Joaquin
2019
Fratricide, Patricide & Suicide
He'd had the strangest dream. He'd been back in prison and aged. He'd also seen flashes of Franklin getting shot. He'd seen flashes of a gunfight with Merryweather and the IAA too. Ye tried to shake it from his mind.
He sat at Vespucci Beach on a bench. The second season of The Cell had come out and he was now reading reviews for it. He'd changed up some details however he left out the bit about Farik still being out there. He ended it with just Darwin dying and Farik getting away because he didn't want to implicate himself in it. Plus he knew that implicating himself would be. Karen sat next to him.
"What do you want now? I know you tried to get us to go against each other. Why else would you tell them about what I did? And me about what they did? You're a manipulative bitch."
"Or...I'm somebody that tells the truth. I might have my own agenda for doing what I did. But the fact is the four of you don't make such a great team after all. I was wrong about what I said before about you being the weakest link. You're the strongest. You worked for us in the middle east even if you didn't intend to. You helped us and you helped Merryweather. You're a real American. A patriot."
"Yeah well I don't give a shit about this country. The land is firme sea to sea but this country, you gavachos and gavachas can all fuck off. Whatever you're selling I'm not buying."
"Even if we get Jock Cranley and Don Perival even the cartel off your back?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Any damage you've done to Merryweather we can chalk that up to well...you fell in with a pretty bad crowd. A crowd that took the Union Depository. You know why you're more patriotic than them? Not only did you kill a bunch of insurgents and secure the poppy trade for us which insures a level of relative stability in Latin America, you also never robbed any of our federal reserves. They may fancy themselves as robbers. But they're domestic terrorists."
"Again, I don't care about this country. I signed up to be a better soldado for Curbside..."
"Curbside is gone. All that remains is America and trust me. Gangs WILL vanish. The Latin ones the African American ones the Asians and even the white trash ones like Trevor's. You know why? Because of gentrification. That is the future and there is nothing more American than gentrification. Who can argue with progress?"
"Forcing Raza out of our homes kinda like fuckers did back in the 60's to make Corkers Stadium is no kind of progress to me. It means buying up houses cheap when the property value gets lowered from killings. Then redeveloping neighborhoods and jacking the rent up high enough to where we can't afford to stay."
"It's going to get rid of gangs. What remains will be police officers and soldiers and you are a soldier. You could always get eonnerated for any crimes you commited. You could get a fancier job in the Marine Corps. We can get rid of that dishonorable discharge."
"You're not listening! Agent 14 already promised that shit to me anyway and it still hasn't happened. I want no part of the military. The war on terror destroyed Darwin Al Rakeem's life and Gary Baldwin. I aint letting it do the same to me or any other war. And what's this shit about getting them off of me?"
"Itr doesn't matter if you say you're not a patriot, Joaquin your actions whatever the intentions were, was still beneficial to this country. Being a patriot isn't about words. Just actions. You had no reason to do anything beyond your duty in the middle east. But you helped with the smaller details that helps keep this country safe and destabilizes our enemies. More importantly? You didn't rob the Union Depository."
"No, I didn't. What is it with your obsession with that job? I didn't have shit to do with it so why are you bringing it up?"
"Because that is domestic terrorism and no matter what we promised those idiots they committed acts of terror against this country. They need to die. You already want them dead. I say you should do it."
"And how do I know whatever you promise me isn't bullshit? Especially since you just said that whatever you've promised them is?"
"For one thing, there's nothing you've done that I would classify as terrorism...everything you've done can be chalked up to gangsterism and robbery."
"You know a drone was used on the Brogue Avenue neighborhood...they have a fuckin yearly mourning holiday since that day and you think I believe that's just gonna go away?"
"From what I recall about that incident you were too injured to be the one who did that. It was Niko Bellic who operated that drone. You don't have to kill him but believe me we will be going after him for that. And besides...a lower income neighborhood in Davis? I can't say that I've ever seen an Islamic terror cell target an inner city community but if they did, I doubt that the media would give that much of a shit."
"And how do I know you don't just kill me after I've done what you all ask?"
"For starters, we know it'd be a lot of trouble just to put a bullet in you. We know you'd take down a lot of people before you were killed and it would be a lot of paperwork to explain this to the families of anybody we'd send after you. Second, I'm not asking you to do anything that you probably weren't already going to do anyway. Your brother has them greenlit on the streets, right? This isn't mandatory either, Joaquin. You can completely let them go. We did set some things in motion though. We told them that Lefty was dead and that the greenlight was lifted and that we leaned on the La Onda members in the Bay to lift it."
"The fuck you do that for?"
"Because we still hate them and like we said we're not coming after you but Merryweather still is. You've been somewhat kept safe because of Agent 14 for a while but short of going after Don Percival and Jock Cranley yourself, they can still move against you so keeping your own family safe would be entirely up to you and since Merryweather did try and come after you before in Latin America, just know they're very resourceful."
"That's fucked up, eh...but it doesn't explain why you'd tell the three of them the luz verde turned red when it hasn't..."
"It will lure them into a false sense of security. We also told them that you had left the country. It's not too much of a stretch of the imagination is it? Despite your...Native American mysticism mixed with your affinity for barrio culture might be one thing but you'd go as far away as Thailand to keep your family safe."
"But what does the green light have to do with shit?"
"If you decide not to kill them, it still creates oppurtunity for any hitmen to get them. And don't worry...we already took care of the cartel and made sure that you and your family won't be touched..."
"Bullshit..."
She played him a recording of a meeting on her phone. It was with Agent 14 and an interpreter talking to Alfonso Vasquez. He listened for about a minute and a half. It was legitimate.
"Okay...I appreciate that. But they haven't lifted their contracts against the rest of them?'
"No. We were able to convince Vasquez that it was Trevor, Michael and Franklin that killed his son. You had nothing to do with it. We of course had to discl;ose that he did kill the Vagos that were contract hitters and that most likely the two La Onda members that orchestrated it with him would also be greenlit but he'ds a capitalist. The best from Mexico and he understands that this is the cost of doing business. But by no means has he lifted any contracts against them. Not only does he hold them responsible for killing his son, Trevor still sodomized Martin Madrazo with obsidian before killing him. The cartel world doesn't forget that."
