on my block

Study "hard" (Monse x Cesar)

The middle of summer passed in a blur. First it was sorting out the furniture and moving items over from his tio's house. Then it was getting the car out and making sure it still ran. Oscar would shake him awake around nine every day, laughing in his face when the evidence of his nightime thoughts was hard to hide.

"We gotta get you a girlfriend to take care of that mano." His brother banged on the top of the dresser to wake him up.

"I don't need a girlfriend." He rubbed sleep from his eyes. "I'm frickin 14. It's perfectly normal."

"You might not need a girlfriend but when you want one, I can set that up." He had no doubt. Oscar had a different girl over every night since he moved in.

"I'm good, really. Gotta meet up with Ruby and Jamal to go down to school today, get registered."

Oscar arched a brow. "I'm not going to make you go."

"Well I have to go. I'm 14, it's perfectly normal." That had set his brother off with guffaws that echoed through the house. It seemed like the quick fuse that had sent Spooky to prison had turned into an over-all volatility that had Cesar constantly walking on eggshells. He'd taken to hanging out with Jamal and Ruby even more than before just to counterbalance the tension that built up when he was around Oscar.

"Need you home 'round three. We got work to do today. Your little nerd friends can come too if they want to."

"Uh, OK." He hated it that Oscar just demanded he be somewhere at a particular time. The job inevitably was something stupid like washing his tires or collecting messages for the next guy who was getting a prison visit, but Oscar treated it like it was the most important thing in the world.

"And tonight, stick around. A bunch of guys you haven't met are coming over. Got to show them why we're the leadership, you know?" He had no idea what Oscar meant by that but if the last few weeks were anything to go by, a hoard of young men would crowd around the yard, playing dominoes and cards, there would be plenty of blunt and alcohol, and then a few minutes before 11, just shy of the time the cops might get called for the noise, they would disperse for various jobs.

Several hours later he was in a pushup contest with a guy name HoldUp while a bunch of guys that hadn't been around in years cheered them on. Oscar had already declared some girl named DeeDee as the prize in the same breath that he declared Cesar his champion. His protests had been met with a glare so now he was up to 145 and puffing with the effort, wishing he hadn't had the two beers that gurgled in his stomach with the exertion. Holdup apparently had plenty of stamina though because he yelled out, "You ready to give up now fool? Yo Oscar, DeeDee should be mine because she already knows I-can-go-all-night-long!" He punched his words out in time to his motions. Cesar tried not to let that, along with the gigantic Santos cross tattooed on the guy's chest, intimidate him. But Jesus Christ why did Oscar have to make enemies for him?

DeeDee giggled, her heavily made up eyes flashing. "Something tells me that what the kid lacks in staying power might be compensated for in recovery time." She licked her teeth as she smiled at Cesar.

Cesar grit his teeth. Sure he wanted to win because he didn't want Oscar to think he couldn't hack it, but DeeDee was no Monse and he had no desire to find out if she really wanted to go all night. Sure, she had nicely rounded hips and huge tits, but she also had buck teeth and was always sniffing as if her nose was running. And she was part of the group that Jasmine's older sister hung with. Those girls made no bones about the fact that they were down with the life. Heck half of them were either daughters or girlfriends of Santos already.

"Yeah, I'll treat the winner real well." She winked at him but her eyes slid to HoldUp and paused there. He'd just do enough to not make a fool of-