When I woke up this morning. I got ready for school. I needed to get there. See Cesar. It felt weird not being under the roof as my twin. Not knowing if he slept safely or not. Once at school I saw Jamal. Taking his hand. That's when we saw the others. "It's a new year." Jamal said to us all.

"And a new day." Monse said to us all.

"Finally we can get back to normal." Ruby said to us and I looked at him.

"Do we even have a normal at this point?" I asked him with a smile. Everything was fine until.

"Turner!" Coach shouted from behind. That's when he had to go. I dread to know what that was about but I had a feeling. This was going to be about the holes on the football pitch. All the repairs that would be done. We didn't see Jamal until lunch. When he was on edge.

"Guys, I got eyes on me." Jamal said to us and he was panicking.

"Me too. The post-shooting lookie-loos are out in full force." Ruby said to us and that's when a girl came over to us.

"Oh, Ruby." This girl said and took a picture with him. "Thanks." She said and went away.

"I don't know how much longer I can be Bullet Boy. I just wanna get back to normal." Ruby said to us all and I did as well. But it never would.

"Normal?" Jasmine said to him. "Baby, you ain't never been normal! You got that special sauce flowing through your veins. And probably all over that juicy nalga!" Jasmine said to him and then laughed. "Ruby said I could sit with y'all, so..." She added and we all looked at Ruby.

"Shoot! I forgot dessert." Ruby said to us and he did.

"Oh, you sit. I got you. Sugar-free sweets for my super-sweet treat, coming right up!" Jasmine said and she left us. We then sat at the table.

"Oh, I'm sorry. But ever since my brush with death, I made a bargain with the big man, or woman? Let's just say the universe to be gender-neutral. But part of that deal was to work on my karmic energy, be a better person, so shit wouldn't go sideways again. Part of that deal is to do charity, and Jasmine is my charity." Ruby said to us and I couldn't think of so many more charities.

"Couldn't you have saved a rain forest instead?" Monse asked him and I looked at him.

"Or do houses for homeless?" I asked him and he looked at us.

"See? I knew this would be an issue." Ruby said to us.

"Speaking of commitment, we need to make one. What are we gonna do with the cheddar? We need a plan of action ASAP. First thing after school, all-hands meeting. This kind of Gouda can ripe real quick. I'm not sure we can handle it if people start sniffing around." Jamal said to us and we clearly couldn't leave it at Jamal's place.

"Cheesy. But I like it." Ruby said to us and I looked at him.

"Yes!" Jamal said to us.

"We gotta keep this money safe somehow." I said to them all.

"Right now, the money as is makes us targets. We need to move quickly to wash the cash so we can use the money and help Cesar survive." Monse said and I looked at Cesar. I wish he could just come home.

"Yes." Cesar said to us.

"Okay. So where are we meeting?" Jamal asked us all.

"My dad's coming home this afternoon." Monse said to us and I saw Cesar look at her. He must be staying there.

"And we can't go to mine for obvious reasons." I said to them all. Everyone knew why.

"Okay, so we can't do it at Monse's or Y/n's, my house is pretty tense post-big debacle, and Cesar never hosts. So, Ruby, it's you." Jamal said and that would be an issue.

"No. Your mom doesn't want me around." Cesar said to him. I was an exception for some reason but not Cesar.

"Oh, my mom's got a job all week, so we're good. My house after school." Ruby said to us and I looked at him and nodded.

"Sounds good." I said to him.

"All right." Monse said to him.

"Cool." Cesar said and we all started on our lunch. Jasmine still hadn't come back. Maybe she wouldn't. After school I was walking a small way with Jamal.

"I need you to keep me safe. The eyes are everywhere." He said to me and I looked at him and then looked around.

"In what? That gnome over there?" I asked him and he hid behind me.

"Walk. That's exactly where they are." He said to me and I shook my head as I walked past. Once it got to my street I then headed down there. I dropped my bag off at home and changed before heading out to Ruby's. "We have to move the money. I can't be the keeper alone. It's not safe." Jamal said to us and he sat down. He had gone crazy.

"Abuelita, I reserved the table for a two-hour block. Did you not see my note on the fridge?" Ruby asked and she was silent. Just holding her money.

