Bad Boys Ride or Die: How to Get Away With Fraud

Chapter One

Miami, Florida

"So how much was that thing, again?" thanks to his new father, Armando was never lonely. Even though he had a monitor on his ankle and a gun wound scar on his chest, he also had company. On weekdays when he didn't have to hear things from his wife, Marcus pulled up to Mike's house to sit on the couch and play video games with Armando. Perfect Uncle-Nephew bonding in his eyes. "About 8,000," Armando responded in the midst of the game. "Damn, what kind of 13-year-old needs an 8,000 dollar motorbike for his 14th birthday?" just then, Marcus' character lost half its hit points. "Shit!" he exclaimed. "That's cheaper than the last one." Marcus slowly turned to Armando, shook at his comment. Suddenly, Marcus lost the game. "Aw shit!" Armando choked out a deep-chested laugh before coughing. He hadn't completely healed from the gunshot two months ago. "This is rigged, man." at the other end of the room was Mike getting ready to pick up Lucius from school. "When are you picking up this bike, man?" he asked Armando. "Nah, you're picking that up, yeah?" he replied, not turning around and starting a new game. "No."

"Yeah."

"No. No, no, no. I already agreed to pick him up. You get the bike."

"You're the one who put this fuckin' bracelet on my ankle. I can't go onto the balcony without hearing Rita's voice, man. You get it."

"Look man it's either the bracelet or some iron bars, which one you want?" Armando didn't reply. "Exactly." Mike scoffed. "My own boy got me fucked up," he whispered under his breath before he heard his phone ring. "Yeah?" he answered. As soon as the person on the other line spoke, his demeanor completely changed. "What?" he asked, speechless. Armando and Marcus turned around to see what had gotten Mike so shaken up. Armando turned to Marcus looking for an answer, who shrugged. "Yeah, yeah. Thank you for calling." Mike swore to himself as he hung up the phone. "Who was that?" Marcus asked. "Lucius' school. He got into a fight and went all gang and shit on the kid, he's in the hospital." Armando's eyes widened. "What?"

"Damn. That kid needs anti-serum or some shit," Armando cut his eyes at Marcus who turned around. "I need to get over there,"

"Yeah, I got you," with a click of a few buttons on his phone, the red light on his monitor turned off. "You have two hours, okay? Two." Armando nodded. "So you'll get the bike?" Mike glared at his son. "I hate you," Armando smiled. "Go."

~~~

When Lucius saw his father instead of Mike, his heart dropped. He had told the administration to call Mike for a reason; he'd get yelled at less. "Lucius!" Armando exclaimed. Before he could talk to Lucius, Ms. Anders, a woman who has been talked about tons throughout the district for her... interesting opinions, approached him. "Mr. Aretas, we weren't expecting you," she said. "My father's busy. Let me talk to Lucius." without question, Armando burst into her office, where Lucius was sitting. "¡¿Qué diablos te pasa?! ¿Quieres estar en el reformatorio?" Anders tried to intervene. "Mr. Aretas-" he put his hand out to silence her. "¿¡Te han dado toneladas de oportunidades para ser diferente y todavía quieres estar en una pandilla y esa mierda!? ¡Entonces lleva tu trasero de regreso a México!"

"¡Esto no se trata de México!" Lucius yelled back. "Entonces ¿¡de qué se trata!? Mierda como esta es la razón por la que eres abuela-" mentioning his mother almost drove Lucius to tears, noticing this, Armando sighed, calmed down, and sat down next to him. Anders sat down at her desk and cleared her throat. "As you know Lucius has been struggling with his English classes and English in general, and some kids like to tease him for it."

"más como joder conmigo."

"Cállate." Armando snapped. "So some boy in his English 9 class decided to start picking at him, and your son did this," Anders slid Armando a few papers. When he looked at them, his eyebrows raised. They were pictures of a blonde, pale, boy with a bloody broken nose, bruised chest, and Lucius' hand print around his neck. "He also has a weapon that he didn't actually use, but it is cause for concern. "His gun!?" Anders stared confused. "His gun?"

"What weapon?"

"A switchblade...he has a gun?" Armando shook his head. "Never mind." he turned to Lucius. "¿Qué te dice esa niño?"

"me llamó espalda mojada," Lucius whispered, barely loud enough for Anders to try to comprehend what he was saying to his father. "Lo siento." he said. Armando sighed. He didn't appreciate his kid getting into fights on his first day of summer school before he could make an impression on real school, but he understood why he got so upset. It was his birthday, and Armando refused to ground him. "Está okey," he said, standing up. "We'll talk about keeping his weapons at home during school, thank you." Anders obviously wasn't satisfied, but Armando could care less. "Vámos." he said, Lucius followed him.

~~~

Later that night, Armando went into his son's room and shook him awake. "Mijo," he whispered. "Mm?" Lucius replied, half asleep and blinking himself awake. "Lemme show you something. Vámos." a bit annoyed by his sleep being interrupted, Lucius stood up and followed his father to another balcony in Mike's house with a pool. Suddenly, the lights turned on, and Mike, Marcus, Rita, Kelly, and Rafe appeared. "Suprise!" Armando had organized a surprise party in the middle of the night. Lucius couldn't help but smile. "Qué mierdo eso?" he laughed. Just then, Dorn rode through the house and parked Lucius' new motorcycle next to him. Lucius gaped he couldn't believe what was happening. The bike that his father had for years was left behind when they were enemies of Mike and Marcus. Now, they had given him a whole new bike that belonged to him. "Did- did you just drive that bike through my house?" Mike asked. "Just trying to make an entrance, sir." Dorn answered. "Yeah, okay. After this party I want you to grab a mop and wipe every skid mark you left on my floors, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." Dorn nudged Lucius. "There ya go, kid. Look at this paint job." Dorn hopped off the bike and handed Lucius his new helmet and the keys before showing him the designs. The bike was painted navy blue and the side had Lucius' middle name, Ángel, painted on the side in white letters on top of flame designs. "Am I the best the best uncle or what?" Lucius looked up at Dorn and awkwardly smiled. "Seguro, Dorn. Seguro." everybody laughed as Dorn's smile dropped.

As the night went on, Marcus ate and drank his soul out of his chest. Even though Mike constantly reminded him about what the doctors said about his sugar, fat, and alcohol intake. When Marcus started to dance like a drunk sailor, Lucius laughed for a moment until a abruptly stopped. Something was wrong. Marcus soon started to get faint and clumsy. "Marcus? ¿Qué pasa?" he asked, catching Mike's attention. Suddenly, Marcus grabbed his chest and fell unconscious. Such a beautiful night had gone terribly in seconds.