Eight
Just a Little White Lie

By the time they finally left The Altar, Eloisa estimated she had inhaled more smoke in that one sitting than she ever had in her life. That was ungenerously including the music festival Aubrey had once dragged them all to. She rubbed her forehead with the heel of one hand, hoping the dull ache in her temples wasn't going to turn into a full-blown migraine.

"So, what did you think?" he asked eventually.

"It's fine. Seems easy…" she trailed off, resting her head against the cool glass. She wasn't sure how to explain that it felt wrong because it was so easy without sounding pathetic. Maybe he already knew because he was nodding like he understood.

"And Matty?"

"Matty's a cochino." That was putting it mildly. Repulsive would have been a better word. "Is he sleeping with Jenna?"

She felt a little bad asking. Especially since Eloisa had already formed a soft spot for Jenna. There was something about her that was endearing, even if she was very much a mess.

Nacho snorted. "Yeah, he's hitting that."

She glanced over at him and saw the ghost of a smile on his face that was gone as quickly as it had appeared. It was the first real reaction other than irritation that she'd gotten out of him all evening. He was about to say something else when her stomach rumbled. Loudly, thanks to the lack of music.

"When's the last time you ate?"

A quick read of the clock on the dash made her wince. The last time she'd eaten was an early lunch at Los Pollos. Combining lack of food with her run earlier and all the hookah smoke at least explained why she felt so bad.

"A while ago," she admitted.

Before she could ask why, they were on a side street and then in a Whataburger drive-thru. A weary voice greeted them, and he turned to her. "What do you want?"

Her shoulders tensed. "Oh, you don't have to- seriously- I don't- I can wait-" The words tripped over themselves as they fought to get out of her mouth. There was maybe ten dollars in her pocket and her bank account wasn't much better.

"What do you want?"

She mumbled her order, shrinking into the seat. He repeated it to the person behind the speaker, embarrassing her further by not ordering anything for himself.

The guy at the window thrust Nacho's change back at him with a cynical eye. When the warm bag was in Eloisa's lap, he took off, the drink sloshing dangerously in the cupholder.

"Thanks," she said, wondering where they were going now. "So, I have a question."

"Shocking," he replied. Though she couldn't see him well in the sporadic yellow glow of the streetlights, she could practically hear him rolling his eyes.

"How's the money thing going to work? Am I getting paid to work at the club and then the…" she had to force the next words out of her mouth, "drug money on top of it? And you just keep all the… drug money?"

She was an adult. She had a salary and 401k. It should not have been that hard to say drugs, but she'd never felt more like a teenager trying to be cool in her life.

He pulled off on a dark stretch of road and parked the van. From her window, she could see the outline of the trees that made up the border of the bosque on either side of the Rio Grande flowing sluggishly beneath them.

"Matty's still running a legit business. Whatever he pays you, you keep. Whatever you make from selling for us, we keep."

She shifted in the seat, wishing she hadn't been too overwhelmed to ask how much that was before they'd left. It was impossible to calculate gain or loss without knowing what her replacement income would be.

"Why are we stopping?"

"You ask a lot of questions. Has anyone ever told you that?" He ran a hand over his face. "It's annoying." The insult didn't faze her; she'd heard worse from her siblings. "Eat."

Part of her wanted to snipe back that he was bossy, but she was too hungry and afraid of Nacho and his mood swings to do it. She opened the bag and tried not to shovel the food into her mouth too quickly.

"Five questions. That's it."

Without hesitation, she asked, "Does your Dad know?"

He turned sharply to look at her. "I'm giving you a chance- one chance- to ask whatever you want and that's the first thing you want to know?"

"Yeah." She was thinking of her own family, but also the man with the kind eyes who'd told his son to be nice to her.

He rolled his eyes, she actually saw him do it this time, then stared out of the window. "No."

Eloisa had to fight back the urge to ask a follow-up. She only had four questions left, and she didn't intend to waste them all on Nacho's personal life, however curious she might have been.

"Okay…" She chewed thoughtfully. "What exactly am I supposed to be looking for while I'm on this- this- undercover assignment?"

