First thing first, RIP John Witherspoon. One of the greatest and funniest of all time. The voice that gave us grandad. Could never imagine anyone who could voice him like how John Witherspoon did. As talks of a reboot, I hope whoever takes the voice of grandad does him justice.
All four eventually made it home in record time. They had called Alex to tell him they need to be stitched up and he was already at the infirmary waiting for them to get there. Huey still hadn't woken up but Alex reassured them that he was probably tired and needed his rest, leaving the three to discuss the recent events.
"Man what the fuck?! How can some shit like that happen? We gotta kill all the motherfuckers that crossed us I don't give a flying fuck! I want my girl and I want her back now." Riley exclaimed his frustration.
They were currently gathering at Hiro's home as they took the time to collect their thoughts over the stressful day.
"I know how you feel but remember they ain't our girls no more. Once we get them, they can no longer be around us." You could hear the dread in Hiro's voice as he didn't even want to say it himself because it just made it all too real.
"We in some shit now. Some deep deep shit." Caesar rubbed his hands over his face.
"Fuck I need a drink." Riley stood up and walked over to Hiro's bar and grabbed the bottle of brown liquor. Within seconds, he managed to down 3 shots.
Caesar stood up to go over to the younger male and tried to grab the bottle out his hand but Riley pulled the bottle away. "Slow down Reezy. We need to be sharp and shit, can't have you passed out on us."
"Fuck that. I need this shit." Riley slowly walked backwards while drinking more alcohol and put his middle finger up.
"You don't need to be on MC like that." Hiro said from his spot on the couch. His leg was resting on the coffee table and he hoped it healed enough so he could help get the girls when the time came.
"Nah it's cool HO. He just upset. Is all."
"Man fuck upset, nigga I'm pissed! Who they think they is coming to our shit, shooting at us and taking our girls?! Nah nah nah. We killing every one of them. Straight facts." Riley began to pace up and down in front of them.
"Word bro. We just waiting for Ghost ass to wake up." Hiro sighed.
"That's another thing. Why his ass taking so long to wake the fuck up? Damn, he acting like he ain't been shot before."
They sat there in silent. It was true. They all had been stabbed and/or shot at least once. It was nothing they were proud of but it is what it is. They knew the pain of those injuries they have inflicted on people but that story is for another time.
"Whatever man. We need to get rest to have a clear mind so we sharp when we get them." Caesar sighed for the millionth time tonight.
"How am I meant to sleep when they with the fucking Russians doing who knows what with them?" Riley said with frustration.
"I know Reezy and I don't want to be thinking like that. I just said it so you all know I told your asses to rest because if you ain't on point when we leave, you know Ghost gonna have your neck."
Caesar found his spot on his couch and closed his eyes with Hiro following suit. Riley was vexed but knew he should too plus, the liquor was making his feel extra sleepy today. He put the now empty bottle of Hennessy on the table he was about to rest his feet on and dozed off into a restless sleep. They all were restless. They felt like shit sleeping while Raven, Jazmine, Cindy, Royalty and Ming were going through who knows what. They just prayed that they were kept from any more harm. They couldn't think the way their minds tried to drift to. They just couldn't.
Somewhere off in an unknown location, the five women were laying on a hard floor. The room was dead silent besides from their breathing after being knocked out. The room was only lit with 1 light bulb which was enough to see how empty the room was.
The blonde in the group began to stir. The chemicals that she ingested were beginning to ware off.
"Ugh... what the..." She groaned as she slowly sat up and put her hands on her head. She opened her crystal blue eyes and tried not to look directly into the one light in the room. "What happened...?" She whispered to herself but that's when she remembered her friends. "Oh shit!"
Cindy looked around her and saw Raven, Jazmine, Royalty and Ming all lying down around her.
"Hey. Ming. Ming wake up." Cindy whispered as she gently shook her.
Ming could hear her name being called and let out a moan as she slowly woke up.
"Cindy?" She looked up at her friend who's eyes began to water.
"Thank fuck you're ok." Cindy let out a sigh before turning to her other friends to wake them up. "Come on wake up." She shook Royalty and Jazmine awake with the help of Ming in which they woke up in the same state they were in.
"Where are we?" Jazmine groaned as she rubbed her hands over her face.
"I don't know but we need to get out of here." Ming answered her as she went to stand up to try and find a way out.
