Chapter 23 – Hood Brat
Chapter
Twenty-Three
HOOD brAT
There was so much shit going on that it was hard to plan my wedding; it seemed like there was never enough time in a day to get anything done.
I knew that Lil Rude wanted me to focus on us, but everything that my girls were going through had me beyond stressed and worried.
Gutta Barbie trying to kill herself was the final straw.
I was trying to come up with a way to tell Lil Rude that I wanted to push the wedding back to another day, but it was hard, as though that was all he wanted to talk about lately.
He was so anxious for us to get married; I was unsure where this was all coming from, as though it was like pulling teeth getting him to commit in the first place, and now he was acting like that’s the only thing he was ready to do, like he was crazy over me.
“Hey, soon-to-be wife,” he said, kissing me on the lips as he got in the car.
“Hey, babe,” I spoke back. I was happy to see him as always.
We spent every day together, and I still got butterflies whenever I saw him.
I didn't want to push our wedding back. I’ve been wanting to marry him since the first day that I met him, but there was way too much going on.
I didn’t want to put my friends before him, but this shit with Gutta Barbie was far deeper than any of us realized.
She really needed us more than ever right now.
“What’s going on? What’s so urgent that it couldn’t wait until later?” he asked, looking at me, concerned.
“I wanted to go out to eat and talk,” I told him. I was nervous and started to sweat. As much as I didn’t want to break the news to him, I knew that this was what was best.
“Aight, where are we going to eat?” he asked.
“Dirty D’s,” I answered. He dropped his head sadly for a little while. We both were hurt. There was so much going on.
“Ok, let’s do it,” he said.
I decided to pick our favorite spot, Dirty D’s, which was where we had first met.
It was Friday night, which was Reggae night, and my favorite DJ was going to be in the building.
I felt like Dirty D’s was the perfect place to have a conversation about our future together and the importance of family.
A lot had changed, and Lil Rude was really hurting because of the passing of Lil Insane and Wrizzle.
A lot had changed within our family and at Dirty D’s.
We were currently preparing to attend Lil Insane's funeral tomorrow, and now we were going to have to prepare for Wrizzle's. It was a very sensitive and sad week for everybody. They were more than our friends; they were our family. I wanted to not attend the funerals to stand behind my girls, but I knew that I needed to be there for my man. I wasn’t happy about the thought of Lil Insane or Wrizzle putting their hands on my sisters, but I knew that Lil Rude wasn’t going to miss attending their funerals for anything in this world, and my girls understood that.
He wasn’t the type to pick sides, especially when it came to something as deep as someone losing their life.
I felt like I was thrown in the middle of everything, and lately, it had been taking a serious toll on me.
I also felt like there was some deeper shit going on, and I was being left out because of my relationship and loyalty to Lil Rude.
I never imagined my homegirls beefing with the guys like they were one of the guys, but it seemed like that was exactly what was going on.
We pulled up to Dirty D’s, and so many memories came rushing back, some bad and some good.
Despite everything that was going on, the crowd turned out to be insane.
The entire hood was pulling up to show love out of respect for Wrizzle and Lil Insane.
Despite everything that was going on between them and my girls, I had many good memories with them and, at one point, loved them both like blood brothers.
We walked into Dirty D’s and received so much love.
I knew that no matter how he took the conversation tonight, things were going to end on a good and positive note with Lil Rude and me.
Reggae night only brought good vibes, which was how I knew this was the perfect place for us to talk about everything.
We took a seat, and I ordered the Red Snapper, rice and beans, cabbage, and plantains.
Lil Rude got stew chicken, rice, beans, and mac and cheese.
We both ordered a Jamaican patty with coco bread and cheese for an appetizer, and I ordered a double shot of Patron, a shot of Hennessy, and cranberry juice with a Red Bull on the side for my man, which was the only thing he drank.
“So what do you want to talk about?” Lil Rude asked when our food finally came out. I took a bite of my Red Snapper before beginning the conversation. I took a deep breath before beginning.
“Our wedding needs to be pushed back a little,” I suggested.
“And why the fuck would you suggest some bullshit like that?” he snapped, throwing his fork down.
“Babe, relax and hear me out,” I begged.
“Nah, don’t tell me to relax. You did all that pressuring me and begging me to marry you.
Giving me ultimatums and all that just to say you wanna push our wedding date back?
