CHAPTER 22
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"How come you changed?" Hector asked Estrella as she walked out of her room, rid of her orange sweats and shoes.

"I wasn't feeling my old clothes," She shrugged as she sat down at the table, where Hector had placed a plate of tamales for her that he bought off some lady down the street.

Hector nodded and continued counting through his money, setting 500 aside for Fezco from each band to accumulate the amount he needed.

"You good and shit?" Hector asked and lowered the volume of the song he had playing while he counted. Some Ice Cube song.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well I mean, you had to go through another raid," Hector brought up with concern while she unwrapped a tamale. "Just wanna make sure you're good after the last."

Estrella nodded, "I'm good."

"Good," Hector nodded back. "I know Fezco got you, huh? And how's shit been with him? You two good?"

"Yup," Estrella smiled at him. "We're good. And thank you for fronting him."

"It's nothin Estrellita," He smiled back. "Not letting him fall into a bad place with bad people. I know you care about him and his hermanito, guess I care about them too."

Estrella continued smiling, watching her dad count his money.

She loved that her dad loved her boyfriend. It made her feel comfortable, and not afraid to tell him anything about their relationship.

She didn't have her mom to talk to about Fezco, so she talked to her dad instead. She would tell him about dates he would take her on, and tell him about some cute shit he said that had her blushing.

And Hector liked to hear about it. He liked that Estrella felt like she could talk to him about her boyfriend. He liked to hear about why she was so happy.

"Don't laugh at me, but I think I'm in love with Fezco," Estrella told Hector as she ate.

Hector laughed a little despite what Estrella told him, making her scoff.

"I just said not to laugh."

"I know, but I ain't laughing at you. I'm laughing cause I'm happy for you princess. Being in love is dope," Hector nodded. "And I really fuck with that fool."

"Yeah?" Estrella asked with her mouth full, already knowing that Hector liked Fezco.

"Fuck yeah. He better be the last motherfucker you ever introduce me to."

Estrella laughed, "Don't worry, he definitely is."

"Good cause ion wanna have to front any other fool 5 bands," Hector laughed and dropped another $500 on his stack for Fezco. "You should invite him to Thanksgiving and shit. It's gonna be just you and me this year, would be nice to have him and Ashtray join in."

Estrella nodded, "What are we making?"

"You wanna make posole or you wanna be white washed and make a turkey?" Hector asked her.

"Hmmm I don't know," She laughed. "We still got time to decide though so we're good."

She glanced down at her acrylics and examined how grown out they were.

"Dad do you love me?"

Hector scoffed at her rather stupid question, "More than anything in the world princess."

Estrella mischievously smiled, "Then can you take me to get my nails done?"

Hector rolled his eyes at her question.

The same way he rolled his eyes as he watched Estrella excitedly walk out of the nail salon with a new set of pink glittery nails about 2 hours later.

"I knew you loved me," She smiled up at him as he followed him to his car.

"Yeah next time maybe pull this do you love me? shit on your novio, he should help me with your spoiled ass in return for me helping him," Hector shook his head. "Two fucking hours waiting outside the nail salon."

"Next time I will pull this shit on him, cause unlike you, he doesn't complain about how long getting my nails done takes," Estrella told him as she looked at the sun setting.

It was November, so the sun set early as fuck.

Hector laughed, "Enjoy that while it lasts cause it probably won't much longer. It's getting dark already, what you tryna eat?"

"Chinese food."

"Say no more, I been wanting Chinese food for a while," Hector agreed as they got into his car. "I got some shit to drop off first though, then we'll get some takeout and go eat at home. Sound good?"

Estrella nodded as she took a picture of her nails to send to Maddy, then sent one to Fezco so he could see the F formed in rhinestones on her ring finger nail.

"And when we get home I'll finish up in gathering your boy's money," Hector added. "Oh and I got a question; it was that Jacobs kid, huh? Or is there just some other motherfucker bein nosy and shit?"

