Fate

by Elizabeth Reyes

  Vince: Good morning, Rose. Guess what?

  Rose: Good morning, Vincent. And I’m no good at guessing so just tell me.

  Vince: It’s not a for sure thing, but my uncle said he’d get back to my dad about me coming out and staying with them for the summer. My dad says it sounds promising. We may get to spend the summer together. =)

  Holy Moses! Rose reread the text again. It appeared this was good news to him. Here, once again, she was torn between being excited and being scared to death about spending time with him—in person.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Vince

  Rose: I’m crying as I write this, but I don’t think we can be friends anymore.

  Vince shot up to his feet, walking away from the stairs where he’d been sitting with his friends and Lorenzo after reading the text from Rose.

  “Where you going?” Lorenzo asked. “You’re up next.

  “Take my turn for me,” Vince said already texting Rose back.

  Vince: Why? What did I do?

  They’d been playing dice against the stairs of his apartment building. Normally, Vince would never let anyone take his turn when they were playing for money, least of all Lorenzo who sucked at it. Right now, he didn’t give a shit about anything except Rose’s text.

  For weeks, he’d been doing his best to stay out of trouble and in his parents’ good graces. He wanted to prove to them that he’d changed and make up for the whole tagging incident. But mostly because once his uncle told his dad he’d get back to him about Vince going out to stay and working for him over the summer, Vince knew he had to be smart about this. He understood why they were apprehensive about him, but now he had a real good reason to behave. He wasn’t about to give his uncle or parents any reason to not allow him to go.

  Rose had grown on him. Even though their communication consisted of only texts and emails, there was something so sweet about her. Unlike his cousins, she hadn’t judged him when he’d emailed her to explain about the tagging incident and some of the other trouble he’d been in during the past few years. He was sure she’d hear about it eventually, and he wanted her to get it straight from him—no one else.

  Even though Rose had never been in trouble in her life, she’d had nothing but positive things to say. She even praised his efforts to straighten out. She was funny, had a good head on her shoulders, and was a good girl. Surprisingly, what made him try even harder to be good was that she was proud of him, damn it. He could hardly wait to spend time talking to her again in person, not just texting and emailing. Now that they were so close to summer, she was telling him this? He couldn’t imagine what he’d done or what she’d heard that would have her crying about not being able to be his friend.

  He took a deep breath when his phone dinged and her message appeared.

  Grace and Sal broke up, and she is so devastated it’s killing me. I can’t be reminding her of him by talking about you. I’m sorry.

  Even though it was a relief to know it had nothing to do with something he’d done, it still stung that Rose could so easily dismiss their friendship like that. To him what had been building between them for weeks was like no friendship he’d ever experienced with anyone, let alone a girl. He wasn’t even sure if he should respond or if her sorry meant she was cutting him off just like that, but he had to.

  I’m sorry to hear about your sister, but I really wish you’d reconsider. Your friendship means a lot to me now. I don’t think I can let it go as easily as you can.

  Again he held his breath and waited. Her response was immediate and an enormous relief.

  You think this is easy for me? It’s not!

  Feeling a little guilty about the automatic smile that instantly spread on his lips, he took a moment to think about a proper response to that. She was already upset; he didn’t want to say anything to make her feel worse. Before he could, she promptly followed up with another text.

  Taylor and I just got to his apartment. I haven’t talked to her yet, but Taylor said she was so upset he had to give her a pill that would knock her out. I’ve never seen my sister as upset as he described her. I’m almost afraid to. And on top of that, the guilt is eating me up alive. How could I have secretly wished for this? I’m such a terrible person! I’ll text you after I talk to her.

  In the past few weeks, Rose had mentioned Taylor and Joey, her sister’s two best friends. At first, it burned him up the way Rose gushed about them until she explained they were gay and a couple.

