Part 2 of this story will be on that account ]

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2 hours outside of Houston, TX

❦

Me, Duck, and Eli sat in the hospital waiting room as I restlessly tapped my foot. We'd been here for a good ass hour now and no one has told us shit. We

called everyone back in Houston to let em know what happened. Mari's parents, Rell's parents, Soovy's momma, Aijah, Tasia, Destini, and Reece all said they were on their way.

It's just a matter of waiting at this point and that's sum i'm not good at. I'm impatient as fuck but who wouldn't be inna situation like this? I just wanna know if my girl and my brothers good. I don't know what I'ma do if they aren't.

"What she say?" Duck asked Eli who was walking back from the front desk for the tenth time with a mug on his face.

"Stupid ass talm 'bout "you just gon' have to sit there and wait" as if we haven't been waiting already. Stupid ass." He ranted referring to the bitch at the front desk who's been giving us a hard time ever since we stepped in this muthafucka.

"What did you tell her?"

"Whatchu mean? I walked the fuck away. I'm not finna keep arguing with her pale ass." He mumbled sitting down, burying his head in his hands.

We sat in silence for another 20 minutes before a doctor walked over to the front desk, asked the pale ass bitch a question, and was directed over to us.

"The family of Latrell?" He asked, glancing down at the clipboard. All three of us abruptly stood up.

"How is he?" Eli asked urgently.

"He's doing well, he's stable now. We were able to remove both bullets in his arm and his side so luckily no major damage was done. With some physical therapy his shoulder should be back to normal within 6 to 8 weeks." The doctor explained and I sighed of relief.

"Wait, so how come he was unconscious at the motel and in the ambulance? Is something else wrong?"

"That's common when a patient is losing a lot of blood and he was at the time."

"Can we see him?" I asked and the doctor nodded, motioning for us to follow him which we did.

"Uh what about Amari Browne and Trayvion Marks? They were brought in with Rell too." Duck asked the doctor who stopped at Rell's door and sighed.

He looked at the three of us and fixed his ugly ass glasses, "I'm sorry I don't have any updates on them yet. I'll let you know when I do, my name is Dr. Wells by the way." He said. We nodded and walked into Rell's room just to see him arguing with a nurse.

"You a lil' too close to me. My girl gon' whoop yo ass." Rell mugged the nurse who was finishing wrapping his shoulder. She rolled her eyes and walked out the room passed us. Ghetto ass.

"Slow ass nurse.. Waddam pussies." Rell smiled. Nigga got too much energy for someone who just got shot.

"You good?" Duck dapped him up.

"Yea, im coo." He nodded, dapping me and Eli up as well before all three of us sat on the couch.

"What about Mari and Soovy?" Rell asked and I sighed.

"They ain't say nothin' yet." I muttered. "They

better be ight.." Rell shook his head.

"What happened?" Eli leaned forward on his knees.

"Aight so we were watchin tv and shit, then we heard the door of the other room open and I just got this bad ass feeling. Next thing you know we heard a gunshot in the other room so all three of us pull our guns out and we walked over and stood against the bathroom wall. The nigga comes in the room or whatever and as he starts heading towards the front door I lean over the wall and shoot him in the shoulder."

"Then this man starts shooting EVERYWHERE

randomly. I'm talm 'bout so many bullets were flying. I don't really remember exactly what happened but I know Soovy got hit first and when I dropped to the ground to help him I got hit too but I remember Mari trynna drag us out the room while she kept shooting." He explained.

"God damn." Duck muttered leaning back on the couch.

"Where Mari get shot at?" He asked.

"Her stomach.."

"Damn man." He sighed, "She was trynna cover me

and Soovy from the bullets while she was

shooting and shit 'cause we had already gotten hit. I'ma forever be in her debt for that. She's a real ass female fasho." He nodded. We been knew that though.

After a few more minutes of talking, Dr. Wells walked in with a nurse behind him and we paused our conversation.

"So Latrell, how do you feel?"

