The gun held low behind my leg, I stepped out to face her. Having a gun does tend to embolden a guy. The cousins were nowhere to be seen, just Lupita standing demurely with hands folded in front of her.

“You’re sorry?” I said, a bit more emotionally than I intended.

“Si.”

“For what, exactly? Dragging me back to this god-forsaken neighborhood or trying to kill me?” Hot or not, she had some explaining to do. Just shoot the stupid cow and run.

“Sorry…for not giving you the choice,” she said quite calmly. Before I could ask more testy questions she went on, “Mi abuela is not wrong about…possibilities. We, mis primos and I, have stopped a lot of bad things.”

“Is that what I am? A bad thing?” I never thought of myself as bad. But I could be. Without thinking, I’d raised the gun from where it was hidden. Lupita startled, bringing her hands to her face.

She regained her composure quickly, “You are not bad. But you may do a bad thing. You will, unless you make the choice now.”