Chapter 8

48 hours until release

Marvin

“Castillo, you have a visitor,” Stanfield spoke. I looked through the little glass of the steel door and furrowed my eyebrows.

"I'm not expecting anyone. Tell them to leave.”

Stanfield opened the door and pushed me against the wall before he forcefully put me in handcuffs. “Hey!” I spoke, irritated. “Did you not hear me?”

“I did.” Stanfield chuckled. “But I’m not going to tell Mario Castillo to come back another time. You can do it yourself.”

Wait a minute.

“My dad came to visit?”

“The one and only,” Stanfield confirmed while he guided me out. The times he came to visit weren’t many, and I could count them on my hands. When he visited, it usually didn’t mean any good and often meant Santiago had screwed up again.

The only thing I could hope for was that this was perhaps just a fatherly visit and had nothing to do with Santiago. “Is this necessary?” I frowned at the handcuffs. Stanfield gave me a sarcastic look. “You’re like a hyena. Who knows when you’ll attack?”

“Smart boy.” I chuckled at Stanfield. He was undeniably still traumatized from the first two years, but I had changed a lot. No matter how much anyone would provoke me, I would not start a fight and especially not now.

“Aye, asshole!” Someone called out as we made our way through.

I turned my head and looked through the steel door glass to make eye contact with some guy. He showed his wrist and pointed at his tattoo with a smug grin on his face. It was a member of the Hernandez, and judging by the fact that he had the nerve to do this, it probably meant he had no idea who he was dealing with.

“He’s new here,” Stanfield commented. “Yes, I can see that.” I chuckled. “He’s lucky I’ll be leaving soon.”

We continued walking, and before I knew it, we were already in the hallway. “Nervous?” Stanfield asked. So he did care about me?

“Boss, how is your relationship with your parents?” I teased him. “Do you have a wife? Children?”

“Is that a threat?”

“Oh, please.” I laughed at Stanfield. “If it were a threat, you would’ve known.”

“I’m happily married with three children,” Stanfield spoke. That hideous-looking man, married with three children? Not possible.

“Okay, Stanfield.” I nodded. “Imagine one of your children being behind bars. Would you have the strength to visit them?”

Stanfield let out a sigh. “Of course I wouldn’t. That’s a dumb question.”

I was glad we were on the same page.

“And how do you think they’d feel?” I asked. “Don’t you think they’d be a bit embarrassed?”

Stanfield rolled his eyes at me. “Your situation is different. You and your father are both trash—you know that.”

“Hey!” I smiled. “How about you say that to his face?”

Stanfield let out a laugh and pushed me forward so he could pat me down. My eyes met with my dad, who was seated with a stern look on his face. You were supposed to feel comfortable around your parent, but I felt terrified—and it wasn’t because I feared for my life.

It was because I feared for Santiago’s life. Dad was unpredictable, and I could not tell when he would finally snap and blame Tiago for all of his issues. “Go on,” Stanfield guided me towards the table.

My dad looked right back at me, and unlike Panther and Santiago, he remained seated. It was fascinating how he could turn things like this into business meetings. “Dad,” I brightly smiled and sat down.

“It’s so kind of you to visit me!”

“So you’re best friends with officers now?” He frowned at me. “Is that officer you’ve been protecting?”

I let out an exhausted breath and shot him an annoyed look. “Nice to see you, son, oh thank you, nice to see you too, dad.” I helped him out a bit.

“I know you’re not capable of showing anyone love, but that’s how you’re supposed to be treating us.”

My dad glared and gave me a daring look. No one would dare to talk to Mario Castillo this way, and to be honest, neither would I, but it wasn’t as if he could do anything about it. “You have a big mouth. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t let you rot in here?”

“Because you need me more than you need, Santiago,” I answered his question. “You need me so much that you were even willing to make a deal with the DEA,” I whispered the last part.

“I did it to protect all of us.” My dad defended his actions. “It was either the Hernandez or us and as you can see, it’s every man for themselves.” He spoke. “Don’t you think the Hernandez would’ve done the same?”

I remained silent and had no answer to that question. Freddie Hernandez wasn’t the same person he once was and would throw us all under the bus in just a matter of seconds. “I heard about your request to turn the six weeks into six days.” My dad addressed the situation. “That’s in two days, Marvin.”

“I know.” I shrugged. “An early surprise wedding gift for Tiago.”

I could tell by the look on my dad’s face that he did not agree to this decision.

“Marvin,” He began. “Do you really want to come out and rat out the Hernandez before your brother’s big day?” He whispered. “Do you think that’s smart?”

“I thought you were the one who wanted me out,” I spoke, confused. His words weren’t making any sense to me. “I do, but don’t you think it’ll be smarter to get out after the wedding?”

“Don’t you want what’s best for Santiago?”

“Since when do you care about Santiago?” I snapped. Santiago needed me on his big day, and if I could get out before that, I would—no matter the cause.

“Tiago is my son. Of course, I care.” My dad spoke full of disbelief. “But do you really think the Hernandez will let us have a peaceful wedding after they find out what we’ve done?”

