Afraid

Chp. 33

Oscar's POV

When the car dropped us off at the parking lot where Amaya parked her Mustang I was in shock. I had gone in there thinking she needed me to help her handle some business. But she really just needed someone to tell them she can handle herself.

Her basic white bitch manager definitely needed to go. Especially when she started talking about ghettos and Amaya.

The only thing the two have in common is that its where she lives. That's it.

Amaya popped the trunk open, threw off her heels and slide on some sneakers.

"You really are still a sneaker head huh?" She laughed.

"Except I traded in those Cortez' for some Air Force One's."

"I like both."

"I found my old Cortez collection in the attic. Thought I'd give them to someone. Not like I'm gonna be seen wearing those."

"Yeah I don't think its you anymore."

"Alright. Where do you wanna go? If we could stop by a jewelry store that would be great. I didn't give Sara her birthday gift and then when I went to look for it, it was gone."

"Think one of the twins stole it?"

"Who else?"

"Alright. How about Italian and then we go to the mall in Brentwood? That'll be open until 11."

"Great. Let's go."

When went off in the direction of an Italian spot but when we got there they weren't taking anymore people. So we found the next best thing a taco and tamale stand.

Amaya ordered one of everything on their menu and two beers.

"So did you look at the contract yet?" I ask.

"I glanced. They want to pay me five grand with ten percent royalties for one beat. I know that for a fact because Ebba sent me this." She took out her phone and played me a song.

"That's my beat being used. I don't know who's singing up its great."

"That's cool."

"Yeah." She said taking a deep breath.

Our food came out and it was laced out on three different trays.

"Chicken, beef and fish slash seafood. Dig in."

I let her choose first. Amaya went for a fish taco and I picked a chicken one.

"I'll tell ya. I missed the food. Even Ms. Alvarez's baddddddddd burritos."

"They aren't that bad."

"No not to you because she likes you and every other male that walks in. Makes it fresh. Me, she could spit in it and charge me double."

"That's true. What about the smell that comes out of the Armenian place?"

"Oh the kebabs. Yes. Hell yes. Tzatziki sauce. Mhmmmm. There was a Whole Foods, a juice bar and a vegan restaurant right near my apartment. Everything else was like a thirty minute ride. Let me tell you. It is nice to just walk down the street and get fat rather than starve on celery juice."

"You are not the celery juice kind. That's for sure. I once witnessed you eat 32 tacos."

"I remember that. I couldn't move after that."

"You drank a Red Bull and said..."

"Time for more. But I got cut off from eating tacos."

"Female Record Holder at least." I say.

"I could have eaten more. I know I could have." She chants.

"Then prove it."

"Fine."

=====

After eating too many tacos we sauntered back into the car.

"I'm gonna explode." She kept saying.

"That wasn't smart on our end."

She pulled in to her driveway forgetting about wanting to go to the jewelry store in complete agony.

"I don't feel good." Amaya kept repeating getting out of her car. She took one step and collapsed to the ground, smacking her head off the side of her car and then the ground.

"HELP! WE NEED HELP OUT HERE!" I yelled.

Grabbing my phone I dialed 9-1-1.

Minutes later the ambulance showed up. Neighbors all around us came out to see what was happening. Geny, Ruby and the twins ran over to see what was happening too.

"Geny! Geny can you watch the girls? I need to go with her." Senora Sanchez painfully said through her tears.

"Go, go." Senora Sanchez got in the back of the ambulance and it took off.

"Oscar?" I heard Sara call me.

"Yes Sara?"

"Is AJ gonna be okay?"

"Yeah I think so." Geny ushered both sets of twins and Sara back to her house.

"You good, Spooky?" Ruby asked.

I had felt like I was in a trance. A weird feeling had taken over my body and left me paralyzed and emotionless.

I cleared my throat and nodded at him.

"She knows Oscar. AJ knows about everything that went on in town."

"I figured. Have Jasmine or Jamal dig up all her medical records. See if she was telling the truth about being drugged."

"How do you know she didn't do a whole bunch of stuff before the accident?"

"Because I had taken all the drugs that night. Cuchillos had a new batch of stuff that day. We did our thing and I had not a lot but enough to get high off of."

"What should I be looking for?"

"Heroin, high levels of THC, any blood alcohol tests."

"Got it. Jasmine is hacking the hospital records as we speak. Jamal is going to check records in Seattle. What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna lock their front door and head home."

Ruby waved goodbye at me as I walked into their house.

Curiosity killed the cat but it wouldn't kill me. I locked the front door behind me and made my way up to her room.

In piles there were photos of us. Yearbooks from her time at Freeridge High. Her old sneakers, a jewelry box her grandmother gave her. Inside it was filled with things. Tickets from concerts, her name tag from waitressing at the Hole, earrings she used to wear, her dad's wedding band, not much to be worried about. And then the necklace I gave her along with the engagement ring I scraped up all my money to buy was buried underneath.

At the bottom of the box was a picture of the two of us, sitting in front of her house posing with the ring on her finger. Her smile was from ear to ear and I was covering my face up. Lupe had taken the photo of us on Amaya's 18th birthday. I slide everything back into its place and put the box back.

I noticed hanging in her closet was her old worn out leather jacket. She wore that thing everyday, even in the summer unless it was more than a hundred. Then she carried it everywhere.

Her room had changed. 

Mainly because Sara had taken it over as her room. Amaya was definitely not into One Direction or Pitbull. But if she was she wasn't gonna hang a poster. That wasn't her style.

I exited the place I called my second home to walk back to my shit hole of a house. She was going to be stuck in the hospital all night and I needed to get her a present for Sara.

A Santo cross was not gonna cut it.

Maybe a gold chain.

Sara would boast about that shit until we all died of exhaustion.