Tangled in the Great Escape

I got out from the bathroom just in time to see Tony walking out of the front door with his mom in front of him. I still don’t know why he was here; I thought we had made it pretty clear that he wasn’t wanted around here.

“Hey where did you go? Tony didn’t get the chance to say goodbye” Avela walked over to me and threw both her hands around my neck.

“I was taking a piss, and like I wanted to talk to him” I scoffed and gently let go of her arms. I took a seat on the couch and took my phone out as a distraction.

I heard Avela sighed and went to the other side of the room to where the girls were sitting. Sometimes I felt bad for Avela because she has to put up with this shit I have with Tony, but I also can’t wrap my head around the idea of just letting it slide. I know Avela had forgiven him and I wish I could let it go that easily but I just can’t.

A few beers later, I was getting tired and sleepy and so are the rest of the guys. Avela thought it’d be best for us to go home before we all got too drunk, so after 5 minutes of debating, I finally let Avela drag me into the car and drove home.

“Hime, don’t fall asleep cause I can’t carry you out of the car” Avela said as she punched my arm, trying to get me to wake up.

“I’m not sleeping! Geez, take it easy woman” I said rubbing my arm, earning an eye-roll from Avela.

“Did you talk to Tony at all tonight?” She asked while keeping an eye on the road.

“Nope. Why should I?”

“I didn’t say you should, I was just asking. Why didn’t you?”

“I told you, I’m pissed at Tony and I don’t think I’m going to get over it anytime soon”

“Yeah I get that, but why? Cassie is my sister and I forgave him, do you really think he’s a bad guy Hime? You’re his best friend, you’re supposed to defend him and be on his side” She glanced at me, looking frustrated and tired.

“I’m just disappointed, and frankly I felt lied to. Never in a million years would I ever think he is capable of doing what he did but now? I feel like I don’t know him anymore, Ave. I had to find out what he did from Cassie, I didn’t even know that he was dating Jessie until he brought her to Mike’s birthday party”

“So what’s your point?” Avela asked sounding annoyed.

“My point is that the guy I thought was my best friend, has been a stranger to me way before this whole shit happened. I don’t know him anymore and aside from feeling disappointed and angry, I felt left out. I couldn’t defend him because I don’t know what’s going on!” I screamed and slammed my fists on the dashboard, startling and scaring Avela that she has to grip the steering wheel tightly.

“Ave, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair.

“It’s fine, I’m fine. We’re here; I’m going in and take a hot bath. You need to go ahead and cool off” She said with a straight face and got out of the car.

Great, now I manage to piss off my girlfriend as well, I groaned inwardly. I got out of the car and slammed on the door, earning a glare from Avela who was halfway inside the house. I brought my hands up, mouthing ‘sorry’ and walked inside, closing the door behind me. Avela went straight into the bedroom before I got the chance to say anything and closed the door, I knew that trying to talk to her now would be pointless so I went into the kitchen and pull out the big guns.

“Ah, perfect” I said to myself when I found a bottle of Jameson hidden under the kitchen sink.

I walked out to the front porch and took a seat on the wooden bench that Avela had put there for her to chill when she’s stressed out over her college assignments. I took swigs after swigs and found myself drunk off my ass not too long after.

I remember the last time I got hammered drunk, it was the last day of tour and Tony and I decided it would be a great idea for us to finish an entire bottle of Jack by ourselves plus the beers we had before the party. We got so smashed that neither of us could remember what happened until Casey filled us with the details the next day.

That was the last time I got hammered and it was with my best friend. Now I feel like shit getting drunk alone with no one to talk to. I have a huge ego, I know that, so I will never actually admit that I miss talking and hanging out with Tony, but I do. But whenever I feel like I miss him, the realization of his actions came back to haunt me and all I can remember is how broken, fragile and miserable Cassie looked when she realized that he had slept with her only to leave her in the morning.

I was about to take another swig when I heard leaves crackling and footsteps walking closer to my house. I looked around and my eyes fell on a tall, hooded, lean figure that was so familiar, I could recognize him even with my eyes closed.

