34-Sebastian

Me and the guys are sitting outside my uncle's shop, taking a break from painting the exterior of the building. We've worked around the clock the past few weeks rebuilding the garage. Luckily, the blast only took out half the building, so it didn't take us too long to patch up the big-ass hole where the door used to be.

We couldn't have done it without Donnie and Ash's parents. They stepped in and purchased all the materials we needed to start reconstructing. That kind of help doesn't happen to blue-collar folks in our hood, so Uncle wasn't about taking handouts. Eventually, I broke through his pride and convinced him it's ok to accept help when offered, especially from good people like the Du Ponts.

Speaking of good people, Donnie and Ash pull up to the garage in their fancy sports car. I swear these boys wear clothes and drive cars worth twice what we all make at our regular jobs combined. Even with all that, they don't look out of place.

"Wat up mi gente!" Ash jumps out of the car holding his arms wide open and with a stupid ass grin on his face.

"Ah, shit!" Gio covers his mouth with his fist and slaps his knee enthusiastically.

I tip my chin in greeting as Ash and Donnie approach us.

"What's up, man?" Donnie gives me a fist bump, followed by Ash.

Donnie leans against the wall away from the sun and pushes his sunglasses on top of his hat. "Place looks great, man."

I look over my shoulder and smile at the finished product. "Yeah. We're back in commission."

"When do you leave?" I ask Donnie.

Shorty mentioned at the party that he and Ash are moving to Tennessee before school starts—something about baseball camp.

"In a few days," he responds. There's a pause before he speaks again. "Do you have any plans after graduation?"

I think back to all the shit I've done since I first held a gun and the first time I pulled the trigger. Had that question been asked then, I wouldn't know what to say. When you're living the gang life or have violence surrounding you like an evil plague, your future is nothing but white noise. But now, when someone asks me what I want to do with my life? I can finally see past the fog.

"I want to be a cop."

"No shit?" Donnie says with wide eyes, and then he grins. "Yeah, I can see you being a cop. What made you decide to go that route?"

I know why he's asking that question because I'm a car guy, and at one point, I wanted to own my own garage and rebuild classic cars, but I don't want to turn my hobby into a job. It's not a bad thing; it's just not me. After everything that happened, including almost losing Shorty and Tia, I want to do good by helping others.

"Did you apply for the academy?" Donnie asks as people rush by each other on the sidewalks, cars honk, and sirens wail in the distance.

"Not yet, but I've been talking to Javi about it."

After the warehouse incident, Javi was impressed with my ability to remain calm and react quickly to dangerous situations. Especially when two people you care about are being tortured. The guys gave me shit about it, but the thought of me doing it on my own didn't seem right to them.

We're brothers.

We're family.

We stick together, no matter what.

This is why Gio and Max decided to enroll in the academy along with me.

For the next half hour or so, we hang out and shoot the shit. Uncle comes out a few times to BS with us and then goes back inside to do paperwork. After the remodeling, the schedule is booked until the end of September.

"La Reina's in the house!" Max cups his hands around his mouth and barks at the girls crammed in Lupe's Ford Explorer. Out of all of us, my girl has two good parents who work their asses off and earn a good living.

Lupe steps out of the car, shuts the door, and leans over the hood, tipping her ball cap as she listens to Telle running her mouth. The girls jump out of the car and sashay their asses to us, but my eyes stay on one particular girl with curves and caramel hair that tumbles to the middle of her back. She gives me a wicked smile and plants her ass on my lap.

"Hey baby," she says softly.

I kiss her glossy lips and bury my face in her neck, breathing her in. She smells like vanilla.

I lick the sensitive spot underneath her ear.

She squirms.

"I'm hungry." I nip at her skin.

I'm not even paying attention to everyone around me, just me and my girl, until Max's voice pulls me back.

"Your ass must be jealous of all the shit that comes out of your mouth."

Tiny pulls the sucker out of her mouth. "Why is it you gotta talk about shit every time you speak?" She scrunches her face.

"Where's the grub at?" Gio jumps to his feet ignoring the conversation between Tiny and Max

"Who?" Telle looks around and then back to him. "Are you talking to me?" She points a finger to her chest.

"Well, yeah. Who else would I be talking to?"

Max throws his head back and laughs. "Ah, shit. You went and done it now, bro."

"Oh, no, you didn't, mother—"

Telle's words are cut short when Gio lunges for her and starts chasing her around the parking lot.

"Hey." Shorty steps up to Donnie with Sophia hanging off her hip. He pulls Sophia close to his chest with one arm around her little body, the other gripping Sophia's hand. After he places a kiss on her forehead, he turns to Shorty and yanks her to him.

Shorty giggles, and he takes the opportunity to bend down and kiss her lips.

A smile appears on my lips, and a warm sensation hits me in the chest.

"He's so good to them," Lupe whispers.

I nod and smile, having a hard time looking away. Shorty deserves so much happiness. For all that she's been through, I'm glad Donnie came back into her life and gave her what no one else could.

Peace.