They were not used to my speed. Coach Conde had me show them some speed drills I’d picked up over time. I also showed them the proper footwork to get from point A to point B faster. It was the old story: Coach Conde had taught them how to do it, but it took hearing it from someone else to get them to listen.
After practice, Luis pulled me aside.
“We saw your interview on TV last night. Why didn’t you tell us you could speak Spanish?”
“It never really came up. Plus, you all speak English, and my Spanish isn’t that good,” I explained.
“You need to talk to my sister.”
I just shook my head.
“I know Sarita did something that caused you to quit seeing her, but she has it bad for you. Personally, I don’t see it, but I can’t handle her moping around all the time. Do me a favor and at least sit down with her and tell it’s over,” Luis begged.
“Let me think about it,” was all I could give him.
I really had no desire to ‘break up’ with his sister. Towards the end, I felt it was more of a business arrangement. What was the proper way of not seeing your ‘Cuban girlfriend’ anymore? I was almost positive it didn’t involve a lengthy conversation where you ended up feeling like a jerk.
The other problem was, what would I say? It was probably rude to tell her I didn’t want to date a jinetera. No probably about it, no girl would want to hear that. I’d told Luis that I wasn’t interested in dating a professional. Maybe I read it wrong, but money always seemed to be flying out of my pocket when I ‘dated’ Sarita. Then again, Uncle John always said that if you looked at something hard enough, you would find what you were looking for.
I guess I would’ve felt better about our relationship if I hadn’t heard Sarita talk about me to her friends the way she had. I knew she would never have said what she did if she knew I understood their conversation. The bottom line was she said it. I tried to imagine myself in Sarita’s shoes. For me, it was a character issue. I would never have made those kinds of remarks to my friends about a girl I was out with.
Something else that set off warnings was the ‘good Catholic girl’ image she and Luis had tried to fob off on me. Luis made it sound like she was the Virgin Mary. Maybe it had been Tony who said it, but they made it seem she was a good girl. I’m not the best role model for religion and chastity, but I don’t pretend to be anything I’m not, either.
All of that combined made it pretty clear Sarita had tried to deceive me. Trust was something I had serious issues with. I knew for an absolute fact that if I didn’t trust a girl, I didn’t want to date her. That, more than anything else, was why I didn’t want to see Sarita again.
I believe that if she had been up-front with me about what she wanted out of me, we might still be going out. I had fun at the various places Sarita took me, and I would admit I enjoyed our time in bed. If I didn’t feel taken advantage of, and it was my decision to pay her for her time, I probably wouldn’t have broken it off. Fritz was right, it would be good for the local economy.
◊◊◊
Fritz and I met Cassidy and Paul at the dojo. Carlos took the time to show us more dirty ways to fight. He went into detail how, in a fight, you needed to be creative, and the most unexpected things could become weapons. He must have been a real troublemaker in his misspent youth.
I had a pleasant surprise when we got back to the hotel: Bianca was waiting in the lobby.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I took a chance when I got done early and swung by to see if you’d have dinner with me. My treat.”
“He likes to eat,” Cassidy offered.
I shoved Cassidy into Paul, and she giggled.
“I would very much like you to take me out,” I said to Bianca, and then turned to Cassidy and acted like a girl. “Oh, my God! What should I wear?”
“Ignore him. He’s just a ‘stupid boy.’ Are you sure there isn’t someone else you would rather go out with?” Cassidy asked.
I picked up Cassidy and tossed her over my shoulder so I could smack her butt. Bad plan. With her hanging over my shoulder like that, she could smack my butt in return.
“Hey! Be good,” I told her.
“You both be good,” Fritz said, being responsible.
I put Cassidy down, and Bianca came with me to my room so I could take a shower and change.
◊◊◊
We ended up staying in the hotel. They had one of the better restaurants in the area. The bonus was that Fritz didn’t feel the need to have someone watch us if we didn’t go out.
“This is sort of a ‘thank you’ dinner. Adrienne called, and we had a long talk. She had both good and bad news,” Bianca said.
“Give me the bad first.”
“My sister and Anabella are not model material. I get to go home and tell them.”
“They’re going to be disappointed.”
“They’re young. In fact, they didn’t even know they wanted to be models until they heard about you sending pictures to Adrienne. I’m sure they’ll get over it,” Bianca predicted.
“What’s the good news?” I asked.
