Hot & Spicy: De La Cruz Saga

by Macias, P. T.

  Tony’s padres, Jose Enrique are in his cuarto in the hospital, waiting y praying that he wakes up. Tony’s papa Jorge calls his hijo Ricardo to advise him of Tony’s condition.

  “Mi hijo,” said his papa Jorge as Ricky answers the call.

  “Buenos dias, Papa,” said Ricky, wondering where his papa is since he’s not en casa, “Que pasa?”

  “Mi hijo, Tony esta en el hospital y esta mal,” said his papa Jorge with tears in his ojos, trying to be strong for his esposa.

  “Que paso?” asks Ricky with fear. “Did Tony try to get Cynthia last night?”

  His papa Jorge couldn’t talk and gives the phone to Jose Enrique to continue with the information. “Primo, Tony is unconscious and has a mild traumatic brain injury, a concussion.”

  “How did this happen?” asks Ricky with fear, turning to look at Jacki.

  “Primo, it looks like he was beaten up. His cara is swollen with lots of bruises. He has some cracked ribs. I think that he went to Cynthia,” said Jose Enrique in a low voz, turning so his tios wouldn’t hear. It will not be good to have la familia pissed at Cynthia when I know that Tony will not want that.

  “Que la chengada esta pasando, I can’t move,” he said with frustration. “How can I help mi hermano?”

  “Right now we need to pray that he wakes up. We will take care of the other issues later,” said Jose Enrique, thinking of Lopez. “I will call Lopez y try to find out if he is involved in this.”

  “Si primo, and let me know the status de mi hermano,” said Ricky with a heavy heart.

  “Si, primo, no worries aqui estoy,” said Jose Enrique, knowing that he will need to stay here with Tony to make sure everything is going well.

  Mona returns to the office and calls Vero to advise her that Cynthia is well but is still locked up en su casa by her padre.

  “Vero, Cynthia is still locked up by her padres. She wants you to tell Tony that she’ll be with him as soon as she can escape,” said Mona, looking at Jessy walk into the office. “She fainted when I told her the news. She loves Tony.”

  “Si I know, we all know it. We saw it in her ojos on Friday,” said Vero smiling. “They are both in love.”

  “Si Vero, they are both in love,” said Mona smiling, nodding in agreement. “Tony gave her a precioso engagement ring. Cynthia wants to marry Tony.”

  “Oh dios mio, I hope everything will work out. We need to pray that Tony wakes up,” said Vero, walking down the hall. “I’m going into his cuarto now. Talk to you later.”

  “Si adios,” said Mona, looking at Jessy. “What do you think?”

  “I know that they are in love, and I also know that something is keeping them apart. We need to pray for Tony,” said Jessy, looking at Mona.

  Vero arrives at the hospital and has to wait to get to see Tony. Mis padres and primo are with him. We need to take turns. I’ll call Jose Enrique to see if he or mis padres can come out. “Primo I’m outside. I need one of you guys to come out so I can go in and see Tony. I want mis padres to come out since I don’t think they know about Cynthia. Mona went to see Cynthia,” said Vero. “She wants me to tell Tony that she will be here as soon as she can.”

  “Okay prima that sounds good. Maybe if he hears that she is coming, he will try to wake up,” said Jose Enrique with some hope, turning to look at his tios. “Good thing that they didn’t hear me. I will ask them to step out for a bit.”

  “Okay,” said Vero, looking around to see if anybody else is waiting to go in. Hmmm … Claudia is on assignment, and Ricky is still at home. Vero looks out the window and starts to pray for her hermano. I now need to light a candle. I’ll call Jacki and have her light a candle for Tony. “Hola, Jacki,” said Vero.

  “Hola, Vero, how’s Tony?” asks Jacki. “We have been praying for him. You know that we want to be there. I will try to get Ricky over there later.”

  “Si, that will be nice, and we will be together. Jacki, can you please light a candle for me? We have some in the pantry,” said Vero. “I will really love it if you two can come down for a bit.”

  “Si, Vero, I will see how Ricky is feeling. I will give him some pain medication. We’ll be at the hospital as soon as he starts to feel better,” said Jacki grinning, looking at Ricky wink at her. “I will light the candle, okay?”

  “Si, y gracias,” said Vero smiling, seeing that her padres were walking toward her. “I have to go. It’s my turn to see Tony.”

