Ese.

Thirty-Nine.

Three days earlier

Andreson

I opened my eyes and saw Minnie looking at me. I took a long breath and I looked around. I was in the hospital.

"What the hell?" I asked in a raspy tone. "What happened?"

"You were driving on the wrong side of the road, and a truck hit you." Minnie said. "God blessed you great, because you are totally fine! You were just in a coma for a day or two."

"Seriously?" My eyes widened.

"Seriously." She smiled.

A black woman with a white coat and red lipstick stepped inside of the room. She smiled at me, then wrote something down on your clipboard.

"Well, good evening, Mr. Valdez." She smiled. "I'm nurse Brooks."

"Hey."

"A couple of days ago, you got into a car accident." She said. "You were driving on the wrong side of the road, and you got hit by a SUV! Andreson, this is god speaking for you. You don't have any broken bones or fractures, and we can let you leave tonight if you want to."

"Wow." I smiled. "That sounds fine to me."

"Alright." She grinned. "I'll get your discharge papers ready."

She walked out of the room and Minnie sighed, then looked at me.

"I've been trying to get in touch with your parents." She said. "They haven't answered. I even left your moms a voice mail, but she never said anything back. The rest of the crew were here earlier.. But, I had a feeling you were going to wake up today."

"Thanks Minnie." I said.

The nurse came back into the room and gave Minnie some papers. "Have a good evening, you two." She smiled again.

I got out of the bed, and Minnie and I left the hospital room. I followed her downstairs and we walked out of the building. Just as we were about to make our way to the car, I bumped into someone.

It was Lisa.

"Lisa?" I asked.

"Andree, I'm glad you are okay." She smiled. "I was just about to visit you, again."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes." She smiled.

"Hey, I'm going to go pick Money up." Minnie said.

"Cool." I nodded. "I'll just stay with Lisa."

"I'll see you later." She ran off.

"How have you been doing, Lisa?" I asked.

"I've been great." She nodded. "I got a new job as assistant chef."

"That's great."

"Are you hungry?" She asked.

"A little bit."

"Alright, come with me."

I followed her out into the parking lot, and surprisingly my car was parked, looking nice and new.

"My car didn't get damaged, either?" I gasped. "What the-"

"No, silly." Lisa laughed. "I got your car fixed. I've kept it for you while you were in the hospital, your friends suggested that I should."

"Thanks, Lisa." I smiled. "Can I have the keys?"

"I think it would be better if I drive this time." She smirked.

"Right." I laughed.

I hopped into the passenger side and sat down, putting my seat belt on and laying my head back. After Lisa got in and started it up, then she drove off.

Thank god I lived. It was kind of weird how I didn't get any type of injury, but I guess it was God speaking a miracle. Though I was happy I was okay, I was still mad about the whole Isamariá situation, and the fact that my parents didn't come see me. I guess they really didn't care about me. Oh well.

We soon arrived to an apartment complex in the Bronx. Lisa parked and stopped the car. I got out, and we both walked inside of the complex. I looked around and saw a lot of women standing around. They all eyed me as I followed Lisa.

We went into the elevator, and she pressed the button for the third floor. When the door closed, we waited and waited and waited until the door finally opened again. Lisa and I stepped out of the elevator, and I followed her to the end of the hallway. Finally, she pulled out a key and unlocked the door.

She opened it and walked inside, and I followed behind her. I closed the door and looked around. She had two black couches, a rug, and a small television in the living room. Right next to the living room, was the kitchen. There was also a hallway next to the living room.

"Nice." I said.

"It's not the best, but it's something." She shrugged as she put her purse down. "How are your parents doing?"

"I don't know." I shrugged as I sat down. "I haven't talked to them in a minute. I don't really care, either. They're racist jerks."

"Oh." She frowned. "How is Isamariá doing? Have you seen her lately?"

"....I don't know." I sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"I went over to her apartment so that I could give her mother some money... And, the KKK had a sign on the wall." I said in a low tone. "I don't know what to do. What if she's dead?"

"Andreson, you need to call the police!" She gasped as she ran into the kitchen.

"No!" I shouted. "Those white police people not going to do shit about it! They haven't done nothing about it, what makes you think they'll stop now?"

"So, you're just going to let her die?" Her eyes widened.

"No." I shook my head. "You have to help me, Lisa."

"What are you talking about?"

I pulled my sleeve up and I showed her my tattoo. Her eyes widened again, and she's shook her head.

"You are in that terrible Latino gang?!" She put her hand over her mouth. "Do you know what they've done?!"

"Yes, Lisa!" I threw my hands up in the air. "We robbed banks, robbed people and their homes, we've killed people. But, you gotta help me out. This isn't for me, this is for Isamariá."

"...What do you need me to do?"

"I don't know, yet. But, I need as much help as I can get." I said as I shook my head.

"My brother used to be in the Ku Klux Klan." She said. "I told you about my prejudice family, right?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Your brother still lives in New York, right?"

And that led to her brother sitting in front of me in Lisa's living room.

"There's only two people that's under the leader. Their names are Phil and Steven. All I know is that Phil has a son about your age." Lisa's brother shook her head. "Anyways, Phil always comes up here with Steven because they have family here. But, they don't ever kill anyone up in the north. They have offices in the South."

"Do you know specifically where any office is?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I've never actually been there or killed anyone, so no." He said. "But, I always heard them mentioning something about Montgomery."

I had my answers.

"Thank-you so much!" I grinned as I got up.

"Where are you going?" Lisa asked.

"I'm going to get myself together." I said, then walked out of the door.

I knew where she was going to be, and all I needed was some help. But, first, I was going to do something else.