fires and floods. | dominic fike

04

"Celeste!" A random Dominic popped in the dealing room. He was met with only one Diaz lady, and it wasn't the Diaz he came to see. Aleida sat on the couch, organizing her orders for the evening. "Hey Dom. She's not here right now, you just missed her." Aleida spoke.

"Oh. Damn. When's she coming back?" Dominic asked, his excitement evidently depleting.

"Uh probably 20 minutes, give or take. She took the younger kids to the corner store. She'll be back soon, if you wanna sit and wait." Aleida pointed to one of the chairs opposite to the couch she was on. Dominic nodded, but was abruptly stopped by Aleida. "Oh wait! Do you know where we keep our drinks? Go get me a Corona Familiar and you pick whatever you want." Dominic nodded, heading out to the hallway and out into the small kitchen the basement had. He opened the old fridge, peaking down for the beverages. He settled on a coke and went back into the room.

When Dominic sat back down, he handed the beer to Aleida. "I couldn't find a bottle opener but I have my keys." Dominic began reaching into his pocket. "It's alright," Aleida spoke, putting the bottle to her teeth and bending the hard cap right off. She took a swig, putting the bottle down and went back to organizing. "Bruh, Napa, I coulda done that for you. Now you're just damaging your teeth." Dominic mumbled as he sat down and opened his own drink. "Boy. You see what I do for a living? There's other shit worse to actually hurt me!" Aleida laughed at Dominic's concern. "You're just here for Cel? Your name isn't on my list for the day." Aleida spoke as she scanned the paper, looking for the boys name. "Yeah, I wanted to see what she was up to." Dominic took a drink from his cold coke, feeling the intense burn from the carbonation. "So you like her?" Aleida asked abruptly, causing the boy to choke on his drink. He coughed profusely as Aleida laughed, beginning to take a little bag of white powder from her pocket. "What? I mean, she's cool." Dominic sheepishly spoke, trying to be as vague as possible. Of course he found the girl interesting, her being beautiful was another plus to him. How was he expected to confess to her mother the interest he has in her daughter?

"You can say you like her. She's a good kid." Aleida smiled, lining up the powder on the glass coffee table with a random card she had lying nearby. There were two neat rows of cocaine laid on the table, Aleida leaned down and put her nostril against the lines. She sniffed one, then right after, sniffed the other. Dominic was amazed, he usually had to give himself a second before even considering a second line. "Is your order always just for you or you share it?" Aleida asked, wiping the minimal remaining powder off the table and from the tip of her nose. "Uh, share it. With my brother and my mom." Dominic fiddled with the tab of the can. "If you're gonna get with my daughter, you'll have to buy drugs elsewhere. Just know that. The minute that you two are official, you're no longer a customer. I don't play with that shit, ever. You'll take your business else where. You got that?" Aleida explained, stern, but her tone soft. She was calm, but it was evident that there was truth behind every word the mother spoke. Dominic nodded, looking her dead in the eyes. "Okay. I'll keep that in mind." Dominic sat back in his seat, taking in each word Aleida said. "And," She continued, beginning to point her index finger back at him, "I swear to god, you let my daughter try anything that isn't weed, I will get you myself. I'll kill you. Do you understand? Nothing that isnt weed, she doesn't take." Aleida's words hit Dominic like a truck, but he immediately understood where she was coming from. Aleida was protecting her daughter from her world, and Dom was in complete agreement with her. If he would've had another person looking out for him, maybe he wouldn't be where he is today, snorting lines before he could even brush his teeth. He couldn't tell if it was a good thing or bad thing.

"I understand. I won't be the reason she touches anything that isn't weed." Dominic promised, looking Aleida dead in the eyes. The mother looked for any signs of deception on his face, taking in his tattoos and the way his eyebrows were stern, the way Aleida herself gets when she means business. Aleida nodded her head, shaking up with him as they continued with their day. The mother and boy spent the next 15 minutes talking, Aleida interrogating him to find out more about the kid who was entranced by her daughter.

Aleida found out that she went to high school with Dominic's mom, which was somewhat of a relief to know. At least she was familiar with the boys mom, and although they didn't exactly get along in high school, she knew the Fikes meant well and Jessica was doing the best she could at this point in her life with herself and her kids.

Eventually, Aleida could hear the front door opening from her spot in the basement, causing her to stand up right away. "Come with, the babies aren't allowed in the basement." Aleida waved a hand at Dominic, signaling him to follow her out the basement and upstairs to the first floor of the Diaz house. Right when Dominic walked into the home, he could feel the immense love and warmth in it. There was a smell of cinnamon and soap, he recognized it as Fabuloso. (a/n man of culture yk😜)

As they weaved through the hallway, Aleida and Dom met Celeste and her siblings in the living room. The walls were littered with photos of the Diaz family, which he realized was larger than he first imagined. Amongst the crowd of kids, Dom could see two sets of twins, a teenager who was holding a toddler. "What did you guys bring me!" Aleida smiled at her kids, beginning to hug and kiss them. The kids scrambled to show their mom what their big sister bought them from the corner store, their arms full of junk food and drinks. "Dom!" Celeste smiled once she noticed the boy in the room, quickly going to shake up with him. "Come pick from the stuff we have, they usually pick too much." Celeste placed the bag she had in her hand on the table and began laying out the bags of chips and food for him to choose from. "Estos son ricisimo!!" One of the kids came up to Dominic, pointing to the bag of chips. He didn't understand what the kid said, but by the tone of his voice, he knew he just had to agree. "Oh, yeah?" Dominic asked Celeste's younger sibling, earning a nod from the kid. Dominic laughed a bit, the chaos felt comforting to him.

Celeste appreciated that Dominic quickly embraced her outrageous family, rather than look away, or be annoyed. Celeste had encountered that discomfort one too many times which resulted in people no longer being welcome in her home. She took her house seriously, as well as the people in it. She was appreciative towards his bare minimum efforts that were evidently subconscious. To Celeste, she noticed how he was quick to laugh, not to get agitated, and that meant something to her.

"Cel, you going to the skatepark later?" Dominic asked as the toddler of the family, Ernie, began crawling on his figure. Dominic sat on the living room couch, and Ernie saw it as an opportunity to crawl through his arm and climb up Dom's torso, using his little hands to grip his hair and pull himself up on Dominic's shoulders. "Yeah, You are too right?" Celeste looked up from opening the hood for her siblings, looking for confirmation. "Yeah," Was all Dominic could say since the youngest of the household was beginning to overtake him. "Ernie! El no es un árbol, dejalo!/ He's not a tree, leave him alone!" Aleida began scolding her youngest baby, yanking him off of Dominic. Ernie put up a fight though, still grabbing hold of Dominic's curls. "Holy fuck, he's strong!" Dom winced, trying to gently pry the baby's hands off of his head.

"I think he likes you." Celeste giggled from her spot on the dining table, continuing to open her siblings food.

Yeah, Dom thought to himself, and I think I like you.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
WAAAAAAIT why was this so cute i really love how this chapter came out

also i love seeing the little notifications of comments n votes and y'all adding this book to your little lists like this is so fun

anyways i hope u guys are good and that the holidays are treating y'all good and if not my messages are always open <3
peace and love peace and love