  Vince muttered, fisting his hand. It was times like this he wished to hell he could call her. He wanted to talk to her—console her, even if it meant listening to sweet Rosie cry. But it was bad enough his parents had to pay the fine for the tagging. His mother had warned him enough about using her precious minutes. He’d finally finished up all the community work the judge piled on. He wouldn’t take a chance screwing up his hopes for summer, not even with this. He sent off his final text before leaving her to be there for her sister.

  You have nothing to feel guilty about, Rosie. Okay? NOTHING. Don’t do this to yourself. Go be with her now. I’ll be right here, waiting for your text.

  Blowing out a harsh breath, he started walking in the opposite direction of his friends. He needed to think.

  “So you’re out? Alfonso called after him.

  Vince nodded without looking back and turned the corner of the building. He was just getting his thoughts together when he saw his neighbor Anita and her two little brothers walking toward him.

  Smiling as they got closer, Vince put up his hands in a kung-fu stance as her little brother Pepe, the older of the two, gave him the usual stink eye and lifted his right fist shaking it at him. “You wanna go to the hospital?” Pepe wound up his other fist lifting it behind and over his head. “Or the cemetery? Your choice.”

  Vince laughed. “Easy, tough guy. I don’t want any trouble.”

  “That’s what I thought.” Pepe said still holding the stink-eye stare.

  Anita rolled her eyes. She was younger than Rose, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at her. Like most of the girls in this neighborhood, she wore way too much makeup, but Vince knew it wasn’t just that. Anita was truly a victim of the environment, and he didn’t mean the neighborhood either. He meant her home life. Most of the kids in this area didn’t have it easy, but Anita had it rougher than most. She lived with her two little brothers and her usually drunk-ass dad. Things weren’t easy for her, and since she lived in the building right next to his, Vince had been witness to her family drama too many times.

  “What are you up to?” she asked, placing her hand on her other brother Beto’s head as he wrapped his arms around her leg.

  Vince shook his head, thoughts of Rose’s text coming back to him again.

  “Something wrong?”

  “Nah,” he smiled. He hadn’t told anyone, not even Lorenzo, about Rose and how often they texted. He wasn’t about to start now. “I was just going for a walk. You guys coming from the playground?”

  “Yeah.” She looked down at Beto messing his hair. “But this guy is getting cranky; I think it’s nap time.”

  Beto was only four, and since their mother died two years ago when he was only two, he’d been glued to Anita just like now. He grabbed his crotch and began to whine against her leg.

  “Oh, and that, too. He’s gotta go potty. So we’re done with the playground for the day.”

  “Just let him go against the wall.” Vince laughed. “It’s what we all do. When you gotta go, you gotta go.”

  “I will not!” She laughed. “These boys are gonna have some manners if it kills me. C’mon.” She tugged Pepe gently. “Your brother’s gotta go bad.” Looking up at Vince, she smiled again. “I gotta go.”

  Vince continued toward the back of the building, still lost in his thoughts of Rose. He hated that she was feeling guilty. One thing he’d gotten to know about Rose in the past weeks was that as sweet and faultless as he still thought her to be, her life wasn’t as perfect as she was. Her
mother, from what little she’d told him, was a real piece of work.

  According to the little he’d gotten out of Rose about her mom, the woman had never showed any interest in anything she did. Growing up, she’d barely bothered to show up to any of her school events or soccer games. Basically, Rose considered Grace more of a mother figure. Her stepdad sounded like a perverted douche too, only she at least hadn’t mentioned any violence like with Anita’s dad. Still, as things with Grace and Sal had gotten more and more serious, Rose worried about Grace marrying and leaving her to fend for herself. She’d admitted this to Vince but made him swear not to ever tell anyone that she secretly wished things would slow down for them.

  Vince was sure she had never wished they’d break up. Even if she had deep down inside, Vince understood why. He was certain that if she’d had even the faintest hint that her sister would be this devastated about it, she would’ve never wished it, no matter how bad it would’ve made Rose’s life. In the short time he’d known Rose, he knew she was as close to Grace as he was to Lorenzo. Vince would do anything for him.

