PART 12:
It was a sunny day, and the Aquanet girls were hanging out in their usual spot, a seldom-used road between some abandoned buildings, where they could drink and smoke anything they wanted to their heart’s content. The other gangs in the community hadn’t believed them that it was their doing that brought down the superstar singer, until they had given their leaders a preview of the cell phone footage. Now, they were riding high; they were getting respect, and had been inundated with offers to buy the cell footage. They hadn’t sold it, at least not yet. That was their ace in the hole. If that came out, what could stop Danita from having them arrested and prosecuted?
“Yo, what’s this?” Lupita said, looking up from her bottle of King Cobra, “Did one of youse order a delivery?” “I think somebody lost their way,” Alma responded, “Bad for them, good for us.” “Eh, Dejalo,” Clara warned, “we don’t need to mess with it.”
To everyone’s surprise, the truck slowed to a stop just 20 feet from where they were standing. “What? Let’s take it,” Alma said. “I have a bad feeling about this,” Clara responded. “You have a bad feeling about everything except eating,” Alma teased. “Callate, puta!” Clara spat, punching her arm. “Will you two stop it?” Lupita intervened. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. I’ll deal with the driver. You two go around back and see what they’re carrying.” “You heard her,” Alma said to Clara, “let’s go.”
As Lupita made her way up to the driver’s door, she noted that she’d have to get close to see through the tinted glass. She tried the handle; the door was locked. Peering in, she saw Lilly in her grey skirt and blazer. “You’re no delivery driver…”
Behind the van, Alma and Clara looked through the rear windows. They were entirely opaque. Clara gave the handle a pull; the door was locked. Before she could turn her head to comment on it, the doors suddenly flung open. Two women, dressed in expensive-looking blue and gold superheroine costumes stood at the door. Alma thought she saw few more people in the van, but she couldn’t be certain as she had no time to think or act before the open-palm punch connected with her chin. Clara received a kick that knocked her back, and in no time, the two of them had been pinned to the ground by the masked women.
Clara pulled her opponent’s hair and called for help, as Alma stuggled against her captor. Lupita heard their cries and came to help. Inside the van, Danita sat comfortably. “Are you getting this?” she asked Mae. The camera woman let out an assertive grunt, as she was too busy concentrating to converse.
As Lupita arrived, she thought fast. Swinging the van’s back door, she managed to knock Alma’s opponent off her. The masked woman toppled to the ground, dazed, but Alma was in no position to capitalize on this turn of events. Much to Lupita’s surprise, the door swung back forcefully, dazing her and knocking her to the ground as a third masked woman jumped from the van. “You should know better than to think you’re the only one who knows how to use a door as a weapon,” she laughed.
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