Free Seven Ways to Kill a Cat by Matias Nespolo

Sosa’s hand is suddenly limp too. Farías realises what’s going on and gets to his feet, giving one last kick as he does so. Chueco doesn’t stop howling until El Jetita drags him up by the hair.
    Through the strip curtain I can see Yanina’s eyes. I guess she was serving at the bar and came to see what all the screaming was about. From the scene in front of her, and from the terrified glance I shoot her, she must realise things have turned ugly.
    ‘Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on here?’ asks El Jetita.
    ‘Don’t you get it? These little fuckers are the ones who ripped me off!’ says Fat Farías.
    ‘You think I’d get my hands dirty robbing you, you stingy bastard?’ Chueco tries to laugh it off. ‘Who d’you think you are, fucking Rockefeller?’
    And things go his way, because El Jetita laughs, and so does El Negro Sosa. Rubén is still stone-faced. Either Chueco is more cool-headed than I thought, or he’s more shit-scared than I am and it’s the panic that’s making him cunning. I know lots of people who go loopy when they’re scared.
    ‘How do you know it was them?’ asks El Jetita.
    ‘Cos of the watch.’
    ‘This watch here?’ El Jetita is trying to sound reasonable. ‘Is this your watch, Farías?’
    ‘Fifteen years I’ve had that watch – you think I don’t recognise it? There’s a small crack in the glass near the bottom.’
    Chueco looks at the Citizen like he’s checking the time, then goes for broke. It’s all or nothing. He’s paler than the pages of Rubén’s notebook.
    ‘Are you saying this is your watch, Farías?’ he says angrily. ‘This is my fucking watch. I nicked it off a couple of kids yesterday, so it’s mine. What the hell’s got into you, Farías? You nearly broke my arm, you fuckwit.’
    Chueco’s a genius when it comes to bullshitting. All we need now is for them to buy it. Fat Farías clearly doesn’t believe a word.
    ‘
Hijo de puta
, I’m going to fuck you up …’
    El Jetita isn’t buying it either, but he plays along. He winks at Rubén who’s still stony-faced, and reassumes his role as a grown-up refereeing a kids’ game.
    ‘Let me see that watch. Where did you get it? Tell me, or I’ll end you –’
    ‘I told you, it’s mine. I robbed it off a couple of kids yesterday –’
    ‘What kids? Charly’s gang?’ says El Jetita, gently hinting at where Chueco needs to go with this.
    ‘They were taking the piss –’ Chueco says, testing the water.
    ‘You’re the one taking the piss … I told you to run them out of the barrio, not rob the little fuckers.’
    It’s like El Jetita has superpowers, like his orders get carried out even before he gives them. Putting pressure on Charly’s kids is one of the things he asked us to do a few minutes ago, but now he’s taking it for granted that that’s what we were doing yesterday. Things are starting to become clearer. I take a breath.
    ‘Give him back the watch, Chueco,’ El Jetita says, all paternal.
    ‘It’s fucking mine, if they stole it from him, too fucking bad –’
    ‘Give it back,
che
!’ El Jetita roars, smacking him round the head.
    It’s all an act, but they’re good, really good – even I’m starting to believe this shit. Chueco takes off the Citizen and hands it to Farías like he’s only doing it because he has to. El Jetita slaps Fat Farías on the back and explains the moral of the story.
    ‘You see, Farías, what did I tell you? Charly’s fucking with both of us. He’s stealing customers from me, and he robbed your place. The guy’s trying to set himself up on our turf, and if we don’t stop him, he’ll bury us.’
    El Jetita is the one who’s trying to set up operations here in the bar and I’m betting it’s so he can use the place as a base for his dealing. Charly is the local dealer in Zavaleta. He’s been expanding his operation lately. And it’s true that his delivery boys have no respect for boundaries. Shit, even I’ve bought weed