"Blood and Sand" by DG - Part 3/3 (MF,Mf,rom,viol)


                      "Blood and Sand"




    +++  Part Three  +++


    Fabian and Mickey were sitting in a booth at the Last Resort,
watching the tireless younger generation thrashing and preening on
the dance floor.  They'd been there for a few hours, drinking beer
and arguing good-naturedly about who was a better guitar player,
Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton, when Mickey elbowed Fabian in the
ribs and jerked his head toward the door.

    "Ain't that the Mexican dude you cut up the other week?  One
that saved your ass when his homeboys started acting up?"

    Surrounded by three husky young men wearing sunglasses, Chico
Hernandez walked slowly through the crowded club.  He was wearing
a shiny form-fitting green shirt and yellow slacks, and had a
small bandage over his left  eye.  The crowd parted to let them
through, and Chico nodded impassively at a few people who called
out his name.

    "Yep, that's him," said Fabian.  "Sharp dresser.  Think I'd
look good in a shirt like that?"

    Mickey shook his head and started laughing, and got that look
on his face like he was going to come up with a bad-ass put down,
and Fabian decided to change the subject.  "Maybe I should send
him a drink or something.  Let him know there's no hard feelings."

    Two tables had opened up in the back of the club as if by
magic, and Chico sat down at one of them by himself.  His friends
or bodyguards took the other table and started playing cards.

    Mickey said "He knows you ain't got any hard feelings, cause
you won the damn fight."

    "What if I run into him on the dance floor, or in the men's
room?  Could be awkward.  Maybe we should leave."

    "Leave?  Why the fuck should we leave?"

    Fabian saw the waitress looking at them, and he motioned her
over.  "I'd like to buy a drink for the guy in the green shirt
over there.  You don't happen to know what he drinks, do you?"

    "Chico?  He drinks Bacardi and coke."  She gave Fabian a
suspicious look.  "What do you want to buy a drink for Chico for?
If you owe him money or something, you'd be better off just
leaving, you know what I mean?"

    "Naw, nothing like that.  Just a friendly gesture."

    She shrugged.  "OK, one Bacardi and coke for Chico."

    They watched as the waitress brought it over and talked to
Chico.  When he turned to look at them, Fabian raised his hand in
a little wave and grinned.

    "You're a real cheeseball, you know that?" said Mickey under
his breath.

    Chico nodded politely at Fabian and motioned for him to come
over to his table.

    "Back in a minute," he said to Mickey.  He walked over and sat
down across from Chico, uncomfortably aware of the stares from the
Mexican gangster's entourage.

    "Thanks for the drink.  Fabian, right?"  Chico's face was
expressionless, neither friendly or unfriendly.

    "Right.  No problem.  That was a good fight last week, real
even.  Considering I got about twenty pounds on you, I'd say you
were the better fighter."

    Chico flashed a quick smile.  "The twenty pounds was no
problem.  I think your reach is like a foot more than mine."

    "Yeah, that came in handy too," agreed Fabian.

    "You gonna fight again soon?"

    "Yup - got one in three days.  Some Jamaican guy, I guess.
Jimmy says he isn't too tough, gonna be an easy win for me, but
what else is Jimmy gonna say, right?"

    Chico grinned, flashing a gold tooth.  Mimicking Jimmy
Vargas's rapid New York delivery, he said "I got one lined up for
you Thursday - this guy gonna kick your ass so you better bring a
first aid kit."  Fabian laughed appreciatively.  Chico seemed
pretty OK.

    "I gotta a wait awhile myself," said Chico, fingering the
bandage over his eye.  "Couple more weeks for this to heal.  You
open me up pretty good."

    "Sorry about that."

    He shrugged.  "I always cut real easy.  Pain in the ass."

    "By the way, I wanted to thank you for helping me out after
the fight.  Things were getting ugly."

    Chico nodded solemnly.  "No problem, man.  My people come to
see me kick some ass, they get a little upset if I lose."

    "I hope you didn't like, lose too much status in your gang or
whatever."

      Chico's face turned hard and cold for a few seconds, then he
shook his head with a tight little smile.  "Shit, no.  My 'status'
as you call it don't depend on my winning fights."

    Fabian decided it might be a bad idea to ask him just what his
gang status was based on.  "So you're just in it for the chicks
and the money like me?"

    Chico threw back his head and laughed, causing the goons at
the next table to look over from their card game.

    "Chicks and money, man, that's exactly right.  Especially the
chicks.  You win a fight on Tigertail, you get to pick and choose,
am I right?"

    "Amen," said Fabian with a grin.  "Hell, even my manager gets
laid after I win a fight."