"So it's just back to business as usual with the cartels and the barrios...' Joaquin sighed. "I'm glad I'm outta this shit it'a all too big a headache."
"Between the Vagos from South Los Santos that have a vested interest in killing Franklin Clinton and his cousin and anybody else from Chamberlain Hills plus burning the Vanilla Unicorn down and the Aztecas and Marabunta in Blaine County that want Trevor dead plus the Marabunta from LS that want Michael gone for killing their Vespucci leader..."
"El Topo..."
"There will be an ample amount of gang members that have reason to kill them. Franklin has been living with Michael in North Yankton this last year. I think after the death of his son they'd had enough of the city. It's hard to picture Clinton out there in the cold but he's do anything to stay alive too."
"And Trevor just stayed in Blaine County..." He said.
"You can't be surprised by that. He'll run but he'll never run far from gangsters. When it's law enforcement he'll run across the country but gangsters...it's a surprise nobody's gotten to him yet. Now Michael Townley has the smallest reason to kill you and the biggest is probably Trevor. Franklin would be in the middle."
"Yeah I got you to thank for that..." He growled.
"You four were a ticking time bomb. You're our greatest assett and besides those two idiots phillips and De Santa got Dave Norton killed."
"I thought the Agency hated the Bureau?"
"We hate each other but Dave Norton is a better man to run LS than anybody else. He never kept his promise to them either about the money they'd get back from the Union Depository job and now he never will."
"And what's so urgent that they all have to die? Why make a move on them about the UD job now?"
Joaquin knew IAa agents were masters at fake identities and lying, reading other people's tells while hiding theirs. He looked at Karen however and could tell she was telling the truth about what she said next. 'Trevor's a loud mouth. You know what he did? He went on his friend's radio show and started spilling the beans about what the goverment had been involved in. Oh sure...her omiited the fact that it was himself and Michael and Franklin who were involved in it but he said he had a former friend who used to be an IAA agent...put it this way...you remember that story in the news about the Humane Labs six years ago? I think you were out of prison by that time."
"I just got out but yeah I remember and I know it was bullshit. The FIB stole from you people. And you invented a bullshit story. This may shock you but I almost don't blame any of you for that part. Don't get the wrong idea I think you're a bunch of sneaky fuckers with the shit you got going on at Area 69 whatever that is but when it comes to that I understand not wanting to spread panic. But you people are sick for wanting to spread a virus in the first place. Now that part I could believe."
"Well no IAA agent former or otherwise would ever confide in something like that to a civilian and if they did they'd be dead or they'd better be hiding in some country like Russia or Ecuador and even then...but the average radio listener in Blaine County luckily is too stupid to put two and two together so for now it's just buzzing with the tinfoil hat crowd but a few LS hipsters did hear it too and one of them wrote a blog about the interview. Trevor telling details about us trying to do something however bad of an idea it is just to get funding is something we can't have. The damage he's done is already done but he needs to be silenced for it."
"And what about Michael and Franklin?"
"Same deal. They may not have talked but they're a loose end. Everything I've told you about the Union Depository and how that was them and not you and that makes them domestic terrorists? Well...that's just the icing on the cake. The Humane Labs story is just as much a part of this as anything. Not to mention...Michael and Trevor did have plans to assassinate the governor of this state and Don percival."
"All right so let's say I do this. And you know I'm not stupid enough to make a move against the governor...but I did do Ron's show. I never said anything about you fools but I was on that show. Even if I wasn't speaking on this shit how do I know you wouldn't hold me accountable by association?"
"If you really need a reason..." Began Karen. "Look no further than your own screenplay. You used real names as far as your friend Darwin goes but you didn't use real names from the Agency you changed Erskine's name and nobody even told you to do that. As for Agent Serxner and how you depicted it her story was in the news and she's public knowledge."
Joaquin sighed. "I want us to get tickets to El Salvador, all right?Playa El Tunco. Gimme a few days to get my affairs in order and get us to ready to move. I may not be laying out any public figures or CEO's here but I would still do life or even get death row for killing three people. I'm not gonna kill these guys I've been friends with for five years for nothing just to get arrested. I want a new start for me and my family."
"That's not a problem. But are you sure about El Salvador? That's not a very peaceful country."
"It's a nicer part of El Salvador. Even the hardest countries got nicer areas and now we can afford to go there."
"I'll tell you what, Avena. We'll throw that in. We'll even throw in the cut of each of the three you kill., Between what you got and what they have you'll be the richest man in that country I'm sure."
"Yeah...we'll see...just gimme a few days and I'll get it done. But why give me all that? That's probably too much money for any one man."
"There's a lot to be said for discretion. You kept your mouth shut on the screenplay. I don't know how you can continue to write screenplays from El Salvador but with that kind of money you could either fund your own movie industry there or maybe you won't need to with that kind of money."
"I'd need a hobby. I'm not the kind of fucker that wants so much money that that's my newest problem. I don't wanna end up like Michael was."
With that, he left the meeting.
2 Days Later
He texted Rosa. He also texted Amber and Flaca to meet him. He drove to the meeting spot near pacific Bluffs and he told them each to leave their phones. Flaca Xochi with her while Erendira and Teskontensa were being watched by Lefty and Concha. "What's so important Joaquin?" Asked Rosa.
He told them everything. "We need to get outta town."
"What about El Salvador?" Asked Rosa. "Are we still going? You don't have to do this..."
"Yeah I do..." He said. "And I don't know where Lefty and Concha are gonna land on this they can come with us if they want if they don't wanna come right away they can meet us in Ecuador a few months down the line."
"Ecuador? What happened to El Salvador?" Asked Flaca.
"I don't trust that bitch Karen. She could send people out to kill me, stab me in the back somehow while I'm down there and even a rich part of that country is still risky. Maybe she sees through it maybe she doesn't. There's two countries in South America we didn't go to. Ecuador and Guyana. Ecuador doesn't extradite to the US. We keep a low profile. I don't want our kids to be so far away from North America it's where our roots are but it's this or possibly prison or death."
