"Siempre que te pregunta, que cuando como donde, tu siempre me respondes, quizas, quizas, quizas."

Listening to the sweet Spanish tones of Cha Cha on stage, I flipped over a silver cup of gin and shook a martini dry. I noticed a few patrons along the bar were staring at me as I did this. No matter how many times this happened, it still creeped me out. I'd never get used to men's looks, gay or straight.

"Y as pasan los dias~, Y yo desprando~"

A pour and a middling swirl. Pluck up the lemon twist and plop. Slide across the bar. Take the money.

"Quizas, quizas, quizas."

"Bud, please."

Oh, someone was being polite. Straight pour from the tap. Slide. Take the money. I didn't even see his face, I was working too fast. But that was okay. I'd rather not see their faces.

A few seconds to idle and-

"Pink lady for table twelve. Another beer. He didn't say what kind."

Genesis.

"But if he didn't say what kind then how do I know? What table is it?"

"It's your boyfriend."

"Oh." My cheeks went pink. "That's a Heineken, then."

"You sweet thing. I can see you blushing in the dark."

"Here." Straight pour from the tap, a sweet pour, to the very top with foam. He liked the foam. "Take it to his booth." Halfway to Genesis' hand, I pulled it back. "Wait." I marked the glass with my baby pink lipstick, just for him. "Now, here."

"Gross," Genesis laughed, taking it with the least amount of fingers possible.

"Oh, come on. You'd have done the same for Felix."

"Yeah, you're right," he chuckled. "Make that pink lady."

"Okay. I'll have it by the time you come back."

"Yup."

No time to watch him walk away, no matter how much I would have liked to have seen Frankie receive my gift. I was sure I'd receive my gift back later.

"Ests perdiendo el tiempo pensando, pensando?"

A quick glance up at the stage before I turned around. Special soft pink lighting was washing over Cha Cha's small form, illuminating the orange and yellow sequins of his long dress along with the accompanying sequins on his headband. I'd hot glued that matching headband and the sunset organza flowers on that dress myself. They cascaded beautifully like living art, as if they were floating flowers in the surf of a sparkling Hawaiian sunset. We'd get through this sewing dry spell without Paulie just fine. If only Felix the wizard were here to do it, then we'd be golden.

"Whiskey sour."

Oh wait, the pink lady.

"One moment. Please wait, sir."

"No need to call me 'sir'."

I didn't respond to this light flirt, instead gathering the ingredients for the pink lady. Unfortunately due to my little daydream, Genesis was back before I was finished.

"Pink lady?" his Louisiana drawl said behind me like a poke to my back.

"Give me a second."

"Your wrist still hurting or something?" This was kind.

"No."

"He liked your kiss."

Aww. "I'm glad." I couldn't help but smile, my reflection in the mirrored glass of the bar.

"Table fifteen wants another pitcher of beer. I think they said the local stuff."

"You think?" Finally done. Pour into a martini glass.

"No, I'm pretty sure. It's not any beer I've ever heard of."

"Has to be the local stuff, then."

"YOU SPEAKO EL ENGLISHO?!"

Both Genesis' and my head snapped up towards the stage. Oh, shit. Cha Cha's eyes were closed as he continued to croon in lovely Spanish, singing Edith Piaf's "La Vie en Rose" as "La Vida en Rosa" now, just like we practiced, as if he hadn't even heard the guy.

"Hey, spic! You know any English songs? We ain't no Cubans! Ain't no Havana here!"

"Fuck is that guy's problem?" Genesis swore, an exceedingly rare swear from him. In fact, I didn't think I'd heard him swear but three times knowing him.

"I don't know, but can you talk to him? I've got a whiskey sour and now that pitcher-"

"Another dry martini, toots?"

Toots? "And now a dry martini to make. I can't slow up the bar."

"Nooo problem. I'm gonna give that guy a piece of my mind."

"Give him a piece of mine, too."

"No problem!" Genesis was off with the pink lady in hand, still doing his job no matter how mad. That's professionalism.

I turned to get on the whiskey sour, but was jolted back at the bar, my back jabbing into the outcropping painfully. My wrist burned and I felt sweaty heat around it. My eyes darted to the mirror behind the bar in the split second and widened, my mouth half opened in a wisely deadened scream.

Luciano!

"Hey, where you going? Make two whiskey sours. Drink with me."