    Chico leaned forward with the easy familiarity of men
everywhere when they start talking about women.  "I bet you get a
lot of those skinny white college girls, the ones that smoke pot
and pretend they living in the sixties or whatever."

    "Yeah, that's right," said Fabian, thinking Chico was pretty
perceptive.

    "Me, I go for the Chicas - the Latina chicks.  I like a woman
with a little meat on her bones, you know?  I don't mean fat or
nothing, I just like to have something to hold onto.  Most of the
white chicks, I just want to tell them to eat something, you know?
Get a decent meal once in a while."

    Fabian thought about the Mexican girl he had taken home the
other week.  She had been the whole package:  nice smile, great
body, easy to talk to.  He had a nagging feeling he had somehow
screwed up big time with that one.

    "No offense, man," said Chico, misunderstanding Fabian's
silence.  "Everybody got they own taste, right?"

    "No, I think you got a good point there."

    "Oh hey, I almost forgot," said Chico.  "I want to get a
rematch when my cut heals.  What do you say?"

    Fabian was a little surprised.  "You want another shot at the
champ, huh?  You figure out a way to get a longer reach or
something?"

    Chico smiled at the verbal jab, but Fabian could see he wasn't
amused.  "I had the wrong strategy, fought a stupid fight.  Be
different next time.  I personally guarantee there won't be any
trouble from my friends."

    "Because you'll win?"

    Chico smiled.  "Either way."

    Fabian shrugged.  "Sounds good to me.  Me and Jimmy split five
thousand dollars last time.  If you guarantee your friends will
behave, I'm sure Jimmy'll be happy to set it up.  "

    "Don't worry about Jimmy, I'll talk to him."

    Back at his own table, Mickey said "What did you two buddies
chat about over there?"

    "He wants a rematch."

    Mickey nodded.  "I thought that might be it.  Well, you kicked
his ass once, you can kick it again."


****************


    Fabian jogged slowly along the winding beachfront path, his
breath rasping in his throat and his chest burning like he had
inhaled some sort of noxious acid.  Mickey was right - he was out
of shape, at least by his previous high standards.  It was all
coming back to him, why he had given up boxing.  The pain and
humiliation of losing in the ring was bad, but the drawn-out
torture of keeping his body in perfect condition was even worse.

    A girl on rollerblades skated by, swaying gracefully from side
to side, the muscles in her legs working smoothly under her golden
skin.  He admired the generous curves of her hips and ass, and the
cascade of shiny dark hair down her back.  She reminded him of the
girl he had picked up at the West Club last week, the one he
hadn't been able to get out of his head.  Lissa something.

    Then the girl cut in front of him and turned around to face
him, skating backwards, and he realized with a shock that it was
Lissa.

    "Hey," she said.  "Remember me?"

    Fabian felt an instinctive surge of guilt.  He wished he had a
nickle for every time a woman he hadn't called for a while came up
to him and said that.  But this time it wasn't his fault.

    "Yeah, absolutely.  I remember you, Lissa.  I wanted to call
you, but I didn't have your number or even your last name."  She
was still gliding along backwards, smiling at him and letting him
get closer and closer. He had to resist the urge to push her along
by resting his hands on the inviting curves where her narrow waist
swelled into her hips.  She was just as beautiful as he
remembered, which was a little surprising considering how much he
had drunk that night.

    "I know," she said.  "I had my reasons.  And besides, after
what happened I didn't know if I wanted to see you again."

    "I don't blame you.  I wasn't exactly at my best that night.
I felt bad about the way things ended up, me falling asleep like
that."

    She laughed.  "It wasn't what I was hoping for.  But not for
the reason you think.  It wasn't your fault."

    He thought about this for a second, puzzled, and said "Maybe
there's not enough blood flowing to my brain or something, but I
don't think I'm following you."  He stopped jogging and started to
walk.  Lissa rolled to a stop, still facing him, and he had to
stop or run into her.

    "I've been looking for you, but I'm not exactly sure why," she
admitted.  "I'm probably just annoying you."

    "No you're not," he said, truthfully.  "You know, for the past
week I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

    Lissa looked pleased.  "Really?  Me too.  Hey, you think maybe
we can go someplace and talk?  There's a couple things I should
tell you."

    As it happened, they were next to a small beachfront park with
some shade trees and benches.  They found an empty bench and sat
down, and Fabian looked at her expectantly.

    "Well, the first thing I guess I should tell you...I'm only
eighteen."

    He was surprised, but not stunned.  Without the makeup, she
did look a bit younger than he had remembered.  "So you don't work
at the bottling plant either, I bet."

