Malibu | j. parker

veintiocho

By the time Reina had finished the park mural, the sun had already set and the kids were actually happy with it. A few people found it weird that a random, rich, Hispanic family was helping out in Crenshaw, but also didn't really care for them enough to question it.  The entire park altogether was looking brighter and more appropriate for children. It was also a little safer because the adults had fixed any thing that was loose or sticking out; they got rid of all of the safety hazards. 

Everyone had started cleaning up and taking back the materials they had brought, so the Zavala family was reunited again even though they've been in the same park for hours.  "Podemos conseguir hamburguesas con queso?  Tengo hambre."  Casimiro groaned, despite eating four slices of pizza, hot wings and pretzels a few hours prior.

"Sí, Casi pero cuando estamos terminando con esto."  Eladio explained, earning a sigh from the seven-year-old who reluctantly continued to help his family clean up. 

The park was now mostly empty, but it went from being relatively quiet to everyone crowding in one spot where yelling was coming from.  Growing curious, the rest of the people, including the Zavalas, gravitated towards the crowd and the noise.  it wasn't that hard to figure out what was happening considering the group that was arguing was decked out in white and red, and both sides were relatively well-built. That and a couple of the guys had a bunch of tattoos. 

Fabiola and Eladio both grew up in Mexico, so they were a lot more accustomed to gang violence, whereas their children were privileged enough to go up in Beverly Hills their entire lives and not have to experience any of that. They realized what was going on fairly quickly and made sure the kids stayed behind them knowing that arguments tend to escalate pretty quickly. Mid argument, Spencer ran up and placed himself between the two men in the center that were going head to head.

"Van a pelear?" Casimiro quietly asked, holding onto Eladio's hand while keeping himself somewhat hidden behind his leg.

However, his question was answered when moments later, every man on each side pulled out a gun and pointed it at one another. "Oh, nope. Let's go get cheeseburgers now, sí? You all can get an ice cream sundae too." Fabiola told the three, ushering the girls out of the basketball court as Eladio turned around to pick up Casimiro and carry him away.

Casimiro couldn't help but look back to the basketball court over his dad's shoulder, too curious for his own good as he asked, "Is something bad going to happen like in the movies?"

"Maybe, mijo. If something does happen, you guys don't need to see that and we can't let you guys get hurt." Eladio responded, opening the back door to put Casi in his booster seat, which he's only going to need for a few more months.

Eladio pulled out of the parking lot once everyone was settled into their seat, and started driving to look for a diner or burger joint that looked appealing. In the backseat, Mariposa was texting Olivia, making sure she was okay and that she was going to get home safe. She also got a text from JJ asking how the park cleanup went and the two soon drifted off to talking about whatever popped up. Their conversations were very random, especially after not having seen each other for over 24 hours.

"Oh, they have curly fries here."

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