Reverence

Chapter 3

"Your Uber is waiting outside." Ray said, peaking outside the window. I was scared. Genuinely scared, that someone now was looking for me, simply for speaking to someone. I grabbed my coat and walked outside, where Ray followed me. She had her glasses on again, which I never understood, since it was midnight. I opened the door, and sat inside.

Ray walked to the drivers side and just stared at the man. It was tense and insincere. "Get the fuck out of the car." She said to the driver. The man scoffed. "You're crazy." Ray grew angry, I could see it. She opened the door, and yanked the man out.

"Ray! Stop! Leave him alone!" I ran around the car, and she pulled a knife out on me. "I swear on my life, I will slice you open simply because you cannot mind your own fucking business." She then focused on the man. "Tell me why I shouldn't pierce the artery in your neck right now?" Ray had the knife pointed right on the left side of the mans neck. "Because...you're my sister, Ray." He had his hands up. "Being my brother doesn't mean jack shit! Why should I even trust you when you were so wrapped around Xavier's thumb like a BITCH! How do I know he didn't send you?" I saw a tear run down his eye. "Because I don't work for him anymore. Got another job, as you can see, to clear my name, start new." He sounded serious, but it only mattered if Ray was convinced.

Ray slowly put the knife away. "If you try anything sneaky, I guarantee you, you will die slowly and painfully, Manny." She said. The man, called Manny, stood up. "You and Bryan sure were the same." He wiped his shirt and pants down. "Come inside." She said to us both.

Manny and Ray walked together, and Manny continuously stared at me, like he was studying me. "Who's he?" Manny whispered. "A friend of Xavier's. Im trying to figure out where he's at, and I thought he'd know, but he doesn't. I'll be sending him on his way." Ray responded. "I can still help." I chimed in. as we entered the house, Manny and Ray sat on the couch, and I sat in a one seater. "Look, I may not be good with a knife, or a gun, but I-" Manny chuckled, "What good are you then?" Ray put her hand up, indicating for Manny to hush, "Continue." She said. "I could probably get in touch with some other people, that may know where he is." I said. "You're honestly going to get yourself and us killed." Manny bickered. 

I faced Ray, completely ignoring Manny, "Look, I can find a way to get to him. Me and him can get lunch or what not. But that doesn't mean you just randomly open fire at him. Let me ease my way in. Question him on things that wouldn't look too suspicious." Ray was being convinced, but Manny wasn't. "Ray, this is bullshit. You pick up this random dude at the bar, and think he can help find the drug lord of Los Angeles. Come on! Let's just do it like the old days. Me, you, Bryan, and Joel. Come on!"

Manny was beginning to get on my nerves. "You know what, you don't even fucking know me!" Manny stood up, "I know you're a pussy. Oh you're getting mad? You want a hit? Bitch ass can only handle a gram of weed, he don't even know what heroine could do, cause he's a bitch." I punched Manny in the jaw, I wasn't going to allow him to continuously talk shit on me. Manny pulled out a gun, and pointed it in the center of my forehead. I wanted to duck and be scared, but I couldn't. "Shoot me." I said. "FUCKIN SHOOT ME, MOTHERFUCKER!" I shouted. Ray lowered the gun in Manny's hand. Her gentle manicured hands on his arm brought the gun away from forehead.

"Manuel, stop." She softly said. "If you want to help." She then faced me, "It's going to be a lot of work. There'a going to be tasks you're not going to want to do, but you have to." She said. "Okay." I retort. "You have blood all over you. You need to shower. Follow me." She said.

She took me to the master bed room. She dug through her drawers and pulled out a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. "Are you a boxers or briefs kind of guy?" It was an awkward question to ask, but she was so blunt. "Boxers." I answered. "Well, Bryan was a briefs man, so that's what you're getting." Neatly folded, she handed me the clothes and said, "Water takes a minute to warm up. Put your clothes in that hamper when you're finished. There's already fresh towels in the bathroom, take as long as you need." She said.

"Ray..." I called. "Yes?" She said looking over her shoulder, resisting eye contact. "Thank you." She never responded back, and just left me be.

Play Music Here

I turned the water on, and I stood in front of the mirror, clear and pristine. The white marble countertops were so smooth, I was hesitant to touch them. I took my shirt off and then my pants and boxers. I continued to look at myself, and the blood of others on my face and hands and streaks on my chest and arms.

Why am I doing this? Why don't I just run away? Why am I staying here?

I had some purpose here, but I couldn't tell what it was. I stepped into the shower, and let the hot water hit my head and face. The steam rose to the ceiling, and the water dripped from my nose.

I started hearing gun shots, the explosions from the car chase, the imagery from the blood splattering from the bar. I was truly convinced I was traumatized. I screamed sitting in the corner of the shower. I was scared, and I didn't care if my masculinity was shattered. Death can scare anyone. It scared me.

The door slammed open into the bathroom. "Bruno?!" I heard Ray shouting. I couldn't see her over the steamy room. "Shit!" She opened the shower door and shut the water off. I don't know what was more embarrassing: Her seeing me naked, or seeing me scared as such. "It's okay." She said. "You're okay." She rubbed her hand on my cheek. She grabbed a towel, and covered me up, below the waist. "Come on. I need you to get dressed." She walked me out.
________________________________
"I can't stay here if you're going to baby that grown ass man all day, Ray! I don't have the fucking time." I heard Manny shouting outside the door. "Then go." She softly said. "Go and run off like you did the last time, but he may be able to help me get to Kane." She explained. "And what if he isn't? What if this is just apart of some illusion in your head? Get it together, Ray, and think! You barely know this guy! You don't know his background, you don't know what his intentions are!" He continued to shout. "I don't think he's a bad guy. He's scared, just as you were when you got shot at the first time." There's was a pause of silence. "He's no Bryan, and I remember you did this same shit with him, like you're doing with this slack-off, and look where Bryan is. DEAD!" She sighed, "He has potential, just like Bryan did. Just like you did. We have to give it a shot. I'm not doing this just for Bryan, I'm doing this for Penelope as well. MY FAMILY WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM ME!" When Ray raised her voice, it was serious business going down, and it wasn't something I enjoyed conflicting. "AND IF THAT MAN CAN BRING ME FACE TO FACE WITH THE KILLER, I WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET THERE." She pauses once more. "Even if it means putting a bullet through his head."

When she admitted that she'd kill me, to get to Kane, explained so much at this point. I grabbed my shoes, I knew I had to leave.

Ray entered the room again, and paused, "What are you doing?" She asked. "I'm getting the fuck out of here. I don't belong here. Look, Manuel is right, I'm a pussy, a slack-off. I'm a musician, okay? This gun fighting, and knife stabbing business is not my thing." She put her hand on my shoulder, and her touch, immediately smoothed out my mood. "I know you're scared. I know you're confused, I'll give you anything that you want. Anything. As long as you help me find Kane, and help me find justice." She kneeled down, and her eyes glossed under the artificial light. "Please."

The sincerity in her eyes, is what Bruno saw. He saw the pain and suffering she had endured, and through only her eyes, he knew he could stop that pain. But how can someone like him change that? How can a musician find justice for a drug lord that murdered her family? How?