A/N - My Christmas present to you all❤️🎄
Enjoyyy <3
~~~
"I'm not going, it's shit!", I pinched the bridge of my nose and huffed, placing the empty rucksack on the counter and folding my arms.
"You will watch your tone, Caleb", I narrowed my eyes at the 12 year old, "it's a few hours a day at school, everyone has to do it".
"You don't have to do it, you dropped out", he jabbed a finger at me with a scowl, he was worse than Alexander sometimes.
"I dropped out to take care of you", I muttered, "if I'd had a choice-,".
"I'm sorry we're so inconvenient for you then", he snapped and I bit my tongue, he knew how to push all of my buttons without even trying, "I'm not going".
"I want five genuine reasons why", I perched on a chair, picking at the bottom of my white shirt, untucked from my trousers.
"It's stupid, it's boring, I hate it, I hate the teachers, and I'd rather sleep", he reeled off, ticking each one off on his fingertips, "can I stay home now?". My lips tipped up in amusement as the twins' bickering from the other room filled my ears, I needed to move quick before Alexander came in saying the same thing.
"Not one of those was genuine", I told him and he groaned, "tell me why, and I'll consider it". He stopped pacing, ran a hand through his unruly blonde hair and dropped his chin into his palm on the counter.
"I'm behind everyone else", he sighed, "I'm saving myself the embarrassment". I watched him for a moment, the frown etched on his face that was due to become permanent any day now, the hand that was slowly being curled into a fist.
"It's your first day of 7th grade, how do you know you're behind?", I decided to ask, his glare burned holes through me in seconds, "what?".
"I've been behind since I started school", he scowled, "the older I get, the worse it gets, so I just won't go".
"And is that the mindset you'd raise your children with?", I raised an eyebrow, "you find something hard, so stop trying?".
"No", he mumbled after a beat of silence, "I don't know".
"I'll make a deal with you", he perked up at that, "you stay in school Monday to Thursday, I'll take you out on Friday for your birthday".
"Just me?", his eyes lit up and I nodded, "okay fine". He stood up straight and dusted off his red T-shirt, pushing his hair back, he needed a haircut.
"You'll keep an eye on Chase today? His first day of middle school", he nodded rapidly and I smiled, maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.
~
"I hate it back here", Alexander grumbled from the very back of the car, "I'm being crushed".
"Too bad, you're the youngest", I shook my head with a smile at Xavier's reply, keeping my focus on the road.
"By six minutes", he scowled back, "I call shotgun for the ride home".
"Yeah right", Prescott laughed from the passenger seat, "the day you sit anywhere near the front of the car will be when you're driving it".
"Shut up", he mumbled, "can we have pizza tonight?".
"No, I want pasta", Chase protested, "we always have pizza".
"We always have pasta", Alexander replied and I smirked, "Chase always get his own way".
"Because I'm older", he said, "you're just boring".
"Shut up, I have a headache", Caleb grumbled from the backseat, "Zane? What about a half day?".
"Caleb", I sighed and he groaned.
"Fine, I'll stay", he muttered, "I'm not happy about it though". When was he happy?
"What are you doing today Zane?", Xavier asked, "are you gonna sleep?". I wish I could fucking sleep.
"I'm going to see Marco", I replied, pulling up outside the twins' school, "work to do".
"What kind of work?", he asked and I turned back; all of them were staring at me.
"Time for school", I cocked my head and he groaned, grabbing his bag and opening the car door, "Alexander, you too".
"Well I can't get out if they're there", he scowled, shoving Caleb's seat, "move".
"Someone's happy", he muttered, climbing out too and pulling his seat forwards.
"Have a good day, both of you", I spoke out of my window as they both started to walk away, "try and concentrate and no arguing with teachers".
"No promises", they said simultaneously, disappearing amongst the masses of students side by side.
"They will be the death of me", I mumbled, starting the engine once Caleb was back in the car.
"Or me", he wiggled his eyebrows and I sighed; this was only the beginning...
