CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
The Garcia-Santiago house was beginning to pile up with people to celebrate Nina's birthday. Even though Nina would've been pretty much satisfied with a small get together, her sister and Tony insisted on throwing her some sort of party. They invited the Martinez family including the Turners. Jamal's dad was willing to provide the food from Dwayne's Joint.
Of course the teens were invited too, including Jasmine. What made Nina really happy was the fact Victoria had to appeal to Oscar to have Cesar over for her birthday. At least just for one day anyways. Nina was over the moon seeing the young teen back. Having Cesar back was a big birthday gift enough knowing he was okay and healthy.
Even some of the Santos said they were dropping by later after they were done with some business. Nina didn't mind that but she was more worried about them finding out about her run in with Marcus the day before. Then again, it was her birthday. She shouldn't be getting worried about a thing. If she did, her sister would freak.
What also surprised her was the fact that Ruby helped a lot with the festivities. Even though he was going through a lot, he said he could use the distraction to help out with the party. The decorations around the house were simple but it reminded Nina a lot of her quinces with all the white and blue balloons and other decorations.
Seeing everyone in her house like this made Nina really really happy.
"You didn't have to do this. You should be with your parents," Nina said to Tony as he was in the middle of his second plate of food.
"Don't sweat it, Nina. I'm meeting with them in a minute," Tony smiled back at her.
"In a minute? Then what the hell are you still doing here?" Nina looked at him confused as he didn't seem to be in such a rush going over the pulled pork and other barbecue. Tony seemed relaxed as his phone buzzed in his pocket and a smile began to tug at the corners of his mouth.
He sets his plate down before taking Nina's hand. "Alright princesa, let's go meet one of your surprises," he smiled as he lead her to the door. They walked through the small crowd of people until they made it to the door.
Tony opens the door to reveal his parents. "Mom, dad, you're here!" he smiled before hugging them but Nina was practically over the moon to see her other guests.
"Mr. and Mrs. Rosario! Oh my God I can't believe you're here!" Nina grinned before going forth towards them to give them an embrace. Tony took a step to the side to hug his father.
"Nina! It's been so long, mija! You look beautiful!" Lydia Rosario, Tony's mother, cooed as she placed a kiss on Nina's cheek. She placed a hand under her chin to get a good look at the fine woman she had grown to be.
"Gracias, tía," Nina smiled at her before looking over at Tony's father. "Tío Andres, thank you so much for coming! You guys must be tired from your flight," she said happily for taking him in for a hug.
"Ay, it's no big deal, Nina. Anything for you and my son," Andres Rosario hugged her back. "You really are the spitting image of your mother. I truly am so sorry for your loss," he cooed pulling away.
"Gracias tío," Nina smiled back at him. She turns around for a moment to call her sister to inform her that they were going to be having more guests in the house. Victoria was just as happy seeing them, but of course she knew about their arrival.
"Señor and Señora Rosario, thank you so much for coming on such short notice," Victoria grinned as she hugged him. Nina looked at her sister in slight shock.
"You knew about this?"
"Of course I did," Victoria said proudly. "But this isn't your only surprise," she added with a nod. Nina looked at her confused trying to tame the excitement and anticipation she was feeling in her chest.
Victoria walked up to her to make Nina turn around. "That's your surprise," she said pointing over to a heavily tinted car that was driving down the street and slowly pulling up to their house.
"V, I don't think this is the perfect time for you to get me strippers. We got a house full of people," Nina reminded her sister as she watched the car pulling up in front of their house.
Victoria laughed shaking her head. "I can guarantee you, Nina. They aren't strippers."
"THE PARTY'S HERE!!!"
One swing open from the car door and Nina started screaming on the top of her lungs causing a few heads from inside the house to turn. Some of her guests from inside the house started making their way outside. Victoria and Tony looked at each other, smiling proudly for a successful surprise.
"Happy birthday, bitch!" Leah grinned stepping out of the car.
"No, freaking way!" Nina squealed running over to her bestest girlfriend to give her a hug. "Oh my God, Leah! You're real! You're here! Holy shit this is unreal!" the two of them started jumping up and down like they were two little girls again.
"Hey what about me?"
Nina looked over to her tallest friend that walked out of the car next. "Johann! Oh my God!" she jumped up to give him a hug. "¡Te extrañé, árbol!" she said happily making Johann laughed.
