Blacksheep2

 

 

I knew she was dead before they took her away. I just knew by the way the life in Big Mama's eyes just passed so swiftly. Still they take her though and we sit in the hospital wondering if they can revive her somehow.

 

Tears are rolling down my eyes. I can't get them to stop. I look over at Marcella. She's not used to me crying. Tears aren't exactly something that comes around in our business. Marcella hands me a napkin.

 

 

"You'll be alright," she tells me.

We are in the waiting room at the hospital. My entire family is there. Uncle Regis and my father are inconsolable. My mother sent me an email letting me know that Uncle Regis just lost his wife last year. I could only imagine how hard this is for him. Knowing that their mother is in the hospital is no doubt causing some issues. I wonder what I should do or say. I don't know. This is bad.

 

Then I see Jamison. I don't know where his fiancée is. I'm assuming she ditched him after Brian showed up. Uncle Regis's kids are comforting him as though he's the big victim in all of this. Cousin Lionel and Sheila both stay by his side.

 

 

That's when I see my brother Joyous. He's pacing back and forth. These shady looking gangsters are with him. There are so many that they take up the entire hallway scaring the nurses and staff in the hospital. They are raising hell and demanding answers.

 

 

I sigh a little bit, "Brian."

"Brian has disappeared," she tells me, "He's gone into hiding. No one will know..."

Joyous would kill me if he found out that I had been the cause of Brian coming, ruining Jamison's wedding and causing this tragedy.

 

 

"Make sure he stays gone," I tell her, "I have to go with my family."


She nods.

I walk over to where my father is. He has his head buried in his palms. My mother rubs his back. She is whispering something to him. As I approach however the whispering stops. My mom is the first to look up at me. My dad looks past me, probably seeing me and just really not knowing what to say at this moment.

 

 

"I'm so sorry this happened," I explain to him.

 

There is silence.

 

Sometimes tragedy brings people together. That isn't the case here.


"Why is he still here?" my dad asks my mother.

 

 

My mother doesn't answer. She just strokes my dad's back like he is some sort of dog that is in constant need of pampering. She is the true trophy wife and first lady of the church. She'll never speak up against him especially in person.

 

 

"My grandmother is in that hospital room dying." I state, "Where else would I be?"


"The same place you've always been," Jamison tells me, "Gone."


Sometimes I wonder who hates me more in my family. I wonder whether it is Jamison or my father. I am sure at this moment that it is my father. At least Jamison can look at me when he is spewing his hate. I disappoint my father. I sicken him.

 

 

"How's Shantelle, Jamison?" I ask.

 

 

"She's fine."


"Should I be asking about Shantelle though?" I ask Jamison, "Your other bride...what's his name um..."


Jamison is upset almost immediately, "That was a lie. I didn't know that person."

Jamison isn't looking at me though. He is looking at our father. Pastor Wallace is sitting looking down with pain written all over his face. This has to be the worst day of his life. I could only imagine. I wonder if he believes the bullshit coming out of Jamison's mouth. Jamison would sit there and lie about it straight to his face as though nothing is the matter. That is just how Jamison is though. That's how he's always been. He was a liar. He loved to play this sweet boy.

 

 

 

"Seemed like you said his name. Did anyone else hear him say his name? Sheila? Lionel? Becky? Ma? Anyone else feel like Jamison knew who that person was?" I ask and wait a few seconds, "I guess it was just me who noticed huh? Or maybe no one wants to talk about it."


My cousins all have blank stares. My mother has gone mute. Lionel has the same response. My uncles' kids both cross their arms. See no evil. Hear no evil. I am pacing back and forth. You would think my grandmother just fell out on her own accord. Now it seems like they have the perfect excuse to act like Brian interrupting Jamison's wedding didn't even happen.

 

 

Jamison shakes his head, "I didn't know that person."


Did he take me for a fool? Did he take everyone for fools? We all were at that wedding. We all fucking saw what happened.

 

 

If everyone wanted to act like they were deaf, then I'd start calling people out.