"Fine." He said with a shrug.

"Okay, are you in anypain?"

"Nah."

"That's great to hear. We're referring you to a physical therapist for the next 6 to 8 weeks for your shoulder. In the meantime I'm going to prescribe you some medicine for the pain."

"Can I get percs?" He asked, making Duck sigh and shake his head in disappointment.

Dr. Wells chuckled, probably thinking Rell was joking when in reality this nigga was dead serious.

"Uh no, you can't get percocets for shoulder pain. You need some Naproxen Sodium so we're gonna prescribe you some Aleve, it's an over-the-counter

medication."

"I don't know shit you just said.. all I'm hearing is I can't get no percs." Rell frowned and mumbled low enough for just us to hear.

"Y'all got a update on my folks yet?" Eli asked.

"I'm going up there to check right now. Get lots of rest Mr. White." Dr. Wells nodded his head towards Rell before leaving the room.

"They needa hurry the fuck up. I need know if Mari and Soovy good." Rell groaned, looking at the ceiling. A few minutes later Rell's parents rushed into the room.

His dad looked at him and jerked his head back.

"Damn nigga, you look ugly as shit.." He said and we bussed out laughing.

"I came outcho balls so if i'm ugly the-"

"Uhn uhn! You not too old to get whooped, Latrell." Rell's momma scolded, pointing a finger in his face.

"And I should whoop yo ass for scaring me like that!" She added, leaning down to give him a hug.

"Girl.. you actin' like I went and told the nigga to shoot me." Rell replied and she waved him off. I chuckled at them and got up.

"Waddam Unc." I dapped his dad up. "Wassup son, how you been?" I shrugged. How the fuck does he think?

"Coo." I lied. He knew I wasn't good just by the look in his eyes but i'm glad he didn't press me.

"Hey, Momma J." I gave his Rell's momma a hug. We stood around the room catching up with Rell's parents before Dr. Wells came in and called us into the hallway. Me, Eli, and Duck stepped out to the hallway following the doctor.

"Are Amari Browne's parents here by any chance?" The doctor asked.

"They're on the way. You can tell us anything you gotta tell them." Duck shrugged.

"Oh well, it's just something minor we're currently looking into that we think may affect her moving forward. We aren't sure yet though." He explained, making me furrow my eyebrows. I hate niggas who speak in riddles and white people love doing that bullshit.

"So she's okay?" Eli asked.

"Yes, she's stable for now. We have her on a breathing machine because she was having some difficulties breathing after we removed the bullets but other than that she seems fine. She's extremely lucky because if that bullet hadn't missed her spine she could've lost her life." He explained making me exhale sharply. I don't wanna think about that at all.

We followed the doctor down the hall and into her room.

When we walked in Mari was laying on the bed with her eyes barely open and she had a breathing mask on. Shit took a tug at my heart.

It hurts like shit to see her laying on this bed restrained like that. Shit reminds me of my momma. Watching someone you care about laying on this bed and not being able to do a bitchass thing about it is a different type of hurt and it's something I never wanted to feel after my momma died. But here I am— watching the most important woman in my life go through the same thing.

Duck and Eli sat on the couch and watched Mari from afar since they thought she was asleep. I sat on the chair near her bed and held her hand. She looked down at me and gave me a faint smile under her breathing mask while stroking my hand with her thumb.

"Wait, she's awake?" Eli asked like a dumbass and I nodded. They both got up and walked over to the other side of her bed.

"You know it's rude to not greet muthafuckas when they walk in a room?" Eli scolded her. Mari slowly but carefully lifted her right hand and stuck her middle finger up. Me and Duck couldn't help but laugh. Even on a hospital bed her personality is always there.

"How you feel, li' sis?" Duck asked and she nodded and put a thumbs up. She carefully slid the breathing mask off her face and took a shaky breath.

"You shouldn-"

"Boy shut up." She cut me off in a scratchy voice. I jerked my head back. Muthafuckas get on a hospital bed and start acting out.