    "You remembered!  Maybe I did make an impression on you after
all.  No, I'm a senior in high school."

    "High school, huh?"  That didn't sound too good.  "So I guess
the real reason you had to go home that night was to keep from
getting grounded."

    "Killed is more like it," said Lissa.  "I still caught a lot
of shit, getting home at one in the morning."

    "So that's it?"

    She shook her head.  "No, I didn't tell you the big thing yet.
Except it's big for me, no big deal for you, I guess."

    "What?"

    She looked at him, then looked down.  "It was my first time."

    "Your first...?  Oh, man.  I'm sorry, Lissa."

    "You got nothing to be sorry about.  I was the one who threw
myself at you.  I wanted it to happen."

    "If you'd said something..."  He thought back to the way it
had happened, and felt sick.

    She shook her head.  "It's kind of embarrassing.  My friends,
male and female, all lost their virginity when they were thirteen
or fourteen, and I started feeling like a weirdo.  That whole
thing about guys wanting to marry a virgin is bullshit, as far as
I can tell."

     "Never saw the appeal, myself," he agreed.

    "So finally I decided I just wanted to get the monkey off my
back."

    "But why me?"

    She laughed.  "You was in the right place at the right time.
Don't worry about it, Fabian.  I was a virgin, but I wasn't like
totally inexperienced.  It didn't hurt or anything."

    "That's good," he said, feeling a little better.  She smiled
at him, and he smiled back.  "Anything else you need to get off
your chest?"

    She thought about it, chewing on her lower lip.  She had about
the sexiest mouth he had ever seen, and he felt his cock twitch.
Then he felt guilty.  He decided right then that he wanted to get
to know her a lot better.

    "Well, no, that's about it.  I guess it's best if we just
shake hands and walk away, no hard feelings, right?" she asked.
"I mean, you're a lot older than me, I'm Mexican and you're
white..."

    "If that's what you want, then of course," he said carefully.
"But I don't know, it seems like we get along pretty well.  I
mean, before we went back to my place we had a really good time
talking and hanging out, I thought.  I talked more to you that
night than I can remember talking with anybody for a long time.
And I've been thinking about you since then more than I've thought
about anyone in a long time.  So what I'm babbling about, I guess,
is no, I don't want to just shake hands and walk away."

    "Oh."  She didn't say anything for a few seconds.  "In that
case, I'm actually seventeen."

    "Shit."  He buried his face in his hands.

    "But if you can handle that, and if you're serious about
maybe...you know, going out or something..."

    "If you're sixteen, now's the time to tell me," he said
through his hands.

    She giggled.  "I'll be eighteen in two months, I promise.  I
got my driver's license and everything."

    He looked up.  "That's a relief."

    There was a few moments of awkward silence.  Fabian spotted a
little stand selling fast food on the other side of the park.  He
nodded towards it and said "Would you like a soda or an ice cream
or something?"

    She nodded, a happy smile growing on her face.  "That would be
very nice."

    As they walked across the park, he took her hand in his.


**************


    Fabian climbed the stairs to his apartment and unlocked the
door.  His little place was looking a lot better these days, ever
since Lissa had started spending her afternoons here instead of at
the library.  Colorful prints and hand-woven rugs decorated the
walls, and the rattiest furniture had been replaced with
inexpensive but tasteful new pieces.  A woman's touch.

    "Hola, Senorita," he called out in atrocious Spanish.

    "Hola, Seņor," answered Lissa, sounding happy and amused.
"Como estas?"

    She was in the bedroom, sitting Indian-style on the bed
surrounded by papers and textbooks, wearing only her bra and
panties.  Her school uniform was folded neatly on a chair.  Fabian
leaned against the doorway and stared her with an appreciative
smile. "Bien.  Mucho bien, gracias."

    "It's nice that you want to learn Spanish, Fabian, but I do
speak pretty good English.  My native language and all..."

    "That last one exhausted my vocabulary, so it's just as well.
How's the studying going?"

    She closed the textbook in front of her with a crack.
"Chemistry, ick.  Time for you to teach me something that's more
fun.  Hit the showers, mister."

    "Shower?"  He brushed at the grass clippings stuck to his arm.
"Yeah, maybe you're right.  Don't go anywhere."

    When he padded back into the bedroom five minutes later with a
damp towel around his waist, the books were put away and she was
sitting against the headboard with the sheet draped loosely over
her body.  She had loosened the knot in her hair, and it cascaded
down past her shoulders in thick, glossy waves.  He sat down next
to her and gave her a long hard kiss.  The sheet slid away,
exposing her full, soft breasts.  He kissed his way down her face
and neck, inhaling the sweet aroma of her skin, and then took one
of her nipples into his mouth.  He teased at the soft, warm flesh
with his lips and tongue, making it swell and pout.

