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

Chapter Five

Armando knocked on his son's door. When he didn't respond, he took the opportunity to let himself in. "¿Mijo?" he called out. He saw Lucius lying on top of his bed staring at his ceiling. "Hey, sit up, let me talk to you." Lucius obliged as Armando sat down in front of him. "What's been going on?" he asked in the calmest tone he could muster. In reality, he was panicking so much he couldn't breathe. "What do you mean?"

"You're quiet, you're jumpy, and you washed your hands so much you started bleeding. What's going on?"

"Nada."

"Ángel, I can tell when you're lying to me." Armando didn't mean to get so upset. But all he wanted to know was the truth. And he wasn't getting it. "I'm not lying!"

"Ángel, sé que algo anda mal, solo dímelo, ¡no te juzgaré!" the more defensive Lucius got, the worse the argument became. "Estás actuando como si estuviera loco o algo así, ¡no pasa nada jodidamente mal!" Lucius screamed standing up. "Ángel-"

"¡vete a la mierda!" On any other day, Armando would have gotten pissed at Lucius for swearing at him, but he could tell his son was hurting, so he got up and left.

Armando sighed and slumped down next to Marcus on the couch. "You alright?" he asked. "How am I supposed to be a good father?" Marcus stared for a moment, not expecting Armando to say that to him. "Um, I guess just...be there for your kids, man." Armando shook his head. "I've tried, but he keeps hiding things from me."

"Look, if he's not ready to tell you, he's not gonna. Wait, Mando. Wait." Armando nodded after some thought.

~~~

*⚠️⚠️(starting)*

In the middle of the night, when everyone had fallen asleep, Lucius built up the courage to silently cry to himself. This type of pain was the worst time. The strip club made things so much worse. Now, Lucius didn't feel comfortable in any of his clothes. He felt disgusting, unloved, and unworthy. He felt as if the only thing he was good for was to be hurt. He couldn't go on like this any longer. If he did, he would turn into the boy Armando said wasn't him. So, Lucius quietly hopped out of bed, grabbed his gun from the dresser, and put it right under his chin. Lucius sharply inhaled as his finger slid onto the trigger. At that moment, he could only think about his family. About Mike, Armando, and Elená. How would she feel if she got a letter or a call that her first love had killed himself? How would his family react? The last thing he wanted to do was put his pain on someone else. He dropped his gun and ran to the bathroom. His stress had gotten so stressed, he got nauseous and puked in the toilet several times along with coughing up pints of blood. Lucky enough for him, he was in a bathroom far enough away that no one woke up to him.

*⚠️⚠️(ending)

~~~

To give him some time to calm down, Armando left Lucius home when he, Mike, and Marcus went back to Dorn's house to finally try to identify the man who framed Captain Howard. Mike knocked on the door only for Dorn to answer shirtless. "Hey guys...what are you doing here?" he said looking back inside his house. "We need you to pull up the surveillance." Mike explained. Dorn hesitantly turned around. "Yeah- yeah, sure." he said, letting them in. "What's wrong with him?" Marcus whispered to Mike who shrugged in response. Suddenly, Kelly came to the top of the stairs in nothing but her underwear, bra, and Dorn's shirt. "Baby who was at- oh my god!" Mike and Marcus immediately turned around so Kelly could dress herself. "Woah, woah," they both said. That's what Dorn was trying to hide. "You two are-"

"Together. Yeah." Dorn said as Kelly walked downstairs. "I was gonna say fuckin' but okay."

"I'm glad we got caught. It's been so painful hiding things." Kelly rolled her eyes at his dramatics. "Okay, okay. You guys play?" Dorn nodded. "I'm fine." Kelly said. "Yes, you are." everyone's head immediately flipped to Armando, who made it his personal job to mess with Dorn's emotions. "Fuck did you just say!?" Marcus tried to step in. "Look, man, there's a language barrier."

"That was English!" Mike put his hand out to calm him down. "Pull up the servalliance," he said. Dorn nodded. He had almost forgotten. Dorn flipped through a few photos before Armando stopped him. "There," he said. "That's the guy." Dorn scanned his face and pulled his information up. "James McGrath. Former DEA, he and his men were taken hostage when they went to uncover cartels. McGrath was the only survivor." he explained. "Damn. Let me call Rita." Mike said. Before he could, Dorn got a notification from two of his security cameras. When he clicked on the tab, he saw McGrath's goon near Mike and Marcus' house. "Shit," Dorn swore. "Guys." when they saw what was on the screen Mike and Armando immediately called their homes to warn their families. "Reggie, you got smoke comin' your way, get the family safe."

After some time, Lucius picked up the phone. "¿Hola?"

"El hombre que incriminó al capitán envió gente a la casa." Armando heard the fear in Lucius' voice. "¿Qué?"

"todo estará bien, solo prepárate." Lucius was silent before responding. "Okey." he said before hanging up. The only thing they could do was watch as Reggie and Lucius protected their homes. Reggie hid Theresa, his wife, Megan, and his son in a nearby closet and grabbed his gun. They would regret breaking into the home of a military man. Lucius grabbed his gun and stood by the door, waiting for them to break it down. When the goons got inside Marcus' home, Reggie immediately stepped in, shooting and killing two. Overpowering one and swiping his gun so he could shoot another while flipping another on his back and shooting him too. "Goddamn!" Marcus exclaimed. He wasn't expecting such a thing from his son-in-law. Back at Mike's house, the goons kicked the door open and swarmed the house, not seeing Lucius at first. Then, Lucius revealed himself and quickly killed the first three. One goon tried to stab Lucius, but he snatched the knife by the blade, threw it up so he could hold it by the handle, and threw it back at the goon, killing him. "Who the fuck are these guys!?" Dorn exclaimed. Armando and Marcus laughed, dabbing each other up. "That's our boys, that's our boys!" soon enough, Reggie killed the last one and saluted to the security camera, letting Marcus know everyone was safe. Back at Mike's place, there was one more goon left. Lucius still had the knife and shoved the goon to the ground. The goon coughed up blood and laughed. "I bet you miss him, don't you?" disgusted and horrified, Lucius got up, grabbed his gun, and shot the goon in the head, killing him instantly. Armando furrowed his eyebrows and called Lucius. "Los tengo." Lucius said. "Sé que vi... ¿Qué dijo ese hombre?"

"Nada." he said before hanging up. Suddenly, Mike got a call. "It's nice to hear from you, Lowery." it was McGrath. "What do you want?" he asked. "I don't know. But I do know you want poor Callie Howard to survive." McGrath said with Callie's sobs in the background. Callie was Judy's daughter and Captain Howard's granddaughter. "What do you want from her!?" Mike asked. "I want Armando and all of Howard's evidence against us or she dies." he demanded before he abruptly hung up. "Shit!" Mike exclaimed. No one knew what to do until for the first time, Armando felt guilt. "I'll go." he said, looking at Mike with an 'I'm sorry' look on his face. Everyone was going to let him, but Mike shook his head. "No, no," he said. "I have a better idea."