Part 2 of this story will be on that account ]

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𝙽𝚎𝚠𝙾𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜,𝙻𝚘𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚊

11:03pm

❦

Shorty I was the one who killed him."

Duck along with Eli shook their heads, not believing a word Messiah was saying. After Bri'on died they spent two months trying to figure out who killed him and they were 100% sure that Dakari was responsible. They couldn't fathom how Messiah could've killed him and went under the radar for damn near two years without anyone suspecting that he had something to do with it.

Mari leaned back in her chair staring at Messiah with furrowed eyebrows. She had a gut feeling he had something to do with Bri'on's death— but to be responsible for his death as a whole? It was something she didn't mentally prepare herself for.

"You're lying." She finally said what everyone was thinking.

Messiah shook his head and chuckled, "Why would I lie, shorty?"

"You're trying to make shit up knowin' you 'boutta die. If you really did kill him why would you let yo own brother take the fall and die for your actions?" She asked, squinting her eyes at him.

"Don't speak on my brother 'cause I didn't let him take the fuckin' fall. It was you, Duck and Eli stupid asses that assumed he did it just cause he was in the car with me." Messiah spoke, becoming increasingly upset at the mention of Dakari.

"We ain't assume shit nigga. He told us he did it." Eli shouted from the other side of the room.

"He only told y'all that 'cause he ain' want y'all to kill me." Messiah said eyeing Samiron, Rell, Soovy, Eli and Terris who also stood against the other wall listening.

"Well it's your fault he's dead. You could've just manned the fuck up and told us you did it instead of letting yo big bro take the fall." Duck shrugged, stepping aside so Mari could shoot him.

"My fault? Kinda like how it's Mari's fault her brother is dead too right ?" Messiah said making Samiron huff. He wanted Mari to hurry up and kill him before he continued saying shit that he knew would get into Mari's head.

Duck cut Mari off before she could say anything, "How is it her fault that you killed him? She didn't know you like she thought she did. That's not her fault. You took advantage of her heart."

Messiah looked back at Mari who was still staring at him blankly trying to comprehend what he said.

"Lemme ask you this Mari; who were you texting right before Bri 'on got shot?" He tilted his head to the side, allowing her to relive the moment her brother was shot.

"Whatchu talking 'bout?" Duck let out an irritated breath, getting tired of Messiah's antics. Mari pulled her phone out of her back pocket and went to her and Messiah's messages on his old phone. They mostly FaceTimed and rarely texted so it didn't take long for her to find the date he was talking about.

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💍

3:11pm

Now you just bein petty yo

How i'm bein petty? 😭

I shared mine again, share yours

Trynna make sure you ain outchea goin

to another niggas house

Bye Siah!

So you don't trust me ?

Lil girl..

Spwm on bro

Fine lil boy

3:16pm

You started sharing your location with "💍"

Ain nun lil bout me, yk dat tho

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Her breath caught in her throat as she read the timing of the messages. She even recognized the last text Messiah had sent before she left him on read to tend to Bri'on's bleeding body.

Duck leaned over her shoulder and read the texts in confusion before it finally clicked that Mari had accidentally gave Messiah the pin on her brother—

basically pressing play on the whole drive by that killed him.

Mari looked up from her phone at Messiah who held a devilish grin on his face.

Messiah asking Mari for her location was actually the last resort. Messiah, Dakari, and Syeed were in Dakari's car waiting outside of Bri'on's house. When he didn't come home right after school, they started getting restless. They'd been trying to kill Bri'on for three days now but something always got in the way.

When Syeed noticed Messiah was texting Mari, he told him to check her location— which was when Messiah realized that he didn't have it anymore. He didn't hesitate to text her asking her to start sharing it again since she had turned it off when they put their relationship on hold. When she finally gave in and started sharing her location again, the trio used Find My Iphone to locate Mari and turned down the street to see Duck, Eli, Mari, and Bri'on walking out the corner store.

Shots rang out, Bri'on's body dropped, and Messiah's hands were clean.

Mari's eyes were still stuck on the texts. To her, they were real-life evidence that she was in fact responsible for her brother's death, confirming her main fear.

"If you wanna blame anyone, blame yo self Mar." Messiah told Mari who was still staring him down, fighting the tears in her eyes. If it was one thing about her, it was that she wasn't going to show intimidation or cry in front of someone who tried to

make her feel inferior— no matter how much she wanted to at that moment.

"It ain't her fault yo stupid ass was using her to get to her brother. You a pussy." Duck gritted through his teeth, knowing Messiah's words were going to break Mari sooner or later.

"It's not my fault." She finally broke her silence, trying to convince herself that it truly wasn't her fault but her gut wasn't letting her. She held the text messages in her hand that basically proved the opposite of what she was telling herself.

Messiah scoffed, "Who you trynna convince?" He laughed to himself. He knew Mari was at war with her consciousness.

