California
"Kit up" Dan stood up, his mind telling him his wife was dead and there was absolutely nothing else left for him to live for, he grabbed his handgun and stood up, because today someone was going to pay
"Let's do this" Heath got up following him towards the door
"Dad" Sam looked at him, his thought vacant, he couldn't believe his Mom was laying there Dead, Cedes couldn't say anything she felt like she was in a very bad dream, all she knew was that Sam had hold of her real tight just now, so much so she couldn't move
Another spray for shots flew through the window and they heard the door glass shattering too, and people fall to the floor, they were under siege, the smell and dust of gun powder in the air telling them whoever was outside meant business "Who's fucking idea was it to get out of this damn business?" Marcus asked as they took cover
"Dad?" Cedes called seeing him laying on the floor near her Mom when the shots ceased "Daddy" she screamed "Tell me this isn't happening?" she looked at Sam begging him when she realised all her struggling wasn't getting her free from him
"Calm down" he covered her mouth telling her "Cedes calm down"
"Who the fuck knows about this place?" Marcus asked coughing at the dust
"Clancy" Tony told him
"Sargent" Martin told him
"Just those guys, and you trust them?" Marcus asked
"I know those guys, are you thinking it's one of them?" Sam asked looking at Tony
"I Trus..." Martin getting out before a voice shouted from outside
"Come out" the familiar voice called
"That's Clancy" Tony gasped "I trusted that bastard" he sat up telling everyone he was ready for this fucking man who had broken his trust
"He knows me, I guess it's my turn to take one for the family again" Marcus crawled towards the door telling them
"Joke right?" Nadine grabbed his top asking him
"Of course it's a fucking joke" Michelle' head popped from behind the old couch telling Tony "He hasn't even cleared that with me"
"Guys do you know there are fucking killers out there, we need to stop this fighting against each other" Sam spat angry
"Listen they only expect to find me here, I'll go out, trust me" Martin announced
"Now you've gone even madder than the damn kids" Zina pulled him back down to the floor
"Look somebody needs to do something our parents are laying on the fucking floor dead over there, I guess it's up to us" Sam said looking at Marcus and Tony "We took on this responsibility"
"We can't get out the back they got that covered" Nadine crawled back in telling them "We're going to have to fight this out"
"I'm ready for that" Sam told her
"You do realise the only way out of this for us is dead" Tony finally sat up telling them
"I vote we die trying" Marcus told him
"Martin come out and I promise this will be quick" Clancy shouted as they sat having their conversation
"The police will be here soon lets just wait it out" Nadine suggested
"Really" Mary laughed "You think anyone's interested in the local drug dealer getting shut down?"
"Probably by their guys" Zina laughed looking at Nadine "You sure you're not a part of this?"
"Aunt Zina" Marcus hissed "I told you she's for us"
"She might be but is her family?"
"My family don't know anything except I go out with Marcus"
Everyone hitting the floor again as more shots flew through the house the smell of gunpowder getting strong again "We can't sit here just waiting" Sam got frustrated telling them
"Why are you dong this Clancy?" Martin shouted
"Because I can, your days of doing business in this town are over, time for some young blood"
"So what happens when, I mean if, I come out?"
"You die Boss, this has to happen, it's the natural order of things, I need to move ... up should we say" he laughed
"And you need to be retired" Sargent's voice came into the mix shocking him
"You're in this too Sargent?" he held his head in his hands all this time he'd thought he had faithful men around him and all the time they were plotting against him
"You're losing it Martin and believe me, we got this"
"Fuck this talking shit" Sam spat "Get in the back room" he hissed at Cedes letting her go and watching her crawl through to the back room "Not protocol guys I know, and I promise you can kick me for it later" he looked around the room "Ladies in the back room please" he looked around the room at them waiting for their partners to make that okay
"Go" Tony told Michelle
"Go" Marcus and Martin told their women, Marcus nodding for his Mom to take that order too
"So what next?" Tony asked
"There's more of them out there than of us in here, maybe the whole unit, and between us we all know that we have not a chance in hell of getting out of here with our best gunmen on the other side of that damn door" Sam looked around the room "My parents are laying over there dead for all I know and all I've got left is us, I know what promises we stood in this room and made to those women out back tonight, but we need to protect them now and for me that trumps any promise"
"We just need to keep as many of us alive as we can" Marcus told them looking around the small circle of guys he called family
"For the family" Martin held his fist in the middle of them saying
"I left my tiny new baby at home, this is a recurring prophecy" Tony sighed
"Hey" Sam called him "No time for doubt, we left babies at home, and out hearts are in that back room" he told him
"Kit up?" Martin asked as everyone put their fists in the circle before he moved off to open the cupboard "We might not have the skill, but we sure as hell have the fucking gun power" he told them opening up the hidden arsenal "Thanks to Tony Senior" he took some smaller guns round to the women and went back to where they expected the action to be
"Okay, if you're going to be a bitch about it, we'll count to five and then we're coming in" Sargent shouted
"Get ready, they'll hit before five" Martin told everyone, Sam took a second to look at their parents laying in the corner, everything seemed like it was happening over hours, when in reality, there was so much adrenalin it was a few seconds, everyone found somewhere for cover and waited, looking at all the exits ready for the raid
"Sam cock it" Tony shouted across to him, smiling at his one and only lesson with a gun that he'd never used, nodding as Sam did as told
Suddenly the door burst open and there was just sparks and smoke all over the place, they got the first maybe five bodies that came in and then it was flooded they were moving them back fast, seconds of gun spray and they were in the same room as the women, looking back at them scared but not giving up, the women posed with their guns in hand most had never even felt a gun before let alone fired on, a ten second lesson from Nadine having to suffice
The first shot to enter the room landed in the cabinet just behind Zina's head they all lay lower scared as the noise got closer, peeping as they anxiously waited for the battle to slow down "Arr" Cedes heard Sam's voice and looked out to see what was happening it was difficult to make it all out with all the activity but she finally focused on him on the floor holding his leg
"Sam" she stood up amid all the shots looking at him laying on the floor as a shadow came into the room standing almost over him "No" she shouted scared for what was going to happen next, she didn't even know what was happening or when it happened all she knew was there were gun shots and two men were laying on the floor and women were screaming
"Cedes" she heard Sam's voice calling her "Cedes" he screamed at the top of his voice, making her lift her head to look at him "It's okay, I got you, come here"
It took a while for her to realise the shots had stopped as everyone sat about crying or stunned at the events, her feet suddenly felt light as she stepped off and grabbed hold of Sam never wanting to let go "Sam" she squeezed so tight he could hardly breathe "Words can never say what I feel, cause it's too intense" she hummed trembling on his chest, they were both scared
