Chapter 6

96 hours until release

Marvin

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Dear Marvin,

The heart didn’t mean anything, and it’s just the way I talk. I know this is not a dating site, and I’m not looking for anyone to date either!!!

Anyway, about my hobbies. I originally planned on becoming a lawyer, but I work as a mixologist at a small cocktail bar, so it clearly hasn’t worked out. I’m a bit too embarrassed to admit it, but I don’t really have any goals yet, but what’s the rush?

(If things go wrong, I can always marry some rich guy🤑)

Enough about me. You seem way too intelligent to be in prison, and you have a ridiculously long list of felonies. My question for you is, where did it go wrong, and how can I prevent the same thing from happening to me?

From,

Lena

—

I smiled at Lena’s message, which she had sent yesterday. I knew she would answer. There was probably something that had kept her busy. It was only unfortunate that something had caused her to have a two-day delay, but it meant she didn't bail on me.

No one ignored me.

So Lena was a mixologist. That was completely different from a lawyer, but shit happens. My future was also different than planned, so I was not one to judge.

Lena’s humor made me laugh, but she was right. If things really didn’t work out, she could always marry some rich guy. Judging from her profile picture, Lena was not a bad-looking woman.

I had no idea whether the picture was taken from her good angle, photoshopped, or if she was a catfish, but if that was indeed her on her profile picture—she looked breathtaking and gorgeous.

The smile on my face faded as I reached her last sentence. Where did it go wrong? It was something I had often wondered myself.

It was something that took me back to the day everything went down.

————————

Four years ago

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“We’re under attack!” Panther yelled out. “Retreat!”

The DEA had found us.

All of the men rushed to put the product back into the van and got back into the cars while the Hernandez men made a run for it. The parking lot was filled with smoke and gunshots, but only one thing went through my head.

“Where is Tiago!” I yelled through all the noise. Everyone ran past me, but all I could do was walk in the opposite direction. Panther ran towards me and tried to hold me back. “Marvin, you can’t!”

“Santiago is still out there!” I shouted as I roughly grabbed him by his shoulders. “Santiago...he’s still out there!”

“Santiago is not going to lead the Castillo’s. You are!” Panther scolded me as he pulled me by my arm. “Marvin, get ahold of yourself!”

I released myself from Panther’s grip and ran to the front while Panther ran behind me. “Tiago!” I called out. I didn’t care whether they would arrest me or not. All I wanted was for Tiago to be safe.

“Ti—“

Bang!

I stopped in my steps and looked at Tiago, who had pulled the trigger. He had shot a DEA agent, and there was no turning back. “Tiago,” I whispered while Panther put his hand on my shoulder.

Tiago’s hands were shaking, and he dropped the gun from his hands before he rushed towards the agent who was fighting for his life. “I-I didn’t mean to...I didn’t mean to!” Tiago repeated while he looked back at me.

“Marvin...Panther...we have to save him!” He spoke with a look full of worry. What we really needed was to get the hell out of here, but Tiago was only sixteen. He didn’t know how stuff like that worked.

“Grab him,” I instructed Panther. He rushed forward and held Tiago by his neck so he could pull him along. “Maddens!” I heard one of the officers call out. The voice was getting closer and closer, so I did what I had to do and grabbed the gun from the ground.

“I’m not an idiot.” The officer spoke while the blood gushed from his mouth. He appeared to be fighting for his life. “Santiago Castillo.” He whispered. “The person who did this to me is Santiago Castillo.”

“Maddens!” The officer had once again called out once from a distance. I felt my blood boil after hearing the officer speak of my brother’s name and knew there was only one thing left to do. “It doesn’t matter anymore,” I said as I slowly raised the gun and pointed it towards his head.

I was just about to pull the trigger, but before I got the chance to, the officer choked on his own blood and took what had appeared to be his very last breath. I rushed over to his side and pressed my finger against his neck, but there was no pulse.

