Tomas nearly flipped the car over in his haste to get where he was headed, but the tires screeched and landed safely as he took the turn far too quickly. Although Tom loved to race cars when there was a prize on the line, now was not one of the times he could enjoy it; a friend of the family had died and the whole tribe was coming together. Tom's parents Carlitos and Maya had once run in a street gang with a Malcolm Vega and a Westley James, and since the death touched those families it had touched his as well. His parents had left for the funeral almost an hour ago and Tom had meant to leave earlier than he had, but one of his mother's contacts had called and getting all the information down he needed had taken a lot longer than expected. It was a job he was looking forward to getting into; just enough of the James Bond to it to make it interesting, but now he was late for a funeral.
He arrived in time to see the large cluster of the families start to lay flowers on the coffin before it was lowered into the ground. The car he'd nearly rolled was thrown into park and Tom slid through the ice coated grass until he came to a stop next to his mother and a little behind his father, whom was standing painfully with the aid of his walker. Neither Tom nor his parents had known the woman who had passed as well, but that didn't matter as Tom stood next to the family members affected by it most; Alice and Malcolm Vega. Their friend and surrogate mother, Salali, had finally given into the embrace of the heart attack she had been flirting with for years now. The old woman had certain indulgences since even before Malcolm had met her and she'd always smoked a pipe, yet her heath had really only deteriorated over the last couple of years. It had still come as a shock to poor Alice and the rest of the Vega family, and as such to the James and Guererro clans too.
For a trio of families raised in bloody ways, death did not come easily accepted.
Tom's best friend Nathaniel sidled over to him, handing the late arrival a rose to place on the coffin as well. Tom gave a grateful nod and placed it on the massive box of wood, and saw all those who had come out. Nate and his parents, Grace and hers, with a few people he didn't know; Tom realized that there were still a few missing people. He slipped back to near Nate and in a low voice asked, "Where's the brat?"
A brief flicker of a smile twisted on Nate's mouth but grief washed it away quickly. "Adri just got back from a shoot so she stayed with Ophelia; the latest round of that experimental drug has left her wretched." Nate admitted with a flat tone. Tom knew him well enough to appreciate the blunt honesty and the pain it caused his friend. Although he had grown up less directly involved with the James family than Nate had, he still respected and cared for the icy pale woman who was fighting cancer. It made for a very somber day indeed, despite the sunlight glittering off the snow.
A strange thing happened after the coffin was lowered to the ground, Alice Vega went around to all the attendees and gave them a cigar. "Her favourite brand, though she'd unroll the cigar to stuff her pipe with the leaves." Alice explained face drawn in her grief. Tom had heard the back story there, how Salali had become a guardian and mother like figure to the orphaned and abused Alice, so he accepted both the cigar and explanation without comment. Alice didn't just walk away though, she turned to Tom's father. "Thank you all for coming out today." It was obvious that using the walker not only pained Carlitos physically but also tweaked his pride.
"Salali was one of the two people to help Malcolm come back into himself in the end. I never knew her well but she always had my respect and admiration." Carlitos replied simply. Unspoken was the fact that the other person to help Malcolm had been Alice herself, and Carlitos had seen Malcolm through all of the moments before that; been his mentor on the streets of Madrid.
Tom had heard about all of the stories, even the ones that no one had been proud of, but it gave him a sense of knowing the parents of his friends in a way he'd have never of gotten otherwise. His father had always been watching over Malcolm and West, and Tom had grown up feeling like it was his duty to watch over Nate, his sister Adri, and little Grace. Nate and Grace had been inseparable since her birth, and were now in fact finally lovers, but Dri had always been a bit of a problem for Tom. She had been a royal brat from day one to him, mainly because she had everyone else wrapped around her little finger and seemed to resent the fact that she didn't just charm him into going along like everyone else. So she'd become the brat to him and they'd settled on a truce of ignoring each other to avoid the inevitable screaming match that would ensue if they tried to converse. All the parents had seemed much relieved when the incessant yelling stopped. The last time Tom had seen the brat was at Nate's twenty second birthday in December and they had managed to be cordial without much effort for once. It didn't help that she'd grown up gorgeous and when she got angry now she was a sight to behold.
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High Card Bluff (House of Cards Series 5)
RomanceTom Guerrero is used to working in the mechanic shop for his father and running the odd job for his mother's private investigator business when he isn't trying to lead his own life, but one job for his mother is pulling him in too deep. He is trying...
