Caraphanelia | Oscar Diaz

Caraphanelia - Chapter Two

"Aye." Cara knocked on the bedroom door with two fingers, "Maya, you ready?"

"Ready for what?" Seven scratched his forearm as he stepped out of his room.

"I got invited to the skating rink, thought I'd take Maya with me."

"Oh yeah? She know that?"

She shrugged a shoulder, "I told her earlier."

Maya opened the door catching both of her siblings off guard. She stood before them in a hoodie and jeans. "I'm ready." She spoke in a small voice.

Seven and Cara glanced at each other, that's the farthest they've gotten with her since their mom died. "Okay then." Seven said, "y'all want some money or something?"

"Nah. But how bout a ride?" Cara gave a tight lipped, hopeful smile.

"Uh," He patted his shorts, looking for his keys. "Yeah, let me go put a shirt on."

He walked away and the girls were left alone, "you hungry?"

Maya shook her head, "I ate earlier."

"Oh. What'd you eat?"

Maya was gonna open her mouth to speak but Seven walked out with a tank on and his keys in his hands. "Y'all ready?" Cara nodded, nudging Maya to follow her.

As they walked out to the door, the hellcats engine roared to life as Seven fucked with the buttons on the key fob.

"Shot gun?" Cara raised an eyebrow at Maya. But she stayed quiet, opening the back door, and closed it behind her as she sat. Seven and Cara looked at each other again over the roof of the black charger.

When they were finally all situated and the car was in reverse, Seven spoke, "which rink is it?"

Cara thought for a sec, "the one on Núñez."

He gave a short nod and began to drive, glancing in the backseat every once and while. He noticed his youngest sister staring out of the window with a pout, so he twisted the volume knob, trying to get a reaction out of her. But she just sat, huffing.

It wasn't a long drive, Seven and Cara spoke vaguely about dinner and how they'd never eat burgers from that joint again. But when they pulled into the parking lot, she noticed a red car surrounded by a bunch of men. One of them was her new friend Santi and what seemed to be his friends from school.

"We done found the hoes." She sung softly. That caused a small smile to creep up on Maya's face.

"Where I leave y'all asses at?" Seven asked, one hand on the wheel and the other resting on his chin. But as soon as he made eye contact with the owner of the red car, both of their gazes were stuck, they stared at each other, until they were on the other side of the building. He pressed on the brake slowly, coming to a halt. Maya got out of the car first, and as Cara reached for the door handle he stopped her. "Keep her away from them." He whispered.

"Who?"

"You'll know." He cleared his throat, sitting up. "Text me when you're ready." She nodded, stepping out. "Love you."

"Love you." She smiled, shutting the door.

He drove off, the engine was obnoxiously loud as he sped out of the parking lot and down the road. The sisters looked at each other, rolling their eyes. Cara wrapped her arm around Maya's shoulders as she guided her toward the entrance.

"Saint!" Cara's head turned abruptly at the sound of her last name. "What's good with you?" Santi ran over, "who's this?"

"Santi, this is my baby sister, Maya."

"Hi Maya. You're literally your sisters twin." Maya offered a half smile but decided silently in that moment that she didn't like him. "Come meet the homies, don't be shy." He instructed, walking ahead of them.

"That's your boyfriend?" Maya mumbled.

Cara shook her head, "hell nah."

"Good. I don't like him."

"Me neither." They laughed quietly. In all honesty, Cara wanted nothing less than to meet his friends, but she thought maybe Maya and her can laugh at how hard this man was trying later.

"Hey." Santiago said, catching everybody's attention.

In that moment, Maya met with a pair of brown eyes, her heart felt like it was gonna explode and she tuned out the rest of the world. She drowned out everything this Santi boy was saying as they stared at each other. He smiled, then she realized they were being introduced. "Cesar." He held his hand out, "hi."

She stuttered, and felt so stupid about it. Cara noticed. Her demeanor completely changed.

"Maya." She took his hand, smiling genuinely. "Nice to meet you."

"Pleasures all mine." He firmly held her hand, but didn't shake it, he just held it.

Three inches away from that situation, Santi was blabbing on about all the guys, saying their respective names. The last one out of all of them standing around was a tall, tatted, handsome man. "Spooky."

"That's your real name?" Cara raised an eyebrow.

"Is Cara yours?" He matched her energy perfectly, taking a sip of the forty in his hand.

Cara was gonna give a snarky response, but she glanced over at her baby sister, noticing she was in a full conversation with the Cesar kid. She was smiling and speaking. Speaking actual words not just mumbles and grunts. She was using her hands to portray her words. Cara smiled, Oscar noticed.

"Let me holla at you real quick." He nudged her crossed her arms with a single index finger. She stepped closer to him, til they were on their own private side of the car. He leaned against it, licking his lips. "Why haven't I seen you before?"

"Maybe you weren't looking hard enough."

He scoffed in a joking way, shaking his head as he took another sip. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

He set his forty on top of the car, grabbing her arms and unfolding them. "Act all hard to get." His finger tips brushed hers, "where you from?"

She swallowed, sliding her hands into her back pockets. "Texas."

"Texas...?"

"Houston." She said, keeping an extra eye on her sister. "Born and raised."

"How long you been in Cali?"

"Long enough." She shrugged, nodding at the kid. "Yours?"

He glanced back at Cesar. "Yeah."

"Son?"

He furrowed his eyebrows, "do I look old enough to have a fifteen year old son?"

She shrugged again, testing his nerves. "I haven't looked at you yet."

"Hmm." His chest vibrated, she almost felt it. He set a finger on her chin, turning her head to look at him completely. "Look at me then."

"Look." She chuckled, grabbing his hand, handing it back to his personal bubble. "Spooky? Was it?"

"It was." He nodded.

"Im just here tryna get my sister out the house and I–"

"Yo Saint," Santiago waved her over, "rinks open, bring yo ass."

She stepped away, and Oscar spoke softly. "I'll be seeing you, miss Cara."

"Don't bet on it." She grabbed Maya's hand, walking toward the doors.

"I'll be there in a bit." Cesar winked at her, "save me a spot."

Maya nodded, furrowing her eyebrows when she saw the look Cara was giving both of them. She tried to fix her face and hide it, but Maya knew something was going on. She decided to ignore it since this was the first time in months she's felt like a normal teenager.