Chapter Twenty-One

"So it's set in motion? We are officially taking over the city?" Donny asked as he sat in front of his uncle's desk. Paul was signing away at papers like usual. His hair was more ruffled and messy today, his suit didn't seem as proper, and he had let stubble start to grow on his face. Paul nodded after a moment to his nephew and continued working. Donny sighed and stood up, preparing to leave and cruise around the city, looking for the group of people that have been messing up their plans.

As he was walking towards the door, Donny stopped with his hand on the handle and looked back at his uncle.

"Hey unc'." Donny said.

"Hmm?" Paul asked not looking up.

"Would you have done that to me… What you did to Lance?" Donny asked. This caused Paul to look up and Donny could see the bags underneath his eyes.

"Of course not Donny." Paul said after a minute. "You're family, unlike them. And family sticks together." Paul said with a smile. Donny nodded his head and left the office, as Paul resumed what he was doing.

"How the fuck are we gonna' do this nigga?" Lil Mikey asked as he and Leo sat on the balcony of the apartment building. Leo shook his head and looked out at the moon that hung above the ocean which was basically right next to them.

"We are gonna' need help." Leo said. Lil Mikey rubbed his chin and leaned forward in his chair.

"Nigga we can't get no help. We go out into the city and boom we dead. We make any phone connections and boom we dead. We try to reach out to someone and guess what?" Lil Mikey asked.

"Boom we dead." Leo said as he rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fuck man. This is the crew we stuck with then."

"A bunch of white people, a spanish dude, and a spanish chick." Lil Mikey said. "We fucked nigga."

"You think we could get weapons instead of people?" Leo asked, an idea coming to mind. Lil Mikey dropped his jaw and squinted his eyes, looking at Leo.

"What do you not understand about the term 'boom we dead?" Lil Mikey asked.

"Yeah yeah, I figured." Leo said. "We really are dead."

Inside in the living room, Sarah was relaxing on the couch. She was sitting in front of the TV and was close to falling asleep when one of the doors closing snapped her out of it. She looked back and saw Carlos walking towards the small kitchen that was connected to the living room.

"Hi." Sarah said as she turned back to the TV. Carlos began to pour himself coffee as he smiled to himself.

"Hola." he said. He looked at the TV and walked over to the couch and sat down on the opposite side of Sarah.

"You seem to be really close to your friend there." Sarah said.

"Oh me and Heath? We go way back, practically hermanos me and him." Carlos said.

"You must be worried then." Sarah said, still looking at the TV.

"Not really. He's awake finally. Just having problems breathing. They must have really messed up his lungs or something. He's got bruises all over his stomach and chest. When I get my hands on them…" Carlos said trailing off. Sarah finally looked at him as he stared at the ground.

"It's the same guys that tried to kill me right? The ones you shot?" Sarah asked him.

"Yep those are the ones." Carlos said as he nodded his head. "I don't know why they got involved in this all. They just wanted me."

"Oh don't be so cocky." Sarah said, causing Carlos to chuckle. "What is it they say… ride or die right?" Sarah asked him.

"I guess they wanted me to die with them then. I wasn't havin' none of that, oh no chica." Carlos said with a smirk. "That day we went to you, that was retirment day. They wanted me to kill you, and I'd be set for freedom. But we both know gangs are for life. They would've blackmailed me back with your death. So i did the stupider thing and shot the two guys with me."

"Well if you had killed me, my brother would've ripped you to shreds… Literally." Sarah said with a small laugh.

"Why don't you just run? Flee the city. We could cover you as you got out." Carlos asked her, changing the subject.

"I'm practically a part of this city. Stuck no matter what." Sarah told him.

"Live here your whole life?" Carlos asked.

"No… My brother took me out here at a younger age. Our parents had been in an accident and he took upon himself to raise me." Sarah said. "That's why he gets so defensive I guess. He seems me as a daughter I guess."

"At least you got someone to look out for you. My parents kicked me out when I hit 18. Me and Heath had made big plans for ourselves you know? Own a company together. Become rich… but that didn't happen obviously. Now we are here." Carlos said.

"Being here doesn't have to be a bad thing." Sarah said as her and Carlos made eye contact and she could feel herself getting red. Carlos smiled at her and then looked up at the sky.

"Al mal tiempo, buena cara." Carlos said to himself. He smiled as Sarah raised an eyebrow at him.

"What does that mean?" Sarah asked. Carlos looked at her and smiled again.

"It's sorta like be positive even in bad situations. It means 'Put a good face to bad times.' Something my mom used to say. And my dad would say 'se te va a pasar mijo.'". Carlos said as h stood up from the couch.

"And that means?" Sarah asked.

"You'll get over it son." Carlos said as he put a blanket onto Sarah and walked back to Heath's room. "Goodnight hermosa."