"Is that why you had us leave our phones by the car? Joaquin, we're standing by the ocean! ¡Habría causado estática de todos modos!"
(It would have caused static anyway!)
"I can't take a chance that any of them might be listening in. That's why I needed a couple of days to get tickets ready. We're gonna seek asylum there."
"You're not Julian Assange. There's a lot of Colombian refugees that go there and they have a harder time..." Rosa stated.
"I'm also not a Colombian refugee and unfortunately money talks. We got a lot of it...I've been putting money into offshore bank accounts and I been putting them in South American banks too. You'll be able to access them and I've also made accounts for our kids. They're never gonna want for shit...' He then shot a glance at each of them. "Why isn't Amber here?'
"We don't know..." Flaca admitted. "We've been trying to reach her. I saw her yesterday downtown but today I can't get a hold of her."
"Fuck...we may have to send for her...I'll kidnap them down there if I have to. Once I do this none of us are safe here..."
"Joaquin you don't have to do any of this shit NOW!" Flaca insisted. "This isn't smart. You just said you don't trust that puta so why would you go out of your way?"
"Cause a lot of shit has happened and it's too late. She convinced those fools the luz verde is done. Plus she may have gotten the cartel off our asses but who knows if that's really true? Merryweather is still after us. And they can send in their goons if they really knew where I was and they have sent in Merryweather to foreign countries but if they sent them after me in Ecuador they would still be at risk of having to fight Ecuador's defense forces."
"Yeah but their military isn't that strong. You're not thinking this through..." Rosa said.
"I am thinking it through, mija! But we're in danger if we stay and we're in danger if we really went to El Salvador. Ecuador has problems but it's not El Salvador. Between those three cabrones and the Merryweather agents and the chances that Karen could turn on me and the fact that the LSPD will have me on a most wanted list plus the FIB...it doesn't matter that Michael Townley or Trevor Phillips live in relative peace without the FIB after them the fact is they been on their radar before and me killing a federal witness and a former federal fugitive will have every cop in the country looking for me."
"What if you get stopped or delayed? What do we do then?" Demanded Rosa with tears in her eyes. "If that happens you go. I'm not gonna get caught but I'll only be right behind you. I AM gonna be there. If I'm late just go without me it only means that I got delayed. And this Ecuador plan...I got you tickets on a boat ride down there under different names. It took some doing but I did it. Plus my Tio...he agreed to help me send money down to you just in case I don't make it down there. Lefty too it'll take some doing but yeah..it looks like either way it may need to be a little bit before we see them again. I'm gonna explain all this shit to him too."
He hugged both of the crying women. "It's gonna be all right. Franklin's had this coming for a long time. And what I did to his homegirl...what wee did...Rosa...I don't know if he's found out that you did it too but I can't risk that. Michael...he fucked over everybody he ever knew he killed Topo for his own family just like he betrayed his friends for his family. I'm doing the same thing to him but the difference is I never ratted on my friends. and Trevor...well it's either him or me. I know at this point what I did to his parents counts as worse for him than him killing Wicked or even Casper was for me. And he found out I killed his cook, Chef too so that's not good. But it's either him or me and it might as well be him. We had a real friendship I think all of us...but it was never gonna last forever."
They hugged him a bit longer and he kissed him both and he wiped away Rosa's tears and he said with a smile, "They got beaches in Ecuador.2,300km of coastline..aw shit. I'm gonna have to teach all of you the metric system but it's nothing that can't be learned. Shit, Lefty was born south of the border so I bet he still remembers it."
Later That Day
Lefty listened to everything he'd said. It took some convincing but he understood. "This aint the first time mi familia had to leave a country and it aint the first time I had to. You're playing a risky game here carnal but it's the only way. I agree. You know...a third option is that you could just go to Ecuador and not do any of this shit."
"I could..." He agreed. "But I won't. There's no gurantee the IAA wouldn't see that as a breach of contract. Sure, they said it was optional but there's a subtext to what they're saying."
"What's that? Subtext?"
"It's a screenwriters term, homes. Like there's what you say and you may or may not mean it but there's also an underlying thing. Think about Napoleon Dynamite, ese. The end of that shit. He tells ruca with the side ponytail that he caught her a delicious bass and wants to play tetherball. The subtext is he likes her. Or Jerry Maguire when Tom Cruise tells Renee Zelwegger she completes him. It's an underlying way to say he loves her."
"Orale. Damn you watch a lot of white boy movies..."
"They're just films and any real screenwriter has seen either one of those cause they work well theme wise. But I aint here to discuss film. The subtext is that they want me to make two choices. Either I stay and don't do shit and I risk all the dirt that comes back at me cause they can tell the cartel nevermind on the red light on us and they won't stop Merryweather. And even if Franklin, Trevor or Michael didn't kill me, one of our many enemigos would. Or I can do what they say make them think I'm going to El Salvador and really go there. I know I really only got two choices. It's like when an election happens and every election you either get a Democrat or a Republican. Gente might wanna throw in a libertarian or a green party candidate here and there but this country's too fuckin stupid for anything other than two choices."
"Orale well...if you're going after them today you should know. You'll want to hurry out to Blaine County cause I been getting wilas from the pinta that the carnal who runs the Aztecas from the inside told the vatos under him in Blaine County to make a move on TPI today. We both know Trevor can hold off the vatos for a while but it'll give you the distraction you need. He'll be too preoccupied with them to see you coming. I can't really help you with Michael or maybe I can but we got eyes on Franklin too."
"Serio?"
"Yeah. Franklin's been seen in a white Buffalo just like the one he was in before. He was cruising around North Vinewood. He was visiting Tanisha Bradford's grave.'
"Okay...so what's the deal with Michael and Trevor?"
"We already got eyes on Trevor like I said and I had some vatos from Marabunta in East Vinewood watching that fool."
"I gotta say I'm impressed bro. You got one of each gang looking at them."