"Happy birthday Nene," Johann smiled hugging her back tightly. They didn't even care about how much they hated those nicknames. They were too happy to care.
"Am I supposed to pay the dude or what?"
"Dude, it's a Lyft. I got it covered!" Tony called back at his friend. Tony and Victoria couldn't stop smiling seeing that Nina was so happy for what the two of them did.
"Joel! Boo-boo! Oh my God, you're here too?!?" Nina made her way over to Joel. "Is it just me or did you hit puberty again? You're looking good papacito!" she kissed his cheek as they hugged each other.
"It's good to see you too Nina," Joel hugged her tight. "Happy Birthday," he smiled at her.
The Lfyt went speeding off the road and Nina was sure she was going to start breaking down at any moment for being so happy. She hadn't seen these people in years and she had been talking about them non-stop for the past week. And here they were in front of her for her special day. It was as if she was dreaming and she didn't want to wake up.
"You guys knew about this? You guys did this for me?" Nina teared up looking back at Tony and Victoria who were in the middle of having their own reunion with their friends. Tony and Victoria looked at each other again before nodding back at Nina with smiles on their faces.
"I fucking love you guys for doing this," Nina started crying as her friends gave her a group hug. She missed this feeling. The people that she loved the most was surrounding her in an embrace that felt unlike any other.
"Aw, Nina," Johann cooed hugging her. "Nene, siempre tan emotiva," he added with a soft giggle.
"I just missed you guys so much. You have no idea how happy I am to see all of you here!" Nina cried laughing at how ridiculous she looked right now.
"Ay, mami, don't cry! You'll ruin your make up," Leah pointed out with a smile as Nina gently wiped the tears that fell from her eyes.
Nina laughed still as they pulled away from her. "I just can't believe that y'all are here!" she sniffed as she fanned her face. She won't stop crying from being so happy. She never wanted this happy feeling of high to end.
"What's with the bags?" Nina pointed out seeing that her friends weren't just bringing normal hand bags. They didn't have their suit cases with them but they had a lot more stuff with them for coming over for a birthday party.
"You don't mind us staying a few nights, would you?" Joel asked with a smirk."It'll be just like old times don't you think?" he added with a smile. Nina's eyes twinkled like a child on Christmas.
Her eyes wandered over to all her friends staring back at her grinned like a child who had gotten a puppy on Christmas morning. "Are you kidding?! I would love to have you guys over! We can all bunk in my room!" she rambled making all of them laugh.
"You have no idea how happy I am seeing you guys here," Nina said before pulling them all in for a hug once more. "Now, my family is complete," not quite because she knew that she was still missing one person whom she hasn't seen or heard from since the day began.
Nina leads her added guests inside the house and introduces them to everyone. Victoria also took the liberty of introducing them to her kids who were playing with Bella in the living room. It warmed her heart to see that her friends were accepting and over joyed to see Victoria with two beautiful children. After which, Nina introduces her friends to the teenagers who were also chilling and eating in her living room.
First, the teens did their best to grasp the idea that Nina's ex was living with them this entire time. They all approved of Tony, even Cesar, but the teen still preferred Nina with his own brother. Monse and Jasmine blushed seeing Nina's old guy friends, including Tony himself, while both Jamal and Ruby couldn't stop staring at Leah.
"You didn't tell us you had really good looking friends, Nina," Jamal stared at all of them as Ruby took the liberty of introducing himself to Leah.
"Hey, I'm Ruby Martinez. But you can call me Ruben," he extended his arm out for a shake. Ruby's friends shook their head in embarrassment as Nina and her friends had to bite back their tongue to stop themselves from laughing.
There Leah was with a fourteen year old flirting with her. "Leah Jackson," she smiled shaking his hand. No doubt the young teen was slightly turned on by the sound of her voice. "But call me someone who's too old for you."
Everyone who stood there cooed and reacted to Ruby getting burned like that. Monse and Cesar couldn't stop laughing at their friend while Jamal kept saying how much he respected Ruby for taking the risk. "Don't worry, papi. I gotchu!" Jasmine winked at Ruby who started to look uncomfortable.
"Oh yea okay," Nina nodded. "You guys should go eat," she added with a smile as she lead all of them to her room where they placed their bags for their stay. As that was done she lead them over to the buffet table to get their food.
