Come in Peace
Franklin had followed the two Vagos down into the projects. Several gang members were seen hanging out, especially with some cholas just dancing to some music playing nearby. Some speakers were blaring "East Side Rendezvous" from Frost.
As Franklin walked behind the two Vagos, several other cholos who were close by glared at him with the most venom in their faces. One even said, "Hey, you know where you at, puto?"
Another one blurted out, "You in the wrong hood, pendejo!"
You had different types hanging out in the vicinity. Some had their heads shaved and wore Locs sunglasses on their foreheads. Others had their yellow Pendleton shirts and black chinos with Eris shoes. Some of the cholas were sporting their wife-beater crop tops with suspenders and had the yellow rags around their foreheads.
It was unclear whether they would just draw their weapons right then and there, or just jump him at a moment's notice. A lot of Vagos were likely sure about all the drama with Franklin and Alonzo that had been going on. But the only thing that Franklin wanted to do was make a deal with the shot-caller, Big Queso.
But Franklin wasn't stupid. He wanted to discuss things in a civilized manner, even if a lot of gang members don't even understand the concept of civilization. He didn't pack any heat with him. If he did, he was dead. There was no denying that. He only had support in case things were to escalate. He didn't want to express fear in this situation, but it was clear that he was not welcome there. It was possible, if likely that any of the Vagos would draw a gun and just blast him.
The gang member with the cigarette turned around to face Franklin. "What do you need to speak to Big Queso for?"
Without any warning, Franklin said, "I need to set some shit straight. Y'all ain't gotta worry about shit. I ain't strapped or nothin'."
"You think we stupid, ese?" the other Vago said. "We heard about all the shit you did around here. We heard you jacked Alonzo's fucking car."
"That car belonged to my girl," Franklin said. "I was just tryna get it back for her."
As the three men stood in the courtyard of the projects where a lot of people were hanging out, several other Vagos mean-mugged at Franklin. Even some who were leaning on the poles to the clotheslines where people hang laundry. It almost seemed that they believed that there was more to it than just stealing a car or even something as petty as stealing a man's woman. Something told Franklin that they believe that some other things were a factor.
It didn't help that in a matter of seconds, several Vagos slowly walked towards Franklin. From a distance, Trevor and Michael were laid out on top of the roof of the project building with the Virgin Mary mural on the side. They had their rifles set up and had the infrared feature on the scope, in case they had to see in the dark.
"Shit, they're going to fuck him up," Michael said.
"Relax, Mikey," Trevor said. "F said that if shit got heavy, then that's when we make our move."
"Hope you're right," Michael said. "If any of them get too close to him, it's going to be hard to fire on them without hitting Franklin."
"You've been doing this for years, sugar-tits," Trevor said. "Don't act like you can't do this."
"Eh, fuck you, T," Michael said.
Back in the courtyard, Franklin was surrounding by the Vagos, until someone yelled, "Stop!" In that very moment, several Vagos turned towards an overweight man with glasses, short hair and a yellow plaid button-down shirt. It was none other than Big Queso.
"Leave him alone. He's here because he wants to discuss something with me. Let him go, all of you."
It didn't take long until a lot of the Vagos separated themselves from Franklin, while the other two gang members whom he followed stayed there.
Big Queso said, "You got a lot of balls showing your face around here, puto."
"Just want to sort some shit out, ya know?" Franklin said. "Shit's been gettin' hot lately."
"And what do you want? A truce?" Big Queso said. "You know, let's talk about this inside. Chavo." The gang member with the cigarette from before turned right towards Queso. "Search this fool, make sure he ain't got no cuete on him, verdad?"
Chavo nodded. Big Queso said to the other gang member. "You too, Eduardo. Search that fool."
Both Chavo and Eduardo went from top to bottom on Franklin, ranging from his shirt to his pants and even his shoes. It was a procedure that needed to be done.
"He's clean, vato," Chavo said. "He don't got nada, homes."
Big Queso nodded and signaled to the two Vagos to leave him be and then he signaled to Franklin to come in. "Come on in, homes. You say you want to discuss this like men, step into my office now."
Franklin said nothing, but he slowly followed Queso, Chavo, and Eduardo inside through the door into the apartment, which was on the first floor. Franklin was dead silent and there was side in his system that wanted to shake, but he didn't want to express fear in the matter. Nor did he want to arouse suspicion. It was time to get this stuff sorted. All Franklin wanted to do was get Alonzo to leave Liz alone, but with this contract out on both of them, neither of them were safe. So there was only one way to get this thing situated.
