Special thanks to xxdancingwithdemonsxx on tumblr for editing this for me! Please check her out!
My Tumblr is Free-Spirit140, my Descendants blog is descendants-trash-140
"Carlos," Harry whined, drawing out the 'a' and 's' as he lowered himself down from another push-up, "why do we have to do this again?!"
"Because," Carlos huffed, finally letting his body hit the floor and lay there until he regained his breath. "We can't keep walking around looking like a walking, talking, wire if we're on our own now."
"You didn't care about that before you were part of Mal's group." Jace pointed out quietly as he pushed up from where he had been sprawled star-fish into a sitting position.
Carlos sat up at once, throwing him a glare.
"I didn't have a huge target on my back before then!" He pointed out. "I had to deal with, what? My mother? Bullies? Muggers? Just like everyone else. Now I'm dealing with an isle full of villains associating me with three traitors that failed to help them escape."
"Can't you just get that lot you struck a deal with last week to cover your ass for you?" Harry asked, joining the other two in sitting up.
"That wasn't part of the deal, if they're going to protect me, they have to be the ones to make that call and I can't rely on that kind of uncertainty. Besides, they're not exactly that big of an influence over the majority of the Isle, they can't offer much protection outside of the market plaza in their area."
"You should have met with Uma," Jace stated, "even some of the adults are scared of her."
"There's no telling what Uma wanted with me," Carlos pointed out, "if she wanted some kind of deal, which is doubtful honesty, I would have been guaranteed to have gotten the short end of the stick."
"I suppose you're not wrong there…" Jace conceded.
"Of course I'm not."
"Why push-ups anyway?" Harry asked. "Why not something where I don't have to keep face-planting into the mud?"
"Unless you fancy a trip into Uma's territory to get those weights Jay left in the old hideout, then we'll just have to make do with what we have, or don't have in this case."
"Alright," Harry shivered at the idea, "I'll stop complaining."
"Good." Carlos sighed, picking himself up off the floor. "I'll see what I can do about this though, push-ups aren't going to cut it in the long run."
"Could we not just, I don't know, lift something heavy instead of weights? We can get big ass buckets of water and use those instead?"
"We could," Carlos conceded, "but that will only build up arm muscle, we need something more well rounded. I can try and get a hold of a book or something about fitness but I can't promise I'll find something." Carlos sighed, turning away from the two and picking up his backpack from where he had left it on the floor. "Now, if you excuse me, I have to get an electric fan back to Lady Tremaine so we can eat something that isn't scraps tonight."
Carlos slipped around the side of Hell Hall and out onto the street, heading down the familiar path to the market. In the past week, he had walked this road countless times after doing his chores and after school. He had claimed a comfortable spot of his in the market, setting up shop between a woman selling a bunch of scrap metal she called jewellery and a man selling barely edible food.
His spot was down a rather busy road and was a pain in the ass to get to from Hell Hall but it paid off in the form of several small repair jobs already. They hadn't been big, Carlos could have pulled them all off blindfolded if that would have increased his pay, but he made out that every single one had been problematic, securing him a little extra from each customer.
He passed through the crowd, keeping his head down as he pushed through multiple people before arriving at his usual spot. Lady Tremaine was waiting for him, foot tapping impatiently as she continued to scan the crowd, eyes finally catching him and narrowing to a glare. Carlos took a deep breath, readying himself to deal with the woman.
"Where have you been?" She demanded, tone level in a way that sent chills down Carlos' spine. "I've been waiting here for an hour."
"I didn't give you a time," Carlos sighed, moving past her so he was in the gap between the other stalls and out of the crowd, "and I told you I could just deliver it to your salon."
"And have the likes of you and your atrocious hair seen anywhere near my business? I'd sooner die."
"Why don't you then," Carlos mumbled, making sure she couldn't hear him, he needed his money. He unzipped his bag, pulling out the table fan from inside and holding it out to her.
She took it, examining it with a critical eye before tucking it under her arm and reaching into a concealed pocket in her dress, pulling out two rusted metal coins and dropping them into his hand.
