18

Sonic

"Busted!" I yelled as my sister crept through the front door. Despite the twelve o' clock hour on a school night, I was wide awake. For some reason, I just couldn't sleep. After school, I'd worked a busy shift with Amy and came home to a small pile of homework. I should've crashed the minute I lay down. But, I just couldn't get comfortable. I tried smoking a small blunt to summon the weariness, but it just made me hungry. So, I went downstairs to grab a snack and ended up playing on the Playstation 5. I was just about to head back upstairs when she waltzed in.

"Oh my God, Sonic!" Sonia exclaimed. She held a hand to her chest. "You scared me. What the hell are you doing sitting here in the dark?"

"What are you doing home so late?"

"I was just hanging out with some friends," she murmured.

I raised an eyebrow. "With Shadow?"

"No," she replied quickly. " Shadow and I are over."

I tilted my head, noticing the slight tremble in her arms. "Who were you out with? What's wrong?"

She moved towards the steps. "I was at the library with Noah. I'm fine, really. I'm just tired."

"We both know Mr. Goody Two-Shoes would've had you home by eight." I rose from the sofa and hurried towards her. Gently, I grabbed her wrist before she could run upstairs. Under the light at the top of the stairwell, I quickly spotted the bleeding cut on her lip. My brows came together, and my grip unintentionally tightened on her wrist. "What the fuck happened? Did Noah do that shit to you?"

"What? No! Noah wouldn't hurt a fly." She tried to push past me, but I refused to let her go.

"Then who did?"

Her eyes bounced everywhere except my face, searching for a lie I might believe. "It's not a big deal. I just got into a little tussle with some girls from school."

"A little tussle, my ass." I raised her hand, showing her still fresh manicure. When she fights, her nails are the first things she bites off. "Your nails look fine to me. Now, tell me what happened."

"Sonic, it's not a big deal, I swear."

"Cat, look at me," I said firmly.

Reluctantly, she raised her tear-filled gaze to me.

"Tell me the truth."

"Noah offered to drive me home after we finished our study session at the library. I was going to accept his offer, but Shadow was outside waiting for us. He promised he just wanted to talk, so I…I told him I'd hear him out. I left with him, and we talked for a little while. But, when I told him I didn't want to get back together, he…he was mad and he…" She couldn't finish her sentence, the words choking up in her throat.

She didn't need to finish for me to get the picture. I was going to kill that fucking son of a bitch.

Silently, I released my sister and darted up the steps.

Sonia followed me into my room. She watched me slip into my socks and sneakers. "No, no, no, Sonic. Please don't do anything reckless. It's late, and there's no need for this to be handled right now."

Ignoring her, I grabbed my black hoodie and slipped it over my head.

Sonia blocked the doorway of my room, whispering so she wouldn't wake Manic. "Sonic, I'm begging you: please do not fight him. He's a Crip now, and they don't fight fair."

"And our father was a Blood who taught us how to fight dirty. Now, move." I shoved past her. "I'll be right back," I promised.

With my hood pulled over my head, I practically ran down to Shadow's apartment building. Red rimmed the sides of my vision, pulsing to the beat of my heart. Fiery flames flared through every inch of my body, itching to be released. My hands curled into fists at the sight of Shadow and some of his friends lingering outside of the apartment complex. Smoke from their blunts filled the air around them, and music blasted from the portable speaker on the ground near them.

Shadow and I locked eyes as I approached him. The smile that was on his lips immediately vanished as he noticed the fire burning my eyes. He didn't get a chance to speak before I decked him right in his damn nose.

"Holy shit!" I heard one of his friends yell.

My left hand followed my right, punching him again in his cheek.

Shadow fell from the impact of my second punch.

I didn't give a fuck that he was down. I hopped on top of him and kept punching. My fist hit his face over and over and over.

His friends watched in utter horror for a moment, hesitant about whether to jump in or not. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of them break away from the pack and run into the apartment building.

A hand grabbed my arm and pushed me off of Shadow.