“Hey! It’s the asshole!” I shouted, slurring my words and stumbling as I tried to stand up from the wooden bench.

I could tell Tony wasn’t expecting me to be sitting out on the porch, let alone being drunk and calling out on him.

“Jaime?” He walked closer, looking confused as hell. “What the hell? Are you drunk?”

“What do you think asshole?” I laughed sinisterly, making Tony look even more confused than before.

“What’s with the name calling? I didn’t realize we were in the 7th grade” Tony crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised his eyebrows.

“Oh shut up, you pathetic fuck. You’re an asshole because don’t get to make someone’s life miserable and get away with it” I scoffed and threw the bottle onto the flowerbed, spilling the rest of the content into the grass.

“Why the fuck is it your problem? Last time I checked, it wasn’t your life I ruined, so why don’t you just fuck off and sober up before you do something stupid,” He said with a balled fist.

“Oh, you want to hit me? Huh? You wanna fight me?” I taunted him, taking a step forward, trying to intimidate him even though he was taller and bigger than me.

“Don’t. I don’t want to hurt you, so back off, Hime” Tony closed his eyes and backed away from me, if I was sober I would take it as a sign of respect but since I was drunk and out of my mind, I took his gesture as an insult.

“Why? You don’t think I can take you? Is that it? You think I’m weak?” I shouted even louder, taking steps forward while Tony continued to move backwards, avoiding me.

“Jesus Jaime, snap out of it! What the fuck is wrong with you”

“You! You’re what’s wrong with everyone. Don’t you get it? Nobody wants you here, hell, even Cassie moved to another continent just to get away from you. Why are you still here?!” I shouted louder than before and I knew that I had gone too far when I saw Tony’s expression changed.

He balled his fist and charged towards me, shoving me into the ground. “You fucking take that back! TAKE THAT BACK!” He shouted with so much anger, I could see the veins on his neck.

I stood up and shoved him back, making him stumble backwards. “No, because you know it’s true. You sad, sorry excuse of a human being that can do nothing but disappointing people”

This time Tony didn’t say anything but he let his fist did the talking. I stumbled onto the ground and into the flowerbed when Tony’s fist collided with my cheek, stinging my face, making it feel numb for a second.

“You better shut your fucking mouth before I do anymore damage. Don’t you talk shit like you’re any better Preciado, you are so selfish and self-absorbed, I don’t even know why Avela wants to stay with you”

I got up and chuckled, despite the burning feeling on my left cheek. “Come on, that’s the best you got? I didn’t realize we were in the 7th grade” I snickered, throwing back his words.

Tony screamed as he charged towards me, colliding his body against mine and both of us fell to the grass. He pounded on my face and stomach, and I gave him a massive right hook to his temple, cutting his forehead making it bleed down his face.

I wonder what Avela was doing that she couldn’t hear us shouting and punching each other in the front yard but I guess the neighbors heard us because seconds later, I could see with my swollen eyes, red and blue lights flickering in the distance.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I growled as I tried to get Tony off of me. “Get of me you prick” I put my last strength into shoving Tony off of me and it worked when I saw him tumbling back to the grass.

I took the opportunity to bolt inside the house but since I was highly inebriated, going up the small stairs to the door felt like climbing Mount Everest.

“Both of you! Get down on the ground and put your hands behind your heads” I turned my head and saw the police car on the curb and then I saw Tony glaring at me, as he got down on his knees with his hands behind his head.

I actually thought of running inside but then I knew the police would chase after me so I got down on my knees and the two officers went to cuff us before throwing us into the squad car.

I sat as far as I possibly could from Tony and leaned back to the headrest to make the throbbing pain in my head ease up a little bit. I have a million things going around my head right now but the only thing I cared about was how to break the news to Avela that I had been arrested.



“This is all your fault, you know. If you weren’t such a fucking dick, none of this would happen” I seethed at Tony, who was sitting in front of me in a containment cell at the San Diego Police precinct.

