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CHAPTERONE
Maggie
Demon sits proudly behind the steering wheel with that devilish grin of his. “We’re getting these fuckers right now.” His confidence seeps through every word.
“What fuckers?” I don’t need to ask. I know the answer. I just need to hear him say it.
“Those Reckless Soulspendejos. Think they can snatch my boy from me? Fuck that. Viper was mine first.”
I’d do anything for Demon, but this is some bad shit. He’s still reeling over Viper’s betrayal. His anger masked a deep hurt, too damn proud to admit it.
“You sure about this, Demon? It’s been years since your boy crossed over.”
His smile twists into a scowl, pissed at my doubt. “What? You think I can’t handle them?”
“Course you can,Papi. You’re a beast when you want to be. But it’s just you and me. We’re outnumbered.”
He grin’s back. “Ain’t just you and me,Mami. Howler and Malibu been keeping tabs on ‘em. We know where they’re at. Gordo’s rollin’ with them too.”
Damn it. No way out now. “Oh. What’s the plan?”
He parks the shiny red Impala in a half-finished housing development. Gives me the look. “We walk in, beat the fuck outta him, and his bitch, then two bullets each. Cool with that?”
I shrug. “Yeah, sure. Of course.”
We hook up with Malibu and Howler. Moving toward one of the empty show homes. That moron Howler bangs on the window, flashing his piece like he’s in some action movie.
Two shots pop off. Howler crumples to the ground.
Demon roars, “Motherfucker!” charging forward, gun leading the way. Bullets start raining down, and I freeze like a damn rookie.
Then Viper steps out. He’s different, looks older, handsome in his leather vest with the patches. He don’t look like the young gangbanger I remember. He’s filled out. Matured.
A shot narrowly misses him. He shoots back, landing three shots in Malibu.
“What the fuck, Maggie?” Gordo bolts past me, his forty caliber in his grip.
I snap out of it, charging into the fray. It’s expected. It’s what I gotta do. Then my ankle gives way, sending me sprawling to the ground, screaming as I tumble into a ditch. “Demon!” I cry out.
More shots go off. By the time I scrambled out of the ditch, Demon’s lying dead on the grass, Viper’s sprawled on the cement steps, and Gordo’s shoving a screaming blonde into our ride like she’s a rag doll.
* * *
A weeklater and the rain pounding the warehouse echoes my fucked-up feelings. Demon’s pushing up daisies. My own damn crew, the Bloodthirsty Devils, they want me dead.
I’m lower than low, even worse off than when Moms kicked me out. Got nodineroin my pocket. No food and no homies got my back.
Cold seeps into my bones ‘cause Southern California decided to pull a fast one and rain non-stop for days. Now I’m on the side of town with the other forgotten people, those no one gives a fuck about, like me the rest of the world has written off, thinks they’re dead, or wish they were.
I shiver uncontrollably and pull my jacket around me tight like it will help fight off the cold. I’m so stupid to think I could just roll back into thebarrio, back to what I thought wasmifamilia. Instead, they say I iced Demon, that I played both sides.
Fuck that.
I’d never do a damn thing to hurt Demon.
Fucking Ghost. That two-faced snake. For years he was Demon’s right-hand man, and now he can’t wait until the body is cold before calling himselfEl Jefe.His first order of business? Greenlighting me.
I look around the dark warehouse feeling like a pathetic, weak bitch, something I vowed I’d never feel again. And yet, here I am. Scared. Emotional. Alone.