"It was him. His weird ass," Estrella scoffed.

"Shoulda let me kill him that one time," Hector mumbled under his breath and reached into his backseat, then dropped a bag of bagged pills on Estrella's lap. "Count how many bags I got in there."

Estrella got to counting while Hector put some Snoop Dogg CD he burned while he was in high school into the CD player in his car.

"Shit, before I was slinging drugs, I was slinging fucking burnt CDs," Hector laughed. "Back when Spotify wasn't a thing yet. Would burn all the Beyonce songs onto a CD for your mom and she still left my ass."

Estrella glanced at Hector, causing them both to laugh.

He almost never brought Estrella's mom up, but when he did, it was to laugh and then lead up to letting Estrella know that she was trying to come into contact.

"She texted me like two days ago," Hector stated, which is what Estrella waited for the second their laughter calmed down. "You were with Fezco so that's why I haven't told you. But she's tryna come together for the holidays."

"What'd you say?" Estrella asked him.

"Fuck no," Hector muttered with a laugh. "But then I realized that it ain't really fair for me to call the shots when it come to this, so I said it was up to you."

Estrella laughed, "Fuck no," She repeated his words, making him laugh again.

"I'm being serio Estrellita," Hector told her.

"So am I."

"You sure?" Hector asked. "You don't wanna see your mom? Don't let what I want get in the way of what you want. It's whatever you want princess."

"You sound just like Fezco," Estrella laughed at his whatever you want, but then shook her head. "But no. I don't wanna see her. I completed stopped fucking with her when she left and if she pops up, she's gonna end up somehow moving back, and this is gonna sound selfish as fuck, but I like how we are right now. Just you and me."

"Yeah?" Hector asked and smiled, feeling relieved at the fact that she was happy with their current situation. He always felt as if he wasn't enough for her.

"Fuck yeah," Estrella laughed as she counted the dime bags.

"I like it being just you and me too princess," Hector admitted. "Less money to spen–actually that's a lie, raising you might as well be raising four other kids too with your expensive ass. But shit, you count my shit for me so I guess I can't really complain."

He glanced down at the bags she had counted in her lap and then looked at her.

"Just you and me princess," Hector nodded and smiled. "Til you get married and then move out."

Estrella laughed, "You'd come with me."

"As dope as that sounds, there's gonna be a time in our lives where we gon have to go our separate ways, princess. You and your boy are gonna have your own lil family and shit and I'll be waiting every Sunday morning for you to drop the kids off with grandpa."

"Don't make me cry."

Hector laughed, "Why are you gonna cry? I'm saying it as a good thing."

"I don't know. But ima feel bad leaving you."

"Don't. I'd be happy as fuck, lowkey getting tired of you."

"Wow," Estrella scoffed.

"Nahhh you know I'm just playing," Hector laughed. "But for real, don't feel bad. It's the way life goes. I can't keep you forever."

The two exchanged looks and nodded in agreement at the same time.

"Not that I would even want to," Hector said under his breath, making Estrella scoff again.

He laughed as she rolled her eyes at him and put all the dime bags back in the big bag.

"Whatever foo. Can I drive home after we get food?"

Hector busted out laughing, "Hell no."

"Whattt why not?" Estrella asked.

"You don't know how to drive, why the fuck would I let someone who can't dri–"

"I do know," She argued. "Fez taught me on our first date, didn't I tell you? He made me drive to In N Out."

"Alright but I gotta see you driving his car before I let you behind the wheel of mine."

"You don't trust me?"

"Not with my car," Hector shook his head and laughed. "No hard feelings?"

"No, I got many hard feelings. Even Fez let me drive his car."

"Cause he's dumb."

"Leave him alone, he got a crowbar to the head," Estrella reminded her dad, making him laugh even more.

"Damn, pobrecito. Still remember the day you made me drive your ass to the hospital to visit him," Hector recalled. "Shoulda known y'all were in love right then and there."