"I wanna be your man" he hummed back amid pain
"I love you Sam" she lay her head on his chest
"I know you do babe, but you can't put your life on the line like that for me, I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you"
"So you know how I feel?" she looked up at him all he could do was kiss her, she'd saved his life, again, his wince in pain reminding her of his injury "You need a hospital"
"I think most of us need a hospital" he looked around telling her, wondering what Zina was doing on her phone "What's up Aunt Zina?" he asked curious
"We have a situation, I'm sorting it"
"You're sorting it?" Martin asked looking at his wife
"New order" she smiled one of her false smiles at him before tending to her call "You young ones need to get out of here, we'll call a meet and fill you in once this is sorted"
"I'm not leaving our parents in that room like that, a coroner needs to come sort them out they're worth more than that" Mercy told her Aunt
"Everyone's in shock right now I just need you all to just listen to instruction this once, trust me and go home" Zina told them, they looked around before getting up and doing as she'd asked
"Sam needs a hospital" Cedes announced, Martin going over to see what was up
"It's a flesh wound take him back home and get it treated in a hospital over there"
"Marcus has a graze, I'll deal with him" Nadine told everyone as they walked out the back "Shit" she hissed looking at the slashed tyres "Plan B" she turned to tell the others grabbing her phone and calling a favour
Martin & Zina
"Can you get someone here in the next half an hour" Zina came back into the room still having the conversation on her phone
"We can" the voice said over the phone speaker
"Marco, thanks" she closed the call down telling him
"Who was that?" Martin asked
"Some old friends of mine that owe me a favour I just called in"
"We need to get out of here"
"I'm going nowhere, this is my life I know nothing else, I lost both my brothers to this shit, those bastards are going to get what's coming to them or I'm going to die trying, and please don't try guilt tripping me"
"I have no intention of tripping you, I lost my only brother to it too remember" he smiled "Marco?" he looked at her suspiciously "Is that one of those Jackson Brothers from up in Atlanta?"
"Yeah, they, well Marco specifically and I have history, he's a good friend, saved my life once and then I got him out of a situation and I guess you could say he owes me"
"Is he an ex?"
"No" she run her hand down his chest smiling at his jealous
"It stinks in here I need to get out" he went towards the back door to sit on the step
Less than half and hour later a group of guys were on the scene, curtains were twitching all down the neighbourhood but still no sign of any police, bodies were being removed at an alarming pace and then one of the guys appeared at the back steps "Two of these are alive" a Tall guy told Martin and Zina
"Alive" Martin grabbed his gun to go finish the job, Zina following closely
"Shit" Zina ran towards then "Thank God" she gasped
Marcus & Nadine's Home
They got home, Nadine helped Marcus to the couch before taking his fretting Mom up to her bedroom "Grab a bath, I'll be back in a while to check on you" she told her smiling when Mary pulled her to her
"Thank you" she cried into her shoulder "I had everything come back about my Tony tonight, I was living that nightmare all over again, but this time with even more to lose" she sobbed "I don't know what I'd do if I lost my boys"
"They're made of strong stuff, they're going nowhere" Nadine held her saying, rocking her as she spoke
"And neither are you, you saved my life"
"I had an ulterior motive" she laughed "I would have lost Marcus tonight if anything had happened to you and I couldn't risk that"
"You love him don't you?"
"Yes" she smiled "And because of that I love you like my own mother" she kissed her forehead "Now get in that bath and I'll see you in a bit" she left her to go tend to her man
"Hey" she smiled when she walked into the room "Lets see what's happening with you" she sat beside him taking the t-shirt he had held against his stomach away to investigate "It really is just a graze" she got up to fetch some first aid items "I'm more worried about that tooth of yours" she laughed walking back towards him "There'll be no comeback from this will there, I mean you promised me you were out of all this" she tended to his wound asking
"My Aunts and Uncles are still in that Damn house, maybe dead I don't even know yet you can't ask me to not react to this"
"I can and I am" she finally looked up at him "Mom's safe, Tony's alright whatever it is isn't your fight"
"Really?" he stood up asking her, not sure he was liking this version of Nadine he was looking at "Granted there's no blood attaching us to each other, but whatever it is it goes deeper than blood, they didn't have to cut us into anything, my Dad gave his life for my Mom who they've treated like a sister, I've had the life I wanted because I had no worries about what was going to happen to me, my Mom or my Brother and that's been down to those four people"
"I'm not asking you to forget them"
"Don't ask me anything, I'd die for them, I'd die for you, no question"
"Okay" she got up and went to him "I guess it's the scared in me talking, I'm sorry, I know how you feel, I'd die for you" she kissed his cheek "Come on let me finish patching you up" they moved to the couch as the phone rang
"It's Aunt Zina, she must have news" he said sitting down to take the call
Tony & Michelle's Home
"How the fuck did tonight happen?" Tony walked into the house hissing, he'd been cursing Sargent and Clancy all the way home "Go get Jacob" he ordered the Nanny "I just need to have my family around me" he grabbed Michelle's arm and pulled her with him "Are you alright?" his voice changed back to soft and attentive
"You're fine, I'm alright" she smiled at him before resting her head on his chest
"Here he is" he smiled as the Nanny walked in with Jacob in her arms holding his arms out for his baby boy "Thank you" he looked up at her saying, watching as Michelle stroked their son's cheek
"He's perfect isn't he?" she asked
"Just like his Mommy" he pecked her lips telling her
"And his Daddy, we're the perfect family" she rested her head on his shoulder looking down at Jacob, they sat in silence reflecting on the evening
"You know I'm going to have to break a promise?" he asked breaking the long silence
"Is there any point in me begging you not to?" she looked at him asking
"It's about honour, Clancy and Sargent can't be allowed to get away with this"
"I can't say I don't agree with that, I can't imagine what Sam and Cedes are going through right now, but I do have my own family to think about"
"They are our own family"
"Tony" she sighed "I've never, I mean never had anyone to really call my own, not until Sam and Cedes came into my life and I was happy then, I mean truly happy, they're the most real people you'd ever want to meet"
"But?" he rolled his eyes
"But then I met you, we clicked, got married and now I actually have a family of my own, can you really blame me for wanting to keep this safe, the one thing I've craved all my life is here, now, in this room and your asking me if it's alright to put that at risk, no, no it isn't"
"I have just as much to lose babe, and I totally get where you are"
"But" she rolled her eyes at him
"I didn't know him, they tell me I was the last thing he saw before he passed, I don't remember anything about him but right now I can hear his voice telling me to honour them, all of them"
"I'm going to sound selfish, and maybe I am being but their not your parents, your Mom's fine, Marcus is fine, we'll be here for Sam and Cedes, we'll be here" she sat looking into his eyes
"But who's going to be there for my Aunts and Uncles, if not us?"