  “See ya later,” said Jacki, smiling.

  “Si, later,” said Vero, smiling at her padres and walking toward them to give them a hug. “Mama, Papa, how is Tony doing?”

  “Mi hija, he’s still unconscious,” said her mama with tears in her ojos. “I don’t know who would hurt mi niño so much.”

  “Mama, it is probably a random attack,” said Vero smiling, trying to make the situation a little better. “I want to see Tony.”

  “Si, mi hija,” said her papa. “We will wait out here.”

  Vero enters Tony’s cuarto, stopping in shock when she sees how Tony’s hermosa cara is all swollen with ugly bruises. “Dios mio, mi hermano,” said Vero with a sob, walking toward him.

  “He looks bad,” said Jose Enrique, looking at his primo with tears in his ojos. “If he doesn’t wake up in the next forty-eight hours, it will be hard for him to come out of the coma. It will be harder for him.”

  “Hermano, Monique went to see Cynthia. Cynthia is trying to escape her padre’s casa. She wants you to know that she loves you and will be here soon,” said Vero with soft, urgent voz, noticing that Tony’s ojos started to move behind his eyelids. “Si, hermano, you need to wake up. You need to be with Cynthia.”

  Tony starts to move his ojos quickly as if he is trying to wake up or move. Jose Enrique feels some relief. There’s hope that Tony will wake up. We need to get Cynthia here now.

  “Si primo, I promise you that I will go and get Cynthia for you,” he said with a knot in his throat, trying not to cry with relief as he sees that Tony is trying to respond. “I will go now, okay?” Tony appears to be attempting to wake up. Jose Enrique looks at Vero, and they smiled.

  “Prima, I’m leaving. I need to get Cynthia for Tony,” said Jose Enrique, walking out of el cuarto.

  “Si primo, you do that,” said Vero with a great big smile, with all of the relief, hope, that she feels that her hermano will wake up.

  Jose Enrique exits the hospital, thinking of what will be the best way to get Cynthia out. I will go to her casa now. He calls Jessy to get Cynthia’s address from Mona.

  “Mi amor, I need you to please get Mona to give me Cynthia’s address. I’m going to get her out of her casa,” said Jose Enrique with anger and frustration.

  “Si mi vida,” said Jessy, looking at Mona. “Give me a minute.”

  “Mona, can you please give mi Cynthia’s address? Jose Enrique wants to go and get her,” said Jessy smiling, looking at Mona nod.

  “Si,” said Mona as she quickly wrote down the address. “Here.”

  “Okay, mi vida, its 10140 Seashore Drive,” said Jessy, looking at Mona with a smile. “I will pray that you’re successful.”

  “Gracias, mi amor,” said Jose Enrique smiling, sending her un beso.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  JOSE ENRIQUE ENTERS THE ADDRESS into the GPS system in his carro and was at Cynthia’s casa in no time. He quickly gets out of his carro striding urgently to la casa, knocks.

  “Hola,” said Cynthia’s mama Melba smiling, looking at such a guapo hombre.

  “Hola Señora López, soy Jose Enrique De La Cruz,” said Jose Enrique smiling, looking into her ojos. “I need to speak to Cynthia.”

  “Por favor, es tu casa,” said mama Melba motioning him to enter, not hesitating and ignoring her esposos wishes. “I will call her.”

  “Gracias, señora,” said Jose Enrique grinning; thanking Dios that so far it has been easy. I will take her right now when she shows.

  Mama Melba went to get Cynthia. She knocks on the door.
“Mi hija, you have a visitor. Jose Enrique De La Cruz wants to speak to you,” said her mama Melba smiling, thinking of how nice and guapo he appears.

  Cynthia hears her mama and can’t believe her luck. Jose Enrique has come to get me out, and mi mama allowed him to come in. I have a bag ready near the door so I can escape. Dios is helping me out, si Dios mio gracias. “Si Mama, I’ll be there in un minuto. Can you please get us something to drink?” she asks her mama, praying to get some time to escape.

  “Si, mi hija, I will,” said her mama Melba smiling with pleasure, going back to the living room.

  “Mi hija will be here in un minuto. I will get you something to drink,” she said walking to the kitchen.

  Jose Enrique looks at la Señora Lopez with surprise that she’s getting him something to drink. He turns to see Cynthia running down the hall with a huge bag and with her finger over her lips, indicating to be quiet, motioning to leave la casa. Jose Enrique grins, nods, walking quietly to the door, escaping with Cynthia.

