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valeria frowned at the solemn look that rested on cesar's face as she secured his tie, "do you think she's okay?" she asked, worrying about how monse was taking the death of her mother.
"i think so. she seemed fine, but maybe she's just in denial." cesar shrugged his shoulders and looked up when he saw ray enter his bedroom.
"hi dad." valeria greeted with a small smile turning her head to look back at him. "hey, i like the thing you did with your eyes, real creative. it looks good."
"awe, thank you. this is nothing i have so many looks saved on my phone i can show you when we get back."
cesar and ray shared a smile at her excitement before he nodded his head, "sounds good. do you mind if i talk to cesar alone for minute?"
"no, of coarse not. go ahead." valeria patted the unfinished knot and allowed ray to take over before she exited out of the room to finish getting ready for the funeral.
•••
"cheesecake, cream puffs, chocolate cake, cookies and a—"
"cesar. would you stop she's clearly not hungry." monse sent valeria a thankful smile.
"i was just trying to help."
"i know and i appreciate you for that but, really i'm fine." monse reassured placing her hand on top of his.
"we're all fine, until we die."
"ruby, come on, man." cesar said, shaking his head at the glooming boy. "-come on what?"
valeria looked at ruby in distaste and leaned forward, "use your inside voice. what the hell is wrong with you?"
ruby rolled his eyes and met her gaze, "like you don't know. but exactly, we should all be listening to that inner voice. that voice that tells us that we're not good enough, and we're never gonna make it out of freeridge, and even if we do get out, we'll probably end up offing ourselves like. -like monse's mom."
valeria's mouth dropped as he had the audacity to continue. "now, i don't know what we're waiting for. maybe we should do it now, while we still look good in our caskets right?"
standing up valeria quickly snatched his arm and dragged him outside, shutting the door behind them. "i should slap the shit out of you. monse's mom just died and she needs us to be there for her and you say that shit. what the hell is your problem?!"
"i don't know maybe it's the fact that my girlfriend broke up with me, i almost died and i got people watching me every where i go. should i go on?"
"okay, first of all it was a mutual break up-"
"mutual break up my ass." he muttered, "and anyways i'm sick of pretending that everything is fine when it's not."
"ruby, i get you're going through it, but we all are. the world doesn't revolve around you and the sooner you realize that, the better you'll be." valeria stated giving him a disappointed look before heading back inside.
•••
valeria and cesar stayed with monse until the end of the funeral even offering to help her pack up which she denied, insisting they head home since it was getting late.
"why are you just standing there like a weirdo?" valeria asked oscar with a small laugh as the two siblings walked into the house.
"i gotta tell you guys something. take a seat."
valeria and cesar shared a weird look before following his directions and taking a seat.
"so, what's up?" cesar asked wiping his hands on his pants.
oscar ran his hand over his jaw and sighed. "dad left."
her heart sinked to the bottom of her chest, everything was going so good for him here she couldn't believe he would just up and leave like that. "what? no. dad wouldn't leave just like that."
"you barely know him val."
"what did you do?" cesar asked standing up and taking steps towards his brother's tall frame. "i didn't do shit."
"-exactly. you didn't do shit. you could have helped him find a new job or something. but instead you chose not to."
"-i don't have that kind of power."
"bullshit!" valeria snapped receiving a warning glare, "hey! watch how you speak to me."
"don't talk to her like that." cesar defended, "i bet this makes you so happy."
"-happy? i'm your brother. and for most of your life i've been your dad." he paused taking a look at both of them, "if you're going to be mad at someone, be mad at him. he's the one that up and left. again."
valeria watched as cesar pushed oscar back and he clenched his jaw and tried to bring him in for a hug only for cesar to repeat the action again and again. "monse was right. you are cursed."
"cesar." valeria called out recognizing how much those words stung but she was only ignored as he continued. "everything bad that has happened to me is because of you." he spat, hitting him where it hurts the most before he walked away, slamming his bedroom door behind him making oscar flinch as his eyes watered.