Lefty nodded. "Well Trevor pissed off the Aztecas, Michael pissed off Marabunta and the Vagos hate Franklin the most. That's not to say gente down in Rancho don't hate Trevor too but after what you did to his parents and knowing it was two Vagos that helped be part of that they figured they don't need to do much more than that. Plus with the luz verde Trevor hasn't been around and since Fresa Trece burned his club down,he's been MIA."
"All right, hermano. I'm gonna be heading out after these levas, man...if this is the last time we get to talk..it's been real...I owe you everything...' He hugged the older man and Lefty hugged back. "Hey, I'll see you on this side or the next, carnalito. You take care of my sister, eh? When I took you in all those years ago you were a lost scared kid like a beaten puppy. Now you're like a pit bull tearing fuckers throats out but you were always loyal. I love you carnal. And i'm proud of the fact that you've been paying it forward. Just like me and Consuela took you in you been raising Roberto with Aitana. You paid it forward."
With that, they split up before Joaquin felt he would start to lose heart and not go through with it all. He began to drive. As he stopped at a red light, he saw an older Native American man in some kind of purple traditional clothing. He wore a headdress. Joaquin pointed his pistol at him. "Who are you and what the fuck are you doing in my car?!" He demanded. "Get out!"
"You think your guns can hurt me?" He answered back. "I've been shot before. When guns had lead balls in them. My name is Onasakenrat."
"What do you want?"
"To warn you not to do what you're about to do. I understand you are angry. But you are following the same path of self destruction that Steven was on. He fought the whole world and lost. He could have gotten out of the country when he had a chance but he was so determined to go to Valhalla. You know...I've met plenty of Vikings where i live now and none of them were in favor of his ideology."
"You're just a figment of my imagination cause I'm stressed the fuck out. Which means you know what I know. Which means you know I'm going to Ecuador. I know how to get out old man."
"Old man? We all become old men if we don't die young and stupid. You want to know who I really am, Joaquin? I'm your ancestor. I was born in 1730. I fought in the French Indian wars and the American Revolution. And even in those days I did not run up a body count as high as you. I killed twenty five other Indians from rival Algonquin tribes that fought us. And I killed fifty colonists. Twenty five in the French Indian Wars and twenty five in the Revolution. But in the end we still lost. There were things we could have done...plans we could have made but it all came too late after it should have. If we were going to stand against them we should have done it in the 1600's. If you were going to leave this country forever you should have just stayed down in South America when you were there. Coming back has only caused you pain to learn the truth about who killed your best friend, who killed other friends you had."
"But I needed to know the truth. I said earlier today that it was a real friendship but it wasn't. It's a lie. Hey if you're my ancestor and this isn't all in my head then tell me something i don't know."
"I know who your maternal grandfather is."
"No you don't. Cause I don't even have that information."
"Raphael Silva."
"Yeah but that's just the name I heard Mrs Phillips say. That doesn't prove anything..." He said as the light turned green and he began to drive. He checked his cell phone as Lefty texted the address. It was at the Del Perro Pier. Michael was actually on a new boat. Him and his fuckin boats...well this is gonna be hist last...
"Is it really worth killing a man over a boat?" Asked Onasakenrat.
"How did you...get outta my head!"
"If you think I'm your imagination then I can read your thoughts. You know you can prove me wrong. Call your uncle. He'll tell you. Ask him the name."
Joaquin sighed and called El Seco. After four rings he picked up. "Bueno..."
"Tio I don't got much time to talk. It's Joaquin. I got a question. My mom's papa. What was his name?"
"Doing family research eh? It was a vato named Raphael Silva...he was kind of a womanizer before..."
Joaquin's heart began pounding as he heard this. "You said Silva right?"
"Si mon. What's this about? Talk to me..."
"I'll call you later I gotta go.. gracias,..."
He hung up.
He turned to the Elder pulling over. "If you want me to make one choice or another and you see my future tell me. I'll do whatever you tell me to but you gotta tell me what's in store whatever choice I make."
"I'm a ghost, Joaquin. Not a psychic. All that I can tell you is I do not think this is a good idea. I have fought in two wars and when i was an old man another war started. It was the second time the Americans and the British and us fought."
"1812..."
"Yes...after a victory our people had where the younger warriors held off the Americans at Beaver , Ontario. A few soldiers came for us when the men were out fishing two weeks later. They shot me. There were women and children and a few other Elders but I was the only male of the old. I made my stand so some could escape. The point is even when you kill for a good reason you can still be killed."
"They killed people I've been friends with. Yeah I knew these fools for years but I also knew Stomper and Wicked for years too and Esteban even longer than that. Topo, not as much but he still had a family of his own. And he helped me."
"Michael did not have a choice. Those gang members threatened his family. What would you have done?"
"Killed them. Same as he should have done. He might not have a gang behind him but he wasn't a pushover. Until he was. He let them do that to him and he did that just to placate them and it backfired. It might not be for any personal shit he had against Topo but that doesn't matter the people he did it for were no better no different than Seth."
He got to the spot at Del Perro. "I gotta see this through. You had to have lost friends in war maybe even family. Well Esteban was both. They gotta go."
"You have the weakest case against Michael."
"Maybe I do. But even if I kill Franklin or Trevor just one of them he aint gonna stand by without doing something."
He had the suitcase provided to him by Karen and he went and paid for a ticket to get up in the Ferris Wheel. As he got in it he began to put the Sniper Rifle together. He zoomed in on the boat. It seemed like despite what had happened last year they were having a good time. The sun was shining and it was in the low 70's but it was winter yet because it was LS there was some sunshine. He saw Amanda in a black bikini and Tracey in a white one. He was surprised Franklin wasn't with them.
He aimed thinking he could just kill not only Michael but his wife and daughter in front of him but he sighed. He pulled the trigger striking Michael in the left knee. He saw the man fall over. His patela exploded and he cried out in pain. "HO FUCK! ARGHHHHH!"
"Michael!" Cried Amanda rushing to his side.
"DAD?!' Tracey screamed. He aimed at his chest next. "Sorry fat man. You're about to have a heart attack. He inhaled and then with the trigger pull, exhaled. The fatal round struck Michael dead on. As his seat got closer to the ground and the wheel stopped, he jumped down and he saw pedestrians running and screaming. He didn't know what was being said or what the scene looked like on the boat now that his eyes were away from the scope.
