KING FOR A DAY - VIC FUENTES

1 - kara

i sat down on my couch and turned on the tv. my green eyes were illuminated by the bright screen. i sat there, eating my ramen noodles and watching, when i heard a loud scream outside.

i rolled my eyes and got up. i grabbed the gun i kept under the couch (you had to have one where you lived where i did), put on a coat, and ran down the creaky light yellow hallway and narrow stairwell of my apartment building. i shoved the gun in my jacket and stood outside in the rain, looking around. that's when i saw him.

he had on a suit as if he worked somewhere somewhat important, and he was holding a gun to something. he had brown hair that almost reached his shoulders and a nose ring. he was literally goregous.

i walked over silently, my converse only making soft clicks in the pavement, and crouched down behind a trash can, peeking over it to see what was happening. the guys gun was held to another man. the other man was around 50 and he had a young girl in his grip.

"let the little girl go or i'll shoot you" he said. wow, his voice.

"she's my daughter, fuentes" the man said as he held his hand over the little girls mouth, she was crying.

"we both know she's not your daughter dumbass" he said, not moving the gun away from the man, but only getting closer and pressing it to the guys forehead.
the little girl, dressed in a school girl outfit, let out a scream and more tears came. she looked around 7.

the man rolled his eyes and let go, sweat dripping down his forehead as the little girl hugged the guy with the nose ring, otherwise known as 'fuentes', as she whispered a soft 'thank you' and ran away.

"now get away and don't come back here again if you value your life" fuentes said, running a hand through his hair as the man ran away.

he lifted up his white button down shirt he had under his suit jacket and stuck the gun under the waistband of his underwear, making me bite my lip.

i stood back up and tried to walk silently back to the building in the pouring rain, but i was stopped by a "your shoe is untied"

as if it was a reflex i turned around, flipping my long black hair over my shoulder and pointing my gun at "fuentes" 's face.

"woah chill" he said, lifting his shirt up yet again and pointed his gun at me. his expression softened when he saw my face.

"i-im vic" he said, still holding the gun
i didn't drop my gun either. "i'm kara"
"okay kara" he said, but he pronounced my name wrong. it's not pronounced 'care - ah' it's pronounced "car - ah". it was a mistake often made.

"no it's kara" i sound, pronouncing it correctly.
"shit i'm sorry. i'm vic" he said. i wish his name was able to be pronounced wrong without me looking like a dumbass.

i put my gun down as he did the same. i looked at him one more time then walked away. i heard shoes hitting the rain covered pavement as a hand placed itself lightly on my shoulder. i turned around.

"yes?" i asked.
"do you want me to walk you home or something? it's really dangerous around here"
"i've lived in that building" i said, pointing to the apartment building, "for 2 years now. i'll be okay" i said.
"and i've lived in it for 5 years." he said raising an eyebrow.
i narrowed my eyes as we walked through the rain and into the 4 floored apartment buildings shitty thing they called a lobby. there were a shit ton of small rooms they also called apartments on every floor, but there was only 2 on the fourth floor.

"okay well i'm on the fourth floor. see ya" i said, walking up the stairs, practically running.
"hoooold up missy so am i" he said, his long legs skipping steps as we ran to the fourth floor.

i stood at my door and he stood at his. i could hear a few guys laughing and yelling. "well um, nice meeting you" i said, smiling a bit.
"back at ya" he said, about to open the door when i said
"wait"
"mhm?" he asked, looking at me with his brown eyes
those eyes

"i saw what you did for that little girl" i said, looking at my shoes. "it was pretty great"
"what can i say, im pretty great, kara" and like that, he walked into his apartment.

~💸~

a day or so passed and i found myself sitting on my couch and watching shitty reality tv on an even shittier television. i raised my plastic fork with some microwaveable dinner. i hadn't seen my dad in years and my mom was long gone in hawaii with some guy. i hadn't eaten anything but this for 2 whole years. mcdonald's was a delicacy. it came to the point whenever i would drive down to the somewhat nicer part of town to work at Pacsun (a clothing store that only hired me because i was considered 'pretty') the shoppers would point out that even though i mainly just had a model body, whenever i bent down or did anything moving you could see my ribs through my shirt.

i heard running up the stairs and i only assumed it was vic. my cheeks got hot. why couldn't i stop thinking about this dude? i got up and ran across my small apartment and peeked through the peephole in the door. he was wearing a suit again but this time his tie was undone and he was running across the hallway, holding up a sheet of white paper.

"GUYS I DID IT" he said, running and banging on his apartment door, he was smiling brightly and he looked like he was about to cry.
three guys opened the door and screamed and hugged him, jumping up and down. they all looked like a happy family almost. i turned around and walked back in and sat on my couch, a tear streaming down my eye.

even that vic guy had a family