Jazmine looked down and saw Raven laid out on the floor in front of them.
"Wait, when did they get Raven? I don't remember seeing her outside." Jazmine said as she crawled over to her.
"Bare shit was happening, it was crazy out there." Cindy sighed.
Jazmine held Raven's soft cheeks in her hands before lightly tapping them.
"Raven. Raven come on."
Raven squinted her eyes and moaned as she began to feel the pain in the back of her head.
"Fuck my head is killing me." She hissed as she put her hand to her head. That's when she felt a wet patch and moved it to in front of her face. "For fuck sake."
Jazmine's eyes grew wide as she saw the blood on her fingers.
"Oh my gosh! What happened to you?" She asked with genuine concern.
"I came to save you and managed to snap one of their necks but another one of them bastards pistol whipped me. Ugh. When I get my hands on them I will kill them!"
"For now, I just wanna get the fuck out of here. I best not get no fucking infection." Royalty said annoyingly as she looked down at her stained t-shirt. "Does anyone remember anything?" They all shook their heads. "This some bullshit."
"Are we going to die here?" Jazmine began to tear up.
Raven shook her head but stopped when she remembered her head injury. "No. Trust me, Huey will find us."
"Not to be rude but we haven't been the best of friends since we have met. How can we trust you?" Cindy pointed out.
Raven squinted her eyes wondering how she could think of her being nice when they were all in the same situation.
"Listen. I didn't have to risk my life for you motherfuckers but I did because if I came, I knew they would be able to find me."
"How?"
Raven was about to explain but she heard footsteps.
"That story is for another time." Her brown eyes hardened as she did her best to stand on her two feet ready to attack when the person entered.
The door slowly opened and as Raven went to jump the person, a gun was what she was met with first.
"I wouldn't do that if I was you." The person holding the gun said with amusement.
Raven face went red with anger and frustration but backed down.
"Ain't you a good little girl." He chuckled. That's when he walked into the room with 2 male and 2 females behind him. He was about an inch taller than Huey (if he didn't have the afro), dark brown hair and even darker eyes with a deep scar that stretched from his ear to mouth.
"You really brought back up for us little girls?" Raven asked sarcastically which just made him laugh again.
"Well from what I heard, you little missy, managed to snap the neck of one of my strongest men and your friends put up quite a fight. Got some deep scratches on them, hopefully they don't catch anything from you." The girls scoffed while the man and his people laughed. "Oh wait. Where are my manners?" He grinned hard as he stepped more into the room and towered over the kidnapped women. "My name is Vladimir. Leader of the Russians. And your little boyfriends owe me some shit. They stole my money and my cocaine so I am going to collect some of my payment by cutting up your cute, sexy bodies and sending them to the pathetic Panthers everyday until I get my fucking money!" He stopped himself from blowing up and calmed down while taking no notice to the frightened faces of the one he stole. "I know I know. It's not your fault but it just had to be done. Now with this fire cracker here, it gives them more time to get my shit together because I have more body parts to send." He smirked as he tapped Raven on her nose.
Just as she was about to jump on him, the two men behind Vladimir grabbed her arms. She was too busy fighting to realise one of the women had stepped up too.
"This is for my brother." She smirked before sliding on a brass knuckle. She went to strike her face but Vladimir stopped her.
"Not just yet Natasha. I don't want any of their faces touched. I like to have a nice view while I'm fucking."
Hearing this made Jazmine burst out in tears, Ming and Royalty tear up while Cindy just looked shocked.
Natasha rolled her dull eyes before getting back in her stance. She then began to send strong blows to Raven's ribs causing her to become short of breath and cough.
The room was filled with crying, powerful blows and Raven's painful coughing.
Vladimir grew bored and yawned. "Alright alright Natasha. She's had enough for now. Goodbye ladies." He turned and walked out casually while the two men holding Raven threw her on the floor and stepped over her as if she was nothing. "Don't even try and escape, it's useless!" They heard the evil man laugh before the door slammed shut and locked them in the room once again.
"We really going to die here..." Ming whispered to herself.
Raven dragged herself over to the wall to support her in sitting up. "No... we are not... stop... thinking... like that." She breathed out. She knew her ribs were bruised. The pain she was feeling was crazy but she wasn't going to let that stop her from trying to fight if she needed to. She didn't get down that easily.
"Its kinda hard not think like that after what he said." Royalty frowned.
