24. Pistol Whipped #2
We rushed back to the ICU with us leaving the girls behind. I understood that was his wife, but it wasn't my fault that her legs were too short. I needed to see my brother.
“Excuse me,” a nurse said as she tried her best to step in front of us.
“There is a two visitor rule, and he already has—” She shut all that shit up when I gave her a look that let her know I’d have her ass laid up in a room next to him if she didn’t move.
She quickly turned on her heels and rushed away, probably to find security.
I didn’t give a fuck. I’d happily beat them niggas up too.
When we hit the door, Mama was sitting in a chair next to Brick, rubbing his head like she used to do when we were lil’ niggas.
I couldn’t hear what she was telling him, but he was nodding attentively and hanging onto every word she said.
She noticed us and stepped to the side so the two of us could kneel on either side of his bed.
I was fine until I saw silent tears streaming down Ki’s face.
“Nigga! Don’t you ever scare me like that again!” he said, trying to be hard, but unable to control his sniffling. I turned away, trying to keep my face stoic as a tear crept down my cheek.
“Y’all some crybaby ass niggas!” Brick teased, but the softness in his voice let me know he was close to tears his damn self.
“I’m just sayin… If your stupid ass died, I was gon call up one of them hood witches to bring you back so I could fuckin kill you myself! Because why the fuck would you try to die on us like that?” Ki asked as he looked off indignantly.
“Nigga, what?” Brick let out a weak chuckle as he gently touched the top of his head. That made another tear slip from my eye. These niggas really were my best friends, and the thought of someone trying to fracture that had me fucked up.
“Nah, I’m with this nigga,” I said, trying to discreetly wipe my tears off on my shirt. “The fuck were you thinkin’?”
“That I had to get to my baby… Where the fuck is she?” he asked.
“On the way. Them niggas was moving too slow.” Kilo chuckled as he tried his best to wipe his tears away, but they wouldn’t stop falling. We both stood up from the floor just as that same unfortunate nurse tried stopping Des and Eden from coming into the room like she did us.
“Bitch, if you don’t get the fuck out the way, I’ma shove both them big ass Crocs up your ass!
Move!” We heard from outside, and everyone laughed hard as hell when we realized that it was Destiny making threats and not Eden.
They both walked in and Des must have got nervous because she fell back.
Eden, on the other hand, walked right over to where Brick lay in the bed.
“What’s good, fuck nigga?” she asked as she stomped towards him with her fist up. “Good to see you breathing and shit.”
“Eden, I swear to God if you punch me, I’m sicking my brothers on you!” he hollered, cutting his eyes at her.
“Damn, I’m just playing!” She laughed and threw her hands up. “Y’all in here all emotional and shit! I’m trying to lighten the mood a lil’! Besides, these niggas know they can’t do shit with me one-on-one.” That got a small laugh out of all of us as Destiny tipped towards the bed.
“Peep,” he whispered as he looked up at her.
I felt like we should have given them a little privacy, but I also wasn’t ready to let my brother out of my sight yet.
I had the reputation of being “The Protector” but as the oldest, Brick helped raise me and Ki.
I wasn’t shit without both of my brothers, no matter how much I complained about them or ventured off on my own.
“Brickly,” she answered, still crying. She sat on the edge of the bed and touched his hand, pulling it to her face and sobbing as she kissed it.
“Baby, please don’t cry. I’m okay,” he promised, looking like it pained him more to see her crying than the bullet or the six-hour surgery he just endured.
“I just-you… Baby,” she squeaked out, not making a bit of sense as he let her cry it out.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Please stop crying.” My nigga was really in love. And the best part was that I could tell that she loved him just as much. She didn’t know it, but Des would never have to worry about shit ever again. Eden either. They were our family now and would be good forever.
A few hours later, the room was silent. Main had convinced Mama to go home, but the rest of us wouldn’t leave.
Destiny sat in a chair right next to Brick, face still pressed into his hand as she slept.
Eden was curled up on the window bench asleep since she refused to leave her sister.
Kilo was knocked the fuck out on the floor with one lone pillow and a thin ass blanket.
I could already hear him fussing about his back later.
