The Darkest Heart Read Online Free PDF

creased from the attention she’dgiven to things she could never afford. Things I could never afford to buy for her.
    â€˜Some guy who owes me money,’ I told her. ‘Look, I don’t want to talk about it; it’s not important.’
    Daniella’s hair was tied back in a loose ponytail and secured with a pink rubber band. She was lighter skinned than I was – canela we called it – a rich cinnamon colour against my darker chocolate , but Daniella loved the beach, so she lay in the sun until she was almost the same colour as me. Doña Eliana hated that – they were shopkeepers, she said, not peasants.
    Like mine, Daniella’s hair was brown and nondescript, but while mine was cut short for convenience, she had dyed hers a shade lighter and allowed it to tint in the sun with an underlying darkness of its natural colour. It looked good against her skin tone and emphasised her honey-coloured eyes that watched me from beneath dark lashes. Her cheekbones were high, giving her a good smile when she showed it, and hidden beneath a thin layer of cheap make-up, her skin was faintly marked with the spots of her youth. Her temperament could swing both ways, from calm to storm in a flash, but the calm always made it worth riding out the storm.
    The old man told me if you want to know what a woman is going to look like when she grows older, take a look at her mother, but it was hard to believe Daniella would ever turn out like the woman sitting outside on the plastic chair. Doña Eliana was like a diseased tree. A husk of what it once was. Rotten on the inside and gnarled on the outside.
    â€˜Your mother hates me,’ I said. ‘She thinks I’m worse than a dog.’
    â€˜My mother hates everyone.’ Daniella shrugged. ‘I think she even hates herself.’
    â€˜But she hates me most of all. Should I be honoured?’ I turned the magazine to look at the face of a model wearing too much make-up. ‘She said you’re busy. This is what she meant? Busy reading beauty magazines? You don’t need them.’
    Daniella smiled and I moved closer, putting my arm around her waist, pulling her to me and kissing her lips.
    Daniella glanced over at the door then returned the kiss, pulling my lower lip in her own as she broke away. She pushed the magazine out of the way and turned to lean her forearms on the counter, cracking open the Coke and taking a sip.
    â€˜You have a good time last night?’ I asked.
    â€˜At Kaiana’s? Yeah.’ She swallowed and put a hand to her brow. ‘Feeling a little fuzzy.’
    â€˜You drank too much? Meet anyone?’
    Daniella smiled. ‘Manuela met a man. He was nice, I suppose. Good-looking. Maybe I could have fancied him for myself.’ She watched for my reaction.
    â€˜Well, I know what you’re like when you’re drinking with your friends. I’ve seen the way you flirt.’
    â€˜You jealous?’
    â€˜Should I be?’
    Daniella fluttered her eyelashes at me. ‘I only have eyes for you, Zico.’
    â€˜Good. So who was he?’ I took the Coke and drank, the bubbles fizzing around my teeth.
    â€˜Some guy.’ She shrugged, deciding not to tease me further. ‘I don’t know. Passing through, maybe. He seemed OK, though.’
    â€˜They always do.’
    â€˜Don’t worry, they’re never as handsome as you. Not my Zico.’ She pulled a sympathetic face and stroked my cheek as if I were a child. ‘All my friends think so, too.’
    â€˜Yeah, yeah.’ I brushed her hand away and we looked at each other for a moment.
    â€˜So why aren’t you at work?’ She straightened and removed the rubber band from her hair. She combed her fingers through it, revealing the darker strands growing beneath the blond.
    â€˜That job,’ I said. ‘You can’t ask a man to do something like that. Shovelling—’
    â€˜You lost your job, Zico?