After 10 minutes of silence, Jazmine spoke up.
"Cindy you remember when we first met?"
Cindy looked up for the first time in a long time and gave her green eyed friend a light smile, she was glad for this distraction from her dark thoughts.
"Of course I do. Its the day I met my sister."
19 years ago
6 year old Jazmine had just started 1st grade and was nervous. She didn't know anyone and for some reason, the other kids kept looking at her like she was crazy. Being the cheery, happy child, she was, she was oblivious to it all.
It was lunch time and Jazmine was trying to look for people to play with. It had a been a week and no luck. The young girl saw a group of other girls who were laughing and playing hand games. Jazmine knew how to play all the games as she would do it with her cousins and skipped right over there with a big smile.
"Hi! I'm Jazmine! Can I join?" She asked.
The group of 5 1st graders looked at her and laughed making Jazmine feel embarrassed and cheeks to turn red but she didn't let that stop her.
"I saw you doing hand games and I know how to do them too because I would play with my cousins and I can show you new ones and there are 5 of you and if I joined that makes 6 and we can-" She began to rant but was cut off by a brunette.
"You talk too much. We don't want to play with someone like you." She looked Jazmine up and down in disgust.
Jazmine didn't understand. "Why?"
The next friend rolled her eyes. "Just look at you and your ugly hair. The colour is ugly and it looks ugly while mine is straight and beautiful." She showed of her short blonde hair as Jazmine stared at it.
This was not the last Jazmine would hear these comments.
"Bu- but I get it from my daddy..." She frowned as she lightly touched her afro puff.
"Boohoo-"
"Ay yo Ella!" The group turned to see another first grader stomping over. She had deep blue eyes and straight blonde hair pulled into a high ponytail and her attire screamed tomboy.
"Cynthia." Ella said with disgust.
The new comer eyebrows screwed immediately.
"It's like you are asking to be slapped. Let's not repeat Kindergarten shall we." The girl who Jazmine guessed name was Cynthia, stepped up to Ella and balled up her fist while staring her down. Jazmine could see that Ella was threatened by the blonde by the way she was quiet but she put on a fake face.
"Whatever. Let's get out of here." With that, the group of five girls walked away leaving the two behind.
Jazmine was on the verge of tears but did her best to hold it down.
"Thank you Cynthi-"
"Please. Don't call me that." She cringed at the sound of her full name.
Jazmine was shocked and began to panic. "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry, I didn't mean to offended you. I am so so sorry. I just assumed-"
"Damn girl relax, it's cool. Names Cindy." She gave Jazmine a cheesy smile.
"Jazmine." Jazmine grinned back. "Does that mean we're friends now?"
Cindy shrugged. "I guess. I mean no offence but it looks like you need one and I just started today since I just came back from France with my parents."
Jazmine lit up. "I always wanted to go France!" She said completely ignoring the first part of Cindy's sentence which made her laugh.
"This is going to be a crazy first grade."
Present day
"You really let people talk to you like that?" Raven asked with a raised eyebrow.
Jazmine shrugged. "I didn't understand what being mixed was. My parents ignored it for years."
"Damn that's sad." Raven shook her head.
"Then not long after, Ming came along." Cindy smirked as she looked at her friend, redirecting back to the memories.
12 years ago
13 year old Ming was new to the school which she hated. She hated moving. This was her 5th school in 3 years. Her parents promised it was the last move.
She sighed as she sat in the office. The principle told her that someone was going to come and show her around the school. A girl by the name of Jazmine. She didn't think much of it and just wanted to get to her lesson so the day could go quicker.
Ming didn't have time to think of anything else because a bubbly girl walked into the office.
"Hi Miss Barry! I am here for the new student!"
Ming wasn't sure how she felt about the girl. Firstly, she didn't expect someone of a minority since all she has seen since she had moved was white people so seeing another minority was refreshing. It also made her wonder if the principle did it on purpose to make her feel more comfortable. They probably did.
"She's right there Jazmine, have fun." The receptionist smiled as she pointed to where Ming was sitting.
Jazmine skipped over and Ming stood.
"Hello, my name is Jazmine Dubois and I will be your guide today." She smiled which even made Ming smile a little.
"Ming Long-Dou."
"That's a nice name. Where are you from?" Jazmine asked as they walked through the hallways.
