Sangre De Toro (Old Draft - Now Published!)

Chapter 15 - Uncle Silvio

Rita sat on the sofa between Dominguez and Alfonso, gulping down a glass of water and keeping an eye on Pepelito, who was lying near the television. After coaxing him back in, they'd managed to tie him loosely to the sofa so Alfonso could take a small piece of glass from his foot - and stop him leaving the living room.

'Tempted to ring Castella's helpline. Have some fun with the bastards given we both seem to be homeless as of now.' Dominguez’s tone was deceptively light. He spoke through gritted teeth.

'Don't you dare, Jesus, you know what he is,' she said, her stomach clenching at the thought.

'This app's untraceable. Might as well feed them some fake sightings, waste their time before my uncle replies.' He fiddled with something on his phone. Immediately, the speaker began playing loud paso doble music. Pepelito gave him a sorrowful, nervous stare.

'You're scaring him again!'

‘Oh, fuck. Fuck.’ Dominguez fumbled with the phone. The music stopped. Rita sighed in relief.

'Good news - Silvio says he'll bring his truck and pick us up from the bottom of your road. He's annoyed, and very confused. It'll take him a couple of hours, but he said he'd do it.' Pepelito stared at Dominguez with wary eyes, then went back to gulping water from the large bucket in the corner of the living room. Rita couldn't blame the animal, only those who terrified him. It hadn't been his fault.

'That works, he needs to get vaguely settled before such a journey,' Alfonso said, stroking her hair.

'Is he well enough to go?' she asked.

'It's not ideal but as long as he gets a chance to stop and have a drink. He'll be OK,' Alfonso said.

She glanced at her phone as another message from her mother appeared. 'Why don't you just give Maria one call to ask how she's doing? The police arrested your brother-in-law and kept him 5 hours!'

'That's what happens in murder investigations, suspects get arrested,' she wrote back, feeling nothing but cold stomach-churning fury. This time she sent the message, showing it to Alfonso. She felt safe with him. He didn't judge her. Her ex-husband always felt he had the right to tell her how to behave - and lecture her about her family. He'd always say she was too much. Too opinionated, too blunt and stubborn. When he was in a really bad mood - too fat and ugly.

'You prefer that cat to me,' he'd say when they had adopted Gloria from the rescue centre. Rita could still never forgive her ex-husband for rattling the chair to get her to jump off so he could sit down instead. It had been six months and Rita still missed Gloria more than anything in the world.

Dominguez was now holding out a packet of crisps he had bought earlier and trying to make friends with Pepelito. He clicked his tongue encouragingly. 'Hey, amigo.'

'Yeah, I'd...not do that,' Rita said. Pepelito walked towards him, tail swishing, and snatched the whole packet.

'Hey! Give that back!' Dominguez yanked the half-chewed packet away from the bull's mouth. Pepelito snatched at it again, his horn perilously close to Dominguez's stomach. Dominguez dodged the dangerous horns and lurched into Rita's side, knocking her arm and sloshing her water. He laughed in relief as the bull turned away.

'Damn, sorry, Rita,' Dominguez said, handing her a cloth to wipe up. 'I can't really get used to this arrangement.'

Rita was almost falling asleep between the two men when her phone vibrated again. Knowing who it was, she handed the phone to Alfonso without reading. How could she be 42, in a position of responsibility and still upset by her mum's words? He read it and shook his head.