Valentin and Rojo | ✓

nineteen (2nd draft)

Xavier

We spent a couple of days trying to find Francisco. God, you would not believe how difficult it was trying to find him. We asked Isabella. Though, it wasn't easy getting a straight answer from her. She had an idea of where Francisco was, but didn't know exactly where. She had given us three different locations. We went to all of them. After the first two, we were fucking frustrated. We were about to not go to the third one, but my father convinced Alejandro otherwise.

We got to the last location and I immediately had a bad feeling. It was quiet, too quiet. We got out of the car and we saw it was this abandoned barn.

There are still barns in California?

We walked inside and guess fucking what?

Francisco was there, but he was with someone else... a man and they weren't talking. They were doing... other activities.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here." Alejandro said, clicking his tongue.

Francisco immediately jumped up and pulled up his pants. The other man doing the same. "Who -" Francisco shut his mouth when he saw all of us towering over him. The man he was with left running. Alejandro shot him without any hesitation. His lifeless hit the ground faster than I could've imagined.

"Ah, the Rojo's and Valentín's. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He sounded awfully confident. Did he not care about his fuck buddy getting shot and killed?

"Let me get straight to the point, where's Gabriel?" Alejandro stood stoic in front of the short man and licked his palm. Suddenly, his palm connected with Francisco's face and he stumbled backwards.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He huffed and wiped away the saliva from his face. "There's nothing I can tell you guys. Gabriel is Gabriel. I don't know where the fuck he is."

In the blink of an eye, Alejandro took out his gun and shot Francisco in the foot. "Now do you know what I'm talking about?"

He winced in pain and gritted out, "Shoot me all you want. I'm not telling you where he is."

"Ah, so you do know where he is?" Mateo inquired and Francisco rolled his eyes. Pulling out his handgun, Mateo aimed for Francisco's shoulder and shot. He tripped over his own feet and fell backwards onto the dirt floor. Mateo strode over to him and pressed the gun into his skull. "We can do this all day."

Francisco spat in Mateo's face. The twin chuckled and collided his fist with the man's face. He hunched over and spat out blood. Mateo kicked him in the ribs and Francisco loudly groaned. He clutched his stomach and closed his eyes tightly.

And that was when I remembered.

Hurrying over to the car, I popped open the trunk. Fishing out everything I needed, I drew them on the dirt floor.

Santiago chuckled and said, "I like the way you think."

*

Punch after punch after punch, Francisco spat out blood. His arms hung from the rope and his legs dangled. His head hung forward and I wanted to beat him to a pulp.

I stepped outside the barn with my father. I was no help, I felt useless. My mind kept drifting to the other night. Why did I leave her? Why did I go to Francisco? Why? Why was I so fucking careless and stupid?