"It's fine. She knows about the money." Jamal said to him and Ruby looked at us.

"Okay. Well, since we found the money, I've done copious research." Ruby said to us and I was glad someone did.

"This is why we're best friends." Jamal said with a smile on his face.

"You're best friends?" Monse asked him and looked around.

"Yeah. You guys get to make out, I get to make out with Y/n, we get to be best friends. It's a trade-off. Bestie, present." Jamal said to him and put his fist up. That's when we saw Ruby's note. 'How to lose virginity by 18' that was definitely the wrong page. We then started laughing.

"Ew! And no!" Monse said and that's when I read the lines. That's when he turned to the right page.

"Okay, team! We have 37-year-old cash that we can't spend without raising eyebrows. And we've all seen breaking bad. We need a cash business." Ruby said and that's when Abuelita started counting in Spanish. "Abuelita, please. We're trying to figure out how to clean the money." Ruby said to her.

"Jamal, your dad literally owns a business." Cesar said and that wasn't going to happen.

"No way. My dad's super particular about the books. It would never work. But what if we started our own business? How's Ruben's Fancy Festivities coming along?" Jamal asked I looked at Ruby.

"At least three years away from launch, pending a Silicon Beach cash infusion." Ruby said and I looked at Jamal.

"So we've got nothing." I said to them. That's when Abuelita was counting again.

"Seven-twenty." Monse said to her.

"Ah! I put down too much." Abuelita said and she started laughing. That's when Ruby's phone went off.

"Hello. Cool. Gotta go. I don't know! Average?" Ruby said and that's when he hung up on whoever. "Jamal, measure my neck." Ruby said and that's when Jamal looked at Ruby's phone.

"Okay, no. You need to give me your phone. This is not a joke. We're trying to move the money, and you're playing twiddly-thumbs with Jazmaspaz. Just don't text her back." Jamal said and he took Ruby's phone.

"As if were that easy! I have a moral obligation to reply." Ruby said to him and he didn't.

"Or what? The universe is going to strike you down?" Jamal asked him.

"Maybe! You know what? I'm calling it for today. I think we're hitting a wall. Let's reconvene tomorrow after a good nights sleep." Ruby said to us and we didn't even discuss anything.

"Take your damn..." Jamal said as he passed the phone back to Ruby. That's when we all went home. I managed to have a nice peaceful rest. Until the day after. That's when I saw Jamal. He was going around the school carefully.

"There's no one here." I said to him. That's when we joined the others making gasp.

"Sorry. Do we scare you? There's a lot of that going around lately. It's like one second you're minding your own business and then bam!beady eyes and rosy cheeks staring at you." Jamal said to us and he was extremely paranoid.

"I know what you mean. Although I wouldn't really say Jasmine has beady eyes." Ruby said and this wasn't about Jasmine.

"Jasmine? Who's talking about Jasmine?" Jamal asked because Jamal was talking about something else.

"I am! 'Cause every time I say her name a few times, she just appears. It's like, 'Jasmine, Jasmine, Jasmine!'" Ruby said and it was just like Bloody Mary.

"Boo!" Jasmine said making us all gasp. Where had she come from. "I found you!" Jasmine said and she grabbed Ruby's arm.

"You did." Ruby said to her. Jamal then took my hand and held it.

"What's wrong? You look pale. Are you okay?" Jasmine asked him and they started walking away.

"No! I'm not okay!" Ruby said and that's when we headed over to the stairs. Where the two of them sat down. Along with Jamal. "Good vibes, good vibes, good vibes." He whispered and I looked at them.

"I'll see you guys in a bit." I said and I walked away. After school we went to Ruby's again. Monse didn't join.

"No, I'm not cool with this. Why can't the money stay with you?" Ruby asked Jamal and I wanted to know as well.

"Because it's your turn." Jamal said to him and I couldn't have it.

"I'm just the bagman." Cesar said to him.

"And I can't have it for obvious reasons." I said to them all.

"Where's Monse?" Jamal asked and I looked at the empty seat beside me.

"She's not coming." Ruby said to him.

