𝕸𝖞 𝖒𝖔𝖔𝖓 | ᴏꜱᴄᴀʀ ᴅɪᴀᴢ

16. Don't worry.

After the weekend, We got the week off school, so we could study for our upcoming finals. We took it more as a short vacation. We were all hanging out at Ruby's, listening to him talking about the latest dream he had. "No, I haven't even gotten to the weirdest part!" He rambled. "What happened?" I laughed, as he told us about him kissing a popular girl in his dream. "When I pulled away, it was Jasmine!" He yelled. Everyone burst into laughter, looking at his distressed state. "What does it mean?" He kneeled in front of us. "Maybe you have a crush on her." I smiled, receiving a gasp from him. "It's okay compa." Cesar chimed in. "Yeah, I've always liked Jasmine, I mean, she can be a bit much, but maybe that makes y'all a perfect match." I laughed. "I'm doomed." Ruby whined, sitting on the bed. Suddenly, Cesar's phone rang. He answered, which I assumed was Oscar calling. "Yeah, I'll be right there." Cesar said, ending the call. "What is it?" I asked. "I gotta go." He said, not giving anymore info on it. He put his hoodie on and got up. "Good luck on your crush, Ruby." He grinned, and left. "I wonder what it was." Jamal said. "I don't wanna know." Monse stated, looking at the door. I've tried to forget about Cesar being a Santo, and it had gone pretty well. We never talk about it, so I guess he's doing fine. It's still hard for me to think of him in that world though.

After Cesar left Ruby's, I stayed there for a couple hours, until I went home. When I got home, no one was there, so I went into the living room and laid down on the couch. After a while, I opened my eyes realizing I'd fallen asleep. I looked at the time, noticing a few hours had passed since I came home. I got up and walked around the house, seeing if my brother was home, without success. It was odd for him not to at least let me know where he was. I checked my phone to see if I had any messages, but I didn't. I decided to walk over to Cesar's house, to see if they were there. It was kind of dark outside, and I knew I had to be aware of my surroundings. While I was walking down the street, I noticed headlights coming towards me. I didn't think anything of it, I just kept walking. The car slowed down when it got closer to me, making me nervous, since this was a car I did not recognize. "Yo!" I heard a voice come from the car. I stopped breathing for a second, and when the car pulled up next to me, I stopped walking. There were three guys in the car, in green and yellow clothing, they were prophets. "Where' yo bitchass Santos at?" One of them asked. I felt like I'd lost the ability to speak. "I don't know." I stuttered. I heard them all laugh at me. "What's yo fine ass doing all alone in the dark, huh? You can come here to warm up." One of them said, opening the car door. I felt my whole body freeze, knowing there wasn't any room for acting smart with them.

"No, thank you." I replied, feeling ridiculous and terrified. "Damn, with an ass like that, you're really going to waste with them broke Santos." He said, licking his lips. I didn't say a word, I just looked at him. "Tell yo boys we're looking for them." He said, closing the car door. "I could make you feel real good, you know? You lucky we're in a hurry, baby." He laughed, and they drove away. Once they were out of my sight, I felt like my knees were about to betray me any second. I stood there for a while, wondering if I should just go back home, and so I did. I felt like crying, but at the same time I felt lucky that nothing bad happened.

When I got home, I noticed the door was open, which made me feel nauseous, wondering if I was stupid enough to leave it unlocked. I took a deep breath in, and stepped inside. Fortunately, I saw Cesar, Oscar and Antonio at the kitchen table. "Where the fuck were you, huh?" Antonio walked to me, after noticing my presence. "I was looking for you." I defended myself. "Are you stupid? It's hella dangerous for you to be out there alone! Do you know how worried I was?" He yelled. I felt it was unfair that he was yelling at me, but after the little incident, I was too exhausted to argue. "The prophets are lookin' for you guys, by the way." I said, looking at the guys, making Oscar and Cesar lift their heads to look at me. "What you talkin' about?" Antonio lowered his voice, worried. "They rolled up on me." I said, which caused Oscar to smack Cesar on the back of his head. "What did y'all do?" I asked. "Are you okay, did they hurt you?" Antonio ignored my question. "I'm fine, just some basic sexual harassment." I replied, sarcastically. "Fuck!" Antonio yelled, punching the table. "What did you do?" I repeated my question. "Don't worry about it." He avoided telling me. "I'm gonna worry!" I yelled, my voice cracking. "Mana, I'll keep you safe, everything's okay." Antonio whispered, grabbing my shoulder. "I don't want anything to happen." I whispered. "Nothing's gonna happen, I promise." He hugged me. I wanted to know what happened, but I wanted to respect my brother's will to keep me out of it. I'm guessing it had something to do with Cesar, which made me feel uneasy. "Let's go." Oscar said to Cesar. Cesar got up, looking upset, so I pulled him in a hug. "I love you." I whispered to him, feeling him hug me tight.

When they left, I felt like my head weighed a ton. I was tired, worried, sad and scared. I wish I could go back to when I was a careless child, that didn't know anything, just for tonight. Antonio walked out of the kitchen, towards his room. "Antonio?" I asked, making him turn around. "Can I sleep in your room tonight?" I asked, not wanting to be alone. "Of course." He replied, with a smile. I went to the bathroom, took a shower and changed into my pajamas. When I walked into his room, he was already in bed. I sat down next to him, feeling everything that had happened, all at once. "Hey." He sat up, noticing the anxious look on my face. "I'm really scared something's gonna happen." I whispered, with tears in my eyes. "I'm your brother, you need to trust that I've got it all under control, nothing's gonna happen." He said, softly. "This is why I keep you out of it, you worry too much. Now go to sleep, you're safe." He smiled, laying back down. I pulled the covers up and put my head on the pillow. I hadn't slept in this room in a long time, the last time was probably when I was a kid, and had a nightmare. It calmed me down a lot, bringing back the feeling of safety, and comfort. I grabbed his arm and hugged it, until I fell asleep.