They had taken their place on the dining table as most of the guests were chilling in different parts of the house now. They caught up a little over a few bottles of Coronas, laughing over their past times and recent stories that brought them up to date. Her friends talked about their lives now and Nina was beyond proud hearing that they continued to pursue their own dreams and happiness over a rouse to make money and make it out of the barrio.
It was as if they were all emitting a certain type of glow. A glow up neither of them noticed or expected. It was that type of glow that came with age and happiness. They had all matured into fine people, different from the teenagers who used to run around the streets of the barrio for the sake of fun. Now they all had their own lives and lived in their dreams even though those dreams and lives were small. Each of them had to thank Nina for that.
Nina took a look around seeing her friends and really felt extremely happy seeing all of them together. But there was still something missing and she felt it in her heart. Maybe it was her drinking or the fact that she wanted space. But it was her birthday and she wanted Oscar to be here with her.
In middle of all their talking, Victoria's phone buzzed as she gets a text from Sad Eyes saying that they were now outside. "Yup, Los Santos are here," she said looking at the text on her phone.
"Right, you guys live right across a gang," Joel mused. Nina looked at him slightly surprised that the knew about them. "Tony gave us a heads up if ever we saw them on the front lawn across the street."
"So, then you guys know that I'm also friends with them?" Nina asked as a means of a reminder for them to not be so intimidated.
"Yea, I dig it. I could use a bad boy myself," Leah smirked taking a sip of her Corona. "Been sometime since I got dicked down," she added making Johann, Joel, and Tony choked on their beer. Nina laughed at their reactions, as transparent as ever.
"How'd you get Sad Eyes' number?" Nina looked at Victoria all confused before standing up so she could open the door.
"What? I'm friends with the Santos too," Victoria raised her eyebrow as Nina only shook her head smiling before heading towards the door.
She's greeted by Sad Eyes, Martín, and Gabriel featuring a few others of the Santos. "¡Feliz Cumpleaños Lady Spooky!" they all cheered making Nina smile as they all entered the room.
"Gracias compas," Nina nodded as she lead them further inside.
Cesar saw all of his brother's friends and felt himself stiffen. He knew that Victoria had to appeal for him to be here but he didn't exactly expect the some of the Santos to be here as well. Sad Eyes even nodded at him and said everything is okay for today. It was as if there was some truce inside Nina's house.
As Nina lead them inside, she expected Oscar to appear at the very end but instead there he was across the street smoking a joint as he watched the party happen from afar. They made eye contact from a brief moment and Nina swore that her heart skipped a beat. Not one word from him today as he only hung his head low before heading inside the house. Nina began getting a mental thought if she should have him over. At least just for today.
"You lookin' for someone Lady Spooky?" Sad Eyes asked behind her making her jump in surprise.
"What?" Nina squeaked. "Nah, nah, I'm not looking for anyone," she answered before closing the door behind her. Gabriel even asked her where they could put the gifts they got her. She smiled before telling him to put them down on the table where the rest of her gifts were.
"If you're thinking of inviting him over, don't," Sad Eyes said as Nina turned to face him. "He says he doesn't want to ruin your special day by being here," he added and hearing so made Nina frown.
"It's not like he could ruin my day just being here," Nina mumbled looking up at his height. Him and Johann had to be the same height.
"Well, we tried telling him that but he insisted so I suggest you just let him be," Sad Eyes tells her softly but suddenly Nina's mood had fallen just a little. "But there is a party later tonight. It was originally for you but one of the homies got out today so we figured to just throw one anyways."
Nina smiled a little. "I got guests over but I'll think about it."
All of a sudden, her guests began surrounding her as they started singing her Happy Birthday. Out of all the people, the twins slowly approached her carrying a cake with the candles already lit. Victoria followed and walked up to stand beside her to place a blue party hat on her head.
She places a kiss on her cheek and continued singing. Everyone in the room singing to her warmed her heart. Both her Washington Heights and Freeridge family were there before her and she really couldn't be happier.
"¡Cumpleaños Feliz! ¡Cumpleaños Feliz! ¡Te deseamos todos! ¡Cumpleaños Feliz!"
"Make a wish Suenito," Victoria whispered to her. Nina gives her a smile, forever grateful of what her sister and friends did for her. She couldn't want anything more. But as she closed her eyes she made one more wish and blew out her candles making everyone cheer. This was probably Nina's best day ever.
-
"I have the perfect idea!" Leah jumped up from the couch. Everyone was just about done eating up Nina's cake and now everyone was full and slightly tired from all the dancing. Leah kept dancing the entire day, with Nina, her friends, even with Gabriel from the Santos. Everyone watched her and all the boys swooned seeing her move about.