He was back in the Tornado again tearing up the street. Amanda and Tracey were crying and Amanda was on the phone calling 911 as she cradled her husband in her arms. "WHY, GOD WHY?! MICHAEL!"
"Daddy please come back...!" Tracey whimpered as she was attempting CPR.
He began to drive according to the texts he got picking up Franklin. He found that it was close to where he was. It was in fact just a few blocks. Joaquin got the M3 out of his trunk and pulled alongside. He fired at Franklin. Franklin had seen him just a few moments before he fired however and ducked behind the car door. Culebra let off another shot.
"Going to go meet your family for a day on a boat?!" Franklin returned fire with a Browning HP but Joaquin ducked down though it shattered his passenger seat window. "The fuck is your problem?! Motherfucker you killed Coco now you coming at me?!"
"You killed Esteban first! And guess what?! We're in the perfect place for a reunion, puto!'
Franklin fired off five more rounds. His pistol jammed after that. "SHIT!" He dove into the Buffalo. Joaquin tried to follow but he saw that his Tornado's left front tire had been shot out by Franklin. Joaquin grabbed the Uzi from under the seat and two magazines. He also had his Glock 19 on him and a spare magazine. He needed a new vehicle. His hearr almost stopped as he saw a green packer pull up. A blonde white guy with long hair and a scruffy goatee standing at 5'11 was on it. He pulled him off and began to floor it.
Franklin had a spare piece in the car and Joaquin was soon chasing him north on the Western Highway. He fired out the window blindly. "I just killed Michael, Franklin!"
"You a lying motherfucker!' He yelled firing back. Joaquin sprayed the Uzi at the back of the car. '"AM I?! You didn't notice all those people running?!'
Cars stopped and swerved and drove like crazy to get out of their way. "At least I gave Esteban a clean death! Look what you did to Coco!"
He licked off three more shots at Joaquin but then had to swerve to miss a semi truck. Joaquin sped up and brought the Uzi around and Franklin fired again. Joaquin sprayed every round and one round did hit Joaquin knocking him from the bike but four rounds hit Franklin causing the car to swerve and it flipped three times over totalling it. Joaquin hit the ground hard with cracked ribs. He checked the bike. It was banged up but still driveable. Franklin climbed out of the Buffalo as it was flipped on its right side.
He had his pistol in one hand and his phone in the other. Blood ran down the side of Franklin's head and his skull was cracked open. He also had a compound fracture in his left elbow and he had four rounds in him, two in the right side of his chest and two in the back. "You really...really did it man..." He fell to the ground. "You killed Michael..." He held the phone up and the pistol clattered as his bad arm was the one to hold it. 'Trace...she just tried calling me...I aint answer cause you were shooting..." He held the phone. "But she texted me...she's probably telling Trevor too...that's who you're after next, right?" Joaquin lifted the packer up with a grunt.
"Don't try and act like this is my fault. You were sent to do a job. Repossess a fuckin packer. You killed him instead. A vato that had my back through all four years of High School against Ballas at Vespucci High. And into adulthood."
Joaquin walked the bike up and got onto it. He accelerated the handle bars. "You killed Coco...I get that she killed Morena and that's...ya'll could have still waited until after...you know what you are Joaquin? You aint the same as Joker eactly cause you loyal to your hood./ But you aint no different than the Marabunta Grande cats on the east coast. They had killed one of their homegirls who was pregnant for snitching...same shit..."
"Yeah I killed somebody who never had a chance at life. But you know what Franklin? Don't talk to me about betrayal. You've been fucking people over as long as Michael has. It might be true you had as much reason to kill Stretch as I did Joker but you also killed that guy Marcus you were telling me about you used to work for. These were all red flags I should have listened to."
"It wasn't just me. It was Lamar too. Only guess what, motherfucker? He's back in jail aint that a bitch/ You can't get to him. He got caught with some coke on him. They might give him life with all his priors...I hope...I hope Trevor gets your stank ass...this shit is gonna destroy him. But he's the last one. You know Karen's playing you. "
"And I'm playing her. And I'm getting what I want."
He began to ride towards Franklin and Franklin took the pistol and began firing at him but Joaquin jumped off almost as soon as he got on bailing from the Packer. It crashed into Franklin's body and Franklin vomited blood as the impact crushed his ribs. It also created another compound fracture in his other arm and it crushed his right knee. Franklin was gasping and couldn't talk as he went into shock.
He was not feeling merciful. He left him that way sprawled on the side of the road spending every second he had left in pain. He could see that it hurt Franklin to breathe. "That was for you, Esteban. Wherever you are, perro..."
He soon carjacked another person. He sped down the street headed for Blaine County.
He was there within an hour and he saw there was already a shootout at the trailer could hear it and see the muzzle flashes from up the road. He drove by and saw several dead bodies, five of them looked like rednecks and four were Aztecas. Trevor had been firing a Taurus 9mm but he was dry.
He was being chased by Aztecas in dark blue Rebels. He hauled ass into his trailer and set an AK-74 by the window facing the front of the trailer and he began to rig a claymore to the front door. He got to the back window and started opening all the windows. An Azteca with a .44 was outside banging on the door. "Trevor! We told you to get the fuck outta town or you were dead!"
He stayed strangely quiet this time. "Trevor! If you don't come out we're coming in!" He kicked in the door and it erupted in an explosion and this happened just as Joaquin pulled up. Body parts from the Azteca rained everywhere. Two police vehicles also pulled up and four men got out. One of them fired a service pistol hitting an Azteca twice in the back. Trevor smashed out the front window he was at and started firing from inside. He struck an Azteca in the forehead and sent the man crashing dead against the side of a dark blue Tahoma.
