“Papá, ¿por qué te vas tan tarde? (Dad, why are you leaving so late?)”
A high-pitched voice came from behind the man, tying his shoes. Hearing it, he turned to see his son rubbing his eyes in dinosaur pajamas. Love filled his eyes as he spoke to the young boy in a warm voice.
“Tengo que cuidar a nuestro terreno, mi hijo. ( I need to take care of our land, my son.)”
Usually, the man would leave in the early morning and return mid-day. However, the situation was now different; at any moment, complete chaos could erupt from a rival gang in the south. Meaning that everyone would have to be even more wary of unwanted visitors. Luckily, the man was assigned to guard at night, meaning there was an unlikely chance they would try and attack.
“Oh… ok.”
The boy was disappointed in his father’s answer. They would all usually sleep together, and he loved being in between the two.
“Cuida a tu madre mientras yo no estoy. (Take care of your mother while I’m gone.”
“absolutamente papa! (Absolutely Dad!)”
Smiling gently at the boys’ response, the man leaned forward and gave his son a big hug. No matter what happens in the future, he only hopes his son will live a fantastic life. One where he would not have to kill.
He slowly let go of his son and opened the door, allowing the dark night to creep into the house. The man looked back one more time before leaving.
The young boy stood looking at the closed door with droopy eyes for minutes, hoping his father had forgotten something. And maybe, with a stroke of luck, he did. His mother walked into the room with a full cooler.
“Mi Amor? Miguel, tu padre ya se fue? (My love? Miguel, has your father already left?”
“Si. He left minutes ago.”
“I see, he left his lunch.”
“Let’s go take it to him!”
The boy had a natural respect for and admiration for his father. In his eyes, he was an incredible figure who taught him everything. Although he may occasionally scold him, in the end, he only wants the best. So to see him again was an honor that needed to be done.
They left their cozy home and ventured into the cold night to search for his father.
Slowly yet steadily, they drove, looking for his car. The pair already knew where he would be; however, it would still be quite difficult to find him in the night.
Pulling the windows down for better vision, a cold summer wind passed through the inside of the car. Goosebumps formed on the young boy’s skin as he slowly rubbed his arms. However, he was too immersed in the search, hoping for only one more moment with his father.
His dream would come true. Under the solid yellowish hue of a streetlight lay a familiar car. A vehicle the boy and his father would usually use to drive around the state.
“There!!”
His mother turned and saw the same car, then turned the steering wheel and parked the car next to the other.
There, the yellow light shone down on them as the man stepped out of his car.
“What’s wrong, mi amor?”
“You forgot your food.”
“Oh, I’m sorry for making you come out here.”
“No, it’s okay, here.”
She handed him the cooler and continued talking. Meanwhile, Miguel stood by the side, listening to their talk, hoping to be included. Eventually, his father noticed and talked to him.
“Mi hijo, I’m sorry for making you come out here as well. It’s really cold out too.”
“No! It’s okay, papa.”
Smiling at him, he patted the young boy’s head.
“Alright, you two should go home.”
“Ahh, wait, papa.”
Bang!!
Before the boy could even finish his sentence, a heavy bang rang near them as the young boy’s ears rang. Shocked, he looked around for the source for only a split moment before his father grabbed him and ran behind the car.
A moment later, multiple more bangs rang, raining down onto the car they were hiding behind.
Grasping the situation in front of him, the boy finally realized they were missing his mother.
“Papa!! Mi mama!? (My mom!?)”
The man had wide, bloodshot eyes as he grasped his gun with shaking hands.
“La-La mataron!!! (They- they killed her!!!)”
The boy heard his father’s words and froze, looking to his side to see his mother’s head poking out towards them. Her long, curly hair scattered along the floor as a gaping hole in her head poured warm, hot blood onto the cold pavement.
The boy’s eyes widened as he reached out to her with shivering hands. His eyes filled with tears as his father pulled him back behind the car, out of the fire.
“Don’t move!!”
The man’s eyes were bloodshot as he stood up slightly and leaned over the car to fire!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bullets scattered between both sides as the car windshield shattered. Shards of glass scattered over the pair, but the man focused completely on the murderers of his wife.
“I’ll fucking kill you all!!!”
He leaned down, reloaded his handgun, and continued opening fire.
