Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
NOAH
Islid off the exit doin’ ninety, music damn near shaking the car.
Smoke floated up from the blunt, curling like ghosts in the air.
For the first time since Stormi been back, I felt peace…
real peace. Stormi wasn’t blowin’ up my phone, tryna tell me what I should be doin’ with my life, who I should be, where I should be.
Shit was quiet… too quiet. I glanced over at the passenger seat, then the floor. No calls, no texts. That was strange.
“Damn, where the fuck is my phone?” I muttered, patting my pockets and checkin’ under my thigh. Nothing. I leaned over, digging between the seat and the console. “Man, fuck it. I’ll grab it when I park.”
The bass hit again as YoungBoy’s voice filled the car, and I rapped along without thinking.
“I’m just a lonely child… who want somebody to help him out, take this pain away, pain away.”
It was like the lyrics knew what the hell I was feelin’. As I turned onto my block, my heart dropped. Blue lights flashed in front of the house, bouncing off windows and the sidewalk. Yellow tape stretched across the lawn like a bad dream. My stomach twisted up.
“What the fuck,” I barely breathed it out as I threw the car in park and jumped out, feet hittin’ the pavement like I was runnin' from death itself.
“Yo!” I shouted, storming toward the tape. “Yo, what the fuck goin’ on? What happened?!”
I was breathin’ heavy rage with fear fighting for control. My mind was tryin’ to catch up to what my eyes were seein’.
"Let’s take a fuckin’ ride."
I didn’t even see Rich comin’. Just felt his hand snatch me up and the next thing I knew, I was flying into the back of the Escalade.
My body hit the seat hard, chest still heaving from the run up to the house.
He slid in after me, slammed the door shut, and Southside peeled off like the devil was on his heels.
The cops just stood there with their eyes forward. They didn’t move or blink.
“Man, what the fuck?!” I snapped, trying to catch my breath, sitting up straight.
Rich leaned forward slow, like a lion that already picked out his kill.
“I’m the one asking questions now,” he said, voice low but mean. Evil poured off him like heat off asphalt. His eyes. Man, his eyes didn’t even look human. They were hollow and cold like he was ready to end something.
Still, I held his stare. Shaking inside, but I didn’t let it show. I wasn’t no punk. He rubbed his hands together like he was warming up for something violent. Then cracked his knuckles slow, one by one.
“I don’t got Stormi’s patience,” he said, “but I do got more sense than Seth right now. And that should scare the fuck outta you.”
I turned to the back window, saw the flashing lights fading behind us. My chest tightened.
“You lookin’ for help?” Rich laughed, loud and bitter. “You want the boys in blue to come save you?”
He leaned in closer, breath hot.
“They on my fuckin’ payroll. Every last one of ‘em. That’s why they didn’t say shit when I threw your ass in here. They know who run this block.”
I stared at him, heart pounding in my ears.
“What happened?” I asked, voice dry.
His jaw clenched. “You tell me,”He said, not breaking eye contact for a second. “Stormi went to check on you. That’s the last we heard. So how the fuck she ends up shot and layin’ in a puddle of her own blood on the kitchen floor?”
The words hit me like a car crash. My vision blurred. My ears rang. For a second, I thought I misheard him. “Wait... What?”
He didn’t flinch. Just kept talking. “She came to check on you. And now she’s fighting for her fuckin’ life.”
“Fuck you mean Stormi got shot?!” I yelled, my whole body shaking now. “What the fuck are you saying, Rich?!”
He didn’t answer. Just looked at me like I was already guilty.
Like my face was enough to piss him off.
We stopped at a red light. Southside reached across the seat and handed him a piece.
Rich took it slow, like it was part of some ritual.
He lifted it cool and casual, and pressed the barrel under my chin.
“Seth had cameras put up at the house,” Rich said, his voice low, his eyes fixed on me like I was already dead. “Stormi pulls up. You hop in Dre’s car. Dre follows her inside. Couple minutes later… Dre walks out. You and him pull off.”
He leaned in closer, so close I could feel his breath on my face. His next words came slow. “You know how Stormi leaves?”
My mouth dried out, and my tongue felt like it couldn’t move. I didn’t answer.
“In a fuckin’ stretcher,” he growled, and it hit me in the chest like a punch.
A stretcher? Nah. That’s not real. That’s not what the fuck I thought I was gonna hear when I asked.
He kept talking. “Seth’s my brother. That makes Stormi my sister. And that baby she carrying?” He tapped the gun against my jaw. “That’s my godson. The only blood I got left that matters.”