~
"First day of high school, you ready?", I gazed between Prescott and the building a few times.
"No", he replied as he ran a hand through his hair frustratedly, "what are you really doing with Marco?". So that's what his silence in the car was about.
"Prescott-,", I closed my eyes and sighed, being thankful that he's at least had the courtesy to start this conversation when it was just me and him left in the car.
"No Zane, I wanna know", he turned to me with a frown, "is it dangerous? Are you gonna get hurt? Cuz what happens if you leave us, I'm 14, I can't look after them".
"Hey", I shut him up, "I'm not leaving you, and it's not dangerous".
"You promise?", he asked, his eyes fixed on mine and his attention far away from the fact that he was starting school.
"I promise", I nodded, "now get outta here, I'll pick you up later".
"Fine", he huffed, "and don't make pizza or pasta later, if it causes arguments then neither should get their own way". He climbed out and shut the door behind him, sending me a small smile before strolling off inside; why was he giving me parenting lessons?
~~
"Zaney", I gazed down at my little cousin fondly and ruffled his hair, before my eyebrows pinched into a frown.
"Why aren't you in school Emiliano?", I kicked off my shoes and closed the door behind me, my 14 year old cousin was watching me with a smirk, twisting the bottom of his black T-shirt around his finger.
"I'm sick", he told me and I hummed, narrowing my eyes at him, "ask Marco".
"Marco would believe you were sick even if you had the brightest smile on your face and were stuffing candy down your throat", I muttered, "you have him wrapped around your finger".
"I know", he beamed proudly, "why aren't you in school?".
"Dropped out", I mumbled, rolling up the sleeves of my white shirt, "where's your brother?".
"Which one?", he grinned and I rolled my eyes, I didn't have time for this.
"The one that isn't 8 years old", I shoved his head and he laughed.
"Uh, in the basement, we're not allowed down there", he shrugged, "now if you'll excuse me...there's a giant bowl of cereal with my name on it". He walked towards the kitchen backwards, I just ignored him and opened the door to the basement, making sure it was closed properly behind me before descending the stairs.
"Milo, what have I told you about-,", I laid my eyes upon my cousin, looking dishevelled as ever, as his eyes met mine and his body relaxed, "it's you".
"It's me", I chuckled, "you okay?".
"Been better", I don't know how the fuck I hadn't noticed the guy he just casually had tied to a chair in here; blood was trickling down the side of his head and his body was limp, "I don't appreciate assholes messing up my schedule". And with that, he fired a shot into the man's head with no warning whatsoever- it wasn't even half nine in the morning.
"Good morning to you too", I mumbled, the dull ringing in my ears not dying down, "your brother is not sick".
"Of course not", he nodded, placing his gun down and wiping his hands on his trousers, "I have more pressing matters than a 14 year old's school attendance".
"Enlighten me", I watched as he removed his blood-stained shirt and dropped it to the ground, then did the same with his trousers; only then did he turn to face me, that angry scar that travelled from just below his neck to his bellybutton staring right back at me.
"Shipment was due today, he-,", he waved a hand lazily at the dead body beside us, "did not deliver". Christ.
"I need to talk to you", I announced and he nodded once, picking up his clothes and cocking his head, leading the way back up the stairs.
"Let me put some clothes on", he replied, opening the door and coming face to face with the twins, Elijah and Ezekiel.
"You're almost naked! Ew!", Elijah pointed a finger at his oldest brother and laughed- what were they doing here?
"Is that blood?", Ezekiel asked as the pair of us stepped past them, Marco locking the basement door.
"Nosebleed", he didn't even try to put them at ease, how we were related I'd never know.
"They're not in school?", I hissed, following him to the laundry room where he...dumped the clothes in the trash.
"Like I said...more pressing matters", I rolled my eyes as he smirked at me, "go wait in the study, I'll be back".
I did as I was told, taking the short trip down the hallway to the room that Marco practically lived in; papers thrown all over the desk, boxes of takeout on top of them, a blanket and pillow on the small sofa- had he been sleeping down here?
