Compilations & Complications

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“We had a deal! You promised you wouldn’t hurt him!”

“Well sometimes things don’t work out the way we planned,” he said calmly.

“You’re so infuriating!” she said after a groan of frustration. “Why do I even put up with you?”

“Because you know I can get you what you want.”

“How am I supposed to trust that? You almost shot him!”

“But I didn’t. Your precious boy toy doesn’t have a bullet in him.” Much to his discontent but he wouldn’t tell her that. She was already pissed at his nonchalant nature. He didn’t seem to care that she was mad. That just made her madder.

“I want out. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“Calm down, you’re being too dramatic.” She looked at him with a shocked expression.

“Too dramatic?! You ran them off the road! You’re a psycho!” Now it was his turn to get mad. He made his way over to her in three steps and grabbed her by the throat.

“I’d think twice before calling me psycho again. You go that?” She nodded through her frightened expression. Tears were pooling in her eyes; she wouldn’t dare let them fall.

“Good.” He relaxed his grip causing her to fall to the floor. “Now get the fuck up” She did as she was told.

“So what now?” she asked in a shaky voice after a couple moments of silence. He didn’t look at her; instead he poured himself a glass of whiskey.

“Now we wait and see.” He hated the idea but they had to since he didn’t get to set his entire plan into motion. Things didn’t quite work out the way he wanted but they would eventually, he just needed to plan it out better.

“What exactly are we waiting for?”

“We’ll know it when it happens.” That was all he was going to say on the topic. He took his drink and left her alone in the room, hoping that she’d find her own way out. She did after some time. The ride back to her destination was filled with uncertainty. Something big was gonna happen and she didn’t know if she wanted to be a part of it.

***



“How the fuck did you lose them?”

“Hey, you’re the one who decided to use the bathroom at the last minute,” I argued. “If you’d had gone when I went we’d be right behind them.” Tony huffed and stared out of the window like a stubborn child. I couldn’t help but chuckle although I was a little peeved that he blamed me for losing Vic’s car. It really was his fault.

“Do you think they noticed that we’re not behind them?” Tone asked.

“I don’t think so. One of them would’ve called by now. Besides, we literally just left the gas station. Give them time to miss us.” Tony rolled his eyes at my smile but he smiled at my lighthearted comment.

We drove for a little while without any sign of Vic’s car, which was weird because we were on a pretty deserted road in El Paso. The frozen asphalt kept everyone off the highway but obviously that didn’t mean Vic. Where the fuck was he?

“Hey Tone, text Mike. Ask him where they are. Maybe we passed them or something.”

“I doubt it but sure.” He pulled his phone out and started typing as I focused on the road ahead of us. “Fuck,” he mumbled. I looked at him questioningly.

“Did we pass them? Are they okay?”

“I wouldn’t know. There’s no signal. I guess the storm knocked it out.”

“Fucking hell,” I groaned. Well, there goes that idea.

“It’ll be okay, we’ll catch up to them.” I nodded as I regained focus. I hated driving on ice but knowing that Vic was in front of me put me at ease. Tony would be driving but he was worse at driving in these conditions. This was the only way we wouldn’t meet death as quickly.

“Wait, is that them?” I glanced to my right to see what Tony was talking about. Sure enough there was a car right next to us. “Hey guys,” Tony said as he smiled and waved out the window.

“Tony…,” I started. There was something off about the whole situation. The car next to us sped up and within a minute it was about 1,000 feet in front of us. Tony looked as confused as I felt.

“What was that?” he asked.

“That wasn’t Vic, I can tell you that much.”

“Then who…?” I shrugged and refocused.

We drove for about an hour when we noticed something in the distance. It was dark but we could see it clear as day. It was the same car but it was stopped on the side of the road. Across the road was another car. It was turned over and on fire in the grass. The flames were rising faster than the smoke that accompanied them. Before we got close enough to see whose car it was the other car drove off just as fast as it had when it was next to us hours ago. Tony bounced his leg up and down, a nervous habit of his. We were thinking the same thing: whatever had happened was bad and involved whoever was in the car that just rushed off.

I pulled over and took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for whatever I was gonna see. I needed to be calm if I was gonna help. I think Tony was thinking the same thing because he had his eyes closed in that focused state that he’d get in before a show.

“You good?” I asked. He opened his eyes and nodded. This was new to us. We’d never seen a wreck like this and even though we didn’t know who the people were we didn’t want them to suffer. I opened my door and stepped out of the car. Tone followed suit with his phone to his ear. I guess he was finally able to get a signal.

The closer I stepped to the car the worse I felt. I couldn’t figure it out until I saw him. He was laying there with cuts and bruises all over his body, but it was him.

Mike.

