EZ

WHO: @ezramirez LOCATION: Outside of License to Grill

The phone buzzing on the bedside table demanded his attention, but EZ attempted to brush it off. Finally it silenced before picking up less than thirty seconds later. He groaned, untangled himself from the naked body in his bed, and grabbed hold of the cellphone.

“Yeah, yeah, alright, old man,” Javi chuckled, waving a dismissive hand, although he knew the truth– EZ had fighting titles to his name for a reason. Still, Javi wouldn’t be who he was if he wasn’t behaving like the nagging kid brother type at least some of the time. Besides, in a lot of ways, joking around helped him feel a bit more normal– a bit more like himself. As EZ took a seat, Javi sighed, his shoulders shrugging simply, “I’m getting there,” he answered honestly, seeing no real point in spouting off a lie when the truth was written all over his face. “Head just gets loud sometimes, you know?”

"Yeah," He knew. The loudness that clouded your judgement. It drove you to do things you rationally wouldn't have done other days. For EZ when his head got loud he found himself outside the liquor store demons demanding that he go inside. One drink. He could handle that. One drink wouldn't put him back, but he knew that even one slip could cause him to lose everything he worked so hard to rebuild. "I get it. It aint easy, but you've got a good head and if there are days that become to much call this ol' man."

A soft chuckle vibrated deep in her throat at Ezekial's words. And I assume your mother had her reasons. Being six feet under was reason enough for no one to know who Rosa's biological father was. The mother was at fault - when she was pregnant, her life was hectic. Add on the stresses of anticipating a child plus getting life ready for it - asking her 'who's the father' was the last question anyone wanted to ask. "Yeah, it doesn't help that my mom died during childbirth. She never got the chance to tell me, or anyone for that matter." But would it have made a difference? Would Miguel Ramirez have stepped up for Rosa and taken care of her after Tatyanna passed? Or would he have stayed a ghost? "I don't want to meet him," Rosa harshly blurted out. "That man knew my mother was pregnant. He didn't help her; he didn't take care of her - nothing. He tossed her aside like a used toy and left her by herself." Rosa leaned back in the seat, arms folding across her chest. "As far as I'm concerned, he's lucky you're his son." The rest of the sentence silently lingered between the half-siblings. 'Cause if not, I'd have him killed.

"Fuck," he breathed out a heavy sigh, both hands coming over and covering his face before dragging them down. EZ shook his head. He didn't know. How could he have known? His heart ached for her the way it had ached for Catalina when their own mother had passed. No child should have been raised without their mother, but EZ he had known that no daughter should grow up with one. The love their mother had to offer was beyond what any child could ask for -- losing her had crushed EZ. He swallowed hard and allowed his eyes to shift toward the window. "I'm sorry."

“When I came back I didn’t need a weapon, I was a weapon.”

Turning around once the barbershop door swung open, Javi spotted EZ walking through for his appointment and gave a curt nod in greeting. Typically the silent type, the sicario tended to bite his tongue up until he couldn’t. Naturally, the chance to roast EZ was one of those moments. “You’ve fucked it up enough on your own,” he snarked back, chuckling darkly as he motioned to the open chair beside his workstation. “I’m a barber, not a miracle worker,” Javi pointed out, a soft smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, “You want the usual trim and fade?” 

"Easy, hermano," EZ laughed as his hands came up barely skipping a beat as he shadow boxed a moment before dropping to the chair. "I've still got it." EZ gave him a quick nod of the head before shifting slightly, allowing his eyes to scan the room, curious if Rosa was hanging around somewhere.  His attention back on Javi. "All jokes aside, you doing okay?"

"Y'mean it wasn't already up there considerin' we've got a fuckin' clown motel considered a tourist destination?" Chase remarked with a snort of laughter, taking a seat across from Ez. Chase hadn't been in the loop with too much had happened on New Years Eve, and he'd primarily been focused on making sure Maeve was alright after the fact, but he'd heard that the acting police chief -- the detective who'd had it out for the gangs for as long as he could remember -- was one of the victims. It didn't surprise him in the least that he'd end up a target, but with everything else happening the past few events, he knew it was part of a bigger picture. "They mention if they found anythin' yet?"

Chase hadn't been in the loop with too much had happened on New Years Eve, and he'd primarily been focused on making sure Maeve was alright after the fact, but he'd heard that the acting police chief -- the detective who'd had it out for the gangs for as long as he could remember -- was one of the victims. It didn't surprise him in the least that he'd end up a target, but with everything else happening the past few events, he knew it was part of a bigger picture. "They mention if they found anythin' yet?"

She couldn't believe it. No matter how many times Rosa re-read the letter from her mother, the information failed to fully sink in. Tatyanna knew who her father was this whole time; her aunt and uncle knew her whole life and no one said a thing. Instead, Rosa came to find out from a letter after cleaning out the house left to her by her aunt and uncle. Miguel Ramirez had been closer than she ever really knew. On top of that, siblings. Rosa had siblings.

EZ silently shook his head at her question before lowering himself down in the booth across from her. He hadn't known about her, and while he had yet to confront his father about it, he had planned to head back to Vegas to question him about why he had hidden something important from his children.