New on the block

Tiny Black Box

Monse wakes up in Cesar's bed but he's on the floor. "Hey, wake up." Monse whispers and he stands up quickly. "It's ok, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to know why you slept on the floor." Monse says in a calm voice. Cesar's been extremely jumpy since the shooting. "I didn't want to hug you in my sleep and hurt you." Cesar says as he tries to breathe. "Cesar I'm feeling better I swear." Monse says. "It's time to change the bandage." Is all Cesar says. He helps her sit up and helps her change it. He still can't believe he's the reason she got shot. "It feels a lot better than it looks." Monse smiles when she notices him staring. "First you got jumped and now this, I'm the worst boyfriend ever." Cesar mumbles. "No, I knew what I was getting myself into. And to be fare you tried to stop me from hanging out with Latrelle when he jumped me." Monse says. "Well, either way with everything that's been going on I wanted a way for people to know you're mine." Cesar says as he pulls a small box out from under his pillow. "Cesar we're fourteen!" Monse says with wide eyes. He doesn't say anything he just opens the box and reveals a Santo cross on a chain just like his. "You ass hole!" Monse laughs. "What did you expect?" Cesar smirks. "Shut up and help me put it on." She says. Monse takes a closer look and sees that Lil' Spooky is engraved on the cross. She turns slightly so she's looking him in the eyes and she just smiles. "So you like it?" Cesar asks with a cheesy smile. "Yes I like it." Monse says. Cesar grabs her face kisses her. "You hear that? She is all mine!" He laughs while still holding her face. "Shh! The windows open!" Monse laughs. "That's the point." He says. "Come on, as much as I want to, we can't just lay in bed all day." Cesar says as he stands up. "No, I got it I need to start standing up on my own." Monse says as she pushes Cesar's hands away. "The doctor said, and I quote, 'Monse's core will be weak for at least another month and she can't do too much'. Or do you not remember?" Cesar smirks. "I'm getting up from a bed that's not "doing too much", besides I'm not getting any better if you do everything for me." Monse smiles. "Lets go to Ruby's house. I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to him." Cesar suggests. "You go first, I have a lot of school work to catch up on." Monse says. "Are you gonna go later?" "Yeah, I just need to do a little work. Now go and have fun, that's a few hours that you don't have to worry about me." Monse smiles as she kisses him. "Ok, but if you change your mind about going text me so I can come back." Cesar says as he walks out of his room. He walks to Ruby's house and with every step he feels like he should turn around. He knocks on the door and Olivia answers and her eyes are bloodshot. "What's wrong?" He asks. "I'm leaving. Like for sure, my parents called us an hour ago saying I had to be ready by tomorrow." She cries, still blocking the door. "Let's go inside and talk about this, we can figure something out." Cesar says. He steps inside and there's no sign of Ruby. "I miss my parents, but I don't wanna go. I just met you guys!" She sobs. "Yeah, where's Ruby?" Cesar says, completely ignoring her. "He's in my room." She says as they both walk towards her room. "Why are you here?" Ruby asks as he wipes away his tears and tries to act tough. "Monse had work to do but that doesn't matter right now. What are we going to do?" Cesar asks. "We are going to spend every last second we can together and you can go home to your Santo bitch!" Ruby says and his voice cracks. He breaks down in tears and Cesar has no idea what to say. "Why do you get to be so lucky? You almost got your girlfriend killed, you're in a gang, you almost killed a guy and you still get to be with Monse. I do everything right, I got shot, I tried to get you out of the gang and my girlfriend has to leave because of you!" Ruby screams. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen!" Cesar defends himself. "You guys need to stop fighting! I'm leaving, and yeah Monse almost died but she didn't! Every second you guys are alive and together is important... and I never realized how important it was until today." Olivia says as she slumps onto the bed. "I'm sorry." Cesar says. "Yeah, me too." Ruby kisses Olivia's cheek and she tries to smile. "Ok, I need to stop crying because this is a happy time, we're all together. Can we just pretend like I'm not leaving tomorrow?" Olivia asks. "You're leaving tomorrow? But we just started being friends." Monse says. They all turn and see her standing in the doorway. "Why didn't you text me, you shouldn't have walked alone." Cesar says as he helps her sit down. "You can't leave, your parents made you stay for a reason." Monse says. "I know, but the shooting happened and if it wasn't for Ruby pulling me out of the way it could've been a lot worse." Olivia explains. "We have to bring you." Monse says and Olivia gives her a sad smile. "You just got out of the hospital, I don't think nows a good time to go to Mexico." Cesar points out. "I'm going no questions asked." Monse declares. "How? It's not like we can just walk across the border." Ruby says. "Luckily, there's something called a car." Monse says. "I doubt my Abuelita is going to let us all go." Ruby sighs. "Really? Because Jamal and her are best friends and I'm pretty sure she'll let us go if he asks." They all give Monse a confused look. "Oh come on I can't be the only one who knew this." She laughs.