Again?! My heart started to palpitate or was it the sound of blood gushing in my ears as my face went red?

"I- I can't drink on the job. Boss' orders," I replied quickly, wrenching my arm luckily free from his now surprisingly gentle grip.

"Who, Frankie? Sure you can."

"N- no. I'm not-"

"Come on. Let's chat."

"I- I c- can't. I have to serve orders. M- maybe...later..." Oh god. I was shaking. My wrist was throbbing. Frankie... How was I supposed to hold the whiskey with my hands shaking like-

"HEY, SPIC FAGGOT! SPEAK ENGLISH!"

"Oh my goodness, get down from there! What are you doing?! Get down from there! Securit-!"

"Hijueputa!"

THWACK! THUMP!

"Cha Cha! Oh my god!"

Dead silence. Suddenly the only sound in the building seemed to be my beating heart.

I swung around, not my believing my ears. Luciano was looking towards the stage just like everybody else. Blood was pumping in my ears at a rapid pace. No way, it wasn't possible. My eyes alighted quickly on Frankie's booth and a lone, full beer was sitting there on the table. They continued to scan and found Frankie running towards the stage, a look of intense panic on his face.

To the stage. Cha Cha. Genesis. Both of them were looking down at a man lying on the stage like a K.O in a boxing match, spread eagle. Our security guard in black grabbed Cha Cha from behind by the shoulders, wrenching him backwards. Dragging him.

"No! What are you doing?!" I cried, not even thinking and hitting the low swinging door to exit the bar, my back and wrist smarting but I didn't give a damn! "Don't touch him!" I yelled, running faster.

The sound came back all at once as if someone were cranking up a dial.

"He was heckling him! Stop it!" Genesis shouted. His red nails dug into the security guy's beefy arms, useless. "You're supposed to protect us!"

"Do you know who that is?!" the security guard barked back at Genesis, pulling Cha Cha still further.

"Get off him!" Frankie bellowed, grabbing the security guard by the arm. "He didn't do anything wrong!"

"Your father will have my head!" the security guard barked back.

Cha Cha was screaming through it all, a look of sheer terror on his young face, shattering my heart as I ran full speed. My heels came off, I abandoned them in the aisle. I didn't give a fuck.

"He- he come up on stage! Él iba a hacerme daño! Me daba miedo! ¡Lo siento! I sorry! I sooorryyyyy!" Cha Cha wailed in Spanish, sobbing desperately now, completely terrified.

My stockinged feet slid on stage and I almost spread eagled myself into Frankie as I slipped about trying to get a foothold on the slickly smooth surface. My hands folded over Cha Cha's arm right as Frankie wrenched the security guard's wrist in a twisted cop hold. The security guard cried out and let go of Cha Cha just for a second, but that was all I needed. I yanked him free towards me and fled, pulling him hard behind me and almost fell down the short flight of stairs to get off the stage in a fright.

My breath came in quick gasps as we passed people gaping at us, all around us. "Show's over!" I gasped at them, not able to catch my breath due to my tight corset in my sprint. Cha Cha's heels were rapidly clicking behind me, stumbling. Too fast for him, but I had to get him out of here!

The bathroom! We were surrounded by the tile of the hallway. Get in the bathroom! The door swung as I hit it with my shoulder. Cha Cha was sobbing behind me, sounding like a wild animal.

My hand released him to lock the door with a quick turn and I turned myself to him finally as I tried to catch my breath.

He looked so small. So young. He was swiping his eyes with the backs of his hands in his tears, smearing his make-up every which way. "Oh, baby, here," I cooed to him, taking his hand as gentle as I could, leading him to the sink and turning on the water.

Acutely aware of the dirty tiles under my nearly bare and vulnerable feet, I went to the storage closet, slipping my key out of my pocket and opening it. Out came my suitcase, and I unzipped it hastily, hearing Cha Cha sniffling and squeaking pitifully. I found a blue wash cloth and turned to him, in such close quarters.

My wash cloth went under the warm water and I cradled the side of his face in my hand, beginning to wipe the smeared make-up away. It was getting into his eyes, I could tell, probably stinging him. I peeled away his fake eyelashes, setting these on the lip of the sink. He was gasping for air, sobbing freely, shaking like he was in the coldest place on earth.

"Please, pleeease," he wailed softly, his voice in a high squeaking whine in a terrified puppy tone.

