Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Chapter 12: Integrity


Coming to Heather's house every day after work, spending the night and then leaving for work in the morning again has become his routine. Ulises hasn't been to his own apartment in a week.

"I'm not going to be coming by tomorrow," he tells Heather as she gets dinner started, "I've got stuff I ned to take care of at home."

Heather's heart sinks into her stomach, but she tries not to show her disappointment.


"I don't want you to think I expect you be here every night. I mean, I love having you, but if you need your space..." Heather says, trying to convince herself more than him. She does want him with her every night, and she thought he wanted that, too.

"I don't need space, Heather. I need to check my mail, pay my bills. And work out; I have to keep in shape for my job. All my equipment is at my place. Believe me, if it weren't for that, I'd be here tomorrow night, and every night."


"You could bring your stuff here," Heather suggests.

"I have been mostly living here," Ulises agrees, "We might as well make it official." 

Heather smiles, "I love knowing you'll be coming home to me at night. I want my home to be your home."

"Listen, would you consider getting a place together, somewhere closer to the city? The commute is killing me."

Heather pauses before answering. She's lived in this house since childhood and never considering leaving it. But that's not the real issue; she's managed to keep her grow room in the shed hidden from Ulises, as he's never had a need to go back there. But if they move, she's not going to be able to set up a new grow room under his nose. And staying here will be almost as bad; someday, he'll find some reason to go into the shed, looking for a tool, or a place to store something. "Move your stuff in here for now, and we can start looking for a new place this weekend," she says. The choice was not that difficult, love is more important than money. As soon as Ulises leaves for work the next morning, Heather makes some calls, starting the process of getting out of the drug trade.


Ulises went back to his apartment that night, to pay his bills and get in a workout. With that done, he was left alone in his apartment. He'd lived alone for some time before he met Heather, and the solitude never bothered him. But now, the quiet is more than he can bear. He grabs a few things to take with him as the start of the moving in process, and makes the three hour drive out to Topanga, arriving at her place around midnight.

When he gets to her door, he senses something is wrong here. The lights are off, but the door is slightly open.



Quietly, Ulises pushes the door open and steps into the dark room.

Heather is sobbing, on her knees as a thug looms over her.


Ulises moves quickly, grabbing the thug and pulling him off Heather.

"Esparza!" he growls, immediately recognizing the son of one of the city's biggest drug lords. Ulises had arrested him more than once. It makes no sense for Aaron Esparza to be doing a B&E job, his family is all about trafficking, and Aaron is too high in the chain to be involved in a simple burglary.


The time for interrogation will come after he's made his arrest. With his gun locked up in its case for the night, Ulises has no choice but to wrestle Esparza to the ground and cuff him.


"Did he hurt you?" Ulises ask Heather once Esparza has been subdued.

"I'm fine," she assures him, tears running down her face, "I'm so glad you came."

Ulises takes out his phone to call the station; Heather grabs his hand before he can dial. "We can't get the cops involved," she says.

"The cops are involved, Heather," he says, confused, "I just arrested Esparza. I have to take him in."

Heather sobs and shakes her head, "I can't have my house turn into a crime scene, to have police going through everything."

He tries to tell her it will be okay, but she just shakes her head and cries.


"Let me show you," she says, taking him by the hand and leading him to her garden shed.


She unlocks the door and opens it for him. "Santa Maria," he breathes when he sees what she's hiding back here, "This isn't just for personal consumption, is it?"

"No, it's for sale," she says, "And if you call the station and the cops come out here..."

"We'd take you in," Ulises says quietly. Does it make him a bad cop, he wonders, that he's not even considering arresting her himself?


"How are you involved with the Esparzas?" he asks her, afraid of the answer.

"I wasn't, until recently. I used to just sell to my own regular customers, no one else was involved. But when we started dating, I figured it would be better if I wasn't involved in making the sales myself. So I got in contact with a distributor who would buy my crop in bulk. I didn't know he was one of the Esparzas' guys. I don't even know who the Esparzas are," Heather explains, "And then when we started talking about moving in together, I realized I had to give it all up, growing as well as selling. So I called my guy, and told him the deal was off, I was getting out of the business."

Ulises groans at her naivete. "And the Esparzas sent Aaron in to convince you otherwise."


"I'm so sorry," Heather sobs, folding into herself as she sinks into her chair.

He knows she's right, if he does what he knows he should do, call the station and have them take Esparza in, they'll search this house and find Heather's crops, and arrest her along with Esparza. Ulises is not about to let that happen. She's more important to him than the law, or even his own integrity as a cop.

"Get up, pendejo," Ulises growls as he uncuffs Esparza, "Get up, and get out of here. I'm letting you go; you tell your father to let her go, too. Comprende?"