  Later that night, Vince got the text he’d been waiting for from Rose:

  She says she’s okay with me continuing my friendship with you, and she’s claiming she’ll get over this, but I can see it in her eyes. This is tearing her apart.

  Vince thought about Sal bringing Grace to meet the family. As far as he knew this was an absolute first for him. He wondered what could’ve gone wrong but decided if Rose wanted him to know, she’d tell him, so he wouldn’t pry.

  I’m sorry to hear it. All I can tell you is I’m pretty sure this was the first time Sal had brought any girl to meet the family. I’m certain that has to mean something. Maybe this isn’t the end.

  His phone beeped only seconds after he’d sent his message.

  It’s so over! He FUCKED up. And honestly, I hate him now. So I’d rather not talk about it anymore if you don’t mind.

  For Rosie to respond that quickly and use that kind of language, this had to be bad. Right there, Vince decided he didn’t want to know. His first thoughts were that Sal had cheated. As unlikely as that seemed, the only thing he could think of worse than that, that might have sweet Rosie cussing, was that he’d struck Grace. But unless he’d heard it straight from Sal himself, Vince would never believe that. He may not be very close to his cousins, but one thing he knew was that as fast as all of them would be to kick some ass for the women in their family or for each other, none would ever lift a hand to a woman. So he was left with the former.

  Ironically, Vince was now hoping Rose wouldn’t take that one personality flaw in Sal that she obviously loathed and associate it with him just because they were related. He almost chuckled. He never thought he’d see the day when he hoped being related to the perfect La Jolla Morenos wouldn’t cramp his style and not the other way around.

  He was distracted for a moment when he heard Anita’s dad booming outside his window and then Beto’s cries. Fucking asshole. He hated to cut Rose short, but it was getting louder next door, and Lorenzo was already standing by the window. He texted her quickly before Lorenzo got any ideas.

  Okay, no more talking about it. I gotta go for now, but will you be up a little later?

  He smiled when she responded that she would be, but the smile was immediately replaced with a frown when he heard a door slam coming from Anita’s bedroom window. Lorenzo was already climbing out onto the fire escape.

  “Hey, get your ass in here.”

  Lorenzo turned to him, looking just as concerned as Vince felt. For years now this had been going on. Anita’s dad would get home drunk, and if anything set him off which was usually the case, he’d take it out on Anita and the boys. Anita always took the brunt of it because she was quick to throw herself in front of her brothers. The door slamming meant one thing. Her dad was done, and he’d slammed her door shut. It was over, but Vince knew she was probably crouched in the room now, not even able to cry because she’d be busy consoling her brothers.

  Vince grabbed the bag of unopened Hot Cheetos he’d brought in the room earlier before making his way to the window. “Get inside,” he ordered as he climbed onto the fire escape and joined Lorenzo. “I’ll go check on her.”

  She lived directly across from him in the next building but one floor down. This was about the only thing he’d risk. He didn’t think he had a choice. A few of the times her piece-of-shit dad had beaten her, she’d been left with open wounds or lumps that required icing. Because she was too afraid to leave the room, Vince had climbed back up to his window and brought down the necessary supplies from his medicine cabinet or freezer. If anything ever happened to her because of unattended wounds—something he could’ve helped with—he’d never forgive himself. And he wasn’t about to let Lorenzo risk getting caught in her room by her drunk dad, so if he didn’t do this, he knew Lorenzo would.

  Living in this area with their apartments so close and buildings side by side, there was never any shortage of drama coming from one window or another. Over the years his parents had warned Vince and Lorenzo not to get involved. The crying and cussing coming from Anita’s window was nothing new to this building. There was plenty of this coming from other windows as well. Vince couldn’t save the world, but this was different. Anita was his friend. He couldn’t not get involved. He had to at least check to see if she was okay.

  He climbed down the ladder then jumped over to her fire escape. Sneaking a peek into her bedroom, he made sure her dad wasn’t still in there. Pepe saw him and blinked; his tear-streaked face was a mess. The tough stink-eye expression from earlier was completely gone now as he stood next to Anita who sat in the corner of the room rocking Beto in her arms.