"If she's not here to vote, how are we supposed to make any decisions?" Jamal asked and that's when Ruby pulled his phone out.

"I designate Ruby as my proxy." Monse said on a recording. I'm surprised I wasn't the proxy.

"I'll allow it." Jamal said after sucking on his teeth.

"Okay. So let's get started. Anybody got any ideas?" Ruby asked and my mind was blank.

"Right here. I think we draw up a fake business plan for an Owl Cafe. Owl Pacino's Cappuccinos. Get investors to front us the startup money, then using that money, make our business look even more legitimate, and attach even more investors- -" Jamal said and I lightly banged my head on the table. That was a failure waiting to happen.

"Jamal, it's a bad idea." Monse said on the recording.

"Thank you." I said to the phone.

"How do I debate with her if she's not even here?" Jamal asked and it was an non debatable.

"There's no debate. It's a bad idea. And a Ponzi scheme." Abuelita said to us and she was right.

"We know." Jamal said to her.

"Actually, it's sounds like you don't. What you need is a cash business so you can take your old bills, which you can't use, and turn them into new bills, which you can." Abuelita said and just like that we had our idea.

"Well, everyone in favor of using Abuelita's cash business to turn our old bills into new bills say 'Aye'." Ruby said and we all put our hands up.

"No. No. I mean...yes, it could work. Maybe. But it's going to take some time. And...I get a little something on top of my 20% share of the money, right?" Abuelita said and we all went over and sat by her.

"What? How can you even make this about money? We're family!" Ruby said to her but we were still using her business.

"And you should never do so,ethnic with family, which is why I shouldn't even be thinking about helping you." Abuelita said to us all.

"Well, 20% is out of the question. We're already splitting the money five ways."  Ruby said and this wasn't going to go down well.

"Five ways? Insult upon insult! You want to cut me out. And you! These pendejos didn't even believe in you. They called you pathetic." Abuelita said and to us and I looked at Jamal.

"I never said anything like that." I said to him and that's when Ruby put his hands up.

"I never said that." Ruby said to him.

"But he thought it. And that's worse." Abuelita said and that's when there was rhythmic knock on the door. "Get that." She said to Ruby and pointed at the door.

"I...don't look at me. I didn't say anything." Cesar said and that's when Ruby opened the door. There she was.

"Hey!" Jasmine said when the door opened.

"What?" Ruby asked her.

"Flamin' Hot Cheetos with chili, extra lime from Raul's truck." She said and I thought he'd retired.

"Raul's retired." Ruby said to her.

"I know, my took three hours, round-trip!" Jasmine said and how I missed going to Raul's truck.

"We'll, it's not long enough! You just don't get it, do you? Well, see if you get this." Ruby said and he slammed the door in her face. That's when he opened the door again. "You forgot the chamoy." Ruby said to her and that's when she pulled a bag out.

"I...I didn't want it to get soggy." Jasmine said and the door closed again. We all looked at him.

"What?" He asked us.

"Okay, you know all that work you're doing to get right with the universe? Well, that just undid it." Jamal said and he was right. Especially with the door slamming.

"No. That was just one misstep. That's not how karma works." Ruby said and I looked at him.

"Well it is." I said to him.

"Actually, I think that's exactly how karma works." Cesar said and I looked at Ruby.

"You've just undone everything." I said to him.

"No! One good deed undoes one bad one. One for one." Ruby said and he was getting this whole thing wrong.

"No, no, no. If that were true you could literally go out and murder a baby seal, and then as long as you recycled your compost, you'd be good. Judging from what I just saw you're like three dead baby seals in the red." Jamal said to us and there was more than three.

"More like cinco." Abuelita said to us. At least she agreed.

"You gotta apologize." Cesar said to him.

"Listen to the bagman." Jamal said to him and I looked at Ruby.

"Make it right." I said to him and he gave us a look. That's when he left us and headed over the road. Cesar, Jamal and I hid in Abuelita's car. Waiting for her. Once she was in. That was it.

"Abuelita!" Jamal shouted making her scream and pull a knife out.

"Get out!" She shouted and looked at us.

"Abuelita! Listen to me. I'm begging you. We can't do this without you. We need you!" Jamal said to her.

