“Of course you are. Drink the night away.”
“Hell, yeah. One of us needs to remember how to have fun.”
“Shooting pool in a dark hole with the lowest of the city's lowlifes,” Ashleigh said. “Sounds like a barrel of fun.”
“Lowlifes? You hang out with politicians. What exactly do you do for him, anyway?”
“Social media coordinator. I told you.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“You know. I keep up his Twitter and Facebook accounts, his blog...”
“Sounds real tough.”
“At least I get paid,” Ashleigh said. “I don't have to rob meth heads just so I can afford to hang out in a sleazy bar.”
“Fuck you, Ashleigh.” Tommy slammed the bedroom door as he left.
“Not until you take a shower,” Ashleigh whispered. She turned off the bedside lamp and closed her eyes again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Jenny and Alexander hiked along a narrow, steep trail through the jungle, heading up the side of a mountain. Jenny was soaked with sweat in the steaming afternoon heat. Alexander's two zombie jaguars were ahead of them on the trail, spooking off any man or beast who might bother them.
“Need a break?” Alexander asked. They'd been hiking for more than an hour up rough terrain.
“No,” Jenny said. Her legs and feet were aching. The pack on her back had felt light at first, but she could swear it grew heavier with every step. “Why? Are you tired or something?”
“I'm great.” Alexander sipped from his canteen and passed it to her.
“That's what you think of yourself?” Jenny put the canteen to her lips and tried not to slurp the whole thing down.
“It's what I think of you.”
Jenny rolled her eyes. “I'm great at killing people.”
“Some people need killing.”
“According to who? Who decides who lives and who dies?”
“You,” Alexander said.
“Why should I be the judge?”
“You are, whether you want to be or not. It's always your choice.”
“I'm really trying not to do that anymore, Alexander.”
“How does it make it you feel?”
“How do you think?” Jenny snapped. “Sick, guilty, hating myself...”
“And...?”
Jenny didn't answer.
“Part of it feels good, doesn't it?” Alexander said. “Expressing your power. Letting your inner goddess out.”
“Don't say that. It sounds like something from Oprah. 'Let out your inner goddess!'”
Alexander laughed.
They continued onward, Jenny trying not to think about Kisa. Jenny and Alexander had attended the funeral at the big stone Catholic church in Zinacantan. Jenny missed her terribly, and tried not to cry about it until she was alone.
Noonsa had left, unable to work in the place where she'd seen her nephews and niece die. Alexander had hired a couple of middle-aged mestizo women to replace Noonsa and Kisa's housekeeping and cooking, and he'd brought a couple of other Mayan men who'd previously guarded coca patches to help provide security at the compound. Jenny tried to avoid speaking to the new people, or to anyone. She didn't feel like making new friends yet.
The trail widened and they reached their destination.
“Here we are,” Alexander said. “The lost city of Paochilan. What's left of it, anyway.”
Jenny took in the crumbling stones walls, carved with reliefs and full-size animal statues. Everywhere she looked, the land was terraced, with wide stone steps choked with weeds. Entire trees grew up through the largest building, a towering pyramid like a mountain, with steps leading up to a narrow stone building at the top.
“This is amazing,” Jenny said. “Doesn't anybody know about this place?”
“Just one more Mayan ruin,” Alexander shrugged. He approached the pyramid. “Come on. We want to reach the top before sunset.” He stepped on the first of many steep, broken stone stairs. The jaguars sat down on either side of the staircase like guards.
“Is it safe?” Jenny asked.
“Is anything?” He climbed a few more steps. “There's only two hundred steps.”
“Great.” Jenny placed a foot on the lowest step, and then she looked up. The staircase was so steep that it seemed like she'd be walking almost straight up. A number of the stairs were cracked and eroded, and they were all very shallow. She could barely fit her foot on one.
“Scared?” Alexander asked.
“No. If something breaks loose and I fall, I'll deserve it for listening to you.”
“That's the spirit, Jenny.”
They ascended. Jenny was fascinated by the carvings set into the pyramid, lots of birds and jaguars. She could have stopped to study them every step of the way, but the sun was low in the sky and she didn't want to be looking for steps in the dark.