He also fired on one of the Sandy Shores cops hitting the man seven times in the chest. The Aztecas and the Blaine County deputies started to fire on each other and an Azteca with an M1 shotgun hit the cop who had shot one of his friends and opened the man's neck wide open. Trevor had not meant to hit the cop he had been aiming for an Azteca near him. In fact with several more TPI goons dead after a year of gang warfare, Trevor's numbers were low almost non existent. "FUCK ALL OF YOU! YOU'RE NOT RUNNING ME OUT OF TOWN! ASK ORTEGA!"
Joaquin stayed low as the bullets flew. The remaining two officers aimed at four Aztecas as they ran around to the back. "FREEZE! BLAINE COUNTY SHE..." They didn't finish the sentence as one of the Aztecas ran over something and the four men exploded, courtesy of a land mine. A cop fired at Trevor through the window. Trevor fired out the window and hit him in the side.
Joaquin came in taking the shotgun from a deceased Azteca as he fell. He went in from the hole in the side of the trailer. "Is that you, Joaquin?" Demanded Trevor.
Joaquin had the drop on him as he had the M1 aimed at him. "Yeah...you know what this is about."
"Yeah...you fuckin SNAKE. I got the call from Tracey. You killed my best friend...like a goddamn coward..."
"Yeah that's the same way he killed Topo. With a scope. Why should he go out any different? He had an easier time of it than Franklin did. I ran him over with a Packer. Kind of like the kind he used on Esteban."
"Jesus...you're really stuck in the past..." Trevor remarked. "I didn't even know that guy. Only one of us that gives a shit about him is YOU! I had to lose my friend over that?! At least that I can understand even though I never knew the guy. But you killed Michael over Topo?"
"How many people have you fucked over, Trevor? Just cause you didn't to Michael or Franklin doesn't mean you didn't. I know what you did to Johnny the biker back in '13. And you shot Ortega in the face. They didn't do anything to you other than get in business with you. You say that loyalty is everything I've always heard you say that. But then you killed two people in business with you just cause of greed."
"I could have shot you...and I didn't...I guess I'm TOO loyal..." Trevor snarled. "But I sure as shit can kill you now..."
"You know this has to happen. And it was only a matter of time."
"Karen played me...she played all of us! Told us the green light was gone. Said you skipped town. Instead...you're running around like a psycho killing my friends...YOUR FRIENDS!"
"Karen didn't do shit but set up the circumstances where you'd be killed. Did you think that wasn't gonna happen anyway, Trevor? Just remember one thing. You idiots decided you were gonna go after Jock Cranley and Don , they came after us but what did you think was gonna happen if you go after the governor?"
"That was for ALL OF US!" Trevor exploded. "It's the reason you went into hiding, why we all did! And now you're turning on your friends?!"
"Yeah well maybe if my friends hadn't killed Stomper and Wicked and Topo maybe we could have kept being friends. But then Franklin killed Esteban, you killed Casper those years back and I still killed Chef. I know you know about that and you would be obligated to avenge him."
"But I didn't..." Growled Trevor. Joaquin saw his bloodshot eyes in the mirror and could see he had been in tears over the death of Michael.
"Only cause you found out recently. If you'd have known earlier on you'd have come after me. Yeah I ran around this town like a psycho I admit it and now I'm a wanted man because of it. But don't act like you didn't do the same shit. The things you did to your own boy Wade and his cousin? It's easier to just be an enemy of you cause your friends get bottles to the head or shot in the face. Or stabbed. But you wouldn't stand up to Dennis. And your pedophile mom. I'll admit something in me snapped when I heard that and I know you'd never see it that way but me killing them was being a good friend to them."
"HOW THE FUCK IS YOU KILLING MY PARENTS A FRIEND TO ME?!"
"After what he did to me that night at Ben's place what he did to you? The man's in his late 60's and he still just humiliated you. He's a piece of shit. He left you in a mall and your jefita molested you. You may not be able to see outside your own feelings on the shit but your parents are fucked up. Lefty and Concha weren't perfect as those who raised me but they never touched me in that way. My own parents died and I got put with a chomo in the foster system. It fucked your head up just like it fucked mine up."
"That was NOT YOUR CHOICE TO MAKE!"
"You were never gonna do it even though you know you should have. And you did kill your own brother. Whatever your problems were with him are you gonna really tell me that he deserved to die more than your dad did?"
"What did she promise you, huh?!" He asked. "What did that bitch tell you to get you to sell me up the river?"
"What she's selling me and what I'm taking are two different things but what she offered was each of your cuts for one of you I killed. I'll be honest about something...when I decided to do it all today I thought maybe I could just kill Franklin. He's the only one that I really had to kill that I have the best reason to kill. But then I knew one of you or both of you would kill me. If you didn't for revenge for him, you'd do it for the shit I'd already done."
"You're still killing us for them. Still a jarhead. After what the government did to your culture you're gonna trust them?! Oh who am I kidding. You sold your soul long before you met us...you went to the Middle East and killed a sovereign people. Just for a gang that isn't around anymore. I got kicked from the Air Force so I didn't see combat. I can't claim many things, Cobra...but on that i'm innocent."
"Yeah only because you got kicked out. If you hadn't you'd have done the same thing I was doing but from the skies. And as for the government...if you're gonna appeal to my own history you should make sure you and Franklin and Michael don't look like the same soldiers that took our land centuries ago. Or...be the type of people that killed my homeboys and homegirls..."
"I thought we were you homeboys too..." Trevor said with a scratchy voice that sounded tired. "Guess I was wrong..." He turned around to try and bring the AK to shoot but Joaquin fired striking his left arm. Trevor's arm his inner arm was devoid of skin as a mass of ugly red appeared and his skeletal structure in his arm was revealed and half his arm was hanging off. "ARGHHHHHHHH!" Trevor screamed in agony and Joaquin fired again hitting him in the stomach.
He aimed the smoking shotgun at Trevor's face. "I wish there was another way.." Trevor growled and lunged at him with a pocket knife. Somehow he still had the adrenaline or perhaps it was the last of it. The blade hit Joaquin's bullet resistant armor and Joaquin grabbed his arm his good arm and with a twist he broke it but Trevor had managed to get a swipe across his cheek. Joaquin looked at Trevor's neck tattoo and followed its instructions. He slit his throat and blood sprayed like a geyser. He fell over gurgling and groaning his face losing color and he gripped at Joaquin's left leg.