"Like Bonnie needs Clyde." I said to her.

"Like tacos need Tuesday." Cesar said to her.

"Like Batman needs Robin." Jamal said to her and she looked at him.

"Does Batman really need Robin?" She asked and out the knife down. "All I'm hearing is how much you need me. The real question is why do I need you?" She asked us and she had a point.

"You want 20%, you got it." Jamal said to her.

"That offer expired. You need to go." She said and I guess we were screwed now.

"Wait! Jamal's told me many of your stories. You really loved it up back in the day, didn't you?" Cesar asked and I looked at him confusedly.

"Is he going somewhere with this?" She asked and I wanted to know as well.

"My point is, when was the last time you felt like you really lived? Felt that rush if adrenaline from doing something you knew you were guy supposed to do? This isn't just wast money. This is an opportunity for adventure." Cesar said pitching the idea.

"Excitement." Jamal said to her and I looked at her.

"Action." I said to her.

"I don't need to break the law to blow my boobs back. I could go skydiving or get a motorcycle." Abuelita said to us and how was she going to do that.

"With what money? Think about it! Don't you want to travel?" Jamal asked and she must want to.

"Picture yourself at an all-inclusive resort like Sandals. You're right on a beach, you've got a drink in your hand." Cesar said and he was selling this to me.

"Okay!" Jamal and I got out.

"And you just dipped your toe in the pool." Jamal said to her.

"Pool? I thought I was on a beach." Abuelita said to him.

"You are but it also has a beach nearby. Palm trees everywhere." I said to her with a smile. I could see it now. The waves hitting the shore.

"With 25%, you couldn't have both." Cesar said to her and hopefully she'd take it.

"Well, I like the sound of that. I'm- -" She started and that's when Jamal looked at her.

"Thirty five percent!" Jamal said to her.

"Please, Abuelita! Pretty please!" Cesar said to her.

"I'm in!" She said to us with a smile.

"Shake on it!" Jamal said and the two of them started doing a shake dance. Cesar and I looked at each other confusedly. We then had a small discussion afterwards.

"You blew me away back there. I shouldn't have underestimated you." Jamal said as we started on the Cheetos.

"It's the muscles. Throws people off. Hey, the three of us make a pretty good team." Cesar said to us all.

"We are. Who would've thought it." I said with a smile on my face.

"Yeah. We do, don't we?" Jamal said to us and then chuckled.

"Hey, do you believe in karma? Like...do you think I'm laying for what I did?" Cesar asked and I looked at him.

"It isn't your fault though." I said to him and I looked at him.

"But you didn't do anything."  Jamal said to him and Cesar looked at us.

"But that's the thing. Maybe I should've." Cesar said and I looked at him.

"Don't think like that." I said to him. He shouldn't.

"Are you crazy? You think you have bad karma because you didn't kill someone? Dude, you didn't kill someone! You're not in a gang anymore. You can sleep at night." Jamal said to him and he couldn't sleep. I know he couldn't.

"Actually, I can't. I haven't I'm a long time, since...I've had no home." Cesar said and I saw Jamal give me a look.

"Well, why don't you stay with me?" Jamal asked and that would be good. My brother and my boyfriend living together. 

"You never asked." Cesar said to him.

"Well, I'm asking. In fact, I could really use the backup, 'cause I got some heat on me." Jamal said and I looked at him.

"Cesar, don't ask." I said shaking my head.

"Heat from who?" Cesar asked him and I put a hand to my head.

"You mean from what?" Jamal asked and I saw the look Cesar gave him.

"Told you not to ask." I said to him.

"You're weird." Cesar said to Jamal. He then looked at me.

"And you're pretty." Jamal said and that's when I saw Ruby walk over.

"How'd it go?" Cesar asked him as Ruby stood beside me.

"Uh...Jasmine's eating lunch with us every day." Ruby said as he took the Cheetos bag.

"Wow. She really worked you." Jamal said him.

"Nah. I like Jasmine." Ruby said with a smile on his face. I wonder what changed. In a way I was glad. Since everything with Olivia, Jasmine needed a friend. I wonder where Monse was. She was missing out on a lot.