Bedlam Boyz(24)

"Hey, it's your life, sweetheart," the blonde said, and started cutting. Ramon and their two silent escorts sat down by the door to wait. Twenty minutes later, after a long one-sided conversation in which the woman talked about her ambition to work as a hairdresser for an undertaker, because the money was good and the clients never complained about her work, the haircut was finished. Kayla looked at herself in the mirror and grinned.

"I don't like it," Ramon said as he paid the woman and they left the shop. "Too short. A woman should have long hair."

"Well, this one doesn't," Kayla said, feeling better than she had since this entire awful experience had started. I look like Annie Lennox now, she thought with glee. Except that she's blond. Well, maybe I can try that next. "How 'bout a pair of leather pants?" she asked Ramon as they walked past a store with mannequins in skintight black and red leather in the window. "It would look great with my haircut."

"Absolutely not," Ramon said in a tone that didn't allow room for arguing.

"Oh, you're no fun," she said, still looking at the clothing in the window. A heavy weight landed on her shoulders, and she saw that Ramon had draped his black leather jacket over her. "What?"

"For you, vida mia, since you want some leather clothes." As Kayla stared at the jacket in shock, Ramon turned away quickly and started walking down the street.

Jose said something in Spanish, and the other man laughed. Kayla followed Ramon down the street, wishing the men had spoken in English so she could understand them.

Then again, maybe I'm better off not knowing what these guys are saying about me. . . .

She caught up with Ramon in front of a department store. "Hey, take your jacket back, I don't want it!"

"You don't?" He looked at her, surprised. "But I thought you wanted a leather jacket."

"Yes, but . . . but I can't accept this from you!" She held it out to him.

"Why not?"

"Because . . ." She found herself blushing, and willed herself to stop. "Because I don't know what you want in exchange for it."

He stared at her blankly, then grinned. "Oh, I see. No, not to worry . . . you're too young for me. I like older women, like Roberta. The jacket is a gift, nothing more. Like the rest of the clothes we'll buy for you today." He pointed at a pretty white blouse in the window. "Would you like one of those, Kayla? It would look very nice on you, I think."

"Yeah, sure," she said, feeling strangely shy. "Thanks for the jacket, Ramon."

He smiled, not looking at her. "I'm glad you like it. Come on, we need to buy you some more clothes."

All I seem to be doing this week is nearly getting killed and buying clothes, Kayla thought as she looked through the racks of women's clothes in the store. Jose took up a position by the door, glancing out at the street every few seconds, as Ramon and the other man—Fernando, his name was—took clothes down from the racks and shelves and held them out for Kayla to inspect.

Ramon was weighted down with an armful of clothing by the time they were finished and ready to pay for it all. Kayla stood looking at a display of earrings by the cash register as they waited for the clerk to tally up their purchases. Now she was wearing a pair of new jeans, a skin-tight black shirt sewn with silvery threads, and the leather jacket.

"You should buy some new earrings," Ramon said, watching her look at the earrings.

Kayla contemplated her reflection in a small mirror. "No, I don't think so." She picked up two metal safety pins from the shop counter, and fastened them in her ears. "There. That looks better with the leather jacket, I think."

"Carlos won't like it," Ramon said definitively.

"Well, that's another great reason to wear them," Kayla said. "Anything that pisses off Carlos is fine in my book." Ramon gave her a doubtful look, but didn't argue. "Hey, how 'bout some lunch?" she asked. "I didn't eat any breakfast, y'know. Or any dinner," she added after a moment.

Ramon gestured to Fernando and said something quickly in Spanish. Fernando nodded, picked up the bags of Kayla's clothing, and headed for the door. "He'll meet us at Fastburger," Ramon said.

As they walked down the street, Jose walking watchfully ahead of them, Kayla glanced again at where Jose's gun was hidden. "You didn't tell me why Jose is carrying a gun," she said to Ramon, quietly enough that none of the other pedestrians could hear them.

"It's because we've had some trouble here lately," Ramon said after a long pause. "Bad trouble."

"Is it with the police, or another street gang?"