“Rich… I didn’t shoot my sister,” I croaked out. My voice was weak. My body was still. I tried to lean back from the barrel, but he pressed it harder under my chin like he wanted to remind me just how close I was to not leaving this car alive.
“I know Dre pulled the trigger,” he snapped. “But you. You can’t tell me you ain’t hear them shots. You can’t look me in my face and tell me that music was so loud, or you were that high you ain’t feel the whole fuckin’ air shift.”
“I didn’t,” I stuttered. My voice cracked in the back of my throat. “You think I would’ve just left her there? You think I’d ever let some nigga do that to her?”
“You let it happen,” Rich said, eyes wild, jaw clenching. “And now my sister laid up in a hospital somewhere, while you over here actin’ shocked.”
“Is she dead?” The question left my mouth before I could think about it.
His voice went sharp ... “Dead?” he repeated, tilting his head. “Who the fuck said she was dead?”
I froze. My heart stopped for a second. I hadn’t even realized I said it. I was too busy trying not to fall apart.
“I didn’t know…” I whispered, the words trembling out of me. “I didn’t know, man.”
The tears hit before I could stop them.
“You cryin’ now?” Rich hissed. “Save that shit. Don’t nobody give a fuck about no tears in this world. You think that’s gonna make me spare you?”
He pressed the gun harder, and I swore I felt my whole life flash behind my eyes.
“I thought she was okay,” I whispered, broken. “I thought she went in to check on something. I didn’t know he was gonna… I didn’t think.”
“You don’t think, period!” he barked. He was looking at me, but his eyes and mind went somewhere else. “You didn’t protect her. You were supposed to protect her, Noah. You her fuckin’ brother.”
I was shaking now. I couldn’t stop it. My fists clenched, not from fear but from everything I wanted to scream but couldn’t.
“I love my sister,” I said through my teeth, voice rough with emotion. “I’d die for her. I’d trade places with her right now if I could.”
Rich paused. The gun still pressed to my chin, but his hand didn’t move.
“Loyalty,” he said, quieter now. “That word mean somethin’ to me. I don’t fuck with liars. I don’t fuck with weak links. And if I even feel like your loyalty is pointed anywhere but at this family…”
He tapped the trigger once.
“I’ll put you and Dre in the same grave. No second thoughts.”
“My loyalty is with my family,” I said, locking eyes with him, even though my whole body was screaming not to. “With Stormi. Always.”
He stared at me, like he was searching for something in my face. Some crack I might show. Some weaknesses I might have. Some lie I was telling.
“You better hope she survives,” he said, pulling the gun back slowly. “Because if she doesn’t… I promise you, Noah…”
He sat back, calm like a killer. “You won’t either.”
Southside slammed the truck into park outside the hospital, the tires jerking to a hard stop. Rich finally moved the piece from under my chin and tossed it back to Southside like it was just another tool.
“Let’s go,” he said coldly, already climbing out.
I followed him, but everything in me felt heavy.
It felt like I had just walked out of this place not even days ago.
Thinking life had a new life. Thinking life was good.
Now? It felt like the building was swallowing me whole before I even stepped inside.
My stomach flipped. I didn’t even make it to the door before the nausea hit me full force.
I stumbled over to the bushes and emptied everything I had in me.
Food. Drink. Weed. All of it. Bent over, dry heaving, eyes burning, throat on fire and all I could think about was Stormi lying in some cold ass hospital bed with a bullet in her.
When I looked up, Rich was standing there staring at me like I was filth.
His face twisted with disgust. His words cut deep.
“But you wanna be in this life so bad.”
Then he turned and walked into the hospital like he didn’t even care if I followed. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, ashamed and trembling. I forced my legs to move. Forced myself to walk through the sliding doors into the sterile air, cold as hell and thick with silence.
Every step toward the elevator felt like walking through concrete. My mind was racing, heart pounding. I couldn’t stop picturing Stormi. I couldn’t stop hearing Rich’s voice:
“In a fuckin’ stretcher.”
The elevator doors slid open and we rode in silence.
I didn’t breathe until we stopped on her floor.
We walked down the hallway, my footsteps echoing louder than they should have.
Rich walked like he owned the building. I walked like I was on trial.
He knocked twice on her door, then twisted the knob and pushed it open.
Inside, the room was too quiet. Seth stood at the side of the bed, his back tense, body standing as if he was on guard. Jo and Ms. Serena sat shoulder to shoulder in two chairs near the bed. Jo had Stormi’s hand in hers, her fingers running gently through her curls.