"I was born in China and moved to America when I was 7. Me and my parents moved around Florida for a while but they didn't like it so when their job moved us here, they were very happy about." She shrugged.
Jazmine gasped. "China? That's so cool. I wanna go there one day."
"It is pretty nice."
"So what do you do for fun?" Jazmine asked as they continued their tour.
"I play kickball, a little basketball, I did little gymnasti-"
Jazmine gasped which made Ming stop and look at her with wide eyes. "You should join my gymnastic class! We start next week every Monday and Wednesday. I want to do cheerleading in high school and become captain so I go there. My best friend, Cindy, plays basketball and she is really good but her mom is making her come gymnastics with me so you should join." Jazmine stopped and had a large smile on her face.
Ming stopped and turned to the girl, shocked at how excited she was.
"How are you so hyper?"
"Because I hate being down but forget about that, you wanna join?" Jazmine's eyes grew wide with hope making Ming sigh.
"Ok fine. I will tell my parents." Jazmine jumped, clapped and shrieked in excitement.
Ming shook her head. 'I hope I don't regret this...'
With that Jazmine continued the tour, happy knowing she had gained another friend.
Present day
"And just like that you became friends?" Raven questioned. Since she was the only one that didn't know about their relationship, she had questions and it also stopped her thinking about her messed up ribs.
"Yup! It took Ming and Cindy a few days of sizing each other up before they realised they are the same person in a different race." Jazmine laughed as she saw them both roll their eyes.
"So, how did Royalty get into the mix? Isn't she a year younger or something?"
"Two. I joined the same gymnastic club." Royalty said before letting Jazmine tell the story.
12 years ago
"I can't believe I am here." Cindy crossed her arms as she walked into the gymnastic centre.
It was the girls first lesson and Cindy was far from happy while Ming was neutral and Jazmine was jumping off the walls.
"Cheer up Cindy, you're already flexible enough." Ming lightly shoved her.
After 3 days of wondering who was going to be the 'tough girl' in the new group, they both gave up trying to outdo the other one when they realised, they didn't have to be one type of friend in the friendship group. They had more in common than they thought. Jazmine was glad because she didn't like tension. It allowed room for them all to begin a friendship that would continue for years.
"No I'm not." She frowned.
Jazmine crossed her own arms now.
"Cindy don't act like we wasn't doing flips and splits before we came here."
Cindy threw her head back and looked up to the sky, knowing her friends were right. "Let's just get this over with."
The three teens walked into the main room and saw some other girls and a couple of boys, sitting and talking to each about who knows what. Jazmine diverted her eyes to a girl that was just about younger than them, sitting on the floor by herself. She didn't just stand out because she was sitting on her own, she stood out because she was the only black person in the class.
"Hey Cin, Ming. Look at the girl sitting on her own." Jazmine nodded in her direction. Jazmine thought she looked adorable.
"Jazzy. Are you really going to bring in everyone you see?" Cindy asked as they walked towards the mats.
Jazmine was about to reply but the instructor came in and began to teach the class.
"Alright, we are going to do some floor work today to kick things off. Royalty, would you like to go first?" After 20 minutes of stretching and simple exercises, they were moving onto something different. Jazmine didn't have the chance to talk to the girl who she now found out name was Royalty.
Royalty stepped to the corner of the floor and took a deep breath. Jazmine, Ming and Cindy could hear the whispered from the other teens pointing and laughing at her for some strange reason that made them to become very annoyed.
"I'm going to drag a bitch across the floor today." Cindy screwed her eyebrows together in annoyance. As much as Cindy would deny, she was really a softy and would defend anyone that wasn't being treated fairly. Since she met Jazmine, less and less people would try and make fun of her for her mixed heritage because Cindy was there ready to jump anyone who tried.
"I bet she is terrible." A boy said which made the group of people around him laugh.
Royalty took another deep breath in order to block out the negativity around her before running and flipping straight into a front flip and cartwheels which shut everyone up. The next minute was Royalty showing off her ability with ease.
"Everyone, give a round of applause for Royalty. That was excellent, I can't wait to see more of what you can do." Everyone clapped but it was more scattered in annoyance at the praise.
"She is so damn good." Ming said.
"Now I want you to get into groups of four. You will have to choose an equipment and create a routine and present it on Wednesday. The winners will get a prize." Hearing the end made everyone get excited and run into their groups. What Cindy and Ming didn't expect was Jazmine to run off and seconds later came back with a wide-eyed Royalty.
