Treinta y Tres

I can and also can't believe that Kit came into my neighborhood without giving me a heads up. That idiot walked into South Tucson like it was Pleasant street and who did he bump into, but Alejandro.

Then Alejandro gave me the third degree and asked me point blank if the gringo and I were together. I told him no and that Kit is my best friend and that I'd never forgive Alejandro if anything were to happen to him.

Even though Alejandro backed off, he didn't look convinced that Kit is just a best friend. He also didn't promise no harm would befall Kit either.

Which is why Mirabella pointed out that she lived nearby. She hung onto Kit all the way to her front door. "Mama, we have visitors!" she yells as the first one to walk through the front door.

Flora came out of her kitchen wearing an apron with some smudges on it. "Katrina? Who is he?" asks Flora to me in Spanish.

I reply back in the same language, "He's my best friend, Kit."

Kit's face looks confused as Flora pulled him in for a hug. "Friend of Katrina is a friend of mine," she says in English with a smile. Mirabella kicks the point of her foot on the floor a few times.

"Mama, can Katrina and Kit come to my room? I want to show them what I've been working on," says Mirabella smoothly. No wonder she caught the eye of Ernesto. She's great under pressure and sly too.

Flora smiles and happily shoos us away with her hands. Mirabella, Kit, and I go upstairs to Mirabella's room.

Swinging the door open, she splays out her arms and goes, "Ta-daaaaa!"

Mirabella has her own room to the dismay of her two younger sisters who still share a room. Lining the walls of her room are sketches of different people.

Kit walks throughout her room and looks slowly at her sketches. "Is this all of your work, Mirabella?"

She shrugs as she says, "Yes, but I just told my mom I'd show you my work as a cover."

Kit smiles at Mirabella as he says, "I don't fully understand what's going on right now, but thank you for allowing us to wait here in your home for a bit." Mirabella's cheeks darken slightly as she giggles.

"It's really no problem at all, Kit," she replies lightly with a grin. She glances at me accusingly as she adds, "It's nice to meet somebody else Kat knows."

I sit in Mirabella's desk chair and look out of the window. The coast looks clear, but we've just arrived. "I'll give you a list of everybody else I speak with at school if you'd like, Mirabella. So you can alphabetize the names in your spare time."

Choosing to ignore my sarcasm, she sits on her bed and looks at Kit for a moment. "Why are you so interested in my sketches?"

"Because Mirabella, they're not sketches. They're works of art and should be called as such." He points at some sketches of a hooded figure. "Is this a real person you sketched or an OC?"

"OC?" I ask Kit.

"Original Character," answers Kit and Mirabella at the same time.

Well, I'm sorry I don't understand art lingo!

"It's an OC named Octubre," replies Mirabella. "She's fearless, doesn't get intimidated by nothing, and has a machete as her weapon of choice." She gets up from her bed and stands next to Kit. "She's my bad ass brainchild."

"Why is her face always in shadow?" asks Kit.

Mirabella lightly kicks her foot with Kit's as she looks down at the ground. "Because she's an assassin, duh!"

"Tell me more about Octubre," Kit replies as he moves around the room to look closer at Mirabella's other sketches.

"There's nothing much to tell. She kills people and that's it...it's not like I'm a cartoonist or manga artist." She spins in the middle of her room and fans her arms about to gesture to all of the sketches on her wall. "It's a hobby, not a career."

"Oh? And who told you that?" asks Kit with his trademark voice of indifference.

Mirabella's sits back on the edge of her bed. "Ernesto said so. He told me I didn't have to worry about career choices or even college. That I can choose what I want and...and I want to be Ernesto's girl. That's all I want." Mirabella's voice rang with so much truth it made my heart squeeze in anguish.

Kit looks at me with those soul-seeking eyes of his. "Well, this Ernesto sounds pretty special, Mirabella. It sounds like both of you have the same view on how to live your life and that's hard to find in a boy. He must be very mature for his age."

"He is. He's eighteen." Kit turns fully to me, so he could raise his brows in shock. Then, he pivots his foot so he's facing Mirabella.

"Eighteen, and you're eighteen too?" he asks her with genuine curiosity.

"No, I know I look it but I'm really twelve." She stands up straighter, accentuating the gifts God gave her in the process. Kit doesn't give her a mocking smile like Flora does sometimes in reference to Ernesto.