"This isn't the amount we agreed!" Carlos protested, turning the coins over in his hand "We agreed five!"
"I compensated for the time you kept me waiting," Tremaine stated, "you're lucky you're getting anything."
"That's not fair!"
"Life isn't fair. Get over it." Tremaine gave a final scowl before turning her back on the finger Carlos was giving her and moving back into the crowd.
Carlos growled, casting his eyes back to the coins in his hand, seething. Now, Carlos realised he had overcharged her to begin with, the fan had only had a problem with the fuse and replacing it had been easy, the part wasn't even hard to get hold of, but two coins for the work he did? That was a straight-up insult. He stood to his full height, casting his eye down the road in the direction Tremaine had gone. Her salon was the other direction.
Carlos shouldered his bag, quickly merging with the crowd and heading the opposite way to Tremaine, a plan taking shape in his head.
Curl up and Dye was closed, as was usual during daylight hours. Tremaine's regulars were the type that only emerged from their holes when the sun was fully set or just as it was rising. Despite the closed sign, there was nothing stopping Carlos pushing the rickety door open and heading inside, silently hoping that Anthony wasn't loitering around his cousin today.
To his relief Dizzy was the only person inside the shop, sweeping away at some stray hairs that were covering the floor with her back towards him.
"Hey!" Carlos greeted, smirking when Dizzy spun on him, nearly dropping her broom from shock.
"Carlos!" She shrieked, placing her broom against the back of a chair and holding her heart. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Couldn't resist," Carlos smirked, "your dear old grandmother around?"
Dizzy playfully rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "No, she said she had some errands to run and that I should stay and clean up here."
"Well," Carlos pulled his bag off of his shoulders and headed for the table with the broken mirror that acted as the Salon's workbench. "One of those errands appears to be ripping me off, I just came here to get what I'm owed."
"Ripping you off?" Dizzy questioned, eyes widening a second later as the realisation hit her. "Oh no, Carlos, please! If any more money goes missing from the register this week she'll have my head, I already had to pay the pirates and-"
Carlos spun on her, horror causing a stone to form in his stomach. "You're in pirate territory?!"
Dizzy nodded dejectedly. "They've had this area for a couple months now, make me pay them money in exchange for protection."
"Fuck Dizzy, couldn't have told me that when I walked in?! I'm trying to avoid Uma right now!"
"I thought you knew!" Dizzy defended herself. "They weren't exactly quiet about taking this place over, her entire crew was running a-mock!"
"Yeah well, I've basically been confined to home and school. Harry and Jace don't make the best informants." Carlos quickly cast his eyes over the contents of the table, scanning them and frantically trying to figure out his best course of action.
"What about Diego? Hasn't he been keeping you in the loop?"
"Haven't seen much of him," Carlos admitted, internally kicking himself for not thinking of contacting his cousin for the latest news before now, his band was one of the biggest and best on the Isle, so he always knew what was going on. "Dizzy, which of these things do you use the most here?"
Dizzy wandered over, looking at everything on the table in front of Carlos. "The straighteners," she stated finally, "ironic considering we're called Curl up and-"
"Yeah, I know, ha ha," Carlos cut her off, picking up the straighteners and checking it over, "how many problems will this cause you if these go out of commission for a while?"
"I guess we won't be able to take a few of the regulars for their normal appointments which would lose us some money and-"
"I'm not talking about the business," Carlos interrupted the chatty girl. "I'm talking about you. Are you going to have to do more work if these stop working?"
Dizzy shook her head. "Less probably."
"Perfect," Carlos pulled out his screwdriver set from his bag "watch the door and shout if you see any of those fish brains."
He worked quickly, screwing off the plastic casing and delving into the wires of the straighteners and quickly identifying several rusty components he could blame faults on, the number of things he could fix in these things could easily score him what Tremaine owed him and more.
"How well do these things work right now?" Carlos called to Dizzy who was pressed against the door, peeking out through a tiny hole in the wood.