“God, shut up Jaime. I’m sick and tired of hearing you talk all the time” Tony groaned and rubbed his face, but flinched when he accidentally touched his swollen cheekbones.

“You know I’m right” I mumbled and leaned back to the brick wall.

“So what? Does it matter? Things would be the same no matter what you say, you and Frenchi would still hate me, and Cassie would still be in London. So unless being right changes things, just shut the fuck up” He stood up and raised his voice.

“Hey both of you, shut up!” The arresting officer shouted and pointed at us both from the table before going back to his conversation with another officer.

I sighed and closed my eyes, right now I would choose to be here and not go home because I can’t even imagine what Avela is going to do to me. She is going to kill me or go all insane and berserk. Not that I could blame her, I would actually do the same if I were in her shoes.

“Okay you two, you’ve been bailed out. Check out in front to get your belongings and sign the paperwork” A female officer with a thick Mexican accent unlocked the cell and pointed us to the front desk.

I was insanely terrified because if Avela was the one who bailed me out, I don’t know how I will be able to look her in the eyes and explain what happened. I dragged my feet out of the cell and towards the front desk, only to find both Vic and Mike standing there with their arms crossed in front of their chests and a serious, pissed off look on their faces.

I let put a sigh of relief. “Hey guys, thanks for–“

“Shut up. Just sign the damn paperwork and get out of here” Vic spat and went out the door, followed by Mike.

I was left with my mouth hanging open and when I turned around, Tony had the same shocked expression on his face.

“You boys need to sign here and here to get your stuff back” The nice middle-aged African-American lady pointed on the sheets. I signed the papers in silence and the lady shook her head.

“Here are your stuff” She put our phones and wallets on the table, “Now you boys ought to stay out of trouble, it’s Christmas and y’all need to stop bickering and get out of here” She shooed us away and we said our thankyous before heading out the door.

Vic and Mike were talking on the sidewalk when we walked out of the precinct. I put both my hands in my pocket and walked towards both of them with Tony trailing behind me.

“Does anybody want to tell me what the fuck is going on?” Vic shouted at both of us, causing me to jump in surprise.

“I’m sure Tony would be glad to tell you everything” I mumbled and looked down to my feet.

“Stop it! Stop! Just fucking stop whatever it is that’s going on before I smack both your heads together,” Mike shouted and I rolled my eyes. I felt like a little kid being scolded by his parents for picking a fight with a neighbor.

“You know what? I don’t care what is happening here but you two need to snap out of it. Tony was an asshole, yes we get it but he apologized and we all need to get over it. God, if this ended up being the reason our band broke up, I will kill you two with my bare hands” Vic growled and pointed to both of us angrily.

“So what are you saying actually?” I raised my eyebrows, because if he were expecting me to apologize to Tony, I would actually flip out.

“Just apologize to each other and put this shit behind us, I’m getting tired of feeling awkward whenever we get together” Mike sighed

He did not.

I laughed. “Fuck you guys” I flip the bird and turned my backs to them, walking out of the conversation and going straight home. I know I have tons of shit to explain to Avela when I get home.





I flick my eyes open in shock when I heard a knock on the door, I looked around me and I saw that it was already bright out. I sat up and immediately groaned because my head feels like shit from all the beating I took from Jaime last night. I threw my feet over the bed and walked towards the door with my eyes half closed. Opening the door, I forgot that I was only in my boxers so I was confused when I saw Lauren standing there, immediately covering her face.

“Jesus Perry, put some clothes on. You’re gross,” She said walking away. “Your mom wants you up,” She shouted before disappearing down the stairs.

I rolled my eyes and went to the bathroom to wash my face and change into shirts and basketball shorts. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and grimaced when I saw my face that was black and blue from the bruising and the cut on my corner of my left eye makes it look even more horrid than it actually is. The left side of my face felt a little bit numb but aside from that, I felt fine.

I went down the stairs and saw Ma eating breakfast in the TV room and Lauren was checking Ma’s hospital records in the dining room.