“Do you really think Freddie will sit back and do nothing after we get his youngest son thrown into jail?”

“I don’t care,” I spoke word for word. “You know I never go against you and that I always respect your decision, but I need to be there with Tiago.” I requested. “Please.”

I could hardly believe it, but the look in Mario Castillo’s eyes softened. “Okay.” He gave in. “If you really want to do that...fine, I’ll double the security.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I spoke as I leaned back and thought about my freedom. It would only be a matter of time before I would finally get out of here. All I had to do tomorrow was say the right thing in court.

“So you know what you have to do tomorrow?” My dad asked. How could I forget when it’s all Laine had been stomping in my head. Give the blame to Danny Hernandez and promise the DEA to help take them down. “I know, I know.” I sighed.

“How is mom? How is Karina?”

“They’re giving me a headache.” My dad spoke. “Don’t ask me how they are. You know how they are.”

He saw my sister Karina as a hopeless case, while he saw my mom as his prisoner. All the love they once had for each other had vanished entirely, but neither of them wanted a divorce because they wanted to keep the family together.

My mom disagreed with the family business, and me ending up in prison only proved her point. “Do they know about the deal?” I wondered.

My dad shook his head. “Other than Panther and Victor, no one else knows about it.”

“Good, let’s keep it that way,” I spoke. Victor was my dad’s best soldier and his close friend. He had been there since the day I was born, and we were not getting rid of him anytime soon.

The fewer people who knew about my release, the better. It was time for me to get out, and no one was going to talk me out of it. I couldn’t wait to see their faces in a few days, especially Santiago’s.

“I have to go now, son.” My dad spoke. “I have a lot of things to take care of before you return.”

I did not have the energy to get angry as I was already used to it by now. Mario Castillo was a busy man, and visiting me in jails was the last thing on his list. As expected, he had just came here to tell me to sit out my six weeks, and as soon as he found out that it was not going to happen, he had decided to dip.

We stood up at the same time, and all I could do was shot him a glare while he showed me one in return. “You’re glaring at the wrong person,” He chuckled. “You might’ve been the boss around here, but I hope you know your place once you get out.”

I watched as my dad turned away without saying another word and felt a bit hurt. All I wanted was for him to treat me as his son instead of a key to the family, and I thought being in prison would warm him up a bit more, but that was obviously not the case.

“I know, Stanfield.” I sighed as he made his way beside me. If he felt the need to tell me that he felt bad for me or that Mario Castillo was an asshole, he could keep his opinion. “I wasn’t going to say anything,” Santield spoke. “Come on, let’s go.”

I followed him back into the hallways and, for the first time in a while, walked along in silence. I felt devastated by my dad’s words, and at the moment, only one thing could cheer me up. “The computer room, please.” I requested as I stopped in my steps.

“Again?” Stanfield chuckled. “It looks like you found yourself a good pen pal.”

My mind went to Lena, who I could not believe was real. She was fun to talk to, and it actually held my mind off things. It was unfortunate we would only speak for a few more days, but I was going to make use out of it.

“Looks like it.” I smiled. Stanfield let out a hum and led the way to the computer room. “Let’s go, Castillo.”

Once we had reached the room, I sat down at my usual spot and eagerly looked for my message board. Just as expected, she had sent me back a message. I hadn’t even noticed the smile which had appeared on my face as I read through her email.

Lena was so naive and genuinely believed all that bullshit about me being a good person. She was so easy to fool that it almost made me feel sorry for her.

She apparently did not have a good bond with her dad and her brother, which made me realize that I should not complain. At least I still had mom and Santiago, and even if she was not the ideal sister, I could not forget Karina.

I laughed at her prison break comment and wondered what someone like Lena would do in her free time. She did seem like the person to binge-watch a bunch of tv shows in her spare time.

I was grateful to read that she didn’t saw me as a creep for asking for more pictures and understood where I was coming from. I clicked on the pictures and could immediately understand why Lena was so full of herself.

She was absolutely breathtaking, and I’m sure she had already heard it many times before, so that’s why I decided to tease her a little.

—

Hi Lena,

I have over thirty cousins, so please tell me whenever you’re ready.

I want to thank you for your words, and it feels nice to know that you believe me, although I feel the need to remind you that there really are bad people out there, so please be careful.

I’m sorry about your dad and brother, but I’m sure they are just trying to protect you. How does your mom feel about them? I bet she’s not as strict as they are.

We do have a yard, but what I’m longing for is my actual freedom. I want to be able to breathe without a time limit or someone watching my every move. Not that it’s necessary because chances are high I won’t be in here for any longer.

Let’s talk about your picture!

I’m not going to lie. I had to hold my breath when I saw the pictures you send me. Barista? You’re way too ugly to be a barista, don’t you think? You look absolutely hideous, and I don’t know who called you pretty, but it was a lie!

(I only gave you the reaction you wanted.)

I can see you’re into bets and deals, so just as promised, here are some pictures of me in return.

🏞🏞🏞

(Please don’t call me hot, I’ve heard it many times before, and I always get embarrassed whenever someone praises me for my looks😓)

(Ps. I see we’re back to the emojis again.)

Marvin

—