PROMISE ME (OSCAR DIAZ x OC)

Chapter Fifty-Two (Alana)

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Alana

TWO DAYS LATER

Ray's office is small but not cozy. The blinds are somewhat broken and the smell of the factory itself turns my stomach. I didn't know where else to go after I got the news about my brother.

My baby brother...

But it wasn't his death entirely that sent me up here. It was Oscar and Cesar's reactions. There had been a time just a few short months ago where the old Oscar had come out of him and it scared the fuck out of me.

The old Oscar has been out again...

He came home with Cesar and Jose yesterday and I screamed so loudly I had to catch my breath before I sent myself into early labor and caused myself to miscarry at the sight of Oscar... He wasn't just Oscar anymore. He cut his hair again and was proudly showing off his tattoos once more.

Cesar had done the same.

We had just moved into our new house and now this shit was happening? The shit we wanted to escape and Oscar and Cesar had become those monsters again. I scooped up Mia and I brought her to see Ray with me.

She's currently sitting on his lap while he sits at his desk. A wall filled with two years of achievements and awards with his name plastered all over them. I want to smile seeing all of it because of how far he has come and how well he's done since starting over.

Both of his sons failed to do what he's done. I thought Oscar was past what he was born to be but now? Now I'm sick. I'm shaking and trying not to picture him as the next body to be claimed by the morgue. He's already given me too many scares.

"It's never ending." I tell Ray. "I don't want the next body with bullets in it to be Oscar or Cesar."

Ray shakes his head and kisses Mia on the head. "I know, mija. I don't either. I'm pissed that they came after Ruby but he didn't get off the streets in time. Streets hold memory and that's why I knew I had to leave. That's why Oscar left-"

"And now he's back." I argue. "What the fuck do I do? We just moved into our new house, I've got a grieving Vero living in my house and I can't just throw her out either. She's carrying the last piece of my brother that I will ever have. Ruby wouldn't want me to dump her the streets that would cut that baby out of her just for it being Ruby's."

"Did he say who robbed him?" Ray asks.

I shake my head. "No idea. Oscar might know."

"I got some guys in here; they've still got connects to the streets. They'd have their ears out there and let me just tell you now... It wasn't a Prophet or 19th street. It was a Santo. Cesar, Oscar, and Jose need to be careful. Now more than ever."

I nod, because that exact thought has already swarmed my mind. Oscar, Jose, and Cesar are just walking targets right now. It scares me more because that bullet that killed Ruby, was it meant for Oscar?

Or did they just follow Ruby that day and want to get him when he was alone. When he would be his most vulnerable? Did he tell someone he wanted to move and go into hiding somewhere? Did Vero run her big mouth?

All of those questions have caused me to lose my appetite completely and lose hours of sleep. I haven't slept. Maybe for an hour or two when Mia fell asleep in my arms but every crack and sound jolted me awake.

The images of Oscar walking back into my house looking that way... Looking at me with such rage and hatred in his eyes. Not toward me. But toward the entire world. My heart has ached and ached and nothing can heal this.

"I've gotten so many calls and texts. I didn't even know half of them had my number." I tell Ray as another text comes through onto my phone.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: Hey, it's Leti. Just wanted to let you know I am here if you need me. Familia is familia always. Kiss your beautiful baby girl for me.

I stuff my phone back into my pocket and ignore the text. I barely know Leti; I do know she and Jose had a fling a while back. That's about it though. They had to keep it lowkey because that was when Jose had to fake claim me for Oscar.

"Keep track of each and every one of them who texts you." Ray says. "The guilty one won't text you. He'll probably show up and act like nothing happened."

My mouth goes dry. "Unless he's on the run."

Ray shakes his head. "No, running would only point the finger at him for certain. Showing up and acting like nothing happened? Trying to drink with the guys and maybe give you a hug or two? Acting like he's trying to keep normalcy? That's who's guilty, mija. Keep a watch for that."

"How do you know? How do you know for certain-"

"I was a kid when your Abuelo got shot." Ray tells me flatly. "We knew he'd be okay but there was one guy, Macho who showed up and plopped down on your Abuelita's couch. Put his feet up on the coffee table and held conversation like nothing happened. We all hung around and kept eyes on him. He thought your Abuelo was going to die but that night when he came home? He just gave us a nod and Macho? Macho was never seen or heard from again."

I gulp down the bile that burns the back of my throat. "I didn't know that you knew my Abuelo like that. I knew he was shot doing some gang shit, but I didn't know a Santo shot him. I didn't know he was that deep in the life..."

He chuckles and runs a hand through Mia's hair. "He was a good man. He taught me how to shoot and he was the shot caller when I got jumped in. I should have taken a few more punches but he called it off sooner than I expected. Took me for burgers after and sat me down for what felt like a million life lessons. I think about him all the time."

"I do too." I tell him while I hold back tears. Thinking about how Abuelo is reunited with Ruby now. It's fucked up to say but I'm almost jealous. I miss my Abuelo so much. He told me I was his favorite grandkid and that is one thing no one can every deny. I was his girl, always.

"That was how I met your mother." Ray says. "Geny had a thing for Ruben so she always hung around that house. I used to stay posted up on that corner and I'd watch her walk down the street to go and see him with her friend Rosa."

Rosa... Olivia's mom.

"I know it's wrong of me to say.. But I settled when it came to Lydia. She was beautiful beyond words but she was not Geny, I know it sounds weird to hear me say that about your Mami. I get it, but.." He looks at me with gleaming eyes. "I got through those years in prison by thinking about just talking to your Mami again. Just saying hi to her. Then to find that my son had found you? Everything happens for a reason. Oscar needed you more than I needed Geny."

I nod and the tears flow from my eyes. "Thank you..." I wipe my tears on my sleeve and then continue to toy with my cross around my neck. All these years and it's still my comfort. Feeling the grooves under the pad of my thumb. While I sit here and beg for all of this to have been nothing short of a nightmare.

"I'd ask if you're okay but I know you're not."

"I'm not." I admit finally out loud. "Ruby was a good kid all his life. He was annoying but he was my baby brother. When Mario went to college, Ruby was all I had. I had his back and he had mine. I cried to him and he'd get me water when I'd cry so much that I'd get myself sick. He and I had a no lying rule, we told each other everything, and now... Now I have no one. I know I have Oscar and I have Cesar but they're different. That's mi amor and my son... I can't go to them the way I did Ruby. And Mario? Mario's going to feel so guilty for ever leaving, I can't do this, Ray. I can't-"

"You can and you will. You're going to fall apart and that's normal. It means you feel strongly about all of this. After you fall apart you are going to have all of us to pick up the pieces and help you. Because you're not alone.. You're loved very much. I love you like you're my own daughter. I never had one of those... Not until the day I walked into that house and you were my shield against the wrath of Oscar."

"I just wish that the stars had aligned differently in this life. I want my baby brother back. I don't want to live in a world where he isn't here."