Free Muerte Con Carne by Shane McKenzie

making him slip. The smell hit him like a bazooka blast, and he gagged, lifted the bottom of his t-shirt and covered his mouth and nose. The laptop bag lay beside his duffel, and he grabbed both as quickly as he could, then darted out of the room, slammed the door behind him, took a long, deep breath of hot, arid oxygen.
    He hoped the pig behind the counter enjoyed cleaning that shit up.
    Felix stopped outside of Marta’s door for a second. She still didn’t acknowledge what I said to her. The ring lay beneath his clothes in the bag, and he wondered if maybe now was the time. Maybe he should walk right in there, pretend like he was taking out the camera, but he’d take the ring out instead, and right then and there he would ask her.
    Yes. She’s in a good moon, the time is now.
    His body shook as he entered the room. She wore a Hello Kitty shirt and her panties, and she smiled wide when he shut the door behind him.
    “I missed you,” she said.
    “Yeah…uh, me too.”
    Her forehead wrinkled up. “What’s the matter?”
    “Huh? Oh, nothing. Had a little run-in with the clerk, though. I swear that motherfucker was watching us somehow. Had this smile on him…I don’t know.”
    Her mouth arched. “Ugh. That’s disturbing.” She eyed the walls, then lifted her shirt and flashed her breasts. “Like what you see, you pig fucker?”
    “Marta, come on.”
    She laughed, rolled her eyes. “So, let me see it. You told me about it, but I never got to see the thing.”
    Felix was on his knee. Just beside the bed. Marta scooted across the mattress so she was looking down on him. He reached into the bag, fingers shaking. His throat dried up, and he tried to swallow but couldn’t.
    Do it, you fucking pussy.
    His hand wrapped around the box containing the cross pendant, and he zipped the bag back up. I am a complete coward, he thought. He got off his knee and sat beside Marta, his heart slamming against his ribs like it was trying to escape his chest.
    “Let me see.” Marta grabbed the box, opened it. “Wow…it’s hideous.”
    Felix tried to hide his shaking hands, but Marta saw them.
    “What’s the matter?”
    “It’s just…that fucker really pissed me off. The clerk, you know?”
    She nodded, but glared at him suspiciously. “So, you want me to wear this thing?”
    “Come on, it’s not that bad, is it?”
    She turned the gray, metal cross over, as big as her hand. “It’s fucking ugly.” She smiled. “But if we run into any Mexican vampires, I’ll be able to protect us I guess.”
    “Look, it’s all I could find. No diamond encrusted hidden camera pendants available.”
    She pulled the necklace over her head, and Felix lifted her hair for her. Her fingertip ran across the metal surface. “It is pretty neat, though. Can’t tell there’s a camera in there at all.”
    “And it was damn expensive too, so it better work. It’s pretty damn cool, check it out.” He pulled the wireless USB plug from the box, lifted his laptop from the bag and fired it up. “See, it’s all wireless. The video you shoot will be recorded straight into my laptop. There’s a tiny button on the bottom of the cross there.”
    Marta fondled it, and suddenly Felix’s face filled the monitor. “Wow, look at that. The quality’s pretty good too.” She turned her chest from left to right and studied the screen.
    “Top of the line is what the man I bought it from told me. If you hit the button again, it’ll stop the video and save the file to my laptop. If not, it’ll record in ten minute increments and automatically save it until you shut it off.”
    “Hey,” she said, pointing the cross at Felix. “You staring at my tits?”
    Felix threw his hands in the air. “Well, tell me what you think, will you?”
    “It’s perfect. Really it is, even better than I thought it would be.” She walked around the room, repeatedly checking the monitor to see what she was filming.
    “Can I ask you something?” Felix said.
    “Mmm