CHOLA CLUB ( oscar diaz. )

TRES

PARTE TRES

the night felt like it went on forever. by the end of it, i was so drunk i ended up kissing a santo, one i don't even know the name of. two years ago, i would've seen a cholo and run in the other direction, but it's funny how people change. before i left freeridge, i was a chola myself. i was always by the santos' side. i wore big earrings, bandanas, jelly bracelets. all of us were. isabel, flaca, domina and i. but that all changed after "the incident". after that i could never be seen with the santos again. the last week of summer went by quickly. i had spent most of it redecorating my room, trying to avoid oscar as much as possible.

"i can't believe oscar seriously thought jumping cesar into the gang was a good idea." isabel scoffed as she sorted through the hundreds of dresses in her closet. it was the last night of summer, and our friend group decided to go bowling. it was a tradition that we have had since the last year of middle school.

"it was going to happen eventually." i said with a mouthful of isabel's mom's enchiladas. i spun around on her desk chair, admiring all the photos she had framed that sat on her desk. i picked up one in particular, setting down the plate of food as i studied it.

"but he's 14, he couldn't be ready for that life." she sighed, placing a white camisole on her bed before continuing to look through her closet. isabel had always tended to care about oscar's younger brother, cesar. maybe because she was his best friend ruby's cousin, or just because he was young and had no idea what he was getting himself into.

"oscar was 14 too. it's the life he was born into, isa. it had to happen." i shrugged, still looking at the photo. "i miss this." i mumbled, showing her the photo of domina, flaca, her and i. it was in front of the school on the last day of sophomore year, a little over one year ago. "we were so badass. look at us."

isabel smiles softly, taking the photo from me. "i wish we could go back to that, before everything fell apart." her voice sounded sad, but hopeful. it fell apart solely because of me. i knew that, everyone did, but no one said it aloud.

"don't bring that up. i went to mexico to get away from all that. let's start fresh yeah?" i raised my eyebrows, standing up off the desk chair and giving my best friend a hug. she wrapped her arms around my waist.

"we should get ready. i'm not going out in sweats and a selena shirt." isabel laughed, grabbing my hands tightly before turning back to her messy closet.

"isa," i started, earning a hum from her in response as she keeps her attention trained on the drawer full of skirts. i walk over to her closet and pull a shoebox from one of the shelves, setting it down on her bed. inside of it was a pile of old birthday cards from her parents, photos, sentimental necklaces, a bible and another small box. i pull out the box, and open it to find a whole pile of black jelly bracelets, the ones we would tie together and wear all down our arms, back when we were cholas. "if we really wanna start fresh, how about we start here?"

the bowling alley was loud and busy as always. neon lights and loud music made it seem like a nightclub. we immediately found our group - the biggest group there. all of my favourite people who i haven't seen in months, all ran over to say hi to me.

"girl, this is bringing back memories." flaca exclaimed in awe as she looked down at the black bands on mine and isabel's hands. "do you have any on you right now? cause I'm so down to bring these back." isabel nodded, smiling widely as she pulled extra bands out of her purse, giving them out to flaca and then domina. bowling ended up being so fun. flaca and i were on a team, while domina was with our friend carlos and isabel with our other friend malia. we ended up playing for two rounds, just hanging out and enjoying each other's company.

it had reached the end of the night, and malia offered to take me home since she lived nearby. we sat in the car, playing bad bunny as we drove through the streets of freeridge. a few streets away from my house, we reached the santo house.

without thinking, i immediately said, "change of plans, drop me here." malia slowed the car to a stop on the opposite side of the street, gulping as she looked at the house. a few of the santos were outside, smoking. those including oscar, who sat on top of a wall with a blunt between his lips.

"how do they not scare you?" malia winced as i undid my seatbelt.

"cause i used to be like them." i shrugged. talking about them was always such a nonchalant thing for me. "plus, i could probably take them in a fight if i really tried." with that, i stepped out of the civic and onto the street.

"want me to wait up?" malia asked, evidently concerned. i shook my head, living only a street away i was confident enough to walk home.

i crossed the road, approaching the house with my head held high. the boys in the yard were all watching me, some of them hollering at me as i made my way to the wall where oscar was sitting.

"you looking good tonight hyna. wanna go to my room?" he said with a smirk, earning shouts of approval from the others. "what do you want?"

i folded my arms across my chest. "is cesar here?" i asked, arching a brow as oscar carefully watched my lips. he clenched his jaw, exhaling a puff of smoke.

"what do you want with cesar?" he squinted at me, hopping down off the wall. he was on the ground, but still so much taller than i was.

"i asked you a question. is he here or not, oscar?" i asked firmly. one of the guys behind me laughed, patting oscar on the back as he walked inside.

"yeah he's here mami. but i ain't letting you go til you tell me why."

i did know that i wanted to talk to cesar. i wanted to ask him about the gang because isabel was so concerned, but if i'm honest, i was most likely using it as an excuse to come here. to see oscar.

i pushed past him towards the doorway, but oscar grabbed my arm and pushed me against the wall. it wasn't rough, but it was enough to get me heated. "don't touch me." i hissed, pushing his hand off of me as i turned to leave, not even caring about cesar anymore.

"why do you hate me?" oscar called after me, his tone slightly aggressive. i turned back around, taking a deep breath.

"fine. let's go to your room."