Mea Culpa

Chapter 25

Before heading to the hospital, Coco and Roxy stopped to shower off the dust and dirt from the road. They took her car to see Mateo, Roxy still silent after having her hope destroyed in Charming.

"What did I expect?" She asked Coco. "I went up there, dropped two huge bombs on him, three actually, and expected him to just drop everything and move here for six months? To undergo serious surgery for this kid he shares nothing with but DNA?"

Coco didn't know what to say. He understood her point but knowing their history Coco thought Happy would have done it because she asked him to help her son.

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

"Me too," she whimpered. "He's Happy, I know him, and I expected rage but I really thought he'd do it. I know it's a big ask but," she shook her head. "I don't know."

"We'll get him fixed up," Coco promised something he knew he shouldn't have. "Alvarez is here though, you gotta be ready for that."

"Yeah," she forced a smile. "Come on, let's get it over with."

Mateo was all smiles when Roxy go to his room. Letti, EZ, Alvarez, and Bishop were working hard to keep the boy's spirits high.

"Hey, baby!" Roxy said excitedly. "How are you feeling?" She sat on the side of the bed and gave him a hug.

"Better," he grinned. "They said I can go home tomorrow!"

Roxy looked at EZ with surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah, Doc said the infection is gone and he's doing well," EZ explained.

Fighting back tears, Roxy squeezed Mateo tighter before moving to greet Alvarez. "Thanks for coming."

"That's my blood," he said as he hugged her. "Blood type doesn't match though."

"Oh," she hung her head. "Okay."

"I'm sorry," he said sadly.

"I know," she frowned and nodded.

"If Esai," he started but Roxy stopped him.

"Don't," she said, her words heavy, "Can't go back, can't change anything," she sighed. Roxy looked up at Coco. "We have a lot of work to do, moving and bringing him home," she huffed.

"I got it," he said softly. "I'll handle it. Stay here, don't worry about anything."

"I'll help," Letti said.

Coco smiled lovingly at his daughter and welcomed her offer. They were gone quickly, Bishop following soon after. Alvarez stayed. He stayed much longer than she expected or wanted.

"Without a match what are they going to do next?" Alvarez asked her once Mateo was napping.

"Not sure," she shrugged. "There are treatments we just wanted to try everyone to see if we could spare him all that shit."

Alvarez nodded. "I see."

Roxy nodded, shuffling her feet, and moved toward the door. "I'm going to search out his doctor, he should have been by already."

"I'll stay with him," Alvarez said, giving Mateo's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Thanks."

Roxy didn't immediately look for the doctor. She slipped away with a cup of hospital coffee and snuck a cigarette to ease her nerves.

—

*The Next Day*

"Dad, this too?" Letti asked, showing him a box that sat right outside the kitchen.

"I think so," he huffed. "I wanna focus on the shit we need and most of Teo's stuff."

She nodded and grabbed a bag on her way into the boy's room. Everything had happened so quickly they could barely keep their heads straight. Roxy's lease was up at the end of the week and they were already given keys for the new place, living in limbo was wreaking havoc.

"Uh, Dad?" She said nervously.

"What?"

"Someone's here. I think."

Coco went into Mateo's room to see Letti looking out the window. He glanced out to see Happy sitting on his bike, parked on the side of the building, with his phone to his ear.

"This motherfucker," Coco hissed. Taking the stairs two at a time and using the fire exit, Coco popped out a few feet from Happy. "Why the fuck are you here?"

Startled, Happy jumped off his bike and went for his gun, until he saw it was Coco. "Ah fuck, it's just you."

"Why are you here?"

"I wanna help the kid," Happy told Coco somberly. "I wanna help Rox."

"You know how sick she was over this shit?" Coco sneered. "The whole way back she was fucking shaking. All so you could make an entrance?"

"You don't know as much as you think you know," Happy said with a warning tone. "You don't know shit, ese," he spat.

"Can't go now," Coco warned him. "Alvarez is there."

"She didn't tell him?"

"She didn't tell anybody," Coco said, "Just me."

Happy nodded.

"You tell your club?"

"No."

"Good." Coco snapped. "Teo is getting out today, we're trying to get all our shit into the new place. I'll tell her you're here."

"Motel nearby?" Happy asked

"Just by the hour shitholes," Coco told him, "But, we'll be outta here soon. Got the place till the end of the week, you can stay here for a few nights till shit gets settled."

Happy nodded. "Thanks."

Offering him his hand, Coco nodded and they shook hands making a silent agreement to respect each other for the sake of Mateo and Roxy.

—

Check out my new Bishop story The Long Game!! XoxoThanks for all the support!