"Tony" she sighed laying back on his chest, wondering if she really wanted to talk him out of helping who she considered her siblings
"Shit" he sat looking at his phone "It's Aunt Zina" he flipped the phone open to take her call
Sam & Cedes
They sat in the cab in silence, none of them wanting to start the conversation of questions, there was no room in their emotions for speculation, they'd left their parents in a heap on the floor in the front lounge of Mary's house. As hard as it was they'd walked away and left that mess for someone else to clean up, all they could do now was wait for the call confirming their parents were gone
"I should have treated her better" Cedes told him breaking the silence
"You treated her good enough"
"Do you think she knew that I'd forgiven her for Atlanta?"
"She knew"
"Do you think they all knew we loved them?"
"Undoubtedly"
"No football for a while babe" she looked down at the material wrapped around his calf stopping the blood it was bleeding faster than it needed to, they finally got to their local hospital to find his situation was a bit more urgent then they'd initially thought, explaining it as a drive by. Cedes spent a few hours worrying about tendon damage that might completely stop his game as he lay oblivious to that fact having investigatory surgery
"He'll need about six weeks for this to totally heal but it shouldn't hinder his game" the Surgeon finally told her as he lay in the recovery room
"Okay" she smiled "You can tell him everything when he wakes up"
"Will you need to be there?"
"Yes" she told him watching him walk away, Sam came round shortly after and she stood by his bed while the Surgeon told him what had happened ending with the good news that he'd be back in action in six weeks time "Can he come home?"
"Crutches pending of course" the Surgeon smiled leaving them to it "I prescribed something for the pain" she stopped at the door telling them
Sam was weak, pale and drowsy but he found the strength to smile at his wife 'Hey lady, let me tell you why, I can't live my life without you, ooh, baby' he hummed as he looked into her eyes
"We've lost too much, this stops now Sam, promise me, this stops" she held his eyes begging him, she watched as tears came to his eyes, he closed them unable to watch her heart break, and right then she knew he wasn't willing to promise her that
"The crutches" a Nurse walked in announcing "And the medication the doctor prescribed" she handed the bag to Cedes "Let me know when you guys are ready and I'll walk you out" she walked around the room as she spoke swiftly leaving after she'd finished talking
"Let's go home" Cedes told him helping him up off the bed and onto the crutches, calling the nurse as they got to the door and less than an hour later they were at home
Sam & Cedes' Home
"You know" Sam looked up at Cedes as she helped him onto their bed "After Bonnie and Clyde ended a battle they'd have wide crazy sex" he laughed
"Your injured" she smiled at him for not judging how she was feeling right now
"I assure you everything I need for wide crazy sex is in tact, granted you'll have to do most the work, but that's never stopped you before" his face telling her he needed the contact even more than she did
"Sam Evans" she smirked at him, leaning forward to undo his trousers and easing him out of them, he took his top off himself, watched her put the music on before they went all in "So just lay with me, lay with me, late 'til morning, cause I'm high and you're high, together we're..." she sang in his ear
"...Soarin" 'Soarin' by Bazzi he joined in with her, his eyes rolling for the feeling, this was going to be quick blood was rushing all over his body
His phone ringing waking him out of his nap "Sup?" he asked hearing Zina's voice on the other end, telling him everyone was coming to his house in twenty minutes "Cedes" he kissed her naked butt "Visitors"
"Shit now?"
"Aunt Zina, must be news" he told her watching her head jump off the pillow
"Why didn't you say" she rushed to the bathroom to sort herself out before coming back to get him and help him get ready both in sweats "Thanks for understanding, that got rid of some tension" she nodded at the bed
"For real" he laughed "We got this" he grabbed her hand for them to make their way downstairs
"Hi" Sam hobbled into the main room to see everyone sitting there "What's...up?" he checked Cedes asking, knowing they'd come to confirm their parents were gone
"I guess like me you need the bad news first" Zina walked up to them her face showing clearly she'd been crying for a while "D and H are gone" she grabbed hold of their two children and more tears came as all three stood crying for actually hearing the words they already knew were true
"Someone has to pay" Sam finally pulled away from them, venom in his voice "I'll go after their families, I'll kill every last fucking one of them, every last one"
"And I'm with you on that" Zina told him "But first we have to get well and get the family safe, they might strike again"
"And we'll be ready for them" Martin told him
"Sam" Cedes looked at him about to say something else but knew right now, they'd be no talking, she had to pick her battles, he grabbed hold of her pulling her to him
"So I guess we get the family safe" Zina smiled at the boy who'd suddenly become his Dad "What do you suggest?"