Trevor's look surprised him. He looked alone and a little scared Very scared in fact. He WAS alone and it was his fault. He'd killed both parents and both of his friends/. Their friends. Patricia Madrazo was gone and at least he hadn't done that to him but killing Martin hadn't brought her back. Anymore than killing Franklin would bring back Esteban or Stomper or killing Michael would bring back Topo or killing Trevor a man who had become like a father to him, would bring back Wicked. At this point, what remained of Trevor's life now especially with all that had happened was a sad shell of what it had been.
Joaquin had tears in his eyes. 'I'm sorry, compadre. You probably shouldn't have saved me that day outside the strip club. But we are who we are..." Trevor grunted but could not talk. Joaquin assured him, 'It's almost over..." With a crunch he drove the blade into his larynx with all his might and ended Trevor's suffering. He swore before he saw the light go out in his eyes, there was a flicker of relief.
'
Joaquin left the trailer and began to drive out towards Paleto Forrest. He would stay there a few weeks and lay low. He'd taken some of Trevor's clothes. He didn't want to wear them but he needed a few changes of clothes. He would wait it out about three weeks before following his family down to Ecuador. He had also taken Trevor's hunting rifle and he would use this to hunt game. When he'd spent some time with his and Amber's people in Liberty City they'd gone hunting upstate.
Port Of LS
Rosa and the kids and Flaca and theirs were aboard the ship. 'Is he coming?" Flaca asked. "This ship's about to sail. Where is he?"
"I don't know. But he told me that if he got delayed we should go. He says he'll be just behind us. He's probably having some trouble getting past the law."
"You don't think the puercos picked him up do you?"
"No. He's dealt with the law before and he may have been arrested and did time but that's nothing compared to all the time she didn't get caught."
"It's kinda fucked up he has to do that you know? They weren't bad people...but I understand. He'll always pick us over them and I would too."
'Yeah...let's not talk about that. He's gonna be here. He's been in tighter spots."
"Mami where's papa?" Inquired Erindira. "He'll be just beyond us, mija. I promise..." She said with a smile but as the boat began to sail, she looked at the city and thought, Quino, where the hell are you?!
Paleto Forrest
3 Weeks Later
He had just gotten off the phone from Lefty. He told him that Rosa and the others had touched down in El Salvador. Of course this was just for in case any alphabet agencies were listening. What it really meant was that they had arrived in Quito and were settling in to their new lives. He'd also received word on the streets about how he was being demonized by the media. Michael was being honored as a great producer and Meltdown was considered one of the greatest movies of all time.
The shitty thing was that Michael had been the producer for The Cell. The show had finished after 2 seasons and was critically acclaimed but it was also tainted by controversy because of it. He knew that he could never write screenplays down in Ecuador even if he used a different name and went through different people to get his work put out there. That was over.
After Franklin's death there had been twenty shootings between the Families and the Vagos. Seven had died but twenty shootings was a lot and all of it was a result of Franklin's death. It didn't matter that he wasn't a gang member anymore at the time of his death. He had been raised to a hood legend reputation wise. On top of that, because of Trevor's death, even though it would not have been something he wanted, it had created racial tension among civilian and gang lines between Mexicans and Caucasians in Blaine County. Though Trevor was not a racist, a lot of the people that lived there were.
At worst it was a racial issue at best the TPI loyalists viewed it as illegals killing their boss. There was skirmishes but with Trevor gone and Ron in hiding, there was no leadership. On top of that, the Onda members who had arranged to have Lefty killed and accidentally got Luciana killed were also hit in prison.
He spotted a Merryweather agent. He had seen more were coming in. He had his combat knife and he was in a close enough distance. Joaquin dropped down from the tree he was in. He landed on the Merryweather agent a Caucasian man with a shaved head and beady blue eyes standing at six feet. He plunged the blade into the back of the man's neck with a sickening crunch. He took his G36 from him and the ammo for it. He checked the man's pack. He looked through some binoculars. He saw at the street level there was N.O.O.S.E agents setting up a perimiter.
"Chingas...I got no way outta here..."
He fired and struck another Merryweather agent. This one was a black male standing six four who looked like he was on steroids. He fired and he hit the man in the neck on the right side. Another Merryweather agent returned fire back at him and he ducked behind a tree and the rounds chipped off the sides of the tree. He returned fire blindly from cover.
"I knew you levas were coming at me!" He got the hunting Rifle and kept a distance of about a hundred yards. He aimed through the scope at a Merryweather agent of Mexican descent who stood 5'9 coming between cover using trees. He fired and hit the man in the left cheek. "Vendido..." He hissed and he saw another agent coming and firing his direction, he went between cover heading to cover behind a boulder near the river.
He saw a Merryweather agent moving between the trees and he fired hitting the man in the chest but the round did not go through. "Fuck..." He cursed.
He took notice of the weather changing. It was starting to snow. Heavily. "Great..." He muttered. He noticed that in the weeks staying here, there had been a lot of cougars, coyotes, woodpeckers but they were fleeing and he didn't blame them in the slightest. The gunfire was loud. He headed into the river and fired his G36 making a retreat across it and he ducked back down against a boulder in cover. He saw two grenades coming his way. He ran for cover hitting the ground and they went off. He'd managed to somewhat cover his ears too but as he got up his ears still were ringing.
He ran west through the treeline and he saw a Merryweather agent with a Grenade Launcher firing it. He high tailed into the trees. The explosion fucked the trees up but he had no time to look and now he zipped back into the direction of going east. A few rounds hit him in the back and he fell over. He got up again and he realized that while the armor had held, it was not likely to withstand another hit.
He crouched low and saw the man with the grenade launcher. He fired striking him in the throat. The man fell, his blood spraying against a tree. He spotted another Merryweather Agent and the man tackled him trying to get him at close range. Joaquin kicked him back kicking his legs and he staggered back and he managed to fire his Glock striking the man twice in the chin. He got through the helmet.
