"Spreading her germs everywhere, just like her lies..."
Bri shoved her against the wall, hard.
"There's no way Michael would do that..."
They pushed her back and forth, and then Bri punched her. Her lip began bleeding. Cassaundra dragged her across the floor. Bri took out scissors and cut her long hair. She screamed for them to stop, she screamed for help. But nobody was listening. She couldn't hear anything they were saying, because she was screaming and crying and praying that someone would come help her. Bri told Cassaundra to watch the door, and Tasha knew no one would come to save her.
Bri put her foot on top of Tasha as though she had just won a battle in the boxing ring. Her friend pulled out a gun and dangled it in front of Tasha's face. Bri looked down at Tasha with contempt.
"We'll do much worse if you ever lie to the cops again."
I didn't lie! Tasha wanted to scream, but she knew that no matter how much she tried to convince Bri that her boyfriend had done the horrible thing that he had, she would deny it. Being part of the Crew meant defending her boyfriend no matter what.
Bri pulled out a gun too, and Tasha thought for sure it was the end. But then she felt someone's hand roughly pull her off the floor. Bri's friend dropped the gun and it slid across the floor. Instinctively, Tasha grabbed it, not even knowing what she would do with it.
Filled with fear, she held it but didn't know what she was aiming at. The gun felt heavy in her hands. She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.