THE CREW TALK OVER EACH other while Cesar distractedly nods at each of them. He finally loses his cool because of the chaos and yells. "Yo! One at a time, I'm not following."
Ruby smiles and raises his hand for Cesar to pick and responds, "Sorry, it's excitement.We've been chewing on this the last two weeks! And it's finally time to move forward with the plan."
Cesar replies confused, "A plan for what?"
"Getting you out of the gang," Monse explains to which Cesar responds with laughter as the rest of crew look seriously at him. He quickly registers their reactions and stops laughing.
"You're serious?" The crew responds with nodding heads and Liliana puts her thumbs up.
Cesar shakes his head. "Oh, my gosh! No! No, no, no, no. There is no out. You're being naive. Once you're jumped in, you can't get out. Unless, you get jumped out, and that's not, you know, an option."
"Why not?", Lili and Jamal ask at the same time.
"They beat you till you die." Cesar responds solemnly.
"Oh, I see your dilemma." Jamal and Lili look at each other with wide eyes.
Monse decides to cut in, "Death isn't the only option. Ruby?"
Ruby stands up at the mention of his name and explains, "So, after copious amounts of research, I've formulated a theory that all great things come in threes: The Holy Trinity, primary colors, Destiny's Child..."
"D.C. started with four members," Jamal cuts in.
"But they weren't big until they were three," Ruby responds which cause Jamal and Lili to point at each other in a "he's right" motion.
He continues, "Which is why there are
three common denominators to end any and all hostile situations. I call them the three M's. Money, murder, manipulation." He hands out binders for the crew to grab.
"No, not that one. They're watermarked." Lili opens her binder to find her name watermarked on the inside.
Monse continues the speech, "Clearly, murder's off the table. The irony would be too much."
"There's no way we can hustle up enough cash with a car wash to make it worth Oscar's while," Ruby adds.
"Unless..."
"Jamal, don't. Please don't say it."
Jamal continues anyways and walks over to Cesar, "Getting a lot of cash isn't outside the realm of possibility."
"What are you talking about?" Cesar asks.
"RollerWorld," Ruby and Monse reply halfhearted while Lili replies excitedly.
"It's real and 50K is still out there. The dudes that robbed RollerWorld got put away, but the money was never recovered."
"In the '80s!" Ruby shouts annoyed.
"And the rumor's still rampant! What about The Goonies? Some of those kids thought it was B.S. until they found the treasure. And they weren't even..."
"Brown! We're brown. Only white kids find treasure," Monse cuts him off as Ruby's abuela walks into the room.
"True."
Ruby addresses his abuela, "What are you looking for?"
"Baby Jesus! He's missing. The special one blessed by the bishop. I put him in here before I
started to move into my room," she responds.
Ruby looks over at Jamal and narrows his eyes. "Dude, you're holding it."
"No, this is Toddler Jesus," Jamal defends and continues, "Babies don't stand. This Jesus
is probably already potty trained. And this isn't a diaper, these are booty shorts."
Ruby's abuela holds out her hand and Jamal sighs before handing over the figurine. She walks out of the room as Ruby clenches his teeth and says, "Sit down. Sit."
Cesar stands up and states, "All right, I'm out."
"We haven't even pitched the final M," Monse responds while rolling her eyes.
"Don't need to."
Monse pushes Cesar back down on the bed. "Manipulation."
"Through negotiation," Jamal and Lili continue.
"With cogent, well-articulated arguments," Ruby finishes.
"So, that's it? That's the plan? You're gonna get me out of the gang with cogent, well-articulated arguments?", Cesar confirms.
"Yes."
"Never gonna happen. Good talk," Cesar responds walking off.
💰
The crew walk up the stairs of school as Ruby talks. "Cesar's reaction was a wake-up
call. The plan isn't fully formed. We need more time to let our ideas marinate before we take action."
"Marinate? No. We got to cook now," Monse responds. "The longer we wait, the deeper Cesar's in. Right now he's got no responsibilities. We got to get him out before he puts in work."
Cesar walks up behind the four and makes Lili jump. "Who's putting in work? You still with that?"
"No," they all respond.
"With what?"
Cesar walks around to put his arm around Jamal's shoulder. "Jamal?"
"We're still with it."
Cesar sighs and walks in front of the crew to stop them. "This isn't funny anymore. Trying to reason with my brother's dumb.You gotta promise you're gonna drop it."
"You're overreacting-", Monse tries to start but Cesar cuts her off.
"Especially you. Promise."
She replies fast, "I promise."
"Okay, good. See you after class," Cesar finishes and then walks off.
"So, who's gonna do it?" Lili asks when he walks off.
"Not Jamal." Ruby and the mentioned boy answer at the same time.
"I'll do it."
"No, no, no, no, no. Your mouth is gonna get us killed," Jamal replies to Monse.
"Yeah, Monse's a total no-go. So, that leaves me," Ruby agrees but then stops in his tracks.
"But it can't be me."
"It's you," Lili and Jamal respond still walking with Monse.
"You said it can't be me!", Monse yells in defense.
"But what about Liliana?", he starts to ask.
"Liliana's heart is to weak to handle that level of stress," she answers for herself.
"I think this is up for discussion. I mean, for starters, I'm small. There's nothing about me that's even remotely intimidating and, actually, on numerous occasions, I've been told that just looking at me makes people laugh. I also don't do anybody any favors by being the smartest
person in the room." The three half-heartedly listen to Ruby's rant while walking and being on their phones.
"And no one wants to feel dumb when they can't pick up what I'm layin' down. It's belittling. You follow?"
"Hm-mmm." The three shake their heads still only half listening. They start to take selfies with each other and Lili shows Jamal and Monse a funny post.
"You see, this is what I'm talking about. I transcend the universal plane of thought and linger on the precipice of the celestial realm. I can't even keep up with myself. But it's who I am."
"But if all of that isn't convincing enough, then dare I remind you of my sensitive skin and inability to wear thick cotton," the three start to roll their eyes. They stop to address Ruby.
"What are you talking about?", Monse asks.
"I can't hide my sweat. And I sweat profusely when I'm nervous. Which I am right now. I mean, look, full clam. No shell. I rest my case," Ruby finishes. The three start to clap slowly at an uneven pace and Ruby slightly smiles.
"Mmm."
"That was impressive."
"So eloquent."
"Sold me on why he shouldn't do it."
"Which is exactly why he should!", Lili decides.
"Congratulations. You got the job," Monse says while smiling and walking off.
"Again," Jamal finishes. They leave Ruby standing by himself as the bell rings.
"Brilliance is a curse."