The showdown happened exactly where it began:
the bookstore.
ShotCaller Zero's men surrounded the block, all black masks, all polished weapons. Precision. Military. Ruthlessness born from oceans away.
Inside, moms kissed Raquel's forehead.
"I'm proud of you. No matter what happens."
Raquel's eyes glistened.
"I love you."
Outside, her father arrived — tall, sharp-faced, eyes like dark glass reflecting fire.
He stepped into the bookstore alone.
Raquel aimed her gun at him the moment he crossed the threshold.
He didn't flinch.
"My beautiful girl," he said softly.
"So much like your mother.
And she died bravely too."
Raquel's hand trembled.
"Don't talk about her."
Zero stepped closer.
"You think you understand this world? You think Déjà protected you? No. She delayed the inevitable."
He reached for her cheek.
She fired.
The bullet grazed his jaw.
He smiled — sick, proud.
"That's my blood."
Moms stepped between them, gun raised.
"You won't touch her."
Zero laughed.
"You never could protect her."
He moved fast — grabbing moms, putting a blade to her throat.
Raquel screamed—
"MAMA!"
I raised my gun but froze — moms' life hung on the edge of a heartbeat.
Zero whispered in her ear:
"You stole my daughter.
Now I'll take her back."
Raquel's tears fell, shaking with rage.
"Let her go...
fight me instead."
Zero hesitated.
And in that one breath...
Moms made her choice.
She slammed her head backward, breaking his nose.
He loosened his grip.
She shouted—
"RAQUEL, NOW!"
Raquel fired.
Three shots.
Two in his chest.
One in his heart.
Zero staggered, looked at her in disbelief...
and collapsed against the bookshelves.
Books rained down like a literary funeral.
He gasped, blood pooling under him.
"You...
you really are...
your mother's daughter."
He died with a twisted smile.
Raquel fell to her knees, sobbing.
Moms caught her, holding her tight despite the blood soaking her shirt.
"It's over, baby," she whispered.
"You free."
The sirens grew louder as Eli and Lalo dragged us out the back exit.
We disappeared into the night.
Broken.
Changed.
Alive.
YOU ARE READING
Deju're
Non-FictionDeju're is a want for nothing Oakland,Ca kid that was raised by a female drug lord which is his mother Déjà who has been raised in the Oakland hills all her life. he goes to fresno,Ca to visit his cousin and things start to unravel about his dads mu...
