"He's not the man for the job," Monse starts while Jamal, Lili, and her walk down the sidewalk.
"We have to figure out the work around. Like his diction. Sometimes I don't understand half of what Ruby says. You know what I mean?"
Jamal rubs his hands down his face and sighs in frustration. Monse notices this and says "What?"
"You're giving me a migraine!", Jamal responds exasperated.
"Think about how I feel. I have no time to teach Ruby not to talk with his hands. He can't do that stuff with Oscar. Dudes gesticulate a lot in prison. We don't want to remind him...,"
At that moment, all three teens here music coming from a car that is pulling up beside them. The car gets closer and reveals Cesar in the passenger seat.
"Hey. Where you headed?", Cesar asks while sticking his head and arms out of the car. The other teens try their best to not make eye contact.
"Nowhere."
Cesar tries again, "Whatcha doing, Jamal?" Both girls shove Jamal in the arm on either side as a nonverbal reminder to not reveal anything.
"Decorating Ruby's room!"
"So there's no scheming?"
Jamal immediately gives it up, "We're scheming."
Liliana tries to save their plans by adding in, "With color!"
Monse nods along, "Every good room rehab needs a color scheme."
"I know a lot about the color theory. I'll come along to help. You can drop me here, homie.", Cesar makes his way out of the car while Monse rolls her eyes. He wraps his arms around the teenagers shoulders and they continue to walk.
"Don't you have to go tag something?", Monse asks sarcastically.
Cesar pretends to think about it and then says, "Nope."
💰
The four ring Ruby's doorbell and he opens the door shortly afterwards.
"We're here to feng shui your room! That's why we're here," Monse exclaims excitedly with a small smile.
"I don't have my own room, but..." The other four teens look confused as Ruby comes outside of his house and backs them up from the front door.
"I have a boner. My cousin just moved in." Cesar and Monse look down and Lili and Jamal side eye each other in response to Ruby's words.
"Not like my cousin cousin, like, "What's up, cuz?" You know, like fam, but not fam."
"Like if you can't keep it in your pants, keep it in the family," Cesar confirms sarcastically.
"Exactly! No. No, not exactly. There's no blood relation. There is no inbreeding."
The four teens just stare at Ruby as they try to process his explanation.
He continues, "Oh, and call me Ruben. I'm going by Ruben now."
His request is immediately broken by his mother who calls out his nickname about five times before finding him on the porch with his friends.
"Ruby!"
"Ruben," he tries to correct.
His mom ignores him. "Are you forgetting something?" She waits until the new girl walks out before introducing her.
"Guys, this is Olivia. She's staying with us for a little while. Okay?"
Ruby's mom leaves and the teens continue to stare at each other awkwardly.
"Is it me or did things just get weird?", Olivia asks.
"It's you. I'm Monse."
"I'm Lili," the girl says as she waves from the back.
"This is Jamal and Cesar. Ignore the stares. They haven't been neutered," Monse jokes which causes Olivia to chuckle.
"Jamal, why don't you tell Olivia what you didn't do to your neck. Ruby and Lili can we discuss our chem assignment?", Monse pulls them both away from the group.
She starts, "Act natural, look off to the side so we don't seem scheme-y." He turns and she continues. "Once you memorize the script, we'll need three rehearsals. Minimum."
"Do Cesar's abs auto contract or is he flexing on purpose?", Ruby replies distractedly.
Lili continues, "And you should check out the diction tutorials on YouTube. I can't understand half of what you're saying when you're nervous. So, don't be nervous."
"I claimed her. This is bullshit."
"And remember, we've got to keep it quiet from Cesar. This is a life-saving mission and keeping it on the down-low is of the utmost importance. Got it?"
Ruby nods his head absentmindedly which causes Monse to say. "Good. Now be chill." The trio makes their way back to the rest of the group that are laughing.
Olivia smiles at Jamal and says, "You're hilarious!"
"I'm saving Cesar!"
💰
"Hello," Lili says as she answers Ruby's phone call. She can hear Jamal say hey as well.
"It's a dumb idea!", Ruby responds exasperated.
"I was just thinking the same thing. I'm kind of worried I might be jacking up my neck."
"I'm talking about Oscar. I have an appointment with him in the morning. Should I cancel?", Ruby says worriedly.
"Hell no, you don't no-show on Oscar. Unless... Do you have a "go bag?"", Jamal asks.
"A "go bag?""
"It's a bag you use when you need to go. You know, like with clothes, cash, passport, zombie spray...", Lili explains.
"No, I don't have a "go bag. I called you two to talk me down, not amp me up!"
"What's the worst that can happen?", Lili asks.
"Right. I'm just having a conversation."
"With a hard ex-con," Jamal adds.
"Who already has two strikes," Ruby realizes, getting worried again.
Jamal reassures him, "Yeah. You save your strikes for special occasions. You're not strike worthy."
"Hey, I'm strike worthy."
"You don't wanna be strike worthy," Lili says sleepily.
"Good point."
"He's not gonna kill you," Lili tries to reassure.
"Thank you," Ruby responds.
Jamal adds in, "But if he did, you'd be easy to hide."
The other two teens loudly exclaim, "Jamal!"
Jamal continues, "You'd probably fit in his "go bag."
"You are so not helping right now!", Lili mutters.
"I need to unwind and sleep before tomorrow, and now I'm gonna be up all night," Ruby states.
"You know how I get to sleep when I'm all pent up?"
"Hit me."
"To sack out, I whack out.", Jamal offers.
Lili makes a sound of disgust, "Eww. I'm hanging up now. Good night and good luck Ruby."
The two boys hear a click before Ruby continues, "Not an option, I'm too distracted."
"It's the antidote, man."
"If anything happens to me..."
"I'll clean out your drawer," Jamal finishes.
"Appreciate that. Good night."
"Good luck."
💰
The next day Ruby walks up to the rest of his friends excitedly. "I did it! I did it! I mean, it's done. I rocked that talk hard. And for a guy named Spooky, he's surprisingly jovial."
"Wait, are you serious, Ruby?", Jamal asks.
"Ruben," he corrects and then continues, "And yes. Cesar's out the gang. Boom. Killed it."
"You did kill it. You killed it so hard that I got promoted," Cesar confirms dejectedly.
Ruby's face falls, "No. Spooky and I had an understanding."
"Just got a text, and I'm gonna start running for the Santos."
"No. No, no, no. That can't be true. He must be joking," Ruby rambles sadly.
"Compa, I love you for trying, but like I said, this deal is done. And I don't blame you."
"I blame Monse," he says as he turns to the mentioned girl.
"Me?"
"Yeah, you're the instigator and the frickin' honey badger. You don't quit. But now you have to. No more. We're done."
"And so is "Ruben". I'm not man enough to bear that name," he walks off sadly and Lili and Jamal follow him.
Lili hugs his side comfortingly, "Hey, you're a man."