"We obviously have a community that only sees the bad in what we're trying to do, we've become the enemy, we need to break all ties" Mary piped up
"How?" Michelle asked
"Sell everything, everything" Martin told them
"Sell?" Marcus asked unsure what they wanted of them
"Everything, it's like taking the toys away from a badly behaved child, rip out all our good and bad work, let them have what they want"
"I see the logic" Nadine smiled "But what about safety?"
"We buy one big house, big enough for all of us, guards, alarms, dogs everything highest security money can buy, then when we're satisfies the family's safe we go after them" Zina told everyone
"Them?" Sam asked
"Yeah Sargent's not been found, Clancy's dead"
"Serves the bastard right" Tony smiled
"Thank Cedes for that, he was going to take out Sam and she just got up, opened fire and blasted all three of those bastards coming in" Nadine raised her hands doing a machine gun motion as she spoke
"I killed a man?" she looked at Sam shocked
"Three damn men" Nadine told her "Don't sweat it, they were thugs" she smiled, her smile leaving her face at the look on Sam's face, she knew she was being insensitive "Sorry it's just that I deal with this kind of thing every day at work, I guess you grow a thick skin" Cedes turned and ran off up the stairs
"Excuse me" Sam spat going off after her "Cedes" he sat on the bed when he finally got upstairs, watching her crying into the pillow wrapped in her arms "You did what you needed to do, we all did"
"I'll be alright I just need some time I'm just thinking, I got revenge for our parents, but it doesn't feel good" she looked at him saying "I can't cry for our parents something inside me wont let me, do you think somethings wrong with me?"
"No I can't either, I'm too angry"
"But it's done I got revenge" she sat up looking at him "I did that for us, it's over"
"Cedes it's not over, our Dad's are dead, our Mom's are... I didn't even ask" he looked back at the bedroom door "I need to go..."
"Wait" she told him jumping up to follow him "Change your top" she stepped out of her joggers telling him as she wiped her eyes and walked towards the dressing room, throwing a white t-shirt out to him before coming out in jeans and a yellow vest top and a pair of jeans for him in her hand "I guess we need to step up" she seemed to just go into overdrive as Sam stood watching her, worried for the sudden switch
"We need to get to the hospital" Sam announced when they finally got back downstairs "We need to see Mom"
"It's not safe" Martin told them
"Who gives a fuck what it is, we need to see them" Sam told him turning to leave the house
"You can't go alone" Tony told him getting up to follow
"It's fine" Sam hissed his tone telling them to leave him alone
Hospital
Less than an hour later they were at the hospital waiting to see Ann and Hazel "Guys" Cedes read the message Zina sent "They don't know about D and H" she read out just as Sam touched the door, they looked at each other rolling their eyes
He set his face ready for the man stuff he was going to have to do once he'd walked through the door, he was a man he'd thought that for a long while now but he was the man now, head of his house, only male Evans left, then suddenly he was crying harder than Cedes as they hugged their Mom's "Dad" Cedes looked at the two women eagerly awaiting news "Dad's gone, he got hit in the cross fire"
"Which one?" Ann asked looking between the two children
"Both" Sam told her, the screams and bawling leaving lasting scars as their Mother's mourned the loss of their hearts, all four crying hurt, lost, afraid of what life meant after this and angry
"What's the plan" Ann asked Sam
"Plan?" Cedes asked shocked at her reaction
"What's going to happen to those bastards, I want revenge and lots of it" Hazel told them
"Mom are you asking my husband to put his life at risk, for Imogen to grow up without a father?"
"I'm asking for revenge" she snapped at her "My Heath's life can't go unaccounted for"
"And Sam's can?"
"I'm sorry Mercedes that's just the law according to TDH, we all live by it" Ann told her
"He's your son" she screamed at them before rushing out of the room
"She'll come round" Sam rolled his eyes telling his Mom's before going off to find her "Cedes" he caught her in the car lot banging her hands against the car "Cedes" she turned to look at him beg already in her eyes
"Just tell me you're not going to do it"
"I... It's our Dad's" his breath pushed itself out of his body "It's business, you understand business" he felt like he was being physically pulled both ways, ready to rip into two "Fuck Cedes" he hissed angry "You put all this fucking pressure on me, I need to do this one thing and your stressing me out about it, why can't you be more like..."