    "That feels so nice," she said, rubbing his neck.  She put her
arms around his broad, muscular chest, holding him possesively
close.

    He moved to her other breast, and soon he felt her hand slide
under the towel and move towards his groin.  She took his
stiffening cock in her hand and just held it, keeping it company
as it came fully erect.  Then she squeezed it gently and started
rubbing the underside of the head with her thumb, making him
groan.

    "Did I teach you how to do that?" he asked.  "I must be a damn
good teacher."

    "Nah, I used the experimental method - we learned about that
in school.  Tried all sorts of stuff, and watched to see which
ones made you squirm."  Her thumb slid up over the little slit,
smearing out a drop of precome.  Using it as a lubricant, she
started moving her thumb in slow circles.  "See?  You're
squirming."

    "Yep.  Bet I can make you squirm, too."

    "I know you can," she giggled.  "I love it when you make me
squirm, Fabian."

    He pulled the sheet away from her legs and pushed her thighs
apart.  Her sex was a symmetric ribbon of dark pink nestled in the
glossy curls of her pubic hair.  He shifted position, bringing his
head down into her lap, and breathed in her faint, musky aroma as
he nibbled on her inner thigh.  She trembled and stiffened,
anticipating the pleasure to follow.  Finally he put his mouth
over her pussy and teased at her outer labia with his tongue,
letting his saliva mix with her juices as she opened up.

    "Oh, yes..." she sighed.  "Lick me."

    "Are you sure?" he teased.  "You don't think it's nasty any
more?"

    "Of course it's nasty, but it feels sooo good," she said.  She
lay back and spread her legs, inviting him to burrow in deeper.

    Fabian lapped away contentedly, stimulating her with long
strokes of his tongue, until she was moving her hips in time with
his head and moaning.  It had taken a lot of convincing before
Lissa had let him go down on her - some sort of cultural thing.
At first she had been stiff as a board, unwilling to spread her
legs and relax.  But Fabian's unfeigned enjoyment and the
undeniably pleasurable sensations of a probing tongue in her pussy
had eventually changed her attitude.  Now she was addicted to it,
and it was a regular part of their lovemaking.

    When he sensed that she was ready, he moved his attention
upward, concentrating on the meaty little bump of her clit,
circling around it with the stiff tip of his tongue.   She gasped
and lifted her hips up, and he slid his hands under her ass,
squeezing her buttocks.

    For a few seconds there was only the sound of her ragged
breathing as she focused intently on the waves of sensation coming
from her pussy.  Her orgasm was a teasing, lurking promise,
hovering just out of reach.  She needed the stimulation just a
fraction of a millimeter higher, just a tad faster... she lifted
one knee, shifted her weight slightly, and Fabian's tongue
suddenly hit the right spot.  Her orgasm blossomed quickly inside
her, like fireworks exploding in her stomach, and the pleasure was
so unbearably intense that she cried out without even realizing
it.

    Fabian wiped her copious juices from his mouth and smiled up
at her.  Her warm brown eyes were still hazy and unfocused, but
she smiled back at him lazily.

    "Thank you," she said.

    "You don't have to thank me," he replied automatically, and
they both smiled.  "Didn't take as long this time, did it?"

    "I don't know, I wasn't paying attention to the time," she
said.  "It takes a lot of concentration to come that way.  Not
like..."

    "Not like what?" he asked, sitting up.  His cock jutted up
into the air like a flagpole.

    Lissa looked embarrassed.  "Like when I do it to myself."

    "Oh, so you masturbate?" he said.  "You never told me.  How
naughty.  Jeez, here I was thinking you were a nice girl and
all..."

    "Oh stop," she said, giggling and kicking him playfully.  "I
*was* a nice girl until I met you."

    "But you had these... urges," he said dramatically.

    "Yeah, I had urges.  Every day after school I had an urge."

    "Every day, huh?  Interesting.  You'll have to show me some
time."

    "Show you?  No way!"

    "Yes way.  I want to see how you get yourself off.  Maybe I'll
learn something."

    "Hmm.  Maybe someday.  It's easier that way, but it doesn't
feel nearly as good."

    He picked up one of her feet and moved it into his lap, and
rubbed his cock against the sole.  She giggled.  "That tickles!"

    "Don't forget, I have urges too," he teased.  "Not as strong
as yours, I'm sure, but pretty strong."

