PROMISE ME (OSCAR DIAZ x OC)

Chapter Twenty-Six (Alana)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Alana

ONE WEEK LATER

May

I didn't pay any attention to the guy smoking a cigarette across the street when I got home from the opening shift at Dwayne's. I just unlocked the door and came into the house to find Oscar sitting at the dining room table, scrolling on his phone and drinking a cup of coffee.

"You're home." He says with a grin. "You look nice."

I look down at my raggedy jeans and my Dwayne's t-shirt that stinks like work. I slip it off over my head and stand there in my sports bra and jeans. "Now I look nice."

Oscar shrugs and smirks. "Be better without the pants."

"I stink like the fryers. We were changing the oil and cleaning the grease traps when that new girl spilled both on me on two separate occasions. I can't wait to shower." I say as I head toward the bathroom to get my towels ready.

Cesar comes flying into the house and slams the door shut behind him.

"Oscar, there's a guy posted up outside!" Cesar's voice is filled with panic and quickly Oscar grabs a gun and bolts outside. I follow behind him but Cesar blocks me, keeping me behind him the entire time.

"Get back inside!" Oscar shouts at Cesar but Cesar doesn't listen.

Neither do I.

Oscar cocks the gun and goes quickly across the front of the yard. Coming eye to eye with the guy that I saw smoking when I pulled into the driveway. He's smiling at all of us.. But Oscar looks pissed off. He puts the safety back on the gun and tucks it away in his waist.

"Oscar?" Cesar asks. "Who is that?"

I circle past Cesar and hold onto Oscar's side. "Baby? You okay?"

"Our father." I all Oscar says. He doesn't even wrap his arm around me as I hold his body. I can feel how tense every muscle in his chest is. How rigid his breathing is becoming. The sweat already dripping down his spine.

-

I make a fresh pot of coffee and place the mugs down on the table. Oscar and Cesar's father is smoking in the house and pacing back and forth. Looking around the house and not saying much.

"And... Who are you?" He says as he ashes his smoke in my mug... The mug I was going to drink from.

I swallow hard and my hand tightens around Oscar's.

"I'm Alana Martinez-"

"Ruben and Geny's girl." He nods. "I remember when you were little. Your brother Mariano?"

"Mario."

"Mario..." He takes a drag from his smoke and exhales into the air. I hold back a cough and he smiles at me. "How's your grandmother? Still a G like I remember?"

I nod slowly. "Yeah.. Sure..."

"And you're dating Oscar?" He asks. Again taking a drag from his cigarette. I nod and he chuckles. "Guess he's got good taste. You got a job, Alana?"

"I work at Dwayne's. I got Cesar a job there too and I help my grandmother with her dress making business. She's really good and she's teaching me everything she knows."

"Smart girl." He looks at Cesar. "You grew up, Mijo."

"When did you get out?" Cesar asks eagerly.

"Yesterday." He ashes into my fucking mug again. "You going to school?"

"Of course he is." Oscar interjects annoyed.

Their father eyes Oscar up and down. "What about you? Going to college?"

"What the hell do you think?" Oscar growls at him. I've known since I met Oscar that the topic of his parents is a sensitive one.

He found his mother dead with a needle in her arm when he was a kid and that was right after his father had gone to prison. Oscar never told me why and honestly I don't think he even knew why Ray went away. Whatever it was for was bad enough to be gone for most of Cesar's life. For so long that he doesn't remember him at all.

Ray blinks and looks from me back to Oscar. "She live here with you guys?" Oscar nods silently and Ray's eyes land on me again. "Pregnant?"

"Fuck no." I take complete offence to the accusation. I look at the clock and then back to Cesar. "You need to get to work or you're going to be late. Go. Now."

"But I-"

"Now." I tell him and Oscar gives him an approving nod. Cesar grabs his bag and quietly says bye to his father before heading out the door.

"He listens to you." Ray says to me. "You been around for a while?"

"Longer than you." Oscar interjects. "Don't question Alana on a damn thing when she's the one who has been holding it down for me since before I got locked up. She's been the caregiver for Cesar all this time. If you have anyone to thank for raising your son, it's her."

Ray gives me a nod. "Thank you, Alana."

"Where are you staying?" Oscar says with hatred in his eyes.

"Here. Just for a few days until I head up to Bakersfield. I've got a job lined up there. Really nice place that takes in felons and helps them get rehabilitated in the real world. I can get you a job there if you want-"

"I'm not going to fucking Bakersfield." Oscar argues before rising to his feet. "And you better find a blanket and pillow and a nice spot on the floor. There's no room for you here."

He goes into our bedroom and slams the door shut. Leaving me here completely alone with his father. I study his features and I see more of Cesar in him than I do Oscar. Except the dimples. Oscar has his dimples.

"I can make the couch up for you..." I tell him quietly. "I'll grab some pillow and blankets and an extra laundry basket. Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you."

He nods. "You're a nice girl... How did a nice girl like you end up with a Santo like my son?"

"He's more than just some Santo to me. Always has been and always will be." I say before whisking myself out of the room and going to check on Oscar.

Walking into our room I see Oscar sitting on the edge of the bed. He looks up at me with tears running down his face. I don't say anything, I just hold him in my arms and let him break down.

Oscar rarely gets emotional and rarely ever cries. Seeing him break like this I know this has been a long time coming. Something so unexpected that just showed up literally on our doorstep.

"I'll never be like him." Oscar declares as he wipes away his tears, looking up at me with the eyes of a broken child. "I'll be the man he never was. I'm.. I'm going to do better. For you. For Cesar. For our future. I can't be the man who is always in and out of jail. To the point his own child doesn't know who he is. That will never be me.."

"You're already a hundred times the man that Ray is..." I say confidently. I know this for a fact that Oscar is already following a different path. "I'm not telling you to let it go or let go of the anger and the hurt. I am going to tell you that wallowing in the past won't get you far. Can you do that for me? Can you push for the future and not sit in the past?"

Oscar nods but it's not a sincere nod. Unfortunately I think he's going to erupt soon. And Ray will feel not the wrath of Spooky but of Oscar. The boy he abandoned all those years ago.