PROMISE ME (OSCAR DIAZ x OC)

Chapter Thirty-Seven (Oscar)

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Oscar

The Next Evening

"Hold still, mijo." Abuelita says as she stitches up nearly my entire body. My face and neck and parts of my arms and chest.

Bringing a bottle of vodka to my lips with a wince as she uses a regular sewing needle and the thinnest thread she could find to patch the wounds. I grunt and suck air through my teeth and she looks to me through the glasses that sit on the tip of her nose.

"Don't be mad at me, mijo... But I called Alana. She's on her way here now. She was at work."

"Good. She stayed busy... Kept her routine." I say taking another swig from the bottle. "Everything is falling into place. Sad Eyez and Joker are holding a meeting with everyone... Telling them what happened.."

Abuelita clicks her tongue as she pulls tighter on one of the deeper wounds on my neck. "She got you pretty good... but I've seen worse. My husband, you know... He used to come home like this all the time. Bullet wounds, stabs, slices... Heart attack really is what took him out."

"I couldn't stop him." I admit with a hard swallow. "Ruby got there and he... I'm sorry."

She nods. "He is full of rage, mijo. Cuchillos had it coming from many of people. I'm sad that it had to have been my grandson- my little grandson, I consider you one of my grandchildren. I hope you know that."

I give her a pained smile but bring the bottle to my lips again and just in time. The door flies open and Alana comes running in. Tossing her bag over the sofa and nearly tripping over her own two feet when she sees me sitting in the kitchen under a dim light getting stitched up by her grandmother.

"I came as soon as I heard." She exams my wounds and then presses a kiss to my lips. "Ew, you taste like vodka."

I lift the bottle to show her. "I'm sorry I couldn't call you."

Alana shakes her head and blinks away tears. "No.. I understand why you couldn't. Sad Eyez put an ear out and I heard from some kid from 19th street where you were. That you guys got screwed by Cuchillos and she was going to kill you all. Until.."

I nod. "He saved my life. And yours."

She kisses me again. "He's with Cesar and Jamal and Monse back at the house... Cesar texted me. Ruby kind of just showed up there and didn't know what to do so they got food and he's trying to get Ruby to not go into a funk again. I told Cesar to tell Ruby he can crash there as long as he wants too since Ray is gone."

"But you're okay?" I ask her and she takes the needle and thread from Abuelita and sits down where Abuelita had been.

Alana starts working on my wounds and doesn't really say anything. Just little huffs about how deep the cuts are and how painful they look. "You really should go to the hospital-"

"I have to lay low until we know that everyone is siding with us over this. Which means you need to lay low too. All it takes is someone who would rather be loyal to Cuchillos than Sad Eyez or Joker and all of this? Is gone."

"Then don't go to a hospital around here. We should get you to Bakersfield."

"Pardon?" Alana pauses when I question her. "I'm not going to Bakersfield."

She places down the needle and thread and crosses her arms at me. Leaning back in the chair and giving me a scowl. Like a mother reprimanding her child for disobeying her when she said not to touch the cookie jar.

Apparently I touched it.

"You are going to Bakersfield. I had a few things I needed to discuss with you, Oscar. One of them being that you have a meeting coming up in Bakersfield that's been set up by myself and Ray-"

"I'm already stepping down from the Santos, I'm not going to some facility to help me with that. It's already done and clearly in the process. So if you think you can just send me there to get me out of the gang you're wrong."

I reach for the bottle again and Alana yanks it away. Placing it on the table and continuing to scowl at me. Scolding me like never before. "Let me continue speaking, Oscar."

Silently, I nod. Letting her take the mic and continue on at this point. There's no reason for me to continue with interrupting her. She's only going to grow more pissed off than she was before.

"You have a meeting with Mr. Galindo in Bakersfield because he's going to set you up to take your GED online and then once you've completed that he's going to cover your full tuition to any culinary school you want to go to. He's got connections and can push your applications to any school you'd like. All you have to do is prove that you really want this, Oscar. You have to put in the work. You need to apply yourself to the fullest and get it done. No more running the streets... These streets don't love you, baby. I do. I love you so much and I just want what's best for you and me..."

My heart falls to the pit of my stomach. My lip, even though it's busted begins to quiver. No one has ever done anything like this for me. I hold my breath or just a moment before my eyes land on her.

And I fucking start crying.

My dream since before I met her was to become a chef someday. I loved it more than anything. Now of course, I love her more- and if Alana says I need to put in the work and do it because she's basically placed this opportunity into the palm of my hand then I need to grasp onto it tightly and put in the fucking work.

"When do we have to be in Bakersfield? And for how long?"

Alana smiles at me and grips onto my hand. "We're going there Thursday night and staying for the long weekend. I have some things to do on Thursday before we go and then we can hit the road. I already talked to Cesar and Sad Eyez, they're going to watch the house and take care of things."

"What did I ever do to deserve this? To deserve a woman like you? You fell in love with me when I was nothing but a stupid teenager who was living for the streets, I mean- fuck, mi amor, you took care of my brother when I went to prison just because I made you promise to look out for him. You still haven't stopped taking care of him."

"And I never will." She rubs her thumb along my hand as she grips tighter. "I told you; promises are for life. You can't just pay your dues once and expect it all to be done and over with. I take promises very seriously. Which is why I'm going to ask you to promise to me that you're going to accept this offer. You're going to get your GED and you're going to go to culinary school and do everything you dreamed of."

I kiss her long and hard. I had missed the feeling of her lips on mine and fuck, it felt good to have them there again.

Alana rests her forehead against mine and Abuelita comes back into the room. Taking a swig from the bottle of vodka and placing it back on the table.

"See, mija... I told you he'd be happy about the baby."

Alana's face goes pale and I look right into her eyes. "What baby..." I ask as bile burns the back of my throat.

I watch as Alana blinks at me until she takes my hand and presses it against her stomach. She continues to look at me and then finally she speaks. "I suspected it when I was in Brentwood for the funeral.. When Ruby called me fat I looked at my app on my phone and I was late... Really late... So I took a few tests and they were positive. And of course I had my doctor appointment when you were missing to confirm it. Thursday I have an ultrasound... I was going to tell you after I told you about the plan with Mr. Galindo in Bakersfield but someone has a big mouth apparently."

My mind is blank and doesn't hear anything except for the confirmation that's pregnant with my baby. I just nod and then I smile like an idiot. Pulling her into my arms and even though it pains my entire body to hold her right now. I'm never letting her go. Never again.

"I love you, mi amor..."

"I love you too... Even if you're the biggest pendejo for putting your life in danger."