"Undercover assignment." He snorted. "You sound like a cop."

She was glad for the cover of the dark because she could feel her face get hot. "Well, I don't know what else to call it."

"Something's going down there. I don't know what, but Matty's been acting shady the last couple of weeks, and I want to know why." He leaned back, lacing his fingers together and putting them behind his head before resting them against the seat. "I don't trust him."

"Do you trust anybody?" The question was out before she was fully aware that she wanted to ask it.

"No, I don't." He shifted but didn't look at her. "Trusting people gets you killed."

For a second it seemed like he would say more, but he didn't. Eloisa tried to imagine a world where she could trust nobody, but the thought was depressing. Is that what she was getting herself into? No, she reminded herself. Because once she was done paying off the debt, she was out. No matter how long it took.

"Why me then? There have to be better ways than this," she gestured between the two of them. News stories of gang violence came to mind. The cartel would be even worse than that. Probably.

"I can't bring this to Tuco- my boss- unless I have proof." He tapped a finger against the steering wheel then turned and pointed at her. "That's where you come in. You're good at sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."

"Wow. I think that was almost a compliment," she said with a wry smile.

"No dejes que se te suba a la cabeza."

There was one question left and she knew what it had to be, even if she didn't want to ask it.

"Did you know who I was? The night we-"

He cut her off with a firm, "No."

It was a bigger relief than she could have imagined. She picked at the fries in the container, unsure what to do with herself now.

"Let me ask you something."

"This should be good," she said, mildly playful.

"You never wanted to be a cop?"

She grabbed the Styrofoam cup from its holder and took a long drink.

"When I was younger, yeah," she said after a while. "But when I got older?" The dull ache in her head from earlier made its presence known again. "I mean, you met my- Ray, you know Nate. No way. I picked a boring job for a reason."

They fell into an awkward silence as she ate. Awkward for her, at least. Unable to stand the sound of her own chewing for another second, she leaned forward and turned the radio on, immediately whizzing through radio stations. When she landed on the country station, "Amazed" by Lonestar stopped her fingers. It was a song Nate played for her one night while he waited for her to close at Anodyne. He'd come around the bar and they'd danced.

"That song sucks," she declared. Nacho gave her a curious look, which she ignored while she changed stations until she hit hip-hop. Safe and neutral.

"I don't like him."

She furrowed her brow, trying to follow his train of thought but failing.

"Who?"

"Nate."

He did not elaborate. It was, she was beginning to realize, a habit of his. Well, two could play at that game.

"Why?"

"This is exceeding your limit."

"If you said more than two sentences at a time," she countered, irritation creeping in. "I wouldn't have to ask so many questions."

"He's a liar."

His words landed an unintentional blow. She wanted to let it roll off her, but it was hard when he seemed to see through Nate more clearly in the supposed short time they'd known each other, and she was still in the dark after 5 years together. She hummed an acknowledgment.

"What's the deal with you two anyway?"

She appreciated that Nacho had been honest about his dad, but Eloisa wasn't ready to reciprocate. She wasn't sure what he knew about Nate, and even though she was mad at him with every fiber of her being, she didn't want to get him in trouble by saying something she shouldn't. As it was, she barely talked to her family and friends about it. Nacho was hardly a better candidate, but if the soft cluck of his tongue was any indication, he was about to come up with some kind of cutting remark and she wasn't in the mood to spar.

"It doesn't matter. There's no deal. Thanks for dinner, but can you take me home now? Please?"

He didn't even look at her as he thrust the gear shift into reverse, but she thought she heard him mutter, "El gusto es mio."

"I can't believe you finally did it," Ben said, shaking his head. He passed the half-smoked joint he was holding to Aubrey who was sitting on the edge of the pool, her feet swishing the water back and forth.

They were all hungover and lounging in various poses around the pool in Starr's parents' backyard. Nelly played from the fancy overhead speaker system Starr's dad installed a year ago. Plates half full of food Ben had grilled earlier in the day were scattered on the table next to a handful of empty beer cans they hadn't cleaned up from the night before. Every time Starr's parents went out of town they threw a party at her house, and this one had been a rager.

