Chapter XX: Boys Night Out.

[7:00pm, Fernando and Rachel’s room]

Fernando puts the final items into his backpack, making sure that Jorge would not have seen him put his gun in there. He closes up the bag, leaving on his desk for a moment..

“You finished bro?”, Jorge asks.

“Just one more thing…”, Fernando states as he reaches up to the wall where his samurai blades were up on display. He reaches for the center on of the display, a black Katana inside its Saya (sheath). He reaches out behind him.

“Use that one, but don’t get any blood on it!”, Fernando warns his little brother.

“What is a sword good against a gun?”, Jorge complains.

“Jorge, how could you forget. Lesson one of the Dojo- don’t let your opponents know what you have or capable of.”, Fernando tells him. “If you kick their asses using martial arts, soon the whole town will know you know martial arts, and then they will go after you with a greater force.”

“I only want my gun back.”, Jorge complains. “Even  if I have to kill that fat asshole for it,  I will.”

“There will be no killing!”, Fernando yells at him as  he takes down another Katana,  one in a white Saya. “But when this is through, the Sons of Inez will be a force to be reckoned with.”

“There you go with the Sons of Inez crap again.”, Jorge spits out at Fernando. “Half the time I don’t care about you because we got different fathers. So what we got the same mother. That don’t mean anything at all.”

“Why do you make it so hard to be my brother?”, Fernando asks.

“Look, I’ll back you up and you back me up when its outside the door to our house. But inside the house, I want to be left alone, just like you want to be left alone. But that shit you have going with Rachel gets me sick.”, Jorge tells him.

“What shit?”, Fernando asks.

“You and her in the same room. She sleep with you. She does everything for you. I bet she even sucks your dick and let you fuck her if you told her too.”, Jorge tells him. Neither one of them answer to him. “Yeah. There is something going on between you two.”

“It does not matter.”, Fernando tells him. “What matters is getting your gun back before they out a body on it, on top of those you put on it.”

“I only shot people in self defense, just like you have.”, Jorge tells him.

Fernando can only turn to face him, giving him a stern look through his dark glasses.

“You told Grandma that we’re going to a party?”, Fernando asks, though continuing to stare at him.

“Yeah, that is what she believes.”, Jorge tells him.

“How much money you got?”, Fernando asks.

“What does that have to do with anything?”, Jorge tells him.

“We need Rachel to wait for us at the restaurant, they are not going to let her hang around for free.”, Fernando tells him. “One Pistachio milkshake every hour should be enough for her. Twenty dollars should cover it.”

Fernando takes a Ten Dollar Bill and gives it to Rachel. Seeing that his brother covered for half the expense, Jorge hands Rachel another ten dollars in loose bills.

“I want the change.”, Jorge tells her.

After several seconds of discussing about the change, the three of them walk down the stairs and head out the house. Grandma can be heard yelling in Spanish, “Don’t come home late!”

[7:30pm, Sonia & Bart's Restaurant] 

Jorge, Fernando and Rachel walk into the restaurant, taking a booth at the furthest corner. The place seems more crowded than usual, with every teen and tween in Pouncefield hanging out inside, along with some of their younger siblings. Juanita, Cathy and Kathy was also there, keeping out of view. They spend their time for about 45 minutes in the restaurant before they leave. Fernando tells Rachel to stay and wait for them. Strangely, the restaurant empties out within a minute after the boys leave.

It takes about 10 minutes of walking to get to spot in the park, not far from the lake,  but away from the beaten path. Fernando leans against a tree as Jorge stands around with his arms crossed.

“They better get here.”, Jorge says with a touch of anger in his voice.

“We are early, unless they are nearby hiding.”, Fernando says as he looks around.

“If I knew where they lived, I would be knocking down doors.”, Jorge complains.

“You better hope that they don’t know where we live! I’ll kick your ass if they try to break into the house!”, Fernando tells him.

“I would like to see you try.”, Jorge tells him.

“We’ll argue later. Right now I think I hear them coming.”, Fernando says.

“How?”, Jorge asks.

Fernando points to his glasses. Jorge wants to knock them off his face, but decides to save it for Rodriguez and his friends.

“I’m going to hide over there, so I can get them from behind. You get ready.”, Fernando tells his brother.

Jorge gives him the finger as Fernando hides in the darkness. About a minute later,  Rodriguez shows up with several of his friends.

“So the punk decided to show up after all.”, Rodriguez says. “You brought your momma’s gas money like I told you?”

“Go fuck yourself. Now I want my gun.”, Jorge tells him.

“Ooo… you got me scared.”, Rodriguez says. Some of his group laugh.

Jorge pulls out the Katana blade that Fernando gave him, “Give me the gun or else!”

