CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

[sin city]

"your boy here, he fucked up"


By the time Andi and Simon got back to the hotel, the tears had dried on her cheeks, leaving crusty remnants of her mascara on her porcelain skin. She still wasn't a hundred percent sure if she had truly seen the object of her nightmares or if her acid trip had simply turned sour.

The blonde had kept to herself after the tears stopped flowing, a haze setting in as she tried to decipher her reality. Simon remained silent too, simply holding his friend close as she recovered. Despite their emotional detour, they were sure they beat Saya and Willie back to the room. Hopefully, the two of them could track down Billy, Maria, and Marcus and put their mini-vacation back on track.

Simon wasn't usually one to impede on Andi's fun, but he was going to highly suggest holding out on partaking in any more drugs for the weekend. After this bad trip, she needed a break.

They exited the elevator on their floor and started down the hallway to where their rooms were. Simon dropped his arm from around Andi's shoulders as she moved to fish the room key out of her pocket.

Gunshots rang out through the hallway, startling Andi and Simon. The sudden noise pulled Andi from her stupor. Simon's reflexes had been quicker though as he darted in the direction of the gunfire. Andi took off behind him, realizing that the sound was coming from Marcus and Billy's room.

Despite the daze she couldn't shake, Andi's veins flooded with anxiety. It was Abaddon. He was here and he was attacking her friends. Shooting them. Shooting everyone. Billy, Saya, Willie, Maria, Marcus, and now, Simon. She wanted to move faster, to help them, but she couldn't bring her legs to move any quicker. Fuck this, she thought. I'm never doing acid again.

Andi could hear Maria's screams and Simon's shouts and she got closer. She expected to hear that familiar voice that gave her chills amongst the chaos but instead, she heard someone else yelling and cursing.

"Chico?" Andi whispered to herself, hurrying to round the corner into the room. "What the fuck?" She watched as Chico threw Simon off of him, the Latino boy previously having been held down by her friend as they wrestled over the gun. Before Andi could question what was going on, a shirtless Marcus sprinted past her and out the door.

"Andi! Get out of here!" Simon yelled just before Chico's fist slammed into his jaw.

The blonde was able to shake the daze enough to listen to him, her adrenaline fueling her as she took off down the hall after Marcus. Andi glanced over her shoulder and saw Chico aiming his gun in their direction, but he wasn't able to get a shot off as Maria slashed him with her fan.

Chico tossed her to the side and raised his weapon once more. He fired at them as they ran down the hall toward the emergency exit, yet none of the bullets came close to Andi.

What the hell was Chico doing in Vegas? And why the hell was he trying to kill Marcus?

Chico loathed Marcus's very existence and his contempt toward the Arguello boy was not a secret. However, this was a particular level of homicidal rage was something she hadn't seen from Chico in a while, and she was scared to dwell on what it had to do with Marcus. Through her adrenaline, confusion, and drug-fueled mind, a part of her had put the pieces together. A shirtless Marcus and Maria alone in a hotel room together and a murderous Chico out to end Marcus's existence. However, her conscious mind failed to acknowledge the facts laid before her.

Andi caught up with Marcus outside the hotel on the side of the street. He hesitated for a second, cars coming from both directions, blocking his path. They didn't have time to pause though as Chico burst through the side door, firing off a few more shots in Marcus's direction.

"Come on," Andi insisted, pulling Marcus into the busy street, trying to create distance between them and the tatted-up vato out to kill him.

Cars screeched to a halt as the two teens hurried across the road like a fucked-up game of Frogger. Chico was on their heels, weaving through the traffic as he fired once more.

Andi led them into the convenience store, her goal to get to the back door as quickly as possible and create a maze between them and Chico. However, Marcus hesitated and pulled out of Andi's grip, trying to get help.

The blonde knew no one could help them though. Chico was ruthless when he wanted to be. It's how he was raised. Simple civilians wouldn't get in his way. He would just take them out too.