 

 

"Lionel. You were the best man. Did it look like Jamison knew that boy? Hello? Lionel! No one hear me talking?" I ask.

 

 

Lionel finally lifts his eyes up. Lionel is handsome. He fell out with the family when he married his white wife Becky. Not only was my family homophobic but they were also racist at times. It isn't until Becky got pregnant with their son that my family finally accepted Lionel back into the family. You would think Lionel would relate to me since he was an outcast at one point too.

 

 

That's not the case. The wall of Wallace was standing taller than ever.

 

"I have nothing to do with this," Lionel states, "I didn't see anything. Sheila, Shantelle is your friend, isn't she?"


I didn't know Shantelle was my cousin's friend. I hadn't known much about my cousins. My mother never really mentioned them. I knew they were close. The whole family was close in a way. Even in our dysfunction. They all stayed in the same neighborhood. They all stayed in each other's business. All except me. I should have known Sheila was friendly with Jamison's fiancee.

 

 

"Shantelle just needs time," Sheila tells Jamison.

 

 

"This is not the time," my dad mutters through gritted teeth.

 

 

My dad's word was everything. Uncle Regis was his younger brother and a deacon at my dad's church so he listened to my dad as though he was Jesus himself. Regis's kids were no different. Whatever my dad said went. It was almost like him saying what he said at that moment shut everyone up.

 

 

"Not the time what we all saw at that wedding?" I ask.

 

 

My thick words seem to get into every ear. Everyone seems so uncomfortable. It's almost the worst thing I can do at that moment. If I make these people uncomfortable god knows how they would react.

 

 

"Why you so hateful towards me?" Jamison asks, "What did I ever do to you?"


Never mind the truth with Jamison. Never mind admitting who he was deep inside and who Brian was to him. He was just going to turn it around and make it seem like I am vilifying him for no reason.

 

 

"Jamison, ignore him," my dad tells Jamison.

 

 

My dad's stubborn face fixes on Jamison in a tough way, leaving me there steaming. I want to make it seem like him acting like I don't exist doesn't get under my skin, but it does. Why didn't he love me? Why didn't he love me like Jamison? I had done everything for his approval and somehow my father just still pretends like I don't exist. Anger was one thing. I would have given anything at that moment for my father to just be upset with me. But instead of anger he's just pretending like I'm no one. He's pretending like I was never born.

 

 

Joyous comes over. He grabs me by my shoulder all hard. He can't help but to be the tough one. I hate it. I shake him off but he tries to muscle me up, grabbing me.

 

"You heard what the old man said," Joyous tells me, "Now is not the time. Our grandmother is in a hospital room dying and you want to be messy."

 

"He's hateful," Jamison states.

 

 

"Jamison!" my dad shouts at him, "Ignore him."


Ignore him. Ignore him. Ignore him. The words burn holes in my ears. I have been so strong for so long and yet this vulnerability is still here. It still digs at me. Jamison turns away from me, completely turning his back. My cousins might as well be doing the same.

 

 

"Ignore me," I smile, "Just like how you want to ignore the fact that your favorite son is a fucking faggot...just like me."


Finally my dad looks at me. It's crazy how I have to be so crude to at least get him to look at me. Joyous pays me back almost immediately. He slaps me hard across the face with an open hand. He's so strong that he might as well have sucker punched me. My head jerks to the wall at that moment. I hit the wall so hard that my lip busts open completely and the walls smears with blood.

 

 

My cousin Lionel and a couple of Joyous's boys have to hold him back as he starts cursing and screaming at that moment, trying to get at me to beat my ass. Keon is one of those people.

 

 

"Joy---cool out, relax man! He's your brother, Joy! Relax!" Keon is telling him.

 

 

It takes 8 men to hold my brother back. Most of them are his own boys. He's that strong.

