"Nothing good on the news," Alejandro Gomes said to himself. The tall, short-haired and brown-skinned young Afro-Dominican man flipped through the channels. Outside of the Coral Gables apartment complex, a blazing heat gripped the area and much of the Sunshine State. Night has fallen, and did little to diminish the heat. Alejandro moved to Florida eighteen months ago from his hometown of Dajabon in the Dominican Republic and still wasn't used to Florida's odd mixture of heat and humidity. The land of the gringos was fresh hell, but Alejandro had a family to support.
Two years ago, Alejandro's father Francisco Gomes died due to complications from diabetes, and as the eldest son, it fell to Alejandro to take care of the family. That's why Alejandro was working for Allied Universal while attending classes at Miami Dade College. The security company didn't pay much and the manager, Erin Hazel, was a bitch, but Alejandro did what he had to do. American dollars were worth their wait in gold to Alejandro's mother Maria Bertrand-Gomes and his younger sister Estella Gomes back in Dajabon. A man has authority but must also embrace responsibility, that's what Alejandro's Dominican father Francisco taught him.
Alejandro looked at his little dog Harriet, a Jack Russell terrier and Chihuahua mix that he adopted a while ago. After eating the beef jerky that Alejandro gave her, the little dog was fast asleep in her doggie bed. Alejandro continued to flip through various channels until he landed on something he liked. Good shows like Dexter, Hannibal, The Good Place, Reaper, iZombie, Dead Like Me and various others. Hmm, what's a brother to choose? Alejandro chose to watch Dexter. It was a good one too. The one where the Hispanic lady cop arrests Dexter at the Miami police station.
As Alejandro watched America's favorite serial killer maneuver his way around the cops, events were happening outside his apartment. It was the end of October, and as usual, Guillermo Gutierrez, the world's worst landlord was due to make his rounds around the apartment complex. The Palisades apartment complex was full of immigrants from the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Latin America. The old landlord liked to throw his weight around since a lot of his tenants barely spoke any English and tended to let him get away with a lot of bullshit.
"Going to rattle you suckers," Guillermo said to himself as he stepped out of his bright red Rav4. The stocky, dark-haired and bronze-skinned Mexican American put out his cigarillo as he took a look around the parking lot. The lot was full, which meant that the tenants were home. Good. Guillermo liked to make those impromptu visits so he could catch his tenants unawares. The Palisades apartment complex was Guillermo's little kingdom and he ran it with an Iron fist.
As Guillermo headed for the front door, a loud scream startled him. Guillermo looked around. He heard gurgling sounds. Guillermo was born in Tijuana, Mexico, but spent most of his life in Miami, Florida. Even in Coral Gables, which was supposedly nicer and safer than the rest of Miami, things happened. Guillermo took out his Glock and walked in the direction of the noise. If there were vagrants, homeless people or random bozos, Guillermo would tell them to skip or else. The landlord doesn't play...
"What the fuck?" Guillermo exclaimed as he reached a van. The gurgling and slurping sounds came from that direction. A blonde-haired white chick lay on the floor, all bloodied up. Guillermo vaguely recognized Isabel, the American girlfriend of one of his Latino tenants, Jose somebody. Isabel was motionless on the floor, and she was not alone. Three people were in the midst of devouring her. Guillermo gasped in shock, and that's when they looked up.
The feasters, two men and a woman, looked up from their prey and glared at the intruder. Their eyes were bright red, and their faces bloodied. Chunks of flesh dangled from their open maws. Upon seeing the look of blank hunger on their faces, Guillermo stepped back. The three rose from their interrupted feast and started toward Guillermo. Their movements were quite awkward. They moved as if drunk or extremely tired.
"Get back or I will shoot you," Guillermo shouted, and he backed away as the three advanced on him. Guillermo recognized the two male assailants as Jose, and his roommate Pedro. The female assailant was Miss Phuong, a skinny Asian woman who rented one of the seventh floor apartments. Guillermo fired a warning shot in the air but that did nothing to deter them. Jose, Pedro and Miss Phuong came at Guillermo. He fired shot after shot into them. Jose shuddered as a bullet hit him in the chest. Pedro staggered but did not fall as a bullet hit his throat. Miss Phuong roared and came at Guillermo. He shot her in the chest. She didn't seem to care.
The three of them pulled down Guillermo and began to feast on him. A few moments later, the three monsters were joined by a fourth individual. Isabel, the pretty blonde gal, joined her boyfriend Jose, his roommate Pedro and Miss Phuong in feasting on Guillermo. The creatures made loud, slurping noises and moaned as they feasted on the landlord's flesh. They were still feasting when the Miami Police arrived.
"Wally, what do you think, gang activity or domestic shit?" said Officer Stella Jean-Baptiste. The tall, dark-skinned and curvy, thirty-something Haitian American policewoman looked askance at her colleague while driving the patrol car. Miami Police patrol officer Walter Beauharnais, a stocky, bald-headed black man with a thick mustache, smiled and shrugged. Like Stella, he'd been born in Florida to Haitian immigrant parents. Walter has been a cop for over a decade and loves working the beat. This was supposed to be just another night of copping in Florida...
"Hmm, perhaps neither," said Wally. Stella smiled and shrugged. The patrol car pulled into the parking lot of the Palisades apartment complex, located on Cosgrove Avenue in the South End of Coral Gables. The officers stepped out. There was a small crowd gathered near the building entrance, and they all seemed to be staring at something near the end of the parking lot. Stella and Wally exchanged a look as they approached the crowd.
"Good evening, folks, we have report of shots fired," said Wally as he reached them. The black cop looked at the crowd. Almost all of them were some type of immigrant. Latino. Black. Asian. In spite of Floridian conservativism, people of color continue to flock to the Sunshine State. Stella and Wally spoke to them, trying to ascertain what was going on. The on-lookers kept pointing to a spot near the end of the parking lot.
