She pouts. “You can buy them, please.”
“Fine, but not too many.”
Her face lights up at my agreement and I signal the server for our bill. Once settled up, I stand and we both walk out of La Vella and head south toward the bars.
“Where shall we go?” I ask.
Lila shrugs. “Beats me. You live in this city.”
I may live here, but I rarely go out. Most of the time I’m too busy studying, but spring break has coincided with the academy’s spring break, which doesn’t always happen. Since the academy runs on its own schedule.
“We’ll have to take our pick.”
Lila comes to a stop outside of a swanky bar with a dance floor called Podolka. “How about this place?”
I glance at it, the name ringing a bell, but I’m not sure why. “Does that name seem familiar to you?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know, should it?”
I shake my head, unable to work out where I’ve heard it before. “No idea. Okay, let’s go in.”
The bouncers let us straight in with hardly a second glance at Lila, even though she’s only just turned eighteen. As we get inside, the music is loud and it’s more of a club than a bar. “I’ll go and get us drinks. You find a table,” I shout.
Lila nods and finds a table near the back as I fight my way through the crowd to the bar. It’s busy and I don’t really feel comfortable, as I can feel guys leering at me. I’ve never been a clubbing kind of girl, but I know Lila loves dancing.
When I get to the front of the bar, a man not much older than me comes over. His eyes dip to my cleavage.
Pig.
“What can I get you, sweetheart?”
“Two Daiquiris please.”
He nods and turns away to get our drinks. I clutch hold of a twenty-dollar bill, ready to hand it to him. I hate being out of my comfort zone.
“Fifteen bucks, darling,” he says, setting the two drinks down on the counter.
I pass him the twenty. “Keep the change,” I say, grabbing the two drinks and turning to search for my sister.
He says something in response, but I’m already gone, making my way toward the table she found near the back.
She smiles when she sees me. “That was quicker than I expected.”
I turn my nose up. “The bartender was a flirt, so he served me first.”
“One of the perks of being a young and beautiful woman.”
“One of very few,” I say in response, still unable to shake off the heaviness of the events of the day.
Lila sips her drink and gazes at the dance floor. “Is it too early for me to force you onto it?”
She knows I hate dancing. It’s not my thing, but I always give in when I’ve had enough to drink. “Let me finish this drink and then ask again.”
“Do you think we’ll be able to visit Mom soon?” Lila asks, looking me in the eye.
I swallow hard, as it’s been three years since Papá last allowed us to visit her in Mexico. It sucks that she lives there and we live here, but she’s on America’s no-fly list.
Our mother is as ruthless as our papá, perhaps more so. The things she’s done landed her on a list that meant when we moved to North America, she couldn’t come. It suited Papá since they were already separated and she went to live with Don Pablo, Papá’s cousin.