Alex sat in the second bedroom, waiting next to the bed with Maxine lying there. She had yet to wake up and Alex was becoming worried. It was becoming late though and he was starting to doze off when he heard maxine inhale deeply and start coughing. Alex nearly jumped out of his chair and stood over Maxine.

"Maxine?" he whispered. Her eyes shot open and her hands balled into fists. She threw a punch into the darkness, but Alex dodged it, backing away at the last second.

"Maxine it's me. Alex. You're okay." he said to her. He kneeled down at the bed and took her hand in his.

"What… what happened?" Maxine asked as she turned her head to his voice.

"I… I don't know. I assume those guys took you and knocked you out. Me and this guy, Mitchell, we came and got you and the others that were taken. It's ok though, you're all safe now." Alex tried to briefly explain.

"I was so scared, they chased me out of Leo's apartment building and cornered me on the street." Maxine said.

"Shh, it's alright." Alex said as he stroked her hair back. "I won't let anything happen to you." He bent down and kissed her cheek before attempting to stand up. He was stopped however when she wouldn't let go of his hand.

"Don't go." she said to him. Alex kneeled back down and sat there with her in silence for a few minutes. "Alex." Maxine eventually said.

"Yeah?" Alex answered.

"Thank you." Maxine said. "I'm glad you didn't just sit around and become depressed. I couldn't watch that happen to you."

"What can I say. I saw a damsel in distress and took the opportunity." Alex said with a smirk. He could tell Maxine was smiling as she let out a small laugh that she tried to hide. Alex then felt a hand on the back of his head and he was pulled down into a kiss with Maxine. He pulled away after a second and was extremely confused.

"Was that a thank you?" Alex asked with a small laugh of his own.

"No. But I know how I can thank you." Maxine said as she pulled Alex into the bed with her, and began to kiss him again.

"Can you fucking answer me or not you worthless piece of shit?!" Mitchell yelled at Colton. He had used a storage locker below their apartment to keep Colton and a bunch of weapons in. Mitchell was currently sitting across from Colton, holding a wrench in his hand as Colton stared at the ground, hanging his head in defeat. Catherine had been leaning against the door, making sure no one tried to enter.

"Don't make me fucking hit you again." Mitchell said. Colton yet again didn't respond causing Mitchell to curse under his breath. He stood up, pounding the wrench into his free hand, trying to intimidate Colton.

"I'm not worth anything." Colton said. "He won. It's over. We all lose now."

"He won't win if you just fucking tell me what you know." Mitchell said, emphasizing on the last word as he swung the wrench, bringing it down onto Colton's leg. Colton winced in pain and bit his lip, trying to contain his pain.

"There's nothing to know. We've lost… okay?" Colton said in a raspy voice. He lifted his head up and looked at Mitchell. "Just let me die. Try to get away while you can."

"I don't think you fucking get it." Mitchell said as he bent down and got into Colton's face. "This is my fucking city, and I'm not gonna let some kingpin wannabe take over that easily. I'm gonna burn everyone one of his assets to the ground, and watch as his life crumbles to the ground, and I strike him with the bullet to end it all. "

"That's funny. You think it'll be that easy." Colton said. Mitchell turned his head and cracked his neck before looking back at Colton. He punched him across the face, causing blood to fly out of Colton's mouth.

"Hand me the pliers." Mitchell said looking at Catherine. Her eyes widened and he nodded at her. "Yeah you." Catherine grabbed a pair of pliers off the workbench on the side of the shed and handed them to Mitchell.

"Now hold his mouth open." Mitchell said. Colton looked at Mitchell wide eyes as Catherine did the same.

"Wait what?" she asked.

"You aren't serious." Colton said.

"You wanna fucking talk? Or do you wanna lose your teeth." Mitchell said. Colton didn't answer and Mitchell shrugged. "I hope you didn't buy braces as kid. Hold his mouth open."

Catherine got behind Colton and forced his mouth open, wrapping an arm around his head and pulling down his chin. Mitchell walked up to the man and opened the pliers, sticking them into Colton's mouth and clamping them together on one of his molars. Mitchell then began to pull as Colton's eyes widened, realizing the mistake he had made.

"Damn this one is rooted in there." Mitchell said as he put his foot up on Colton's chair.

"Okay! Okay!" Colton shouted but the words were muffled. Mitchell stopped trying to rip out his tooth and threw the pliers across the shed. He instantly grabbed Colton's right pointer finger and bent it backwards swiftly, breaking it. Colton yelled out in pain as Catherine watched on, letting go of Colton's head.

"You lie to me and I break another finger." Mitchell said as he pulled his chair up. "Tell me what you know now."

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you what I know… but on one condition." Colton said.

"What?" Mitchell asked.

"I wanna take him down." Colton said.