I rose from my seat and stretched my weary limbs.
“You gone, bro?” I heard a whisper and looked up to see Brick looking at me in the dark. I stepped closer so I could talk to him, staying far enough away so that I didn’t wake my sister.
“Yeah. I just remembered I got some shit to handle at the house.”
“Bet.” He gave me a faint nod. “Listen man… I appreciate y’all looking out for her while I… wasn’t able to.” He bit his lip and shook away the tears.
“Always, nigga. She’s one of us. You already know. Eden’s crazy ass too.”
“Where were y’all? When I woke up, Ma said y’all stepped out.”
“Handling business,” I said with a nod to let him know exactly what I meant.
“Nigga! Y’all took my girl on a mission!? When I’m up again, I’m on y’all ass!” he fussed.
“You know she was good with us… And she handled herself,” I assured him.
“What? My baby caught her first body without me? I’m about to fuck all y’all up!”
“She did good too. You taught her well.” I chuckled, thinking about the story he told of the first time he took her to the gun range. Her scary ass damn near killed them both, then was too scared to pick up a gun again for weeks.
“She really did good?” he asked with a proud smile on his face.
“Yeah… You taught her to pistol-whip bitches?” I asked.
“Man, hell naw!” He laughed, then quieted down when one of the sleepers started to stir. “Gotdamn.” He sighed, looking over at her sleeping face. I assured him that I would be back in a few hours and headed out. The sun was barely coming up, and I knew it was past time that I got my ass home.
I rode to the house in total silence, just like I liked it.
My brothers always talked shit about how I could do everything without needing a soundtrack, but that just made it easier to hear myself think.
When I pulled into my driveway, a smile spread across my face, as I remembered who was waiting on me inside.
I disarmed the security system and pulled my truck into the garage.
I drug my exhausted body into the house, listening for any sounds before heading upstairs.
When I opened the door to the bedroom and saw the empty bed, my heart dropped to my stomach.
I checked under the bed, in the closet, and in the bathroom.
Those were the only places in the house that she should have been. I came up with nothing each time.
“Fuck,” I mumbled to myself, coming out of the room and falling silent for a moment. I knew she couldn't be far, so I took off in search of her. After the day I had, I needed to see her face more than anything.
I stalked through the house, letting my senses guide me and going room by room until I cleared the entire second floor.
Next I went downstairs, filing through each room until I reached the kitchen and heard rustling in my walk-in pantry.
I tipped over, quickly flung the door open and was met with a blood curdling scream and a bag of flour to the face.
“Wait!” I said softly as I threw my hands up in peace. When her eyes landed on my face, they widened bigger than twenty-four-inch rims.
“Leave me alone! Just let me go!” she screamed at the exact moment that the bag broke, sending fuckin’ flour flying everywhere.
“Why?” she cried, tears filling her eyes as she backed away from me.
“Baby, calm down. Let's just talk about this.”
“Baby?” she scoffed. “Nigga, I don't fucking know you! Get the fuck away from me!”
“Just hear me out. It's okay. I won't hurt you.”
“Oh my God!” She covered her mouth like she was having an epiphany. I guess that was the moment her fight kicked back in, because the next thing I knew, she was lunging at me, trying to take my fuckin’ eyes out.
“Celeste!” I hollered as I tried to dodge her hits.
She only went harder, throwing everything she had into her attack. I ate each punch and slap.
“How the fuck do you know my name?” she asked, now in tears and exhausted.
“Fuck, girl! Just stop all this and we can talk!!” I pleaded. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her. I forced her back to my front and grabbed her tight into a straitjacket hold as she continued to kick and scream.
“Damn… I’m sorry,” I whispered to her while pulling the syringe from my pocket and jamming the needle into her thigh.
She screamed loudly before her fighting turned into wiggling which eventually grew still as she drifted off to sleep.
I shook my head in regret as I held her limp body, dragging her back up the stairs.
While she was out, I had to add another lock to the door of the room she stayed in.
I wasn’t going to hurt her, I would never hurt her.
I would even let her leave if she wanted to, I just needed her to hear me out.
The End (& also… The Beginning)