Mea Culpa

Chapter 14

Shortie! Sorry! But we're building toward big things, I promise! Xx

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Roxy stayed in her room for hours after having shrieked Coco off into oblivion. She assumed he left after seeing her so furious and distraught but he didn't. Coco was nothing if not loyal and absolutely in love with Roxy, although she only knew about his loyalty. Her sobs slowed and she passed out for a few hours having exhausted herself from crying but when she awoke there wasn't that refreshed feeling. It was pitch black now and her chest ached from sobbing while her eyes burned.

As soon as she opened the bedroom door Roxy heard Angel and EZ chatting quietly with Nero. That confirmed her assumptions about Coco enough to make her feel comfortable about joining them.

"Hi," she croaked.

"Hey Rox," Angel said somewhat nervous. "You uh, okay?"

She shook her head. "I am far from okay."

Angel and EZ nodded.

"Teo?"

Nero smiled a little. "Passed out in Coco's lap, we took him up to bed."

"Thank you," she whimpered. "I'm gonna grab a smoke." She winked at EZ as she stole Angel's pack off the table and headed out onto the porch.

There was Coco, leaning on the porch railing with a cigarette between his lips while looking up at the night sky. "It's beautiful," he said as she approached.

"I...I thought you left."

"I was gonna," he shrugged. "You okay?"

"No," she said flatly, "I'm far from okay."

"Who told you?" Coco asked her. "Come on, Rox. I gotta know."

She swallowed hard and lit a cigarette of her own before answer. "Nestor Oceteva."

With a furious expression, Coco finally looked at her. "That douche with the cornrows?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I uh, pissed Galindo off. They knew they couldn't hurt me, not for some minor bullshit, so I guess they decided emotional and mental anguish was better than nothing." Roxy's voice began to crack, "I think killing me would have been less painful overall but fuck, I was scared at first."

Coco rushed to hug her. "I'm sorry."

"I know."

"What did you do?" He asked, suddenly remembering the most important piece of information she'd revealed. "How did you piss him off?"

Roxy took a shaky breath. "They were in to see Pena a while back, like my first or second week, and shit got heated. I recorded the conversation for Pena cause like, uh, that's the smart thing to do. She must have rubbed it in their faces cause the deal is back on and they know about what I did."

"Shit, Rox," he groaned, hugging her again, "You got off lucky."

"Do not say I got lucky," she snapped at him.

Coco frowned but nodded. "I'm sorry, Rox."

"Thought you said you weren't?" She said, giving him some serious side eye.

"I'm not sorry I kept the secret but I'm sorry about what it did to you."

She nodded, figuring that was what he'd say, and found comfort in his predictability. "Do you know where he's buried?" Rox asked Coco sadly.

"Nah," he sighed, "Bish probably does or he could find out."

"Can you ask him?" She whimpered. "I don't care if it's a ditch or whatever. I wanna go."

"I got you," Coco assured her. "Lemme call em'. See what he can do."

"Thank you, Johnny."

Nodding, Coco watched as Roxy dragged her feet back into the house. His heart broke for her, and himself, and despite her current state he wondered if they could ever pull themselves out of it.

Coco walked further out to cal Bishop, he had much more to fall to him about than a burial place for Esai. Nestor telling Roxy the truth about Esai, and Alvarez, was bad, to put it simply. Not only would they have to tell Marcus she was missing but that one of Galindo's men betrayed him.

Calling Bishop, Coco groaned and shook his head. "Dios mío, she's gonna kill me."