Los Carnales

Chapter 31: What Happens In A Riot...

A/N: There will be two songs included back to back in this chapter. You can either play half of the first song and the entire second song, or you can just play one of them for the entire riot. Happy reading, hope you enjoy!

Btw, the conversations in italics are ones that already happened in September.

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October 12th, 2006
Thursday, 8:00pm - South Bay Correctional Facility

["Ariel suggested you continue acting like you don't know anything. I say don't do it. Go into solitary and give yourself time to think about whatever future choices you wanna make, and prepare. Keep hidden. Your people should go to the back to report to you and so should Sugar's COs. If word spreads around Estrabao Cartel that you know about their plan, you'll know you made a good decision. If it doesn't, that gives you a good enough reason to not kill Candy today or anytime soon because she kept her mouth shut. Am I making any sense?"

"You're making perfect sense, Aleesia. Perfect. Fucking. Sense."

"Good."

"Regardless of the outcome, I'm still going after her and I can't promise that I won't kill her in the moment. She's fooled me for the last fucking time and I'm sick of her games and lies. All this pent up rage is going somewhere, that's final. And whatever happens...IF something happens to me during the riot, take your family and move back to El Sereno. And just know that I love you...with all my heart and soul, Aleesia. I'll always be with you."

"No. You're not going to die. You got this. You have to come home to me like you promised."

"You never know that. It's always good to be realistic. Pero anyway, tell the gang to stay on high alert every single day from now on. Keep your eyes peeled for the rat. Keep your eye on their boy Joaquin as well, he may be an asset to us if he keeps exposing Luca like this. Is there anything else about this riot that I should know about? Anything important?"

"No. Ariel doesn't know anything else, just that you've been targeted this entire time. No one else."

"Estás segura?" (Are you sure?)

"Sí, mi amor. They didn't say anything else."

"Then that's that. I won't talk to you until after the riot. I swear to God, you better stay your ass on lockdown in my room and I better not hear that you're in these streets doing what you're not supposed to be doing. Oíste?"

"Mhm. I hear you. And as long as you hear me, we should be good."]

Steam clouded the lonely shower stall as piping hot water trickled down Lauren's skin, turning her skin a red shade and relaxing her tense muscles. Her hands smoothed a mixture of soap and water over her face, she slicked back her soaking wet hair that had just been washed and squeezed the excess water before turning off the faucet. Much better. Now rejuvenated and with a clearer head, Lauren gladly stepped out of the stall—not minding being naked so much in front of the guard anymore. She dried herself off and changed into fresh prison uniform, leaving on her tag clipped to her blue shirt and hiding both a long and tiny shiv in her pants.

Solitary wasn't so bad this time around. Being alone with her thoughts, being present for her pain and emotions she was in denial about having—like Sugar strongly recommended she learn to do—wasn't as hard like in the past. It hurt like hell but only fueled Lauren's drive to do what she needed to do. It reminded her of why she was the way she was, it showed her she was more than capable of surviving anything. Every bad thing that has ever happened to her between fifteen and eighteen, she held onto those moments to not forget that most people around her were heartless and shouldn't be underestimated when it came to betrayal or disappointment.