"I take it everyone's at school?", I don't know how he'd gotten changed so quickly, he tugged a black T-shirt over his head and closed the door behind him.
"Some more excited to be there than others", I replied, sinking into the sofa, "I'm done".
"You're gonna have to be more specific than that", he advanced across the room, perching on the desk and cracking his knuckles, "done with what?".
"This", I waved a hand, "the guns, the shipments, the killing- I can't do it". He just stared at me for a moment, unmoving, like an animal about to pounce on its prey.
"You want to go legit", not a question.
"I have them to think about", I told him, "I can't get myself killed, Marco".
"You wouldn't get yourself killed", he squeezed his hands together, "you eliminate threats before they're even classed as threats".
"Not anymore", I shook my head, "I can't risk it".
"Why not? Because as far as I'm concerned the only true threat was your father", he leaned forwards and jabbed a finger at me, "and he's gone".
"He's not gone- not like yours", images of the bullets pelleting my uncle's body filled my mind and I winced, I don't know how Marco was sleeping at night right now, "mine is everywhere I look, everywhere I breathe, and I can't do it".
"You think mine isn't?", he raised an eyebrow, "he was sitting on that chair behind me no more than a month ago. I can still smell the blood, see the blood- if I stand still enough I can still feel my hands clasped around that gun".
"And yet you're continuing to do the same thing he did", I spread my legs apart and leaned back, "why?".
"Because I'm providing for them", he scowled, "and unlike you apparently, I wasn't as immune to my father's wishes for me to follow in his footsteps".
"Marco-,", I pinched the bridge of my nose, going to interrupt.
"I can't stop you Zane, I know that- and I can't stop this", he shook his head, "it's in my blood, it courses through my veins- and there is no adrenaline rush like the one I get when I drive a bullet in between someone's eyes". I shivered, feeling like I was staring right back at a carbon copy of my father's brother; if I thought I was like Santiago, then Marco and Salvador were on a whole other level.
"You need help", I said, half-joking and half-serious, he scared the shit out of me half of the time, "you're 17, Marco, you can't-,".
"I can", he snapped, "I can and I will because I don't have a choice, Zane, I was moulded into- this, and it's all I'm good for. You wanna go legit? Go ahead, but you can count me out". I clenched my jaw, nodding to myself before standing up.
"Caleb's birthday on Friday, you're coming over?", I rolled my sleeves down and looked at him, why us?
"Wouldn't miss it for the world", he gave me a tight-lipped smile and I snorted, turning on my heel and leaving the room.
I needed a coffee.
~
"Three sugars, I'd say it's an improvement but now I'm concerned", Cairo narrowed his eyes at me, "you good?".
I was not, in fact, good. I was spiralling. In amongst getting my brothers ready for school and going to meet Marco, I hadn't eaten, nor changed my insulin devices. Coffee had been off of the table, but I couldn't make it home with the rate my head was spinning- so here I was.
"Good is a stretch", I leaned against the counter and closed my eyes, "can you- you got any orange juice?".
"Is that a trick question?", I could hear the smile in his voice before silence, "or not- lemme check". I listened to him rush off, dropping my face into my palms and sighing- you're in public, Zane.
"I found some, I found some", I sighed in relief and opened my eyes, meeting his concerned brown ones, "you look pale as fuck".
"I feel pale as fuck", I muttered, "thanks". I finished the whole glass in seconds, catching my breath while he stared at me, eyes slightly narrowed.
"I've never seen someone so excited for orange juice", he chuckled, smoothing a hand over his curls, "you okay? Not dying on me?".
"I'll be okay", I told him, "my uh- my blood sugar levels were low, orange juice is sugary". He didn't ask any questions, just hummed with a nod, picking up the now empty glass.
"Go sit down", he told me, cocking his head, "I have a break in five". What?
"Why?", I frowned, peering around the almost empty cafe, at least there was no queue behind me.
"Cuz I deem you unsafe to drive", he told me and I raised an eyebrow, "so until I think you're good, you're staying where I can see you". Win win, he was staying where I could see him.
