The Kick Back

New Blood

As soon as Mateo entered the room, Stephanie left to give us some privacy. He sat down and stared at me without speaking for a few moments. Then he asked, "How are you feeling, mijo?" I looked at him, confused and irritated. I didn't know this dude from a can of paint and here he was sitting with me, protecting me. I had no knowledge of him other than what Stephanie had told me. He knew my father and that was cool but that still didn't quite explain why he had been looking out for me the way that he did.

"I know you have a lot of questions." he said, starting his explanation. "The truth is, me and Stephanie have a relationship, I've looked out for her since she was a child." he told me. I was becoming increasingly irritated and more confused than ever. "None of this shit is tellin me who you are, man. All I know is that you was in that ambulance with me and now you're here. You been keepin my whereabouts a secret and I don't even know why you would stretch yourself so far to protect me. I feel like everybody is bullshittin me and I wanna know the truth. Somebody needs to start tellin me the truth." I said, angrily but in a calm tone.

He chuckled and looked down at the floor. "You're a lot like your father in that way. He was stubborn as hell and when he wanted to know somethin, you just had to tell him. It's like he didn't give you a choice." he said, still laughing. I sucked my teeth. "I don't wanna hear about that motherfucker right now. As far as I'm concerned, we don't have shit in common or shit to talk about." I told him. He sighed. "Well, I understand that you're angry because of the man he was but your Dad is a really good guy now. He's trying to get his life together." he told me, I shook my head. "After he ruined mine and my Moms, and my sisters, now he wants to get his life together. Let's give the man a certificate of achievement." I said in a smart tone.

"Let's get right down to the facts, okay. I see you're gonna be stubborn as hell about your father so let me explain this situation to you. I'm your father's younger brother...half brother, but a brother. See we have the same father, but different mothers. The initial idea was to keep my distance because he didn't wanna introduce anything new into you and Gabrielle's life." he explained. I was pissed. Where in the hell were all of these secrets coming from and why did people feel the need to hide so much? "Half brother?" I asked, in disbelief. I couldn't believe that my father would keep an Uncle from me and my siblings. "So what was wrong with you that he felt like he needed to hide you from everybody?" I asked. "It's hard to explain. I'll let him tell you that story." he replied.

__________________________________

After another two weeks in the hospital and two more weeks of in patient physical therapy, they released me. I was happy to be out and even more happy to not have to be exposed to hospital food and bed pans that they would sometimes take too long to empty. I stood in the bathroom alone, shirtless, staring at the bandaged wound underneath my chest. It took everything in me not to break down right then and there. I had been avoiding looking at what had been done to me. I didn't wanna face my injury. For so long, I had been Mr. Untouchable and for the first time ever, I had been touched and nearly killed. I pulled the wound cleaning kit I received at the hospital out of the cabinet. They had been showing me how to keep in clean in order for it to heal properly and I had it down to a science. The only thing I couldn't stand about it was the burning sensation it sent through my body. It was almost unbearable.

I removed the old bandage and stared at the wound in the mirror. I poured the solution over it slow and caught it with a towel. I started to pat it dry, slowly, trying to avoid the pain that it normally gave me. It was healing, so it wasn't as bad as it was at first. I couldn't hide the fact that I was angry, afraid, and more than anything I wanted revenge. Another part of me wanted to leave the situation alone and be satisfied with what was. Vince had obviously fled and it seemed like there was nothing for me to worry about. I rebandaged the wound and threw my shirt back on. I made my way out of the bathroom and into the living room. I sat down on the couch and my Mom entered the room.

"Do you need something, Antonio?" she asked. Normally she would be too drunk to even ask but that day, she was sober and alert. It was as if me being shot was changing things. I didn't know whether to be grateful or concerned. I was so used to the way things were that even when they started to get better, I couldn't embrace it. "I don't need anything. Thanks, though." I said. She walked over to me and sat down. She started to rub my back. "I need you to do something for me when you get better, carino." she told me. I looked up at her, wondering what possible favor she could want from me aside from running to the liquor store and getting her a pint of liquor.

"What is it, Ma?" I asked her with a slight irritation in my voice. She teared up and grabbed a hold of my hand. "I'm gonna go to rehab. I made the decision while you were in the hospital. I owe you guys better and you deserve better. And I wanna fight for Alisa, Miguel, and Luis. They deserve to know their family and they deserve to know you. You're a great son and a great brother. And if anything ever happened to me, I would love to know that you were the one taking care of them. I can't do this for the rest of my life, baby." she confessed. My eyes had welled up with tears before I knew it. Not only was I proud, but I was happy that she had decided to do that for us.

"Thank you." was all I could muster before the tears came streaming down my face. "Make sure your sister is taken care and going to school next month. Make sure you go as well. I need you both to do better than me." she said, kissing me on my cheek. I felt like I had my mother back but only time would tell. I didn't get too excited because there had been times before that she said she would quit and she fell right back off the wagon. For some reason though, I felt like she was serious.

"I'll hold it down, mami. Te amo." I smiled. She grabbed me and held me tight. I missed her and I could tell that she missed me. From that day forward, I knew that things were going to be different and I had to readjust and release some of the anger that I had. I had to learn to be a father figure to Gabby while Moms was going through this. I also had to be her support system and I was more than willing to do that.

We were interrupted by a news broadcast on the TV. We immediately turned our attention to it, because anytime that flashed across the screen, we had to be prepared for whether or not it was someone that we knew. The news reporter appeared in front of the alley where I had been confronted by Vince and there was yellow tape around the dumpster. "The body of the sole suspect in the shooting of a seventeen year old boy was found near the area where the shooting occurred..." Everything else he said fell on muted ears. I felt as if I had become deaf, I couldn't hear anything else. I knew in that moment that I was going to have another run in with the police and more drama was going to unfold. Before I could calm down from the news, the doorbell rang...