Inside the apartment were two younger girls sitting on a couch. They looked like they were in their late-teens. Franklin wasn't sure if they were girlfriends or maybe relatives. That wasn't important. Big Queso had his back turned towards Franklin.
"So what do you want to discuss, ese?" Queso said as he started to turn around to face Franklin. "Like I said, you got a lot of balls showing your face around here. Some of my men want you dead."
"That's what I want to talk to you about," Franklin said. "For the past few days, Alonzo and some of your boys be givin' me and my girl a lot of problems. I even saw some of your boys and girls while I was as the hospital. I even heard about some of them even shooting up Forum Drive and hassling my girl's friends. I know how you fools roll, dog. That shit ain't cool. I'd expect those Marabunta assholes to ride up on anybody like that, but don't y'all have a thing called a code? From what I hear, y'all got a contact on my ass, as well as my girl. But if y'all can't find us, then y'all finna smoke some of our friends."
"What's your point?" Queso said.
"I know how all this shit goes, homie," Franklin said. "I used to roll with the Families. I know how gang shit works, dog. But all I'm asking is for all y'all to back the fuck off."
Usually in this situation, someone would start laughing at a comment like this. However, Big Queso had a slightly confused expression on his face. While he was involved in torturing Franklin a few days prior, some of the stuff that had happened seemed like news to him. He then turned towards the two girls on the couch.
"Letty, Dreamer," Queso said to the two girls on the couch and then said in Spanish, ["I want you two to get out right now. Go and grab some Taco Bomb or something. We need to be left alone right now."]
"Papa," Dreamer said.
"Not another word, girls," Queso said. "This is grown people talk. Go get something to eat or go call up your friends to hang out, or go call your mom and see her. This is between us."
It was now clear that those two girls were Big Queso's daughters. For a gang shot-caller, it showed that he was caring for his kids that if something were to go down, he didn't want them caught in the crossfire. The two girls looked up at their father and then towards Franklin with so much confusion in their eyes.
Dreamer was the older one of the two. She got up from the couch and went towards the kitchen with the light on, while Letty sat on the couch with a dim lamp on right beside her. Dreamer then came back with a keychain in her hand and looked towards her sister.
"Come on, Letty," Dreamer said. "Vámonos." She said "let's go" in Spanish.
Big Queso, Franklin, Chavo, and Eduardo stood there and watched the two young girls get up and leave and walk out the door. The moment the door and screen-door shut, Big Queso said, "Come on, ese, let's talk."
Big Queso led the way into the kitchen and pulled out a chair right at the table and sat down. He signaled to Franklin that he wanted him to sit in the chair right across from him. He told Chavo and Eduardo to just hang out in the living room, as Big Queso wanted this to be a conversation between both men.
"Okay, Franklin. I want you to tell me what the fuck happened."
Franklin was a bit dumbfounded that the shot-caller had little-to-no knowledge about some of the stuff that happened. "Hold up, you finna tell me that you ain't know nothin' about the shit that went down?"
"That's why I want you to tell me what happened," Big Queso said. "You see, I know how a lot of my men handle their shit. I may get involved in some stuff, but when it's a personal matter, I let them handle it on their own. If they want to earn their stripes, I let them handle their shit, but I don't get involved, unless it's a business matter or a truce."
Franklin turned the left side of his face forward with a slightly puzzled look on his face. Big Queso might have a point here, but Franklin wasn't sure if he should believe him.
"Okay, so tell me, did you put the green-light out on me and Liz?" Franklin said. "Tell me the truth, dog. I need to know, because my boy Lamar and my aunt almost got shot up out in Forum. I can only imagine that some of you guys were finna smoke Liz's family and friends. Also, my girl told me that y'all made a big fuckin' deal over her ride 'cuz of some shit involving a fool named Snake Eyes."
Big Queso looked up directly in Franklin's eyes the moment he heard that name. He even took off his glasses to wipe the lenses a bit.
"Snake Eyes, huh?" Big Queso said and took a deep breath. "I know Snake Eyes, yes. I heard about Liz beating him in a race when he put up a pink slip for his car. He owed some debts, but that was all on him. It had nothin' to do with the cliqua, verdad? Snake Eyes got into some shit not long after and that got him put in la pinta. All that stuff involving your friends and family, that's all on Alonzo."
Franklin sat there with a blank stare on his face. There was something about this that seemed wrong to him. Big Queso pretended to be a passenger for Franklin. Some shot-callers would get their hands dirty, but a lot of the time, they usually allow their followers to do their own dirt. There was something off about all of this.