“Marvin!” Panther called out. I joined Panter and Tiago and hid behind the van. Tiago was hyperventilating and clutched his heart with his hand, while Panther placed his hand over Tiago’s mouth. “Shut up, kid!” He growled. “I-is he dead!” Tiago muffled.

I gave him an apologetic look and peaked in the mirror, so I could observe the agents who ran towards their fallen soldier. One of them shook his head to the others as he confirmed his death.

One of the agents held his finger in front of his lips and pointed towards the van while the other agents slowly raised their gun. We had just killed one of them, so they were livid. In the worst-case scenario, they would show us no mercy and kill us all right now.

“Surrender yourselves, or we’ll attack with full force!”

I took a deep breath and looked at Santiago, who seemed close to passing out. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He was supposed to be at school to finish his senior year. He was way too young to be here.

Panther looked at me and shook his head. I knew what Panther was thinking, but it was not going to happen. Throwing Tiago under the bus was the same as losing my little brother because I knew he would do something reckless and wouldn’t survive whether it was here on in prison.

Throwing Panther under the bus would also be a reckless decision. I was way too busy to take care of Tiago, so Panther had always been the one to help me out. While everyone was loyal to my father and treated Tiago like a coward, Panther was loyal to me, so he was one of the few who I trusted around Santiago. Besides that, Panther was one of the Castillo’s best soldiers, and we couldn’t lose him.

“I will count down to three!” One of the officers called out.

“1”

“2”

“Thr—“

“I surrender!”

There...I said it.

“Marvin, you can’t!” Panther hissed while Tiago looked at me with wide eyes. “Please step aside with your hands in the air and give us your name!”

“Marvin, what the hell are you doing?” Panther whispered, worried. I ignored his calls and smiled at Santiago. “You’ll be fine. Just breathe—you’ll be fine.” I told him while I ruffled my hand through his hair.

I took a deep breath and stepped aside from the van while I walked forward with my hands in the air. “Marvin Romero Castillo,” I spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. The officers gave each other a look and dropped their guns.

I knew they wouldn’t shoot me if I’d surrender because they were pretty confident they had the power to get information out of me. They would see Santiago as useless, while I could be of value to them.

“Check behind the van to see if there are more.” One of the officers spoke to my surprise. I had to think quickly, so I dropped my hands and lunged at the nearest officer to give him a punch with my fists.

Everyone’s attention shifted towards me, and before I knew it, everything went black.

—

Lena’s question came as a surprise, and I was a bit embarrassed. That was a feeling I hadn’t felt in a long time as no one was bold enough to ask me that question.

Then again, no one had ever taken the time to talk to me like that. Lena seemed like a bright person with a good heart.

Would she know who I was? I’m sure she’d find something if she would dig deeper and g****e my name.

But that wasn’t Lena, no. She seemed naive, which was something I hated about my brother, but this time I could accept it. This time I actually thought it was cute.

The idea of being able to see through her without even knowing her made me laugh.

—

Hi Lena,

It’s not really a surprise that you have so much to say, considering you had plans to become a lawyer.

Not everyone is cut out to be a mixologist, so you should be proud of your job. You said you were ashamed because you don’t have any goals, but there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.

Look at me? I’m behind prison walls, with the only goal being to walk freely again. You are right, Lena. (If you’re still on the lookout for that rich guy, I can hook you up with one of my many cousins.)

I do have a long list of felonies, and I am way too smart to be in prison.

The truth is that the truth hasn’t come out yet and that I don’t belong here. I’m not the bad guy many make me out to be.

Where did it go wrong? It went wrong when I started to care for people. It went wrong because I think with my heart and not with my brains, and I would do it all over again. My advice is to live your life as if it’s your last because you don’t know what will happen in the future.

I don’t want to sound like a creep, but I would like to get a better image of you so I can picture you more clearly. (Once again, I don’t want to sound like a creep.)

Marvin.

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