He was fully aware that Mari wasn't going to be able to live with herself anymore knowing that she had basically set her own brother up to die and that was his goal; if he could no longer rely on his bullets to kill her he was going to use his words instead.

The room fell silent again with only the boys on the back wall taking deep breaths and sighing. Mari and Duck still stared at Messiah with a look of disgust and disbelief on their faces.

"I'm gonna answer all y'all lil' questions for you; Bri'on's bitchass knew I was the one jacking Tray's money and he threatened to tell him if I didn't leave lil' Mari alone. I didn't give a fuck about none of that, but I knew how Tray would get once he found out so I did what I had to do." Messiah shrugged. "The reason y'all got Dakari first was because him and Syeed were in the car with me. Dakari had his reasons for wanting Bri'on dead and so did I— so boom." He explained.

Mari shook her head in disbelief and frustration, "You and yo pussass brother had to kill Bri'on cause y'all knew he had something over both of yall's heads

and instead of manning the fuck up and owning up to it, y'all chose the easy route." She scoffed and stood up, aiming the gun at Messiah's head.

Messiah stared at her emotionless. He knew he was about to meet his death either way. "Before you kill me, I want you to listen closely; the shit that happened to Bri on was yo fault, shorty. He warned yo ass and you didn't listen. I might've been in

love with yo stupid ass at first but all that shit went out the window the second yo brother started minding my business. You're dumb and your heart killed your brother." He spat. Mari cocked the gun back in an attempt to get him to stop talking. He was reiterating everything she was already telling herself.

She moved the guns' barrel from Messiah's head to his heart. "Should've never shared that location shorty. He might've still been aliv-" His sentence was cut short by Mari firing shot after shot into his chest, making the gunshots echo loudly around the metal building. Duck as well as all of the other boys flinched and plugged their ears as Mari continued to shoot Messiah's lifeless body.

With each bullet she sent into his chest, she released all her anger, hurt and frustration— just for it to be replaced with guilt and sadness. Duck tried to get her to stop shooting by stepping next to her but she didn't. She was in daze.

"Mari!" Samiron shouted, getting up from his seat, hoping to get her to stop firing already. The boy was already far from dead yet she continued shooting him as if he was target practice.

Mari ignored Samiron and just kept shooting. Leaving Messiah's body riddled with bullets and blood and his face completely unrecognizable. After finally emptying the clip into his blood-covered body, a tear slipped down her cheek making Duck's facial expression soften. Mari lowered the gun slowly taking one last look at the man who took her big brother away.

She took a deep breath, trying to contain her hurt and frustration before storming past Terris, Rell, Soovy, Eli, and Samiron, throwing her gun onto the metal table by the door and causing a loud banging sound. She stormed out if the metal warehouse and crouched on the sidewalk, hugging her knees. She began balling her eyes out, letting her emotions take over. It was one of those cries that came straight from your gut and it felt like the tears were never gonna stop flowing.

The boy she thought she loved, the boy who she thought was there for her when no one else was, the boy she thought she could trust, ended up being responsible for her downfall and she didn't know if she could ever recover from it. To get the nasty

truth thrown in your face was something Mari couldn't handle mentally.

She continued sobbing as her chest heaved up and down and mind was so full of thoughts that it was staring to make her head hurt.

Should've left him alone.

Bri'on warned you.

Should've never kept talking to him.

You set your own brother up.

It was your fault.

He could've still been alive.

Mari stared at the dimly-lit street ahead of her while warm tears streamed down her cheeks. She heard the metal door open beside her but she didn't bother to look at who it was until she smelled that same familiar scent of weed and Versace cologne that had been bringing her comfort for the past 5 months.

Samiron sat down next to her and just stared at her for a few seconds while she continued to cry. He had seen Mari cry several times before, but this time was definitely different. She looked completely broken and defeated. Knowing he couldn't say or do anything to help her broke his heart. He wrapped his arms around her and brought her into his chest, letting her tears soak up his white shirt.

Once Samiron wrapped his arms around her, she suppress her sobs anymore and she began to break down again. Her sobs grew louder and her chest continued to heave up and down. Samiron rubbed her back in an attempt to soothe her but it did nothing.

"I-it was my f-fault.." She brokenly said in between cries making Samiron sigh.

"You didn't know." He told her lowly, knowing that wouldn't make her feel any better.

"It doesn't matter!" She sat up from his chest, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"It doesn't matter that I didn't know! My b-brothers d-dead and it's all my fault!" She frustratedly groaned and cried into her hands.

Samiron stood up from the curb. He tucked his arms under her elbows and pulled her up. He wrapped his

arms around her waist and let her cry into his chest again. Duck had briefly explained to the boys what the text messages said and Samiron still didn't think it was her fault.

Samiron believed love was blind, and Mari was blinded by the love she had for Messiah which unfortunately lead to her brother's death, but it still wasn't her fault. She didn't pull the trigger. He felt even worse knowing that he was just reassuring her last night in the tub that his death wasn't her fault and now here they were.

