Page 33

Chapter 33

Ari

T he ringing of the phone woke me, making me realize I’d fallen asleep on the couch in front of the television. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and tried to force myself awake—even more so when I saw that it was Lotto’s number.

“Hello?” I said, nervous as to why he was calling so late. “Everything okay?” I had been worried about both him and Bones, but I didn’t want to impose on their family time and private issues.

“Ari? It’s Cisco. Lotto is asleep, and I’m using his phone.”

I instantly sat up straighter, recognizing that this had to be a bad sign. If Cisco was calling me, it made me think Bones or Lotto had to be in trouble. “What’s going on?” I demanded.

“Can you come over?” he quavered. “I don’t want to discuss it over the phone, and I waited until Lotto went to bed. But I fear that my son is about to do something stupid.”

Oh fuck. This was what I had feared ever since Cisco got checked out of the hospital. I had seen Bones slowly shutting down, and I had no idea how to handle him.

“I’m on my way,” I said as I ran to put my shoes on and find my keys. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes or so.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck…

I tried my best to picture how this was going to affect everything. Bones would get himself into shit, dragging the entire gym down with him. If he threw another fight, no one would ever trust him again, and his career would go right down the toilet. Not only that, my family business would be on the line, too. I didn’t know if he realized he was also putting me at risk. Or maybe he was just so deeply involved in all of this that he didn’t care anymore. Maybe he had developed tunnel vision, and all he could see was the chance to save his dad.

I understood his reasons. Of course I did. But that didn’t make him going back to the dark side of his life right.

After driving like a mad woman to get to Bones and Lotto’s, I burst through the front door and raced right to Cisco’s side. He looked pale and fraught, whereas I was sure that I was red-faced. My heart pounded heavily, nausea swam around in my stomach, and my mouth had run dry with fear. But at the moment, I was not worried about me. I was more concerned about how Cisco was feeling, so I pulled him in for a comforting embrace.

“What’s going on?” I whispered so as not to wake Lotto, trying to steady my breathing. “Tell me everything.”

“Bones is about to do something crazy again,” he said, sadness in his words. “I tried my best to stop him, but he’s going back to Nero Rodriguez – his old gambling contact. The one who got him into all that trouble in the first place. I considered telling Lotto, but I’m not sure how he’ll handle it and… I don’t know.”

“Bones promised me that he wouldn’t ever get involved in anything like that again.”

“I know, but he can’t seem to cope. I think he’s becoming unhinged with it all.” He sighed, sliding into the nearest chair. “I’m just so scared that he’s going to end up in the same place that he was last time—taking out loans with loan sharks, betting on everything, throwing fights to make up the money. And Lotto… that man will do anything for Bones. Even if it’s not on the up and up. He’ll throw himself down on the sword if he has to.”

This affected everything. I needed to fix this, sooner rather than later. “Do you know where he’s gone?” I was desperate for a way to reach him. If I could just find Bones, I’d be able to make him see sense. I’d ensure he found another way.

“No.” Cisco shook his head gravely. “I don’t really know anything about Nero Rodriguez. In all honesty, I never thought that I would have to, again. I thought that he was out of our lives for good.”

“Okay, so if we can’t find him, we need to get cash another way,” I said determinedly. “If we can prove to Bones that we have other ways of getting the money, he’ll abandon his plan completely. He’s only doing this out of sheer desperation. It isn’t because he wants to.” I nibbled on my finger staring off into space as I thought.

“I don’t want you to do that,” he snapped. “I honestly don’t want any of this. I don’t want the treatment at all. This has nothing to do with money, but the fact that I can’t… I won’t go through it all again. I’ve done the dance too many times, and I’m sitting this one out.”

“What… what do you mean?” Anxiety coursed through my veins, and I struggled to breathe.

Was he saying what I thought he was? Was he trying to suggest that he didn’t want any treatment? Of course that was his decision, and I’d have to respect it, but that didn’t mean I’d like it. He deserved to live far longer than this cancer was giving him, but he was also a grown man who should be able to make his own decisions.