He took two of his grenades. He pulled the pin on the grenade and cooked it before throwing it towards four Merryweather agents that were coming. He watched the explosion lift them and he ran the other direction but he now saw the N.O.O.S.E agents were coming from the north. He used that one as well as five of them were coming and they were withholding fire. He threw the grenade and sent the men flying back and the the debris didn't harm their body armor but they took trauma to the thighs.
He had to retreat east again and he came to a ridge. He was panting and shivering at the same time. It was then that he realized there was no way out. "You're surrounded, asshole!" Screamed a Merryweather agent with a reddish blonde buzz cut. "There's no way out!"
Joaquin had only images of Teskontentsa, Erendira Tehoronhiatase, Otsista, Xochi, of Flaca of Amber, Lefty, Concha, Willie, Valeria, Hector even his Tio he'd met much later in life. Even if he was to get out of this and make it to Ecuador there was no way they'd all be together in the same place at once. He also thought of Rosa last. He loved his children more than life itself, he loved Lefty and Concha, and he loved his niece and nephews but Rosa was the last but certainly not least in his mind because all the god in his life had started with her. Lefty had adopted him but she had broken the ice in his heart. All the good in his life came from her.
She was a flawed woman but overall still a good person. She was everything to him. Rosa...this is for you...for our kids...our familia...I hope you can forgive me but this is the only way to make sure they don't come after all of you...
"You're right!" He shouted. "There isn't! For me or you!" He came out blazing and he started firing his last magazine and he hit the man that had called him out. He struck the man with twenty rounds. He got the rounds through the man's vest after twelve rounds had not gotten through. Joaquin saw in that final moment just how many Rifles he had trained on him. He was hit by round after round. He fell over and rounds from the H&K Rifles shredded the flesh on both arms, blew out his knees and rattled through his chest and stomach.
His final thought was, Family...
As the fresh snow fell over Joaquin's blood soaked body, Karen approached it and she kicked the Rifle away and she lit a cigarette with a smirk on her face. "Adios, tough guy..." She took his combat knife from him and said, "Think I'll keep this as a trophy."
The Merryweather agents were going to move his body but Karen stated, "Don't bother. Let's let the wildlife get him. They're gonna need a good meal as the winter comes. He's been hunting them. I'd say it's time they got their revenge..."
"I can't authorize that, Ms Daniels..." Replied a Merryweather agent.
"You wanna get in a pissing match between you and the Agency? We'll win...legal, war, anything."
They left him under the snow for the time being while they were debating whether or not to do it. "What about what we tell the news?" Asked another IAA representative. "The N.O.O.S.E is going to want their credit on this. The LSPD has wanted this guy's head on a pike for a long time. They didn't get him but they still are gonna want something."
"There's two stories..." Karen told the rookie. "There's the truth and there's what we'll tell the public. We were never here. Merryweather was. N.O.O.S.E was and this is going to solidify their positions in America."
More and more, the snow covered Joaquin almost to the point of covering him up completely. There was almost a mirror in it to what was done at Wounded Knee with the dying and dead bodies covered in the snow. Joaquin looked down at himself in disbelief. He looked and saw his mother and father standing near him. "Come on, mijo...it's time to go..."
His father told him, "I tried to warn you kid...but you aint the first to not listen to a warning and you won't be last..."
They started to walk away. He looked at his snow covered body and he watched them vanish behind the trees. He felt like crying knowing what he left behind and knowing he made the wrong choice that ended it all but then he was at least glad that he had secured his own family's safety by letting the government corner him. He hoped Rosa and the others would understand. Even if they didn't, it was the right move.
He ran to catch up unsure just where they were going. Beneath the snow his blood had formed a flower like shape.
When the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long
And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love in the spring becomes the rose
That's it for the first of two possible endings this is by far the darker one but the thing about these two endings is that each one is hunted at being a dream but the only thing is, one is a dream and one is real. Which one is which is up to you reviewers. The next ending will be a bit brighter but there will be some sadness still. I won't say that it's entirely dark and it's not a Hollywood style ending either it'll be bitter sweet. This chapter, think American Me and Menace II Society. Next chapter, closer to Blood In Blood Out or Boyz N The Hood.
And while I'm at it I will acknowledge that yes Joaquin's death was largely based on the final shootout at the end of True Detective Season 2 which the prophecy about being shot in a place full of trees is also. The thing is I admit I took from that and the end of Red Dead Redemption where John gets gunned down and that touch with Karen is obviously a nod to Edgar Ross but honestly this was a bit more extreme with leaving him in the snow but this also allowed for the reference to The Rose song which is what was being listened to in True Detective season 2 when Collin Farell's character was prophesied to die that way.
And having Rosa escape to Ecuador is also a reference to that. To anybody that gives me shit for ending it this way just remember John's death in RDR was also inspired by Mississippi Burning when the black guy tells his family to run and he tries to hold off the Klan but they pretty much kill him. So if I'm unoriginal so is Cockstar.
Also the shootout between Trevor and the Aztecas is a nod to the shootout in season 3 with Woodward (Michael Grayeyes) when he was being pursued by rednecks and he made a stand with a Rifle and claymores. Basically it's faklse tough guys that have numbers meets Vietnam veteran with PTSD.
Onasakenrat will also appear next chapter too. Just in a different context he's the same spirit that was communicating with Steven when he was alive.
You all will either love or hate this ending and the one after this but starting a story is much easier than ending it. And don't worry next chapter won't be as derivative. And just with me killing Joaquin off too well the thing is he was played by the government but he also somewhat played them because he's not wrong that they would have come after his family later to try and get to him.
He knows he made the wrong choice but in the end, it was too late so he rolled with the punches as best as he can and I feel like if I did let Joaquin kill all those people more people would hate this chapter than if I didn't have it have consequences. Even with the "Good" ending there's still gonna be some consequences for what was done. I won't say what but there will be somewhat of a consequence for what he did to Coco and Franklin will still face a consequence for killing Esteban but it's not the same as here exactly and whether the punishment fits the crime or not isn't really important just that it will happen.
An aspect of this chapter and the next will be almost the same but then again it plays out differently.
That's it for now.