    She sat up so that she was facing him and squeezed his firm
cock in her hand.  "Poor Fabian.  What would you like your Lissa
to do about those urges?"

    "Maybe you could kiss it?"

    She smiled.  "Maybe I could."  She leaned forward into his
lap, and her hair spilled forward in a dark curtain, shielding his
view.  He felt her tongue touch the underside of his cock, a
little exploratory lick, and then her hot mouth closed over the
head.  She didn't take him in any farther than that,  and he had
to restrain himself from thrusting upward.  He was dying to fuck
her lush, beautiful mouth, driving himself all the way to the back
of her throat, but he had decided to take it very slow and easy
when it came to sex with Lissa.  As it was, he felt vaguely guilty
about corrupting a high-school girl.  He closed his eyes and
sighed, his stomach muscles tensing and twitching as she licked
and nibbled tentatively at his cock.  After a few minutes she
lifted her head and looked at him, her lips wet with saliva.

    "I really don't know what I'm doing," she said with an
apologetic smile.  "You've got to teach me."

    "I will," he said.  "But there's no rush.  Besides, you're
doing great."

    "No, I'm not," she laughed.  She moved closer to him, pushing
him onto his back, and straddled his waist.

    "Let's make love," she said.  "I'm getting pretty good at
that, at least."

    "That you are."

    His erection still intimidated her slightly, seeming too large
to go into her pussy, but now she knew better.  Now she knew how
it felt to have her insides filled up by a hot, rigid cock, and
she was as anxious as Fabian was.

    As Fabian held his cock in place, Lissa positioned herself
carefully, getting the angle just right, and then slowly allowed
the rigid shaft to slide up inside her.  When she finally sat
astride him, pinned in place and deliciously full, the feeling was
so wanton and yet so indescribably right that her body gave an
involuntary shudder of pure joy.  As if of their own accord, her
hips began to make little sliding and twisting motions, grinding
her sex against his pubis, and her body greedily soaked up the
little spikes of pleasure.

    When Fabian reached up and cupped her breasts, she put her
hands over his and pressed them more firmly in place.  Her whole
body seemed to be giving off slow waves of pleasure now, and she
closed her eyes and just let herself drift along on the rhythm of
Fabian's long, smooth thrusts.  After a while the steady buildup
of pleasure became overwhelming, and she found herself restlessly
pushing the pace, lifting herself up to lengthen the long,
pneumatic strokes, wordlessly urging Fabian to increase the tempo.

    "Harder," she finally moaned.  "Do it faster.  Please..."  Her
voice was whiny and selfish.

    Fabian smiled and gripped her waist.  He smoothly accelerated
the pace like a powerful luxury car, and Lissa started uttering a
strangled little "oh!" every time he arched up into her with a
smack.  The orgasm snuck up on her, seeming to gather itself out
of thin air like a summer storm, and the climax was a long and
drawn-out pleasure ride that left her gasping for air and
momentarily dizzy.

    She leaned forward, draping her limp honey-colored body over
his, and kissed his mouth tenderly.  She smiled as she felt him
pull her thighs apart, making room for what he needed to do.  Then
his big hands covered her round buttocks, gripping the muscles
underneath her warm skin, and he quickly sought out his long-
delayed pleasure, urgently driving himself into her.

    Lissa felt incredibly womanly and somehow privileged to be the
object of his primitive exertions, and she was happy to give her
body over to him entirely.  When he began to groan and lift his
head off the bed, she contracted herself around him, trying to
make herself even tighter, and then she felt the warm flooding
rush of his release.

    "That was fun," she whispered, brushing a damp strand of hair
away from his eyes.  They lay entwined on the bed for several
minutes, sleepy and comfortable in the warm, sunny room.  When
Lissa finally pulled herself upright and padded off to the
bathroom, Fabian started to think about the future.  It wasn't
something he did very often, but he had a feeling it was time to
start.


**********


    The Ocean View Gym was a no-nonsense facility:  a single hot,
smelly room filled to overflowing with free weights and Universal
machines.  The clientele was overwhelmingly male, and they came
for one reason only - to lift weights.  Like most boxers, Fabian
instinctively mistrusted any sort of amenities or frills in a
weight room, and Ocean View fit the bill perfectly.

    He was working his legs this morning, doing a descending
series of squats with a huge black man in his forties who went by
the name Horse.  His thighs were quivering like jelly and he felt
sick to his stomach, which meant that he was getting a good
workout.  He was spotting for Horse when he noticed Mickey
wandering through the room, looking decidedly out of place in
linen slacks and a white turtleneck.

