to protest, but it was pointless. If he didn’t obey, his uncle was bound to start yelling for his friends to get their asses over here anyway. Rather than endure another one of their usual public scenes, he complied. “All right, I’ll go get them but make it fast because I got somewhere to be.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ll go when I say you go. We’re going to dinner, remember? I didn’t get all dolled up for nothing.”

Aida fixed his uncle’s bright red tie. Both his uncles had worn suits for the occasion. As usual, their choice in clothes didn’t disappoint. Manny, a heavyset man, was in a white suit with a black shirt and bright red tie. Max looked like something out of a zoot suit movie. But it was all good. Romero was used to this. This was nothing compared to the matching powder blue suits they’d worn to his middle school graduation, and the scuffle they started in the crowd during the ceremony. “That fat bitch got right in front of me just as I was taking the picture!” was Manny’s argument.

That fat bitch’s husband didn’t take too kindly to his uncle’s foul mouth and it was on.

As he walked through the crowd of bodies, many still in their graduation robes, he spotted Claire—sweet, quiet, bookworm, Claire. Ever since the tenth grade when he’d caught her trying not to laugh at one of his lewd remarks, she’d been on his get-to-know list. Up until then he’d only had a to-do list when it came to girls. In fact, there were only two girls on his get-to-know list ever. Ironically, the other one, Libby, was a lot like Claire. Only unlike Claire, he’d never gotten the feeling Libby might actually be attracted to him, except for the few times he caught her staring and he thought she might’ve blushed. Unfortunately, they’d been in class and she’d spun her head around so fast he wasn’t able to tell. Another unfortunate thing about her is she’d moved away a year ago.

He’d been surprised to see Claire in the Forensic science class he’d taken this past semester on the weekends as part of their school’s regional occupational program. He hadn’t told anyone about the class. Not even his uncles knew. He’d told them he enrolled in a weekend program but said it was a weight training thing.

Like in school, he hadn’t expected to have much interaction with Claire, until they were partnered up on a project. There was no denying the attraction she tried so desperately to hide. He saw right through her. Even now, it made him smile at the times he’d broken through that sweet innocent wall of hers, and gotten her to admit a thing or two. Like when he teased her about being so holier-than-thou, she’d probably never even had a naughty dream. Not only did she admit to having had some, but they hadn’t all been about her boyfriend.

Her boyfriend—that wiped the smile right off his face. He’d waited too damn long to get to know her and by the time he started talking to her in the ROP class she was taken. If she had wanted to, it wouldn’t have been the first time that Romero had borrowed a little time with someone else’s girl. Only thing was, with Claire he hadn’t been too sure if he could handle sharing her. He never got a chance to find out though.

As strong as he felt her attraction had been, she wasn’t the cheating type and apparently things between her and her boyfriend were pretty serious. Of course, that only made Romero want her more. What had really thrown him was when he smugly asked her if any of those dreams had been of him. He completely expected her to blush and deny it vehemently. Instead sweet innocent Claire smiled the wickedest smile that nearly made him blush and she pled the fifth.

But even that didn’t top what he remembered most fondly about her. With all the suggestive teasing he’d done, he expected more demure responses. But after they finished up their project, instead of demure she’d teased him right back, calling him closet-smart. Something that for some reason always shut him right up.