Jazmine stopped and breathed. "Hi! I am Jazmine, this is Cindy and Ming and we think you are so good."
"Tank you." Royalty said with a raised eyebrow.
"I like your accent. Where you from?"
"Jamaica. Been in America for 6 months."
Ming nodded. "Cool. I moved from China."
"How old are you?" Cindy asked as she looked at the shorter girl.
"11."
"Damn you a little ass baby."
Royalty's face went straight. "Mi maybe likkle bit but mi still box anyone down."
Hearing the change in her voice shocked the three but they were impressed. She didn't let anyone intimidate her and that was something they could all respect.
"How did you get into the class if it is 12 plus?" Ming asked.
"I'm just that good." Royalty smirked making them laugh.
Jazmine pulled them into a group hug which made all the eyes to grow wide.
"This could be the start of something new."
They looked at her strangely.
"Did- did your ass just quote High School Musical?" Ming questioned.
"And what if I did?" She said defensively.
They all just laughed before going into what they should do to win the competition. Royalty was glad she didn't have to put much effect in finding girls that would take her in without a care in the world and she was very happy about it. Jazmine, Ming and Cindy didn't know that they now had completed their friendship group that would still be solid over 10 years later.
Present day
"So, you all just became friends just like that? That easy? Damn, y'all females weird." Raven shook her head.
Royalty shrugged. "I just came to the country; I didn't have much options of friends."
Jazmine looked fake hurt. "Don't act like you wasn't my child. You still are my baby."
"Whatever girl. So since you know how we met, how did you meet those niggas?" Royalty asked Raven who was now lying down.
They didn't know how long they would be stuck here so they might as well get as comfortable as they could even if it was a struggle.
"I knew Huey from the womb. Riley from when he was in the womb. Caesar and Hiro through Huey who met each other during school when they were 8 but didn't really interact until they joined the same dojo. I hung out with the boys, didn't fuck with the girls."
"Why not?" Ming asked even though it was understandable. Girls can be bitches.
"They are fake motherfuckers. Can't trust any of them hoes. Nearly got all of us killed. Well, managed to get one killed." Raven sighed as she thought back to her past. Her childhood was never as simple as the other girls.
Jazmine was now intrigued. "What happened?"
Raven sighed once again as she had to go deep into a memory she hopped to forget.
"While you were all making friends, Huey was fighting for his life. We had a friend... his name was Cairo..."
12 years ago
"Come on Huey, you take so fucking long." Cairo complained as he waited for his friend. They were going to play a game of basketball but Huey for some reason was taking too long.
"Nigga relax you know the only reason I am coming is because I have to drag Riley." 13-year-old Huey rolled his eyes as he stepped out of his childhood home with a basketball in his hand.
Huey and Cairo had become friends through Raven when they were 7 who she met in the mall when they accidentally ran into each other when they both coincidentally lost their mothers. The mothers bonded and exchanged numbers and since then, a friendship formed and grew bigger when Hiro and Caesar joined.
"We both know he way better than you anyway. Maybe I should have dragged his ass instead." Cairo teased.
Riley came out in a white vest and some basketball shorts laughing. "See even your nigga know I am a better baller than you. I don't know why you didn't ask me to come first."
Huey shook his head. "I am going back inside-" He turned to walk back into the house but Cairo pulled him onto the pavement and began dragging him towards the courts.
"Fuck you ain't. I waited too long for you to just turn back. We going." He finally let Huey walk on his own once they got far enough from the door. "Plus, you have the ball since I left mine at home."
"You could always go back and get it." Huey shrugged.
Cairo kissed his teeth. "And have my ass be stuck in the house? Nah, I'll pass. You know my mama been strict lately since what happened to my cousin." He told his friend seriously. Cairo's older cousin had been shot in a drive by a month ago and his mother had been on edge about him going out especially knowing he hung out with Huey and Riley Freeman who were well know sons of a gang member.
They reached the courts and quickly got a hoop before anyone could take it as they knew more people would come around this time. It wasn't long before Caesar, Hiro, Raven and her little sister Robyn, came to join.
"Raven, why the fuck you bring your useless ass sister if she is just gonna sit on her ass the whole time?" Riley cussed as he pointed to her on the floor. She heard this and flipped off the fellow 11-year-old.
