Priemer Paso: Mi Llamo

                                        

                                              
A/N: LOOK TO THE SIDE ----> see the music link? That is Malcolm's theme song. It's called Short Change Hero by the Heavy.
                              
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Malcolm stared down at the relatively innocent looking Astra in his hands and wondered what it would be like to pull the trigger and see someone bleed. Intellectually he could rationalize that this was necessary, that he was following the only path to justice available. But emotionally the fourteen year old wondered if he would be man enough to do it. Just the thought of it was enough to send find tremors up Malcolm's hands but when it hit that solitary quiet inside, a calm rushed through him. Like Carltios had said, Malcolm was gonig to give the Grim Reaper a run for his money on being heartless, and this was a necessary step in that direction.
                              
"Parca?" Carlitos' voice finally broke through to Malcolm and his head shot up.
                              
"Si?" Malcolm asked, the confusion plain in his voice because he had missed whatever the street tough had been saying.
                              
Carlitos laughed, a sound that held no humor at all. When Malcolm just stared at the older man, waiting for the mocking laughter to stop, Carlitos flashed him a slightly predatory grin. "You will be Reaper from here on out. No more Malcolm, no more Vega. No family for them to trace back and use against you. To our brothers you are Reaper, to our enemies you are Reaper. Till it is over, you are Reaper." Carlitos's voice no longer held any laughter, mocking or otherwise.
                              
Malcolm stared at Carlitos and just shrugged, not caring what the others decided to call him. He was grateful that they had found a way to keep the rest of the Vega family safe and out of this. Malcolm had gotten into his first fight with a brother Barrio over the fact that he refused to let any of the gangster talk to or even about his family. Carlitos watched as Malcolm accepted his new name and focused back on trying to shoot the bottles off a distant fence. He wasn't half bad with a pistol, but it was clear on his face that he wasn't into this.
                              
Carlitos let the boy fire more as his thoughts danced over the fight that had occured. He hadn't heard what had set Malcolm off, but one moment the young man had been sitting with the other Barrio Boys, drinking his cerveza and the next, he had smashed the bottle across Alejandro's face and the man ended up needing stitches to close the cuts back up. Carlitos shook his head softly, half his attention watching Malcolm with the pistol and the other half reviewing the scuffle that had occured.
                              
"Usted no va a ir cerca de ellos!" Malcolm screamed, his young voice no longer sounding innocent and gentle (You will not go near them!). The bottle smashed and Carlitos had run over to pull the bigger man off Malcolm. 
                              
The thing was, it wasn't Malcolm he needed to be worried about. The boy seemed possessed, and although it was clear to the experienced gangster that he really had no clue how to fight, he was doing some impressive damage. His fists hadn't earned callouses yet, but their tenderness didn't seem to slow Malcolm down any as he hammered blows down on Alejandro's bleeding face. The rest of the Barrio Boys watched in muted fascination as their newest member attacked one of their oldest, no one intervening because they had all seen it coming. 
                              
Alejandro had been the one to break Malcolm's nose during his 'jumping in' ceremony. He had been the voice that had spoke the loudest against letting Malcolm in, and now spoke the most shit about his family. Everyone knew better than to mention Adrianna, but this puta had apparently felt comfortable discussing his plans to recruit young Diego next, then take advantage of the farmacia the Vega family still ran. Malcolm was clearly not copacetic with those plans and this was the end result. It wasn't until Malcolm started to snarl and choke the larger man that Carlitos finally grabbed him off the older man. Not a single word was spoken when Carlitos brough Malcolm home after that, both knowing that no matter how hard or how far the other's pushed, Malcolm wasn't a true Barrio Boy. He was more than just a street thug, even untrained. Carlitos had seen the fear in Alejandro's eyes as he pulled Malcolm away, the three of them the only ones to know that Malcolm might not have stopped himself before he actually killed Alejandro, and that would be going too far.