Red Roses ~Marcus Lopez Arguello

Prolouge: Little Red

San Francisco, December 1977

The third punch in the gut has Scarlett curled up in a ball on the floor catching her breath. Her 11-year-old brother is standing above her still in his fighting stance.

"Scarlett, you need to stop reusing the same moves. If you keep doing that, your brother will continue to beat you down like this." Her father comes to help her up. "Mija, try a left hook, feint with your right but then go back with your left." her father whispers in her ear as her older brother Rory drinks water.

They both get into a fighting stance and as soon as their father blows his whistle, Rory takes up the offense. Scarlett is backed into a corner until she lands a jab on his side. While he's stunned, Scarlett hits him with a left hook, hitting his jaw nicely. She was gonna hit him again but he dodged hitting her right in her stomach. Scarlett falls to the floor, coughing and on the verge of tears.

"Jesus Letty," Rory whispers under his breath.

Her father excuses Rory out of the room and walks up to his daughter. "You didn't do what I said."

Scarlett turns slightly towards her dad "I know. I still would've lost." 7-year-old Scarlett stares at her father. "I can't beat him." She sniffles. "It's not fair."

Her father looks at her and sighs. "You just need to work harder. There's this new school I'm taking you to. It's a school that's gonna help you. You're gonna learn, and be the best fighter in my studio."

"Will I be as good as Rory?"

"You'll be better."

March 1978

Her knee shakes violently as one of her father's men drops her off in front of a meat shop. He escorts the confused girl out of the car and she's greeted by an older man in a suit. He bends down, eye level with the girl, and reaches his hand out for her to shake. Hesitant, she shakes his hand and while she does he greets the little girl. "Hello Scarlett, your father told me a bit about you. I'm Master Lin, your new teacher."

•••

Throughout the entire tour, Scarlett just stood bored with it, she understood that this campus was meant for kids older than her. Once the tour concludes, she confronts Lin. "Not to sound rude, but what am I supposed to learn here? This campus is clearly not for me."

He continues to walk in front of the girl, them now heading a little south, away from campus bounds. "We recently opened an enrichment program for the younger 'Creative Problem Solvers'. Majority of these students I recruited myself, as I understood their potential."

They finally made it to an almost exact replica of the school, except this campus was a lot smaller. He opens the door and a few kids are scattered throughout the room. They paused their movements and looked towards the two who stood at the door.

He directs her to the group. "This is where you'll be learning until you reach the age of 11, your first year of middle school." Scarlett looks at all the students and makes eye contact with another girl, her black hair slightly covering an eye, yet her stare stays intense. "Welcome, Scarlett Delgado, to Kings Dominion."

•••

Kings Dominion, November 1982

Scarlett holds a firm grip on her lunch tray and a brown paper bag full of brownies, walking towards her table with the Hessians. As she passes by Chico's table he drags the girl towards the group, changing her direction. He wraps an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a side hug. He ruffled her hair and smiled slightly. "I'm assuming you guys know my sister." he waves a hand toward the girl beside him. "She sells the best brownies."