New on the block

Scheme

Cesar's POV:
"Whatever it is, you can tell me." Monse says with a sad smile. "You remember Paula?" I ask with a lump in my throat. "She's preg-" I get cut of when Jamal runs into the room with Mari. "You're not the father!" The both exclaim in unison. Monse's sitting there with her eyes wide open. "How do you know?" I ask.

*one day earlier*
Jamal's POV:
"Hey Mari." I say when I pick up the phone. "You know mr. Sanchez who owns the taco place?" She asks. "Yeah, the one right across the street from my dad's place." "Well he was looking through his security cam footage and he found out people have been slumming it over night and taking money from the register for months." She tells me. "Who would rob mr. Sanchez he's like eighty?" I ask. "Just some bored teens. When was the last time your dad checked his cameras?" She asks. "Never, the cameras are just for show." I start to get a little worried. "You guys should probably look it over." She says. "If my dad finds out we got robbed he'll definitely sell." I sigh. "What if we just go after closing?" She asks. "Ok I'll meet you there at twelve." I tell her.

*2 hours later at Dwayne's Joint*
"Why are you dressed like that?" Mariana asks. "We're breaking in, what was I supposed to wear?" I ask. "All black makes sense but the gloves are pushing it." She laughs. "Plus this is your dad's place no one's going to care." She adds. I unlock the door and we go into the tiny office that's actually a janitors closet. We watch a few minutes worth of footage when I see Paula making out with someone. "Let's just skip this I don't need to see Cesar having sex." I cover my eyes. "That's not Cesar." She says. "What are you talking about?" I ask. "Oh God women why wouldn't you warn me!" I scream when I see some guy's bare ass. "Cesar's cross is on the front not on his back." She laughs as she rolls her eyes. "Wait so she slept with someone before him?" I mumble. We skip through more footage and the guy is there three more times. "Wait, if we find out how far a long she is we'll know if it's Cesar's or not." She exclaims. "You're a genius babe!" I squeal. "Ok so this was like two months before Cesar became a cheater so if he isn't the dad she's like four months." Mari says. "She's not going to tell me since Cesar promised her some money." I think our loud. "She doesn't know me though." Mari gives me a weird smile. "How are you going to convince her to tell you?" I ask. "Easy I just pretend to be her friend." She shrugs. "Isn't that kind of mean?" I ask. "Anything for family." She kisses my cheek.

*next morning*

Mariana's POV:
"Hey can I have a sprite and some fries." I smile at Paula. "Yeah, no problem." She says. "Have you been working here long?" I ask. "Not too long." She smiles. "Long enough to get pregnant." I mumble. "What?" She asks. "I said I really like your long hair." I say quickly. "Oh thanks your's is cute too." She hands me my drink and fries. I eat slowly and look over every few minutes. "Hey are you on break?" I ask when she steps outside. "Yeah." She looks uncomfortable but who cares I'm not trying to be her friend. "How fat along are you?" I ask. "Like four-ish months. How could you tell?" She asks with a hand on her stomach. "Oh I was asking how far into your break you are I say awkwardly. "Well have a nice day!" I stand up quickly. "Wait, what's your name?" She asks. "Mariana." I say as I walk away. Once I turn the corner I run towards Jamal's house. "I have good news and I have bad news." I blurt out when I bust through the door. "Bad news first." He puts his phone down right away. "We definitely don't spend enough time together because Paula had no idea who I was." I laugh. "And the good news is... Cesar can't be the father." I smile. "Are you sure?" He asks. "Yup a hundred percent." I say happily. "We better run Cesar's about to tell Monse that Paula's having his baby." Jamal stands up quickly. We run down the block straight to Monse's house and we run right before Cesar says anything.

Cesar's POV:
"That's how we know you're not the father." Mari says when she finishes explaining. "Oh thank God." I rub the back of my neck and look at Monse. "This is just never gonna go away is it?" She asks. "What?" I give her a questioning look. "It's like Paula and you cheating on me is never going to go away." She sighs. "Monse this is good news! Paula can finally be out of all our lives forever all we have to do is tell her that we know." Mariana says. "Yeah, I know you're right." Monse barely smiles. "So who's gonna tell her?" Jamal asks. "I will." I tell them and they all look at me. "It's my shit and trust me I'm more than happy to finally end this." I say.

Mariana's POV:
I get home and I fall flat onto my bed. I finally feel like I might actually be apart of the group. My eyes start to close but then I hear banging on the window. "Why would you screw me over? I don't even know you, just mind your own damn business!" Paula screams when I open the window. "You made it my business when you tried to ruin my cousin's relationship!" I point out. "Now how am I supposed to take care of this kid?" She asks. "How about you find the real dad." I scoff. "Oscar isn't going to help." She says and my jaw drops. This day is getting a little out of hand