Instead, Kit doesn't look surprised at all. " It sounds like you have everything all figured out," replies Kit in a genuine tone. Before looking at another of Mirabella's sketches and looks back at her with a note of concern on his face. "Just in case nobody ever told you this though, you have a gift not a hobby."

"Whatever," she replies with a shrug. "My mom tells me I need to think of a realistic future and stop acting like a lovesick girl."

Kit laughs as he says, "All this talk about parents speaking about our futures. I have this friend named Rhett whose parents can't get enough of the college talk and college isn't for everybody, you know." Mirabella smiles and nods her head.

"They like to butt in when they don't understand how you feel." She looks at Kit with a hopeful glance. "But nothing can stand in the way of true love, right?"

Kit smiles and replies, "True. I have a girlfriend my parents haven't met yet, but whether they end up liking her or not is of no consequence to me. I still love her." Kit puts his hands in his pockets and looks away from the wall of Mirabella's art. "However, if I had your gift, I would've made a webtoon by now."

"What's a webtoon?" asks Mirabella. I raise my brow at Kit as I never heard of it either.

"It's an art platform. People create comics and upload them for free. Here, let me show you." Kit pulls out his phone and opens an app. He waves Mirabella over and she sits up from her bed to stand next to him. I stand on Kit's other side as he says, "Ladies, allow me to forever blow your mind and corrupt you."

Kit walks us through each button and what they mean. At some point, Mirabella points at the slideshow of comics displayed on the first pages that opens up. "Why do those get slideshows?"

"They're featured comics. When the people from Webtoons notice a comic become popular, they reach out to the artist. When an artist becomes featured that's sort of the first pathway to making a career out of their art." As we look at the slideshow, Mirabella raises her brow.

"Not all of them are drawn very well..."

"My point exactly! Your sketches look better than most people's Webtoons. All you have to do is sketch out some storyboards and I can show you how to scan them to an email so you can upload comics from there." Mirabella gives Kit a small smile.

"You make it sound so simple, but I don't even have the money to get colored ink. I can do it in black and white but...nobody would enjoy it in black and white."

Kit pressed a button titled 'My' and then a tab called 'Subscribed".

"One of my favorite webtoons are in black and white. It's a historical drama and even though it hasn't been featured yet...just look at how many people have read it."

"Wow!" Mirabella and I say at the same time.

"People make money doing this?" I ask Kit with a raised brow.

"Yes, they do. You don't have to be featured to make money either. This app started something called fast passes. So, people pay to watch future episodes and it's gotten really popular." Kit and I share a conspirational glance as Mirabella holds Kit's phone and oohs and aahs over the app.

"But I'm not a good story teller!" Mirabella exclaims. "Sure, I created an OC but beyond that it's all the creative I know!"

Kit smirks as he says, "But I'm a great story teller! I'm in debate. The only difference between this and debate is I get to let my imagination run wild instead of sticking to just the facts. I'd love to help out."

Mirabella sways her hips from side to side. "That's great Kit, but mama only let you come up to my room because Kat is here with you. She won't let you in if you come on your own."

Kit nods in understanding. "Then how about this. I write a few plot ideas and give them to Kat so she can stop by and give them to you in person. Kat also has my phone number, but I'll give it to you too." Mirabella grabs a notebook from her desk and gives it to Kit, along with a pen. Kit writes his phone number down and hands the notebook back to Mirabella. "So, are you ready to draw a kick ass story or what?"

"I...I am?" Mirabella says in awe. "Thank you, Kit. I'm going to get some cookies for you guys to take with you. I'll be back."

When Mirabella shuts her bedroom door, Kit looks at me. Uh-oh. "Care to explain what's going on Kat because I'd like to know too." For the first time in a long time, Kit sounds upset.

"Kit, it's a long story. Alejandro has taken some interest in me and he's head of a local gang known as El Leon. As for Sun, I may be grounded but I still have phone use. So, Sun and I get to know each other more by just talking..."

"Let me guess; under the stars, right?" Kit shakes his head as he adds, "Right now, I'm more concerned about Alejandro than Sun. Just how interested is he in you?" I'm about to tell him how much when Mirabella opens her bedroom door again.

"Here's some cookies for the road," Mirabella replies. "Now's a good time to leave. It's not roasting outside yet."

Kit leaves her room first and I follow. We wave goodbye to Mirabella and Flora as we make our way out. When we're outside I tell Kit, "Follow me. I know a relatively safe way to get to my house."

Winding through alleyways and taking many sharp turns, I smile when I see we're at my street. "Welcome to my home."