This continued for minutes. The boy shivered and held his hands to his ears to try and forget it all. His mother’s gaping head, his father’s crazed gaze, and the ear-shattering gunshot sound.
However, no matter how much he tried to forget it, he was currently living it.
In his father’s situation, there was a standstill. As it stayed, both sides could only wait until one side emptied their ammo, and from what it seemed, the opposing side would last longer. However, they did not have time to wait for the man to run out of bullets.
So at the next moment, a light flame fluttered through the sky. Attached to this dim flame was a piece of cloth. And attached to that was a bottle of alcohol. It was a Molotov!!
Before the man and boy could even react, the Molotov landed directly on the car, scattering flames all around.
Paint melted as metal charred. The now blazing flame attached itself to all, even the boy’s father.
At first, it was his shirt, then his pants, but that was all that burned. He swiftly patted it until the flame died.
However, even he could not have stopped this. At the next moment, the car exploded and pushed the raging flames even further. Pushing and lighting the boy’s father.
“AHHHHHHH!!!!!”
He screamed as his flesh, hair, eyes, and body burned. And all the boy could do was watch. Watch his father die scorch right in front of his youthful eyes. There was nothing the boy could do.
The man rolled and slapped himself in a sorrowful attempt to stop the consuming flames. Although that did not last long, after 30 seconds, the man stopped as he took his final breath. The man had died right in front of the boy.
Behind the flame, multiple steps cautiously walked towards the boy. Guns revealed themselves behind the car as they slowly encompassed the boy. Behind those guns were men in gang uniforms, all lowering their guns at the boy, loosening their guard.
A man, who seemed like the boss, walked forward and spoke to his crew.
“You fucking idiots! Why would you aim at the woman!?”
They all stood in silence, choosing not to respond to the hateful words from their boss.
The boy sat there, staring at his charred father without even acknowledging their presence, fixing his gaze on the only man in his life.
From the group of people, one person came out from the back and stared at the boy before talking to the man.
“Javier… What are we going to do with the boy.”
“What do you mean, Alejandro?”
Javier looked towards the boy and Alejandro, respectively, before smiling subtly and speaking.
“We’re obviously going to kill him.”
Before Alejandro could respond, he aimed his handgun at the young boy’s head, preparing to fire.
“Wait!!”
Javier looked at Alejandro as he shouted at him.
“Let him go; he’s a child, Javier.”
“And? He could tell Emilio about our assault. Not only that, he has also seen our faces. We’ll all be killed if this fails and he snitches on us.”
“C’mon, he’s a child, Javier!”
From the cold, bloody pavement, the boy heard the men who killed his father argue. What he needed to do was redeem his father. He needed to kill those who killed his father.
“Move out of the way, Alejandro, or I’ll kill you too.”
Javier then aimed his gun at Alejandro, threatening him with death. However, he stood firm.
Unknown to the two of them, the boy slowly crawled towards his father’s dead body. Slushing past the blood and fire, he reached down to his father’s hand and stealthily grabbed his gun.
He gripped it tightly with tearful eyes before turning and aiming it towards the two of them.
Noticing this, both Javier and Alejandro moved to the side as Javier and the boy aimed at each other.
“Calm down, boy… I won’t kill you.”
The boy glared at Javier with a deep hatred in his eyes. However, could he fire? These men had killed both his mother and father, so could he still let them live?
“If you really want to kill me, do it.”
Javier slightly lowered his gun, testing the young boy.
With shaking hands, the boy continued to aim without firing. Eventually, he gave in.
The boy began to cry and lowered his gun, dropping it right next to his father before talking to Javier.
“Okay, I want to-”
“Wait!!”
Bang!
Javier had pulled his gun up and fired directly into the boy’s chest.
He collapsed onto the ground as hot blood came out.
“Why!!??”
“…”
“He let the gun go!!! What reason did you have to shoot him!!?”
“Reason? Hahahaha. Alejandro, do I need a reason?”
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
“!!!”
Javier shot the boy three more times before reloading his gun and placing it in his pocket.
“Alright, let’s continue. Emilio will fall by dawn.”
On the ground, the boy struggled to breathe as blood poured from his mouth. Slowly, life left his small body as he closed his eyes one final time, hearing.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”
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