 

I look at my lip. It's completely busted. I get up at that moment and fix myself. I'm not going to show these people they got underneath my skin. My lip is busted though. Marcella walks over and reminds me of how dignified I was before I came down here and went down to their level. I was going to lift my head up, fix my suit, arrange my tie and wipe this blood without letting Joyous or anyone else know just what kind of effect they are having on me.

 

 

Just at that moment the doctor comes out. The look on his face says it all.

 

 

"I'm sorry..."



That's all I hear. That seems to be all that everyone hears. Joyous breaks down and completely forgets about his anger towards me. The rest of the family does the same. There are people who are around that I didn't even know knew my grandmother and they are crying as well. Keon is one of those people. Tears are streaming down his face.

 

The thickness in the room just seems to touch everything. Every inch. Every part of our lives. We sit in the hospital for a while after. They only let my dad and Uncle Regis go see the body. The rest of us have to stay where we are.

 

 

It's Jamison who talks.

 

 

 

"She was the best of us," Jamison explains to a waiting room full of people, "Everyone knew Big Mama. She never closed that door. Every day she'd take us up to her study and show us pictures of the Marchioness. She'd show us that the Wallace family once meant something to this entire neighborhood. She'd never let us forget our culture. She'd never let us forget who we were and what we represented. How have we forgotten ourselves so completely?"


His question goes unanswered with words but there are silent nods. I know my dad wants Jamison to be a preacher. He's a natural leader even though he is the youngest of the siblings.


Speaking of siblings, I can't help but to cross my arms.

"Where's Jamila?" I ask.

 

 

"Whoever knows the answer to that question baby," my mother states.

 

 

"She deserves to know. She deserves to know that Big Mama is gone. Someone should call her."


Everyone looks away as though they have no idea what I'm saying. I knew people were sad but my sister needed to know that her grandmother was gone. Why wasn't anyone listening to the words that were coming out of my mouth. I was getting ignored. Maybe because they thought Pastor Wallace would want me ignored. My eyes settle on the only person that looks like they are willing to say anything. It's the only person who is looking at me as I speak.

It's Keon.

 

 

"Yo---your sis been doing other shit besides drinking," Keon finally explains.

 

 

"Don't run my family business mothafucka," Joyous tells Keon.

 

 

Joyous points a finger a Keon. I knew Joyous. He was forceful. He might have followed a completely different path from my dad. He might have looked like my mother, but he had my dad's temperament. He felt like he had to be in charge. He was this extreme alpha male who just felt like everyone owed it to him to listen to him. I knew that he had his foot on Keon's neck and everyone else in his little gang.

 

 

"That's my sister," I tell Joyous.

I wasn't scared of Joyous. I don't care how many times he threatened to beat my ass. I don't care how many times he did it.

 

 

Joyous looks away. Keon risks his anger to continue speaking to me at that moment.

 

 

"Jamila doesn't have a phone. She hasn't had one in a while. I know where a lot of people...like her hang out around town though. I can help you find her---if you want."


Joyous looks irritated but he doesn't say anything else to Keon or me for that matter. Maybe the memory of Big Mama is taking over and he realizes Big Mama would want Jamila here.

 

 

"Thank you Keon," I state.

 

 

Keon nods and starts walking out of the hospital, stopping halfway down the hall to see if I was following behind him.

 

 

"I'll go with him," Marcella offers.

 

 

We are away from the others. Close enough that they can see us but not hear the words that are coming out of my mouth.

 

 

"No," I respond, "Stay here with my family. I need representation and I need to know what's going on. If anything happens call me...immediately."


My assistant nods, "Yes sir."


~

 

 

 

Keon's car is shady looking. The windows are tinted. I can barely see out of them but somehow he seems to know where he is going. He smells good however. I see that he may be a little nervous when he is throwing shit off his seat to make sure that I have enough room to sit. When I get in the car I turn to him. I still can't believe that this is Keon. I can't believe that this is the same boy who I knew from back in the day.

 

 

We don't talk as we drive for a while. I was wrong when I said that nothing had changed in South Central. I was very wrong. Things had gotten so much worse.

 

 

"I'm sorry about your Grandmother," he tells me, "I mean it man."