She was proven right when Chico tackled Marcus through the front window of the store. The woman Marcus had tried to appeal to shrieked in fear. Andi covered her face, protecting it from the shattered glass fragments that littered the air.

Andi turned to the woman that had been standing in front of the store. "Get the hell out of here! It isn't safe. Make sure no one else comes down this way," the woman nodded, a terrified expression on her face and she ran away from the scene.

Marcus and Chico stare each other down. Marcus took the first swing, but Chico easily ducked out of the way. Chico was a stronger fighter even on Marcus's best days, let alone when the younger boy was tripping balls. The taller teen retaliated with a devastating punch of his own, knocking Marcus to the glass-covered floor.

Andi didn't risk jumping through the window. Instead, she hurried through the door before landing a solid kick to the side of Chico's knee. The taller boy crumbled to his knees, catching himself with his hands before he tumbled to the ground completely.

He pulled out a hooked knife, slashing at her legs. She stepped back just in time to miss his assault, but it gave him the time he needed to stand at full height once again. He swung at her, wild yet somehow controlled. His movements were precise yet powerful.

Chico has no qualms about taking out the Broughton girl, but she was hardly his object of ire. She dodged his swings, taking an opening to land a solid hit right to his Adam's apple. Chico stumbled back, choking on air. His left hand reached to his neck on instinct at the blow.

Andi stepped closer, ready to land a kick in his gut when she was surprised by him catching her by the ankle. With her ankle gripped in his left hand, he yanked her closer. She stumbled forward, balance failing her. Within arm's reach, Chico latched onto her and pulled her into a chokehold.

Gasping for breath, she barely heard the words he whispered in her ear. "If you knew why I was trying to kill him, you wouldn't be so eager to stop me, chica." She couldn't think on his words though. Her vision grew spotty as his hold on her continued for a few seconds longer. Finally, he tossed her haphazardly to the side. Unable to catch herself as she fell, her head slammed against the tile floor.

So much for nursing that concussion, she thought as her vision went black.

As the world around her faded, the only thing she heard was the sound of a struggle, a single gunshot, and the slam of the heavy, metal backdoor.


Andi's eyes fluttered open.

Her head was pounding and her body ached. She tried to take a deep breath and cringed at a new soreness on her throat. She glanced down at herself to survey any injuries and found that her leg was bleeding. The old wound from Saya's cousins had reopened, the stitches torn.

Slowly, she remembered what happened. Chico attacked Marcus and she went to stop him. The teen gang leader had choked her and threw her to the ground. That was when she lost consciousness. But, how long ago could that have been? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Where were they now?

Andi struggled as she pulled herself up to her feet using the store displays around her. Once standing she saw the body of the store clerk to her left, dead as a doornail. She sighed at the wreckage Chico left in his wake. That would explain the gunshot she heard before everything went black.

The door, she remembered. Hurrying to the back of the store, Andi ignored the pain shooting through her body. The blonde heard the shouts before she saw anyone. She must not have been out long, for Marcus and Chico hadn't made it far.

She pushed out the heavy backdoor, seeing Chico standing over Marcus with a gun in his hand. "We're way past denial!" Chico yelled. "You were about to fuck my girl, homes! One of us has to die. You understand that?" Chico flipped the gun in his hands before setting it on the ground a couple of feet away from Marcus. "Here... a fighting chance. A ticket to your real reputation. You get that gun, you put a hole in me, only then you can screw my girl!"

Andi paused, hesitating in her attempts to get closer. Marcus and Maria... Marcus was about to sleep with Maria? No, the blonde thought. That can't be. Maria wouldn't do that to me. She knows how I feel.

Part of her wanted to shut down at the news, at this betrayal, but she couldn't. If she allowed herself to dwell on this, then Marcus was dead. Andi wasn't going to let Chico kill Marcus just because she had been naïve.

She stepped forward. "Chico," she called out, catching his attention. Despite her current state, Andi refused to look weak, forcing herself to stand tall as his eyes met hers.