“Morning” I mumbled to no one in particular as I walked to the kitchen, finding something to eat for breakfast.

“Morning, hey your food is in the microwave. Just reheat it for 30 seconds” Lauren called out from the dining room and I reheat the scrambled eggs with baked beans she made for me.

I took the hot plate to the TV room and took a seat next to Ma who was still fixated on the TV.

“Morning Mijo” She said not taking her eyes off the TV.

“Can I change the channel? I don’t wanna watch Telenovela” I groaned and she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth in protest.

“This is just getting interesting, you can– Oh my God, Tony what happened to you?!” Mom asked in hysterics when she saw my face, she grabbed me by the chin and turning my face from left to right to examine the damage Jaime did.

“Nothing, I just got into a fight. It’s no big deal, Ma” I gently pry her hands off my face and gave her a reassuring smile.

Lauren who was focusing on the paperwork walked over and gasped when she saw my face.

“Holy shit, how come I didn’t notice your face earlier? Who did this to you Tone?” This time it was Lauren who grabbed my face and stare at it like a scientific experiment.

“I told you I’m fine. I just got into a fight with Jaime; it’s no big deal. He was drunk and we were upset, as you can see”

“Jaime? He did this to you?” Ma asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, but he apologized so it’s all good” I smiled, lying through my teeth because I know it’s at least calm her down a little.

“Are you sure?” She kept on pressing, still touching my face.

“Yes, now can we please drop it? Boys fight Ma, it’s not a big deal” I smiled and patted her hand.

She nodded and for the rest of the day she didn’t talk about what happened to Jaime and me. Later during the day, Lauren went to the hospital with Ma for her monthly check up and I spent my time playing Battlefield on my Xbox until I was physically nauseous from staring at a screen all day.

I took a shower at around 5:30 and I guess Lauren took Ma out to have fun because she hadn’t come home from the check up. I thought I would go hit the bar and spend my time there since I really have nothing to do and I don’t want to spend my time drinking alone at home.

-

The bar was quiet and there were only a few people there, I’m even surprised the bar is open seeing this is only a day after Christmas. I was down to my third glass of whiskey-cola when the bell rang, signaling someone walked into the bar and then I saw someone sitting next to me from the corner of my eye.

I didn’t need to turn around to see that it was Jaime who sat net to me. I have no idea what to do because honestly if he was here to pick another fight with me, I would be at a disadvantage because I had been drinking.

“I don’t know what you want, but if you’re coming here thinking I would fight you again, you might as well go home because I’m so not in the mood Hime” I said without looking at him.

He sighed. “Nah, I’m actually here to apologize. I know I have been way out of line with the whole thing and I would just like to say I’m sorry”

I turned around, surprised to what he just said. “You? Apologizing?” I chuckled. “Geez, the world is really coming to an end”

I saw a grin plastered on his face. “Yeah, I know. But really though, I’m sorry man. I should’ve been on your side, figuring this shit out together”

“Yeah that would’ve been better but I get it, I was a total dick to everyone and I guess I deserved this. I’m sorry too, I guess, if I was better at handling things, none of this would’ve happened”

“So we cool?” He held out his fist for a fist bump, and I accepted with a smile.

“Yeah, we’re cool”

The thing I always admire about our friendship is the fact that our bond is so strong that no matter what happened, no matter how bad it gets, we can always find a way to forgive each other and be friends again.

“My mom freaked when she saw me this morning” I chuckled and Jaime followed.

“Avela didn’t, it turns out she was the one who called the police. She greeted me with a smug look on her face and she said, and I quote ‘if you don’t get your head out of your ass, I’m going to move out’. Her exact words” He shook his head and I laughed, patting him in the back.

“Well, I’m just glad this whole thing is over. I kinda miss you man,” He continued.

“Hey, don’t go all homo on me” I shoved him lightly and laughed.

“Asshole” He chuckled.

It was still a bit awkward for me to say, but yeah, I kinda miss my best friend too and I’m extremely glad this whole thing is over. Now I only have to worry about getting Cassie back and tell her that I love her.