Prologue: The Last Supper

Esperanza opened the oven door and inhaled deeply, letting the scent of the freshly baked stuffed peppers fill her nose. She lifted the aluminum foil lid at one corner and peeked into the casserole dish.

Perfect. Just slightly brown and oozing with cheesy goodness.

She turned the oven off and then pulled the tray out, kicking the oven door closed with the back of her red high heeled pump. She had pulled the early shift tonight and was already dressed in her work clothes, ready to head out as soon as dinner was done. She had a loose t-shirt pulled on over her tight vinyl undershirt for decorum's sake, but her long legs stuck out from her short black pants beneath it.

She walked out of the kitchen and over to the table holding the tray and looked around for Bea.

"Vaminos, Chica! Dinner!" she said loudly enough that she could hear from her bedroom.

Bea grunted and shouted a quick "One second!" as she slowly let herself down from the pull-up bar set up on her bedroom doorway. Just one more to complete her workout. She pulled herself up with a controlled exhale, lifted her legs up to her tight abdomen and then stretched them out parallel to the floor. Deep breath in, then back down, and she let herself drop the couple inches to the floor.

Swiping a small towel over her face, she rolled her shoulders and sauntered into the kitchen. "God, that smells amazing. What're we eating tonight?"

"Chile Relleno..." Ronnie said as she reached up to the top cabinet for a couple of large, yellow plates. She brought them over to the table and set them down as she started ladling out the peppers.

"Stuffed peppers. I splurged and got some fresh cheese and poblanos from Farm Patch. How was your workout?"

"Pretty good!" Bea popped her neck and went to dig out some leftover rice from the fridge. "My knee started twinging during my run today so I left out the ankle weights, but I haven't had any other problems with it in almost a week now." Setting out the rice and a pair of glasses, Bea noticed that Ronnie was already in her work clothes. "Whoa, they got you on the early shift again, or you just practicing walking in those heels?"

Ronnie laughed and grinned at her roommate as she sat down.

"Yeah, Willie asked if I could cover for Tiffany this week. It's not so bad. Early shift means less tips, but also fewer guys trying to grab my ass while I'm dancing."

She poured herself a glass of apple juice from a bottle on the table and picked up her fork, poking around critically at the pepper on her plate, making sure it was up to her standard. In cooking, as in most things, she was her own worst critic. She took a bite and smiled. Not bad.

Bea poured herself some milk and began wolfing down her food with her usual enthusiasm. Halfway through a bite, she grunted queryingly and pointed at the fridge, where the list of needed grocery items was stuck on with a magnet, and then back at herself. Did Ronnie want her to hit the store tonight?

Esperanza watched Bea begin scarfing down her peppers with a smirk. It always made her happy to see people enjoying her food. That was a trait she'd inherited from her mother. When Bea gestured, she looked behind her and saw what Bea was pointing at before turning back around.

"Oh... yeah, if you could. I'd go myself, but I won't be off work until midnight." she said.

"So, what are your plans for tonight? You gonna actually study for once or play more SSX on the X-box?" She asked with a grin.

Bea rolled her eyes and pointed to the couch, where a small stack of textbooks were piled up on top of her backpack. "Oh, ha ha. I've got some catching up to do in organic chemistry, two chapters of geology, and one of poly sci. After all that, I think I've earned my X-box privileges." She shoveled more rice onto her plate. "You want me to give you a ride to work? I can hit up the store on the way back, and pick you up when you get through."

"Sure, thanks." Ronnie said as she looked over at the pile of books on the couch, "I need to put gas in my car. Stupid thing probably needs an oil change too. And new brakes. And hoses. And tires. And I'm pretty sure there's a rat or something living in the carburetor."

She sighed and put her fork down, her pepper only half eaten.

"I'm sorry, I'm not very good dinner company tonight. I've been feeling on edge all week. I don't know what it is. Maybe there's a front coming through or something."

Bea nodded in sympathy. "You want to call in? I can tell Willie that I cooked and it made you blow chunks all night, if you want. We can have a monster movie marathon, with ice cream! And whiskey. And puppet shows."

Ronnie laughed and considered for a minute. It was tempting. She hadn't taken a day off in a long time, and she knew that she wasn't really in the right mood to be sexy.

"I don't know... I really need the money..." she said timidly, "and Tiff is already out with bronchitis. If I call in it's just Simone and Tasha and a room full of drunk frat boys."

"Yeah, but you've covered for them way too much this month. And I know for a fact that Sasha can keep the room drooling just by herself when she has to, and doesn't she owe you for when she snuck her boyfriend into the dressing rooms and he had to hide in your closet so Willie didn't find him? Besides..."

Bea got up and rummaged in the junk drawer for a moment, then stuck her head into the freezer. When she came out, she was holding a bottle of whiskey and a half-gallon of Double Chocolate Monkey Fudge, each now sporting an elegant stick-on moustache. "Mr. Whiskey and Mr. Ice Cream agree with me!" she squeaked into a bad falsetto.

"Stay home, Ronnie!"
"Yes, stay home with us, and watch movies! Let's play Horror Movie Bingo with Bea!"

Esperanza began laughing out loud as soon as she saw the moustached ice cream and alcohol. She put her hand over her mouth and giggled for nearly a minute as Bea made the edible puppets do a little jig.

"Okay, okay..." she said finally, gesturing for Bea to put the puppets down before she hyperventilated, "Fine, fine, I'll stay home! Ay dios mio, que tanto!"

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and began texting work to let them know she was staying home.

"Should we invite anyone else over?" she asked as she hit the Send button.

"Sure, babe, give the whole crew a call. It's not tuesday, but we'll see who we can drum up, right? You go get comfy, I'll go bang on Chrys's door and tell her we're abducting her for the evening." Mr. Ice Cream and Mr. Whiskey in hand, Bea chuckled and started for the front door.

Ronnie laughed and stared after Bea for a moment as she headed out, alcohol and ice cream in tow. She laughed lightly and shook her head. That girl was going to be the death of her some day.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her old, beat up phone and began dialing.