Cocaine Princess here.
La Perla is a spectacular terrace restaurant located in the
Mirador Hotel in old Acapulco. People from around the world come to this restaurant to watch the La
Querabada Cliff Divers and are left in awe as they watch the cliff-divers make death-defying dives into the water. The
Mirador and La
Querabada became famous after Elvis Presley filmed Fun In Acapulco at the hotel and even on the cliff. Soon afterwards jet-setters and celebrities began descending upon Acapulco in particular the
Mirador just to see the cliff divers which has now become a famous Acapulco landmark. Valentina's daddy took us there for Christmas dinner. A special table was set aside for us. We sat down and right away I couldn't help but notice all the stares from the tourists. They stared at us as if we were part of a traveling circus freak show. I saw one woman take out her camera and take a picture. She was pretending to take a picture of the hotel but I could tell she was aiming at us. A couple of other people then followed.
'Here we go' Valentina commented.'
I was wondering how long it would take them.' Valentina's daddy signaled one of the many bodyguards who were positioned around the terrace and he stood in front of the table blocking the tourists view. No more pictures tonight of us. I looked at Valentina who had this look of disgust on her face. The disgust came from the way some of the tourists were dressed.
'Jeans and a t-shirt. Look at that guy over there, he looks as if he just rolled out of bed. And he's wearing flip-flops. Ew! These people have no class. What do they think this is, a hoe-down, a barbecue? Is management blind? There's a dress code here.' The waiter came by and gave us each our menu. I looked at it and it was so cool. All their dishes are named after celebrities who have been to the hotel. I ordered Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor.
Frank Sinatra-Caesar salad
Elizabeth Taylor- chicken breast with mushrooms and cilantro sauce with a
side of potatoes and mixed vegetables
I couldn't decide on dessert, it was either Brooke Shields (fried banana with strawberry sauce) or Julio
Igelsias (ice cream with fine cookies) I chose Brooke. Valentina ordered Julio
Igelsias and we both took turns trying each others desserts.
I couldn't get over Lawyer-Guy's sordid past. I guess sordid isn't really the right word.
Deranged seems to be more suitable. I knew there was something about him that made me uncomfortable but I just couldn't put my finger on what exactly it was aside from his hungry eyes. How did Valentina's daddy find out about me and Lawyer-Guy? At first I thought he must have read my blog but that couldn't have been the case. If he had he would have done something after the very first time I saw him in his office. Like Valentina said his eyes and ears are everywhere.
'Didn't I tell you to let daddy handle it,' Valentina said. 'What do you think he's going to do to Lawyer-Guy? I asked. 'You heard him, daddy said he would handle it' she replied. 'What bothers me is the way he said it,' I expressed. 'I know' Valentina said agreeing. 'He had this look in his eyes.' 'Oh my God,' I said, 'you saw it too?' 'How could have I missed it,' she answered back. 'Wonderful, how the hell am I suppose to enjoy tonight?' I asked her. 'I'm so worried.' 'About what?' asked Valentina. 'About having Lawyer-Guy's blood spilled on my manicured hands. I don't want that,' I told her. 'Like it's your fault you're young and beautiful?' she asked. 'Lawyer-Guy should have known better. He crossed the line when he sent you that gift. And besides you heard daddy and you read the report with your own eyes, Lawyer-Guy was a rapist and probably still is.' 'It was aggravated assault,' I reminded her. 'In my book that's the same thing,' she stated. 'So quit worrying. All worrying does is produce wrinkles- one of the worst things that could happen to a Cocaine Princess so quit it,' Valentina sternly said to me. But I couldn't stop worrying. All I kept picturing in my mind was the controversial chainsaw scene near the beginning of Scarface. But instead of Tony Montana's friend being hacked to death it was Lawyer-Guy in some cheap hotel bathroom.
