Forbidden Friends

Ruby “Hurry up mija, you’re going to be late for school”. mom say's “Ya voy mama” (I’m going mom). It was my last day of prepa (high school), and also my 18th birthday. I was so excited to be on break and my fiesta. I finished getting dressed in a hurry, and ran to the kitchen to eat breakfast. I see my mom and dad already eating at the table with my little brother Mateo. Dad was a reporter for the local radio station, and mom worked as a secretary for a law firm. We weren’t rich by any means, but we had a good life. My parents were very strict, but also very loving. They did whatever they could to keep us safe and away from all the nonsense going on with the cartel wars. Our little town was safe for the most part, as the cartel never took over, but we could never be too sure. “Buenos días mamá, buenos días papá” (good morning mom, good morning dad) “Buenos días mija” my dad said. I served myself some chilaquilles, one of my favorite breakfast foods. Once I was done, I washed my dirty dishes. I heard a knock at the door. It was my best friend Monse. “Hola Monse” my mom said. “Hola Doña Maria, is Ruby ready?” “Ruby! Monse is here.” I grabbed my backpack and made my way to the front door where Monse was waiting for me. I gave a hug to my mom and dad before walking out the door. “You girls be careful, you know it can be dangerous out there” my mom said. Monse, is very bubbly, outgoing, always has something to talk about, there is never a dull moment with her. She’s tall, thin with shoulder-length brown hair, and big brown eyes with a beautiful smile. As for me, I’m much quieter, and keep to myself. I’m a little shorter than her with long curly ash-brown hair and blue eyes, and way more curvy than she is. But we compliment each other, we have been best friends since kindergarten. We start walking to school, which is only a few blocks from where we live. “Ruby, I can’t believe it’s our last day of prepa.” Monse says “I know, Monse, how exciting it is!" “Are you ready for your party?” Monse asks. “Yes! You have to come and help me get ready.” “Of course, Ruby, maybe you will find a boyfriend.” Monse says. “Estás loca”(you’re crazy) “or maybe you’ll see Carlos” “That will never happen Monse. My parents will have a heart attack! You know our parents wouldn’t allow us to even leave the house, let alone socialize with him and his family." "I know! I was just kidding, but he's so hot!" Monse says. Carlos was a childhood friend. We grew up on the same block, he’s a little older than us. We've always found him very attractive, even at a young age. He was popular with the girls, but he never really had a girlfriend. He lived with his mother. His father wasn't around much, he would travel to the city a lot. We didn’t understand why, since we were just kids at the time. It wasn’t until a few years later, that we found out that his father was the leader of one of the biggest cartel gangs in the city. So our parents prohibited us from hanging around him after that. It wasn't short after that, his father took him to the city to live with him. We haven’t seen him since. They wouldn’t come to town much, they would make their rounds to make sure no other cartels would try to take over the grew up there so didn't want any other cartel taking over there home. They would only stay for a couple of days. My parents never let me out when he was in town. But from what I could gather from the other girls at school, was that he was tall, about 6ft- 2in, black hair, green eyes, a neatly trimmed beard with a nice body. Always in a tejana (cowboy hat) and cowboy boots. Every girl wanted him, but for the majority of the girls including me he was prohibited and dangerous.