What people couldn't believe was even with all that dancing, she still had so much energy.
"Time Bomb," was all Leah said making perking Nina, Tony, and Victoria up. Both Johann and Joel groaned while the rest of the teens in the living room were curious to find out what Leah meant.
"Time bomb? Is that some sort of game?" Monse asked lying down on Cesar's lap who was also seated on the floor.
"Rules are simple. You place your bets and put them in a plastic bottle," Leah began. "When everyone places their bets, you put the bottle at the end of the road while all those who place their bets move to the other end of the road-"
"You all basically race towards the bottle. Winner gets to keep all the cash," Tony continued making Leah nod in agreement. "Whoever places the first bet sets a limit. So if I'm the first to bet and I bet $10 then everyone else has to bet $10 or above," he added.
"If you place a bet then that automatically makes you compete," Victoria explained as well.
"Then why is it called Time Bomb?" Jamal asked looking at the older people in the living room.
"Cos we were kids who felt like living on the edge and we used to play this on a busy street when all the cars would stop against the stop light," Nina laughed as she explained.
"You were racing against the timed stop light," Cesar pointed out which made Nina nod in confirmation. "If y'all couldn't beat the time then that means-"
Johann imitated the sound of a crashing car and an explosion. "Time Bomb," he said slowly for dramatic effect.
"That shit sounds dangerous," Monse pointed out looking at the adults like they were crazy.
"Eventually we did it on an empty block cos Joel nearly got hit one time," Leah explained causing Joel to glare. He couldn't exactly talk because the twins and Bella were passed out on him as he laid on the floor not far from Cesar.
"Question?" Ruby raised his finger. "Can I just bet but not compete?"
"I don't see why not?" Leah shrugged her shoulders looking at Ruby who sat in between Jamal and Jasmine.
"Okay, then my money's on Tony," Ruby said which started a commotion in the living room. Both Victoria and Joel kept shushing them unless they wanted two grumpy kids and a grumpy puppy then they were all going to get it.
Monse and Cesar placed their bets on Nina while the remainder of them placed their bets on Tony making the rest of Nina's group roll their eyes. Even though it seemed like a good idea but Tony won most of the time given that this was his expertise.
"With everyone betting, I guess we're doing this then," Leah grinned before turning to Nina. "What do you say birthday girl?" she asked with a smirk.
Nina sighed and thought about it for a moment. "Why not?" she said with a shrug making Johann and Joel groan once again.
"Y'all feed me cake and Corona and expect me to take my long ass legs and run this entire block?" Johann argued.
"Can no one see that I literally covered by three babies? I can't move," Joel whisper yelled making everyone laugh at the two guys.
"Betting starts at $20," Nina nodded at them.
"Whoah, whoah, who said you could take first bet?" Tony argued gesturing to Nina who sat beside him.
"It's my birthday," Nina shrugged. "Afraid Imma beat your ass, Rosario?" she challenged with a smirk.
"All of you know that I win every single time anyway," Tony replied smugly causing Nina roll her eyes playfully.
Victoria placed her kids and Bella in her room as she went to find an empty bottle. The bets went around the living room and before they all knew it they headed outside to place the bottle right in the middle of the street between the Garcia-Santiago house and the Santos trap house. All the adults and the Santos in the room looked at the kids weirdly as they all made their way outside.
The young teenagers were in charge of giving a countdown as Nina and her group of friends walked over to end of the road. They all had underestimated the length of the road. Cesar had explained to Sad Eyes what the hell Nina and her friends were doing and at one point Oscar came outside to check what was the commotion all about.
"The hell is going on?" He asked Sad Eyes as him and the other homies crossed the street.
"I don't know homie," Sad Eyes replied honestly with a shrug. "But they're all gonna run to get that bottle with the cash," he tried explaining pointing at the bottle full of greens in the middle of the street.
All in all what happened was pretty crazy. When the six of them were given the go signal, they all bolted toward the bottle at the end of the road. They all suddenly thought about how much they had regretted this decision. But Nina couldn't give less of a fuck about her sister and friends trailing behind her.
Tony was leading with Nina right behind him. They were eventually neck and neck to each other. Fortunately, Nina was lucky enough to win this round. But with her and Tony being so close to each other, when Nina grabbed the bottle Tony fell on top of her causing them to roll a little further down the street sending everyone gasping and laughing.