She reached over and took a sip of water while all three of us watched her. "Fuck y'all lookin at?" She asked, putting her cup back down.

"Keep that attitude up.. acting like I won't unplug all this shit right now." Duck said and I fell out laughing. "Foul as fuck!"

"I hate y'all." Mari chuckled, leaning back on the bed. "How's Soovy and Rell?"

"Rell good he just hurt his shoulder or whatever but we're still waiting on Soovy to get out of surgery." Eli explained and she nodded. Dr.Well walked in with a clip board and a somber expression on his face.

"I need to speak to Ms. Browne.. alone, please?"

"It's okay, whatever you gotta say you can say it in front of them." She said, sitting up slightly making the doctor nod and take a deep breath.

"Okay well we took some abdominal X-Ray pictures right after your surgery and due to where the bullets entered, we don't think that you'll be able to get pregnant and if you do we believe that theres a very slim chance of having a lasting pregnancy because of the wounds and internal bleeding. I'm very sorry, Ms. Browne." The doctor said and I sighed in frustration.

I looked over at Mari who had tears running down her cheeks and I started getting mad. I don't know who or what i'm mad at, but I know i'm mad as shit.

"We can explore and discuss other options once you're ready for that conversation. I'm going to give you some time alone. Once again, i'm very sorry." The doctor said before walking out the room, leaving everyone in silence. I got up from the chair and sat at the edge of the bed and wrapped my arms around Mari letting her silently cry into my chest.

"I think yo folks outside we finna go get them. We're sorry Mar." Eli gave her a side hug along with Duck before they walked out the hospital room.

"We gon' be okay." I said lowly to her even though that shit kind of broke my heart

"If you want to leave I get it." She sniffed, making me furrow my eyebrows. Where the fuck am I leaving too?

"What do you mean leave?" I tried looking down at her face.

"I can't have kids Samiron and I know you want kids. So if you wanna be with someone who can actually have them then you should do that. I don't wanna rob you of that oppurt-"

"Nah, don't even talk like that. I'm not the type of nigga to leave when shit gets hard or out of order. You need to understand that. Let's say you got paralyzed from the waist down, do you think I would leave? Fuck no. I'ma stay and push yo ass around until you learn how to walk again. And that's exactly what we finna do now— we're gonna figure out a way to still raise kids. You're stuck with me, Mari. We gon' work through this." I told her truthfully.

It hurt to know she thinks I would leave just cause she can't have kids. Yea I wanted to experience pregnancy with her and shit but as long as we get to raise a lil bastard together, I don't give a fuck whos

pussy they come from to be real. That sounds kinda harsh but it's the truth. I don't mind. It's all up to her.

"Thank you." She said lowly, wiping her tears.

"You never have to thank me." I kissed her forehead and the slightest small tugged at her lips. She done made me soft and shit.

The door opened again and Mari's parents walked in. Cheyenne instantly ran to Mari's side embracing her in a hug while I got up and dapped Travis up.

"How do you feel?" Chy asked Mari. "I'm good.. I guess." She shrugged.

Cheyenne and Travis exchanged looks with each other 'cause they knew damn well Mari wasn't good. It was written all over her face. I gave Chy and Mari a side hug before leaving the room and letting Mari be alone with her parents.

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Samiron walked out of Mari's room and headed down the hall to the waiting room where Duck, Eli, and Soovy's momma were sitting staring into space, waiting for an update.

"Hey, Aunt Parker." Samiron said, giving Soovy's momma a hug.

"Hey baby, how you been?" She asked. "I'm coo, could be better." He shrugged. Aunt Parker gave him a weak smile before patting his shoulder and sitting back down

"They still didn't say nothin'?" He turned to the boys who looked exhausted.

"The doctor said he's gonna come back with an update." Duck replied and Samiron huffed in annoyance. They'd been waiting for this so-called "update" for a good 45 minutes now.

"Where Reece 'nem at?"

"They went to the motel for the other car. They should be close now though."

