"O.o. Kohlmann, nice to see you, Sir, how are you doing today?, Abuela totally taken aback, began to stutter and put on a fake polite voice.
"Save it, Cassandra. Nobody believes your crap anyway. Are you gonna apologize to Carlos or what?"
"Why should I, Richard? I didn't say anything that wasn't true." That was not what Kohlmann wanted to hear.
"Listen here, Lady. I know about enough things you've done to Roberto and your ex that could put you behind bars for a long time. You are just lucky your son won't press charges and your husband's already dead. Apologize to your grandson and don't give me another reason to arrest you. Is that understood?"
That left Cassandra speechless, so she just nodded and mumbled a quick "sorry" her grandson's way, calling him Roberto once again. It made Richard cringe, but he didn't comment on it.
"Can we go now, please?", Carlos asked, breaking the uncomfortable atmosphere. He wanted to get away from her as quickly and long as possible. Also there was a lot on his mind he needed to pour out to his godfather.
"Yes, get in.", Richard's voice and eyes shifted from angry and authoritative to friendly and kind in less than five seconds.
"So, what happened, buddy?", he asked the boy he considered his own flesh and blood once the car doors were closed and they were out of Cassandra's earshot.
"My friends don't care about me, Abuela did nothing but yell at me and I have no idea where Mamí and Papí are.", he spilled out all the things that were on his mind.
"She didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?", the boy asked confused. A feeling that hasn't disappeared ever since Abuela opened the door to his house, instead of people who actually lived there.
"Let's drive. I'll tell you everything once we're at my house. Unbelievable!", Kohlmann muttered the last word under his breath. His anger towards Cassandra grew even more.
Godson and Godfather arrived at the latter's house after a relatively silent drive. They got out of the car, entered the living room and after Richard offered Carlos something to drink, which he declined, sat down at the dining table and finally talked without yelling grandmas or engine sounds disturbing them.
"Buddy, why are you back in Minnesota without the others?", was the opening question Kohlmann asked, because that's something he's been wondering about ever since he got the call.
"I'm almost twenty, don't you think I can travel by myself by now?", it sounded like Carlos was questioning his own justification. So it was no wonder Richard didn't buy it.
"Give me the real reason, Carlos", he insisted with a serious tone of voice.
"I didn't want them to come and I didn't even tell them", he said, dropping his eyes to the floor.
"Why?", the Chief asked, surprised.
"Cause they're jerks", the oldest Garcia kid stated.
"Why would you say that? What'd they do?", he needed to get to the bottom of this. That is one of the things you learn in training to be a police officer. Investigate every single thing, no matter how non-important it may seem.
"It's more about what they didn't do. They don't care about me anymore.", the pang in his chest as he said those words hurt so much.
"I'm sure that's not true. The four of you love each other", encouraging words was the option Kohlmann chose.
"Yeah that's what I thought too until they yelled at me, threatened to kick my butt and started to ignore me. Hollywood can change people, I saw it firsthand."
"Do you want me to do something about it?" The Latino's eyebrows raised up hearing this question. Sure, they hurt him emotionally and he wanted some kind of revenge for it, but what Richard implied would scar the trio for life and make them hate him, if they didn't already.
"NO! Absolutely not. I don't need the Minnesota P.D. to fight my battles for me. I'm done with those jerks anyway.", his second attempt to sound convincing was more successful.
"Yeah right", was the sarcastic retort from Kohlmann who didn't buy it after all.
"Can we talk about something else please? You said you would tell me what happened to my parents once we were at your house. Well, we're here, so tell me.", Roberto's oldest son wasn't really known for his patient nature and Richard was reminded of that.
"You should sit down first. It's gonna be a hard pill to swallow.", he didn't mean to scare the son of his best friend and long-time coworker by saying something like this, but he also had to prepare him for what's to come.
"You know your Papí and I have very dangerous jobs, right? That we deal with people who are armed and ready to use violence."
"Just tell me what happened already, I am not a little kid anymore, I can handle it!", he growled impatiently.
"Your dad got shot a few months ago. He has been on life support ever since."
His heart sank. Shock was evident on his face and tears formed in his eyes. This could not be happening. It just couldn't! His idol, his hero, his Papí was in the hospital fighting for his life.
Carlos felt pathetic thinking that he thought his life went to shit because his friends ignored him, when in comparison his brothers, who are all younger than him, have been and still are dealing with the fear of losing their dad.
He should've been there for them.
He failed as a big brother but he will make it up to them.
And at that moment Carlos decided to stay.
For good.
