Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
Oro
The sun is setting on the horizon as the group of us, in perfect formation, head straight for the location Pooh was able to find.
Sina has a few different houses that she uses to run her underhanded business out of, but this one seems to come up more often than not.
I spoke with Mr. Nieves’ wife. It took her a few minutes to trust that I was trying to get information for the right reasons, but when I explained to her that I thought her husband had been wrongfully imprisoned and that we were looking for proof, she was more than happy to tell me everything that she knew.
Apparently, Sina had wanted Mr. Nieves to use his port connections to help her smuggle in some women without the authorities finding out. When he wouldn’t, that’s when all the drugs found a home in his store. The more I learn about Sina, the more I can’t wait to get her off my streets.
“Stay sharp.” I hear Vado’s voice cut in through the speaker attached to my helmet.
He decided that we would go to Sina’s territory. Hopefully we can catch her by surprise and she won’t have any muscle to push back against us.
Seconds later we come to a stop in front of a small, seemingly normal house. The outside is painted a bright blue color and the shutters are lime green. The house fits in with the rest of the town, nothing that would cause anyone to think that anything sinister is happening just inside.
We know different.
The crew of us park our bikes right in front.
AZ and Digger do a quick scan of the street just to make sure we are not walking into some type of trap.
“Está tranquilo,” Digger utters as he walks by me and Lobo.
“Let’s keep it that way,” Lobo replies.
All together, the group of us walks up the stairs and huddles around the front door.
Vado grabs hold of the doorknob, and using only a little bit of force, he manages to break the lock.
I keep my eyes on the street, making sure no one comes up behind us. No one is coming in this direction, but I see several people looking up at us, as if they are waiting to see what we are going to do.
Do they all know what’s going on behind these walls?
Have they just been waiting for someone to come and help them?
Vado pushes the door open and I see AZ reaching for his gun, ready to pull it out.
“Wait, there may be kids in there,” I say out loud, making sure everyone knows that this needs to be handled with care.
“Everyone move carefully,” Vado orders.
Slowly, we all move into the house.
It looks like a fucking sorority house. Women are lounging around, most of them in bra and panties. A few in more expensive lingerie.
None of them seem surprised that a bunch of leather-clad men just walked in on them.
“?Dónde está Sina?” Vado questions, but no one answers him. They look among themselves, but it’s like they don’t understand. Vado tries again, this time in English. “Where’s Sina? We don’t want any trouble with you, but we need her.”
“I don’t know who you’re looking for, but I’m sure I can help you.” One of the women gets up from where she is sitting and sexily walks over to Vado.
He rolls his eyes and shoves her away gently. “Sorry, unless you’re Sina, I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
“Oh, don’t be like that.”
Vado reaches down for his weapon, pulling it out but keeping it pointed to the ground. “How about we do it this way then, either someone goes and gets Sina or there’s going to be a lot of blood to clean up later.”
The woman doesn’t stop smiling, but I can see in her eyes that she’s taking the threat seriously.
“You all have something to say?” A man appears at the end of the hall.
Finally, someone for me to take my anger out on. The group of us rush in his direction. We don’t beat on women, but this asshole we’d have no problem beating the shit out of.
“Where the fuck is Sina?” I growl as we get closer to him.
He doesn’t back up, doesn’t go for a weapon. It’s almost like he’s not worried about any danger coming from us.
“She’s not here.”
“Where the hell is she then?” Lobo questions.
“I don’t know. She’s a busy woman. I can tell her that you showed up, though.”
“Fuck that, tell us where you’re keeping the kids,” I spit out.
“Kids? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The man seems completely unfazed by our line of questions. It’s pissing me off.
“Keep on acting stupid, see what it gets you.” AZ moves forward, ready to deliver on any implied threat.
“I’m not acting anything. I don’t know where she is. She could be in the next house over. Next town. She could be in Florida. I have no idea. Whatever you came here to do, you’re not going to find your answers here.” The man is deliberately trying to be obtuse.
He’s playing games with us. This is going to get us nowhere.
“Fine, we’ll find her a different way,” Vado growls before he grabs hold of the man’s collar and all but lifts him off the ground.
“But know this, if we even hear about you or anyone in Sina’s little crew fucking with the children around here or setting innocent people up to take a fall, we’ll be back and we won’t be talking. ”
This finally gets a reaction out of the man. The phony smile he’s been wearing drops off and he glares back at Vado. “Little crew.” He turns his head slightly to show a tattoo there on his neck.
“Fuck, mira, he’s one of them. He’s a fucking Cano,” Lobo says what’s on all of our minds.
“You can’t really think you got all of us. Even if you kill me right now, you won’t get the rest,” the man speaks through clenched teeth.
Vado doesn’t reply, and I can see he’s trying to calculate his next move. Killing one of them now won’t do anything for us.
“We need to regroup. If Sina is working with the remaining Canos…” I let the words trail off.
When we set out, we thought we’d have to deal with a woman on a power trip. Now we have to figure out how to deal with a war we thought we ended years earlier.
“Remember what I said. Leave these people alone if you know what’s good for you.” Vado lets the man go before he turns on his heel and walks back to the main space of the house.
We all follow behind him, no more on edge than before.
The threat has increased. My eyes scan the women in the room.