"First of all, don't talk to my sister like that. I will fuck you up nigga. Second of all, my dad made her come." Raven rolled her eyes as she grabbed the ball out of Cairo's hand. As she bounced the ball and walked away, Cairo looked her up and down as she purposely swayed her developing hips knowing he was looking. For the past few weeks, the two had be flirting and it was only a matter of time before one made a move.
"I know how that feels." Huey mumbled as he looked over at his younger brother.
"I heard you nigga." Riley had gotten the ball from Raven and tried to throw it at Huey aggressively but he had good reflexes and caught it effortlessly. "Bitch ass nigga."
"Ay, everybody been talking about you and that Nicki girl." Caesar threw his arms around Huey. "I hear she be talking about you none stop in the girl's locker room."
"How do you know what girls talk about in the locker room?" Raven crossed her arms as they all gathered around to hear.
"A nigga got sources." He winked at her making her roll her brown eyes. "Apparently, she gonna ask you out real soon."
Huey's straight face didn't waver. "And I will say no."
Everyone looked at him kind of shocked. The girl was undeniably pretty and quite smart so at least Huey would be able to hold a decent conversation with her. He was known to have little patients for people that couldn't hold a basic and reasonable conversation with him.
"And why not?" Riley asked.
Huey shrugged Caesar off. "Because I am not interested in her."
"I knew your ass was gay!" Riley's eyes grew wide.
Huey went and punched his brother in the arm which made the group laugh. "I am not gay. I just don't find her interesting."
"I heard she was crazy." Raven interjected.
Riley shook his head. "Your ass just jealous."
"Of what nigga?"
"I don't know. That she pretty and you an ugly motherfucker." He laughed. No one understood why the two could never really get along. It has been like that since he was 1. He was at least nicer to her sister Robyn but they didn't really hang out like that for him to want to pick on her as much as he did Raven.
"I'm not even going to lie, she is fine as hell. If you don't want her, I will try." Hiro smirked as he nodded to Caesar who nodded back.
"Have her. I don't want her." Huey shrugged. "Now, can we go back to-"
"Huuuuueeeyyy! Huueeeyyy!"
"Speak of the devil and she shall come." Hiro laughed as he saw Nicki running over as her group of friends slowly followed behind.
"Awe, Huey little girlfriend is here." Cairo teased.
"Shut your ass up Cairo." Huey rolled his eyes before slowly walking up to Nicki who was grinning wide in front of him.
"Hey!"
"Hi." He greeted back with less enthusiasm causing his friends to snicker behind him.
Nicki looked over his shoulder and wanted to glare at them but kept the same smiling face.
"So, there's this new movie coming out and I was wondering if you would take me and we can call it a date."
"No."
Her smile was slapped off her face.
"What? What do you mean no?"
Huey sighed, knowing this was going to be harder than it seemed. Maybe Raven was right, she seemed crazy.
"I don't like you like that." He shrugged. "I ain't looking for no girl right now."
Nicki looked him dead in his red eyes and balled up her fists.
"That's bullshit. Everyone is looking for a relationship Huey! Why don't you want me? Am I ugly?"
Huey raised an eyebrow, wondering where this conversation was going.
"No-"
"Then why don't you-"
"Nicki." He cut her off firmly. "Just stop this before you embarrass yourself any further."
Nicki looked behind him once again and saw his group of friends pretend as if they were not listening but they were. They were just trying not to burst out in laughter.
She slowly nodded her head and gave him a sinister smile as the gears in her head began to turn.
"That was a big mistake Huey. I will see you soon." She reached forward, kissed his cheek and skipped away. She didn't let the smile drop from her face as she made her way to contact a very special person.
Huey felt the tingling of his cheek where she kissed him.
'What the fuck was that?' He thought. He shook his head and turned to see his friends shocked look.
"What?"
"If I wasn't mistaken, you rejected her and she kissed you. How does that work? What does Huey have that I don't?" Caesar said dramatically.
"Caes. You got about 5 girls on you right now. I don't think you need help." Cairo laughed as Caesar nodded in agreement.
Huey sighed at his weird friends as he still thought back to Nicki walking away. She didn't seem right. Something seemed... off but he could put his finger on it. "Let's just forget about that and play a game. New teams."
Another hour went by and it was time to go home since the street lights were about to come on. As they walked down the street, they stopped as it was coming up to where Caesar, Hiro, Raven and Robyn would turn home.
