Rain “Rebel” Crawford #2
I threw my middle finger up at Crow, who only laughed as I walked out of the shop.
I took a deep breath and approached my truck and put my right leg over to climb onto the leather seat.
At that moment, something caught my attention.
I saw Rose’s ex-boyfriend Nico, the same nigga she had been dating when she died, standing with one of her close friends.
Instantly, I frowned at seeing them. Why the fuck were they together?
I thought to myself as anger shot through my body.
Maybe it wasn’t what it looked like, but I wasn’t in the mood to give anybody the benefit of the doubt.
Before I could think twice, I took off toward them. The moment they noticed me coming, both of them jumped like they’d seen a ghost. Right away, the guilty look that flashed across their faces only fueled my irritation.
“What the fuck going on?” I demanded as I folded my arms in front of them.
Neither one answered, so I looked from him to her and back again. Somebody was gonna give me some answers.
“Nah. Don’t stand here looking stupid. I asked a question.”
Rose’s friend Julie swallowed hard while Nico shifted on his feet. For a brief second, nobody said a word. The silence rubbed me the wrong way.
“Why y’all acting nervous?” I asked. “And why the fuck are y’all together?”
“Rebel, it’s been four years, and I have a right—”
“Nigga, you better not say anything outta pocket,” I snapped, cutting him off.
“No, it’s time for me to be real. Julie and I are together now,” Nico confessed.
For a second, I just stared at him. Then I laughed hysterically, rage flowing through my body. His confession had me all the way fucked up.
“Together?” I repeated. “Oh, so that’s what we calling it?”
“Rebel—” Nico said.
“Nah, shut the fuck up,” I spoke through gritted teeth.
Julie’s eyes widened as I pointed between the two of them.
“So y’all expect me to believe this shit just magically happened?” I said, angrily.
“It did,” Julie finally chimed in the conversation.
“The fuck it did,” I said sarcastically.
“It wasn’t like that,” Julie’s voice cracked.
“Then what was it like?” I barked. “Cause from where I’m standing, it look like y’all been fucking behind my sister’s back this whole damn time.”
“No!” Julie cried.
“I loved Rose,” Nico said firmly. “The thing between Julie and me happened because of our grief.”
“Our grief?” I repeated.
My face twisted. “Our grief?”
I stepped closer until I was damn near in his face. “You don’t get to stand here and use my sister’s death as an excuse to justify this bullshit.”
“I’m not using her death,” Nico said.
“The hell you ain’t,” I grunted.
“Rose has been dead four years, and this the shit y’all doing? Out of all the people in the world, you pick one of her closest friends?”
“Feelings happen, Rebel,” Nico said nonchalantly.
“Nah. Loyalty happens. Respect happens,” I shot back.
Julie started crying, but I didn’t care.
All I could see was betrayal. Maybe they weren’t together when Rose was alive, but I was so mad that I didn’t want to think rationally.
In my mind, they had taken my sister’s memory and stomped all over it.
So, I wanted to let them know they were on my list. Without another word, I reached into the waistband of my jeans and pulled out my Glock.
Nico threw both hands up as Julie let out a terrified sob and stumbled backward.
“Rebel!” Nico shouted.
“Did you know my sister was pregnant?”
The question caught him off guard as his eyes dropped to the ground, and for a long moment, he didn’t say a word.
“Yeah.”
The single word hit me like a bullet.
My jaw tightened as I stared at him. “So you knew.”
He nodded. “I found out a couple weeks before the robbery.”
I took a slow step toward him, still holding the gun, and he jumped.
“Why the fuck didn’t you stop her from doing that robbery?”
He dragged a hand down his face and sighed. ‘Cause she promised me it was the last one. We needed the money.”
A bitter laugh escaped me. “Did she need the money... or did you?”
His head snapped up. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You think I didn’t know about that big-ass drug debt you owed?”
His expression changed instantly. “You thought I was stupid?”
Before he could say another damn word, I stepped into him and slammed the butt of my Glock into the side of his head.
“Fuck!” he growled, stumbling sideways as his hand shot to the spot I’d hit.
I stood over him, my chest rising with every angry breath.
“You couldn’t stop playing with that damn nose candy, so my sister risked her life to help bail your ass out.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“The fuck it wasn’t! Rose would’ve done anything for the people she loved. You knew that. You let her walk into that bank knowing she was pregnant.”
“I didn’t let her do shit,” he shot back. “You knew Rose. Couldn’t nobody tell her what to do.”
“No... but you could’ve tried.”
All I saw was red. Rage consumed me like wildfire, and I wanted them to pay for every ounce of disrespect they had shown me.
With a scream of pure frustration, I turned away from them and unleashed my fury on Nico’s car.
The first shot shattered the passenger-side window, sending glass exploding across the pavement.
I fired again, blowing out another window like I didn’t give a damn.
The sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the parking lot as nearby car alarms began screaming.
I still wasn’t satisfied. I lowered my aim and put rounds into the tires one after another until every last one of them went flat.
By the time I was done, Julie had dropped to her knees, crying uncontrollably, while Nico stumbled backward, cursing under his breath as he stared at what was left of his car.
After doing enough damage, I stood there breathing hard, staring at the destruction.
The commotion was impossible to ignore. A few seconds later, the front door of Crow Speed Shop burst open.
Crow came storming outside with another worker, Philip, right behind him.
Both men looked confused until their eyes landed on Julie crying and Nico standing frozen in shock.
Then they saw the damaged car. The moment Crow saw the Glock in my hand, he shook his head.
“Aw, hell no,” he said low.
Crow immediately started walking toward me. Unlike everyone else, he wasn’t afraid. He wasn’t running away or hiding behind somebody. He walked straight into the chaos like he belonged there. Philip followed behind him but stopped several feet away.
“What the fuck happened?” Philip asked as he looked around.
Nobody answered him as Crow’s attention never left me. His dark eyes traveled over my face, taking in my heaving chest, clenched jaw, and wild expression. He knew me well enough to recognize when I was hanging on by a thread. And right now, that thread was snapping.
“Rain,” he called out firmly.
I ignored him.
My fingers tightened around the Glock.
“Rain,” Crow said, his voice deeper and more commanding.
Still, I didn’t look at him. I was too busy glaring at Nico and Julie.
Crow let out a curse under his breath. Then he closed the distance between us.
“Give me the gun,” Crow demanded.
“No, nigga.”
The answer came without hesitation, and Crow’s jaw flexed.
“Rain, give me the fucking gun,” he said louder.
“No.”
For a second, neither of us moved. The tension in the air was thick enough to choke on.
Crow stared at me while I stared right back.
Most people would’ve backed down, but Crow wasn’t most people.
He stepped closer, and I could smell the motor oil and cologne lingering on his clothes.
Although I had the gun in my hand, Crow never treated me like I was something to fear.
“Look at me, Rain,” he said firmly, but still low.
Damn him for using that tone. The one that always slipped past my defenses. Slowly, I turned my head. The anger was still there. But when my eyes met Crow’s, something else surfaced. As if he was worried about me instead of the damage I’d caused.
“Give me the gun,” Crow said firmly.
Finally, I handed him my gun. Then I turned around, walked over to my truck and climbed inside, ready to leave.
Without looking back, I fired up the engine and pulled out of the parking lot, leaving behind the shattered glass, the screaming car alarms, and the pieces of myself I had just let everyone see.