Red Glass Read Online Free Page B

applying baby oil to her legs, rubbing it on the folds of flesh hanging over the bikini; made a point to check the tan line of her giant bosom as he raked the water’s surface with his pole net.
    This day he was hovering by the pool, waiting for us to get out of the water so he could clean it, yet pretending he wasn’t waiting so we wouldn’t feel rushed. I got out and dried off. “Let’s go, Pablo. Come on, Dika!”
    “Always you are rushing, Sophie, rush rush!” She lumbered up the pool steps and then her foot slipped. I think it really was an accident, because I saw the shock in her eyes, and how her chin jarred as she fell, but within seconds she’d recovered and decided to milk it for all it was worth.
    “Ohhh! Ahhh!
Mein Gott!
My leg!” And she sat on the step, clutching her thigh, massaging it.
    The pool man rushed over and crouched down beside her. She looked at him with designed bashfulness. She actually fluttered her eyelashes.
    “You are okay, miss?” he asked in a thick Spanish accent.
    I could see her mind at work.
Miss.
He must have noticed she had no wedding ring. Or else he just thought she was very young. Or else he was deliberately complimenting her.
    He helped her up, walked her over to her chair as she pressed her body against his, coating his shirt with oil and water. He crouched by her chair and she bent her leg. “Look at it!” she moaned. “You think it will be okay? You see bruise?”
    He looked at it and swallowed hard. “Is good, I think, very good.”
    I saw the corners of her lips curve up.
    An hour later they were still talking in a mix of Spanish and English. “Children! I must to let my leg rest more before I walk home. Mr. Lorenzo helps me! You go!”
    And that is how Dika snagged the boyfriend whose son would change my life.

Jewel Errands
    School ended in June, but since Juan was swamped at work and Mom couldn’t find a waitress to sub for her, they postponed the Mexico trip. That was fine by me. I’d already made a three-page list of things to do with Pablo over the summer.
    Then, one sweltering evening, out of the blue, Dika announced over dinner, “We have plan. We drive to Mexico together. Me, Mr. Lorenzo, his son, Sophie, Pablo. We stay in Pablo’s village for one week. They go to Guatemala and they find the jewels. Pablo can to see his poor family. Mr. Lorenzo and his son return to Pablo’s home, they pick us up, and we return to Tucson. Good for everybody, no?”
    “What jewels?” Juan asked. “What are you talking about?”
    “Find the jewels,” she said, impatient. “You know, the things they have to do, like the errands.”
    “Jewel errands?” Juan raised his eyebrows at me.
    “Don’t look at me,” I said. “This is news to me, too.” My pulse quickened, but no, this wouldn’t really happen, it was too far-fetched.
    “You’ve only known this Mr. Lorenzo guy for a few months, Dika.”
    “That is how long I
date
him. But really, we know him more. No, Sophie? We watch him every day. For one year! Watch him work.” Dika punctuated her words with her fork. “Every day. He works hard.”
    “Hmmm.” Mom looked skeptical.
    “But you know me, you know I am good judge of the people,” Dika insisted. “He works hard, Sophie, no?”
    I shrugged.
    “What do you think, Sophie?” Mom asked me.
    It sounded like a bad idea. I wanted to keep postponing Pablo’s trip until the idea of it faded from everyone’s memory. Anyway, a road trip was way too dangerous. After all, didn’t car crashes kill more people than all natural disasters combined? And I’d never traveled anywhere without Mom and Juan, never been brave enough to. Once, on a family vacation, we were in the car and suddenly a panic gripped me, a panic so strong I felt as though I were suffocating. I made us turn back. That panic would pop up at other times, too.
    The worst thing was, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was always a dark, sinister shape lurking just underneath the