"Like?" she stood asking him ready for the blow out
"Come on" he pulled her round to the passenger side, opened the door and almost threw her in, they drove home in silence
Sam & Cedes
"Just go upstairs, see to Imogen or something" he ordered, she really didn't know what to think of his behaviour, maybe he'd finally flipped she looked at him for a few seconds seeing he was ready to turn on her again, she quickly turned and went upstairs
"Everything alright?" Tony asked as he walked into the living room
"Just don't say anything" he walked straight through out onto the patio as everyone watched, he walked about talking to himself for a while, everyone still watching, making small talk as he entered the room and walked straight through it and upstairs "Cedes" he rushed into their room looking around for her "Cedes" he went to the bathroom to find it empty, making his way to Imogen's room he saw her watching their daughter sleep, crying in the rocking chair "Can we talk?" he whispered she looked across at him, got up and left Imogen's room for theirs
He stood watching her walking around the room for a while, bringing back his memories of when he'd told her to get rid of Imogen all those years back "We've been here before" he sat on the bed smiling to himself
"And if I remember rightly I won" she smiled back at him
"I remember, but that just means it's my turn to win"
"You're not going to win Sam"
"I guess we both need time out, let's stop this and get back to us, we have parents in hospital, gone, I've been shot this isn't the time to do this"
"It's never going to be the time to kill someone"
"Come here" he held his hand up for her to grab, she was already crying "We have funerals to plan and Mom's to take care of, a baby to love and ... my leg needs healing, lets get all that out the way before we have this conversation again, I need to be close to you right now" he wrapped her in his arms telling her
"This always makes me feel good" she rested her head on his shoulder "I don't mean to stress you out Sam, I've just got so much going on, nothing seems to be lifting, it just keeps piling itself on me and sometimes I feel like... I'm just so angry all the while"
"And I didn't mean to shout at you like that, I guess my backs against it, I shouldn't disrespect you like that, I'm sorry"
"Hey" she smiled up at him "I apologize if I say, anything I do mean, cause I've been drinking too much, faded off the gasoline, I'm just trying to live life, put on for my family, that's on everything, girl we can do anything, cause baby, we are" Soarin by Bazzi "Got my Bazzi feels on" she smiled at him
"I'm always loving your Bazzi feels" he squeezed her tighter, it had been a long day they eventually fell asleep
The next day they woke up to a busy house, Zina had started the ball rolling and it didn't seem like anyone else was up to taking charge, she had an estate agent sitting in the kitchen watching them all eat breakfast looking at pictures of a potential family home "We need a decision today, I need everyone safe"
"We're safe" Marcus told her
"Why because Nadine can call her cop friends any time she wants?" Zina hissed at him "Let's cut the bull shit, this is real, just like we learned Sargent's still around they'll be hearing how many of us are still alive, there might be a second attempt, we need to be ready"
"Are we in agreement to sell the businesses?" Mary asked
"Totally" Marcus spoke for everyone
"Sorry we need to get to the hospital" Sam announced grabbing Cedes hand as he got up, both kissing Imogen and then they were off "We need to see what they want to do for the funeral" he announced as they left
Mary and Zina looked at each other clearly, Sam didn't understand how this went
The Hospital
"Mom" Cedes ran across the room to her "I'm sorry about yesterday I guess I was in shock"
"We were all in shock" Hazel hugged her saying, she stayed there for a while knowing her Mom needed that extra time, she did too their Jones man was gone, she looked over to see Sam crying on Ann's chest, a ping of guilt running through her, she should have been there for him
"Right" he suddenly pulled away from his Mom walking towards Hazel, Cedes quickly went to Ann to get her hug "The funeral"
"What about it?" Ann asked
"Planning, we thought we'd deal with that first" Sam replied
"Don't worry yourself with that Zina and Mary know what to do" Ann told him
"But it's Dad's..."
"They'll deal with it trust me" Hazel assured him, he wanted to say more but the look on Cedes face told him to leave it so he did, two days later their Mom's came out of hospital to total pampering from Mary and Zina, Sam understood what his Mom was saying his Aunts had this
The Funeral
The day came fast, the Aunt's were working on gas, the service was intimate, just family and a few friends, Cedes was shocked to see the guys from the phone shop in Atlanta sitting in the crematorium, she nudged Sam to tell him all about them, as they walked behind their fathers coffins to 'Love You For Life' by Jodeci apparently some song their parents had met on, they'd cried so much already this was just a formality they needed to go through
Half way through the service Cedes knew she'd done the wrong thing, when she spotted Sam looking at the guests from Atlanta like he wanted to fight "They must be friends, Aunt Zina's people, that's why they'd have looked after me" she told him trying to get him to focus on the funeral
"It's not working" he put his arm round her waist his thumb rubbing her ribs as the service went on, a familiar sign of irritation on him
As strong as they'd tried to be all through the service when the furnace fired up and the coffins started rolling towards the heat they broke and cried so hard their throats hurt, the whole congregation of around 14 people they knew and maybe 10 others from other families, crying
"Who is that?" Sam's head jumped up interested to know who the man was that was holding his Mother at his Father's funeral
"I don't know" Cedes told him looking at the man move from Anne to Hazel then Zina and finally Mary
"He looks lik..." he lingered off not wanting to say what his eyes were telling him or his mind was thinking
"Like?" Cedes looked up at him asking
"Doesn't matter" he told her his attention back on the coffin's going through the curtained area
"Sam" the man came over offering his hand "Sorry for your loss"
"Thank you" Sam shook his hand and watched him say the same to Cedes as he passed him by, still looking at him, he was so familiar, they let doves off, said a prayer and then they went home with the ashes, to some sandwiches and conversation.
By evening the conversation had another focus, the funeral was over and it was time to start thinking about getting the family safe
"Papers will be signed on Thursday" Zina told everyone
"When are we expected to move?" Tony asked
"In a weeks time, I need to get some stuff in place, get the system put in and then we'll be good to go" Zina replied
"What about the business where are we on those?" Marcus asked
"We've more or less let them off, we have three on East side proving a bit difficult, but we expected that Sargent was working over there" Martin told them
"Give them away if you have to, we need to have broken all ties by the time we move" Sam told him, Cedes, Michelle and Nadine passing looks as their husbands spoke
"Ben's over there dealing with it?" Mary told him
"Ben?" Sam asked everyone looking on for this new name in the mix "Where's Ben coming from?"
"Who is Ben?" Tony asked
"And why's he dealing with our business?" Marcus asked his Mom, Mary looked at Anne, it was her story to tell no one else's
"Mom?" Sam looked at his Mom searching for an answer "It was that man in church wasn't it?"
"Yes" she looked at him telling him "It was your Dad he didn't want you to know about him"
"About who, Ben?"