"We will catch y'all later. We hanging at mine tomorrow?" Cairo asked as they all did their rounds of goodbyes.
"For sure. We bringing our bikes this time." Caesar smiled.
"Bet. Bet." He walked over to Raven and pulled her into a warm, strong hold. "I will see you tomorrow girl." He licked his lips as he stepped back making her giggle.
"Boy you stupid."
Before they could continue their little moment, Riley jumped in.
"Ew. Y'all gonna see each other tomorrow, relax you horny ass teens."
"Shut the fuck up Riley. When your balls drop then you can have a say in grown folks' business." Raven pushed him.
"Damn Reezy. That shit must have hurt you." Robyn laughed.
Riley smacked his lips. "That ain't shit. A nigga balls been dropped."
Huey pulled his brother by the arm. "You can bully him another time. We gotta go."
They all said bye once again and walked away.
Cairo stopped. "Ay hold up, Robyn got my keys."
"Why she got them for?" Riley asked annoyed.
"Because she was the only one with a bag nigga." Cairo rolled his eyes but turned around and called out. "Ay yo Rav-"
Everything from there was in slow motion.
Raven and her group turned to see that Cairo was cut off because a group of hooded men ran up on Huey, Riley and Cairo with guns pulled out screaming at them.
"Cairo!" Raven screamed and tried to run over to him.
The two looked eyes with each other but next thing Raven knew, gun shots rang through the air and she was getting dragged to the floor.
Hiro had grabbed Raven and Caesar grabbed Robyn and shield them with their own bodies from any bullets that were flying.
Huey felt something sharp pierced his stomach and raised his hands to where he felt it. As he did, he felt the warm liquid of his blood flood between his fingers. He dropped to his knees, no longer able to stand before collapsing on his side. He could hear screaming and crying but the one sound that stood out was the sound of Cairo struggling for breath.
"Hu..." He gasped.
Huey looked over and saw Cairo's eyes widened as he looked deep into his maroon eyes but Huey felt paralysed and couldn't move to help his friend which would later scar him.
"Man what the fuck is you doing?! We were only meant to scare them. Fuck! Their daddy gonna kill us, lets fucking go!" The leader of the group screamed as he looked at the scene before fleeing, leaving the young teenagers behind bloody and crying.
"Fuck fuck fuck!" Riley began to tear up as he looked at the two fallen boys.
Raven managed to throw Hiro off her and run to where Cairo was lying.
"Cairo! Stay with us please!" She cried as she held onto his face.
"You need to put pressure on the wound." She heard Hiro say from behind her and she immediately did while Caesar went to do it to Huey who was trying his best to stay awake.
"Imma get dad." Riley announced before taking off to his house.
"I'm going to get Cairo's mom." Robyn cried before speeding away towards his house.
Raven looked over at Huey and saw his lips moving but couldn't hear what he was saying. She looked back at Cairo and saw a faint smile on his face.
"How you still smiling at this time? I don't understand you." She managed to laugh through tears. Raven looked down at his vest that was covered in his blood but there wasn't much more leaking out since she had pressure on it but what made her own heart drop was feeling Cairo's heart stop. "No no no no no no no no no no no!" By the end of it she was bawling as she looked at Cairo's lifeless eyes looking up to the sky.
"Cairo no!" She wept.
Raven heard footsteps running towards her and only looked up when she heard two other female voices cry out.
"My baby! They killed my baby!" Raven moved out the way as Cairo's mother came over and held onto her now dead son. The sight was depressing to see but not a foreign thing to see in these streets. There were even neighbours slowly coming out their homes to see what had happened outside. They all knew what happened, they just wanted to see who were the victims this time.
Mackenzie was about to collapse on top of her own son but Christian stopped her.
"Let me hold my son!" She screamed at him but he didn't care. He reached down at picked his oldest son up and already, he was getting blood on himself.
"I am not letting him stay here. We need to fix him up now." He told her sternly and all she could do was nod at her husband.
With that, Huey's parents took off with Riley following behind leaving everyone else behind no matter how much they didn't want to.
"Why you let them take his life Lord? Why my son?!" Miss Jefferson shouted up to the sky in anger.
Raven looked down at her friend and couldn't let the tears stop falling. He died. He died right there in her arms. His mother wasn't even the last person he saw or smiled at. It was her. She watched his soul leave his body and did nothing about it. She felt useless. Weak. Sick.
