We Come Alive 3

Following

Sunday early afternoon, Mateo pulled up to a coffee shop in his black Range Rover. He parked on the side of the road before climbing out and locking the doors. He had never been to this coffee shop, but he knew a lot of the players came here between school and football practice to get some food.

When Mateo walked inside, he could instantly hear the people he was meeting. He walked fully inside and turned the small corner to see the people he asked to meet him here. Ethan, Jose, Ricky, and Stephen.

Mateo walked up to the table and sat down in the only empty chair that there was. "Hey, boys. How are you all?"

"We're great." Jose answered for them. "Ricky's even remembering more and more every day."

Ricky nodded proudly with a bright smile before dropping it and going back to his natural facial expression.

Mateo just chuckled and nodded. "Alright, that's great. I'm here to send you four on a mission today. As you all know, Clover's going to dinner with that Kiser Hill boy tonight." Mateo informed them, digging into his pocket as he did. "They're going to that steak house downtown. You're gonna follow them and make sure it goes right, okay? They had reservations, but I got you boys in."

"How?" Stephen frowned. "That expensive steak house? How the hell you get us in there?"

"Doesn't matter." Mateo sighed. "There's a dress code there so no jeans and no sneakers. Dress up nice. Don't let her see you or she'll kill us all. Anything happens, I'm trusting you boys to keep it under control, that's why I trusted you four to do this."

"A bunch of misfits?" Ethan asked, raising his eyebrows as he drank from his can of pop. "Why us?"

Mateo smirked. "Cause you're the only ones who can pull off this job. Ethan's got a car and despite being probably the craziest person I've ever met, you can think quickly in situations...so half the brains. Stephen's the muscles of the operation. Jose's the other half of the brains since together y'all can get shit done. And Ricky's to make sure this doesn't all explode and if it hits the fan, he can calm down Clover like a lion tamer."

Mateo pulled his hand out of his pocket and put it in the middle of the table. "He's picking her up from my house at 7 tonight. My car will be unlocked with the keys inside. Ethan, I'm begging you not to crash it. Stay hidden and don't let her see you, understand?"

"Yes, sir." They spoke in unison.

"Any questions?"

"I feel like you were a gangster in a past life." Ethan spoke, still sipping from his can.

Mateo smirked before moving his hand and moving away from the table. "Don't ask me about my life before coaching football. That's for dinner and gas."

The boys' jaws dropped as they saw Mateo left them $200 in the middle of the table. When they looked up, Mateo had already left and his car was speeding down the road.

Ricky smirked as he looked at his friends. "Our coach was a gangster."

~**~

That evening, Manny was chasing Clover around the house as she tried to finish the final touches of her look, but Clover kept telling her to stop.

"People are going to see you. You're going out with Kiser Hill. Not just some other sleezy guy out there." Manny protested.

Clover stopped in the living room and turned around to face Manny. "Didn't know my boyfriend was just another sleezy guy out there, but thanks Manny. You really got a way with words."

Manny sighed as she walked up to Clover and fixed her long red flowing dress she had on, which was actually Manny's. "Alright. You're good. I can't believe he's taking you to that steak house. It's like $200 per steak or something."