Page 44 of Bazooka

Day of Reckoning

Luz

“Why does trouble always follow me wherever I go?” I asked Mr. Smith, who ignored my question while standing by the stone wall, looking like a stone wall.

“Shut up, faggot,” Mr. Wesson sneered, unsurprisingly unimaginative. “Or I will put a bullet in your brain.”

“I doubt it,” I mused, looking around. “Not without your master loosening your leash.”

I got a shoe in my face for that piece of insolence. God, I really was stupid, wasn’t I?

“I want to ask you something.” The familiar voice behind me said. “You know about this love stuff, don’t you?”

Mendoza appeared, scrolling through his phone, while I just… I couldn’t believe he asked me that.

“Really?” I said with a sigh. “God! Google it. Wait, no. If I tell you, will you let me go?”

“And how do you know you’re gay?” Mendoza said, sounding lost in thought.

“Your dick gets hard when you see another dick,” I replied, standing up. “It’s fairly simple. Mendoza, look… I found the love of my life, okay? I can’t die.”

He frowned, staring at his phone. “Speaking of, your saviors are here, Goldilocks. Mr. Smith, Mr. Wesson, if you would?”

What the hell did that mean?

His goons pulled me to my knees when the chapel door suddenly burst open. I heard two gunshots before Mendoza’s goons fell to the ground. When I saw Bazooka walking inside with his gun raised, I felt relief, happiness, love, and then cold fear.

“Hands on your head, Mendoza,” Bazooka said, glancing at me. “Luz, love, stay where you are.”

I nodded and raised my hands in defense, frozen to the spot.

Mendoza grinned. “Gentlemen, you’re late.”

Wait, he was expecting them? What the hell was going on?

A dozen more thugs appeared behind Mendoza, armed to the teeth. Now it was all of them against just two cops. Shit!

“You’re not running away this time,” Bazooka said, but his eyes kept darting to me. I could see worry in his beautiful grays, and another emotion I’d never seen there before.

Mendoza smirked. “ Lo contrario . More than that, I have you all here where I need you. Even you, Marc.”

Mendoza was speaking to the blond guy who came with Bazooka, but who was he? The blond guy slowly approached Mendoza, pointing his gun at him.

“You’re going down, psycho.”

Mendoza chuckled as if he weren’t facing the barrel of a gun.

“I don’t think so, guapo ,” he said, caressing the blond guy’s cheek. “It’s nice to see your lying face again. By the way, I will make you pay for deceiving me.”

“And how will you do that while rotting in prison?”

Mendoza sneered. “I have more guns here, or don’t you know how to count?”

“It doesn’t mean shit,” Bazooka said, smirking. “Because the most important weapon is not in the room.”

Only then did I notice a red dot on Mendoza’s forehead. Somehow, Mendoza knew it too.

“The sniper guy,” he said with a sigh. “I forgot about him. Mierda .”

“Tell your men to drop their weapons,” Bazooka ordered. “Now. Or the sniper guy will shoot you in the head.”

“ Hombres ,” Mendoza said over his shoulder. “Lower your weapons. Esta bien .”

They did what he said as the blond cop walked up to Mendoza and made him kneel, while Bazooka cuffed him.

“It’s my pleasure to kneel before you, Marc,” Mendoza said, chuckling. “Say hello to your wife for me, will you? By the way, this is not over.”

I could hear the police sirens in the distance when Bazooka walked up to me and took me in his arms. Or grabbed me more like it, because his hold was merciless. I hugged him back, only to realize that I was trembling like a leaf.

“I fucked up, Baz,” I muttered into his neck, cursing myself for my reckless, thoughtless ways. “I’m so sorry. I’m such an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot,” Bazooka said, kissing my forehead. “Did he hurt you?”

I shook my head.

“Don’t ever do this to me again, pest.”

“I won’t. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

I, one hundred percent, heard it wrong. I was about to ask him, just in case, when I heard a shot.

I flinched and looked around, not knowing who fired it, only to spot Mr. Smith with his gun smoking.

It was when Bazooka collapsed to the floor that I realized what had happened.

I could see the blond cop putting a bullet in Mr. Smith’s head before my gaze fell on the bloody stain spreading on Bazooka's shirt.

“No,” I whispered, feeling myself growing pale. “God, please, no.”

But it was too late. God wasn’t taking requests anymore.

Bazooka

Some kind of infernal noise woke me up. For an unknown reason, it made me think of bad luck. How could you know you had it? Nine times out of ten, you just missed your bus. Four times out of five, you got stuck in an elevator. The one time you won the lottery, you got measly ten bucks.

“I’m not leaving, you bitch!” I heard Luz screaming in the distance. “I will handcuff myself to his bed, but you won’t make me leave him.”