Raven ran a few steps away before leaning forward and vomiting. Her body couldn't take it.
"It's going to be ok sis. We going to get through this..." Robyn rubbed her older sisters back.
Raven just shook her head before walking back over to Cairo's body, got on her knees and continued crying until she was physically dragged away.
They were all broken.
Present day
There was not a dry eye in the room. Raven had to take breaks as she had to relive that moment.
"You know that is the first time I spoke about what happened that day in about 10 years." She admitted as she whipped away her tears.
"That's some fucked up shit." Cindy sniffed.
Raven nodded lightly. "That fucked me up."
"So what happened after that? What happened to Huey and who shot them? Did they get arrested?" Jazmine asked.
"Huey recovered but he became more... ruthless. Before when he would get into fights here and there, he would hold back. Mainly defended but after that day... he was on his way to become the skilled killer he is today." Hearing Huey being called a skilled killer made Jazmine blood run cold as she pictured him taking other people's lives. "It was a while before we saw him and he was even more silent than before. Even at Cairo's funeral. Complete silence. Not one word."
"How did everyone else take it?" Ming asked.
"As good as it could get when your friend gets shot and killed in front of you." She shrugged but saw their faces drop even lower and had to continue. "Sorry. Forgot you're not used to all this taking life shit." She sighed. "Word got around and it turns out the Nicki girl had told her older brother that Huey had hit her and tried to force himself on her so he was planning to rough him up good for a long time, enough that it would break Huey but instead his friend was trigger happy and shot them. Christian, their dad, rolled up with his brothers and killed Nicki's brother a week later. Nicki never looked our way again."
Royalty looked shocked. "You all went through that?" Raven nodded. "And here we were talking about meeting and having fun at gymnastics while you lost your friend. I'm sorry for calling you a bitch behind your back."
"It's not your fault, you didn't know. And you called me a bitch?" Raven questioned.
Royalty's smirked. "You were acting like one in the beginning."
"I could say the same for you four."
"Touche." Jazmine smiled but instantly dropped when she remembers where they were. "I just wanna get out of here."
"Don't we all." Cindy said.
Royalty frowned. "I didn't even get my army of children. I already had names picked out in my notes on my phone."
"Same. I will never see what little Jade looks like." Jazmine lowered her head.
"You were going to name your daughter Jade?" Raven questioned making Jazmine look up again.
She nodded. "Yeah. It's another gem that is green. If people didn't always say my eyes were emerald, I would have gone with jade as a stage name. I'm glad I didn't so I can name my daughter that."
"Damn you really thought it through."
Jazmine chuckled. "We always wanted kids, we would spend hours discussing names and finding out what they mean."
Raven looked at them. "As I said before. I have never had a female best friend so I never get them moments with the boys. We never even discussed things like that but I know they will be good fathers whenever that time comes. I guess you are lucky to have each other."
"And you're lucky you have people like Hiro, Caesar, Riley and Huey who would literally kill for you." Royalty paused and her mind went somewhere else. "I hope we get out of this shit soon." This was just the recurring thought they all seemed to be stuck on replay about.
"We will. Just gotta be patient." Raven breathed in trying her best to not cough out in pain.
"We can be anywhere in the fucking country right now. How you know they will find us?" Ming threw her arms up in defeat.
Raven smirked and tapped her neck, just under her ear, which had a tattoo of stars.
"What stars gotta do with getting us the fuck out of here?" Cindy asked annoyed.
"It's not the tattoo itself. It what's inside my neck that will get us out of here." Raven told them but that didn't help them at all. Raven sighed but began to tell them, hoping it would soothe their thoughts.
'I know you're looking over me Cairo. I know you won't let anything bad happen to me.' Raven thought quickly before going back into the conversation.
The five ladies all sat in the room lost about what to do next. They hated the feeling as if they had to wait to be rescued. They were no damsel in distress but it now seemed the best time to sit back and wait to be saved. They dreaded it but had nothing else to do. The unknown was behind the door and they didn't want to give Vladimir a reason to kill them before they have a fighting chance to get out of there.
If they got out of there.
Again, Rest In Power John Witherspoon.
I know it has been so long since I have posted but I hope this can make up for it lool. Make sure you R&R about what you thought of the chapter and what might happen next.
Until next time
-TBG