Estrella laughed, "Just shut up."

After Hector dropped off the pills he had Estrella count, they went and got some takeout from their favorite local Chinese food place and then went home to eat.

Hector put on Superbad, the movie being one of their favorites.

Estrella glanced at Hector while he laughed at some shit Seth said on the TV screen, laughing to herself at his laugh.

They'd watched this movie a million times but it never failed to crack Hector up.

"Muhammad is the most commonly used name on Earth, read a fucking book for once," Hector said along with the movie and laughed. "Fucking McLovin, dawg."

Hector passed Estrella the takeout box of fried rice from where he laid on the couch and then grabbed the blunt he had tucked behind his ear, putting it between his lips as he looked for his lighter.

"Don't want anymore?" Estrella asked as she looked into the box he handed her.

"Nah, kill it," He told her and blew some smoke out if his mouth.

He coughed a little before passing the blunt to Estrella, who took a quick hit before holding it out for Hector to take.

"Baby lungs," Estrella teased her dad as he coughed, making him flip her off.

"Nah I just inhaled too much," Hector laughed as he defended himself and snatched the blunt back.

She laughed at him and slouched in her seat beside where he laid, patting his bald head.

Days like this were her favorite. She loved spending her day with Fezco too, but nothing beat spending all day with her dad. Just the two of them, like it's always been.

Ending the day by watching a classic movie together in the living room and smoking a blunt after eating dinner.

Estrella's day was almost perfect.

"Fuck, I gotta piss," Hector said, annoyed with himself as he got up off the couch. He placed the blunt on the ashtray on the coffee table next to all the takeout boxes. "Pause it."

Estrella paused the movie as Hector made his way to the bathroom, then grabbed her phone to check if Fez texted back.

As she typed a text back to Fez, who was just getting home from working at the store, she heard repeated hard knocking on the front door, which startled her.

"East Highland PD! Open up!"

Estrella froze for a second, mentally panicking as the same wave of fear she was drowned in the night before washed over her.

This can't be fucking happening again.

"We know you're in there, open the door!"

"Dad!" Estrella yelled into the hallway after she sat up and looked around at all the product lazily scattered around the house.

Hector rushed out of the bathroom after hearing the banging on the door and Estrella's panicked yelling as the pounding on the door grew louder, indicating that the door was in the process of being knocked down.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck," Hector mumbled once realizing what the fuck was going on. "Fuck!"

He pulled Estrella's hand back before she could grab a bag of pills off the kitchen table to try to get rid of.

"No, no leave that shit there," Hector told her.

"We probably have time, I can flu–"

"We don't have any fucking time, don't touch shit or else your fingerprints are gonna get on it," Hector told her as the door began to give out.

"Then what the fuck are we gonna do?!" Estrella asked as a few tears started to spill from her eyes.

"Listen to me," Hector said and reached behind his neck to unclasp his gold chain. "Alright? I need you to listen to me princess."

Estrella watched as he took the chain off and then watched him take his gun out of his jeans and drop it on the table next to them.

"You're gonna take what I could gather for your boy," Hector grabbed the money wrapped in bands and placed them in Estrella's backpack, which was on the table as well. "And you're gonna fucking run, alright? Can you do that for me?"

"What about you?"

"You're gonna jump out your window and book it to Fezco's house–"

"But what about you?" Estrella stressed while Hector ignored her question.

"It's done, princess," Hector said quietly, accepting what was about to happen. He would either get locked up or die that night.

She stared at him as he placed his chain in her hand and zipped up her backpack while he avoided looking at her so he wouldn't break down before the cops busted in and he surrendered.

"Dad," Estrella said and grabbed his hand. "Don't do this."

"I don't have any other choice, I'm–fuck!"

Hector brought her into a hug all quick as the door was busted down and a gas bomb was thrown into the house.

"I love you princess," Hector told her and gave her forehead a kiss. "But you need to fucking go."

