"And you know we don't give a fuck, it's not your Birthday!" Nessa sang as she danced her way into our apartment.

"You can find me in the club, bottle full of bub. Look mami I got the x if you into taking drugs. I'm into having sex, I ain't into making love so come give me a hug if you into getting rubbed" I sang along with my friend as I followed her into our apartment and fell right onto the large couch in our living room.

"Okay, I think that's enough singing for tonight. You haven't shut up ever since we got out of the club" Sofi grumbled, she took off her black boots and massaged her feet. "My feet are killing me."

"I told you not to wear those to work" I pointed out.

I know she wants to look good at the club but she's not there to dance and have fun, our job is to clean tables and serve customers. The only good thing out of working at a popular club is that you can sort of party along with the customers, as long as you keep it as professional as possible.

I settled myself against the comfortable couch and looked around for the remote control. I picked it up from the round center table and turned on the television. I surfed through several channels and finally settled down on a boring news show. Feeling very tired I began to dose off, it was the mentioning of my hometown on TV that made straighten up and listen to the news anchor woman going off about the latest tragedy.

"More than a dozen gunman were killed in the northern state of Tamulipas, Mexico. Mexican forces are unable to control the violence and it may get worse, authority's here say that two powerful drug cartels-The Gulf Cartel and The Sinaloa Cartel have allied together to defeat a gang of 'hitman' known as Los Zetas. They are fighting over control of the State of Tamaulipas which is currently under the control of The Gulf Cartel. Reports have pointed out that the powerful leader of The Gulf Cartel, vicious drug lord Salvador Romano and his sons are--"

I shut off the TV and could feel my friends eyes on me, waiting for a reaction... but I was already used to the concerned stares every time something like this came on TV. It's the same thing all the time. I'll hear or watch something about the drug war going on in Mexico and I'll get paranoid. It's not a good feeling.

Every time I hear about the cartels I'm reminded of them.

My best friend Sofia took a seat next to me and squeezed my shoulder tightly, pulling me closer to her in a comforting embrace "Are you okay Gabs?"

"I'm fine" I sighed ant turned away from her, only to look right into the eyes of my other good friend Vanessa.

"It's okay to be upset Gabby" Nessa whispered. "It's your family they're talking about after all"

My family. How messed up is that? Every time I hear someone talk about drug cartels in Mexico I'm reminded of my family.

"I don't even know why I still freak out every time I hear about them" I stood up from my seat and walked into the small kitchen. I poured myself a glass of water to get rid off the weird feeling in my throat, and also to prevent myself from crying.

"I should already be used to this" I laughed humorlessly. "Shouldn't I? I've spent all my fucken life worrying about that crap. I thought that as years went by the feelings would go away. But they haven't."

"You worry about them" Sofi said. "It's normal to worry about your father and brothers"

"But they're criminals!" I cried. "They do bad things! I shouldn't care about them! They don't deserve to have my mother and I think about them at all."

My father tried to keep us trapped in a world that we wanted no part of, and even though my mother finally managed to get us out of that life we still keep being reminded of the people we left behind every time we turn on the television.

"You can't change what happened " Nessa simply replied.

And she was right. I can't change anything, but I can try to forget about it. I've already lived through enough hell when I was young. My only family now is my mother. A mother who I love very much and admire a lot, she's given me the chance to have a normal life even though she had to leave her two other sons behind, but it's not her fault. She loves my father and brothers just as much as she loves me, but she couldn't stand being part of that dangerous life. There were various times in the past when she tried to get my dad to leave the business but my father was obsessed with a job that brought easy money and power. As time went on he built a large and powerful drug cartel and became the 'Don' or ' Boss' of the famous Cartel del Golfo, mostly known in the U.S as The Gulf Cartel .

It all started in my dad's hometown of Tamaulipas, Mexico. My father; Salvador Romano along with my two uncles Felix and Carlos, raised the cartel to be the second most powerful cartel in Mexico. Soon after, my two older brothers Martin and Alejandro joined the family business.

