The Saints and The Jewels.
Two rival gangs in a small town in America 1960's.
Both fight for dominance and total control. The Saints, descendants of Hispanic immigrants who lack money but make up for in family. The Jewels, rich American teens who b...
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Antonio's POV
Nevermind, I can't sleep.
Ever since my head hit my pillow, every possible horrible scenario played it my head. I've drank so much water within the past hour or so. And yet, I still feel dehydrated.
She knows. Josefina "Flaca" Reyes knows that I am in a romantic relationship with a white guy who's my brother's biggest enemy.
I think what's beginning to scare me is the fact that Flaca is a chismosa. She loves gossip and I'm sure it's a huge part of her personality. If you need to know something about someone, she's the one you go to. Her mouth never stops talking.
What if she one day just decides to tell people? She even had picture evidence of us together! Everyone will easily believe her!
By some miracle, I did eventually go to sleep. I'm guessing my head was so focused on thinking about the future that I stopped paying attention to my need for sleep. Which then took over. I find it funny how whenever I try to go to sleep, I can never. It kinda just happens when you don't think about it.
Seven AM proved to be a horrible time to wake up on a fucking Saturday. Yesterday I discovered that Flaca is responsible for the pictures. She's probably keeping them hidden from everyone. I don't even know how she managed to print the photos without anyone seeing them. I bet she may have connections somehow.
Dolores barged into my room and threw me a broom. "¡Es hora de limpiar! (It's time to clean!)" She would cheer. Dolores has always loved a clean home.
When she came into our lives, our home was a wreck. All Manny did was work, fight, and come home. I could barely clean myself since I was so small but also struggled with my parents' death. I knew I would like her when she cleaned our entire home the first time she came over. She also cooked and left leftovers for us to eat. Manny needs to marry her soon!
I swept the house for a while. Manny was still asleep. He claims that he needs to rest so no one ever goes into his room from 6 to 9 in the morning. Once he comes out, you can make noise.
"Oye, Dina? Can I come over? I need to talk to you about something." I said to Dina over the phone.
"Not sure, Tonito. Dad doesn't want me hanging out with you cause he thinks you and Manuel are trouble." She whispered into the phone. That kinda hurt.
"Well, can we meet up somewhere? It's about me and Mike." I said. The line went silent for a short while.
"Meet me at The Mariposa." She said back.
"Great! See you in 10!" I hung up and ran to my room to change quickly.
As I went to put my shoes on, Manny sat on the couch watching me. Actually, he was glaring at me. Almost like he's trying to fix a puzzle in his brain.
"Keep staring like that and you'll pop a vein." I retorted at him.
"Hmm." He grunted out. He looked away and focused his attention back at the TV but I could still feel him looking back at me.
Then my overthinking got the best of me. Does Manny know? Is that why he's watching me? Because he knows? I bet he's thinking 'There he goes to be with his boyfriend' or something like that.
But now that I think about it, if Manny were to have known, then he would've been yelling at this point. Like a full blown screaming sesh.
"Como van las aplicaciones para college? (How are the college applications coming along?)" He asked.
"I applied to some already. I think I could get into an Ivy." I said.
"Really? And where will you get the money for that?" He asked. That judgemental glare was still there.
"Ms. Bella. I told you this a while ago. Remember?" I asked.
"Mmhmm. Sure." He responded.
"Okay...?" I didn't want to stay too long.
"¿A dónde vas, Antonio? (Where are you going, Antonio?)" Dolores asked me.
"I'm meeting with Dina. I have to talk to her."
I could've sworn I heard Manny scoff lightly but it was probably the radio static.
"Come back before lunch." Dolores said as I walked out the door.
I stood at the front door and took a deep breath in. I smelled the cold air. Winter was coming. Soon it'll be time for warm blankets and hot cocoa. I wish it was like that. Winter is spent with us freezing our asses out because the heat bill goes up and we need to conserve.
Telling Dina that I'm leaving will be the second worst thing I have to do. Because Dina is like my sister. She's been there for me for everything. She pretty much knows me. Some people think we're long lost twins that got split at birth.
Dina told me to meet her at The Mariposa. It's the rubble of a safe house that was once here. Several orphan kids would stay there and people in our community would come together to feed and take care of them. My parents were huge volunteers here.
Eventually, the safe house was shut down and over the years people have come here to destroy it a bit or have fun. But one place people will never touch is a wall drawn by the kids. A huge monarch butterfly was painted. Dina and I sometimes come here to repaint parts of it so it never dies out.
Bernardina is sure as hell gonna slap me and yell at me and possibly kill me when I tell her about my plans. I'm gonna be hurting too. I'll explain it all to her after she berates me for it.
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HOW DO I END THIS STORY?!?! i've has the plans for this story written over a year ago. i had the ending all planned out. but now i'm not so sure. how would y'all like it to end? happily ever after or tragedy?
