Lie To Me

Gabriela's POV

"Morning Papi." I say to dad, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a cup of coffee. "EZ will be here later today. Wanted to know if you wanted to meet the club" Dad tells me, drinking his coffee. "Okay what time will he be here?" I ask, he shrugs. "Ez will let you know. He said Angel would be around maybe you guys will get a chance to talk." He tells me. I sigh. "Papi, Angel doesn't want to speak to me. Which I understand.  He'll come around if he wants to I can't force it." I say. He nods and stands up, walking towards the door. "If you need anything I'll be at the shop." He states, kissing the top of my head, and walking out. I sigh. What was so good about this club? If my brothers are a part of it must not be too cool. I shrug it off and head for my old room, laying down in bed. It was quiet. Too quiet. I start describing the room around me to keep the elusive thoughts away. I'm brought back to reality by EZ slamming the door. I hop off the bed and head to greet him. Instead I'm met with Angel. "Pop's already leave?" He asks, looking around the living room. "Yeah about 10 minutes ago" I tell him, awkwardly taking a seat on the sofa. He sighs and sits in Dads chair. "Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot. But you gotta understand I don't want to get use to my sister being around again just for her to take off when she can't handle life." He states, waving his hands around. "Angie I'm home for good this time. Papi's already helping me look for a job. I was thinking about going to school for my GED, maybe go to the community College afterwards. I'm really doing good this time, I promise." I tell him, leaning forward. "You fuck up again, I'll hunt you to the end of the earth. Got it?" He tells me. "Come on, I told EZ I would come grab you. So we could talk" He says, standing up. "So you didn't come for Dad then?" I ask, smiling. He smiles back and shoves me. "Go get dressed. You are not walking into the clubhouse like that." He says, looking at my pajamas. I laugh and head to my room, excitedly. I'm so glad Angel came around. Almost as if dad was hinting at it.

Coco's POV

I park my bike, hopping off. "Hey prospect, don't forget to clean my bike when you're done." I yell to him as I walk inside the clubhouse. There's loads of chatter. Bishop is talking to a young female Angel has his arm draped over. I nudge chucky as he walks by. "Who's that?" I ask him, as he carries beers in that direction. He smiles nervously and looks that way. "That would be Gabriela, Angels sister." He tells me. So Angel finally came around. Chucky continues on towards the gathering. I go to the bar, reaching for a beer and popping it open. Angel comes towards me, his sister following suit. She stops when we make eye contact, before slowly walking again. She was looking down after that, like she was scared. "Gabbie, this is Coco. We patched in together." He tells her, moving out of the way so she could see me again. This was the infamous Reyes sister? You couldn't tell she was even related to them. Her hair was short and wavy. She was small, probably from her previous drug use. She was young, early twenties at best. She looked way more radiant than when we came across her at the store. She was cleaner too. She was beautiful. I'm brought back to reality by Angel shoving me. "Bro, you good?" He questioned, breaking me from my trance. His sister was still standing there completely uncomfortable looking. "Coco. We met. At the mini mart" I introduce myself. She laughs. "Less meeting and more of you being a dick for stating which is exactly what you were doing." She states, holding her hand out with a smile. I take it and shake it once before releasing it. Our eye contact hasn't broken. "Sorry about that. I got issues" I apologize. She laughs and nods. "Don't we all. So, now that I've met everyone what else is there to do?" She asks Angel.  He shrugs. "Club business mostly but other than that, we can work something out. Maybe you can meet cocos daughter she's about your age." Angel tells her, looking over at me. I shove him by the arm. "Letti is 16." I tell him standing up and walking out of the door, slamming it behind me. As I walk down the steps and towards my bike I hear my name called out. I turn around to face Gabriela. "Need something?" I ask her. She shakes her head no. "I notice you've got a short temper so I'll keep this shorter. I'm sorry about Angel. He over indulges in personal information way too much. But for what it's worth, you don't look old enough to have kids at all." She explains, smiling and turning to walk away. "Thank you. If it makes you feel better, you look too old to not have kids." I joke, giving her a smirk. She laughs and waves to me. Did she just kindly hit on me? I turn to get on my bike, glancing one more time at the clubhouse. "She's 24." EZ says, from the side of his bike. I hadn't noticed he was there. "So? We were just being nice to each other, boyscout don't worry." I tell him as I sit on my bike. He let's out a chuckle. "No I mean she's 24 as in, she's old enough to make her own choices. So if Angel made you feel like she was off limits he's an idiot. Gabbie has always done her own thing. And she always will" He explains, looking up at me. "Yeah whatever." I say, starting my bike and riding away.

Gabriela's POV

"Anything you need the club is here for you okay?" Bishop tells me. I smile and nod, walking away to where Angel sits. "I came here thinking they were gonna be terrifying old men, but they're just softies like you" I say, taking a seat at the bar next to him. He laughs and sips his beer. "You want one?" He asks me. I shake my head. "Can't, any substance can lead to a substance." I tell him, fidgeting with the chipping wood of the bar. He nods in understanding. "So, you proved me wrong. You are better. But do you feel better?" He questions me. I nod. "I feel, sober? If that makes sense. Like there are days when I wake up, and the birds are chirping and the sun is shining. But there's other days where it's silent, and quiet. And I feel like I'm in quicksand. But I push through them." I explain, looking over at him. The door swings back open and Coco waltzes in, holding a bottle of water and chips. He walks over to me and sets them down. "Figured you didn't want tap water that's too hot to drink. And beer is a no go." He states, sliding then towards me. Angel states at him, trying to get a read. "Thank you. I was just telling Angel that any substance can lead to a-" Coco finishes my sentence. "A substance. Yeah I know" He tells me, taking the beer from chucky, looking down. "I should take you home. Pop should be home soon" Angel says, standing up. I nod and look towards the wooden handed man behind the bar. "Chucky right? Could you get me a pen and paper please?" I ask him. He nods and smiles while grabbing the pad and pen, handing them to me. I scribble my number and name, ripping the paper off the notepad and sliding it over to Coco. "Incase you feel like talking. Besides, it'd be nice to have someone other than my brother's and dad in my contacts." I tell him as I stand up and walk towards the door. I head outside and towards Angel and his bike. "I gotta meet somebody so I'm gonna drop you off at home." Angel explains, handing me the helmet. I hop on the bike and hold on. Coco was really nice. He even thought about my sobriety. Was he an ex-addict?