"Yeah Uncle Ben, he's you're Dad's half brother, your Grandpa left your Grandma for his Mother"
"Dad had a brother?" he rolled his eyes and pulled his hair back off his face "I knew he was familiar"
"Half brother" his Mom corrected him "They knew about each other, respected each other even, but he wouldn't betray his Mother by being friends with the man, a broken heart killed his Mother and Ben's Mother caused it he'd never forgiven his Dad, they met at their Dad's funeral, kept in touch, that was it"
"That's why he drummed it into me about a girlfriend being for life, striving to be faithful and all that stuff" Sam held his head in his hands "Why didn't he ever tell me?"
"He was your Dad, he tried to be the best he could for you, he wanted a better, different life for you" Ann told him
"He was an angry man inside for a long while, then your Mom came along and then you, and he finally got what he'd always dreamed of, what Heath and he always talked about" Hazel added grabbing Ann's hand as support for the hard conversation she was having "He didn't want to spoil that dream with his reality"
"I guessed that about him, being angry I mean, sometimes he'd apologise for shouting at me, even when I deserved it" Sam chuckled "I wondered what that was about" he looked at his Mother saying "But he still should have told me"
"It wasn't for the lack of trying" his Mom replied as they shared a look
"So how's this Ben going to help?" Sam asked looking around the room for an answer
"He has connections" Martin told him, they all seemed happy leaving it like that, except Sam who sat thinking
"Never mind his connections, we have a plan" Marcus looked at Sam and Tony, while the women and Martin sat watching them leave the room ready for business
"Sam" Cedes called after him getting up to follow him out the door "Sam" she called after him, when it seemed like he had no intentions of stopping "Can I have a quick word?" she caught up with him asking
"If you're going to ask me not to take revenge for Dad it's not happening" he spun round telling her Marcus and Tony stood listening, she couldn't believe he'd spoken to her like that in front of them
"Okay" she held her hands up at him staring at him for a second, before he turned and left with Tony and Marcus
The Next Day
The meeting had gone on until the early morning, well the tail end of it was griping about their personal lives, the ladies weren't happy with their decision to take things in their own hands. It really wasn't something they wanted to do either but family had been killed and surely they understood that wasn't in any way acceptable, they talked about not backing out, what they'd feel like if they did nothing and even about keeping hold of that part of the business, all while throwing down glasses of whiskey. It was 6am when Sam finally stirred and checked his phone for the time, he jumped up to make his way home, he'd never been in town and not slept in their bed before he felt like a naughty schoolboy
"Cedes" he walked into the bedroom whispering, wanting to work out if he could get some sleep or get ready for another fight "Cedes" he looked at the empty bed surprised, checking the bathroom before going to Imogen's room gasping when that was empty too "Where the fuck is she" he walked around the house looking for her, finally retuning to their bedroom to check if she'd actually left the house. After twenty minutes of talking to himself and searching their belongings he realised she'd gone "What the fuck" he rolled his eyes as he landed on the bed "Doesn't she realise how fucking dangerous it is for us out there?" he grabbed his phone out of his pocket to call her "Cedes" he shouted when the ringing stopped "Where are you?"
"Really?" she asked sarcastically
"Stop fucking around Cedes, where are you?"
"You're not even interested in what I have to say, so why the concern?"
"You're so childish I could slap you right now for putting yourself at risk like this, where are you?"
"What now you want to listen to me?"
"Cedes you're getting on my last fucking nerve" he told her sitting in silence as she figured out if he was joking or not
"I'm across the road at Michelle's, but I'm not coming back, not while you've got it in your mind to kill"
"I'm coming over" he told her putting the phone down before she could say anything else "What the hell is wrong with this woman?" he sat asking himself "She turns me on quicker than she gets me mad and I feel the damn same which ever way" he got up and shoved his phone in his pocket before he made for the door
Uncle Ben
Ben was 12 years younger than Daniel, and although he'd always known the skin of why his parents split up, Daniel had never shared the fact that Ben existed with anyone in the world except Tony and Heath and later on Ann, he was angry about it. For a long while he'd blamed Ben, watching his Mom die of a broken heart hadn't been easy, he had every intention of breaking Ben's legs when he was called up to attend the funeral of his absent Father, and truth be told he was jealous of Ben getting all his Dad's attention. But he got to the church; Heath and Tony standing either side of him keeping the peace, and looked across at Ben, who looked like a broken man.
They'd ended up sitting all evening talking about their Father, he'd learned how cruel he was, the words he called Ben, him and their Mothers, he left Ben's Mother too when he was just 7 years old, they may as well have been talking about the same woman when they talked about their last days with their Mother's, still asking after that damn man, finally concluding that their Father wasn't the man either of them had conjured up in their heads.
Ben had problems, he didn't think like everyone else, he was what society would have termed a gangster, he killed people for pedal bikes, raped women because he envied the men they were with and dealt in arms and drugs. Daniel had sat listening to him talking about his struggle which seemed to afford him a decent life and now both Ben's parents were gone he was hesitant to form any ties with anyone, he said he needed to be ruthless, and he was ready to die at any time. Daniel had come back from his weekend in Texas a new man, he'd plugged the idea of dealing drugs to Tony and Heath and eventually, with Ben's help, they'd taken over Central and moved outwards over the years.
Now Ben was back, cleaning up for his brother, if anyone's life was going to be taken because of this it was his, but one thing was sure, he knew everything about what was going on for his brother, he was a King Pin and of all his teams, his most precious team, worth more than any money, was his brother now dead, his ear was to the ground, Sargent and his crew were already dead.
Ben got outside the place his man had told him Sargent was staying, he'd got other teams wiping out Sargent's army of men that had felt fit to kill his brother and try to wipe out his entire California connection, this was firstly about kin, but there was also a matter of money and for that he didn't joke "kill everyone but leave Sargent to me" he instructed his men as they moved in.
Ben was like the invincible man as he walked though the storm of gunshots, a gun so much as even floating past his direction was stopped, nothing was getting in the way of what he'd come for "I have no argument with you" Sargent knelt looking at this face he didn't recognise
"But I have one with you" Ben replied watching as Sargent looked around obviously looking for his men "There are no more men, all your houses have been wiped out" he smiled the wickedest smile
"Why what is it you think I've done?"
