IWOAK 35 Cut Scene

Hey all,

So I'm still pushing through this chapter. Got fed up and I figured I'd share one of the scenes that got cut since it wasn't getting the urgency across and Judi's voice isn't flowing properly. I've reread this story more times these past few months then I have during the years I've been writing it and it still isn't coming to me. I've written almost 20K and not even half of that is usable. So unamused.

I don't think there are any spoilers, it's a bit of backstory and there's some violence. 

This was one of multiple openings I had written for this chapter, and was going to be the original opening but I scrapped it about a week or two ago. 

Scene below the cut:

I felt like I was forever on the edge of an asthma attack. It had been days since Missy had told me and yet I still found it difficult to breathe. My chest felt like someone was sitting on it and my throat felt tight. My eyes were dry and gritty and swollen and I couldn't even cry to ease them because tears were what had made them this way in the first place.

Waiting was hell and we hadn't been able to do anything while Los Reyes tried to figure out what to do and see if he would show up on his own. And now I was sitting in on what I could only call a war council as Anita threw a bitch fit because I was there.

I was about six seconds away from punching her dead in the face and calling it a day. My nerves felt like someone had put them on top of my skin and then poured salt on them from the moment I learned they weren't going to tell the police and if I told I'd be treated “accordingly” and while Missy had snapped at her brother for saying that, she hadn’t disagreed with his order to not tell.

Of course, raw as my nerves felt Missy's had clearly snapped because before I could open my mouth or raise a hand to her Missy had backhanded her. Hard. No one said a word as Anita fell to the ground and I tried not to look around wide eyed as Missy crouched before Anita, taking her chin in her hand and forcing her look at her.

"I'm going to say this in English so everyone can understand. Judi got in a fight with Carmen because AJ was dating her. According to what I know, he originally started dating her to mend your hurt feelings because the enemy you were fucking tossed you away once he found out you were cheating on him. Because I'm a nosy bitch I fully looked at the results of the paternity test and the truth of the matter is, you stupid slut, this is your fault. Because you couldn't keep your legs shut." Missy didn't raise her voice or even sound overly upset but from the way Anita was grabbing at Missy's wrist it was clear she was hurting her.

"Now, you call my girl outside her name one more fucking time, I'm going to beat your ass the way you should have got beat the moment AJ learned you were fucking the enemy. Sister or no. I'm a Vallejos and we take care of our own. So open your mouth again and see what happens. "

Missy was squeezing Anita's face so tightly her knuckles were white and when she let go of her you could see the skin of her jaw already turning red from where Missy had been holding her and I knew that was going to leave bruises.

Missy stood up and turned her back on Anita who stood up quickly, brushing her dress down before turning to glare at me.

“Ah, sí, usted sabe cómo cuidar de su propia, ¿no? Oh wait… we’re doing this in English so your pet can understand, verdad? How’s your twin? Is he still retarded? That’s what happened the last time you took care of your own, right?”

I don’t think anyone could have moved fast enough to get Missy before she touched Anita. It happened so fast it was surreal. One moment Missy had her back to Anita, the next she was holding Anita by her hair and punching her. She hit her three times in rapid succession before she had her right hand, her hitting hand, wrapped around her throat.

By this time everyone had jumped up but no one had broken it up. 

Josefina tried but what everyone had forgotten, myself included, was that Missy’s brothers were right there and they had no problem holding everyone else back when Missy moved.

“Want to say that again, puta?” I moved a little closer, opening my mouth to get involved when Luka stepped up, putting his hand around Missy’s wrist and manually peeling Missy’s fingers off of Anita.

“Missy, suficiente. Anita, you think it’s funny to joke about our brother being warehoused? When yours is probably suffering the same thing?”

Anita blanched, still gasping for breath and holding her hands to her blood smeared face while she shook her head rapidly.

“They…they wouldn’t touch him, they just want to force you to do a trade and give her up.”