None of them look like they are being forced to be there, but then again I wonder how much of what I’m seeing is nothing more than a show.
The same way Estrella was trained, brainwashed, so were these women.
Before it’s all said and done, I want to make sure that everyone here and everyone else in Sina’s grasp knows they have a choice. They all deserve the choice, no matter what it costs me.
***
AZ, Lobo, and Vado have been locked up in church since we made our way back to the clubhouse.
We only just realized that the Canos were still around, but to know that they are helping to run an enterprise that victimizes children and other members of our community has raised this to a new level for all of us.
There’s no question about it now. It’s going to be a war. A bloody battle none of us were expecting.
I just need to get myself ready, need to prepare myself for what’s about to happen. On my own.
I’m in my room trying to center myself when I hear a knock on my door.
“Ven.” I call out and the door opens.
I groan when I see it’s Estrella. I figured it would be Pooh or someone else coming to give me more information. Not her.
“I was just coming to check up on you. See if you found out anything.” Her voice is soft as she makes her way further into my room.
“No.” I’m short with her, both because I don’t want her to be near me and also because just having her this close is doing things to me I know I can’t act on.
“Oro, are you going to tell me what I did wrong or are you just going to keep ignoring me?”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. I just don’t want to be bothered.” I don’t bother to look up at her. I don’t want her to see the deception in my eyes. I don’t want to see the fakeness in hers.
She turns on her heels like she’s about to walk out, but before she makes it to the door she turns back and rushes over to where I’m laying down.
I’m caught off guard when she smacks me hard on the chest. The sting of the smack vibrates in my body.
“Get up! You’re going to talk to me. I’m tired of walking on eggshells around you. Tired of trying to figure out what the problem is. Tell me what it is.”
I pop up from the bed and glare at her. “Don’t put your fucking hands on me. Didn’t Coca warn you about that shit? Hitting one of us is the easiest fucking way to get kicked out of here.”
“So do it! Rat me out. You’ve got your reason now. You want me gone so bad, here’s your chance.”
I shake my head and try to walk around her to get to the door so I can escort her out. “I’m not going to put you out. Just don’t put your hands on me.”
She slides in front of me so close that I have to back up.
“Now you don’t want me to put my hands on you? You wanted my hands on you yesterday, or at least you did for a second. What happened between then and now? What, did you realize just how fucked up I am? How damaged I am?”
“I told you about that shit before. There’s nothing wrong with you.” I don’t want to have this conversation. I don’t want to do this right now.
“Then what is the problem? I tried to help you. I did the best I could. When are you going to forgive me? I can’t live like this. I don’t know what you want me to do!” She yells at me and I can’t hold back.
“I want you to be real!” I yell back at her.
“Wh… what?” She stutters and I get right in her face.
“I’ve been obsessed with you forever, back before I even knew what it meant to be obsessed with someone.
You’ve always been that one dream I could never reach.
The one woman who could do shit to me no one else could.
Even when I had no idea where you were or what you were doing.
Even when I knew you were so much better than me, everyone was always compared to you.
Now that I have you and I know what I know, I don’t want the dream.
I don’t want what I thought you were or what you’ve been trained to act like. I want you to be real.”
She shakes her head, trying to go through the words that have just spilled out of my mouth.
“I am real. I’ve been real with you since the moment I walked in here and found out that you were here. I’ve been nothing but real with you.”
“Bullshit. You call that show you put on last night for me real? You think I’m going to believe that all I have to do is touch you and you could really break to pieces like that?
That you could moan my name like that and it be real?
It’s all a dream. It has to be. I don’t want that. I won’t fall for it.”
She opens her mouth as if she’s going to say something in return. Instead she just laughs.
Exactly what I thought she’d do. I’m nothing more than a joke to her. I’m a joke to fucking everyone.
“Get the hell out of here. I don’t have time for this shit.”
“No.” She composes herself.
“Estrella, I said go.”
“No. I said no, Santiago. Everyone here has made sure to make this one thing clear. I have a choice. So I’m taking that choice right now. I’m not going to leave. I’m saying no. You won’t force me to go. Not until you see.”
I don’t remember the last time I felt this fucking defeated. “See what, Starlight? What more can I possibly see?”
“The truth.” She whispers and gets closer to me. So close that I can feel her body pressed against mine.
She wants me to see the truth. I thought I already had.
“What’s the truth then?” I question, my tone deepening as she gets closer to me. I want to push her away, but at the same time all I want is to get closer. To make it so she can’t breathe without me touching her. To make her feel all the ways she makes me feel.
“The truth is it wasn’t a dream. You may be the only man who’s ever seen me for the real me.
The one who saw what I was doing to be a show.
Last night when we danced and you touched me, it was no act.
That was real. All I need is for you to touch me and I’m ready to ignite.
Can’t you feel this?” She raises my hand and presses it against her chest. “I can’t fake this.
I’m good, but I’m not that good. I want you, Santi.
I know I shouldn’t, but I do. If you want me the same way, all you have to do is take me.
It’s my choice… finally, my choice. I’m choosing you.
” She leans up on her toes, her mouth just a hair’s breadth away from mine.
I don’t know how we got here, but I’m not going to be questioning it.
I want her just as bad. The real her. I can see in those grass-green eyes that she’s being truthful with me. I can have her like this.
She’s mine.