Then & Now [OMB || Cesar Diaz]

now - 10

"He completely embarrassed me in front of Ronnie and challenged him to fight in front of my whole neighborhood and my dad!" Layla angrily told Danna.

"What an asshole!" Danna scoffed.

Layla rolled her eyes and fell back against Danna's bed, picking up her phone and scrolling through her and Ronnie's conversation. He hasn't texted her back since the morning after homecoming and she doubt he would ever again. If Cesar's goal was to scare him away, then he obviously succeeded because Ronnie left her on read two days ago.

That was a message within itself.

"I️ told him I️ never wanted to see him again," Layla suddenly says, catching Danna's attention. "And threatened to call the cops on him."

"Woah..." Danna breathed out. "You okay?" She asked her.

Layla looks up at her and shakes her head before bursting into tears. "Please tell me this gets way better in college," she cried against her friend's shoulder.

"It does!" Danna reassures her by rubbing her arm comfortingly. "Daniela says you meet all kinds of guys in college from every different part of Cali and the country coming from all different walks of life. She said it's refreshing yet sometimes frustrating getting to know someone who didn't grow up around all this."
Danna then pulls away to look at her. "But are you sure you could handle being away from Cesar?" She finally asks.

"Not everything is about him," Layla says bitterly. She then gets up and grabs her stuff. "I'm gonna go...I️ have some homework to catch up on," she announces. Danna stands and walks her to the door, giving her a fierce hug. "Text you later," she waved goodbye as she head out the door and makes her way to her home.

Layla was so confused...about Cesar, about her feelings towards him. She couldn't distinguish her emotions about him and it was incredibly frustrating. He was smart, book wise and street wise. Loyal to a fault and fiercely protective. Witty and hilarious. Not to mention, incredibly handsome.

But he was also reckless and impulsive, with a short temper and always feeling like he has something to prove. Could be annoyingly over confident and his gang leader status only made his head bigger, making him believe he was the ruler of their little corner of Los Angeles.

And she loved him either way. She knew that. But as she grows older, she's starting to realize that love isn't what the media has portrayed it, with their big romantic gestures and fairytale endings. It was so messy and wonderful, painful yet lovely.

It was...bittersweet.

Layla, deep in her thoughts, had failed to realize that a purple car has been following her for last six minutes, ever since she crossed the street out of Santos territory. But as soon the driver stepped on the brakes right besides her, the sudden screech of the car coming to a halt was enough to break her out of her trance and look over to her left, startled.

"Get her guey!" She heard someone yell, making her scream as she tried to run but it was too late. A tall, lean member of the gang jumped in front of her, stopping her in her tracks, leaving from a larger member to grab her from behind and pick her up, making her shriek as tries to wiggle out of his strong, sweaty grip. Unluckily for her, it was dusk and most folks were inside her home. She hoped her screaming had at least alerted them but they but a hand over her mouth as soon as they shut the door to the car.

"Drive!" The guy in the passenger side ordered before looking behind to meet Layla's fearful eyes. "Don't worry nena, we're not here to hurt you. We just needed to do something that'll catch Cesar's attention," he explained. "But you act up in anyway and we just might be forced to ," he threatened. Layla blinks through her tears as they pulled up to an abandoned house.

No doubt it was a trap house.

Layla yelped in surprise when one of the guys yanked her by the arm to get her out of the car and dragged her into the house. They sat her down on a old, dusty couch and one guy sat next to her, pointing a gun at her. "Don't do nothing stupid," their leader, Cuete, threatened. "Give me your phone," he demands. She pulls it out from her back back pocket and hands it to him. He snatches it away from her and scrolls through her contacts until he finds who he was looking for, dialing their number.

"Cesar...let's talk business," she watches as he talks on the phone. "Well I needed to do something to get your attention, since you stopped taking my calls. I figured there was always gonna be once person you would answer to," he looks at her now. "She's alive. For now. Hear for yourself," he now hands the phone to her. "Take it," he whispers harshly, making her hastily grab the phone and put it up next to her ear.

"Cesar," her voice sounded unsteady.

"Layla, are you okay? Where are you? Did they hurt you?" He rapidly asks, his tone filled with worry and concern.

"I'm okay but...Cesar I'm scared," she admits tearfully.

"I'm coming, I️ promise-"

"That's enough!" Cuete takes the phone away from her. "You got one day to give up the streets we asked for and $100,000 or else your bitch ends up in the ground next to Cuchillos," he says, making her cry even harder. "And don't even think about involving 12 like you did with the Prophets," he warns before ending the call, pocketing her phone in his pocket.

Layla started to panicking at the mention of Cuchillos. . Cesar told her all the grueling details about the former Santos leader who was ruthlessly murdered in the forest by 19th Street. The fact that Cuete mentioned it means he was serious and that is what made this whole thing a lot more real and scarier to her.

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Oh naurrrrr 😩