This whole situation for Clara felt more absurd than the fact she was about to be sexually assaulted by those fuckers, because it was just impossible for somebody to just straight walk in and save her like the hero of some bullshit movie… but indeed that happened.
She couldn't even say anything, because the thought of it was unbelievable as she just followed César up to the store.
"Look Daisy, who I got for you." César said as he opened the door of the store, and there she was.
On the ground eating a bag of chips enjoying herself, but as soon as she was them she immediately jumped up with joy and ran to jump into her mothers arm.
"I'm here, darling, I'm here." Clara whispered as she hugged Daisy tight, and it was a very heart warming scene knowing what could have happened to her.
Maybe there was a chance that she never would have come back, a chance that Daisy would have never seen her mother once again…. or worse find her in a state that no children should experience in their life.
It was even emotional for César himself. The hug, the emotions between a mother and daughter, reminded him of his life back on Earth where he had a real family even if they didn't have the best relationships… still he felt somthing… though he felt something much more interesting.
Huh, I fucking done it… I pulled off the greatest bluff of all time.
Yeah indeed he did pretend to be someone who is not even close to be, but it worked, and now he walked away from certain death, though it meant something.
He said his name, he said Siearra, and it only worked because the people's perception of cartel, that they are ruthless killers who do not give a fuck about anything, they explode the whole city if you offend them, they kill every single member of your family if something goes wrong, they fucking believed it because the news is full with the cartel… though not in the city which meant another thing.
Now that César said that he is the Sierra cartel and the family is under his protection, everybody will start talking about it. The word will spread to places that he might have waited a bit… like the feds, the agencies, the police, and all of the gangs of the city… which will come with one thing.
They will start to dig deep, they will start to look for him.
At least I introduced myself and things will come to me without doing anything huh.
"Thank you!" Daisy interrupted his thoughts as she suddenly jumped to him. "Thanks for saving mama!" she shouted again while hugging the shit out of him, and all he could do in that moment was… just pet her head.
Or maybe he could have told her that he only helped them because in this way he could spread his name, could get a glimpse of the corruption, and the best thing was that he saved the child of a judge who works in the high court of the city and maybe a miracle can happen that one day she will be the one sentencing him.
Or maybe she could help him with something else if the time comes.
"Yeah… though I would like to ask a question to your mama. Can you cover your ears a bit?" He asked with a smile on his face, and Daisy did cover her ears, but Clara asked faster.
"A-are we under cartel protection…?"
"Your daughter was lucky today by finding someone who has a big heart, so yeah, you and her are under the protection of me." César replied, but in that moment he could see her face change to more fear because of one thing.
The cartel protection is a real thing, but it comes with a price… a price that is high, and she knew she can't afford something like that, and moreover she knew everything about the criminal organization as she sent a lot of them to rot in prison or to their death.
Of all of them the cartel is the most brutal one, they don't go on the sophisticated family route like the mafia, they don't hide their tracks but more like want people to see them… and they do it with blood and chaos.
The cartel is the worst one to even have affiliation to, but to have protection from the cartel is the same thing as living with a gun pointed at your head… and at your family.
"I can't pay with money, but…" She looked at him with those eyes that had nothing to lose. "... I suffered enough to offer my—"
"Oh, I don't need anything to be offered to me." César smiled but only did it to hide the pain he felt in that moment for her.
When a woman reaches the point where she is willing to offer her own body, that is the moment you truly understand the depth of her suffering. It means life has fucked her so hard, for so long, that she feels she has nothing left except herself to give. In that moment, you see a kind of strength that comes from pain, from fear, and from love all mixed together. It is the moment where you realize she would sacrifice anything, even the last piece of herself, if it means her child can be safe.
"I only need some answers, well more like yes or no. I read the news about you, they did it because you tossed their buddies to death row, it is clear but my question is why are the police with gangs?"
César's questions hit her like a punch one she never thought she would ever feel. The way he asked them, the way his voice made it clear that he wasn't asking out of curiosity. He was asking because he needed information. He was asking because he was preparing to do something. Something big… or more like his cartel… cartel that he never heard about and more over the first cartel that has ever stepped into the capital city.
And even more than that, it meant she finally had a chance to strike back at the people who hurt her and Daisy.
"Drugs… the gangs are producing the drugs, and the chief gets a cut from the sales." She spoke quietly, almost in a whisper, while her eyes went down to Daisy. She checked her making sure the little girl hadn't heard anything, making sure she was still in her own small, safe world… but when she looked up she saw something far worse than her words… an excited smile on César's face.
What a cliché. A chief taking money from gangs so they can operate under the radar… just like in the early days of the mafia and she fucked them up.
"All of this happened because you sent key players to jail. You caused panic because they're afraid someone might snitch and the whole thing falls apart. Am I correct?"
"E-exactly…"
"Then why haven't they just killed you?" He asked immediately straight to the point. "Why do they harass you, try to rape you, torture you, but not simply kill you?"
It made no sense to him. Playing with her like that only puts them in more danger, but he didn't think about an important point.
"A trial is coming up…" she whispered. "... they want me to give a lighter sentence and if they kill me, then the case goes to another judge they can't control."
Ohh that actually… smart, with a dumb execution.
"Good then, thank you, and here we go." César said as he, out of nowhere, pulled up a band of money from his pocket. "Ten thousand dollars is enough to get a shabby apartment and lay down a bit."
"I can't—"
"It's not blood money." He said as he looked into her eyes, but it sent her a message that indeed it is blood money, and second, she got even more surprised that he was walking around with that much money. "Just get a shabby apartment and be happy."
"Happy…?"
"Yeah, because there will be no trial. Moreover, things will turn much brighter… or more like darker with a bright ending." César said as he petted Daisy's head a last time and turned to leaving them behind, leaving Daisy's mother behind with the uneasiness of knowing what he truly meant.
Blood will flow in the streets, but she wasn't sure that it would make anything brighter… if anything, it would only turn everything darker.