Goals • ruby martinez (discontinued)

fifteen

valeria went home after that disaster where as alexis stayed with jamal up until the sun rised, only leaving because he begged for her to go home and to rest saying that they'll regroup later.

when the two girls refreshed their minds and their bodies they met up again with the rest of the group in the library.

"i found something." alexis announced pulling out a card with the santos logo on it and underneath read 4 elements.

"lex your a certified gem." the girl blushed and handed the card to jamal.

he got up and placed the periodic table in front of them. "okay, so we've got four elements. what can we make with them?"

"a bomb." ruby suggested causing everyone to shake their heads in disapproval. "to cause a distraction to get cesar the hell out of here."

"promethium, phosphorus, lanthium, neon."

"it's a compound." monse dropped the card down on top of the table.

"or it spells something out?"

"PM plane."

"night plane?" jamal smacked the table with a newfound idea, "the midnight plane to georgia."

"it's midnight train," monse corrected.

"-and pm is noon, not midnight." alexis added.

"midnight plane to georgia? your black card should be revoked for that." monse snatched the card up to examine it more closely.

"uh, uh, uh, uh. halves cannot revoke the black cards of wholes."

"says who?"

"all of me."

"it's pimp lane!"

•••

"okay so it wasn't pimp lane."

"and it wasn't the community pool." valeria rubbed her tired eyes.

"i'm doomed. we're doomed. cesar's doomed. i haven't slept in days. julio's dead, and poor juanita." jamal cried out dramatically.

monse rolled her eyes at his antics, "we're not doomed if we solve this, so stop being so dramatic."

"i am being dramatic."

"we know."

"like Nicolas Cage dramatic," jamal said deepening his voice. "i'm so dramatic that i've tried out for the local production of rent."

"-that was a rip off of La Bohéme."

"whatever. my point is i tried out at the robert pool theater." everyone looked at jamal confused causing him to literally, spell it out so they could get it.

"the P-O-O-L theater."

"oh." they rest of the crew said in sync.

•••

exhausted, the group sat down after searching for a clue for half an hour.

"is it just me or is that baby jesus throwing a gang sign?" valeria and alexis tilted their heads to see what the hell monse was talking about.

"he's repping the santos!" immediately everyone got up to examine the statue.

valeria turned her head to see ruby knocking on the alter. "it's a magic box. like Ms. Uyeshiro's box. don't you remember her box?"

jamal and alexis shared a laugh.

"come on, guys, grow up. but don't you remember her box in the fourth grade? it was like this intriguing, impenetrable cypher."

once again alexis and jamal let their giggles escape their lips. valeria shook her head a small smile gracing her lips.

ruby started to move his hand around the box hearing a click, "you heard that? hey, jamal, help me. here! here! here! lift it. lift it." jamal gasped at the sight of a treasure box hidden inside.

"i told you it was real. we just saved cesar!"

"we just saved cesar!" valeria said running a hand through her hair in shock. it almost didn't feel real but it was real and they did it. her brother was going to be saved.

"it's chocolate."

and just like that, her stomach dropped.

"hell, yeah, we got chocolate! we can buy chocolate, vanilla, the new tesla with the gull wings."

ruby shook his head, "no, the gold. it's not gold, it's chocolate."

alexis reached into the box and grabbed handfuls of the "gold" and squeezed feeling the warm candy melt away in her hands.

valeria started to pace her emotions are all over the place and it didn't help that everyone started to fight again.

"-we'll get the money, and he'll be safe."

"we could've had him out of town by now!"

"this is just a mislead. a red herring. a macguffin. tell her, ruby." valeria placed her hands on her head, "Jamal! jamal stop alright. it's over!" she shouted.

"he needs money to get away. roller world is that money."

monse quickly interrupted him, "Grow up Jamal! you live in a fantasy. you just ruined cesar's life. he's never gonna be the same."

"i didn't ruin his life. he ruined his own life. cesar's in a gang! okay? that's the reality, all right? and you think i'm living in a fantasy? you're the one who's living in a fantasy thinking you can save cesar. it's not going to happen. ever!" ruby clenched his jaw, warning jamal to calm down before he said something he would regret but he was blatantly ignored. "cesar was born a santo, he's gonna die a santo. so stop lying to yourself, sweetie." monse fought the urge to fire back at jamal and simply walked away, deciding to keep her big mouth shut.

valeria's eyes filled with angry tears, "how could you say that?" she asked, not expecting an answer she rushed out of the building.

"see what you did," ruby pushed jamal out of the way before going after her.

"i can't believe i got played. there has to be a way. roller world has to be real."

alexis couldn't bear to see jamal this way, hearing the crack in his voice broke her. "jamal, for what it's worth, i believed it too. but... some mysteries aren't meant to be solved."

jamal stared at lex and nodding his head as he fought back the tears. tearing his eyes away from her he turned on his heel and walked out of the building leaving alexis standing at the alter with a heavy heart.