'What if Lawyer-Guy harmed you?' she asked me. 'Or what if he spiked your drink? Do you have any idea what daddy would have done to him?' I told her about the Scarface chainsaw scene that kept playing over and over again in my head and Valentina said it would have been 10x worse than that. I looked over at Valentina's daddy. He had his Blackberry and was checking on something. There are two sides to him. There's the
business side where he's so focused, tough, totally in control, will never negotiate because it's his way or no way,
absolutely will show no mercy to anyone and will obliterate anyone and anything that stands in his way. Then there's the
fatherly side of him where he is so incredibly loving, protective, generous, compassionate, gentle and warm hearted. A bottle of champagne was brought to our table on Valentina's daddy request. After our glasses had been filled he made a toast looking at Valentina and me.
'To the two most important people in my life who I love more than life itself. Feliz Navidad mis dos amors. I love you both. And no more getting things x-rayed at the airport.' I looked at Valentina who had this adorable and innocent smile on her face. We clinked our glasses and said '
salud' at the same time. Within minutes of our toasting it was time for the grand finale at La
Querabada where each night at around 10:30 the divers leap off the cliff holding fire-lit torches. Before they actually make the leap they pray at a make shift shrine which is appropriately located right by the jump off point. The divers were magnificently graceful and each received a standing ovation with cheers.
As we were enjoying our dinner for some reason inspiration struck me. I looked in my purse and I was so mad because I forgot to pack my mini moleskin notebook. I always carry it with me to jot down notes because for some reason ideas pop into my head at the oddest times. I packed a pen but no notebook. So I improvised. I took the napkin and wrote on it. For the past couple of weeks I've been penning a new manuscript and for the life of me I couldn't think of a name for one of my characters but for some reason tonight I thought of one. I showed Valentina the name and she said 'perfect!' After we finished our dinner Valentina and I along with two of the bodyguards got up from the table and took a little walk around the hotel when Valentina started giggling. I asked what was so funny?
And no more getting things x-rayed at the airport,' she replied. 'Daddy looked right at me when he said it.' 'Because it was your idea,' I told her. 'I know' she said. 'It was just so funny how he added it in the toast. You know daddy has your best interest at heart,' she said in reference to Lawyer-Guy. 'And I'm grateful for it' I commented back.' 'I can only imagine how he plans on handling Lawyer-Guy but what about the present, you think he'll send it back to him?' I asked. 'It's possible that daddy might add a little something with it.' 'Like what?' I asked. 'Like a shiny bullet with his name on it,' she replied and continued talking about him. 'What the hell was Lawyer-Guy thinking sending you that gift? Did he honestly think you would find it enticing?' 'He probably thought I would call him and meet up with him at The Four Seasons' I explained. 'You know I keep playing back in my head all the times I saw him and not once did I give off any signals to him. Maybe it's because I said yes to lunch and..' 'Stop right there,' Valentina said interrupting me. 'Don't do this to yourself. You're not to blame. Like daddy said he's a predator who tried to make you his prey.' At that point we had made our way into the
wall of fame area of the hotel. The
wall of fame is a wall filled with pictures of celebrities that have stayed at the hotel and their autographs are handwritten on the wall. The most famous being Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis Presley.
'I should put your picture up there,' Valentina said. 'I'm not famous,' I said. 'You're not famous yet. But you will be when your books are published. And when the book that you're currently writing is on the NYT Best-Sellers List, you can tell the world that you wrote a chapter out of there while dining at this hotel.' 'All I did was jot down a name' I said. 'A name that you came up with while being here. Keep that napkin in a real safe place.' 'Why?' I asked. 'Because one day that napkin is going to be worth a lot of money,' she explained. Valentina, my best friend since we've been in diapers has got to be my number #1 fan. There's nothing like believing in yourself but sometimes it helps when you have another person cheering you and supporting you. As we made our way back to the table Valentina turned to me and said
'what if Lawyer-Guy's already dead? ' I just looked at her strangely as she continued. 'A thought just came to me,' she said. 'What if a passerby, a jogger or someone walking their dog found a body in a ditch and then called the police. But the police are having a hard time identifying the body because the head is missing. And the body with the missing head is Lawyer-Guy.'
Part 4- tomorrow.
XOXOXOXO,
Cocaine Princess