"Fine", I had nothing else to do today seeing as my meeting with Marco was a fail, so I rolled up my sleeves and lowered myself into a seat at a table in the corner; I could still see Cairo working from here. I wondered how long it would take for me to send him running, he could do ten times better than me yet I couldn't bring myself to push him away- did that make me selfish?
"Trouble", I jumped when he dropped into the seat opposite me, "relax, you sure you don't want any more juice?".
"I'm sure", I nodded with a small smile, "thanks for that, I promise not to nearly pass out in here again".
"All good", he laughed, "does that...happen a lot?".
"More than it should", I admitted and he nodded, "I can be a little..negligent towards my health".
"Lot on your plate?", he asked and I nodded, "yeah me too". I let that sink in for a minute, here I was complaining about how much I had going on when I didn't know anything about Cairo.
"What's your favourite drink here?", I asked him suddenly, he raised his eyebrows and thought for a second.
"Not black coffee, that's for sure", he chuckled, "would you kill me if I said I don't really even like coffee?".
"We can't speak to each other anymore", I told him, watching his face fall, "that was a joke".
"You're too serious", he laughed, "have you-,". The ringing of my phone cut him off and I sent him an apologetic expression, staring at the number I didn't recognise.
"Zane Delgado", I answered, hearing a throat clear afterwards.
"Mr Delgado, I'm calling from Eastview Elementary", you've got to be kidding me, "am I right in believing you are Alexander's primary contact?". Alexander.
"That's correct", I confirmed, "what's happened?".
"We think it would be beneficial for you to come to the school sir", brilliant.
"I'll be right there", I replied, cutting the call and looking at Cairo, "I have to go".
"Woah where? In your condition?", I had no time to think about my condition, not when one of my brothers needed me.
"I have to go to my brother's school, something's happened", I stood, cracking my knuckles.
"You really shouldn't drive, trouble- can't one of your parents-,", fuck that.
"My parents are busy", the lie slipped out easily, "I'm sorry, I've really gotta go". He nodded in defeat, watching me as I hurried out of there; I couldn't even have a conversation with someone I liked in peace.
~
"He threw paper at a teacher, tripped up a student, swore at another student, and then punched another in the hallway", I stared at my brother who's eyes were burning holes into his lap, he hadn't dared to look at me since I entered the room, "we have made exceptions for Alexander's behaviour, but it's getting harder and harder to keep this up".
"Thank you for calling me in", I nodded, "I can assure you my brother will be facing consequences for his actions, whatever punishment you see fit".
"That's not fair!", oh now he had something to say.
"What's not fair is you acting out time and time again", I told him, "go and wait in the car". I tossed him my keys and he caught them, leaving the office and slamming the door behind him; I pinched the bridge of my nose and turned to the teacher.
"A lot of anger for a nine year old", she commented and I scoffed, she didn't know the half of it, "can I recommend a specialist?". She's offering you help, take it.
"You can keep your damn nose out of our business", I snapped, rising to my feet and leaving without so much of a glance back- that could've gone better. I made it out to the car and took a deep breath before getting in, I couldn't bring myself to snap at him again.
"Am I in trouble?", was the first thing he said once I'd closed my door, "you're not mad right?".
"I'm not mad, I'm disappointed", I started the engine, "you haven't even been in for five hours".
"I know", he fiddled with his fingers, "I was angry".
"Are you still angry?", I asked, silencing consuming the car for a moment, "Alexander?".
"Yeah", he replied, "I'm sorry, I-,".
"How about ice cream?", I suggested and he frowned, "will that cheer you up?".
"Yeah I guess", he said slowly, "but-,".
"We'll talk about what happened at home", I sighed, "ice cream first, problems later".
A grin spread across his face and it made me smile; sure I was now their guardian and had to set the example, but I was his older brother first and foremost- and I had to see to it that he was always happy.
~~~
A/N - I'm sorry but Marco <3<3
Someone tell me how we have a week left of this year 🧍🏾♀️🧍🏾♀️