Chapter 1 #2
I shake my head. I don’t want to hide. I don’t want to run anymore. I want to stay here. I want to carry on living like we’re a normal fucking family with dance practices and fight nights and family dinners.
“I’m not afraid,” I lie, my pulse thundering beneath my skin.
“Lázaro, handle your brother,” Papi orders.
Laz barges into the study and grabs for me. I duck under his arm, rushing toward Papi, ready to defend him against whatever brings him fear, even though I’m definitely the weakest in the room.
My brother snags me by the waist and drags me out into the hall. I’ve forgotten all fighting techniques at this point in my desperation to stay with Papi. I’m kicking and clawing to break free as Laz pulls me into the hallway closet and fights with the broom handle in the way of the door closing.
We both freeze when a bang echoes downstairs. Dread tumbles through me as the reality sets in.
Someone’s inside our house.
I fight Laz more aggressively. “Papi!”
Laz snaps a hand over my mouth. “Quit it, manito.”
He hauls me deeper into the cramped space, hiding us in the musty coats that were here when we moved in.
Of course I don’t listen. I never do.
I struggle against him, seeking to throw him off, but he drops me onto my ass and wraps his powerful legs around me. We’ve fought enough in the gym to know each other’s weaknesses. I’m good at takedowns and striking, but I’ve never been skilled at rolling.
For once in my life, I’m upset about my lack of discipline in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
I slam an elbow back into Laz’s ribs. Grunting, his hand pops off my mouth.
“Let me go, Laz,” I protest.
His hand returns to my mouth. He tugs my head back hard against his chest. “Shut the fuck up or we’re all dead.”
Fear momentarily paralyzes me. Is that what we’ve been running from? Death?
I’m not ready to die. I haven’t even fucking lived. I haven’t known the rush of performing a lead role in front of an audience or the caress of a lover, not just a random guy looking for a quick fuck.
Peeking out of the closet, I see Papi sitting in his study chair. He must have tucked his notebook away because it’s no longer on his desk. He makes no effort to move as footsteps thud up the stairs.
Fuck. We should call for help. We should fight back, right? Papi has a gun in the house somewhere. He made sure we were all trained to use it.
Laz must hear my thoughts because he squeezes me hard enough to make me question if he could crush my bones.
A shadow moves across the gap in the closet door, and my heart stops beating for a few seconds. The intruder is worse than anything I could have imagined. Clad in dark tactical gear and a demonic black skull mask with horns and too many sharp teeth, there’s nothing human about him.
Especially not when he raises a pistol to Papi’s head.
My heart kicks into overdrive. I scream against Laz’s hand covering my mouth, but he quickly winds an arm around my neck and applies enough pressure to keep me in check.
Hot tears roll down my cheeks, spilling onto his forearm. I never thought I could hate my brother. But I do right now.
I hate Laz.
The masked intruder tilts his head to the side, seeming to communicate silently. If it’s money he wants, I have six hundred dollars tucked under my mattress. If Laz would just let me the fuck go…
Papi’s chest caves with a sigh of defeat. “This ends with me. Their lives are spared—”
Crack.
This gunshot doesn’t just split the night. It shatters me into pieces. Cleaves me apart, and not cleanly.
I slam my eyes shut. I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to look. This can’t be real. It’s just another nightmare. I’ll wake up soon.
Someone fucking wake me up.
Tremors wrack my body as Laz clings to me tighter and rocks me. At this point, I don’t know if he’s still trying to hold me or find comfort for himself. He buries his face in the crook of my neck, his own tears seeping through my shirt.
Seconds drag on like hours. Days, maybe. I don’t care about dying anymore. My brother’s arms are the only thing keeping the bloody shards of me together at this point.
Heavy footsteps thud closer, and I dare to open my eyes.
Fuck him. I won’t go out cowering.
The intruder, no, my father’s murderer, is staring right at me through the gap in the door. I’m not sure he can see me in the dark. I can’t make out his eyes in the holes of his mask, but somehow, I think he knows we’re in here.
He tilts his head again, almost tauntingly. Then he lifts a gloved hand to the jagged teeth of his mask and makes a shushing gesture.
My blood runs cold.
I cling tightly to Laz’s forearm, convinced this is the end. All these years of running away were for nothing.
“Love you to the fucking moon, manito,” Laz whispers against the back of my neck.
More tears spill from my eyes. It’s not fair. My brother doesn’t deserve this. Papi and Mamá didn’t deserve this.
The murderer’s attention shifts away from me as police sirens wail in the distance. Someone must have heard the gunshots and called 9-1-1.
I hold my breath, waiting for him to make a decision on what to do. My lungs burn from lack of air and my vision blurs in a new swell of hot tears as I confront my fate.
The murderer turns and strides off.
Laz slowly eases his hand from my mouth, but I wait until I hear the murderer’s boots thud all the way down the steps before I suck in a ragged, gutting breath.
Pain spreads through my chest like wildfire. I wriggle in Laz’s hold, torn between the need to get to Papi and terrified of what I’ll find if I get free.
Blood. There was so much blood.
No. Papi’s okay. He’ll be okay. It’s about time for us to move again. We’ve been here too long. Almost two whole years now. I won’t fight Papi this time when he tells us to pack up. I’ll go happily.
Laz continues rocking me as the police swarm our house. I think I might be screaming. I’m not even sure I recognize the sound of my own voice.
The door to the closet swings wide open. I wince, shutting my eyes against the blinding glow of flashlights. When they click off, an officer kneels down in front of us. I feel Laz’s rumble of a voice responding to him, but I don’t hear their words.
I’m too focused on the other officers slipping into Papi’s study in the background. Their expressions confirm what I already know in my gut.
Laz and I are alone in this cruel world.