” he asked, looking at me, confused. I thought about everything he had just said, and he was right.
I knew that he had a point, and what I was asking seemed selfish, but I was thinking about everyone involved.
It was too much drama and confusion, and I didn’t want that at our wedding.
“Fly Si is gone, Lil Insane is gone, Wrizzle is dead, and Gutta Barbie just tried to commit suicide. You got the cops coming around asking questions about Lil Insane and Wizzle's death. It’s way too much damn drama, and I don't want that shit on our wedding day.”
“I understand it’s a lot going on, but none of that shit involves you or me!” he snapped.
He was taking all of this worse than I had expected, and now I was regretting feeling the need to have this conversation in the first place.
The way Lil Rude and I looked at family was completely different from one another.
I took everything personally, and he knew when and how to separate the two, which was something that I hadn’t been able to learn yet.
I wore my heart on my sleeve and took the word family to heart; when one hurt, we all hurt, but that wasn’t the way that Lil Rude looked at things.
He threw his napkin down and stood to walk away from the table.
I got up to run after him and noticed two male figures in hoodies walking towards him with their arms raised.
Before I had the chance to warn Lil Rude, shots began to ring out.
I jumped to the floor and tried to get out of the way of the gunfire.
“Rudeeee!” I scream watching him get hit in his shoulder and leg.
Reaching into my purse, I pulled out my Glock and began firing back in the direction of the two dudes in all black.
I hit one in the chest. I watched as the other one began to freak out as a young girl began calling his name frantically while holding the door open.
He looked like he was thinking about staying with the one on the ground.
I let off three more rounds, and he took off running out of the door.
I ran behind him, watching him jump inside a small Honda Civic with the girl, before the car sped down the block.
I ran back inside and went up to the boy on the floor.
I took a long look at him while he begged for his life.
Without an inch of remorse, I raised my Glock, emptying the clip into his upper torso.
One of Dirty D’s security personnel took the gun from me, and I ran to my man's side, waiting for the paramedics to arrive.
“You got that nigga babe?” Lil Rude asked.
“Yes, one of them.”
“Gud, mi, so proud of yuh. " You did real good,” he said in his heavy accent.
“I’m so sorry for pushing the wedding back. Forget planning, let's get married as soon as you get out of the hospital.” I said. He smirked and kissed my hand.
“Let’s do it,” he agreed.
The paramedics came and rushed Lil Rude to the hospital, and I rode with him in the back of the ambulance.
I was stressed out of my mind seeing my man going in and out of consciousness.
I knew that he had to pull through; we had unfinished business to attend to.
Thirty minutes after getting to the hospital, the waiting room was filled with family and friends wanting to know Lil Rude's status. I didn’t know who those young niggas were or why they had beef with Lil Rude, but I was going to make it my business to find out.
I walked out of the room and went to get a coffee.
Lil Rude had been in surgery, and I was freaking out, worried sick about him.
When I returned, my attention fell on a woman standing at the information desk asking for my man's status.
I walked over to where she was to see who she was, because I had never seen her before.
“I don't care about another woman he is here with; that is my husband, and I want to know his status,” she snapped at the nurse. When the nurse noticed me, she looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
“Excuse me, what the fuck did I just overhear you say?” I was confused.
“Get the fuck out of my face,” she said, brushing me off. “You,” she said, pointing her finger at the nurse. “Take me to my husband now!” she said.
Before the nurse had a chance to stand on her feet, I had swung and knocked the girl claiming to be Lil Rude's wife over the nurses’ station counter.
She screamed and shouted in her thick accent as they separated both of us.
The nurse put me in a room and gave me some ice so that I could ice my swollen knuckles.
“I understand you are upset and worried, probably going through so many emotions right now. But I really think that it is best if you leave for the night before the authorities get her,” she said.
I stood to my feet. She didn’t have to tell me twice because I got the fuck out of there while I had the chance.
When I was outside, I called Holly to take me to my car.
She was already at the hospital when the situation went down, but missed everything.
I was happy she did because she would’ve jumped in, and we both would’ve been in jail.
It was hard wrapping my mind around the fact that I had just caught my first body and found out that my fiancé was already married on the same night.
As much as I wanted to cry, I felt too much like a gangsta to drop a tear over a fuck nigga.
As fast as my wedding was back on, it was back off again. Lil Rude had a lot of explaining to do.