"Let's just forget about this" I grumbled, already too fed up to think about all the drama of my life. "Do you guys already have your part of the rent?"

Sofi looked a bit unsure, she stared at me for a while trying to make sure I was feeling better and decided to go along with me since she thought it was the best thing. "I already have mine"

"Same here" Nessa grinned. "I worked my butt off last week. And the customers gave some good tips at the club."

Luna is the name of the popular night club we work at. Our boss Vince is a badass guy, he's a thirty-five year old man who is like a father to us, he allows us to hang out with the people just as if we were customers ourselves, but we also have to do our jobs of cleaning tables and serving drinks.

"Vince said we have to go in tomorrow night, the club is going to be packed." Sofi notified us.

"We should tell some of the people at the University to go hang out" I suggested.

"Ohhh!" Nessa elbowed me playfully. "I bet you just want to see Brandon, that guy is totally into you!"

"I'm not interested in him"

"What?! Dude he's pretty cute" Sofi said with wide eyes. "You should give him a chance."

I slumped back into my chair feeling tired. "I don't want to be in a relationship right now, having a boyfriend just brings more drama and trust me...I already have plenty of that in my life."

"Aww, C'mon Gabs" Nessa whined. "Don't be a party pooper"

"Ya girl just wants to be single" I joked. "I don't like being tied down to a guy"

After talking a bit more we decided to go to sleep since we were going to have to go to school and work tomorrow. We picked up the mess we had left in the living room and then walked into our bedroom.

We share a large bedroom that can fit all three of us, it's actually bigger than any other room in the apartment and it has a huge walk-in closet. It also makes us feel a lot more safer to be sleeping in the same room,

"I talked to mom on the phone today" Sofi said in the darkness to her sister Vanessa.

Nessa and Sofi, my two best friends are sisters. Vanessa is two years older than Vanessa and I but her carefree attitude sometimes makes people think she's the youngest one.

"Really? What'd she say?"

"She just wanted to know how we're doing, I told her we've been working a lot lately."

"Are her and dad still planning on visiting grandma in Mexico?" Vanessa asked.

"No" Sofi sighed. "Dad's boss won't let him go because they have a lot of work at the restaurant right now"

"Damn I was hoping they would invite us to come along. I really want to go to Mexico." Nessa said sounding disappointed.

Sofia laughed, "Mom said we should take a little vacay, oh and that includes you Gabs."

A vacation sounds so good right now, we spend most of our days going from home to school and then to work. It's been really boring. And with spring break right around the corner it would be the perfect excuse to go.

"Mom's right" Nessa piped up. "We need to get out of here and go somewhere."

"You just want an excuse not to go to work" I smiled.

"Maybe....maybe not"

"I'm totally loving the vacation idea" Sofi said. "We should really think about it."

"I would have to talk to my mother about it" I responded.

"I'm sure she'll be fine with it" Vanessa yawned. "But I'm too tired to talk right now. Good night babes!"

"Buenas Noches" (Good Night) Sofi and I whispered back.

I snuggled in my bed, waiting for sleep to come.

As I stared up at the ceiling my thoughts went back to what I heard on the news earlier. Dad's cartel allied with the most powerful cartel in Mexico, the number one cartel in the world; The Sinaloa Cartel, and they are planning to defeat Los Zetas...there's a war going on between them...a very dangerous war.

I closed my eyes in frustration, here I am thinking about them again. This shouldn't concern me anymore. My mother and I are free to live a normal life, the life we always wished to have with my father and brothers, a life they neglected because of their obsession with power.

Maybe I do need a vacation, a vacation that will take my mind off the drug world, a world I don't ever plan on going back to.

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©2011,wendy1122

No copy of this story is allowed without my authorization. I just want to make sure no one steals this, I know I'm not the best writer but I'm just making sure. Thank you.