Rodriguez pulls out the gun and aims at Jorge. The sound of breaking bone and the screams of somebody yelling nearby catches his attention, but his hair gets yanked and cold sharp steel is pressed against his neck.

“Go ahead, shoot my brother or attack me and I’m cutting off your head. Got that?!!”, Fernando says out loud.

Jorge walks over to Rodriguez and takes the gun from his hand. Jorge nods at Fernando, and Fernando nods in return. Fernando’s blade swing out from Rodriguez’s neck and plants itself under the chin of the one next to him. Fernando lets go of Rodriguez’s hair and shoves him towards Jorge. Jorge gives Rodriguez a swift knee to the groin as Fernando side steps to Rodriguez’ friend, grabbing onto his baseball cap and a good clump of hair underneath. Rodriguez bends over in pain.

“Tell your friends to leave.”, Fernando tells him as Jorge approaches him with the samurai blade in hand.

“Yo… fellas… lets go….”, the nervous furball says as he stands between the two squirrels.

“But…”,  one of the other boys says.

“No Buts! Just Go!”, he says as Jorge puts the edge of the blade into his belly. The sharpness of the blade cuts the material of his t-shirt without applying pressure against it. He takes the gun with his other hand and aims it at each and every other boy standing near them.

“He said to leave…”, Jorge tells them, pulling the hammer on the gun.

The gang starts to walk away from the scene. Jorge follows them for a few steps, yelling “KEEP WALKING!”

Fernando throws the boy to the ground, putting away the samurai blade away, and pins the boy’s arm behind his back. He quickly searches him, finding and taking another gun and a couple of knives from him. He also takes the boy’s wallet. “Go…”, Fernando tells him.

The boy scurries away on all four before getting up and running away. Unfortunately he passes by Jorge who thought he was about to attack him and ends up getting a round-house kick to the jaw, knocking him out and loosening several teeth in the process.

Fernando goes over to Rodriguez and searches him, finding another small hand gun on him and a couple of wallets other than his own. He empties the wallets of any money that was inside.

“Yo Jorge. Check your piece.”, Fernando tells him.

“What for?”, Jorge says.

“I found 2 more pieces. That one may not be yours.”, Fernando tells him.

“We’ll figure it out when we get home”, Jorge tells him. “What else you found?”

“A couple of wallets with no money, besides his. Now you will know where this punk lives next time there is trouble.”, Fernando tells him. Jorge nods.

“Lets go home.”, Jorge says. “And lets dump those wallets in a mailbox.”

Fernando nods. He puts the guns into his back pack before going back to the restaurant to pick up Rachel. Along the way, Fernando gives Jorge the money that he took from the wallets.

“Why you giving me this?”, Jorge asks.

“That’s the money Rodriguez had on him. I don’t want it but you could pay the milkshake bill when we pick up Rachel and let her keep the $20.”, Fernando tells him.

“What for?”, Jorge asks.

“I back you up, you back me up. Now how about backing up our little sister?”, Fernando explains.

“I don’t like her. You know that.”, Jorge says.

“So? Neither does mom. But she does back me up when I need help. And she’ll do the same for you if you do for her.”, Fernando returns to him.

“I know that you have been fucking her lately.”, Jorge says.

“I don’t have sex with her.”, Fernando denies it.

“She told me herself.”, Jorge tells him.

“When?”, Fernando asks.

“So you are fucking her.”, Jorge says.

“Alright, I am. But it was her idea. I’m not forcing her into doing anything.”, Fernando tells him.

“Figures.”, Jorge says to himself.

“Maybe it would be better if she or Juanita tells you what’s going on.”, Fernando tries to explain.

“I really don’t care. I am gong to tell Grandma about this.”, Jorge says.

“Grandma knows.”, Fernando tells him.

“What the fuck! And she aint doing nothing?!!”, Jorge complains.

Fernando stops in his track. Jorge stops a few steps ahead and turns to face him.

“Look, it has to do with my headaches. If things get so stressed out, I could get a killer headache because of some blood vessel in my head rupturing. Rachel is doing me to keep the stress down and Grandma knows about it and why and allows it for that reason.”, Fernando explains.

“You could die from your headaches?”, Jorge asks.

“Only if its strong enough.”, Fernando answers. “Rachel is making sure it don’t get to that point.”

“It does not change anything between us.”, Jorge says as he continues to walk. “I still hate you.”

“And I hate you too, bro.”, Fernando tells him.

They continue walking to the restaurant. They turn the corner to its entrance. Jorge grabs the door but does not open it.

“Yo, bro. Thanks.”, Jorge tell shim.

“Yeah. Whatever.”, Fernando tells him. He looks at his watch, “Its getting late. Go get Rachel and lets go home.”

- End of: Boys Night Out. -