RIDE OR DIE ➸ OSCAR DIAZ [1]

ONE

I WALK DOWN the sidewalk, the afternoon sun beating down on me and warming my skin. A slight breeze brushes past my face, the cool air refreshing my tan skin and sending sharp tingles through my body. I honestly can't remember the last time I was outside. After spending the entire summer holed up inside, being outside is reviving.

"Monse no you're crazy! Who knows how you'll react!" Ruby exclaims throwing his hands up in the air, fed up with the constant bickering about their ex-best friend. I roll my eyes at my younger brother, an exasperated sigh leaving my pink lips.

"Camilla," I glance over at the dark-skinned girl that's walking in step with me, "Do you know what Cesar said?"

I shake my head, my dark brown hair bouncing around my shoulders. "Nope," I say, popping the p. "Ruby wouldn't tell me because he thought I'd tell you." Monse glances over her shoulder and glares at Ruby and Jamal. A red impala slowly drives up the street, blasting loud rap music. I immediately recognize Cesar through the open window and turn to Monse. "Isn't that- ow!" Ruby kicks the back of my ankle which earns him a sharp glare from me.

Her eyes shift from me to the Impala that I was gesturing towards. "There's Cesar. I'll ask him myself." Monse says smugly to the two boys walking behind us.

"Go ahead." Jamal challenges her, thinking that she wouldn't actually do it, which earns him a sharp nudge from Ruby.

Monse accepts his challenge and jumps in front of the red Impala, causing the driver to slam on the breaks. My eyes widen in shock as I turn to face the boys. "Great going Jamal." Ruby and I say in unison. I flash my younger brother a smile before turning my attention back to Monse.

"Are you crazy?!" The driver shouts as Monse walks over to his window. He slightly turns the music down and allows Monse and Cesar to converse, while he glances around the street. His eyes are glowing in the sun, appearing as if they're gold. And when those eyes land on me, his plump lips lift into a smirk.

"No no, stop looking at him!" Ruby exclaims, forcing me to spin around and face him. I arch my eyebrow in confusion, glancing at the boy over my shoulder once again. "Camilla listen to me!"

"What Ruby?" I sigh loudly, pushing his hands off my shoulders. "Who even is that?"

Ruby scoffs as I fold my arms over my chest. "That," his eyes flick over to the shiny red Impala, "is Cesar's older brother Oscar. Or more commonly known as Spooky. He's friends with Mario, how do you not remember him? He went to jail like four years ago, and now he's back. And you do not, want to get involved with him."

I furrow my eyebrows and rack through my brain searching for this Oscar person. My eyes widen when I remember who he is; he messed around with one of my friends for a while. I was a freshman when he got arrested, which is probably why I don't remember much about him. And he does not look like the Oscar I remember.

"I thought he was supposed to be in jail for a while," I say slowly, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. Damn, I really missed out on the block's gossip while I was busy reinventing myself.

Ruby shrugs his shoulders, shoving his hands into the pockets of his shorts. "I guess he's back early."

"And I think he's calling you over," Jamal says, grabbing our attention. Ruby and I turn to face the Impala and sure enough, he was gesturing for me to come over.

"You don't have to go," Ruby says hastily. "You can pretend you're blind."

"It's Oscar! Of course, she has to go over." Jamal sighs. "Besides-"

Ruby holds his hand up, silencing Jamal. "I know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it."

I frown at Ruby. "I don't know what he was-" Jamal cuts me off by pushing me towards the car.

"Go!" He whisper-yells, before bickering quietly with my younger brother.

I sigh and wipe my sweaty palms on my shorts, walking by Monse who gives me a tight-lipped smile. I walk over to Oscar's window and bend down to meet his sparkling eyes. I completely overlook his gorgeous face and stare into his captivating eyes. However, the teardrop tattoo beside his eye sends shivers down my spine. And as much as I hate to admit it, Ruby's right. He's not someone I want to get involved with. "What do you want?" I ask, trying my best to not sound rude.

"I just wanna know where you've been hiding mami," Oscar's lips lift into a smirk as he eyes my body with a lustful look.

With a fake smile, I say, "I don't fuck around with Santos."

His smirk falters and he nods his head, rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger. "I bet I can change that."

"Aren't you an old man now?" I ask teasingly, giving him a smirk.

He shakes his head and tuts in disapproval. "I'm not an old man. Just like you're not like all the other hynas. But for you baby, I'll be whatever you want."

A blush creeps up onto my cheeks and I can only hope that he doesn't notice. "I'm an underage hyna." I blurt, hoping that he'd leave me alone if I told him my age.

"Not for long." He smirks, eyeing me up once again before speeding away and leaving me alone in the middle of the street.

I look over at my brother and his friends who are looking at me, with shocked expressions. "He was so flirting with you!" Jamal exclaims excitedly, rushing over and grabbing my wrist to drag me back onto the sidewalk.

"I honestly don't know what just happened," I say breathlessly as I replay the conversation I just had with a notorious gang leader in my head.

"You just met Spooky."

"I HEARD FROM a little birdie that you're getting involved with gangbangers again," Mario says in a singsong voice as he walks into my room. I groan loudly and put my book down on my side table as I sit up properly. "Do I need to remind you about what happened last time?"

"No, you don't. And no, I'm not getting involved with gangbangers again. And I'm going to kill your little birdie." I huff, folding my arms over my chest. "Snitches get stitches!" I yell loudly so Ruby can hear me.

"Camilla," Mario sighs as he sits down on my bed beside me. "I'm leaving today. You're going to be the oldest in the house now. You can't get into childish fights with Ruby anymore. You have to step up and take all the responsibilities. Mami and Papi are basically always working so you need to keep an eye out for Ruby, okay? If anything goes wrong, I'm just a phone call away. I'll come back in a heartbeat."

I nod my head as I listen to my older brother's supposedly motivational speech. He's right though, I have to look out for Ruby now. I can't be getting involved with another gang member. "I understand Mario," I say quietly as I fiddle with my hands. "I'll look out for Ruby."

"Look out for yourself too." He says with a slight chuckle as he ruffles my hair. I scrunch my face up as I push his hand away. "Don't make any stupid decisions. I won't be here to stop you, but Sam will. So listen to him, he actually gives good advice. Sometimes."

I surprise him with a hug and shut my eyes to stop the tears from escaping. "I'm going to miss you so much, Mario." I sigh, my voice coming out muffled against his black t-shirt. "You're my favourite brother," I add playfully.

His body vibrates as he chuckles. "I'm going to miss you too Camilla, so much." I open my eyes as we pull away from each other with sad smiles on our faces. "I don't know what you two are going to do without me. Don't die okay."

I exhale a breathy laugh as I roll my eyes. "Aye, aye captain."

A/N : Oscar is my absolute favourite character, just putting that out there.

for this book (can I honestly call it that?) I'm not going to 100% follow the 'on my block' storyline because I have a lot of ideas for Camilla and to be able to use them I have to stray from the story just a bit. but yeah I'm really excited for this. I've always wanted to write something like this and because of omb I finally have a reason
-h