Fire & Desire

The Will

"We are gathered here today, not only to mourn over the fallen, but to rejoice his departure to los cielos-the heavens," My uncle drags on. I check my phone. One new message from Arjun.

The game starts in five. Where r u? It read. I look to my left and right to make sure no one is watching me while I reply.

At a funeral lol. I'll be there in ten. ;)

Before I can hit send an elbow jabs me sharply in my side.

"Ow! What the hell Cecilia?!" I rub my side and give my best friend a sharp look. Her usually curly brown hair is straightened and pulled into a tight ponytail on top of her head. She furrows her perfectly groomed eyebrows and purses her cherry red lips.

"Your supposed to be paying attention idiota." She whisper hisses and points a manicured finger at me.

"I didn't ask to be here; I was brought against my will," I say, still rubbing my side.

"Speaking of wills.. when are they gonna read the damn thing? I've been here for, like, ever."

"Calm down drama king it's only been 30 minutes." Cecilia rolls her eyes.

"Not only was he a boss to some, but to me, he was a padre, and an amigo I could count on. You will forever be in my thoughts. Rest In Peace." I turn my attention back to my twin brother, Kaleb, who had just finished his sappy speech. The crowd says an amen and makes a cross on their chest.

"That was very heartfelt Kaleb. And now, please welcome Don Marco's second son, and twin to Kaleb, Manuel Garcia." I freeze at the mention of my name. Cecilia raises her brow.

"Well? What are you waiting for go up there." She says and begins to tug me out my seat.

"What the hell am I supposed to say? You know I didn't get along with my father." I say as I try to resist, but Cecilia has the strength of los dioses.

"Figure it out." Is all she says. Before I can protest I realize I am already at the podium. I gulp as I look at the crowd in front of me.

You can do this. I tell myself.

"Hello crowd... This is a funeral.. For dad. I mean,um, the don. He is dead-Shit wait, um, he is deceased, yea deceased." I turn around me and point to the casket.

"This is where he is. In this casket. His body is there,-" my cell phone rings and I check the ID; Arjun.

I look at the crowd and give them a toothed smile before answering the phone and walking away from the podium. The people exchange nervous and confused looks.

"Arjun my man! What's up?" I say when I'm sure I'm out of earshot.

"Where are you man? The game already started." Arjun's heavy accent is heard through the receiver. I pull the phone from my face and check the time. Ten minutes had passed, so had twenty.

"Fuck, why didn't you call sooner? Give me, like, ten minutes." I tell him.

"You said ten minutes twenty minutes ago." Arjun says irritatedly.

"I know but ten minutes for sure this time I promise baby." I say and blow a kiss into the phone.

"I'm not your baby dude. Just hurry up and get here will ya? The guys already started eating most of the food." Arjun says and hangs up the phone.

"What was all that about?" I hear Cecilia's voice behind me and early scream.

"Why must you keep my nerves on high alert today? Jeez." I say and run a hand through my curly black hair. Cecilia straightens out her silky black dress and walks toward me trying to look intimidating, but since I'm 6'5 and she's only 5'4, she only looks like a kid who wanted revenge on their parents because they took their phone.

"Where do you think your going?" She folds her arms across her chest.

"Why are you worried? It has nothing to do with you." I say calmly, which only makes her irritated.

"Is this some kind of joke to you Manuel? When will you ever grow up?" She sounds angry, but for why? I have no idea.

"Why are you so angry?" I decide to call her out, but before she can answer my mom rounds the corner. Her black hair is curled to her shoulders and her black dress covered in expensive jewels gives her brown skin a little shading.

"Am I interrupting something?" She looks at me and then back to Cecilia.

"Oh, Lady Garcia! Not at all! Is there something wrong?" Cecilia looks startled. I raise a brow and smirk.

"It's time for the reading of the will." My mother says and walks away, back to her seat in the throng of people.

"To be continued." Cecilia huffs and walks back to her seat. I smile and follow behind her.

"And now, please welcome the dons wife of 47 years; his heart and soul. Lady Rose." A solemn applause is omitted from the crowd as my mother walks steadily to the podium. She smiles and waves warmly.

"Thank you all for coming today. I'm sure my husband is very happy you all have attended," she starts.

"As you know, my dear Marco and I weren't supposed to be together due.. racial issues." She laughs.

"His father didn't believe in love outside their race, but Marco decided to love and marry me anyway. Without Marco I wouldn't have had the two beautiful boys named Kaleb and Manuel; the first Afro-Latinos in the family." She smiles at me and Kaleb, then she takes out a slip of paper.

"Without further ado, I give the the will Marco has left for us." She unfolds the paper and clears her throat. I listen, name after boring name, until finally she reaches the end.

"Last but not least, Marco has given the opportunity of obtaining his fortune to his two sons Kaleb and Marco," Kaleb and I exchange looks, but the look Kaleb gives me isn't a nice one.

"But only the son that marries first will receive the fortune. We'll leave this up to the lord now. Thank you again for coming out. Please be sure to keep in touch." She finishes and the crowd begins to dissolve as each person leaves, some with happy faces and most with grim ones. Kaleb smirks at me.

"Don't even bother trying; we both know I'm going to get married first."

"Is that a challenge I hear?" I raise my brow. My brother and I haven't gotten along since we were little. To my dad he was the golden child. Everything he asked for he got. But me? I had to work for it. Kaleb laughs and stands up.

"A challenge I'm sure you won't want to turn down. How about this? Whoever can marry by the end of this year gets the money?"

"Rules?"  I say which makes Kaleb laugh even harder.

"There are no rules. Just think of it as a friendly wager. Do we have a deal my dear hermano?" I think it over for a minute before saying:

"Deal."

Authors note:
Terribly sorry I keep starting stories and never finishing them. I'll finish the one if it's the last thing I do lol.

~Sammy