The Beginning

Nicky

Tess watched her laptop while her fingers bounced off the keys. Her plate of chorizo, potatoes, eggs and tortillas remained mostly untouched. Every so often, when I thought she was about to take a break, it turned out to be a stretch or readjustment of some kind.

I waited patiently over an empty plate when my phone started to buzz. "What's up, Ron?"

"Did you talk to my dad?" Roni asked accusingly.

"What'd he tell you?" I wondered.

Roni took a breath and, forcing herself to remain calm, spoke through her teeth. "Did you or did you not make a deal with him?" Before I could answer, she went in again, "I told you we shouldn't have come back, Nicky. You're so fickle. You said we were on the next plane back, what happened to that?"

Aware that Tess was within earshot, my answers stayed vague. "When have you ever listened to anyone, Roni?" I sucked my teeth. "He's acting weird anyway. I asked him to do me a favor and he flaked. I didn't tell him that you were going to stay. I told him I'd try."

"Ask me, then." She grumbled.

"I'm going to ask you to go back to Riverside. If he let this ball drop—"

"We need to see what he's doing while we're not looking." Roni cut in. "I got the same feeling. Something's off and it's not about Hannibal." She thought for a second. "Or maybe it is? He never told us how he knew. What if Dad is talking to him?"

"He said he's got the guards watching." Which I didn't doubt, but someone close to me was keeping tabs on Tess.

Backtracking, there were only a handful of people who knew early enough to make that phone call. No doubt, Veronica had thoughtlessly vented to him. I struck Roni from my mental list. She was as shaken by Uncle Dom as I was. And while she disliked Tess's presence in my life, I was certain her motives were purely selfish. Roni's mission was to get in and out of Colburn, knowing the latter half would be more difficult.

"You're really doing this?" She questioned weakly. "You don't have to be the one, Nicky. He was never your responsibility."

Except he was. Hannibal was my best friend since we were in diapers. We went all the way back to Sprouts, the daycare that stood at the end of Tess's block. My mom went to work after she dropped me off. His mom had him walk a few times by himself, so her slumber went uninterrupted. He showed up to school hungry. My lunch often went to him for breakfast. When my mom found out, she invited Hannibal for every meal. We lived in the same two-bedroom, single bath where Tess and Lexi resided. Three boys sharing a room, often became four and before long, Hannibal was another De La Cruz. Often mistaken for twins, we were inseparable. In high school, I lost the value of giving back and, like Hannibal, I started to take. As we shared everything, we didn't deviate when it came to arrests. Our records steadily grew and, where Hannibal was free to roam the streets, my family was stirred.

We made plans to hang out the night Hannibal killed the Gregg's. I remembered my hand on the doorknob. I hadn't yet cracked it when I heard near silent sobs from behind me. My mom sat alone in the dark, shedding her worries into a tissue. It was the first time my heart broke. She had expressed her concerns in the past, but I knew we were just being boys, having fun. When she was loud, I couldn't hear her. Those stifled sobs were noisier than her pleas. It was a plea in itself, a literal cry for help. If I hadn't dropped to my knees to beg her forgiveness, I would've been in that car, in that house, holding that gun alongside my best friend.

"Uncle Dom was right about one thing. We have to protect what's ours."

Roni sighed. "Fine, Nicky, but..." She let out a growl of frustration. "I can't leave you here."