Terris and Soovy stayed inside the building to handle Messiah's body while Rell, Eli and Duck walked out of the warehouse. Mari never looked up, she kept her head buried into Samiron's chest, quietly sobbing to herself.

Rell and Duck stood to the side with their heads bowed, not wanting to say anything. Mari looked up from Samiron's chest and walked right into Eli's arms. He held her tightly letting a single tear slip down his cheek from basically having to relive his childhood best friend's death all over again.

"I'm not blaming you." Eli told her barely above a whisper. Mari found the smallest bit of comfort in those words but her consciousness wouldn't let her enjoy it. Eli broke away from the hug in an attempt to contain his own emotions.

Tears still streamed down Mari's cheeks but she was dead silent now, and her eyes were emotionless. While Terris and Soovy walked out the warehouse and exchanged a few words with the other boys, Mari walked right past them and into the backseat of the Benz. Duck watched her whole demeanor change and sighed to himself.

"These next few weeks gon' be rough as fuck for her." Duck told Samiron truthfully since him and Eli had went through the same phase with Mari before. He hoped that history wouldn't repeat itself but it did, even worse this time.

Samiron nodded and dapped Duck up before making his way to the Benz. He got in the backseat and watched as Mari sat staring out the window in complete silence, her eyes red and glossy with tears.

Soovy and Terris disposed of Messiah's body by burning it in the woods behind the warehouse while Duck, Eli, and Rell used bleach to clean every trace of blood that was left inside. After about 30 minutes of cleaning and getting rid of any and all evidence, the boys got back into the designated cars and began the drive back to the hotel. Soovy got in the drivers seat with Eli up front.

The drive was quiet except for Mari's occasional sniffling and Backdoor by Lil Durk that played lowly throughout the car. Samiron would glance over at Mari every few seconds but her body or facial expression never changed throughout the entire drive.

12:14am

a 45 minute drive they had finally made it back to the JW Mariott. Everyone was exhausted to say the least, physically and mentally. Samiron gave Mari his jacket to put over her blood-stained clothes as they walked through the hotel lobby and made their way up to the 8th floor.

They needed to get rid of their clothes since those were proof of the stuff they had got into tonight. So once they got into their rooms they put all of their clothes into one duffle bag and gave it to Terris to take care of, which he did.

Samiron watched as Mari maneuvered around their room silently. He didn't know what to say or do to make her feel better because he knew her thoughts were eating her up alive, and that was something he couldn't save her from. The usual light in her eyes was gone. She looked done with everything.

Samiron showered first and laid on the bed with one arm over his eye and the other on his stomach, waiting for Mari to finish taking her shower. A few minutes later Mari walked out of the bathroom and

crawled onto the bed next to Samiron. She laid down with her back towards him and he pulled her back to his chest out of habit, wrapping his arm around her. He pulled the cover over the both of them and felt as Mari's tense body relaxed in his arms.

He knew her thoughts weren't going to let her get much sleep tonight so he would rub her arm occasionally, reminding her of his presence. Samiron heard a few light sniffles that were followed by heavy

breathing, indicating that she had fallen asleep. He watched her restlessly squirm in her sleep for a few minutes before he tightened his grip around her body, allowing her to relax and eventually they both dozed off.

11:54am

After a restless night, the couple woke up at around 11 with nothing in their minds except returning to Houston. Now that Messiah's plans had basically fallen through with him being dead, Samiron's main focus was being there for Mari in the weeks ahead. He always took note of how caring Mari is when it comes to other people's issues and it was finally time for him to do the same for her.

Mari once again stayed silent for a majority of the morning while the boys loaded the cars up with their bags. Duck, Rell, Soovy, and Eli tried to get her to engage in conversations but she stayed mute the entire time, trapped in her own thoughts.

Terris had came back to the hotel to say his goodbyes since he was leaving Louisiana and heading to Missouri to lay low for a while even though he knew damn well Messiah's homeboys weren't going to retaliate since they were all snakes on the low.

After the group agreeing last night, Terris and Eli anonymously called Messiah's mother to let her know her son was in hell. The streets talk so by morning, the block that Messiah resided on was fully aware of his death.

The group agreed to let his death be known to see if it would trigger any retaliation, but surprisingly it didn't. Terris however wasn't surprised by this. In the weeks of him watching Messiah and his homeboys for the group, he had learned that a lot of Messiah's homeboys didn't even like him since he was technically making his money off the backs of other people by using their product.

So when news broke out that Messiah was dead, no one batted an eye because they felt like it was bound to happen being the type of malicious person Messiah lived to be. However what did surprise Terris was that Messiah's homeboys were the first ones to piggy back off of his death instead of trying to figure out who did it.

His homeboys thought that no one was paying attention to how they immediately started to pick up Messiah's drops the morning right after his death but Terris realized it since he'd been watching them closely for the past few weeks. Messiah's "friends" were already moving in on his money because it was clear he was making the most out of everyone in the house.