  They ran reaching his carro, jumping into his carro, quickly escaping her casa. Cynthia blows out a sigh of relief turning to look at Jose Enrique smiling with felicidad. “Gracias for coming and it is easier this way. I need to see Tony,” she said with urgency.

  “I’m extremely glad that you were prepared. I was real nervous and feared that I couldn’t get you out of tu casa. Tony needs to hear you. Vero mentioned that you’re coming to see him, and he quickly responded, trying to wake up,” said Jose Enrique, smiling at Cynthia. “The quicker that he wakes up, the better chances of Tony not having any long term effects. We are very worried.”

  “Si, I am scared that he’ll not wake up. I love him so much, and I need to be with him,” said Cynthia blushing, smiling shyly at Jose Enrique. “Gracias for helping me get out of mi casa.”

  “De nada,” said Jose Enrique, pulling into the hospital parking lot. “Let’s go and see Tony.”

  “Si,” said Cynthia, anxiously walking quickly to keep up with Jose Enrique’s long strides. They went into Tony’s cuarto, and Cynthia faints again. Jose Enrique is able to catch her before she fell onto the floor.

  “Vero, call Alex,” said Jose Enrique, concern with how pale she looks, laying her next to Tony. “Primo you need to wake up, aqui esta Cynthia to see you.”

  Tony immediately starts to move his ojos. Jose Enrique sees him take a deep breath smiling, but he still didn’t wake up.

  Alex ran into the cuarto, noting Cynthia on Tony’s cama. Holding back the anger that he feels for her, he starts to check her vitals to see if anything is wrong. Hmm … why would she faint? I need to take some blood tests, he thought, turning to look for alcohol. Okay, he thought as he waves the bottle of alcohol under her nose to wake her. She starts to wake up and looks around her.

  “Baby,” she said, putting out her mano to touch Tony. “Baby, wake up. I need you.”

  Tony starts to move his ojos quicker, taking deep breaths.

  “Baby, I love you with todo mi corazon, mente, y alma,” said Cynthia, giving him un beso on his lips, trying to hold back her tears.

  Alex stands back, observing Tony’s instant reaction to Cynthia. This is great. Tony is reacting and attempting to wake up. Si, mi primo will be okay. He smiles at Jose Enrique.

  “Si primo, he loves Cynthia,” said Jose Enrique, looking at Tony who is trying to wake up.

  “Baby, I’m here with you, and I will not leave you for anything,” said Cynthia, stroking his cara very carefully. Trying not to hurt him, she starts to give him soft, tender besos all over his cara. “Baby wake up, and come back to me.”

  Tony starts to take deeper breaths and starts to move his cabeza slowly. He’s trying hard to wake up to see his alma. Mi alma is here with me. I can smell her, I can feel her, and I can hear her, he thought, trying to wake up from the deep sleep he’s in.

  “Keep talking to him,” said Alex with urgency, taking Tony’s vitals to check that he is okay and waking up.

  “Baby I love you,” said Cynthia, giving him another beso on the lips and smiling as he tries to open his hermoso ojos. “Baby let me see tu hermoso ojos.”

  Tony tries to open his ojos to see his alma and smiles, trying to turn toward her voz. “Baby, please let me see tu hermoso ojos. I want you to see mi cute outfit. I hope you approve,” she teases him, getting his mano to bring it to her chest. “Can you feel mi heartbeat?”

  Tony smiles and tries to touch her breast, smelling her beautiful scent. I need to open mis ojos to see what mi alma is wearing. She better not be showing off all her skin, he thought.

  Alex looks at them with relief and smiles. Tony will be okay as soon as he opens his ojos. Cynthia really loves mi primo, and Tony loves her. I need to take some tests to see why she fainted.

  “Cynthia, I’m having some tests done to see why you fainted,” said Alex, looking at the nurse and giving her the paper for the tests. “I’ll be back in a few.”

  “Okay,” she said, looking at Tony who is trying to wake up when he heard that tests are going to be done on Cynthia.

  She fainted? I need to wake up now. Mi alma. Tony opens his ojos and looks right into Cynthia’s hermoso ojos, smiling. “Mi alma,” he said.

  Cynthia’s ojos started to water, and the tears started to fall down her cheeks. “Baby, you’re awake. You scared us,” she said, hugging him.

