Chapter 18 Betrayal
Betrayal
We hear music. Oscar cocks his head. It’s the same Chucho Flash song that was playing from Victor’s car earlier.
This time, it’s coming from the front of the store.
Curious, Oscar starts walking, and I follow.
He turns one corner and then another, and he sees something in the parking lot before I do, something that causes him to say, “What the fuck?”
I also turn the corner. I see Victor’s car. Once again, all the windows are rolled down, and indeed that same song is coming out of the speakers.
Victor dances on one side of the car, like before. On the other side, Blanca is twerking again, but this time her ass is scraping across the crotch of Davey Fitzsimmons, a junior on my track team who has a reputation for having sex with a lot of girls. People call him Davey “Fuckboy” Fitzsimmons.
Davey cups one of Blanca’s breasts. She lets him.
I’m not looking at Oscar right now, but I can feel the heat and the anger coming from him.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” Oscar yells at Davey.
Davey backs up, a smirk on his face.
Blanca looks at Oscar like he’s insane. “What you doing here, Oscar? And what are you screaming about?”
“You let this bitch rub his dick on you?!”
“We’re just dancing!”
“That’s right,” says Davey. “We’re just dancing.”
“If you’re just dancing, why you got your hand on my girlfriend’s tit?!”
Davey shrugs. “I’m not the only one with my hand on your girlfriend’s tit.”
I reach out for Oscar’s shoulder, but he takes a step forward.
He says to Davey, “What the fuck did you say?!”
“You heard me,” Davey responds.
The homeless woman suddenly appears at the far end of the parking lot and screams toward me, “Nash, Nash, Nash!”
I glance at the woman, who’s pointing a long, dirty finger at me, but I quickly move my attention back to the tense scene before me.
Blanca, sensing that Oscar is about to do something, exclaims, “Oscar!”
Oscar lunges for Davey.
Victor and I both spring into action.
Oscar lands one solid punch to Davey’s nose before Victor and I pull Oscar away.
“Nash, Nash, Nash!” the homeless woman continues.
Victor and I have a solid grip around Oscar’s upper body, but he kicks his legs, trying to reach Davey, who has moved several steps back, holding his bleeding nose.
“I thought we were bros, bro!” Oscar continues to kick, his eyes still fixed on Davey. “You don’t mess with another dude’s girl!”
Blanca starts trying to slap Oscar in the face. “What the fuck is your problem, Oscar?!”
Victor lets go of Oscar and holds Blanca back, while I keep my arms around Oscar. Oscar and Blanca attempt to attack one another.
The homeless woman still: “Nash, Nash, Nash!”
Oscar says to Blanca, “What’s he mean by that?! He’s not the only one touching you?! What’s he mean by that?!”
“He doesn’t mean anything! He’s stupid!”
“You cheating on me?!” Oscar asks.
“Fuck you!” growls Blanca.
“You cheating on me?!”
“You’re always looking at other girls!”
“I look, but I don’t touch!”
“Yeah, right!”
“I don’t!” insists Oscar. “I’m not a cheater! I would never do you like that! When I say you’re my girl, you’re my girl! My mom taught me right! Since I was little! She’d kill me if I ever cheated on you! I swear to Jesus, I swear on my unborn children, I swear on my dead dad!”
“You’re a dog!” yells Blanca. “You’re the cheater!”
Yes, Oscar talks about other girls and stuff, but he doesn’t cheat. Blanca is obviously trying to deflect.
“Don’t turn this around on me!” says Oscar. “I see what you’re doing! I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid! You fucking someone else?!”
“Why don’t you ask Victor?!”
“Victor?! Why the fuck would I ask Victor?! I’m asking you!”
Victor says, “Shut up, Blanca!”
Then, a thought slowly occurs to Oscar. He looks at Victor, then back at Blanca, then back at Victor again. He comes to a horrible realization. All the anger drains from his body. He is filled with what looks like deep sorrow. He feels betrayed.
Oscar says, softly, not wanting to believe what his mind is telling him to believe, “Victor?”
Victor lets go of Blanca. He holds up a palm toward Oscar. “We were gonna tell you. Not like this. But we were gonna tell you. We didn’t mean for this to happen. It just happened.”
Oscar looks down, as if he’s trying to piece together all the clues. He turns to Blanca, but can’t make eye contact. “Yesterday, when you said you were on your period and didn’t want to bang and made me go home. Was that true?”
Blanca, for the first time, dons a softer expression, something close to regret or remorse. “Nah. After you left, Victor came over.”
“Sorry, dude,” says Victor. “Wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
“You and me are no good, Oscar,” Blanca declares. “We’re always fighting.”
“That’s ‘cause you’re always starting it.”
“We’re always fighting, and me and Victor are different. We get along. And he treats me right.”
“I treat you right.”
“But Victor’s like all romantic and shit. He buys me flowers and shit.”
Silence. There seems to be nothing left to say.
By this point, Davey has disappeared. So has the homeless woman. It’s like the rest of the world has faded away, and it’s just me, Oscar, Blanca, and Victor.
Victor and Blanca quietly get into Victor’s car and drive away.
I’m still holding onto Oscar, even though he doesn’t pose a threat any more. When I try to release him, he grabs my arm, indicating that he wants me to remain in this position. I notice that he has tears in his eyes. I can tell he’s trying to hold them back.
Oscar says, his voice trembling with sadness, “You and me. We’re still friends. Right, Hunter?”
I nod, emphatically.
“You said we’ll always be friends. Right?”
“Yes,” I say. “Always.”
Oscar begins to cry. He doesn’t try to stop it.