Tiago Cartel: Dahlias Story

Choose a Side

The sound of a mini explosion woke Karina and Maria out of their sleep. Maria woke up and drew her knife back, about to throw it at Karina but she proceeded to put her hands up.

"Not me. I promise." Karina said just as confused as Maria. Maria grabbed her jacket.

"Follow me." Karina said. Maria looked at her like she was crazy.

"Okay, follow me or fight your way through whatever that is down there." Karina said before turning to to go to another room in her house. She opened up a hatch and they both climbed in making sure she closed it all the way. They jumped down and Karina led them through the tunnel.

"You have a tunnel under your house? How did you manage to do that?" Maria asked.

"The tunnel was already in place. I was just strategic in picking a home." she answered. Maria struggled.

"Well, you could've cleaned it out. Smells like caca." Maria said. Karina paused for a moment and turned her head to look at her. Maria shrugged.

They got to a door and that led to a parking garage down the street and Karina took out a key and opened it. When they got the garage, Karina jogged to a car. She wasn't worried about anyone seeing her because their were no cameras down here and nobody knew about the door she had made sure to lock as soon as Maria got out.

"Im driving." Maria said. Karina didn't argue. She tossed her the keys and made her way to the passengers side. Maria drove pass Karinas house and didn't see any cop cars but Karina noticed one car, her coluge.

"So who broke into my house?" she thought.

They arrived at Dahlias building and went through the back. This was just a meeting place for them, there were no cameras from the other establishments behind the building so this ensured that Dahlia kept her hands clean. Maria led Karina up to a room that was newly decorated and the smell of fresh paint was smelled very daintly.

When they got to the room, Diego was waiting there for them. He stood, observing the room and all of Dahlia and Frankies hard work. His missed Dahlia enough to go see her but he knew he couldn't. He turned around and still Karina couldn't help the chills that went down her spine. Maria sat by the window and looked for Mariana, which was of the building across from Dahlias. Even though she couldn't spot her, Maria waved.

"You can sit down if you'd like." Diego said to Karina. Maria stood watching out the window, making sure she can see but couldn't be seen.

"D-"

"Was it you that blew my house up?" Karina asked. Diego studied her face for a minute.

"No."

"I have no intention on harming you. I just want to talk to you, ask you a couple of questions if you don't mind." Diego said. Karina was shocked that he gave her an option to be questioned. She nodded.

"Why do you keep coming after me?" Diego asked.

"Are you not in an illegal business?" Karina asked.

"You've been searching for years and you've just now managed to get close to me. And it wasn't by your doing, it was because of-" he paused.

"I actually enjoyed her and her friendship. I just needed to get to you. But, that is over now. I am not worried about you or your business. Now that I've found you, I want nothing to do with you." Karina replied.

"You loved her." Diego said.

"Excuse me?" Karina replied.

"Your partner." Diego replied. This gagged Karina and she didn't respond.

"She loved you too. You were the only one she said was off limits. No matter how close you got, which you were the closest I couldn't harm you." Diego said.

"Off limits how? How did you even-"

"Everyone in your department is crooked. Ive seen them all with my own eyes. The only difference is they are on the other side so they don't get put in jail they just get rewarded for using, selling, and the turning in of 'criminals'."

"You're the only person that I have allowed to see me."

"You and your partner."

"I don't have to sit here and deal with this." Karina continued.

"You don't but its imperative that you do." Diego said.

"You have a side to chose." Diego said. He motioned for Maria and Karina went to the door quickly to leave.

"Karina." Diego said.

"The people who blew up your house wasn't from our side. It was from yours." Diego said. Karinas heart started to pound even more and she started to breathe heavily which alarmed Maria. Karina made her way to the door.

"Oh, and Karina." Diego said. She paused in her steps.

"How did y'all end you together?" he asked looked at both Maria and Karina. This made Karina realized that Maria wasnt send, she came willingly. She glanced at Maria then made her way down the steps, ignoring Diegos question.

. "Dahlias here." Mariana said into her inner-com.

"Lets go." Diego said, leading Maria down the steps and out the back.

Dahlia entered the building and turned the alarm off before it started to ring. She went to the back closet to lock her things in it but before she could hang her coat up Diegos scent hit her nose. She inhaled then exhale with her eyes closed. She shook her head.

"Im starting to go crazy." she said aloud before throwing her coat up on the rack.

Dahlia got back to the main room and seen a man standing in the middle looking around, taking in his surroundings.

"Hey! How can I help you?" she asked. He turned around taking her in.

"Hello, I'm-well, I'm looking for Dahlia and I guess that's you. You're- you're even m-more." he paused, Dahlia smiled and laughed a bit.

"Did you need anything?" she asked. he laughed.

"Im sorry, I just didn't expect you to be this beautiful." he replied.

"Do you- Would you like to go out sometime?" he asked. Dahlia laughed.

"Ill think about it." she responded. He turned around to leave the building.

"Oh!" he said. He turned around giving her a delivery paper.

"I wanted to come while they were being delivered just to check the place out. To see what was so special about this place and why you needed 100 clear ornaments."  he said.

"Well, I have an event Wednesday if you'd like to come down and see for yourself. It is for the children in the neighborhood but there will be food and a lots of more things that may peak your interest. We are also looking for volunteers as well." Dahlia replied.

"Would a volunteer be able to take you out to dinner?" he asked scooting closer to her. She laughed.

"No sir but, id love to see you here." she replied backing up.

"Fair enough. Ill see you Wednesday beautiful." he said before turning around to exit the building. The man was cute, he kind of reminded her of Micheal Ealy in a way. He was a good looking man but with all the things she had going on she didn't have time for it and if she could be honest she longed to smell more of Diegos cologne.

"Alright girl. Pull yourself together." she said aloud.