𝘋𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘴 - 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙈𝘾

Treinta Y Cinco/Thirty Five

"He wants to meet up."

The two women walk through the sea of people shopping at the mall. A group of children run by them, heading to the arcade. Young mother's pass by, pushing their newborns in strollers. It catches her eye. She freezes, her gaze wondering off, tears in her eyes again.

"Steph." Izzy grabs her hand, pulling her over to a bench where they take a seat, trying to distract her, "When does he wanna meet up?"

"Today." Nails whispers, wiping her eyes. She's exhausted and tired of crying.

"You want me to go with you?"

"No."

Izzy feels Nails rest her head on her shoulder and watches as she closes her eyes and just tries to breathe before she cries softly, "It's not fair."

"No, it's not." Izzy grabs her hand and feels her squeeze back. "You wanna leave?"

"Yeah."

After a moment, they exit the mall and head back to Izzy's home in Santo Madre. She gets a call from Letty as she's driving. Nails sits in the passenger seat, her head resting against the window, dreading all the emotions she'd feel when she saw his face again.

~ MAYANS ~ ~ MAYANS ~

"You guys only ride American, right? Shit. Must be expensive, though."

"Everything has a price."

"You were always good with words. Clever. Although... Some of the fellas, they thought that you thought that you were better than them. Better than the rest of us. I never felt that. I always felt like you and I were truly brothers."

"I always had your back, man."

"Yes, you fսcking did. And I love you for it. So, some of those, uh, brothers, who you made feel small, when you left like that, they checked up. Sent kites from Chino to Corcoran. Nobody saw you. Not even at high desert."

"Yeah, I kept my head down."

"Kept your head down. Yeah, you said that. You see, now, I don't have your, uh... Your intellect. Some kid doing 25 to life gets escorted out of prison by the feds... And is now a member of a motorcycle club... What would they say, you think, if they knew they had an informant in their house?"

"Say that again. What you just said, say it again."

"Fuck, man. I didn't want to come like this. I'm just in a bad way."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Suze... The way she looks at me. I try, man. I don't want my girls growing up thinking their dad's a fucking bum. You put me to work. For you, for the club. I need to make some money, man. I don't care what it is. If the price is right, I'll do it."

"You want a favor. You thought it'd be a good idea to come over here and fucking threaten me?"

"I don't give a fuck about that shit, about whatever deal you made. I needed to get your attention. Now, I'm not looking to blow shit up for you, but I will. I'm desperate, brother. I was a fսcking king inside, man. And now... You said it yourself, everything's got a price. You want me to keep my mouth shut, this is mine. I ain't looking for a handout. I'll work for it. But I expect to be hearing from you. Or they'll be hearing from me."