Santos | on my block

30.

A few days later
Vida's pov

"Hey Oscar?" I said as I walked outside

"Yeah" He looked up from the car that he was working on.

"My friends are having a meeting about the Roller- I mean we're hanging out" I tried playing it off.

"Uh Okay?" Oscar raised his eyebrow at me.

"Ruby is planning Mario's baby shower and he wants us to help him" I made an excuse.

"Ah so your novio wants you over" Oscar smirked.

"He's just a friend" I rolled my eyes.

"Okay go hang out" Oscar use his fingers to form quotation marks.

"Thank you" I gave him a fake smile then awkwardly walked away.

"Teenagers" I heard Sad Eyes sigh then laugh.

Ruby's garage

"No! Why is this here?" Jamal shouted.

"Am I not supposed to be here?" I said as I walked in.

"I was talking about the money, girl you know I need you here" Jamal smiled.

"Oh okay" I grabbed a chair and sat next to Ruby.

"You are the keeper" Jamal shouted at Monse.

"I'm also a girl who's currently staying alone and hiding 200 grand. I can't keep it" Monse said.

"Just so we're all clear. This money might be cursed" Jamal said.

"Hmm, interesting. So the naysayer becomes the yeasayer?" Ruby asked.

"I didn't believe it at first, but I'm coming around" Jamal answered.

"Hold on, explain" Cesar and I said at the same time.

"Twins" Monse, Jamal and Ruby sighed in unison.

"So, as it turns out we, it seems that everyone who's touched this money has had a bad twist of fate. First, we have the guys that stole the money. Benito and Frankie were murdered in jail. Then, lil' Ricky prematurely died in a seemingly mysterious way. And then, the night I found the money, Olivia, Manny and Ruby are shot"

"Um, that didn't happen to you" Ruby interrupted Jamal.

"Don't trivialize my sympathy pain" Jamal scoffed.

"Then Abuelita's hands got messed up and she couldn't work" Cesar said with a worried tone.

"You drinking this Fool-Aid too?" Monse asked him.

"I'm just following the timeline" Cesar said as he put his arms up.

"So, we take Abuelita to the curandera to heal her hands. And the crazy lady tells us that something in this house does not belong" Jamal continued.

"Cesar" Monse said nonchalant.

"Listen, girl. Stay with me. This is before Cesar got here, when Abuelita had the dough. Then Ruby breaks the truce, 'causes the money was still in the house" Ruby rolled his eyes because he wasn't all happy of what he had done. "And then we take the money to Brentwood. And it's not in Monse's possession for more than eight hours when everything goes to shit" Jamal shouted.

"The RollerWorld money isn't cursed. All money is cursed. You saw what it did to my mom and it's making you crazy,too" Monse said which caused Jamal to gasp. "And as for the truce ending and our friends getting shot and those gangbangers meeting their early demise"

"This is Freeridge. Shit happens" I added.

"Yeah, and I'm still alive. I'm going to focus on the good" Ruby said as intertwined his hand in my hand.

"Me too. This money is gonna do a lot of good for a lot of people. So if there is a curse we're about to reverse it" Monse said and Cesar smiled at her.

"Okay. You're right. There's no curse. And I'm going to go fill up my glass. Literally. Because I'm parched. This has been a very lively debate. Thank you, guys, for the realimente" Jamal said then got up.

"Hi" Amber said as Jamal opened the door.

"Hey, Amber" Jamal said then walked out.

"Ruby... um, your assistant Jasmine said that she..." Amber said.

"And the baby's godmother" Jasmine said as she appeared behind Amber. "What? We talked about this" Jasmine said after Amber stared at her.

"Anyways, she wants to go over the menu" Amber said.

"Okay. Bye" Jasmine shouted.

"Bye" Amber walked out of the garage. Ruby and Jasmine started talking but I couldn't here.

"I have to go finish so things for the baby shower, I'll see you tomorrow" Ruby said as he hugged me for behind.

"Okay. I'll be here" I smiled.

"Baby shower starts early" Ruby shouted as he walked out.

"I have to go" I said as I got up.

"What was that about?" Cesar asked.

"Just a hug. Like this see" I hugged Cesar then Monse so they would stop asking questions.

"Okay?" Monse said.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow bye" I waved then walked out quickly.