I looked up to see Jet's punk-ass. I didn't forget about his ass-whooping. I guessed this time was as good as any for him to get it. Smirking, I rose to my feet and swung at him.

He ducked under my right hook, but he wasn't expecting for me to knee him in the gut. Groaning, he doubled over in pain. Not that I cared. He didn't care when he left Amy stranded in the middle of fucking nowhere.

The memory of her tear-stained face and the frown on her beautiful face was gasoline to the already raging fire running through my veins. I punched Jet two more times before he fell, and I gave him the same treatment as Shadow for a few moments. Punching and punching and punching until his face was bloody.

Again, I was only stopped when Shadow's bitch ass grabbed me from behind and pulled me off of Jet.

I slipped out from his hold and punched him in his face.

He swung at me, but I ducked and hit him in the stomach.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Jet coming for me. I moved aside and let his punch collide with Shadow's chest.

They shared a look of confusion before turning their attention to me.

"Nah, we're not doing that jumping shit," I told them. "Y'all better square up one-by-one and take the ass-whooping like a man."

"I have a better idea," an older man said as he walked out of the apartment building. He was a brawny man with tattoos that covered every inch of his skin. A blue bandana was wrapped around his wrist, and his fingers were wrapped around the handle of a gun. He raised it at me. "You take your ass back to where you came from or I put a bullet in your skull."

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going anywhere until I get my fair one."

The man smiled. "This one's got some balls." He nodded towards Shadow. "Who is this cat?"

"Sonic," Shadow quickly answered. "Sonic Guerra."

The man's eyebrows rose. "Guerra? As in Jules Guerra?" He scoffed in disbelief. "I knew you looked familiar - your goddamn father spit you right out, didn't he?"

"I'm not here to talk about him," I spat. "I've got a score to settle with your boys, and I'm not leaving until I do."

He chuckled. "Oh yeah, you're definitely Jules's son." He walked closer to me, raising his gun. "And I've got a score to settle with him. It looks like you're not leaving until I do."

"Don't even think about pulling that trigger, Travis," a familiar voice chimed behind me. His voice sent chills up my spine. "I'll have a bullet in your forehead before the thought can cross your mind."

I glanced over my shoulder, meeting the hard eyes of the man I hadn't seen in almost six years. He looked exactly the same - short cut black curls, dark almond-shaped eyes, sharp cheekbones, and a closely trimmed beard that covered the lower half of his face.

He nodded towards the black Dodge Durango waiting near the curb. "Sonic, go wait in the car."

Clenching my jaw, I obeyed his command. Even at my age, I knew I'd be better off complying than dealing with the consequences from defying. I walked to the car and climbed into the front seat. My eyes immediately fell on the photos tucked into the dashboard in front of the steering wheel. There was a photo of my mother from high school, probably before she'd gotten pregnant with Manic. Another of me and my siblings, all young and smiling on the porch steps of our old house in Mexico. And a final one of him and me when I was six - taken a few months before we moved to America. He'd been showing me his boxing gloves, and my mother had thought it was a moment worth snapping a picture of. Him with his arms around me, his large red boxing gloves swallowing my tiny hands, and the biggest smile on my face from sharing the experience with him.

The slam of the door broke my gaze on the photos. I looked at my father as he started the car. "What the fuck are you doing here?" I asked.

"Saving your ass," he replied.

I scoffed. "After all these years, I don't need you to save me."

"Well if I didn't show up, he would've killed you."

"No, he wasn't. The old man is a pussy just like the rest of them. Do you know how many times he's seen me in the street and never said anything?" I leaned back in my seat. "He just wanted to look tough in front of his mentees."

My father shook his head. "You've got the game all figured out, huh?"

"I should; I learned it from the best."

"Hm."

I looked down at my hands, finally acknowledging the stinging sensation in knuckles now that the adrenaline from the fight was fading. A few of my knuckles had split, leaving large cuts across the back of my hands.

"I can bandage those up before you go home," he said, glancing at me from the corner of his eye.