“I mean that I’ve had a long and fulfilled life. I mean that I miss my Louisa desperately, and that I can’t wait to be with her again. I mean that I would like my life to end on a pleasant note. It isn’t much fun being stuck in a hospital, hooked up to machines, having poison pumped into your body until you’re endlessly sick.” When he put it like that, it was difficult not to understand. I wouldn’t want to end my life like that either. “I don’t want to keep on fighting the inevitable. I’ve come to terms with death now. I’m ready to go. I know that Bones and Lotto will struggle, but they’re men now, and I don’t feel like they’re so… alone now.”

He gave me a sideways look, and I instantly jumped in with, “No, they aren’t alone.”

“Wait here.” Cisco grinned at me before leaving me sitting by myself.

While he was gone, I allowed my mind to wander, thinking about what Bones might be up to right now. He was doing exactly what he said he wouldn’t. What I had promised a whole load of people he wouldn’t do, and I felt so hopeless just sitting there. My feet were itchy, my stomach knotty, but while I didn’t know where he was, there was nothing that I could do. I certainly couldn’t go on a wild goose chase to nowhere.

“I would like you to have this,” Cisco said as he entered the room.

As I spotted the item he held, I couldn’t stop the squeal that burst out of my throat, and I clapped my hands over my mouth in shock. It was a signed picture of Joe Frasier. “Oh wow. That has to be worth thousands of dollars,” I said in awe. “Why didn’t Bones sell that for your treatment? Why haven’t you?”

“Bones doesn’t know about my own memorabilia collection. I was going to give it to him when I died,” he said, as he glanced down at the picture with a smile. “But I’ve sold a lot of it just recently for money I need. This is all that I have left.”

“So… you have money? Money that you need? I thought you said you didn’t want the treatment?” I asked him, confused.

“I sold off my collection so I can follow my dream before I go. I was going to tell Bones and Lotto tonight, but then he gave me no real chance to talk before he stormed off. I’ve bought a one-way plane ticket to Mexico City. I’ve always wanted to return to my home country, and this really is my last chance.” He stared me in the eyes, wanting me to see how serious he was. “My plane leaves tonight, and I’m going to live out the rest of my days there.”

“Mexico? Now?”

“I wanted to say goodbye to both the boys, but I don’t think they would let me go. It’s probably best I leave before Bones returns or Lotto wakes.” He paced around the room and glanced toward the window. “Saying goodbye would rip us up to shreds. Leaving…” He looked at me with tears in his eyes. “Am I coward? Should I stay and face this head on? Or should I leave? I don’t know what to do. I worry about both of them and how they will react.”

“You just go and do what you feel you have to do. If Mexico is your dream, then you deserve to have it.”

“You have this Joe Frasier picture.” He handed me the item that was practically priceless. “I want you to hang it in your gym. The gym I hope you make sure Bones stays a part of.”

“Thank you,” I replied thickly, through tears.

“Just look after both my sons,” he pleaded. “Don’t let Bones wreck his life again and pull down Lotto with him. Please.”

“I promise.” I drew Cisco in for another hug, knowing this would be the last time ever. “And I’ll let him know everything you told me.”

“Oh, that reminds me.” He withdrew and grabbed something from his pocket. “I have a letter for him. I think this should help them to understand… at least, I hope that it does. Please give this to them.”

I nodded and cried as he called a cab and gathered his bags. Cisco had made the right choice for himself. That much was obvious by how happy he looked, and we needed to respect his difficult decision. Of course it was going to be hard for his boys, but Cisco deserved to end his days how he chose.

I just needed to focus on making sure Bones forged himself a good, positive future in his father’s memory, rather than screwing it up. Even though he didn’t have to worry about coming up with the money to help his father, considering Cisco would be in another country, and his decision fully made to leave his life up to fate, Bones still might end up going down that bad route of his past. Gambling could still get a grip on him and suck him down once more, and if I didn’t step in quickly, he might be lost to me forever.

I needed to do my best to make him see that he still had something to live for. I needed to make him see that he could still have a life. He had lost much, and he had been through more shit than most, but he did have good, too. But how the hell was I going to make him see that when I didn’t know where he was? How could I fix this on my own?

I watched Cisco’s cab pull away, knowing it was up to me now. I was the only one who knew what was going on, the only one who could fix this. If I didn’t come up with a plan quickly, everything would fall apart around me.