"It's OK," I explain.

"No it's not," he responds, "Before my mother overdosed and died, she was a crack fiend. Your grandmother took me in many nights."


"Is that how you know how to find Jamila?" I ask.

 

Keon nods. It makes sense now why he is so interested in finding Jamila. I notice a silent tear start falling down his eye. He catches it quickly before I notice it, wipes it on his jeans and stares seriously at the roads.

 

 

"I would have been on the streets for so many nights. She'd play old school music from Club Marchioness and give me her husband's old suits to try on. I wasn't the only one either. Your grandmother treated me like I was part of the family. She made me feel like we were more than just broke, ghetto niggas."


"I don't like that word."


"Nigga?" he asks me.

"Yeah."


"Ain't that what we are?" he asks.

 

I don't answer him. We keep riding. I keep looking at him. He's so handsome. Seeing that he's emotional is really getting to me. There were so many times we used to talk together. It was just him and me. I'd tell him secrets.


I wish I could tell him right now that I may be the reason that Big Mama is dead. I wish I could tell him that I knew Brian was my brother's lover from back in the day and reached out to Brian when I heard my brother was getting married. I had arranged for Brian to interrupt my brother's wedding so that I could get back at my brother. Now I regret it all.

 

 

Maybe Joyous had a point for hitting me.

 

 

"What?" he asks me.

 

I keep looking at him. He doesn't say it like he's irritated though. He actually turns and smiles when he sees me staring at him. He has a nice smile. Straight white teeth. Keon is fucking beautiful. I can't stop looking at him. I'm trying not to look too gay.

 

 

"I can't believe it's you," I tell him.

 

 

Keon has these dimples when he smiles. It's the cutest fucking thing. His dimples get really deep.

 

 

"I'm the same Fatty."


"You went from not being able to get any girls to probably being able to get any girl you want," I realize, "You are a panty melter man..."

 

"Stop..."


"Sorry that did sound gay, didn't it?" I ask.

 

 

"You know I'm not close-minded like that," he tells me, "I always knew you were different. I don't mind it. Be who you are. You just embarrassing me, that's it. I still feel like the fat kid that couldn't get pussy."


"Now you're a gangster."


He gets quiet.

 

 

"Something like that."


"How long you been running with my brother?"


"It happened shortly after you left. The blood gangs and the Crip gangs went to war. They called it the Fruit Town War. It was...bloody. Man. You have no idea. My whole family got killed in it. My dad died. My brothers. Everyone."


"Damn. I'm sorry to hear that."


"The Fruit town war had turned LA into a third world country worst then Afghanistan. Your mother helped to stop the Fruit town war. She opened the Marchioness for a day and had local religious leaders break bread with the leaders of the rival gangs. It helped that your brother just so happened to be one of those leaders."


"Joyous is that important now huh?"


"Joyous runs these hoods. Out of respect for your grandmother he stopped the Fruit Town war. He kept the peace."


"By being a gang banger?"


"Sometimes we don't have a choice."


"Big Mama showed us a different way," I state.

 

"Not everyone is like your Big Mama. Some people have to take respect. Joyous did that. The Fruit Town War ended. Ever since then I been riding with him."

"You can do so much more man."


He shakes his head, "No I really can't. You don't know me anymore Skinny. I'm a whole different person."


I get quiet. I can tell he's getting upset. He's right. I don't know Keon. The old Keon I knew was a fat boy who followed me around making jokes. He couldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight. Now he was this tattooed, sexy, panty-melting gangster who looked like he would kill someone for looking at him the wrong way.

 

I stop looking at him before he thinks I'm weird and start looking out the windows.

 

The streets are filthy. Garbage is everywhere. I feel so uncomfortable.

 

 

"We've been driving around for an hour. I don't understand how we can't find her," I state.

"There's one other place she might be..."


"Let's go."


Keon sighs a little bit, "It's not safe, Skinny."