  “Baby I need you, and I cannot live without you,” she said, looking up to see his hermosa smile, adoring his dimples.

  “Primo I’m contento that you’re awake,” said Jose Enrique. “You gave us a big scare. Tus padres are outside. I will go out and get them.”

  Tony turns to look at his primo, smiling. “Gracias for getting mi alma,” he said with tears in his ojos. I heard Jose Enrique promise me he’ll go and get her from her casa.

  “Primo de nada, you know that we’re one unit,” he said, smiling “I’ll be back later. I need to go to the office.”

  “Si, primo, and gracias,” said Tony, smiling turning to look at his alma.

  Jose Enrique arrives back at his office, going through all of his paperwork. Gracias a Dios, there isn’t very much pending issues. Bella and Paty took care of the supplies for the new jobsites. It’s great that we all can take up from where we leave it, he thought with felicidad.

  It is about time the week is over. I’m real tired and scared. How am I going to stop the cartel from harassing la familia? We still don’t know or have a plan to deal with los animals. This is enough and has to stop. I need to come up with a plan. Ricky and Tony are out because of their injuries.

  Now it’s time to go and enjoy our evening, thought Jose Enrique, getting up to go to Jessy. The next day is going to be the double weddings, and we’re so busy with all of the events, he thought.

  The phone rings, Jose Enrique answers “Thank you for calling De La Cruz Inc. Jose Enrique speaking, may I help you?” asks Jose Enrique, looking at the time.

  “Jose Enrique, we need your answer hoy. El Mextli is getting furious and wants to start hurting tu familia,” said the caller with the distorted voz. “We’re counting on you.”

  Jose Enrique sees red and is full of rage. “We are not interested!” he said clenching his jaw, he ends the call. Damn. Damn, I forgot about the gueys.

  The phone rings again. “Thank you for calling—” said Jose Enrique.

  The cartel interrupts him, “Jose Enrique, this is the last call we’re making. Next time you’ll agree to this association!” the cartel ends the call.

  This is absurd and getting out of control. Mi familia is getting hurt. They want more blood. No way in hell will I allow the cartel to force us into any nature of illegal activities or association? We don’t play that game. I need to go and talk to Lopez and get some information from him on the cartel. I’m going to demand he tells me why he recommended us, thought Jose Enrique with rage, pacing back and forth. Si, he calls Lopez immediately.

  The phone rings, and Lopez answers the call. “Hola,” said el S
eñor López.

  “Si, Señor López, It’s Jose Enrique De La Cruz. I was calling because I want to make arrangements to meet in about thirty minutes at the park on Main Street,” said Jose Enrique. “I have a few issues I want to discuss with you.”

  “Si, Jose Enrique, that will be good because I have a few issues to discuss with you too,” said el Señor Lopez, controlling his rage.

  “Okay, see you in a few,” said Jose Enrique, ending the call, walks to advise Jessy of the meeting. He walks into her office.

  “Mi amor,” said Jose Enrique, going to her, and hugging her tightly. “I just want to let you know that I’m meeting el Señor Lopez in the park on Main Street in a few. I want to discuss the cartel and Tony’s relationship.” He gives her un beso on the cheek.

  “Si, mi vida, and let me know how it goes. I want you to be careful and alert. Will you return to the office or pick me up at mi casa?” asks Jessy, looking into his hermoso green ojos.

  “I’ll pick you up en tu casa. Be careful when you’re leaving the office. Please walk out with Bella or Paty,” said Jose Enrique, starting to leave. “Need to go.”

  “Si, mi vida,” said Jessy, watching him leave her office.

  Jose Enrique makes it to the park on time and sees el Señor Lopez park his carro. He watches him approach to sit on the bench.

  “Señor Lopez,” said Jose Enrique, nodding in greeting and waiting for him to sit down on the bench.

  “Jose Enrique,” said el Señor Lopez, looking at him with anger. “What do you want to discuss?”

  “Señor Lopez, mi familia has been receiving calls from some animals that advised us that you recommended us to associate with them,” said Jose Enrique, looking into el Señor Lopez’s ojos y cara to get a feel on his thoughts.

  “That is absurd! Los animals advised me that you y tu familia recommended us to those animals. I have been going loco and have been living in terror, and in fear for mi familia,” said el Señor Lopez with rage in his voice, looking at Jose Enrique with disgust.