Reece, Aijah, Tasia and Destini took it upon themselves to make an extra trip to the motel to pick up the other Benz since it still had Rell and Duck's belongings. Reece dropped Aijah and Tasia off at the motel to get the Benz before heading back towards the hospital with Destini.

"This doctor 'boutta make me mad son, where the fu- There his light ass go." Duck said as the doctor came walking down the hallway towards the group of four.

"Family of Trayvion Marks?" He asked and all four of them stood up with a quickness.

"How's my son doc?" Soovy's momma asked with pleading eyes.

"Your son was brought in with two bullet wounds to the chest. We were able to remove one of the bullets but the other bullet did puncture his left lung before we could remove it which resulted in his oxygen supplying being cut off and bleeding in the lungs. We tried everything we could to stop the bleeding but

unfortunately he didn't make it. I'm very sorry for your lo-"

Soovy's momma dropped to her knees and began sobbing loudly. Eli rushed over and crouched on the ground next to her. Duck and Samiron stared at the doctor with blank expressions, as if they were waiting for him to say something else.

"Nah." Samiron finally said shaking his head. "Yall mixed something up."

"I'm sorry sir bu-"

"Don't apologize for shit because I know he's not dead! H-how can he be dead ?" He pleaded with the doctor, feeling his eyes start get glossy.

"I'm very sorry for your loss." The doctor said pressing his lips together as Aunt Parker cried harder.

"M-my s-son.. g-god why did y-you take my

son? My baby boy.." She cried into Eli's chest, rocking back and forth.

Duck clenched his jaw and walked out the hospital without another word. He couldn't physically handle being told that another one of his brothers was dead. Samiron stood there dumbfounded watching the doctor give them a look of empathy before walking back down the hall. He felt his chest start to tighten at the thought of Soovy not being around

anymore.

"Tell Shaila to hurry up.." Eli said holding Soovy's momma and wiping his own tears. Samiron quickly shot her a text since she was already on the way to the hospital and he focused back on the disaster that

was his life. Now he was responsible for breaking the news to Rell and Mari and he didn't know how he was gonna do it.

Samiron slowly walked down the hall to Rell's room. He stared at the ceiling, taking a deep breath and opened the door to be met with Rell signing discharge papers while talking to his parents who were seated on the couch. Rell's smile instantly turned into a frown once he saw the look on Samiron's face.

"What happened ?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

Samiron took a deep breath to avoid the tears that were threatening to fall. "It's Soovy.. h-he didn't make it.." He said looking at the ceiling and blinking away his tears, not wanting to see Rell's reaction.

"Lord.." Rell's mom muttered as she burried her face in her hands and began to cry. Soovy was her godson and she'd been treating him as her own for years. Now he was gone, just like that, and it didn't sit right

with her spirit. It felt like she had just lost her own child.

"Whatchu mean?" Rell raised his voice and stood up.

"He's dead." Samiron said swallowing a lump in his throat. He could barely bring himself to even say those two words since he still hadn't processed his death. To him, Soovy was still alive.

"Man FUCK !" Rell yelled, and threw the clipboard on the granite floor. Just by hearing those two words

leave Samiron's mouth, Rell was damn near homicidal. He'd known Soovy since the 4th grade, there was just no way in hell he left them like that.

It was always Soovy, Rell, and Samiron all throughout their childhood. All three of them had their fair share of grimy friendships with other people in the past but they never switched up on each other. They always knew where their loyalty lied at the end of the day and it was with each other.

Throughout their teenage years they'd gotten arrested together, jumped together, shot together. They were actual brothers, regardless of blood and no one could tell them different.

To never hear his jokes again? To never see him smile again? To never hear his laugh? To never see him interact with his son? They felt like their whole world had flipped upside down. Rell began to feel guilty that he made it out of that motel alive and Soovy didn't. And now Juel was going to have to live the rest of his life without his dad by his side.

"T-that ain't right man.." Rell said lowly as tears began flooding his cheeks. His dad got up and hugged his son letting him cry on his shoulder.