"I'll do it when I get in. Mama's at work, and Manic is asleep." Well, maybe not. Knowing Cat, she probably woke him up to tell him about the little mission I went on. I was in for an earful when I got home. My head already hurt from whatever little speech he was about to give me. I just hoped he wouldn't tell our mother. The last thing I needed was for her to be worrying about this little stunt. Especially, when the bigger problem was sitting right next to me.

"I'll clean and wrap your hands up, and then I'll take you home," my father said firmly.

I threw my head against the headrest and stared out the window. There wasn't a point in arguing with him. I watched the city pass us by, my stomach clenching as I recognized almost all the landscapes we passed. I'd assumed when he walked out that he'd left Chicago. I thought maybe he'd go to another city or move back to Mexico. I never thought he only went to the other end of the city. For the past six years, he'd only been forty-five minutes away.

He pulled up to a darkened townhouse, not unlike the one he used to share with us. Inside, there were only the necessities. Some couches, a television, a dining room table, food stocked in the kitchen, and a DVD rack filled with his favorite movies. No photos or decor of any kind were visible. Only a shadow of a man was reflected in this space.

I sat down on the couch and waited for him to grab the first aid kit.

Silently, he worked on cleaning my wounds. He ignored my quiet hisses from the alcohol and tightened his grip on my wrist whenever I tried to flinch away. He tried to be gentle otherwise, dabbing lightly at the cuts. He finished by tying the white gauze tightly around my hands. "What was your problem with those boys, anyway?" he asked once he was finished.

"They disrespected Sonia and Amy."

"Fighting over girls? And here I was thinking I taught you better than that."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever." I stood up. "I'm ready to go home now."

He raised an eyebrow. "You aren't going to ask how I knew where you were?"

"Do I look like I care?"

"Then ask me the question you do care about."

I sighed. "Which one? Cause I have plenty. Why did you leave? Why didn't you reach out when you were practically down the goddamn street? Why did you decide to resurface now?"

"Your mother made it very clear that she thought you all would be better off without me in your lives. So, I stayed close enough to keep an eye on all of you, but far enough to stay out of eyesight. One of my men noticed you heading over into their territory looking like you were ready to raise hell, and they called me. I only stepped in because I saw an enemy raising a gun at my son. He's lucky I didn't shoot first and ask questions later." He tilted his head. "Any more questions?"

"Can you take me home now?"

The ends of his lips tugged at the ends, a smile threatening his perpetual frown.

During the silent ride home, my eyelids finally felt heavy. It took every inch of will power in me to stay awake in the car. I kept nodding off, jolting myself awake at the reminder that I still needed to deal with Manic when I got home. As expected, the living room lights were on when we pulled up in front of the house. I could see Manic's figure pacing back and forth through the window.

"Thanks for the ride," I said as I climbed out of the car.

"Hey, Sonic," he called before I could close the door.

"What?"

"Give me your phone."

With a raised brow, I handed over my cell.

His fingers quickly moved across the screen, inputting and saving his number. He quickly sent a text to himself, so he'd have my number as well. "Answer me when I call or text," he demanded. "I'll be in touch soon."

"Whatever," I replied, slamming the car door.

Manic's voice bombarded my ears as soon as I walked through the front door. "What the actual fuck is wrong with you?" He yelled. "Is this a cry for help or are you sincerely trying to get yourself killed?" His eyes scanned my body for any wounds, immediately catching the white bandages wrapped around my hands. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said. "I just busted up my hand."

"Who bandaged you up? Whose car was that outside?"

"Who do you think?"

His brows slowly came together as he threw his hand to his head. "Fuck," he whispered under his breath.

I shook my head. "I should've known your bitch ass knew where he was. I'm tired as fuck right now, but just know: I'm gonna punch you right in your goddamn throat tomorrow."

"You need to stay away from him, Sonic."

I turned towards the stairwell. "You need to stop telling me what to do."

"I'm serious, Sonic. If he contacts you, do not respond."

"Fuck off, Manic," I mumbled, wearily dragging my legs up the steps.

This conversation was far from over, but it'd have to wait for another time. My brain was already crashing, and I was struggling to stay conscious. I fell asleep before my body even hit the mattress.