"You killed my bothers"
"Your brothers?" Sargent asked still puzzled "I don't know your brothers"
"You didn't even know them" Ben lifted his gun and shot the girl in the head, Sargent gasping as she fell out of his arms, blood splattering over his face "Stand him up" he instructed the three men standing with him "You destroyed my family" he walked towards him
"You have the wrong man, I don't know your family"
"And I don't know you" Ben told him shooting his knees out and watching him fall to the floor screaming "I control California, you attack my family you attack me"
"What Martin?" Sargent just about got out before Ben shot him in the throat, he stood watching him choke before bending to speak to him
"My brother was Daniel Michael Evans, his brother was Heath Jones and you'll meet them in hell, they're waiting to kill you again" he whispered, wiping blood off his cheek as Sargent spat out trying to get breath and then there was silence, Ben waited until there was certainty before he stood up and walked away taking his phone out as he left
"Ben" Ann gasped answering the phone
"It's done" he told her "I'll set up another crew, they'll report directly to me but everything will go to you and Sam"
"What about the others?"
"That's your business, I'll call in before I go"
"Thank you Ben" she smiled down the phone, before closing the call, it was finished
Sam & Cedes
Sam arrived at Tony's in seconds, he used his key to get in and regulated the alarm system before going up to find the spare room Cedes was in, finding her behind the third door "Cedes" he whispered seeing Imogen in the bed, she turned and cut her eye at him "We need to talk" he ignored her look and carried on talking
"She's asleep"
"So we need to leave the room" he told her, she turned to look at him for a while before getting up to follow him out
"What do you want?" she stood outside the room asking, arms folding in front of her chest
"Really" he raked his hand through his hair, his lips thinned "You still get me so damn mad sometimes I could slap you"
"We're not children anymore Sam" she walked away from him huffing
He hobbled after her, sitting down to get down the stairs quickly "I know we're not children Cedes" he hobbled after her pain in his leg with every step he was putting pressure on it well before the doctor had advised "Cedes my fucking leg is killing me, will you just stop"
"What?" she looked round at him stood without his crutch "Where's the crutch?"
"I needed to move fast"
"Not only are you hell bent on dying, you're suddenly not all about ball either" she went back up the stairs to get his crutch
"Cedes" he took it off her his eyes begging her to see things from his point of view
"Sam" she stared at him saying, her eyes telling him she wasn't moving on this "I told you already this is not what I want, you have the power to make anything happen but you just keep pushing me away with your shit"
"This is the world we're in Cedes"
"No Sam this is the world you're hell bent on us being in, I told you I don't want it"
"There's nothing more I'd like than to walk away from this shit and just have my family, me playing ball you singing, but you had a 16th birthday present and this is where it led us"
"What so it's my fault now?"
"No I didn't mean it like that" he rolled his eyes
"Well here's something I do mean, you choose, today which family's more important to you us or them, because I'm ready to walk on this Sam, I mean it" she walked off telling him "And don't bother to come up, I'm in with Imogen" he thought about it for a second before following her up the stairs, sitting in the chair opposite the bed where his family slept, he fell asleep thinking on what she'd said, wishing it could have been between a rock and a hard place, but as soon as she said it he knew what his choice was
"Morning" he smiled three hours later when Imogen woke him up jumping on him
"Sweetheart" he picked the nearing 6 year old up "I love your Mom and I love you" he kissed her cheek telling her
"We love your too Daddy" she looked up at him concern in her eyes "Mommy was crying again yesterday" she told him
"That makes me sad" he told his daughter "Will you go find Aunt Michelle while Daddy finds out what's wrong with Mommy?" he smiled kissing her forehead before letting her down and watching her leave the room, turning back to see Cedes sitting up in bed "I choose you, you know that, I'd have told you earlier if you'd have let me get a word in"
"And I'd never leave you, you know that right?" she crawled down the bed telling him "I have this dark place inside me Sam, I don't know if I can explain it, it's like... I'm in this hole and it's as dark as it can ever get, and the only light that's ever in it is Imogen and you... I feel like you keep talking about getting yourself killed is telling me you don't want to be my light anymore" her voice broke as she opened up to him "I get the feeling that you love me, you make me feel that and then I feel that I'm happy, but then I feel guilty because for us, as long as you're with me, this is it, I can't give you any more children and I ..."
"Stop" he moved towards her hushing her mouth with his fingers, sitting on the bed beside her "I have you and now Imogen and believe me Cedes, I've never lied to you, I don't need anything or anyone else, you guys are it" he smiled pulling her hair back off her face "This is God's plan for us, I believe that, you, Imogen and I are going to be something great"
"Something great" she smiled resting her head on his shoulder
"And those feelings" he nudged her head off his shoulder "Great song"
"Song?" she laughed
"Great song" he smiled at her "And its my turn for yet another apology I apologize if I say, anything I do mean, cause I've been drinking too much, faded off the gasoline, I'm just trying to live life, put on for my family, that's on everything, girl we can do anything, cause baby, we are..." he sang in her ear
"I'm getting fed up of Bazzi fighting all our battles" she laughed
"Bazzi's my making love to you music" he kissed her neck telling her as Imogen burst through the bedroom door with news about her latest conversation with the doorman, Sam and Cedes sat listening to her tale as she snapped her fingers in her fashion, rolled her eyes Daddy style and wiggled her booty mimicking her Mommy
After breakfast they went back to their house, everyone did, waiting to get this news Ann had for all of them, shocked to find Ben sitting there with a few thugs around him, he sat telling them about Sargent, how things had run in the past, the deal he'd made with Tony, Daniel and Heath and what he was prepared to do now that deal was severed
"So you got Dad involved in this in the first place?" Sam asked
"Your Dad got himself involved in all this, he spent a weekend grating me, about a month learning the business and I started them off"
"Sound familiar" Tony laughed at Sam cutting his eye at him
They had lunch together then Ben left with a promise to keep a closer eye, miraculously the house was ready that weekend and furniture vans arrived to move them simultaneously to their mansion in the Holmby Hills neighbourhood, three weeks later it was Imogen's 6th Birthday, the party happened as usual of course there was a moment when everyone remembered those that were missing and Imogen got her first horse from her Great Uncle Ben
Sam and Cedes sat watching her being trained to ride at her tender age on a model horse "I want to concentrate on getting that singing thing going again" she looked up at him saying
"That's cool" he kissed her forehead smiling "There's going to have to be sacrifices you know that right?"
