Epilogue Forever Hood #2
You just learn how to carry it. I was broken without my homegirl, shattered in ways that were unable to be fixed. Pieces of me were missing that no soul could ever replace. Lil Rude taking her from us had cut me deeply. I was an emotional wreck.
I stepped forward holding a single white balloon.
My voice trembled.
“Hood Brat wasn’t perfect.”
A few people laughed.
I smiled.
“Lord knows she wasn’t.”
More laughter.
Even through tears.
“But she loved hard.”
I looked at her photograph.
“And if she loved you, she fought for you.”
The rooftop became quiet. I took a moment to get myself together.
I was choked up. This was hard.
“She taught us that family isn’t always blood.”
My eyes drifted across the crowd.
To Holly.
To Hitman.
To Hood Gorgeous.
To War.
To our babies. They were so close. Inseparable. I was in love with each one of them. Little mini me’s running around was something that I knew Hood Beat would have loved. Lil Rude had robbed her of any chances of becoming a mother.
“Family-
“It’s the people who stay.”
Tears slipped down my cheeks.
“The people who help you survive.”
I smiled at her picture. Even through tears the mere sight of her brought a smile to my face. One of the most beautiful people I have ever met inside and out.
“The people who help you become who you were meant to be.”
The wind moved gently around us.
Almost like an embrace.
“I miss you every day Hood Brat.”
My voice cracked.
“But look at us.”
I gestured around the beach.
“We’re still standing.”
War squeezed my hand.
I squeezed back.
“We’re still loving.”
I looked down at Harmony.
“And we’re still building the future you wanted us to have.”
Silence.
Beautiful silence.
Then together we released the balloons.
Hundreds of white, pink and gold balloons rose into the darkening sky.
Everyone watched.
Nobody spoke.
Some moments are too sacred for words.
The balloons drifted higher.
Higher.
Higher.
Until they disappeared among the stars.
When I looked back down, War was already staring at me.
The same way he always did.
Like I was home.
Like after everything we’d survived, he still couldn’t believe I was standing beside him.
He reached for my hand.
His engagement ring glimmered beneath the rooftop lights.
I smiled.
My fiancé.
My best friend.
My forever.
Nearby, Holly rested against Hitman’s chest while their son slept in his father’s arms.
The engagement ring on her finger sparkled.
Hitman kissed her forehead.
The kind of kiss that said a thousand words.
Across from them, Hood Gorgeous leaned into her fiancé’s embrace.
Her smile was peaceful.
Hopeful.
The kind of smile people earn after surviving storms.
I looked around one last time.
Three couples.
Three love stories.
Three beautiful babies.
One unforgettable woman is watching over all of us.
My heart felt full.
Not because life had been easy.
Not because the pain was gone.
But because somehow…
Love had survived everything.
I looked up at the stars.
A soft smile touches my lips.
“We got them, Hood Brat.”
The wind brushed against my face.
Gentle.
Warm.
Almost familiar.
And for the first time in a very long time…
Goodbye didn’t feel like an ending.
It felt like a promise.
A promise that she would never be forgotten.
A promise that her love would live on through all of us.
Forever.
And under a sky filled with stars, surrounded by family, children, friendship, and forever love, we stood together.
Not broken.
Not defeated.
But healed.
And finally…
Home.
Harmony stayed the night at Hood Gorgeous house.
Me and War hadn’t had the house to ourselves in a very long time.
We were normally the ones who were throwing the sleep overs.
Now I finally had a break. I took appreciation for the times that we and my man got some privacy because things had changed a lot since Harmony was born.
I took advantage of any alone time that I got to have with my man.
War kissed me softly. I stuck my tongue in his mouth, catching him off guard. His eyes grew big. I pushed his body down onto the bed. Roughly.
I stripped out of my clothes before straddling his body.
I sat on his waist and began sucking on his lower lip.
I licked his neck, making my way down his body.
He grabbed my ass with both hands, smacking my ass cheeks gently.
I laughed before making my way downtown and taking his huge dick into my mouth.
I let that dog out, shifting in rare form.
I sucked him so wickedly, reminding him of the reasons he wanted to marry me.
I didn’t stop until he exploded in my mouth.
Without wasting any time, I jumped onto his dick, putting every inch inside of me.
I began gyrating my hips as I rode him like a cowgirl.
Throwing my head back, I enjoyed the pleasure of him gripping both my breast and putting them in his mouth one at a time.
He sucked my nipples, causing me to squirt my juices all over his dick.
He threw me against the bed face down, ass up, my favorite position.
He thrusted his dick in and out of me, making me reach peaks I had yet to experience.
We made love until the sun came up, going round after round.
It was the perfect night and a perfect way to end one of the hardest days of my life.
Gutta Barbie phone rung back to back. The last time she finally gave in and rolled her body off of me, I watched as she reached for her phone and her eyes lit up seeing that it was her Auntie in Brooklyn calling.
She answered and her smile quickly fainted.
It was relaxed with a frown. One that I was too familiar with.
My heart dropped.
Everything stopped.
The room fell silent as I looked at my girl face.
Tears began to fall.
She dropped the phone.
I quickly picked it back up.
“Auntie what happened?” I asked.
“The police found Ken this morning, he killed himself.”
Gutta Barbie let out a gut wrenching scream.
“Noooooo!”
The beef had ended but the spiritual war within never dies.