"Darling, shh, shh."

"Please, pleeease not sending me away! ...I be good ...I be goo-ood!"

"What? Honey..." I paused, the cloth lingering on his face as I tried to comprehend.

"Please not sending me away! He climb on stage, he go hurt me, he... pleeease..."

"Baby, you're not going anywhere?" I said softly as if trying to coax a scared kitten out of a hiding place.

"Please... Please..."

I made a sucking sound behind my teeth, unable to do anything else. The wash cloth went into the sink, abandoned. My arms folded around him, pressing his wet and smeared face against my shoulder how I knew he liked, even though I was wearing an expensive long sleeved white shift dress. I didn't give a damn about this dress. I gave a damn about Cha Cha.

I just hugged him as he sobbed higher, not saying anything, so scared. I rocked him back and forth like a baby. My baby. "Nobody's going to hurt you or send you away," I told him, talking into his hair. "Nobody. Not as long as I'm here."

Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk!

Cha Cha jumped. What in the world was knocking? That was Frankie's safety knock, though. I moved to open the door and Cha Cha's arms tightened around me, not letting me move.

"It's okay. That's Frankie. He knocks six times. He's the only one who does."

Cha Cha nodded into my shoulder, probably wiping his make-up all over it in the process, but I didn't care. I petted his head, the wig fibers stiff from all the hair spray Genesis had used getting him ready. I moved and he moved with me in sync. My hand unlocked the door, swinging it open.

As promised, Frankie was standing on the other side looking extremely sympathetic, a long puppy dog look on his face. In his two hands were my abandoned white pumps, held up. Oh, so that had been the strange knocking sound. It would have been funny if this situation weren't so serious.

"Here's your shoes, baby doll. Can I come in?" he asked, presenting my shoes to me. I nodded and took them. Cha Cha pressed himself to me as Frankie entered the small bathroom, closing the door behind him.

He sighed, putting his hands on his hips and leaning over a little bit, clearly exhausted. "Well, we roused the fella. He wasn't too out. His friend told us he drank too much, pretty racist guy, too. His friend apologized for him, said the guy's going through a messy divorce. But that doesn't excuse what he did. I'll talk to my father about it. It's going to be alright." He went to ruffle Cha Cha's hair, but as his hand moved on the back of the wig it didn't move a centimeter.

"What do we do now?" I asked softly, squeezing Cha Cha assuringly.

"I closed down the place for the night. I don't think my father would mind. There's some guys gambling in the back rooms, but they're pretty smashed. They'll wander out whenever. I think I'd better take the little one here home and then I'll go home. I'll call you a cab, too."

"No home," Cha Cha muffled into me.

"Hmm?" I asked, unsure what I'd heard. Frankie leaned in to hear, too, filling my heart with love in his concern.

"No home. Alone there. Scary."

It took me a second but it hit me, what he was saying. "Oh! Right, Carl and Thandi aren't home." I adjusted myself, trying to see his face. "What do you want to do, then?"

"Go home...with you." Cha Cha's little face pressed into my white dress in my new position like a baby seal pressing its face into fresh snow.

I peered up at Frankie. He nodded seriously. I nodded, too, knowing what we had to do.

"Okay, you're coming home with us, then," I said.

"Okay," Cha Cha repeated after me, quiet and squeaky as a mouse baby.

"You two change into street clothes. I'm gonna go close up shop."

"Right," I agreed. He gave an encouraging smile and I smiled back as he carefully exited the bathroom, leaving with the door closing softly in polite caution for us.

Everything was going to be alright. I squeezed Cha Cha, and he began a light crying now. But it was different crying, of relief.

And I was relieved, too, easing into the hug more. Because I'd just realized if Cha Cha hadn't done what he did then I'd be at the mercy of my own heckler right now. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with pride for him, because he'd had the courage to fight back no matter how scared he'd been and still was. He was stronger than me, though so small.

I breathed in, the feeling overwhelming me, pulling away in gentleness from him as he quietly sniffled.

"You know what?" I said to him, smiling in pure admiration.

"What?" he sniffed in a wobbly way, wiping his eye.

"I'm taking us out for pizza. You deserve it."

"Okay," he said in a small, sweet breath, nuzzling into my shoulder some more.

"Come on. Let's get dressed. I'll help you."

He nodded and I kissed the top of his head, hair spray taste and all.