"Keon. I'm not Skinny anymore. I'm Joshua. And I need to find my sister," I explain to him, "You told me you would help me find her, didn't you."


Keon sighs. I can tell he is hesitating.

 

We drive to the other side of town. I don't recognize anything out here really.

 

We pull up to a shady looking area. Prostitutes tap on the glass. It's pitch black on the street. There are no street lights. These gangster looking dudes are standing off to the side of the street. I don't know what they are doing. They are just hanging out as if they have nothing better to do. It's the middle of the night now though.

 

 

"Yo," Keon tells me, "Stay in here."


I wonder if he can tell that I feel uncomfortable. I grew up here but I haven't been back for so long. This wasn't exactly a tourist attraction. I see the strange looks of gangsters and hoodlums around us. I can feel the tension in the air.

"I can come," I tell Keon.

 

 

"I rather you not. If something happens to you, Joyous will kill me. I'm not talking a figure of speech other. I'll be dead," Keon lets me know.

 

 

That's when Keon digs in the seat and pulls out a gun. I stop breathing when I see him take it. He notices my expression and quickly opens his jacket to tuck it away so that I don't get too nervous. Then Keon quickly gets out the car.


The longer Keon is gone the more nervous I get in the car. My heart is beating. It's beating slow. I watch these shady dudes. They start heading to the car.

 

Fuck.

 

My heart races.

 

 

They knock on the window. I don't know if I should lower the window or not. There are a few knocks on the window though. Then I see one of the boys. He pulls something out!


It's a gun!


My heart races and I lower the window just a little bit. I have no other option. Keon took his keys with him. I couldn't drive away if I wanted to.

 

 

"You Piru?" he asks me.

 

 

"I don't know what you talking about?"


That's when I see they are dressed in blue. I realize this is some sort of gang situation even without understanding it. My heart is beating faster and faster. Two other guys pull up to the car at that moment. They are asking the first guy questions. The first guy is holding fast to his gun. My heart is racing faster and faster.

 

What the hell was I getting myself into?


Finally, they stop talking to one another...

 

"Get out the car, youngin'," he orders me.

 

"My friend is about to be back any minute now."


"Get the fuck out the car, youngin'," he tells me.

 

 

This time he means it. This time he points the gun right at the glass window. I don't have a choice. I get out of the car. The three boys dressed in Blue are young. They have to be in their early 20s or something. The look on their faces tells me that this shit is serious.

I'm outside of the car. The three men start staring at me, "That's a Piru car."


"I don't know what you're talking about."


"Blood. Piru. You Piru, or not cuz?"


I'm so confused.

 

 

I shake my head, "No. No I'm not."


"Walk."


"Where?"


"Just fucking walk cuz."



My forehead is sweating. I try to keep my cool though. I think about refusing them but I see how itchy the one boy is. He looks like he is high or something. He's not in his right mind. The other two either don't notice or don't seem to care. The one who is itching has the gun in his hand. He's also making most of the orders.

They march me down the street into a dark alley.

 

 

"You want money?" they ask me.

 

"Naw. I'm...good. I'm..."


I get a text at that moment.

 

 

The one boy offers me his hand. I hand the boy my phone. He reads my text message out loud, "Look like some bitch name Marcela wants you to know she's leaving the hospital and going to a hotel. She wants to know if you want anything before the night is over. You want something?"


I shake my head.

They laugh.

 

"He don't want nothing. Can I have this phone?" the other boy says.

 

"Take it," I respond.

 

 

"See I like that shit," the boy with the itchy fingers says.

"AK, we found us a gracious rich boy," the other boy says.

 

They laugh again as though something is really funny.


"How gracious?" the one named AK asks, "You got some money on you?"


I pull out my wallet and hand it to him, "Take it all."


"I don't want your wallet. I want cash."


"I got about 300 in there right now," I state.

 

I hand him it all. He looks at me. He looks me up and down as though sizing me up or something.

 

"I want that suit," he tells me.

 

 

I hesitate, "Now..."


"Take it off..."


"What?"


"Take it off..."