Missy scoffed, her ‘stupid bitch’ loud and clear even as her brother tightened his hold on her wrist. Tor a moment I thought she was going to spit in Anita’s face, and I got up and went over to her, partly to keep her from killing AJ’s sister, and partly because she looked so mad she could cry.

“Let me make this shit clearer than fucking glass. Judi’s not going anywhere, any one tries to trade her to end this peacefully you’ve turned traitor and I will hunt you down and deal with you myself, or I might get one of my cousins to do it, just to clarify.” It says something about my state of mind that I didn’t even get a twinge of panic at the thought of someone trading me in. I was more worried that Missy was going to try and kill everyone in the room.

She had gone calm, the words she had spoken earlier very precise and if it wasn’t for the fact that her chest was heaving I might have thought she was fully under control. She opened her mouth to say something else but Luka cut in before she could.

“You better pray that we find AJ, and we find him alive, because otherwise, since you want to bring up old hurts, we’re going to come looking for recompense for the damage you did when you sold our brother out to Carmen,” Luka said, his right hand clutching Missy’s arm although he was staring down Anita. I blinked at that and from the stiffening and soft sounds coming from around me, I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know that bit.

Anita said something back in rapid Spanish and Luka responded just as quickly, losing me before they had finished the first sentence. I don’t know what was said, but Luka went from holding Missy’s wrist to pulling her into a ‘hug’ his arms trapping hers as he spoke over Anita who looked like she was on the verge of tears.

I watched, wide-eyed as Josefina shoved her sister roughly, telling her to just go before apologizing to Missy and the rest.

No one said anything and I tried to disappear a bit as they waited until the door closed behind them. I waited for someone to comment on what had just gone down, once we got AJ back I doubted Anita would keep her mouth shut about all of that, but then again she might if she really had something to do with Missy’s brother getting warehoused.

But Luka just let Missy go and she sat beside me and looking at Stephen who looked extremely uncomfortable but trying to look nonchalant and he was very obviously trying not to look at Silva who had come with her sisters but was still sitting down, her right eye swollen and her gaze focused on him since he’d been telling us what had happened before Anita had lost her shit.

 “Stephen, finish what you were saying. We need to know how bad this is, especially if we’re not giving them what they want.” I tensed and Missy bumped me with her shoulder as if her brother hadn’t sounded seriously put out by that.

I glanced at Silva but she didn’t move, apparently more focused on getting a straight forward account on what had happened instead of the fact that she was sitting in the living room surrounded by people who had just threatened to do her sister bodily harm if her brother didn’t come back.

 “There are two versions of how it went down. From what I heard, people saw him at STC waiting around, some say he was with someone, a little black dude others say he was alone, but everyone agrees that the dudes who ran up on him were all in black. And apparently they didn’t run up on him.”

I frowned at that, the first time I had heard anything about AJ not just being jumped. My heart sped up as I wondered if everyone had just blown things out of proportion but then Stephen continued talking.

“Jorge’s sister said it was like he was expecting them, even let one of them get close, words were exchanged and AJ got pissed, the bus he was waiting for came, and Jorge’s sister and her friend got on and when AJ tried that’s when the dudes grabbed him and pulled him off. Bus driver didn’t wait or try to help he just drove off and by the time Jorge got the call from his sister and headed to STC AJ was gone. We know AJ struggled, the girls saw them throw punches and Jorge said there was was blood on the floor and someone probably got tossed into the bus shelter since the glass was shattered but we don’t know much else.”

No one else seemed to find that as horrifying as I did. All I’d been told was that he’d been grabbed. No mention of blood or the fact that he seemed to know the boys.

The rest of the “discussion” went by in a blur as I tried not to cry because these people weren't the type to understand tears at least not at this stage and Missy looked ready to kill. Understandably since people were talking in circles and kept saying they want to negotiate when they needed to just figure out how to get AJ back.

Missy's phone went off and she glanced at it, before standing up abruptly.

"Judi, we're out." I blinked and frowned, standing quickly even though now i wanted to yell because nothing had been resolved.

"Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Don't do any stupid hero shit and start something Missy. You thought that power struggle with AJ was bad, wait until it goes city wide." Missy ignored her brother and I hurriedly made my way over to her.

"I’m just about done, mano. The fuck are we doing sitting here? We know who took him, and we might not know where he is but we sure as hell know how to make them tell us but y’all want to see here talking about shit. Discussing options. Fuck. That. Los Reyes can sit around while another one of our own gets fucked over but y’all seem to forget that I’m not a Reyes I’m a Panther and I think it’s about time Carmen had a talking too.”

“Missy,” one of her other brother’s said, the growl as he said her name making it clear that this was a warning but she ignored it.

“No, don’t Missy me. I followed the rules when they had Miguel, and didn’t jump the minute he went missing cause “we didn’t have proof”, we just had “hearsay”, “we couldn’t afford to deal with a turf war when we were still trying to recover from the death toll from AJ’s coup”.” Missy kept making the bunny ears motions around certain words, stepping closer to Luka who was just staring at her.

“I sat around and did shit all while my baby brother, my twin was being tortured and I’m not doing it again. Ain’t no one here smart enough to get back at anyone without violence and breaking the truce. Anita tried to fuck around with it, ahora esta loca que un bebe que no puede hacerse cargo de[JC1] . AJ tried, look where that got him and we know that boy would’ve been at a gifted school if we weren’t poor as fuck. Not me. We don’t get AJ back soon, I’m calling in daddy and they can get their fucking war.”

She glared at him before turning to glance over in my direction, for a moment I thought she was going to call me out by name but she just did a nod towards the door and almost as one Kaia and I stood up. If someone had told me two days ago that I’d be able to sit with Kaia and there’d be no bickering, I would’ve laughed.

Now I was just glad she was willing to let things go, at least for now.

“And while you’re off playing Captain Save A Ho, who is going to explain to the mothers’ of the boys who wind up dead? You do this Missy and you’re going to be the reason a bunch of girls are going to being seeing their boyfriends in coffins. Remember how that felt?”

Kaia made a choking sound and I froze, tensing to grab Missy because choking you’re your own sibling wasn’t something you could come back from, even if he deserved it but Missy didn’t take the bait. At least not the way we expected her too.

“Better their boyfriends then my brothers and that includes AJ.  Tou know that’s what’s going to happen if we don’t get him back with force. If we don’t do this we’ll be declared weak and it’ll be open season on us, fuck a truce. There are already whispers that we’ve gone soft. I am tired of my loved ones being the ones in caskets or in hospital beds. If we can deal this with no bodies in the ground, perfect, if we can’t the majority of them will be theirs.”

She didn’t wait to see if he had anything else to say just turned and left and both Kaia and I hurried after her my stomach trying to crawl its way up my throat as her words played through my head repeatedly.

I didn’t even try to pretend to be calm once I got in the car, just shoved my head between my legs and took deep breaths so I wouldn’t start to hyperventilate. I was beyond out of my element. I was in space and my uniform was running out of air. I was in a burning building and even if I got out, I was sure I’d wind up dead from smoke inhalation.

“Judi, we can drop you home if you want,” Missy said from the front glancing back as I tried to control my breathing.

“No, I’m good.”

“You sure?” Kaia asked, her tone deceptively light. “Because if shit goes down your mom can’t come hold your hand.”

“He’s my boyfriend and--”

“It’s your fault,” Kaia said cutting in and I couldn’t say anything because, well, I had no come back for that. Missy slammed on her brakes, jerking us forward and I braced myself as best I could using the seat in front of me. 

Kaia swore in Spanish, getting the worst of it because she hadn’t buckled up once she got in and as a result was slammed into the dashboard.

“Don’t start anything right now, Kaia. You know as well as I do that the Morales boys would’ve found some reason to start shit with or without Judi and you know that you would’ve done the same damn thing. So stop talking shit, turn around and let’s see if we can handle this without me getting any more upset.”

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 [JC1]Now she’s crazy with a baby she can’t take care of

mano -- short for hermano which means brother.