“’Tis
a fearful thing
to
love what death can touch..”
-Chaim stern
The party began without a hitch.
The fifteen or so guests arrived fashionably late, mostly coming to eat some free snacks and mingle with the new neighbors, killing a few hours before they head off to one of the many numerous bars and clubs around the Washington heights area.
Sierra provided the music with a portable speaker she had just recently bought for herself, and the kids were having fun with some friends they had invited.
Flora was with her friends Jermaine, Delia and Nour, While Zekito was with a kid he had just met who lived two doors down named Roberto.
Maritza was in the kitchen serving drinks and making sure everyone was tended to.
“Hey,” One guest stated, “Thanks for inviting us! We don’t get to go to many parties these days, since we got our son ya know. But I’m happy our kiddos are getting along!”
“Oh,” responded Maritza, “well I’m glad you came. You folks ever need anything, please let me know.”
“Oh we sure will,” Answered the male counterpart, “Me and Elena here would love if Roberto could over here more often, maybe give us a few minutes of rest!”
“Oh Cuco,” The female guest Elena said as she playfully nudged her husband, “He’s okay. Maybe a little rambunctious, but he gets that from your side of the family!”
They all smiled and laughed as they then recounted stories about the old country to one another, as one final guest entered the apartment.
It was Hidalgo.
The old man brought with him a gift. He then proceeded to put the gift on the table next to the door where the coat rack was.
“YOOO, tio Hidalgo is here!” Flora shouted as she ran to Hidalgo, hugging him firmly.
The weeks following the incident in front of the apartment building have brought them both to grow fondly of one another. Hidalgo’s line of work never gave him the chance to produce offspring of his own, and by the time he had met the love of his life, she had long passed her window of conception, so having someone call her 'tio' meant the world to him. He grew to love Flora as sort of a grand niece.
This...troubled Hidalgo's current predicament.
He was put in a terrible situation that left him with two terrible choices: Murder the mother of a girl who had grown to trust him or let the love of his life perish at the hands of this 'secret organization' that forced him to complete this last daunting task in his illustrious hit man career. He wandered slowly in his mind throughout the week prior to this party, sulking and considering what options he had, if any.
He realized sadly, that he had none.
“Hi!” Someone said to Hidalgo, taking him out of his trance.
It was Yuki.
“And who might you be?” She asked as she put her hand out to greet him.
Without Hidalgo realizing it, he had already been at the party for almost an hour and had unintentionally stared with an eerie intensity at Maritza, much to Yuki's concern and suspicion.
“Oh,” He said as he shook his head, regaining his composure. “My name is Hidalgo. I am the building Super, Also a family friend.”
“Yeah?” She asked.
“Yeah.” He answered as he shook her hand.
“Well that’s nice. I just found it weird how hard you were staring at my sister for as long as you were. You looked a little angry too. Just wanted to let you know. I see you...”
As Yuki said those words, she kindly smiled at Hidalgo and let go of their handshake as her eyes quickly flickered green. She then walked back towards Maritza, who was sitting on the couch.
Hidalgo stood there for a moment, shook his head in disbelief, and headed towards the snack table to grab a pastelillo.
“Yuki,” Maritza said to Yuki as she saw Yuki sit next to her, “what did you say to him?”
“Nothing,” Yuki responded, “Just said hey.”
The party was going well.
The music was blaring, some of the livelier folks attending danced jovially to “Ay vamos” by J Balvin when suddenly…
The lights went out.
A window suddenly shattered as a shot loudly rang out.
The lights flickered back on almost immediately after.
The people all dropped to the floor as their fear was realized: someone had shot a gun into the apartment.
“Is everyone OKAY?!?” Shouted Sierra as she looked. Everyone seemed fine, until she ran to her cousin Maritza who was slouched on the couch next to the window.
She was struck in the torso with a bullet that passed her and lodged into the couch frame.
“OH MY GOD!” Shouted Elena who was seated next to Maritza at the time, struggling to mark 911 on her cell phone.
Yuki looked at the window, saw the shattered glass on the floor, then at Maritza. As tears welled up in her eyes, she looked at the door, noticing it was open.
She also noticed that Hidalgo was nowhere to be seen.
Yuki briskly headed towards the door, a look of pure anger/determination washing over her face.
“Where he hell are you going, Yuki?” asked Sierra as she held back furious tears and held Maritza closely, Covering the gunshot wound with a towel.
“I’ll be back,” Yuki answered calmly as she left, “Get my sister to the hospital. I have to find that old man.”