    He grinned, called out "Hey Mick!  What's going on, you lost
or something?"  Mickey had a well-known aversion to exercise.

    "I'm looking for you," said Mickey, coming over.  His face was
unusually serious.  "We gotta talk, it's important."

    "Sure, no problem."  He helped his lifting partner guide the
bar back onto the shoulder-height brackets.  "Gimme five, OK
Horse?"

    He led Mickey into a quiet corner.  "What's up?"

    His friend looked uncomfortable.  "Fraid I got some bad news,
Fabian.  The Mexican dude, Chico?  Word on the street is he's
gunning for you."

    "Gunning for me?"

    "Yeah, as in he wants to kill you.  I asked around a little,
and this ain't a threat to take lightly.  Wouldn't be the first
time this dude popped somebody."

    "I'm giving the guy a rematch in a couple days just like he
wanted," said Fabian, completely mystified.  "So what's his
problem?  He trying to psyche me out or something?"

    "Listen to me, you big white moron:  he found out you're
screwing his little sister!"

    "What!"  It didn't take him long to figure it out.  For once
in his life he was only screwing one woman, so there weren't many
options.  "Lissa is Chico's sister?"

    "That's what I been told, Fabes.  Could be bullshit, but then
why would Chico be after you, right?  Listen man, it gets worse."

    Fabian stared at him, wondering what could possibly be worse.

    Mickey actually looked embarrassed.  "I shouldn't be the one
to be telling you this, but the rumor is, you knocked...she's
pregnant."

    "Pregnant?"

    "Yeah, I'm sorry man.  I take it she hasn't said anything to
you?"

    Fabian shook his head, looking stunned.  "I gotta go talk to
her.  Thanks for telling me, Mickey."

    Mickey grabbed his friend's arm as he started to leave.  "Whoa
there, cowboy.  Isn't she in school right now?  What are you going
to do, walk into her algebra class and confront her?"

    Fabian shook off Mickey's hand.  "I don't know, I'll think of
something."

    "Listen up," said Mickey seriously.  "I know it don't look
that way right now, but Lissa ain't your main problem.  Chico is.
You gotta stay off the streets, or you're gonna get killed."

    "What am I supposed to do, lock myself in my apartment?"

    "I don't know what the fuck you should do!  All I'm saying is
that you gotta think before you act."

    They stared at each other for a few seconds in silence.  Then
Fabian sat down on a weight bench with a sigh.  "You know where
Chico lives?"

    Mickey sat down next to him.  "Nope.  Why?  You gonna go kill
him before he kills you?"

    Fabian shook his head.  "I was think more along the lines of
talking him out of it.  But first I need to talk to Lissa, find
out what's going on."

    "Might just be a bullshit, about her being pregnant.  A
gangster like Chico, he might be pissed enough that you're messing
around with his sister to put out a hit."

    "Maybe."  But he had a sinking feeling it was true.  The first
time they'd had sex, after he brought her home from the West Club,
like an idiot he hadn't used a condom.  And Lissa had seemed very
quiet and preoccupied the last couple days.  Combine all that with
the famous Fabian Barnes Losing Streak, and there wasn't much
point in being optimistic.

    "How can I get her out of school so I can talk to her?" he
asked.

    Mickey smiled.  "Gotta be a hundred different ways.  Come on,
we'll think of something in my car.  You don't want to be driving
your ugly-ass landscaping truck right now - they might be looking
for it."

    Fabian nodded.  "Thanks Mick."

    Mickey slapped him on the shoulder.  "Managing 'El Toro' has
been a sweet gig.  You get whacked, it's gonna put a real dent in
my cash flow."


**************


    The side door to Our Lady of Peace opened, and Lissa stepped
out and scanned the parking lot.  Fabian was standing next to a
shiny silver El Camino, dressed in his workout clothes.  He raised
his hand, and she hurried over.

    "What's going on?"  she asked.  Fabian looked so serious and
worried, it was giving her a sick feeling in her stomach.

    He looked around, and saw that there was no one within
earshot.  "I heard you were pregnant.  Is that true?"

    She stared at him silently.  For Fabian, it was answer enough.

    "Why?  Why didn't you tell me?"

    "I thought...I just found out a couple days ago..."  Her eyes
filled with tears.  "I was going to tell you this week, Fabian.
I'm sorry."  The stress of the last three days suddenly
overwhelmed her, and she started crying.

    "Hey...it's going to be OK, Lissa."  He pulled her close, and
she threw her arms around him.  They clung to each other
wordlessly for a few moments.

    "How did you find out?" asked Lissa, lifting her face up to
look at him.

