Valeria Zapata has been Cesars Best friend since their brother been kids and has been Ruben 'Ruby' Martinez next door neighbor since they been kids. Growing up they'll been through thick and thin. Valeria has her life on what you call on lockdown wh...
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Rubys Grandma let me in the house. I was late due to some family problems i had going on. I went into Rubys room. Everyone looked at me.
"Yo! One at a time, I'm not following." Cesar yelled at them.
"Sorry. Family problems." I chuckled and sat down.
"Sorry, it's excitement."Ruby said as he raised his hand. We're having a meeting for Cesar. Which is highly impossible because its the Santos, you cant get out."We've been chewing on this the last two weeks. And it's finally time to move forward with a plan."
-"A plan for what?" Cesar said clueless.
"Getting you out of the gang." Monse said to him. Cesar started to laugh but stopped.
"You're serious? Oh, my gosh. No! No, no, no, no.There is no out." Cesar looked at me. I looked down at my feet
"You're being naive.Once you're jumped in, you can't get out.Unless, you get jumped out, and that's not, you know, an option." It was true.
"Why not?" Jamal asked.
"They beat you till you die."
"Oh, I see your dilemma."
"Yeah.Death isn't the only option. Ruby?" Monse looked at Ruby.
"So, after copious amounts of research, I've formulated a theory that all great things come in threes: The Holy Trinity, primary colors, Destiny's Child." Ruby saod as he passed out the binders. I opened to see what i had to say. I just rolled my eyes.
"D.C. started with four members." I corrected him.
"But they weren't big until they were three. Which is why there are three common denominators to end any and all hostile situations. I call them the three M's.Money, murder, manipulation." Ruby saw me reading the binder. "No, not that one. They're watermarked." We switched out our binders to the rightful owners.
"Clearly, murder's off the table." I told Cesar. "The irony would be too much."
"There's no way we can hustle up enough cash with a car wash - to make it worth Oscar's while."
"Unless..." Jamal said as he stood up and sat next to Cesar.
"Jamal, don't. Please don't say it."the two begged.
"Getting a lot of cash isn't outside the realm of possibility." Jamal reeled in Cesar.
"What are you talking about?" Cesar asked.
"RollerWorld." Ruby and Monse answered.
"It's real and 50K is still out there. The dudes that robbed RollerWorld got put away, - but the money was never recovered."
"In the '80s." I added in. I believed in RollerWorld. My father used to talk about it.
"And the rumor's still rampant! What about The Goonies? Some of those kids thought it was B.S. until they found the treasure. And they weren't even-"
"Brown.We're brown. Only white kids find treasure." Monse yelled at Jamal.
"True." I saw Rubys grandma looking for something as we were talking about RollerWorld.
"What are you looking for?" Ruby asked her.
"Baby Jesus. He's missing. The special one blessed by the bishop. I put him in here before I started to move into my room." I looked around to find it but wasn't near me. Ruby groaned at Jamal.
"Dude, you're holding it." Jamal looked at baby Jesus.
"No, this is Toddler Jesus." He pointed out. "Babies don't stand. This Jesus is probably already potty trained.And this isn't a diaper, these are booty shorts." Rubys abueltia extended her arm and Jamal handed back to her and she left.
"Sit down.Sit." Ruby told him.
"All right, I'm out." Cesar said as he was standing up. I never like the plan. Cesar is never gonna get out. Its how it is.
"We haven't even pitched the final M." I smiled at Cesar.
"Don't need to."
"Manipulation. Through negotiation. With cogent, well-articulated arguments."
"So, that's it? That's the plan? You're gonna get me out of the gang with cogent, well-articulated arguments?" Cesar raised his eyebrow.
"Yes." We all nodded.
"Never gonna happen." Cesar claps his hands. "Good talk." Cesar walked out. Jamal, Ruby and Monse started to argue. I decided to slip away and ran after Cesar.
"Cesar!" I caught up with him.
"Are you here for the back up plan?" I rolled my eyes.
"No. Mira, I just wanted you know that im on your side."
"Im not gonna rat on you Val." He continued to walk. I put my hand on his shoulder and making him turn to me.
"Its not about that."
"Then why cant you tell them they cant help me." I sighed. I looked at my house, Wilfredo was looking.
"I cant."
"Right."
"Cesar."
"Whatever." Cesar walked away. He stopped and looked back at me. "Im saying this as a friend, say it before they find out." Then he walked away. I stood there thinking what i should do.
Next Morning
"Cesar's reaction was a wake-up call. The plan isn't fully formed." Ruby said as we walked up the stairs. "We need more time to let our ideas marinate before we take action."
"Marinate? No. We got to cook now. The longer we wait, the deeper Cesar's in. Right now he's got no responsibilities. We got to get him out before he puts in work." Monse responsed to Ruby.
"Who's putting in work?" Cesar said as he came up behind us. "You still with that?"
"No. With what?" We all answered.
"Jamal?" Cesar sang into his ear.
"We're still with it." We all groaned. Cesar stepped in front of us.
"This isn't funny anymore. Trying to reason with my brother's dumb. You gotta promise you're gonna drop it. You're overreacting. Especially you." He pointed at Monse. "Promise."
"I promise."
"Okay, good. See you after class." Cesar said goodbye as he left us. We continue our walk.
"So, who's gonna do it?" Jamal asked. We all looked at each other.
"Not Jamal." We said at the same time.
"I'll do it." Monse volunteered.
"No, no, no, no, no.Your mouth is gonna get us killed." I told her with a wink and she smiled back.
"Yeah, Monse's a total no-go."
"I can do it." I told everyone in the group with a smile. Ruby turns to me.
"You cant. You talking to Spooky will leave you spook. You're too innocent." He walked next to me. "So, that leaves me." He realized it was him. He stopped walking. "But it can't be me."
"It's you. You said im too innocent." I smirked.
"You said it can't be me!" We were on our phones As Ruby panicked.
