OOM: Resolution

[latino_menace]

It's mid-morning when they finally make it back. They're filthy and pissed off and obviously haven't enjoyed their 'orienteering exercise'. But more than that, they seem determined...well, Rafael does anyway. Raul just looks resigned. He still follows his older brother though, as they avoid the front door and instead head for the back, where the guns are kept.

* * *

Normally, he'd have been awake about four hours by mid-morning. This weekend though, lying in bed has become appealing. Not just for the obvious reasons but also because sleeping has turned out to be a really nice thing. Which is what he's doing, one arm casually hung over Mary Anne's waist, as the bedroom door edges open, pushed by the barrel of a shotgun.

One thing Rafael seems to be naturally good at is stealth. He makes virtually no noise as he crosses the room, holding the gun steady in two hands, just like he was shown.

Comments

[song_tra_bong]

Rafael is very, very good for someone so young.


Mary Anne is better.


"I'd rethink whatever you were planning on doing with that."

[latino_menace]

'Haven't done anything with it yet,' Ramon mutters, eyes still closed. Then he proceeds to drop off again. Rafael doesn't move and speaks to Mary Anne, though his eyes are on his father.

'Why? Would he, if this was him?'

[song_tra_bong]

Her eyes are very (blue) much on Rafael.

"Probably not, but I'd try and talk him out of it, just like I'm talking to you.

You turn around and walk out of this room right now, and he never has to know you came in to kill him in his sleep.

Because if he wakes up and sees you, he will want to kill you and I will try and stop him, but I don't know that I can.

More importantly, if you do kill him, then I'm going to kill you and believe me when I say that I will be nowhere near as quick as that shotgun."

Her voice is soft and just this side of conversational. Nothing she says is a threat; it's just stating the facts.

[latino_menace]

He'd been sneering at her words until the last; on hearing those, he visibly hesitates.

'You wouldn't kill me.'

He knows the rules. He's a kid. She's sleeping with his father. You don't threaten to kill the son of the guy you're fucking. And anyway, she's a woman.

It's just that...she really sounds like she means it.

[song_tra_bong]

She smiles. If you didn't know what they were talking about, you'd call the smile kind.

"I would if you killed him."

These are the rules he does not know. She wasn't much older than he is now when she went to Vietnam. When he picked up that gun with intent, he stopped being a kid in her eyes. And if he kills the guy she's fucking, it won't be a threat anymore.

[latino_menace]

He says nothing, just stares at her, not lowering the weapon. He can't make up his mind whether she means it or not; perhaps more importantly, he doesn't know whether he'd be able to pull the trigger even if she weren't here threatening his life.

Raul chooses this moment to speak from where he's leaning on the doorframe.

'Don't do it, amigo.'

And perhaps that was a mistake because something hardens in Rafael's jaw and he tightens his grip on the shotgun.

'He deserves it. He's a bastard. He's a filthy, murdering, drug-dealing bastard.'

[song_tra_bong]

"Yes, he is. So tell me again why you had to wait until he was asleep.



You don't want to do this."

With Ramon so close to her, she's almost guaranteed to catch some of the buckshot from that gun. Slowly, so as not to wake him, she slides up into a sitting position, blocking his body with her own. She really doesn't want to get shot (again), but she'll sure as hell heal faster than Ramon.

[latino_menace]

He watches her move, incredulous. He can't believe that anyone would willingly put themselves in front of a gun for his father. He also can't believe that everyone in the room is trying to talk him down - is he the only one who sees Ramon for what he is?

For that matter, why the hell is everyone awake except for the person this is about? Rafael makes a snap decision and swings the gun upwards in a wild motion, pulling the trigger when it's pointing about four feet above the bed. Plaster reins down and the noise is defeaning - Ramon sits bolt upright even as his oldest son yells;

'WAKE UP YOU SONOFABITCH!'

The sonofabitch in question is now completely awake and he blinks at the scene he sees - Mary Anne in front of him, Rafael shaking with adrenaline and nerves, Raul leaning by the door looking worried. It doesn't take a genius to figure it all out and his face goes black in an instant. All he says, though, is;

'Thought you two had got lost.'

He makes no attempt to sound flippant. He just sounds fucking livid.

[song_tra_bong]

"Apparently they got found," Mary Anne deadpans, brushing plaster out of her hair.

"And paid a visit to the gun shed while they were at it."

[latino_menace]

'Yeah.'

He brushes plaster dust out of his hair, eyeing Rafael who has the gun fimrly back pointed at his face.

'What's this all about, boy?'

He presses one hand to Mary Anne's side, encouraging her to move out of the line of fire. He doesn't think for one moment that Rafael has the stones to go through with this; also, he doesn't want to show any signs of weakness.

[song_tra_bong]

She leans back very slightly, but she's still going to catch the brunt of it from this position.

He isn't weak, but he's also not going to be getting up again if he catches a shotgun blast at this range.f

[latino_menace]

'It's about you. I tried to tell you to back off and you just won't listen!'

