Grand Theft Auto: The Innocent Rose.

Chapter 7: Unfriendly Confrontation.

El Swanko Casa: Living Room.

With the tv blaring the so-called hit reality tv show: Fame or Shame; Rosa barely registered the poor excuse for dancing that the girl named Tracy was performing on-screen while Lazlow grinded up against her while two men: one in a fine grey suit and the other in dirty ragged clothes with a thick beard and grizzled hair both watched with pained expressions.

"Finally; that idiot gets what's coming to him" Rosa muttered to herself; finally paying attention to the screen as Lazlow was thrown to the floor by the suit-wearing man before Lazlow escaped and the two men following in chase before the terrible show cut to commercial.

Mercedes had been long gone when Rosa finally got out of bed and dressed herself in a simple plain dress with no pattern or name brand label; helping herself to a bowl of reheated chilli and watching some crappy television.

Sighing upon swallowing another mouthful of chilli for Rosa hadn't heard anything from Ryder since parting away at The Police Station; she felt horrible for Becky's death and that she was the groups friend but she barely knew the girl.

Her train of thought was quickly disrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing; thinking it strange for she did not have any packages coming nor was she expecting anybody to come by and her mother of course had her own housekeys.

Walking slowly towards the front door as the doorbell rang for a second time; Rosa reaching the door only to peek through the peep-hole and breath a sigh of relief at what she saw, turning the lock and opening the door to the blank expressionless faces of Angelo and Sarah.

"How'd you find out where I live?" Rosa spoke flatly; her eyes appearing sleepy even though she'd been asleep for an unknown number of hours.

"Citizen Directory; lists every person in the city" Angelo stated; flashing his phone which showed Rosa's full name and address detailed on the pages of a directory.

"Damn… you must be living the rich life!" Sarah spoke in an excited tone; eyeing the fine art paintings and framed movie posters from InterGlobal that lined the walls of the corridor leading to the living room.

Rosa glanced down the path but sighting no vehicles parked except for a yellow and black zebra-painted Taxi passing by; taking in a deep breath, "I assume you want to come in?".

Angelo and Sarah both glanced at each other; both sceptical of Rosa's demeanour and cold tone of voice but both nodded as Rosa stepped aside and allowed them inside, Rosa glanced down the path again before shutting and locking the door.

Taking seats in the living room; Angelo quickly helped himself to a bag of chips while Sarah took a can of cola from the fridge though neither one asked first, Rosa stared blankly at the abuse of her hospitality before taking a silent seat and waiting for them to speak first.

"You know that guy who attacked the club last night?" Angelo spoke first; getting to the matter of fact and the reason they had come to Rosa's Home.

"I prefer not to think about it…" Rosa spoke flatly and coldly while taking a seat in an armchair across from Angelo and Sarah; both of whom stared in shock at her sudden shift in manner.

"Why do you have to be so cold! You're the one who got Becky killed!" Sarah spoke immediately after Rosa had; her tone one of hostility and a sudden threatening attitude.

"Sarah; …don't" Angelo spoke; his eyes peering at Sarah while she leaned back in her seat.

Rosa stared blankly at Sarah; unsure on whether to admit her own grief for Becky's death or to keep quiet and allow Sarah to lash out at her until she'd worked off the mourning, "I'm sorry about Becky… I know she was your friend but I'm not at fault… The Haitians killed her".

"Well Ryder got in a Cheetah with that Haitian Leader-guy a few hours ago and we haven't heard anything from him" Angelo stated; revealing the facts to Rosa, his eyes watching Rosa for her reaction.

Rosa's blank expression finally shifted leaving her in a state of dumbfounded shock; her thoughts racing on Ryder's condition after having killed that Haitian and how he'd smiled with some twisted pleasure after committing the murderous act.

"You do know something… don't you?" Sarah barked; her temperament becoming increasingly more hostile towards Rosa as her demand her an answer became more threatening.

"There is nothing that I can tell you because I don't know anything; all I know is the Haitian Leader's name: Douglas Ender but I don't recommend going after him… he is very dangerous" Rosa spoke flatly; her eyes peering over her glasses at her friends though she felt like that friendship was going to be short-lived.

"Well that's hardly useful since he's so fucking dangerous! Tell us something we don't know… something we can use to find OUR friend" Sarah began shouting as soon as Rosa spoke Douglas' name; putting great emphasis on the fact that Ryder is their friend and Rosa wasn't.