Chico let out a scoffing laugh, not necessarily at Andi, but at Marcus. The Arguello boy's life was falling to shambles just before he ended it.

Andi glanced down at Marcus who laid pathetically on the ground, injuries covering his body from his standoff with the taller boy. When her blues meet his bloodshot eyes, she couldn't mask the betrayal she felt.

You have no right to feel hurt, a voice in her mind mocked. You're the one who wanted friends so badly. Did you forget what happened the last time you had a friend so easily?

The voice was right. Abaddon had been her friend once and then he manipulated her and killed Delphine. She finally gave in and allowed herself to care for people and this is what happened. She was fooled yet again. Did she truly believe that Simon and Saya and Maria and Marcus were trustworthy people? They went to a murder school for Christ's sake!

Marcus preferring Maria over her wasn't even the worst of it. Sure, it was the knife in her back, but Maria going after him, that was the twist of the blade.

"Andi," Chico greeted her with a dangerous smile. "Your boy here, he fucked up."

"Killing him isn't going to solve all your problems, Chico," she tried.

Chico huffed. "You really still care about this punk ass bitch after hearing all that?" He let out another mocking laugh, this time aimed at her. "I expected more from you."

Andi scoffed. "I guess it's a good thing I'm not trying to impress you then," she seethed at him. "And for the record, I might not want him to die, but that doesn't necessarily mean I care about him anymore. Maybe I think he should wallow in his guilt for a while." She narrowed her eyes at him and gave the tattooed boy a sarcastic grin.

It was a lie. Of course, she still cared about Marcus. Her emotions weren't a simple on-off switch. But, she had been wrong to trust him, to trust anyone really. Stating that she didn't care about Marcus was the first step in making it a reality because from there on out she couldn't allow herself to care. She would save Marcus's life, but then that would be the end of whatever they had together.

"You're soft," he snarled at her. "Stay out of this or you'll end up just like him."

Before she could say another word, the rest of the group showed up. "Chico, Chico!" Maria yelled, hysterical as Billy, Saya, Simon, and Willie followed her into the alley. "What did you do?"

Willie tried to be the voice of reason, but the time for that was long gone if it ever existed at all. "Chico, man, calm down."

Billy had his hands up, trying to talk Chico down as well. "Think. You can't kill another student. Lin will expel you."

Andi's eye met Simon's through the crowd. He looked at her concerned and hurt. Her eyes were dull, devoid of any life. If he thought she looked rough earlier after her breakdown at the liquor store, she looked half-dead now. They both knew what happened in that hotel room and both of them were hurt by that knowledge. Andi shook her head slightly, trying to convey that Chico was not going to stop. The tattooed boy was not going to simply walk away from this and return to King's like nothing ever happened. This would only end with bodies bleeding out on the ground.

She turned away from him, her eyes glazing over the rest of the group before resting back on Chico. She watched his movements with newfound focus, like a jungle cat stalking its prey.

Billy approached Chico slowly, "I get it, man. You're super pissed. Look at him. He's learned his lesson. Whatever happened, it's just a big mistake." The green-haired boy reached out to rest a hand on Chico's arm.

As Chico looked down where his hand was, Andi focused on his other arm that reached behind him. "Billy, get back!" she yelled just as Chico pulled out his knife and thrust it into Billy's abdomen.

"You know what's a real mistake?" Chico asked him. "Putting your hand on me, pendejo." The group looked on in shock as Billy stumbled away from Chico.

Saya caught Billy as he fell to the ground, his hands firmly over his gaping wound. Maria turned to her boyfriend, tears welling in her eyes. "You're so insecure, Chico, you got to hurt everyone who looks at you wrong? You're gonna kill every guy I look at?"

"I'd say 'looking at' is minimizing what you were doing," he snarled at her, a murderous gleam in his eyes. "Unless you were just planning on looking at his dick." Hearing the words aloud once again struck Andi, unintentional tears forming in her eyes. "Why don't you explain to your best friend that you were just looking at him?" he said, gesturing to Andi.

