Juez, Jurado, Verdugo (excerpt from my upcoming book, ‘The Final Enigma’) (slight TW)

Blood flew out of the man’s mouth. The man who had punched him smiled. He had a dirty white tank top on with some blood stained onto it. His arms were speckled with blood after punching the man many times. He had slicked black hair with a golden chain around his neck. Hanging off the thin chain was a golden cross. He smiled as the man he had punched slowly looked at him with bloodshot eyes. The small light above them made it feel like the room was much smaller.

“Por favor, no hice nada malo, (Please, I didn’t do anything wrong,)” the man said weakly.

“No es lo que estás haciendo, es lo que me estás ocultando, (It’s not what you’re doing, it’s what you’re keeping from me,)” the man said as he cracked his knuckles.

“José, ¿qué quieres de mí? ¡¿No te he dado todo?! (José, what do you want from me? Haven’t I given you everything?!)” the man yelled at José. Suddenly, José punched the man again. The man yelled in pain and spat out blood onto the ground.

“No todo, Marcus. Aún no, (Not everything, Marcus. Not yet,)” José said as he smiled. Finally, he took a seat on the tall chair behind him. He grabbed a towel from a nearby table hidden in the darkness and wiped the blood off his hands.

“Entonces dime lo que quieres. ¡Te lo voy a dar! (Then tell me what you want. I'll give it to you!)” the man said as José looked at him.

“Bueno, qué tal si te pregunto esto: ¿Qué crees que quiero de ti? (Well, how about I ask you this: What do you think I want from you?)” José asked him, playing a little game. The man shook his head in anger impatiently.

“Ay, vamos, José. ¡Sólo dime! ¿Qué deseas? ¿Drogas? ¿Pastillas? ¿Balas? ¿Dinero? (Ay, c'mon, José. Just tell me! What do you want? Drugs? Pills? Bullets? Money?)” Marcus asked José impatiently. José looked at him, seeing that he desperately wanted to get out of there.

“¿Nos juras lealtad? (Do you swear your allegiance to us?)” José asked him. The room’s silence intensified as Marcus looked around like José was crazy.

“¡Por supuesto que sí! ¡¿Por qué no lo haría?! (Of course, I do! Why wouldn't I?!)” Marcus said, sounding a bit uncomfortable. Luckily, José believed him.

“Alright,” José said as he walked behind Marcus and untied his hands. Marcus breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, the door opened. José turned to the door and looked at a woman looking in. She had a flashlight in her hand by her side as she looked at José and Marcus.

“José,” she said, and he nodded at her.

“¿Sí?” José asked her, wondering what she was doing.

“I brought him,” the woman said. José dropped his serious expression and smiled.

“He’s not freaking out or anything?” José asked the woman as he grabbed the towel and began to wipe off his hands as he walked to the door.

“He’s still outside,” the woman said. José smiled and kissed the woman on the lips.

“Gran trabajo Carmen, (Great job, Carmen,)” José said to Carmen as Marcus stood up and began to walk toward the door. José continued to deeply kiss the woman. Suddenly, he pulled out a gun and shot Marcus in the head while continuing their embrace. Marcus hit the ground as José kissed her again. “Well,” José said as they left the room, “Let’s go see our new friend.” José turned around and closed the door, putting the bleeding body of Marcus into the darkness again.

If you don't understand this, it's fine. It's intended to connect to the larger plot.