"Oh my God, are you okay?" Tony asked trying to contain his laughter as he hovered above her.
"I feel fucking fantastic!" Nina laughed loudly at herself. No one got hurt but Nina kept laughing and flipping Tony off in her victory.
-
Everyone had left and the twins were already passed out in Victoria's room along with Bella. As old times began to resurface, the six of them were on the roof drinking the remaining Coronas as they looked over to the Santos party right across the street. Nina kept looking at Oscar who was manning the grill. He had that stupid towel hanging from his belt and all Nina could think of was how cute he looked being all MasterChef mode again.
"Why'd the Santos keep calling you Lady Spooky?" Joel asked looking at Nina. "I'm assuming it's cos your Spooky's Lady. So who's Spooky?"
"¡Sí! ¡Sí! ¡Dónde está tu novio?" Leah asked before taking a sip of her corona.
Tony felt a pang of jealousy in his chest. "He's her ex. He's the bald one in the backyard."
"They're all bald, puto!" Johann said making all of them laugh. Victoria choked on her drink and Nina kept laughing as her sister was coughing. But she ended up helping her by patting her on the back.
"You see the one by the grill?" Nina pointed as the three of her friends looked. "The one in the gray shirt with a black long sleeved undershirt? That's him," she said before taking a drink of her beer.
"Damn!" They all cooed except Tony.
"Holy shit, Nina! You got your own papi chulo!" Leah kept nudging her. "I could totally see you getting freaky with him," Nina laughed at Leah, no doubt she was already tipsy but this was her 24/7.
"Lol, there was this one time I heard them across the street-"
"¡Cállate!" Nina seethed looking at her sister who was already bright red from the alcohol as well. Their friends reacted to the idea of Nina getting it on with a cholo. It took them by complete surprise cos they would never imagine Nina being with someone like him nor did they imagine her getting freaky like that. That demure girl back in Washington Heights was still there but she grew up a lot.
"And who was I dancing with awhile ago?" Leah asked leaning into Nina a little.
"Gabriel," Nina answered pointing to the cholo who was behind the bar getting another drink. Nina knew that Gabriel was pussy-whipped the moment he had set his eyes on Leah. And when they started dancing, Gabriel knew that he may have just met the love of his life.
"Alright that's it! Imma go crash that party. Joel come with me," Leah said standing up. Joel didn't seem to mind so he stood up as well. The rest of the watched as they jumped off the roof and made their way over to the house across the street.
"Damn, I can't believe Spooky made us come all the way here and I didn't even know who he looked like," Johann smiled taking another sip. But his words caused Nina to turn to him.
"What did you say?" Nina furrowed her eyebrows at them as Tony and Victoria shared a look.
"You didn't know?" Johann's eyes grew wide as Tony and Victoria glared at him. "Were we not supposed to tell her?" Johann's voice became more quiet as Tony and Victoria gave him a disapproving look. Nina looked back at her sister and Tony in disbelief.
"You know maybe crashing that party doesn't sound like a bad idea. I'll see you guys later," Johann laughed awkwardly before standing up and jumping off the roof to get to the other side as well.
"What is Johann talking about? What did Oscar have to do with them coming here?" Nina turned to Victoria and Tony who only sighed as they avoided contact. Victoria took it upon herself to start explaining.
"It was his idea from the very beginning to invite them over for your birthday," Victoria began. "But just full disclosure, this was before you guys broke up. We talked about it when we went to Disneyland over the holidays," she continued.
"He helped in planning everything. Heck, I even got him to talk to Tony about it," Victoria looked at Nina who was still in disbelief of what she was hearing.
"We've been planning this for awhile and V and I were just the coordinators. He even pitched in a little for their flights," Tony explained but when those words came out of his mouth Victoria smacked his shoulder.
"Okay he pitched in a lot for the flights," Tony corrected making Victoria slap him again.
"Oscar paid for their flights?!?" Nina raised her voice as Victoria cursed Tony. She really wasn't supposed to know. All of a sudden Nina stood up herself and jumped off the roof.
"Nina, where are you going?" Victoria called out to her.
"I'm crashing the goddamn party."
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY NINA!!! Lol jk jk. This was supposed to be up sooner but oh welp. I hope y'all are doing great. We are only half way through this book so there is a lot MOOOORRRE coming up I am telling you 😉😉😉
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