Unexpected 3: Alonso, Gone

Chapter 13: Late, again

Luca & Street's House, Thursday, 7am

Luca was fixing himself a bowl of Cheerios, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. He was so tired and sleepy that thinking about cooking a hot breakfast already felt exhausting. Basically the only reason he didn't just buy his coffee was because he was saving up some money for his big trip with Terry next month. Period.

He set his bowl in the counter, and turned to grab his favorite mug when he suddenly felt sleepier and sleepier, his eyelids coming down hard, until he... couldn't...zzz

The door swung opened making Luca jumped out of his skin. He quickly calmed down as he saw Street coming in with his backpack. "Dude, you scared the hell outta me!" Luca complained, holding on to his chest pretending to get a heart attack.

Street just grinned. "Were you falling asleep over the counter, again?" he giggled to himself, "Luca, bro, I told you, a man of your age needs plenty of sleep."

"Bro, you better stop with the old man speech!" he said as they greeted each other and wrestled softly. Luca managed to grab Street's head on a choke hold.

"Alright, alright!" Jim said giving up. Luca let go of him, but Jim swiftly went for the plate of Cheerios.

"Heeeey!" complained Luca, "Not cool, dude. Not cool."

Both grabbed a mug and served themselves coffee. Meanwhile, Jim kept munching on the cereal.

"So...you got court today, huh?" Luca said sitting on one of the high stools

"Yeah...I'm between excited and terrified." Street said with a wide grin, as he joined his housemate in the counter. Truth was that he hardly had any sleep. He was exhausted but his mind was racing at the speed of light.

"As long as you play it cool, you'll be alright. I'm excited for the kid. Have you talked to him lately?"

"Yeah, after my first visit, I called three times a day. I became so annoying that the guard even stopped greeting me." he made a paused as he chewed and swallowed, "He's okay now. Since that incident when a guy stabbed another guy in the cell next to him, he's been okay. He went on a hunger strike, you remember that I told you?"

"Yeah, yeah" Luca said as he nodded. He hadn't served another bowl of cereal, he was just too tired to.

"Well, I spoke to him after that and got him to eat a little."

"Did he get arraigned?" Luca asked carefully, he knew how much this kid meant to Street.

Jim nodded his head with a saddened face. "Judge denied any possible ROR (Released on recognizance) since he had already ran away. But Alex is such a great attorney, he convinced the judge to keep him in a covenant house with other homeless kids and troubled youth, just until sentencing. He still has to wear an ankle bracelet and he can't leave the house. He absolutely hates it, but I managed to convince him to wait it out, til I got the judge to sign him over."

"He's on board with that?"

Street was a puzzled by Luca's question, who by now was placing his mug in the sink. "If you mean Rubio, yeah. He's more excited than me! The judge on the other hand, not so sure. Yesterday night Sanchez told me this particular judge does all kinds of research and is very meticulous before signing any papers."

"Dang it. Well..." Luca said as he stopped next to Street, who now joined him in the kitchen. "How about Chris? She sleeping alright after the panic attack?"

"Yeah, I had a heart to heart with her. It'll be ok. Actually" both men headed for their respective rooms, continuing their conversation as they looked for clothes and got ready to head out. "physically speaking, she is getting better so quickly, even the nurse told me there's a high possibility that if today's labs turn out clear, they might consider releasing her earlier than expected, so she can get better at her place."