He was in the midst of all the flames; his body was halfway out of the car, hanging out of the window. If he looked that bad I didn’t wanna know how Vic or Kellin looked. I couldn’t even tell if they were in the car. Panic started rising inside me.

“Tony!” I screamed. “TONY!” He looked away from the horizon and focused on my face which no doubt held pain and anguish.

“They’re on their way,” he said softly. I looked back at the car as it was being swallowed by fire.

I was in a panic. I ran closer to the car with every intention of pulling Kellin and the brothers out. I was stopped before I could.

“Let me go!” I yelled, tears starting to run down my cheeks. “Let me go, Tony! They’ll die!”

“The cops are on their way, man. You don’t have to do this.”

“They’re gonna die! They’re gonna die!”

“No, Jaime!”

“They’re gonna die!”

I repeated that sentence while the fire intensified. I repeated that sentence while Tony told me to calm down and let the professionals handle the situation when they arrived. I repeated that sentence as the car finally caved in under the fire and completely engulfed my friends.

***

The drive to the house was silent. Neither Tony nor I said a word about what happened. I just couldn’t believe that I watched my friends….

“Hey,” Tony called to me. I looked at him for a brief second before looking back at the road. “Jaime?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” I choked out. If I talked then I’d cry and crying was not an option, especially when I was driving. Yes it was Tony’s turn to drive but I just couldn’t sit in a car with my thoughts. Driving across the country was a nice distraction.

“You know you’re gonna have to talk eventually, right?” I nodded but didn’t say a word. What could I say? I saw a car collapse on top of my best friends, my brothers. How was I supposed to talk about that? How was I gonna tell the rest of our friends? Just, how?

“Hey,” he said, putting a hand on my shoulder, “I think you should pull over.” I hadn’t realized that I’d been crying until he said that.

“Yeah, sure,” I said softly. I pulled into a gas station and got out of the car, suddenly feeling suffocated. I walked around the lot just trying to breathe.

Breathing. It’s a weird thing. You open your mouth to take in the air that surrounds you and you let it out and somehow it’s supposed to calm you down. Like all of those oxygen molecules going into your lungs is supposed to put your body at ease when you’re stressed or anxious. How? How did it work? And why was the world so cruel that those who deserved it most weren’t able to receive it after some time?

Who gave some higher power the right to take away what we loved the most? Why didn’t we ever get a say? I’d heard that God was fair and just, so why couldn’t we bargain? If you were good on Earth why couldn’t you ask for the other good people to stay on Earth with you?

There were those who were too young to die, and then there were those who didn’t deserve it at all. There was a difference between the two. Those too young to die didn’t necessarily deserve it, but there were those who did. There were bad people who were my age; my friends weren’t those people.

I had walked around the entire gas station just letting my thoughts run wild. I felt so off, so bad. So dead inside. This was unlike my usually happy self, and it scared me. I’d never been one to think of suicide or even self-harm, but after witnessing what I had, my mind was clouded with bad thoughts.

End it. End it all. It’s over and it can stay that way. Just do it.

“Jaime?” I turned to see Tony looking at me with worry in his eyes. “Are you okay?”

I wasn’t, not even close. I didn’t answer the question though. I knew he wanted me to let him in but I couldn’t, not after what happened.

“You know this’ll all work out, right? It won’t be bad forever.”

“Whatever,” I grunted as I walked back to the car. I heard him sigh before he followed me.

Who was he to say that this would all be okay? He didn’t even seem shaken up about it. Then again that was who Tony was. He’d keep his emotions inside because he didn’t like it when we called him sensitive. You’d think he’d show some symptoms of grief though. He watched the same scene I did.

Was I ever gonna get over this? No. So many lives were ruined tonight because of some bastard. Some son of a bitch took my friends from me and they sure as hell weren’t gonna get away with it.

What could I do though? I was so lost without my friends. I stared out the window in an attempt to calm down the evil thoughts in my head. I didn’t need them clouding my mind, especially since Tony and I had to explain to Vic and Mike’s parents what had happened to their only children. The realization that we’d be doing that in less than twelve hours killed me.

Mrs. Fuentes would cry in my or her husband’s arms; Mr. Fuentes would look at us in shock and try to get us to take it back. He’d say we were lying, that their sons were just running late or stopped for a bite to eat because they’re growing boys and driving that long makes you hungry. Tony and I would look at them with sympathetic eyes as they cry and beg and plead for us to be lying.

I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my fists. No, it wasn’t gonna be like that. I wouldn’t watch the hurt in my loved ones’ eyes as I told them the fate of Vic, Mike, and Kellin. No, I’d make this right. I wasn’t gonna sit and feel sad because that wasn’t gonna fix anything. I was gonna get that bitch back for all the shit he just put my friends and family through. I didn’t need sympathy; I needed revenge, and I was gonna get it at any cost.

Notes