S2W14: “Waiting For Something Special”

© 2021 Phylicia Joannis

Marcos twirled his chain on his fingers as he sat waiting for his food at the drive thru window. It’d been over an hour now. Still no messages from Miracle. He’d wanted to grab dinner with her after she finished her errand, but he hadn’t eaten since breakfast and he couldn’t wait. Fast food was cheap, and if she needed him, he was only a few minutes away from where he’d dropped her off. Marcos wondered if maybe she’d found another way home.

She’d promised to call, but they barely knew each other. Maybe she was flakey. Or maybe she wasn’t into him.

“Why’d I try to tell her my life story,” Marcos chided himself. He’d never been one to pour his heart out to anyone, but it was different with Miracle. She was special. She fell from the sky like an angel, right into his arms. Well, technically she’d just come from a tunnel, but Marcos believed their meeting was heaven sent. His own close call with a subway train had rattled him, forced him reflect on some things. Being able to help Miracle when she needed him? It felt redemptive, in a way. But maybe that was all it was. Maybe she didn’t need him anymore.

Still, a guy could dream, couldn’t he?

Marcos checked his watch and sighed. It was getting close to the two hour mark. She wasn’t going to call. Resigned, he pulled out of the McDonald’s parking lot and headed back downtown, towards his sister’s house.

A Spanish love song began to play, and he woefully sang along. Half an hour later, he turned onto Penny’s street, feeling foolish. He was wasting his time with Miracle.

He changed direction and headed East, towards his gang’s hang out. He really needed to check in with the guys.

The streets changed as he drove away from Penny’s neighborhood. Liquor stores lined the sides as people milled about with hunched shoulders and tight fists. There were street lights here, but most of them were broken or only pushed out a dim sliver of light. This was his home.

Marcos slowed down to flash a symbol at some of his fellow Shigna, stopping completely when one of the other Shigna members, they called him Coke, flagged him down. Coke offered him a smoke and a sandwich as Marcos joined him and a group of others on a stoop near a storefront.

“Where you been, da Vinci?” Coke asked. He was only a couple years older than Marcos, but the lines in his face made him look older, harder. That, and the side piece hanging from his belt.

“Here and there.” Marcos shrugged, taking a bite of the sandwich, but passing on the joint.

“Here and there, huh?” Coke mimicked. “I was down in the subway on Holland St, and guess what I saw?”

Marcos froze mid-bite. The sign. He’d tagged a wall with the Shigna gang sign but never got a chance to finish it.

“I saw our sign, da Vinci. With no tail. It looked like your work, but I know you’d never leave it like that.” Coke glared at him.

“Aw, Coke–” Marcos started, but Coke cut him off, ranting about rival gangs and brotherhood. Marcos kept his head down, nodding.

“Guess who else saw the sign?” Coke didn’t wait for him to answer. “Clarence.”

Marcos winced. Not the snitch. Marcos looked up at Coke. “I’ll fix it, okay? I just ran out of gold, that’s all.”

Coke put his finger to his lips, and Marcos stopped talking. “You know Clarence has a big mouth, and Boss Man is his uncle. Lucky for you, I convinced him that it was probably a rival gang.”

Marcos frowned. “Thanks Coke.”

“Don’t thank me just yet.” Coke grinned.

Marcos gulped. That’s what he was afraid of. Coke never did anything out of the goodness of his heart. “What’s it gonna cost me?” Marcos asked.

“I’ll let you know. Just remember that you owe me one.”

Marcos nodded, polishing off the sandwich in one giant bite. It was hard getting it past the lump in his throat.