"Calm down Sarah" Rosa spoke flatly and coldly again; her eyes reflecting her flat demeanour.

"You know what; we're going to go find him ourselves… whatever it is that you know; you can shove it bitch!" Sarah grit her teeth before her anger burst and shouted into Rosa's face; going as far as to grab Rosa's dress and almost tearing it open to her and Angelo's field of vision.

Rosa stayed in her seat; staring up at Sarah in total silence, she had nothing to give them.

"I'm sorry; but Sarah is right, asking you is just a waste of our time" Angelo rose from his seat as he spoke; touching Sarah's arm as she glanced back to her friend before releasing her grip of Rosa's dress.

"At least let me escort you from my home" Rosa spoke flatly; returning to the front door and opening it only for Sarah to extend her hand and shove Rosa into a wall before leaving with Angelo close behind her without so much as a single word spoken.

Rosa could only watch as Angelo walked back up the path without any indication of a goodbye while Sarah made perfectly sure she did by flipping both her middle fingers up at Rosa while she left; letting out a deep breath as she returned to her home but not before spotting a blue Washington driving past the house and following after her now-former friends.

Streets of Vice Point.

"Angelo; you should just forget her! She was fucking useless and didn't give us any information about Ryder… she clearly knows something" Sarah complained in her jealous voice; still angry after Rosa shutting them out of her business.

"I agree; I don't know what Ryder see's in her other than just another notch on his bedpost" Angelo stated what he'd always suspected of Ryder's plans for Rosa as he knew Ryder had done so with dozens of girls in High School throughout Senior Year.

"He should have just fucked her in that alley behind the club and got it over with; maybe then Becky would still be alive" Sarah agreed with Angelo fully; having slept with Ryder and Angelo both and done the exact scenario with Ryder that she'd just mentioned.

"No she wouldn't… last night was planned regardless of whether Rosa was there or not"

"Ryder?!" Sarah shouted as she turned to see who was speaking to them from inside of the blue Washington that had followed them from Rosa's home.

"Hello… miss me?" Ryder spoke in a friendly manner but his voice was less then friendly; stepping out from his blue Washington vehicle, dressed in stonewash jeans, a dark blue shirt and a black wristband on his right hand but what was most notable was the holster attached to his left hip holding a simple Extended-Clip Handgun but with a custom grip with an orange stripe.

"Where have you been? We've been so worried about you!" Sarah screamed; moving in to hug Ryder with her arms spread wide only for Ryder to sidestep her and brush her aside, Sarah could only stare at her friend in shock as he dismissed her show of affection.

"But how do you know that the attack was going to happen? Where have you been?" Angelo stated; taking a step backwards and away from his friend, Angelo did not like how Ryder was dressed nor how he just brushed off Sarah.

"I've been enlightened… I know everything about little Rosa Cortez and those two men who stopped the attack now; would you like to as well?" Ryder opened his arms with his hands opened as if he was praising a deity for his newfound knowledge; his eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.

"Yes; I want to know everything about that bitch!" Sarah barely even hesitated in her answer; her mind and blood fuelled with rage and anger towards Rosa and her uncaring attitude towards them earlier.

"Yeah; I want to know too, there is clearly something mysterious about her" Angelo nodded; he wanted to know the truth after having escaped the club along with Sarah with an armful of alcohol because two unknown men had entered the club and killed every single one of the attackers but had heard how Rosa was somehow connected to them.

"I knew you'd say that… get in the car" Ryder's smile never dropped throughout the entire exchange until he removed his sunglasses; his previous charming eyes replaced with a dark foreboding glare as he opened the doors to his four-door blue Washington, waiting until Angelo and Sarah were both inside before driving away with his two friends to learn the same secret he'd learnt.

Three Days Later.

The sun was rising over the city skyline of Vice City viewable from Rosa's window; rising from her bed Rosa found that her mother had already laid out an outfit for her, a pair of black pumps but with red ankle ribbons instead of black that she'd worn a few nights ago along with her favourite floral-print dress and her pendant.

"Rosa! Are you dressed? I have breakfast ready for you; you're in for a long day" called the voice of Mercedes Cortez: Rosa's Mother from downstairs.

"Today is the day…" Rosa thought to herself; looking back out through the window without the knowledge that after today she would never see the Vice City skyline ever again.