Tortured Souls -Oscar Diaz 2-

Chapter 12

"Handled," Jamal cut off Oscar. "What do you mean handled? Handled could mean anything." Sofia sat on the couch, a few feet away from the others. Her knees were pulled up to her chest as she listened. "Handle with care. Manhandled. Twitter handle-"

"Yeah, cause Spookys setting Cuchillos up with a Twitter handle," Monse snapped at him.

"There are handlers that handle-"

"Enough," Oscar yelled. It stopped the conversation immediately.

"Are you sure about this," Monse asked him. "We are talking about taking a life here." The idea made Sofia sick to her stomach. But she tried to steady her breathing and keep herself calm on the inside. Stress was not good for her or the baby inside of her.

"Or yours, or mine. Everyones."

"And yet you work for her."

"Worked," Oscar was the only one standing. "Past tense. She's out of control. It's never been this bad before. All for nothing. Putting you kids in the middle of her crazy vendetta." Sofia stared at Ruby, trying to remind herself why she was helping do this. For him. "It's messed up, and she doesn't care. She doesn't give a shit about anyone. Even those most loyal to her, like our father." Sofia turned to look at Oscar. "Made him take the fall back in the day." That seemed to be news to Cesar. "Her time is up. She's taking a meeting she's not walking out of."

"Oh," Jamal muttered. "Handled."

Oscar glanced at Sofia, noticing she was staring at the floor intensely. "You need to keep yourselves busy starting now. Go places you will be seen, somewhere with a lot of cameras. Maybe a mall."

"I hate malls. Dying industry," Jamal rambled. "I shop for everything online."

Oscar rolled his eyes, "wherever you are. Use your phone. Just don't call me." Sofia closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"How do we know when it's done," Ruby asked. His voice was amazingly strong, as if this was easy for him.

"I'll hit up Cesar." Sofia rested her forehead against her knees. Without speaking further, Oscar walked out of the room. She heard the back door open and close.

"Respond to her," it was Monse.

"I can't," Ruby responded. "She can't be here." The backdoor closed again. Sofia looked up and noticed that Cesar was gone. Most likely having followed Oscar outside to talk to him.

"Sofia," Monse spoke. She glanced at her. "You okay? You look pale."

Sofia smiled at her, not wanting to worry them. "Yeah, I'm good." Without saying anything else, she stood up. The older girl walked over and kissed the top of Ruby's head. He watched her closely but remained silent. Sofia let go and walked away, heading down the hall to sit in Oscar's room.

~~~~~~~~~~

She sat there for what felt like years. The stress was not good for her. She knew that. It wasn't good for the baby inside of her either. The baby that nobody knew about. Everything in her life was falling apart. Oscar was about to do something she disagreed with, but knew he had to. At this point, it was Cuchillos or Ruby. Cuchillos or Oscar. Cuchillos or her. Sofia felt as if the stress would eat her alive.

Tonight was the night. It was only hours away. Sofia had heard the front door open and close a few minutes prior. That meant Ruby and the others were gone. Whatever was going to happen tonight would change their lives forever. Ruby would need to stay busy, but Sofia felt as if she couldn't breathe.

Oscar needed to be clear-headed. He didn't need to worry about anything more than staying alive. Sofia promised herself that the moment she saw him again, she would tell him. Telling him before something like this seemed wrong. He didn't need to worry about this while dealing with Cuchillos. What if his mind was preoccupied and she got the upper hand? She would have been the one to kill him. It would have been her fault.

Sofia was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door open. Oscar stepped inside quietly. The first thing he noticed was the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Hey," he kneeled in front of her. "Baby, don't cry."

"This is a bad idea," she stared at him. She felt her lip start to quiver. "Please, don't do this."

He grabbed her hands, "I have to."

"You don't-"

"I do," he cut her off. "Cuchillos is out of control. She's going to get one of them killed." He was referring to the group of kids, Ruby included. "Or you. I can not let that happen."

Sofia understood; she did. But that didn't make this any easier. Oscar would be taking a life. A person would be dying because of this choice. Sofia wanted to break down, but she held herself together. "I'm just scared."

"I know." That past was true. He did know that. Oscar raised his hand, pushing the hair out of her face. "It's going to be okay. I'll be back soon, and everything will be fine."

Sofia tried to look forward to the next time she saw him, but it would be different. Things would never be the same, in more ways than one. "Please be careful. I can't lose you, Oscar. I'm so scared. What if-"

"No what-ifs," he whispered. "Remember?"

That caused her to smile. "I remember."

Oscar leaned closer and kissed her cheek. "You need to keep yourself busy."

"I can't," she shook her head. "I can't go out knowing what-" the words caught in her throat. "I can't."

He wanted to argue with her, but it was pointless. There was no use in arguing over this. "Be on your phone," that was the second-best option. "Stay with your family. Watch a movie with them, and text everyone you know. Can you do that?"

"Yeah," that Sofia could do. "I can do that."

"Good," Oscar cupped her cheek. "I love you."

Sofia's entire heart ached in her chest. And she swore it would explode from both how stressed and scared she was. "I love you too." She reached forwards and placed a hand on his cheek. They stared at each other for a moment. "Promise me," her voice was weak. "Just promise you'll come back to me."

"I promise," he whispered. Sofia nodded, accepting that answer. Without any warning, she leaned forward and kissed him. It took all her strength not to let any more tears fall. All her focus went into kissing him, and she savored every second.