C17 The Fisrt Door

Marco Vasquez

The rooftop wind tasted like blood and betrayal, whipping my hoodie as I clung to Mamá’s trembling body, her blood soaking my sleeves: hot, sticky, mine to stop. Elena knelt beside us, her gun still smoking, eyes wild with a love and terror that mirrored the chaos in my chest. Kane’s guards swarmed, shouting into radios, but the world shrank to Mamá’s rasping breaths and the cousin’s corpse cooling on the helipad.

I was sixteen. I wasn’t supposed to be here: dodging bullets, tasering psychos, watching my mom bleed out because of me. My drone. My hack. My stupid, reckless need to play hero after Dad died. I’d built that taser-rigged quadcopter in my bedroom, soldering circuits while Elena thought I was gaming, thinking I could fix six years of grief with a keyboard. Now Mamá’s life was leaking onto the concrete, and I was the idiot who’d lit the fuse.

“Mamá, stay with me,” I whispered, pressing my palms to her shoulder, trying to stem the crimson tide. The bullet had grazed her, tearing flesh, but the blood wouldn’t slow. Her eyes fluttered, finding mine, and for a second, I was five again, her hands braiding my hair, humming “En Mi Viejo San Juan” while Dad flipped mofongo in the kitchen.

“Marco… my brave boy…” Her voice was a fraying thread, each word a knife in my gut. “You shouldn’t… be here…”

Brave. The word burned. I wasn’t brave. I was a kid who’d skipped school to dig through Frankie’s emails, who’d hacked Victor’s servers thinking I could outsmart a killer. I’d wanted to be Dad; Javier Vasquez, the man who’d built La Isla Dorada from nothing, who’d taught me to stand tall even when the world kicked us down. But Dad was dead, poisoned for saying no to Victor’s dirty money, and I’d dragged Mamá into my mess.

Elena’s hands joined mine, slick with Mamá’s blood. “Medics are coming, Mamá. Hold on.” Her voice cracked, but her grip was iron, the big sister who’d carried us when I was too small to understand eviction notices.

Kane crouched, ripping his shirt to make a bandage. “Pressure, kid. Keep it tight.” His eyes met mine, steady, but I saw the guilt. He’d started this with his bet, his world of glass mansions and glass lies.

I wanted to scream at him. You did this. Your wager. Your cousin. But Mamá’s cough; wet, ragged, choked my rage. She was dying for us. For me. Because I’d thought I could play God with a laptop.

What if I’m wrong again? The thought clawed at me, sharper than the wind. Every hack, every drone flight, every risk I’d taken to prove I wasn’t just the screw-up little brother, it had led here. Mamá bleeding. Elena with a gun. Victor laughing somewhere in the dark. I’d wanted to save them, to be the man Dad couldn’t be anymore. But what if I was just making it worse? What if my “bravery” got them killed?

The cousin’s phone buzzed on the ground, screen cracked but glowing. I grabbed it, ignoring Kane’s shout. My hands shook; stupid, shaky kid hands, as I opened the message.

UNKNOWN: Rooftop’s compromised. Gala’s the kill zone. Bring the kid or the mother dies. – V.

Victor. Always Victor.

I showed Elena. Her face hardened, tears drying into something lethal. “He’s playing us again.”

Kane’s jaw clenched. “We end this tonight.”

Mamá’s hand gripped mine, weak but desperate, her nails digging into my skin. “No… Marco… you run…”

Run. The word was a slap. Run like I’d run from Frankie’s thugs in Brooklyn? Like I’d run from Dad’s grave, burying myself in code to escape the guilt of not saving him? I was done running. But the fear gnawed, What if I fail again? What if I get her killed?

“I’m not leaving you,” I said, voice breaking, tears burning tracks down my cheeks. “Not ever.”

Elena stood, gun in hand, eyes on the skyline. “The gala’s in three hours. Victor wants us there; scared, desperate. We give him what he wants. But not how he expects.”

Kane nodded, already on his phone. “I’ll get a medevac for Sofia. Marco, you’re with me.”

“No,” I snapped, the word bursting out before I could stop it. My heart raced, torn between terror and defiance. “I’m with her.” I pointed at Mamá, then Elena, my voice shaking but fierce. “You want me? You go through all of us.”

Kane’s eyes softened, just a fraction, but I saw the calculation. “Kid, you’re sixteen.”

“And I just dropped a sniper with a drone,” I cut in, my chest tight with pride and panic. “I’m in.”

Am I? The doubt screamed louder than the wind. I’d hacked Frankie, Victor, even Kane’s servers, thinking I was untouchable. But this wasn’t a game. Mamá’s blood was real. The cousin’s corpse was real. What if my next move wasn’t clever,what if it was fatal? Dad had fought alone and died. I wasn’t him. But I wasn’t sure I was enough, either.

Mamá’s cough turned to a sob, her eyes pleading. “Marco… your father… he wanted you safe…”

“Dad’s gone because he fought alone,” I said, tears spilling now, hot and relentless. “I’m not him. I’m not letting you go.”

Elena knelt again, kissing Mamá’s forehead, her own tears falling. “We’re a family, Mamá. We fight together.”

The medics burst through the door, stretchers clattering. They lifted Mamá, her blood staining the helipad, her hand slipping from mine. I held on until the last second, her eyes locked on mine, whispering, “Promise me… you’ll live…”

“I promise,” I choked out, the words a vow and a lie. How could I promise life when I’d brought death to our door?

As the chopper lifted, Elena pulled me close, her voice a blade. “Victor’s not taking anyone else.”

But the cousin’s phone buzzed again. A video.

Victor, in a tux, sipping champagne in a glittering ballroom. Behind him, screens flashed: Javier’s journal. Kane’s crash. My drone footage: me, tasering the sniper, Mamá bleeding.

His voice, smooth as poison: “See you at the gala, Vasquezes. Bring your tears.”

The feed cut.

I stared at Elena, at Kane, at the city waiting to burn. My hands shook, the phone nearly slipping. I did this. My hack. My drone. My fault. But beneath the guilt, a spark ignited—rage, raw and blazing. Victor thought he’d broken us. He thought I was just a kid.

He was wrong.

I was a Vasquez.

And I was just getting started.