Ramon resists the urge to roll his eyes at the kid.

'Listen to yourself. You sound like a baby.' He looks at Mary Anne and paints on an entirely sarcastic grin.

'Is it too late to pretend I didn't create him?'

[song_tra_bong]

The corner of her mouth twitches.

"A little, yeah."

[latino_menace]

The gun goes off again, this time to the side of the bed. When Rafael speaks, he doesn't sound quite so much like a whinging child.

'You should take me seriously. You'd already be dead if it weren't for her.'

Ramon glances at Mary Anne, then back at him.

'If you were going to do it, it'd be over already.'

He reaches over the side of the bed to pick up his jeans; Mary Anne's are there too from last night so he tosses them to her. Rafael is muchly ignored as he gets up and pulls them on - ignored until the butt of the gun lands on his jaw, at least.

It's not a very hard blow. The kid is too nervous to really put any conviction into it; he's trying to save face now, this isn't going the way he'd planned it in his head. No one's scared of him like they should be and that's pissing him off.

Ramon takes the blow, hissing out a small breath at the impact. His fists clench at his sides and if the boy weren't so on edge - and therefore unpredictable - he'd have lashed back at him straight away, on impulse.

[song_tra_bong]

Mary Anne gives Rafael a look of 'don't fuck this up any more,' then finishes doing up her jeans.

Her push knife is in one of her back pockets. She thinks about angles and reaction time and a blast radius.

[latino_menace]

Ramon turns to him and spreads his hands.

'Well then. I'm at your mercy. What next, boy?'

There is nothing conciliatory in his tone. Rafael hesitates, then gestures towards the door...taking a hand off the gun as he does. It's all the time Ramon needs - he steps in quickly and the now-unsteady shotgun is pushed upwards where it wont hurt anyone if it goes off. With the other hand, he smacks the kid hard, directly in the nose. Blood sprays and Rafael hits the floor. Ramon looks at Mary Anne and jerks his head towards Raul; check he's not about to get any ideas would you...

He'd do it himself but he's planning to stay right here until Rafael wakes up and then take great delight in knocking him the fuck out all over again.

[song_tra_bong]

Mary Anne sidles over to Raul, leaning against the wall beside him and smiling.

"So, how're you?"

[latino_menace]

He shoots her a look, his hands shoved deep in his pockets.

'I told him not to,' he mutters, watching his father stand over Rafael, lighting a cigarette with one hand and holding the shotgun in the other.

'What's he going to do?'

Its obvious to him that Mary Anne will be able to predict better than he will.

[song_tra_bong]

"I'm sure you did," she murmurs back.

But Rafael has a stubborn streak to match his old man's.

She's glad it's obvious to someone because she's got no clue, although she's still managing to project confidence.

"First, hopefully he's not going to blow his head off."

She meant every word she said to Rafael, including the ones about trying to keep him alive. She hopes she can live up to that.

[latino_menace]

Ramon is, in actual fact, weighing up the pros and cons of just not letting Rafael wake up again. On one hand - no more problem. On the other - he's still his son. And this little display, had it been against someone else, would actually make him pretty proud. It's just the fact that it was directed against him that's the problem.

He taps ash off his smoke and thinks. Raul is ignored, something that makes the boy uncomfortable; he looks at Mary Anne with a pleading sort of expression.

'Can I go downstairs? I don't want to be here right now.'

[song_tra_bong]

She nods.

"Sure thing. If you want to go outside, just stay close to the house."

[latino_menace]

'Thanks.'

His expression is grateful but as he heads down the stairs, it turns into something more like...neutrality. As he slips outside, he's fingering the gun he stole in his pocket and trying to make a decision.

Upstairs, Ramon is having no such difficulties deciding what to do. As soon as Rafael had started to stir, he kicked him in the head. When he started to come round the second time, a quick strike with the butt of the gun did the trick. Now he's waiting for him to wake up again - the casual attitude he'd displayed when he was at the other end of the weapon has disappeared. The more he thinks about the nerve of this child, the more angry he gets.

'How about coffee?' he asks Mary Anne, with a black smirk. Needs something to do while Rafael's unconscious, after all.

[song_tra_bong]

She runs a hand through her hair.

"How about a drink?" she says, her laughter only a touch nervous.

"Can I add 'waking up to a teenager with a shotgun' to the list of things I never want to do again?"

[latino_menace]

'Have whatever you like.'

His smile is grim.

'Just coffee for me. This little fuck,' the unconscious Rafael gets a hard kick in the ribs,' doesn't get to get the jump on me again.'

After a moment's thought, he adds, 'And could you make sure Raul hasn't stolen the keys to the truck?'

He's not putting anything past them any more.

[song_tra_bong]

"Sure thing."

She snags one of Ramon's shirts from the floor and slips it on. "Back in a few."

Ramon gets a kiss on the cheek before she heads downstairs.