The sun shone fiercely overhead, not a cloud in the endless blue sky. Eloisa lay on her stomach on a purple plastic pool float, sunglasses covering her eyes as one hand skimmed the surface of the water.

"But a strip club? Like where did you even hear about it?" Starr asked.

Aubrey leaned forward and handed the joint to Eloisa who took a long drag and handed it over to Starr. She exhaled and rested her head on her arms enjoying the warmth on her skin.

"Someone at the bar told me about it." It was half true. "Apparently, you make way better tips."

"Maybe I should work at a strip club," Ben mused.

Aubrey snorted. "Yeah, too bad El's friend didn't give you that hot tip."

Ben held a hand over his heart, pretending to be wounded. "I'm pretty, okay? I'll have you know, I got hit on last week."

"By someone's mom. And I don't think she was hitting on you," Eloisa countered looking at him from over her glasses. "She said you reminded her of her oldest son."

Starr and Aubrey booed as Ben splashed in her direction. Eloisa grinned.

"Damn, dude, I'm glad you're getting out of there."

"So no one can call BS on your stories?" Aubrey kissed his cheek. "Nice try, babe. We know you're full of shit."

"I don't know why I hang out with any of you. This is cashed." Ben got up and threw the joint into one of the beer cans. "Next time, tell your brother to get a less shitty hookup."

"Buy it yourself, cheapskate."

"I still can't believe that little twerp was smoking in your mom's house. Speaking of moms… what did you tell Graciela?" Starr asked. She was perched on her own pink plastic float. Occasionally, she and Eloisa bumped into each other.

"Just that I got a new gig."

Aubrey snapped her fingers in approval and made a finger gun in Eloisa's direction. Not the whole truth, but never a full lie either.

"What was it like?"

"Fine. The girls were nice, but the owner was a tool. I didn't get to see much since it was just an interview, and they were barely open."

"I, for one, am looking forward to all of the gossip," Aubrey said, leaning back on her elbows.

"You'll have plenty, for sure," Eloisa replied, remembering what she'd heard in her brief time in the dancers' lounge. Nothing she could repeat now, but maybe someday.

Aubrey lowered her sunglasses to look at Starr. "Hey, are you still talking to Tampico?"

"No," Starr said coolly. "I talked to him last Friday and then nothing. Not a word for a week. Oh, hey, did I tell you guys-" Starr started telling a story about work and Eloisa relaxed.

She was glad they were steering the conversation away from the club and Domingo. Starr might have liked to play dumb to flirt, but she was observant and sharp. It wouldn't have taken much prying into Eloisa's story for her to start picking it apart. She closed her eyes, listening to "Country Grammar" as her high began to creep up on her.

"Hey, El, you got a message." Ben held her phone out.

She groaned and took it from him, rolling over onto her back and holding it at an angle to block the sun but failing miserably.

From Ang: can u watch Hazel 2mrw?

Frustrated that her sister had messaged now, just as she was starting to enjoy the buzz, she quickly typed back.

To Ang: How long?

Her phone buzzed immediately.

From Ang: Til Titas visit?

To Ang: sure

From Ang: Thx ur the best!

Eloisa frowned at her phone.

"You good?" Starr asked.

"Yeah, it's just Ang."

"Girl, is she asking you to babysit again?"

"It's fine."

"Starr," Aubrey said with a warning tone.

Starr held up her hands in surrender.

Too stoned to care that her friends had clearly had a conversation about her behind her back, she flipped her phone shut and rolled into the pool, careful not to drop it in the water. She waded through to the steps, ruffling Starr's hair as she went. Starr poked her in the side, and they giggled.

"Mmm, who wants popcorn?" Aubrey asked not moving from her spot on the ground even as Eloisa walked by and dripped water on her.

"And Lost Boys?" Starr asked hopefully. Ben groaned.

"And Lost Boys," Eloisa confirmed.

A/N: If anyone is interested in beta-reading this for me, let me know!