"Well they take an hour to heat up," Dizzy responded, "and the top plate doesn't get as hot as the bottom one, but they still function and they're the best you can get around here." Dizzy giggled. "You know, one time Anthony told me that if I touched one of the plates when they were hot he would give me this lollipop he got from the barges, he didn't know one didn't get very hot and-"
Dizzy continued to ramble as Carlos worked, the older boy needing to snap at her every so often to keep her eyes on the street outside. He snipped a few wires, intentionally damaged one component that he knew he had a replacement for and then replaced the plastic, tossing the straighteners back onto the table with little care for where they ended up.
"Sorted," Carlos stated effectively stopping Dizzy's rambling in its tracks. "I was never here, understand?"
Dizzy turned away from the door and nodded "I understand. I didn't think you were the type to do something like this though."
"Gotta do what I need to to survive Diz," Carlos stated, pocketing his screwdriver kit and picking his bag up from where he left it on the floor, "and I don't appreciate people fucking me over."
"Oh," Dizzy mumbled, chewing her lip before locking eyes with Carlos. "Is this about Evie and-"
"If it is, it's none of your business, is it?!" Carlos snapped, regretting it instantly when Dizzy took a small step back.
"They'll come back Carlos," Dizzy promised as if it was her place to. "They wouldn't just leave us here."
"Grow up Dizzy," Carlos hissed, biting back the tell-tale sting behind his eyes, "you're too old for fairy tales now."
He pushed past her for the door, ignoring the hurt that filled her eyes and heading into the street. It was better for her to be told the truth now instead of letting her believe in impossible dreams for evil knows how long.
"Didn't think I'd catch you crawling around these parts de Vil."
Carlos cursed, spinning to his left in time to spot Uma, smirking at him like a cat that had finally caught up to its mouse.
"You been avoiding me, pup?"
"What makes you think that?" Carlos responded, fighting to control his racing heart and remain outwardly calm.
"You've been ignoring me in favour of making stingy deals with street rats."
"What can I say," Carlos shrugged, "they make better company."
Uma raised an eyebrow in response, clearly taken aback by his remark. "The puppy grew teeth!" she smirked.
"Always had them just never had a reason to use them. Now cut to the chase, what do you want?"
"I should be asking you that question, you're on my turf."
"I can't come to get my haircut without your permission Uma? Would've thought my business here would be helping your child exploitation in the long run."
"Cut the shit, we both know you weren't here for a haircut! Why are you in my turf de Vil?" Uma stepped closer to him as she asked the question, closing the gap.
"Just getting even with someone that ripped me off," Carlos responded easily, surprising himself with how calm he managed to stay. "I'm sure you understand that?'
"Someone ripped you off?"
"Yeah, underpaid me for a patch-up job, not that that is any of your business."
Uma hummed, eyeing Carlos for a second before turning on her heels and facing away from him.
"You've grown balls, Carlos, I like this new you." She glanced over her shoulder. "Come with me." She ordered before facing forward and strutting off.
"I'm not a dog on a leash, who says I have to do what you want?" Carlos called after her, not moving a step.
Uma paused her walking and turned to him again "I'll make it worth your while, I promise."
"Yeah, I don't really go for promises," Carlos responded.
"Don't make me get my crew de Vil, they don't much like fetching."
"That," Carlos started, already turning to leave, "sounds like a you problem."
He should have known it wouldn't be that easy, and fear pooled in his stomach again as he came face to with a sword pointed just inches from his nose. A glance to the side confirmed the presence of another five swords, all pointed at him from every side but the side facing Uma.
Shit. When had that happened?
"You may have grown balls de Vil, but you haven't got the eyes you need if you want to come out on top around here." Uma said, turning on her heels and walking the way she had previously been heading in.
The cold metal pressed into his back was all the convincing Carlos needed to follow, keeping his pace as slow as he could get away with whilst searching frantically for some means of escape. Unfortunately, there were none.
He was screwed.
My Tumblr is Free-Spirit140, my Descendants blog is descendants-trash-140
Once again, special thanks to xxdancingwithdemonsxx on Tumblr for editing this for me! Please check her out!