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But Benny was relentless, and I was glad to have him back on my side, especially given how much was at stake. He hit him with a knee to the groin and a blow across the low jaw, and then another across the opposite side of the face. Once the arm was free, Benny drove his thumb into it and pulled Leonardo around, causing the man to yell out in pain. Leonardo dropped to a knee pulled a knife from his boot and swung to drive it into Benny’s neck, but Benny blocked with his free arm just before the knife could go deep, slicing through the surface of his skin.
Both men struggled for control. Benny allowed himself to fall to the ground, using his weight to pull Leonardo on top of him and turning the weight behind the weapon around. Leonardo stared in shock as the knife was turned around and driven into his neck. He opened his mouth to speak, but that only led to more bleeding. He got up and backed away from Benny, pulling out the blade and then trying to stop the bleeding with his hands, but he was in too much pain. Leonardo dropped to his knees and fell face down to the ground, dead.
The man responsible for taking Maria had been defeated, and I was one step closer to getting her back.
Benny turned to me with his eyes wide. “Angelo!”
Shots from behind me hit the walls behind him and Benny jumped backward, getting behind one of the vehicles parked out in the back. I realized that Vasquez was shooting from the vehicle that had crashed through the wall. I looked at the front passenger seat and saw that Maria had been knocked unconscious from the impact. I needed to end this, now, so I could make sure she was okay after everything. Vasquez was pulling himself out of the wreck and shooting at Benny. Using the car as cover, I got to my knees and began crawling around the vehicle.
Once I made it to the other side, Vasquez turned the gun on me to fire, but I was too close, and I slammed the muzzle of the gun away, and the bullet went wide. I grabbed him, pulling on the weapon while he tried to fight me off with his injured arm. He yelled in pain as I grabbed his injury, and I did the same as I realized that tightening my diaphragm made breathing feel like hell. Vasquez threw an elbow backward and hit me across the torso, just above where the bullet had hit.
I jumped back and kicked him in the crotch. As he bent low, I brought my arm down on his own, and the gun clattered to the ground. I kicked it underneath the car and drove a right hook into the side of his face. Vasquez stumbled backward before he glared at me. He touched his lips and realized that the single blow had drawn blood from him, and he spat, frowning violently.
“So, what are you going to do now, Angelo? You’ve always wanted peace… Well here is your chance. Take it,” Vasquez said.
“I have always tried to make peace with you in the past, Vasquez; I tried to resolve this without violence. But you killed my people, attacked my family, and took my girl. We are long past peace now, Vasquez. Now, I am going to kill you, and I will walk up to the Commission myself and let them know that I did.”
“Look at you, driven by all this compulsion. But this is it, kid, this is destiny; it was always meant to end like this, with me killing you on the grandest stage of them all. You can’t run from destiny…”
“Shut up!” I yelled and ran right at him. My body was running on pure adrenaline. I was certain I would feel like absolute shit right after the fight, but at this point, I had to get it out there. Fuck what my father had told me. This man had threatened everything I held dear, and he tried to kill me. He was a threat to everything I had, and the only way to get him out of the way was to put him in the ground, and that was exactly what I was going to do to the motherfucker.
I drove a knee into his torso, one that he blocked but just barely. He replied with a blow of his own, but I was able to get out of the way just as it breezed over my ear. Bending like that drove pain to my injury, but I bit down on my tongue and drove the top of my head underneath his jaw. It hurt like hell, and I saw a flash of white after I did it, instantly regretting the move. But with a look, I could tell that I had landed a heavy blow, and Vasquez was reeling.
I jumped at him, looking to continue the attack, but he locked an arm around my hip and lifted me off the ground, throwing me on the hard concrete. I landed hard on the ground, letting out a deep cough as the air in my lungs was forced out of my mouth. Vasquez got on top of me and began raining down blows. He started with both hands at first, but the cut I had given him disabled him so much that he stopped and started to use a single arm.
I blocked as much as I could, but I was pinned down. I raised my legs behind him and began trying to lift him off me. He grabbed one foot and I used the other to kick the back of his head, before I shoved him forward, into the car he and Maria had crashed. The impact caused the security system of the vehicle to go off and the horns began screaming, waking Maria. As Vasquez turned around, I slammed into him from behind, driving his body into the driver’s side mirror which shattered on impact. I pulled him away and tossed him to the side where he fell and rolled to the floor.
“Angelo!” Maria yelled.
I moved around to her side of the vehicle and realized that she was stuck inside. The front dashboard was directly on her, and she was unable to move. I reached for the door and saw that it was jammed too. I kicked against it twice and then spotted the gun which Vasquez and I had fought for. I picked it up and tucked it away before I continued on the door, getting it to open.
“Just hang on, I’ve got you!” I replied, flexing the door handle back and forth till it opened.
I put my fingers between her and the dashboard, lifting with all the strength I could muster while she slipped out from between the seat and the dashboard, falling to the ground outside. I finally got to her, and I let out a sigh of relief as she looked at me with those luminescent eyes. She was frazzled, but free for at least a moment. However, I knew the fight wasn’t over yet. I let go and turned around, only to see that Vasquez had now found a weapon: a metal rod. He swung it against me, and I rolled backward. He tried again, and this time he caught me across the stomach.
I looked back to where Benny had hidden and realized that he had been drawn away, heading to fight off other men who were still on the scene. I was left alone with Vasquez. I pulled myself towards the wall, spitting out blood as I moved. Both of us looked like death, with our clothes entirely soaked with each other’s blood. Vasquez looked at himself and broke into maniacal laughter that seemed to echo over the sound of gunfire in the compound.
“Is this what it is all for? Huh? Our blood, being wasted, just for the sake of power.”
I pulled myself back to my feet, using the wall for support. “It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?” I replied with a chuckle.
“Well, to whoever wins, I do wish them the very best,” Vasquez replied, with honesty in his voice.
“Here, here,” I added.
He rushed at me with the rod, trying to ram the sharp metal end into my chest. But I caught it with my hands, stopping it from getting to me. Vasquez pushed against it, trying to impale me right there on the wall. A man who I did not recognize ran out of the hole in the building, holding his gun. Vasquez looked over to him and recognized him.
“Johnny! Shoot him!”
“No!” Maria bellowed.
Vasquez looked back at Maria as he pressed the rod against me. “Johnny! What are you waiting for? Shoot Angelo, before it’s too late!”
I watched as Johnny looked from me to Maria, and I wondered why he was hesitating. Maria added, “Johnny, I know this isn't you. I know you don’t want to do this. Please, don’t shoot him, Johnny, please.” Even though I didn’t know him, I hoped he would make the right decision for me, and for Maria.
Vasquez turned to glare at Johnny with his eyes radiating all the rage he had in him. This was his one chance to end everything, and his man had hesitated. “Johnny, kill him right now, or I will kill you myself!Goddammit, now!”
“I’m sorry,” Johnny replied, speaking under his breath.