  Holding up the bag of Hot Cheetos, Vince smiled, hoping to make Pepe at least smile. But his lips didn’t even twitch. Vince climbed in, and Anita looked up, her eyes glimmering but no tears. There were fewer tears every time something like this happened. After all this time, he knew most of the tears were from what her dad put her little brothers through having to watch him beat her, rather than from any pain she felt.

  “You okay?” he whispered, handing the Cheetos to Pepe and patting his head.

  She nodded kissing the top of Beto’s head but said nothing. There didn’t appear to be any visible lacerations or bumps, but her cheek was bright red, making Vince clench his fist so tight it almost hurt.

  “I wish you’d let me tell my parents, Anita. One of these days he’s really gonna hurt—”

  “No!” She shook her head. “You can’t. We’ve talked about this. They’ll separate us. It’s just a few more years, Vince. As soon as I’m eighteen, I’ll move away and take them with me.”

  “You really think he’s going to let you go without a fight?”

  Anita glanced at Pepe who was now eating the Cheetos as Beto moved off her lap and walked over to Pepe. Her eyes met Vince’s, and she gave him that look. She wouldn’t say it in front of them, but he knew what she was saying with her eyes. She’d said it many times before. Her dad didn’t want any of them.

  Vince frowned, defeated, feeling completely helpless to do more for her. “You sure you don’t need ice or anything?”

  She touched her cheek. “No, it was openhanded, so I don’t think it’s going to swell,” she whispered even lower than she’d been whispering earlier. “He was mad about the boys still being up, but they wanted a snack.” She gestured to her brothers. “Thanks for the Cheetos. It’s not exactly the snack I would’ve chosen for them, but it’ll have to do for tonight.”

  Her weak little smile did nothing to alleviate the enormous urge he had to grab one of the bookends on her shelf, rip through that door, and beat her dad over the head with it. He took a deep breath, swallowing back his anger. This certainly wasn’t the first time he’d had to calm himself, and from the looks of it, it wouldn’t be the last. He just wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold back or worse hold Lorenzo back, who was just as disgusted about the whole thing as he w
as.

  Lorenzo stared at him, reaching out to help him as he climbed up the ladder to the fire escape outside their bedroom window. “She okay?

  “Yeah, no lumps or open wounds this time, but he slapped her pretty hard.”

  Lorenzo banged his hand against the fire escape rail. “What a pussy! You know one of these days, I’m gonna throw a fucking brick through his truck windshield when he drives up the street.”

  “No you won’t.” Vince looked into his angry brother’s eyes. “I know it sucks, but it’s not worth it, Enzo. You could go to jail for something like that, and for what? That piece of shit?” Vince glanced back down at Anita’s open window. “The other day she mentioned he’s been seeing some lady, and she’s noticed a small change in him—a small one, but it’s something.”

  Lorenzo’s face contorted. “Who the hell would want date that asshole?”

  Vince shrugged. “I dunno, but if it helps Anita and her brothers’ situation, I’m hoping he keeps dating her.”

  They climbed back in the window. Vince picked up his phone and saw he had a text from Rose. He plopped into his bed ready for his nightly dose of Rose. They’d usually text back and forth for at least an hour before calling it a night. He clicked on the envelope, already anxious to read it.

  I’m sorry I was so quick to say we couldn’t be friends anymore today. I had just found out about Grace and Sal, and I was so upset I wasn’t thinking straight. Forgive me?

  Vince smiled, his insides warming as he reread it. Even after dealing with Anita’s ordeal and everything else that had happened that day—Rose’s being so upset, blaming herself and knowing she’d been crying, the most disturbing thing of all that still lingered in his subconscious, was the fact that she’d dismissed their friendship so easily. Now here she was apologizing for that. Rose Zendejas was what he’d thought from day one—faultless.