    "From your brother.  That's why we're here actually."  He
suddenly remembered the death threat, and his heart sank.

    "My brother?  You mean Chico?"

    "That's the fellow," said Fabian dryly.  "He didn't take the
news very well, apparently."

    "I hardly even know Chico, how the hell did he find out?"

    Fabian looked confused.  "You didn't tell him?"

    Mickey said "Folks, we best be moving along now.  Fabian don't
look much like Lissa's daddy, and the sisters are getting a mite
suspicious."  A pair of nuns were standing in the doorway, staring
at them.

    Fabian and Lissa climbed into the back seat, and Mickey pulled
out of the lot.

    "So who did you tell?" asked Fabian.  "You must've told
someone."

    "I told my friend Marcella.  Same thing happened to her last
year.   I made her promise not to tell anyone, but... "  She shook
her head angrily.  "She's been wanting Chico to notice her for
years.  So Chico told you?"

    "Not exactly."  There was a few seconds of silence.
"According to Mickey, he's threatening to kill me."

    Lissa eyes got wide.  "Oh my God!"

    "Right," said Fabian.  "You know where he lives?"

    She nodded.  "Yeah, I can tell you how to get there.  But are
you sure that's the right thing to do?"  She looked at Mickey.
"What do you think?"

    Mickey shrugged, his eyes on the traffic.  "Can't hurt, might
help.  Chico ain't likely to start blasting away at somebody in
his own front yard."


***************


    When Chico Hernandez walked into his untidy bedroom, shirtless
and barefoot, Fabian was standing in the corner, holding a small,
ugly-looking gun down against his thigh.

    Chico was startled, but he covered it well.  He took in the
gun and the open window with one glance, and his face hardened
into a mask.

    "You," he said.  "What the fuck do you want?"

    "I heard you were going to kill me."

    Chico didn't say anything for a few seconds, but Fabian was
determined to wait him out.  Mickey's gun felt awkward and
slippery in his hand.  He wanted to wipe the sweat off his palm,
but he didn't dare set the gun down.

    Finally Chico said "You've been fucking around with my sister.
Got her pregnant."

    "I happen to like Lissa a lot."

    Chico sneered.  "You do, huh?  Nice young piece of Mexican ass
for you to play around with."

    "It's not like that."

    Chico sat down on the bed, pushing a tangled pile of clothes
out of the way.  He had a big tattoo of a snarling panther on his
chest, and Fabian had to force himself to not stare at it.  Chico
said "You shoot me, I guarantee you won't get out of this house
alive."

    "I don't want to shoot you.  I just want to talk."

    Another long silence.  "You got cojones coming here, sneaking
into my room, I'll give you that.  Tell you what I'm gonna do -
you promise me you'll never go anywhere near my sister again, and
I'll let it go."

    "No way."

    "Why the fuck not?"  His voice was still flat, but Fabian
sensed that he was genuinely puzzled.

    "I'm in love with Lissa.  She's going to have my baby, and I'm
not going to just disappear."

    "No, she's *not * gonna have your baby, asshole." said Chico.
"You better get that straight right now.  You off the hook on
that, so just walk away."

    "Why the fuck are you so damn interested?  Lissa says she
hardly even knows you.  You're the one that should stay out of
it."

    Chico stared at him.  "You wouldn't understand, white boy."

    "Try me.  And cut the racial crap.  What was it they called it
in the OJ trial?  The race card.  Don't play that stupid race card
with me."  He realized he was waving the gun at Chico, and
returned it to his leg.

    "Lissa is a special girl.  She's smart, she's a good person.
She's gonna go to college, be a doctor or something like that.
Have a good life."

    Some of the things that Lissa had told him went through his
head.  About Lissa's mother, and her single-minded plans for
Lissa's future.  Chico's mother.

    "This isn't really about Lissa, is it?  It's about you and
your mother."

    "Fuck you.  Don't you talk to me about my -"

    "You fucked up your life completely, and fucked up your
brother's lives too.  One big, happy family of gangbangers.  You
felt guilty about that, and now you're trying to make it up to
your mother by protecting Lissa."

    Chico chuckled, spreading his hands apart as if to say 'you
got me.'  Fabian queasily wondered what made this guy tick.   He
makes a little comment, the guy takes it personally.  Now when he
accuses him of destroying his family, he shrugs it off.

    Chico was still smiling, seeming to sense his discomfort.
"Back when Lissa was a little girl I promised my mother that I
would protect her.  Everybody in the neighborhood knows she's my
little sister, and they know they better treat her right.  I pay
tuition for her private high school.  I'm gonna pay for her
college.  And when some asshole starts hassling her, I take care
of it."

