Chapter 2

Antonia decided to stop in at the Agency before she went home. She was more than happy to have landed the job, but on the way home she couldn't help but feel there was something else going on in there. OK, maybe they were just some uptight white couple (though Mrs. Huston seemed quite friendly), but Antonia always had some kind of sense of something funky going on. Most of the time she'd been on the button, remembering one job she'd had where the family had tried to start their own swingers club. That couple were in their 80s.

The Agency's offices were a big industrial park, nothing else around except big warehouses and office buildings and vast parking lots. She was glad she didn't have to be around here at night, although it was not really the "bad" part of town. She couldn't actually come here often, since the bus service was not regular. The whole place had quite a deserted, abandoned feel to it, and there never seemed to be a lot of people about. Perhaps they were all roosting like bats inside those concrete boxes, living there instead of having real homes to go to.

Antonia shook her head: she was having weird thoughts now. Just the combination of the strangeness of her job "interview" and the way the sunlight here made everything seem so hazy here.

Mr. Zamorra was the Day Manager at the Agency. He was a big, muscular man who bore a striking resemblance to the actor Danny Trejo. As intimidating as he looked, Antonia knew him for a friendly guy, even though she knew he kept a Glock in the desk drawer (purely for self-defensive purposes, he'd said), and had a large tattoo of Santa Muerte on his chest (because "you never know" he'd said), which he usually kept covered up in case a potential client wandered in (and the shrine in the back storage room). Usually she saw him sitting in the office, banging away on the computer, doing the spreadsheets for the day.

"Heyyyy girl!" he said as Antonia walked in, "When are you going to get your sister in here also? She still looking for a job?"

"Umm, yeah…maybe. She hasn't decided what she wants to do yet." Antonia plopped down on the couch.

"Can't be too many job openings for a PhD in…what was it, Dumbass Studies?" Zamorra laughed to himself.

"Contemporary Chicana Studies…I think," Antonia muttered. Although she privately agreed that her sister's choice of study was a waste of time, she didn't want to talk about it. Mama and Annalia had had bitter, harsh arguments over it for years. "I just wanted to ask a couple of questions about the new assignment."

"Everything go ok?"

"Yeah, it was fine, I got the job…"

"Hey, great then! There isn't a problem is there? Too hard for you to get there? We can give you maybe a little bit more bus subsidy…"

"No…it's not that, it's just….the couple that lives there."

"Hold on, let me look them up…." Zamorra's large fingers clattered on the keyboard. He could type very fast. "Here. Huston, Miles and Virginia. That's them, huh? What's the matter, they rude to you? You know hot it is with these people…"

"No, no, the lady was nice, but the man, he was kind of stiff. No…it's just.-" Antonia suddenly felt a little foolish. What could she actually say? That something she couldn't explain about the place creeped her out? It was just a house. There were a lot stranger people out there than the Hustons, but still there had been something…she tried to explain it.

"Maybe the house is haunted," mused Zamorra. "Could be haunted. Paranormal activity!" he laughed uproriously. "Maybe the problem is just crazy white people! Gringo activity! Ha ha ha! Maybe you better take a video camera with you and film what happens! You could make a fortune in the movies! Hahaha!"

"Be serious! I think those two are weird!"

"Well, it's not like they have to be normal to pay us! Just what about them is 'weird'?"

Antonia leaned back in her chair; now she really felt silly. "I don't know…just…the entire time I was there – I barely got a word in – it was like they didn't speak to each other, not once…they barely looked at each other. It was almost like…well, I don't know. Just kind of strange vibe in the place."

"Those rich white people all have problems, believe me, who knows what they got goin' on…as long as they're not getting you in trouble and stay out of your hair. Remember Karla? Them crazy people nearly got her busted for their drugs! You just make sure they don't get you involved in any crazy scheme."

Antonia sighed. "You can't tell me anything…else about them?"

Zamorra shrugged, and began clicking away on the mouse. "Don't know what else I can tell you, that would mean anything. Miles and Virginia Huston, he's some banker type, the lady, no job listed for her, maybe she just stays and home and bangs the poolboy, hahaha! Well, other than that…as long as they can pay the bill."

Antonia stood up, not really feeling any better, but this was a job and she didn't want to lose it. "All right…I'll remind my sister there's still maybe a part-time for her?"

"Yeah…we could start her out on some trial basis…I know she's got a PHD and all but everyone has to start somewhere…"

Antonia picked up her purse, then hesitated. "There's…one more thing. The man, he showed me around, but he never took me upstairs. Just mentioned what I had to do in the first floor, but that's a big house…is that ok?"

Zamorra, for the first time, stopped what he was doing on the Excel and looked at her fully. "Hey, if that's all he wants you to do, I wouldn't complain. That kind of job is for a crew, and they specifically wanted only one person to come in and work, but they're payin' for a full crew. Maybe there's something that they got going upstairs…" his brow creased. "you don't go up there unless they tell you, and if you see anything…weird, you come straight back here, or call me, you got that?"

"I got it."

"Don't worry about it. It's just another gig." Fistbump. "I'll see you next week, ok?"

"OK. I gotta go catch the bus. Adios!"

Zamorra waved her out the door. He watched her thoughtfully as she ran past the corner to catch the last bust of the day, in time. A minute later, he turned back to his now frozen monitor, but did not touch his keyboard.