"Yeah, comprende," Esparza mutters, and leaves quickly before Ulises changes his mind.


Heather continues her soft sobbing. "Are you going to leave me?" she asks, her voice barely audible.

"Never, Heather," Ulises says, kneeling in front of her, "I'm with you forever. But you should have trusted me, you should have told me..."

She shakes with a fresh round of sobbing, "I just didn't want to lose you," she says.


Ulises lifts her up and holds her in his arms. "It's all right now. We'll fix this."

"Will Esparza really leave me alone now?" she asks.

He shakes his head sadly, "No. He won't. I'm going to get you a gun and..."

"No," she protests, "I don't want a gun."

"You have to protect yourself when I'm not here," he insists.

"Still, I won't use a gun."

Ulises sighs, "Then the sooner we move out of here, the better."

19 comments:

  1. At first I was D :

    And then I was : D

    I disapprove of the choice Ulises made but I can't say I wouldn't have done the same. I'm just glad things worked out more or less between them, and I hope Heather doesn't get hurt.

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    1. Yeah, I don't think Ulises really approves of his own decision, either, but the need to protect Heather outweighed everything else.

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  2. Whew! That could have gone very bad. Ulises must really love Heather because he sure is putting a lot on the line for her. But I'm glad she is getting out of the drug business. Also, I can't understand why she doesn't want a gun. If I was a drug dealer I would have an arsenal in my house. Especially after what happened with Esparza. But I'm glad this all worked out...this time at least. I think Ulises is really good for Heather and hopefully he and his gun will move in quickly. =]

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    1. Thanks, Jess.
      Heather is kind of naive about her business. She started just selling to people she knew, and didn't get involved with the 'real' drug dealers until recently. And being an idealist hippie type, she's kind of anti-gun.
      It is definitely a good thing for her she's got Ulises and his gun around, or she wouldn't last too long, lol.

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  3. I hope this won't come back to haunt Ulises, either because of his ethics or because the drug people might come haunting him...they have something to put pressure on him now I think.

    Though the decision has been made from the good of his heart, I don't see this just going away like that...

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    1. I don't think it's gone away.
      This story line os actually one where I've done something very different from the original in Sims 1, so I even don't know for sure where it's going yet.

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  4. D'aww. I thought what Ulises did for Heather was really sweet and romantic, saving her like that. I mean, he is risking a lot by not arresting her, but I admire him for it. Love conquers all, lol.

    Also, I love how Heather and her daughter wear matching shirts. Too cute!

    This is random, but when I first saw the picture of Aaron Esparza with Heather I thought something TOTALLY different was happening. Something way, way worse, lol. I probably shouldn't say what cause you'll just tell me to get my mind out of the gutter. Haha.

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    1. Yeah, I know what you mean about that picture. It was really hard to find poses to convey what I wanted for that shot. For all the great poses out there, there are still situations that aren't covered, lol.

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  5. Dang you for getting me hooked!

    There isn't one single couple I don't like in your story. With each chapter I'm convinced the couple the chapter's about is my favorite, and then I move on to the next chapter and I fall in love with a new couple!

    I don't think it makes Ulises a bad cop at all, not arresting Heather. He's a man in love and the heart wants what the heart wants. And I'm so happy Heather doesn't have to lie to him anymore. I'm going to miss her side job, but I understand why she has to sell. It's not just about her anymore, and with Ulises being a cop, his buddies might not turn a blind eye to her criminal activities. Awesome as always.

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  6. I'm happy Heather doesn't have to lie to Ulises anymore, either. screts like that will tear a couple apart eventually, so it's nice they can finally have honesty.

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  7. Well, at least he knows now. I knew he would take the bad cop route. I just know it's going to end badly. I just know it!!

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  8. She has put him in a really bad spot. He loves his job as a cop and now he's let go a criminal to keep her from being arrested while inadvertently covering up the fact she is a drug dealer. This can't be good for him. I fear it will come back to bite him in the ass.

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  9. Yeah, there are definite repercussions for Ulises and Heather after this night.

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  10. HOLY CRAP!! DUDE! He just committed a crime too! He's now an accomplice to her shit! Aww that's love right there! Awww OMG I hope things work out for them though! I really, really hope they get the hell out of that place before those men come back looking for them!

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  11. Ulises very much put his ass on the line for love.

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  12. Very scary stuff. Ulises is getting into more than he can handle I think. She should have told him earlier, I understand why she didn't, but now it's going to be a nightmare I bet.

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  13. Yeah, it would have been much better for them if she'd just come clean right at the start.

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  14. Yeah! he really loves her. I am so glad they make a really cute couple. I am glad he understood, just wish she had told him though.

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  15. Heather and Ulises are a very sweet couple. But Heather's past isn't going to just go away, sadly for them.

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