I opened my eyes, frowning at the bright light coming from the ceiling above me. When my vision cleared, I saw Adam, Jordan, and Maddox standing around my… bed? Why was I in bed?

Then, it all slowly started to come back to me.

“Whassup?” Maddox said, biting into his sandwich. “Welcome back, Bradley.”

“Where am I?” I grumbled.

“In the hospital.”

I barely said it when Luz came into the room and squeaked. He ran up to me and slammed his lips onto mine. I groaned because it hurt.

“Ow,” I murmured in protest. “What did I say about PDA?”

“Eh, everyone knows we’re fucking,” Luz said, taking my hand in his. “How are you feeling, boss? Are you okay? God, I have never been so worried in my life.”

“I’m fine,” I said, straightening up. “How long have I been out?”

“A few hours,” Adam replied. “Thank God you woke up, because Luz was driving everyone crazy.”

“I’m so sorry, kochanie ,” Luz said as his eyes watered. “I shouldn’t have disobeyed you. I’m such an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot,” I said, frowning when a sharp pain in my shoulder told me I shouldn’t be moving. “But I hope you remember those words the next time you contradict me.”

“Excuse me.”

At the sound of a female voice, Luz turned and scowled.

“It’s you again!”

The nurse, judging by her uniform, looked annoyed.

“I need to check the patient’s blood pressure, Mr. Zablonsky,” she said, glancing at me apologetically. “You’re interfering with my work and making a scene. Again.”

“Fuck you, Nurse Ratched,” Luz hissed. “I’m not leaving my fiancé. I also have this.”

I spotted handcuffs in his hand, and in the next moment, his hand was cuffed to my bed.

Jordan burst into laughter and tried to disguise it by coughing. Adam looked amused, too. Maddox chuckled and said, “You’re a ridiculous person, Zablonsky.”

“I’m calling a doctor.” The nurse said with a sigh. “I’m not paid enough for this.”

“Yeah, and your shoes are ugly,” Luz shouted after her.

I was about to reprimand him when I felt his sweet lips on mine, and my brain shut down. Just like that.

“Rest, kochanie . I’ve got you.”

The rest of the story didn’t sound so good.

It turned out that while we were dealing with Mendoza, he was transferring a shipment of weapons across the border.

The whole thing was a setup. Mendoza drew our attention away from his criminal activity by messing with us personally.

When Marcello showed up and told me the fucker managed to escape from the detention center, I went livid.

But then again, as I said before, Mendoza was as slippery as an eel.

After I heard it all, my head was hurting big time.

“Boys, girls, and theys, get the fuck out,” Luz said, sounding impatient. “I need to talk to my fiancé. And if any of you lets Officer Vile into this room, I’m officially cancelling you.”

“Fiancé?” I said when everyone left. “I have a feeling I’m missing something.”

“Never mind that,” Luz breathed, wide-eyed. “Did you mean what you said in the chapel?”

I knew exactly what he meant, but I decided to fuck with him because he was behaving like a brat.

“What do you mean?” I said, frowning in confusion.

Aquamarine eyes found mine, filled with alarm.

“You don’t remember?” Luz whispered, turning pale. “Maybe you have amnesia. Oh my God, you have amnesia, don’t you?”

I burst into laughter because he was just hilarious.

“I don’t have amnesia, pest.”

Luz groaned. “Don’t tease me. Are you teasing me? If you are, please stop and just say it. My brain is fucking with me, and I don’t know if I imagined it or not. Do you love me?”

“Did you just say the L word again?” I asked him, frowning.

“You bet I said the fucking L word again, you duffel bag freak,” Luz exclaimed. “Now say it back, or else.”

I grinned. “I love the shit out of you.”

He blinked in disbelief. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Thank God!” he said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Now it’s official. We’re getting married. Also, we have a barbecue to attend to.”

I cocked my eyebrows. “Does that mean…?”

He shrugged. “My father arranged for you to be admitted into the best hospital and to be looked after by the best doctors. I’m not forgiving him for the shit he put me through, but I want to see him sweat when I kiss you in front of him.

That fucker will regret his invitation. Also… I decided to listen to your advice.”

“Meaning?”

“Lost chances, lost opportunities,” Luz explained before whispering in my ear. “By the way, I have a butt plug in my ass. I put it there just in case, you know? No pressure.”

I rubbed my forehead because… what was I supposed to say to that?

Was that the end of our story? With me in the hospital bed, and a gunshot wound in my shoulder? With Luz handcuffed to my bed, and a butt plug stuck in his ass?

You bet it was.

And why not?

Our love story might have been imperfect, but the ending was just right.

Did we stay together?

Did we get married?

Have Luz’s parents come to terms with their son’s sexuality?

Have Tye and Carter made another appearance?

As Luz would say…

“Pfft. Duh!”

THE HAPPY END