Maria glimpsed at the blonde who refused to meet her eyes. The Latina swallowed the guilt and fear she felt before looking back at Chico. "After everything my family has done for you! You would be dead if it weren't for me!" he screamed at her.

"I am dead!" she cried. "And your family didn't save me. They used me!"

Andi furrowed her eyebrows as she saw the shine in Chico's eyes. Could he truly, in his own fucked up way, care about Maria?

"Shut up," he told her, but there was no power behind his words. Maria barely acknowledged them as she continued to vent her feelings. Meanwhile, Willie was taking advantage of Chico's distraction to sneak behind him and retrieve the gun he left by Marcus.

"A sweet little chica who can get close to any target. A sweet little chica to plant explosives."

"Shut up," he repeated, holding a hand over his eyes.

"Is that what your love is, Chico, huh? Forcing me to be a whore?" Chico finally snapped, lashing out and slapping Maria. Despite his hurt, Simon darted out to catch her and hold her upright.

"I love you!" Chico yelled, but before he could say or do anything else, the sound of a gun cocking caught his attention.

"Don't, motherfucker," Willie called out. "Get out of here, Chico. Go, or I'm going to kill you."

Chico turned toward the N.W.O teen, a cruel smirk on his lips. "You?"

Willie kept a straight face. "Me."

"I'm terrified," he mocked. As he spoke, he stepped closer to the Lewis boy. "'Cause I know all that hard-hitting gangbanger shit you get up to in Watts. Except, I hear there's rumors that Willie's a bitch. Always sends his crew to do the dirty work." Testing the gun-wielding teen, Chico sent a sharp kick at Marcus, landing it on the fallen boy's gut.

"Hey, you kick him one more time, and I'm going to shoot!" Willie threatened.

"You're gonna shoot me?" Chico goaded. "Do it! Pull the trigger!"

"Do it, Willie! Shoot him!" Saya yelled from where she still held onto Billy. Andi and Simon shared another hesitant look. This was escalating and the blonde was beginning to believe Willie didn't have the guts to pull the trigger. That meant someone was going to have to end this and soon.

Willie pressed the barrel of the gun to Chico's head. The other boy grabbed onto it with both his hands, calling Willie's bluff. "Do it!" Chico screamed at him. The confidence faded from Willie before their eyes, his face dropping as he began to choke. Chico laughed. "Willie can't." The tattooed boy smacked the gun away from him as Willie's eyes looked to the pavement. "I always knew you were a bitch. People that act that hard never got the fire."

Marcus shuffled from his spot on the ground. "Yeah? Like you, asshole?"

"You know, I ain't even worried about Lin, because he ain't gonna find out about any of this shit." Andi narrowed her eyes at Chico as he grabbed Marcus by his hair, holding the knife up to him. She stepped forward, ready to attack when the opportunity presented itself.

"Oh, really?" Andi quipped sarcastically, pulling his attention back to her. He eyed her as his next target, dropping his hold on Marcus and stalking forward.

"Yeah, because I'm going to bury every one of you pendejo mother—," Chico never finished his thought though as Maria slashed his throat with one of her razor fans. He stopped in his tracks, his hands reaching up as his neck began to spurt blood down his white tank top.

Maria dropped her fan as she watched him collapse to the ground. Together, the group watched as Chico bled out on the pavement.


So, I'm back!

This was originally two separate chapters but then the first of the two ended up being really short so I just combined them into one longer chapter. I think that the next chapter is the wrap-up of episode five and thus, the end of part one of this book. After that, there will be some original chapters before we pick up with episode six, which takes place after a small time jump.

Just a side note with this chapter—Chico doesn't actually care that Andi was hurt by this whole ordeal. He's just exploiting her betrayal to make Marcus and Maria feel like shit because even if they don't like him, they do like Andi and they hurt her. So, he's just trying to throw that back in their face.

Hope you guys enjoyed the new update and I hope everyone had a good holiday season! Happy New Year's! May 2021 be less of a dumpster fire!