"I can do this"
"I know you can" he hugged her tighter smiling, happy she was finally ready to put her feelings out there for the world to hear 'Lay with me, lay with me, lay till the morning, cause I'm high and you're high, together we're soarin' he hummed as they lay watching their daughter
Nearly 1 Year Later
25 Years Old
The family had settled into another life, quiet, relaxed, free from hustling, they were feeling normal of sorts, take away the heavily guarded house, vetted visitors and camera's everywhere, Ben was their silent benefactor and only Ann seemed to know that
There had been lots more tears for Sam and Cedes over the months, fixing Cedes heart had proved to be more complex than any of them had thought, she went further down into that hole than Sam would have ever imagined, one minute she wasn't interested in anything, the next too excited about things that didn't matter. She was racked with guilt about not being able to have any more babies and regularly had feelings and thoughts of suicide, she'd actually taken pills once, the only thing keeping her going this past year was Sam and Imogen.
Sam had taken eight weeks off and then reluctantly returned to his game, he was missing his Dad like crazy and feeling guilty for helping to make the decision for them to move out of their neighbourhood allowing them to take their eye off the ball without fully knowing what the ball was. Cedes wasn't coping well with him being away, especially while trying to do her song, so he was spending ridiculous amounts of money going home for a day or even hours in between games, just to keep her calm and get her to focus on the music, he felt it was slowly healing her
Three weeks ago she'd finally called him sounding happy "I think I've finished the song" she breathed before she burst into tears "I'm sorry" she mumbled wiping her face dry "It's just been so hard and now it's out I don't know that I can sing it to anyone"
"Surely you can sing it to me" he frowned, his voice sad down the phone
"I mean" she laughed "I can sing it, but I'm not sure if I can stop myself crying"
"I'll be back in two days, you can sing it to me until you stop crying" he laughed
"You'll regret that offer" she laughed
"I won't" he giggled "How's Imogen?"
"She's fine missing her Daddy nearly as much as her Mommy is"
Something seemed to have lifted off her then, now two months since that conversation, Cedes had recorded the song, released the single and watched it grow interest, she'd been singing in clubs and stuff, praying to be popular one day.
"Sam" Cedes screamed over the phone, he was stood in the changing room in Texas "They want me to sing my song at The Fonda next Saturday 8pm"
"The Fonda?" he gasped "That's big"
"I know" she laughed
"How do you feel about that?"
"Will you be there?"
"Of course"
"Then I feel great about it" she giggled "This is it Sam, my big break I can feel it, cause I'm high and you're high, together we're soarin' she sang
"Now who's holding onto Bazzi feels?" he laughed "I'm about to go on the field we'll speak after the game, I love you"
"Don't break a leg" she laughed "Oh and Sam... I love you"
'Cedes is singing at The Fonda Theatre, Saturday 8pm be there, seats booked' Sam messaged the family before he went on the field, he was more excited than her, she'd worked so hard for this opportunity, he had a good game he was so hyped
Saturday was quickly here and preparations were being made for the evenings event, Cedes was super stressed at revealing her soul to the family, there'd be questions afterwards for it's meaning. Everything seemed to rush by, suddenly her name was called and she was up on stage focusing on getting her mood and not crying, she looked at Sam as the music started, smiling for the pride in his face before she started singing
'Fire' by Deva Mahal
Long, it's been a long time coming, though I sent a strong, a real strong warning, that you tried to fight, but this losing battle, defeated the lights, so put your feet to the gravel, I tried, Lord knows I've tried, oh, I can't go any further, if you only know, the darkness inside, I can't go any further, if you only know the darkness inside of me.
True, you truly make me feel good, and I know you'd, do anything that you could, to make me happy, happier than I deserve, but I was set on fire, and you can't heal these burns, the tears I've cried, could fill a river wide, oh, said I can't go any further, if you only know, the darkness inside, I can't go any further, if you only know, the darkness inside of me, yeah, say no, say no, say no no, said I can't go no, any further, if you only know oh, the darkness inside, and I can't go no, any further, if you only know, the darkness inside of me, say no, no, no, nooo...
"That was brilliant" Sam met her at side stage hugging her "I'm so proud of you" he found her lips telling her
"It felt good, I guess I found a box for those feelings" she replied tears in her eyes
"I guess" he walked her away back to their seats telling her, she relaxed a bit after that the family were really supportive
"Dance?" Sam held his hand out asking, concerned she was still tense a long while later that evening
"There's no music" she got up saying, smiling at the music started "You did this?" she smiled hearing their song play
"Hey lady, let me tell you why, I can't live my life without you, ooh, baby" he pulled her in and sung in her ear
"Every time I see you walking by, I cannot breathe, you don't understand but in time you will, I must make you understand" she sung back
"I wanna be your man, I wanna be your man, I wanna be your man, yes, I do, yeah, yeah" he sung "I'm going to kiss you this time" he told her taking her lips as the song carried on, he was a proud man
"Better not pass me by, cause if you do you lose a good thing" she giggled not embarrassed anymore
"Cause what I've got to say, is sealed with a kiss, and a wedding ring" he smiled "See I mean what I say"
"Right"
"There you go giving me Bazzi permissions again" he laughed spinning her round
The End