"You say you ain't got shit to do with the hit and all," Franklin said. "But why did you pretend to be a passenger and get involved in the torture?"
Big Queso took a deep breath. "You see, Alonzo wants to get in good with us. I wanted to see what he's made of. When he told me that you were a member of the Chamberlain Hills Families of the Forum Drive set, he told me that you and some other fools got involved in jacking his car on our turf. He did a lot of research. He thought that if you and some Family putos were involved, then we would give him and some of the others the green light on you. He wants to prove himself, so this was his way at earning his stripes."
Franklin figured that was what Alonzo and Queso talked about when they went away during the torture. He was right. Alonzo wanted to get recognized.
"Just letting you know, I don't ride with the Families no more," Franklin said. "Okay, I am still a little connected, but I ain't involved in that shit. All I was doing that night was just doing my girl a favor. She ran into that asshole at school and she got into it with him. So I wanted to do something nice for her. But then after a month, all this shit went down. The only thing I want is for all y'all motherfuckers to back the fuck off. I don't want nobody getting hurt over some petty bullshit like jacking a ride or stealing some fool's girl."
Big Queso was speechless and then nodded his head. Queso looked to his right and saw Eduardo and Chavo get up and face him.
"Hold up, homes," Chavo said. "You mentioned Alonzo and some shit, right? That's fool's been trying to kiss our asses for a long time. He wanna get in with la cliqua, ese. Pero you need to see that it ain't easy to gain respect in the barrio."
"Just like it ain't easy to get respect in the hood," Franklin said.
Big Queso cut in, "That's why I never shake Alonzo's hand, homes. He don't respect nada. You see, Alonzo's a hothead. I knew Liz, too. He often beat the shit out of her, and talked down to her like she was a fucking puta. When things didn't go his way, he went off like a fucking bomb. Shit, ese, I even figured that he shot his own carnal in the arm. In fact, I was there when it happened."
Finally, it dawned on Franklin why Cesar had that arm brace when he and Lamar tortured him the night before. Then it hit him. When he and Liz were leaving Strawberry the night before, the other Families members had put Cesar and those two cholas in Lamar's van. What happened to them was what Franklin wondered at that very moment.
"Okay, then why did you dump my ass out in Carson where the Ballas roll?"
"It was nothing personal," Big Queso said. "I was only told that you were a CGF member and I figured that with the Families and Ballas being rivals, Alonzo wanted them to take care of the problem. But after all the things you told me, I am going to call off the hit and then I will handle Alonzo myself. It was a ballsy move for you to come here and try to sort all this out."
"What about the stuff with Snake Eyes and his ride?" Franklin asked.
"Don't worry," Big Queso said. "He is not getting out anytime soon. Besides, Alonzo acted like that Gauntlet was his, even though I sometimes saw him yell at Liz for driving it, but that car is hers. That car don't belong to Snake Eyes after he put the pink slip on it. I promise you, I will call off the contract on you and Liz."
Franklin nodded his head. He wasn't sure if he wanted to shake the shot-caller's hand, but as long as the contract was called off, he could sleep tonight without having to worry about Liz.
However, Eduardo heard something outside. He got up from the couch and looked outside and saw that car had crashed into a wall into another project building. Out of nowhere, several guys in green went into the courtyard.
"Hey, jefe, we got a problem outside right now," Eduardo yelled.
Chavo got up and headed towards the window, as did Big Queso. Franklin sat there in the kitchen with a puzzled look on his face. The three Vagos turned their attentions towards Franklin.
"You son of a bitch!" Big Queso said with so much venom and glared at Franklin. "I should have known that this peace offering was too good to be true."
"The fuck you talking about?" Franklin said.
"Your boys are outside fucking up shit," Big Queso said. He quickly walked towards Franklin as he still sat in the chair and then pushed the chair down on its right as Franklin fell to the floor. Eduardo and Chavo kicked him while he was down.
"We're gonna take care of you right now," Big Queso said.
Franklin figured he was good as gone, but there had to be a way out of this. There just had to be.
Author's note: Okay, I might not finish this at 20 like I thought. I might finish it at either 21 or 22, as I want to do an epilogue. The next chapter will continue right from where this left off. Don't worry, I will get to the final confrontation with Alonzo soon.
I also remembered that I left out something about the two female Vagos and Cesar being abducted in chapter 16. It will be mentioned in the next one.
I will get on chapter 20 soon. Like I said, it will pick up directly where this left off. I initially wanted this to be where the action sequence would take place, but I thought it would be better for there to be dialogue and buildup before all hell breaks loose.
Until next time, peace out.