Another Lifetime

Chapter 44:

Monse's POV:
"Are you stupid?! You got out the life and you're trying to go back?" My dad yells. "I'm trying to keep things balanced. You think the Reinas people are losing money?" I remind him. "So you tell Cesar, you don't start a gang!" My dad says. "I did. He didn't care." I tell him and he looks upset. "Yeah, I expected more from him too." I shrug. "Doesn't matter. You and Mona come first and if I even hear someone talking about starting the Prophets again I'm getting you out." He says. "So now you wanna be a real dad?" I ask. "I tried Monse. I wasn't the best dad but I tried." He picks up Maverick and goes back to their room. "Your grandpa's dramatic as hell." I tell Mona but I feel bad for talking to him like that. If I can't be a Prophet, and I can't be a Santo, I have one more option. "Hey Eby, can we talk?" I ask over the phone. "Yeah, I'm at the Reina house." She says.
I pull up and take Mona out of her car seat.
"You brought the baby!" She takes Mona from me right away. "You gotta come over way more." She tells me and I nod. "I was actually thinking the same thing. I wanna get jumped in." I say and Eby's smile fades. "Why the hell would you want that?" She asks. "Lola said something about needing more Santos and Reinas on our side." It's not a total lie. "But you got out." She's looking at me like I'm crazy. "The people I grew up with can barely afford to eat... I gotta do something." I explain. "I warned you what happens if CPS finds out about this shit. I just got visitations with my kid. Do you get how it feels to see your kid for a few hours a week with a social worker watching you?" She asks. "Monse, I'm not gonna stop you, but I'm not gonna let you talk to Venom until you really think about it. Forget everyone who isn't Mona." Eby hand me back my baby. "I'm teaching my baby to be brave and care about other people. Maybe this is a bad idea but at least I can tell Mona I did everything I could." I say and she shakes her head. "Didn't Mav's mom grow up in the system 'cause her parents were in the life? You've seen what that shit does to people." Eby pases Mona back to me, walks in the house, and slams the door. I'm gonna try and convince her to let me talk to Venom but my phone goes off. "Hey." I try not to sound annoyed. "Nineteenth was on our block. They shot up your house." Lola says and I feel numb. "Is my dad ok?" My eyes start watering. "Yeah. He's here with Mav... why didn't I start with that?" She sounds like she can't catch her breath. "I'll be there in a second." I hang up. "Nineteenth shot up my house." I tell the Reinas that are still outside and they don't even take a second to react. They know who I am and they go right to my block.
Cesar's POV:
"Are you ok?" I hug Monse when she gets to my house. "My dad got shot at like two hours ago so no, not really." She just keeps holding on to me. "You guys should stay here tonight." I offer. "There's no room." She points out. "We'll make room." I kiss her cheek. "Cesar, I have to go back eventually." She takes a deep breath. "If it's not safe you have to take Mona. It's only getting worse on my block and she can't stay there." Monse kisses the top of Mona's head. "Don't talk like that. We'll figure it out. I wanna talk to them, see if Nineteenth still want to make a deal." I tell her. "Then what? You go back to screwing us over?" Monse asks. "There's no way any of this is gonna end well and I just want Mona to go where she's safest." No one's ever thought I was the safest option before. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you guys. Not you two, and not the block you grew up on." I promise. "Y'all don't even see what it's like over there. You're never  gonna care 'cause it's always gonna be the Santos against the Prophets." Her eyes are watering but she doesn't let herself cry. "It hasn't been like that since I met you." I remind her. "It hasn't been like that for us but everyone else still sees it like that. They're gonna keep seeing it like that until something really changes." She hands Mona to me and she sits on the couch. "It will." I sit with her. "Prove it." I haven't seen her look at me like that since she found out I was a Santo. "How?" I ask. "Let the Prophets in. Until the Prophets and the Santos are one crew going after the same thing, it's never gonna get better." She tells me but we both know I can't do it. "They'd never go for that. What about someone who's both? Someone who can tie the crews together." I suggest and she nods. "Who?" Monse asks. "You. You're not a Prophet, not a Reina, not a Santo... you're all of us" I smile. "Or none." She laughs under her breath. "You care about all of us. I don't even care about half the Santos." I try to lighten the mood. "Kinda feels like your way of keeping me out of a crew." She says. "Nah, I know you'd never pick one crew. We're all your family." I kiss her and she nods. "Ok." Monse agrees.
I get some Reinas, Santos, and Prophets... pretty much just Monty, over to my house to talk about the plan. "Monse's one of us now. She's gonna help us take care of the people on her side. No one else is gonna die 'cause of us." I announce. "She's not getting jumped in?" Vero asks. "She doesn't have to be. She's not gonna be a Santo, she's just helping us out. Monse stays away from anything that could get her or my daughter hurt." I explain. "This what you want?" Monty asks. "It's the only way I can help everyone and keep Mona safe." She says.