"Lucia -"
"So decide. Come with me on my adventures -- it'll be cool, I'm sure; or carry on acting like the macho tough guy from the mean streets of Medellin, join Carmen and Estella in their noble fight to keep Hispanic culture alive in a land that doesn't care. In which case, see you later." Lucia abruptly opened the door and left, letting it slam behind her.
"Lucia!" yelled Pablo. He looked at the back of his cabin door for a few moments, then suddenly snapped to attention. Wow, he thought. He wasn't angry -- well, at himself a little, but not at her. He thought for a moment. He had thought he was defending her honour, keeping her safe, neutralizing a threat, getting Ramon away from her. Surely, Ramon had been surly and unpleasant, thanks to those empty bottles on the floor. He thought Lucia would be happy to be safe in his arms. She wasn't. What she had seen was an example of typical guy stuff, decided she didn't want it, then told him directly to his face how she felt about it.
She had the right to worry about it. It was true -- women had it rough all across his home continent. He knew why Lucia was worried that he might be the same. Pablo thought about Carmen. If she'd been abused at such a young age by her dad, why did she continue to uphold the culture? Meanwhile, Lucia, who had not been abused, didn't feel threatened by being in a new country and wanted to explore even more. What WAS that? Education? Class? Different language? Feeling independent in the land of the free? Too many issues to deal with, thought Pablo. What he did know was this -- Lucia was intelligent, free-spirited, believed in herself and knew what she wanted. Pablo suddenly realised that if he wanted that, too, he would need to seriously ace up his game.
Lucia returned to her cabin. Flopping on the bed, she thought about Pablo. She had gone a little harder on him than perhaps was strictly necessary, she thought. However, the violent scene with Ramon had spooked her. She had given him the hard word, secretly hoping it would scare him enough that he didn't do it again, plus inspire him to get better. She knew he had told the truth about not thinking about all that stuff about Hispanic culture -- he had done it to protect her out of the goodness of his heart. However, she didn't want to invite any "manly" behaviour that wasn't directly concerned with sexing her up or turning her on. There was a place for manly, dominant behaviour, and this wasn't it. She thought of Carmen and Estella, and Carmen's attitude of Hispanics sticking together. Suddenly, she remembered Estella's decision to dance with Pablo to protect her from Carmen. Hmmm, she thought. Had she gone too far?
Ramon Melita finished his set. It was 2am. He had his eye on that pretty American woman over there, sitting on one of the sofas in the Disco. She was tall, thin, with long, brown hair tied up in a ponytail, a casual white blouse and culottes. She looked cute. He would show that muscled-up meathead Pablo how to seduce women. It was true he was drunk -- too much tequila tonight. He staggered out of the DJ Booth and approached the woman. "Hey, babe," he began. "What's your name?"
She stood up and looked at him. He was obviously drunk. "Are you the DJ?"
"That's right, beautiful," replied Ramon.
"Thanks for the great music."
"Any time," said Ramon. "You look hot, babe -- fancy going somewhere?"
She took one look at him and instantly decided the negative. "I think you've had a little too much to drink," she said. "I'm going back to bed."
"Take me!" cried Ramon, lunging forward. "Kiss me!"
She pushed him back. "Get away from me, creep," she cried. "I'm not in the mood to have my vacation ruined. You're a member of staff, aren't you? I think it's time to end your contract!" With that, she swung her arm, punching Ramon across the face. Down he fell, in an untidy heap on the floor.
"Hey, I didn't do anything!"
"Yes, you did. It's your word against mine. I'm a passenger, so guess who's going to be believed?" With that, she walked off.
Ramon groaned, leaning his head on the floor. He lost consciousness.