    "And then your momma forgives you and you all live happily
ever after?"

    "You think that's bullshit?"  Chico leaned forward and rubbed
his face reflectively.  "Go ahead and think that.  But if it
wasn't for me, Lissa would just be another fucked-up barrio chick.
Probably be a hooker or an addict or both."

    Fabian tried to imagine Lissa like that, and then quickly
pushed the image out of his mind.  "You think this is what your
mother would want?  For you to kill me and arrange for an abortion
for Lissa?"

    "I've done plenty of things my mama wouldn't like," said
Chico.  "I've killed people before, I've done all sorts of bad
shit.  All my mama knows is that Lissa is a good girl who's gonna
be somebody, and that it's partly because of me.  Except now you
come along and fuck it all up.  You say you love Lissa, but all
you've done is fuck up her life."

    "I can't change what's happened, and I'm not going to stop
seeing Lissa," said Fabian carefully.  "If she wants to have the
baby, which I hope she does,  I'm going to support her decision
and be a father to the kid.  Either way, I want her to go to
college too.  I don't see how that interferes with your promise to
your mother."

    "You don't, huh?"  Chico scratched under his arm, looked at
Fabian thoughtfully.  "We're goin' at it day after tomorrow.  Big
rematch."

    Once again Fabian was caught off guard.  What the hell did the
fight matter, compared to this?  "Yeah, well, I might have to
cancel.  Seeing as I got a death threat, and all."

    "No way, man.  The fight stays on.  But we gonna make it
interesting.  You win, I let you date Lissa.  You lose, you never
go near her again.  What do you say - pretty fair, eh?  Specially
seeing as you got that big reach advantage and all."

    "You're crazy, you know that?  You want to settle my future,
your sister's future, with a fistfight?"

    Chico grinned.  "People's lives been fucked up for stupider
shit than that.  I seen it happen all the time."

    After a long moment, Fabian nodded.  "OK, I guess that's how
it's gotta be."

    "That's right.  That's the way it's gotta be."


*************


    Tigertail beach was buzzing with the electric hum of
adrenaline and blood-lust.  Mickey pushed his way through the
restless throng of people and found Jimmy Vargas.

    "Where the fuck you guys been?" asked Jimmy.  "Fight was
supposed to start twenty minutes ago."

    Mickey shook his head.  "Just got a call from Fabian.  Ain't
gonna be no fight.  He just retired."

    Jimmy turned pale.  "He pussied out, you mean.  Didn't want to
face Chico again."

    Mickey nodded.  "Between you and me, that's about right.  I
ain't happy about it either.  Wish he'd at least had the guts to
tell me before the last minute."

    Jimmy glared at him, his teeth gritted.  "These people came to
see blood.  What the fuck am I supposed to tell them?"

    Mickey slapped him on the shoulder.  "Ask for a volunteer from
the crowd, Jimmy.  Wave that paper bag fulla dough around a
little.  There's bound to be some sucker out there who thinks he's
got the right stuff."


************


    The Nevada desert was slowly cooling down from the white-hot
intensity of midday, and the setting sun was transforming the pale
blue sky into a delicately shaded canvas of pink and orange.  The
highway stretched out endlessly in front of them, an arrow-
straight strip of blacktop bisecting the flat, dry landscape.

    Fabian shifted his eyes from the shimmering horizon to the
warm figure nestled against his right side.  Lissa was staring
quietly at her outstretched left hand.  The diamond on her ring
finger absorbed the dim sunlight and returned it as flashes of
pure fire.

    He smiled, and said "Still think it's too big?"

    She looked up with a start, closing her hand reflexively, and
then laughed.  "Maybe not.  I'm getting used to it."

    "They'll be missing me on Tigertail right about now.  I told
Mickey to wait until the fight was about to start, make it look
like I chickened out.   I bet Jimmy is going nuts, calling me all
sorts of bad names."

    She rubbed the inside of his bare thigh reassuringly. "You
regretting it?"

    "Nope.  Not a bit.  Chico's going to come out looking like a
hero, and that's exactly what I want.  What we want."

    They rode along in companionable silence for a few minutes.

    "My mother liked you, I think," said Lissa.

    "She's a nice lady.  I think she knew we were going to get
married whether she said it was OK or not."

    A glowing green road sign appeared in the distance, and slowly
grew in size.

    "Las Vegas, a hundred and twenty miles," read Lissa.  "I
really don't believe we're doing this."

    "You still got about two hours to change your mind."

    She leaned her head against his shoulder, her thick hair
tickling his neck.

    "Nope.  Never, ever."