La Reyna de León (Queen of León)

Chapter 23

The next morning was Mr.Ortega's funeral service. It is being held at the church in town. Luis and I haven't seen each other since last night. I could hear him crying from my room last night. He told me he wanted to be alone. My uncle, Alex, and Diego got here in the morning. I told them what happened.
I forced myself up from my bed. I went into my closet and changed into black skinny jeans, black shirt, and a black leather jacket. I put my hair in a ponytail and just grab my sunglasses. I didn't feel like putting on makeup. I wait for my uncle in the living room. Luis, his mom, and Fernanda were already at the church.
My uncle come to the living room.
"You ready?" He said. I give him a nod and get up. He take one of the Escalades and we drive of to the church. I honestly didn't know what would happen. Or if I could handle it. What if there were cops there who would recognize me and know who I am. I would just have to keep my sunglasses on.
I breathe in and out slowly. Calming myself down as we get out of the car. We go inside the church and I see a lot of people have come to the service. Good thing none recognize who i was. I see Luis and his family in the first front row seat.
Veronica saved us a seat near the front row. I sit in between my uncle and Veronica. I notice an old woman staring at me intensely. She didn't take her eyes off of me. She was sitting in the same row as Luis's family. I guess she was his grandma.
The service begins. All the time I couldn't help but think about Emiliano killing Mr.Ortega.
Now was the time for the family members to go up to say their last goodbyes.
Luis and his sister are the first to go up. They place a rose on his chest. Luis's face was stone cold while Fernanda's was wet with tears. Then his mother came up and started crying.
"I'll always love you." She said. Then moved out of the way.
Luis's grandma came up to the coffin. She set some stuff down on his chest. She was crying as well. Luis grabbed her from falling because she was shaking so much. Then she turns around and looks at me.
"You killed him!!!! You killed my son!!!! This is all your fault. You should have died not my son." She yelled at me point lying with her finger. All I do is stare. Yes I did take it as a threat. But she didn't know that I tried to save him. Luis pulls her away and whispers something into her ear as they sat down.

We all started walking down to the graveyard. It was a tradition to walk to the graveyard to bury the dead. It was pretty far away from the church. Mr. Ortega's brothers and Luis carry his coffin to the graveyard. I couldn't imagine having to carry your parent to be buried. Surely I couldn't.
We arrive at the grave spot. They start to set him inside the hole.
Luis has a hold of his grandma and his mother so they don't go in the hole with him.
People start to shovel dirt on top of his grave. I was jealous of him. He didn't have to worry about the problems of life anymore.
Then I see Mr. Ortega's ghost standing near Luis. He kept staring at me. He had a hole in his head and a chunk of his head was missing. He looked exactly the way he did when I last saw him. Was he real? I start to breath in and out heavily. No he was dead. I grab a hold of my uncles hand. He stared at me concerned.
"Do you see him?" I asked.
He looks up
"No are you ok?" He asked.
There are voices in my head. Echoing back and forth in my head. Saying It was all your fault.
"Shut up" I whisper to myself. I hold my ears to shut the noise and close my eyes tightly. Then I look up again. He was gone and so were the voices.
"Mija, are you ok?" My uncle asked.
"Yeah I'm fine now." I said. He held me with one of his hands and kissed me on my head.
People were still at his grave but I went to my parents grave by my house. The graveyard and my parents grave at my ascienda weren't that far away from each other. I needed to just a walk away from the commotion. I told my uncle to go on to the house. I would walk on there.
I crouch down on the grass near my family's graves.
"I need you so much. I miss you guys so much. I'm so lost." I said crying. I meant every word. I had to think of a way to get Emiliano.
From a distance I heard footsteps. I look back and see it was Luis. I was surprised since his father just died. I would imagine he would be with his family.
"Can I sit!" He said.
"Yeah." I said faintly.
"You alright. I saw you freak out." He asked. I though it was just my uncle who noticed my breakdown.
"Yeah I'm fine now. I just saw your dad all covered in blood. There were voices in my head say it was all my fault. I wouldn't blame you if you were mad at me." I said.
"No your wrong. I'm not mad at you. I know you tried to save him. I finally understood why you didn't take me. You were protecting me too. Because that's what both do. Protect each other." He said. He smiled and then looked at my parents graves.
"Sorry about my grandma. She doesn't like cartels. Or leaders in general." He said.
"It's ok. Can I ask why?" I said.
He sighed.
"My grandfather was a cop too. My dad was training with him. This was when you dad was starting his cartel. Your dad was about 18 years old. My dad 20. My grandfather was going after him. Your dad didn't like that. One day, my uncle was going to arrest you dad. But he ended up getting held hostage." He said. So I guess our families had a lot of history with each other. Not in a good one anyway. Just like how Mr. Ortega was after me.
"Your dad killed my grandfather. Shortly after that he gained a lot of power and so did the cartel." He said.
"I didn't know that." I said.
"I mean how could you. You and I weren't even there. My dad promised to go after them. But his other colleagues were to scared or were part of it. He could really do much. Then then the 12th street cartel took over. People don't really like them. Also don't really fear them as much as they did to your family's cartel." He said. All this connected. I didn't know what to say. Just to stay in silence.