16. Cori - Age 16 #3
“What do you think’s gonna happen, pendejo ? You think you’re gonna beat me up and that’s the end of it? You’re dead, you hear me? Dead.”
Deck peered over at me before turning back to lock his eyes on Chi-chi. “You think I care what happens to me now?”
Jesus Christ. Deck might not care, but I sure as hell did. “Deck, stop!”
“Stay back, Cori!” Deck yelled. “This is between me and Chi-chi.”
Chi-chi seemed to have mostly recovered. He and Deck circled each other.
“Deck!” I tried one last time, but he ignored me, baring his teeth at Chi-chi. He wasn’t in his right mind.
I threw up my hands. Fucking men and their egos. This stupid neighborhood where the only true currency was violence.
Deck struck first, landing a right hook to Chi-chi’s jaw that had the other man spitting blood.
Chi-chi responded with a swift kick to Deck’s shins. I caught my breath as Deck fell. When he shot back up again, his arm was bleeding. Looking at the ground, I saw that he’d landed on the same piece of brown glass I’d pulled out of my foot and tossed out the door a few hours ago.
Chi-chi yanked on Deck’s shorts. Deck fell again, his feet taken out from under him as Chi-chi pulled the shorts off his legs, tossing them aside.
“Look at you, muchacho ,” Chi-Chi taunted him. “Lying there in your underwear.” Chi-chi kicked Deck hard in the ribs. Deck groaned as he curled up, clutching his abdomen.
My mom stood behind me, watching, but had yet to say anything. A white-hot rage burned in my stomach.
The tension left Aaron’s shoulders as Chi-chi repeatedly kicked Deck in the stomach.
Chi-chi laughed. “I thought we were supposed to be fighting? Why’d you order me out here just to lie down?” He leaned down to punch Deck square in the jaw.
That was when Deck’s eyes met mine.
Oh, Chi-chi. You should be better at this game by now. Considering I played it with you twenty minutes ago.
Aaron had the audacity to check the time on his phone. Idiot.
Chi-chi landed one more blow on Deck’s rib cage before leaning down next to his ear. “I like your girl, Deck. She’s a real fucking wildcat. You may be a little bitch, but you have good taste in pussy.”
Quick as a flash, Deck grabbed Chi-chi’s ankle.
“What the fu—”
Chi-chi only had a moment to protest before Deck leaned over and sank his teeth into the bony flesh above Chi-chi’s heel.
Deck held on, chomping down like a rabid dog before Chi-chi fell backward, screaming.
Finally, Deck released him, spitting— oh fuck, was that skin?
Did he actually just spit out a chunk of Chi-chi’s ankle?
— onto the ground, his mouth covered in blood.
Chi-chi pulled his leg to his chest. From the doorway, I could see the gaping wound. It was gruesome, and I barely stopped myself from vomiting on the spot.
“Holy shit,” Aaron whispered.
This time, it was Deck’s turn to kick Chi-chi in the ribs. Deck wasn’t in great shape—bruises marred most of his thighs and torso, not to mention the cut on his arm—but he still had the strength to kick Chi-chi hard enough to make the other man grunt.
“It’s over, Chi-chi,” Deck whooshed out, punctuating each word with another kick.
“This is all that’s left.” He held his arms out at his sides, squeezing his eyes closed and staring at the sky before dropping to his knees.
“This is the only thing I can do.” Reaching his arm back, he brought a powerful fist down on Chi-chi’s face. Then did it again. And again.
I heard the sickening crunch of bone and the sound of flesh being pummeled. Blood poured out of Chi-chi’s nose.
Chi-chi fell back onto the ground.
Deck pulled his arm back.
“No! Stop!” I screamed, and he paused.
Aaron pushed past me. “That’s enough, man. Chi-chi’s out.”
Deck’s irises were pink with rage. He picked up the bat and brought it down hard across Aaron’s outstretched wrist. The blond man collapsed to the ground, clutching his obviously broken limb. “I told you what would happen if you came down here!” Deck shouted at him.
“Jesus Christ, Deck! Stop!” I needed to find a way to get through to him. Whatever demons he had running the show in his head right now were blinding him.
But Deck didn’t stop. He turned back to Chi-chi and punched him again. Blood splattered up across Deck’s chest. A small splash dripped from his chin. It had only taken the first punch for Chi-chi’s face to look completely mangled. A few more punches and it looked like ground beef.
That was when two cop cars pulled up, lights flashing and sirens blaring. Had someone actually called them?
Four officers raced onto the scene. I saw with horror that one of them was Deck’s brother Emilio, who had just graduated from the Police Academy. He ran to his brother and pulled him back into his lap on the ground.
“? Qué has hecho hermano ?” Emilio asked him as Deck went limp, sinking into his brother’s embrace.
Behind me, my mother pulled the same move, clutching my back against her chest. I felt her shove something into my hand.
My shorts.
I slipped them on quickly before the police noticed us. They were too busy tending to the three men on the ground. I could only imagine how it appeared. Deck was practically naked, and he and Chi-chi were muddy and covered in blood.
That was when Emilio looked up and saw me. Even though I’d put the shorts on, I couldn’t hide my lip or the bruises on my face. “ Oh my god ,” he mouthed silently.
An ambulance arrived. One EMT went over to Chi-chi while the other looked at Aaron’s wrist.
My eyes glazed over as I watched the professionals triage the scene. Emilio still held his brother. I was fairly certain that wasn’t police protocol, but the other officers seemed fine with turning their heads away.
“Don’t fucking say anything,” Emilio whisper-shouted to Deck.
“Do what they tell you and don’t make it worse.
I don’t know how deep you’re into this, little brother, but…
they got Cruz.” A flicker of emotion crossed Deck’s face at that, but just barely.
“They got him, and now…I don’t know what’s going to happen… with all of this.”
Emilio sounded distraught, which was my first confirmation that the situation was truly dire. This wasn’t just gonna be some fight where everyone got off with a warning.
Chi-chi had certainly been punished for attacking me tonight. He still wasn’t moving. But at what cost? Would it have been so terrible to call the police? Prosecute him for assault? I would have done it, would have taken my chances.
But that wasn’t how things worked here. Things weren’t settled at the courthouse. Not if you could help it.
What would happen to Deck? My brother? Their friends? When did this ever stop?
I loved Deck, but now we had this to add to our misery, to deal with in addition to everything else.
Baby.
Heart emoji.
I wanted peace. And a future. I wanted to live in a world where I could get stitches in my foot when I needed them.
I loved Deck, but I also hated him.
Hated him for taking everything away from us.
I watched dully as the cops cuffed Deck and put him in the back of a cop car. Before the door shut, he and I exchanged a long look.
There was a hint of a smile on my face, the ghost of the girl who had always loved him. I needed him to know that—as mad as I was—I still believed we could handle anything.
I hoped Deck saw the love there. That he knew I would do whatever it took to help him get through this.
But he wasn’t himself. And I worried he only saw the hate.