The Mortal Nuts Read Online Free PDF Page A

get anything down there.”
    â€œAnything? Like what?” she asked.
    â€œAnything. And they don’t have any AIDS. It hasn’t gotten down there yet.”
    That sounded a little fishy to Carmen, who after all had not slept through all her classes. But the concept of being a rich gringo in Mexico did have appeal. The only problem was, first, Axel would not easily let go of his money, and, second, she would be with Dean. She liked him okay for this and that, but she didn’t see him as a full-time gig.
    â€œLook, I gotta get going, okay?” She pulled an orange Bugs Bunny T-shirt over her head; somehow got it past the cigarette in her mouth and over her ample breasts.
    â€œSo you saying you want me to leave?”
    Carmen sighed. “Look. I got to go out. I got to go get some aspirin or something. My head hurts. I got to go to school, okay? I got to go to the laundry. You can stay here if you want. I don’t give a shit. Okay?”
    Dean sat up, swung his legs over the edge of the bed, saw himself in the mirror. He liked his body. It was thin, and not very tall, but he loved the way his muscles moved under his skin. Dean stood, watching his abs ripple. He picked up his jeans. “That’s okay. I got to go anyways. I got things to do too.”
    Carmen scratched under her T-shirt as she watched him dress. “You shave your head every day?”
    â€œDepends.” He zipped his jeans. “Some days I just like to let it grow.”
    She let her shoulders drop, relaxing now, regarding him with the same regret and relief she might bestow upon an empty bottle. “You want to know something? If you let your hair grow out? You still wouldn’t look like James Dean.”
    Forty-five minutes before her flight was due to board, Carmen tasted her Rob Roy and smiled at the nurse in the mirror. She liked what she saw. She sipped the Rob Roy again. Strange, but not bad. It had seemed like the sort of thing a nurse might order. Maybe next time she’d try a White Russian. There were so many drinks to try.
    Carmen liked the feel of the white uniform. She twisted to her left, then to her right, breasts pressing hard against the stiff fabric.
    She’d bought it used, from a uniform company, just for fun. Originally she’d thought of wearing it when she graduated, sort of a gift for Axel, but since graduation now looked about as likely as winning the lottery, she decided to show it off for her homecoming. What the hell—she’d bought the thing; she might as well try it out.
    To her surprise, she found that she liked being in it. She liked the idea of being a nurse, white poly-cotton wrapping her like armor, smoking cigarettes and drinking a Rob Roy in an airport cocktail lounge on a Tuesday afternoon, getting a double take from every suit that stopped off for a beer. She liked that it messed with their heads, like a prizefight or a powerful new car, making their juices flow. Must be a hormonal thing, she thought. A biological process. Axel would love it. He had this thing about medical paraphernalia. Nurses and pills turned him on. But he hated doctors and machines. Carmen took a hit off her Marlboro, watching her reflection, seeing the smoke frame her face, filter through her hair. Carmen liked her hair unbound, never putting it up or tying it back no matter how impractical or uncomfortable it became. She was constantly pushing it over her shoulder, brushing it off her forehead. Sophie had once warned her that wearing her hair long and loose would make guys act crazy around her.
    â€œA girl does with her hair like she wants for her body,” Sophie had told her. “You quit messing with your hair like that and they won’t be bothering you all the time.”
    The problem with Sophie’s suggestion was that Carmen sort of liked the way men bothered her. She liked the sense of control, and of danger. Even old Axel couldn’t keep his eyes off