The Block Is Hot | Oscar Diaz

4

"Remind me why the hell I'm doing this." I said as I walked into Ruby's house

Jamal, Ruby and Cesar's eyes were glued on me. I don't even know why the hell I even considered buying this black cat costume for a thing that I haven't done since the 6th grade. But Olivia wouldn't shut up until I did. And now the five of us were waiting for Olivia to get dressed.

"What do ya think?" Olivia asked as she walked out of her room, wearing a cowgirl outfit

"Oh that looks nice." Ruby replied

"Better than me." I answered

"You look great, Mia." Olivia said

"I look like I just walked out of Sluts-R-Us, dude." I responded

Olivia sighed and rolled her eyes. "So, when are we going out?"

"Never." Ruby answered. "Trick-or-treating in Freeridge is a no-go."

"Why?"

Ruby sighed. "You might want to sit down. I'll be brief. In 2012, Prophets rolled up on us. Glocks to our heads and snatched our bags. 2013 we were kissing pavement all night. Caught in a drive-by. That night, we lost our candy and perhaps our innocence."

A Prophet drive-by? Tell me something new.

Ruby explained to Olivia about all things bad that happened in their neighborhood every Halloween, and honestly, that's the Prophets being at their best. You don't want to see them at their worst.

When they start actually killing people.

"You're right. We should go out. I'm feeling like this could be our last Halloween trick-or-treating. And frankly, it's feeling a little cramped in here. You feel me?" Monse asked

"I vote for Brentwood. It's safe, rich, and I bet they've got full-size candy bars." Jamal announced

"Shut-ins are tradition. And I ordered the pizza. Did I mention it's artisanal?" Ruby asked

"Why can't we go someplace else?" Olivia questioned

Because Ruby's a baby.

"Brentwood." Jamal whispered

"There's got to be other places." Olivia added

"Brentwood." Jamal repeated

"How about Brentwood?" Olivia suggested

"I'm down." Jamal replied

"Good call Olivia." Monse said

"It's a bad call."

Olivia looked at Ruby and smiled. "It's a great idea." He changed his mind

"It's just Brentwood's super far and we would have to take the public transpo, which sucks."

"You've never been on the train." Cesar said

"Sorry, guys, but I don't know how we'd even get there."

Olivia looked at me and grinned. "Mia, don't you have a car?"

Everyone looked at me. "No." I answered

"Yeah you do. That Toyota Camry in your garage." Olivia said

Cesar cleared his throat.

"It was my dad's old car. Before he died." I said sadly

The room got quiet and Olivia sighed.

"All good." Jamal said before he plopped on the couch. "I got us a hook-up."