He pushed Estrella off of him and pointed at her room, but she couldn't bring herself to do as he said.

"Estrella, fucking run!" Hector yelled as the living room windows were busted in, glass shattering everywhere.

"Hands up! Put your hands up!"

Hector looked at the door, his heart dropping as his house was invaded by a SWAT team, putting his hands up.

He glanced back at Estrella and finally let a tear fall from his eyes once seeing she was gone.

"Hands up!"

"They're up!" Hector yelled back and closed his eyes as he accepted his fate.

Hector was the only one left to be raided.

—$—

Fezco and Ashtray stared at each other, both concerned as fuck while Fezco hugged Estrella as she cried her eyes out into his chest.

Ashtray let her into the house after noticing her in the security cameras as she walked up to the door and started frantically knocking.

"Damn is that the fuckin feds again or sum?" Fez asked from the couch where he smoked a joint, listening to the loud noise the door made due to being hit.

"It's Princess," Ashtray answered as he walked to the door.

"My princess?" Fez asked confused. "She ain't say she was coming over."

Fezco rested his head against Estrella's as he reran through what she told him and Ash.

Two raids, two nights in a row?

Only this night was worse. There was no time to get rid of anything. And she had to leave her dad to surrender to the police on his own.

And she didn't know where he was, or if he was even fucking alive.

"Breaking news! A house raid was just conducted in East Highla–"

"Turn that shit off Ash," Fezco told his brother after the show they were watching was interrupted by the local news.

Ashtray hurried to grab the remote and turn the TV off, then continued to stare at Fez, occasionally looking at Estrella.

Fezco raised his eyebrows at Ashtray and nodded his head in direction of their rooms, silently telling Ash go to his room to give him and Estrella some privacy.

Ashtray nodded and looked at Estrella once more before he walked off.

Fezco tightened his arm around her and gave her forehead probably the millionth kiss since she arrived.

He didn't know what the fuck to do or say, he wasn't always the best with words, and was scared he'd say something wrong, so he just stayed quiet and let Estrella cry in his arms until she couldn't.

He glanced at her backpack on the other couch, where part of the money Hector was fronting him sat. Estrella had mentioned it while she explained everything to him in a single breath.

Estrella glanced up at Fez, noticing he was eyeing her backpack, then reached into the pocket of Ashtray's sweater, which she was wearing.

"He also gave me this," Estrella let out a shaky breath as she pulled out her dad's chain. "Iono for what, but maybe we can pawn it or some shit to complete what's missing."

She continued looking up at him as he looked down at her from the backpack, shaking his head.

"No, ma. Don't worry bout that shit right now," Fezco told her, his lips moving against her forehead as he spoke.

Estrella slightly smiled as he lifted the bottom of his shirt up to wipe her wet eyes.

"It's alright. I mean, is not alright, but you know what I'm tryna say," Fez mumbled. "Don't worry bout your dad. Worst thing that coulda happen was he got arrested. They wouldn't shoot or nothin else if he was surrendering."

Estrella nodded, letting herself believe Fezco for her own sake.

"He good. And just like he jumped to help me when I was in some shit, ima help him," Fez said as he interlocked his hand with Estrella's.

Estrella stared at Fezco for a while as her heart practically melted.

Fezco avoided eye contact for a second, but then made it as he brought their hands up to his face and pressed a kiss onto her knuckles.

She pulled her and away after and wrapped both of her arms around him a hug as tears continued to fall from her eyes.

"Ima do whatever I can as soon as I can," Fez mumbled as he hugged her back.

"Fezco," Estrella whispered.

"What, princess?" He asked as she slightly pulled away from their hug to look at him.

She sat there just looking at him for a while as he wiped her cheeks with his thumb, then gave her a cute little smile in hopes to make her feel better.

"I love you," Estrella told him and leaned her head a little closer to his.

Fezco grabbed her hand in his again and held it tight, not breaking the eye contact between them.

"I love you more."