The King And Queen of Freeridge

Chapter Two

Oscar takes Izzy into their bedroom and lays her on the bed. He gently removes her shorts and vest top which are now dirty and torn showing just how badly Latrelle and the Prophet$ had treated her. He opens a drawer and pulls out one of his white t-shirts and puts it on Izzy obviously its too big for her so acts more like a nightdress than a t-shirt but he wants to try make her as comfortable as possible. The other two guys stand at the doorway with the supplies he asked for and wait for further instructions. He looks at them gesturing for them to put down the supplies and then tells them to pick the kids up from school and bring them back here. 

Sitting down next to Izzy on the bed, Oscar picks out a few ice cubes from a bowl and places them on Izzy's bruises, massaging them into her skin to reduce the swelling and minimise the overall size and visibility of the bruises. He Starts off with her face and moves down to her ribs and stomach purposely missing out her neck, where it was him that had caused the bruises. He then soaked one of the rags in the warm water and lightly pressed it against her stomach with one hand and caressed her face with the other. 

After a few minutes Izzy's eyelids began to twitch, noticing this Oscar removed his hands from where they currently were so that he could take one of her hands into his. "Mi amor?" he whispered. Her eyes finally opened widely and the first thing she saw was Oscar standing over her. "Mi amor it's me" he said in which Izzy gulped and snatched her hand away reaching for her neck wondering why it was so hard to swallow. As she touched her neck she could feel how swollen it was and how tender the skin was and then she remembered. "Get away from me" she said quietly, "But-" she cut Oscar off. "I said get away from me Oscar, DON'T TOUCH ME!" she said raising her voice. She turned away from him, waiting for him to leave the room. 

Oscar knew he was in the wrong and there was nothing he could say to make her feel better right now so he did as she asked and left the room. He went outside to get some fresh air, he sat on the old couch positioned on the front lawn and placed his head in his hands. Just then the other two Santos pulled up in their cars with the kids. Oscar stood up and clocked Monse, "Monse I need you to come inside with me" he said. "Woah woah, woah I don't think so" said Cesar feeling rather protective and untrusting of Spooky. "It's not like that kid, Izzy needs her" says Oscar growing impatient. "Why what's wrong is she okay?" asks a concerned Monse. "Just come with me ... Please!" begs Oscar. "Only if Cesar can come too" she replies.

The three of them enter the house leaving a confused Ruby and Jamal in the front yard. Oscar points towards their bedroom and says "She's in there" as he's afraid he'll upset her by going back in. "Um okay ..." says Monse confused by Oscars odd behaviour. "Dude just tell us what happened first" asks Cesar. Oscar tenses up as he prepares to tell them what happened. "We had a fight alright and she left and before we could find her Latrelle and the Prophet$ did and he ... beat her up in front of us and now she's in bad shape" he said getting all worked up just thinking about the situation. "What did you even fight about, why would she leave man?" asks Cesar. "She was  wearing these short, shorts and a small vest top and the guys got all up in my face about it and I just snapped alright I choked her" he says hitting the wall with his hands. 

"I'm sorry you didn't like what your girlfriend was wearing and you didn't want to look stupid in front of your friends so you put your hands on her and strangled her then she got scared and ran away into the arms of an even more heartless son of bitch than you??" said Monse getting feistier with every sentence and at the end lunging towards Oscar. Cesar pulled her back, afraid that his brother would retaliate. "I know I messed up, but this is how it has always been in our family, a woman steps out of line and the man puts her back in place. But this time something felt different, it just felt wrong!" Oscar says with the guilt becoming unbearable. 

There's an awkward silence for a few minutes and then Monse decides to leave the brothers to chat and check up on Izzy. She enters the bedroom and gasps at Izzy's state who has fallen back asleep with all her bruises on show. Cesar enters the room deciding he has to see it for himself, he too is speechless. Oscar lurks in the doorway "I know its bad, I um put ice on her bruises to reduce the swelling but um I couldn't bring myself to touch her neck, my hands are just so big and clumsy and she looked so fragile I didn't want to hurt her ... again" he mumbles. 

"Why don't you two just wait outside" says Monse softly. Oscar hesitates for a moment but then realises that if she woke up she wouldn't want him there anyway. The boys exit the room. Monse is aware that by touching Izzy she may startle or upset her so she sits next to her on the bed and quietly says "Izzy its me Monse, I've come to take care of you, its just me and you I promise" Izzy stirs and slowly opens her eyes. "Mija it is you, I'm so glad to see you" she says. "How do you feel? " Monse asks her. Izzy sighs "I've had better days" she says managing to form a small smile. 

"I'm so sorry this happened to you I wish I had been here maybe I could've done something, maybe I could've stopped him or maybe I could've comforted you and you wouldn't of ran away and bumped into Latrelle maybe I ..." Izzy cuts her off. "No Mija I should've known better, known that Oscar would choose the gang over me and that running away onto those dangerous streets was reckless, I just wish you didn't have to see me like this" she says shaking her head. 

"It's okay I want to be here for you. How can I help?" Asks Monse. "Thank you but I think I just need some sleep, just promise me that you'll always stand up for yourself and that you'll never let a guy push you around? You are a strong, confident young woman who deserves love and respect Monse."Izzy says passionately! "I promise Izzy! Now you get some rest and I'll be back tomorrow to check on you" Monse says patting Izzy on the shoulder and leaving the room, closing the door behind her to give Izzy some privacy. 

"How is she?" Oscar asks instantly. "Oh you know, she's on top of the world, having the best day ever!" Monse responds rolling her eyes. "Monse" Cesar sighs. "It's okay ... I deserve it" Oscar sighs. "She's tired and sore and scared, all she wants to do is sleep and be left alone. But I'll come back tomorrow morning and check on her before school". Monse says firmly. In which both Oscar and Cesar nod in response. "I'll get one of the guys to drive you kids home" says Oscar. "No thank you, we'll walk" says Monse pushing past Oscar. "Sorry man I gotta go, you just hang in there, give her time I'm sure she'll come around and I'll talk to monse" says a sympathetic Cesar. Monse and Cesar leave the house and are greeted by a still very confused Ruby & Jamal. "What happened aren't we getting a lift home?" asks Ruby. "No we'll explain on the walk home, now move it" snaps Monse. "But my feet hurt I've been walking around school all day and I had stupid football practice" moans Jamal. Monse doesn't respond she just turns around and glares at Jamal until he gives in and starts walking.