 

 

He taps his gun on my lapel. My heart is racing. I can't help but to take it off.

"That's a nice suit nigga," one of them tells me, "You some type of lawyer or somethin'?"


I shake my head.

 

 

"He's getting shy now..." AK tells his boys.

 

 

There is more laughter. I'm in an alley. As I take off the suit and hand it to him, I realize he wants my shoes as well. I'm standing there in nothing but my underwear soon and a wife beater. I'm trying not to step on broken glasses.

 

 

After I give them the suit they just stand there for a second. They look me up and down. One of the boys whose name I don't know walks up to AK and whispers something in his ear.

 

 

"My boy says you got a little bit of a lisp..."


"What does that mean?" I ask.

 

 

"You get down?"


I hesitate at that moment.

 

 

"What?"


"You get down or what?" he asks me.

 

He's asking me if I'm gay. I feel him take a step closer to me. The other boy is doing the same. He bites down on my lip a little bit. They approach me in the weirdest sexual way. I watch as AK grabs his dick at that moment. He grabs it through his baggy jeans and holds it for a minute. He squeezes it continuously.

 

"No..." I respond.

"I think you lying," he tells me, "I can make you gay if you want. I can give you this dick. You'd be gay. I promise you. You'd be a sissy for this dick."


"He got a fat ass," the other boy says.

 

AK nods, "Yo turn around. Let me see if you really got a fat ass."


I turn to the alley.

I think about running.

 

"Don't even try it," AK says, "I got good aim."

 

The other boy walks over to me, "Just be cool."


He grabs on my ass.

 

"It's big ain't it?" AK asks his friend.

"It feels good."

 

AK walks over to me. He passes his hand over my ass, "Just be cool. Just be cool..."


He feels up my butt, slowly making sure that he feels every part of it. At that moment one of the boys pulls his dick out. AK pulls his dick out next. Then slowly they pull my dick out. I'm confused by it.


"You going to rape me man?" I ask him, "Is that it? You going to rape me?"


There is a silence at that moment. I don't think they really thought about the idea behind what they were about to do. The other two boys stare at AK. AK looks back at them.

 

 

"If you so scared then why your dick hard?" AK asks me.

 

 

I look down.

 

I don't even realize it. I'm hard. I don't know why this is turning me on right now. I watch as AK does something that I don't expect. He grabs my dick in his hand. His friend watches at that moment. AK begins to jerk me off, pulling my dick out of my boxer hole. He slowly starts pulling it, teasing it and fingering the hole until precum comes out. The thick gooey precum starts to make sticky noises between his fingers.

 

 

"Damn bro..." the other boy says.

"Keep lookout," AK tells his friends."

 

"I want some," the one who pulled his dick out says.

"I said keep lookout," AK tells me.

 

 

His boys follow AK's lead even though AK seems like he might be the youngest out of them. He is young but very muscular. I notice when he opens his shirt. His body doesn't match his baby face. He realizes I'm shocked when I see it too.

 

"You gonna rob me and then rape me?" I ask.

 

 

"This ain't rape. This is an opportunity," he asks me, "You can earn this suit back if you want it."


"For what?"


"Give me some ass..."


"No."


"I can take it if I want it," AK tells me.

 

 

"That's rape. You said you weren't raping me."


"Fine. Then what will you let me do," AK says.

 

"Nothing."


"Let me eat your ass."


"What?"


"Let me just eat it out..." he tells me.

 

 

"No."


He walks over. He places his hand on my butt. He squeezes it for a moment. I don't remove it. His gun is close. It's still close. He squeezes harder and harder. Then he drops to his knees even though I said no. He turns me around and he spreads my ass cheeks. Within a matter of seconds his tongue is in my ass cheeks. He's eating me out, licking me and slapping my ass furiously as he tastes me. I can feel the hunger in his tongue and he slathers up and down.

 

I grab onto the fence that he has me pushed up again. One of his friends is keeping looking but the other one who seemed to be wanting to join in has taken out his dick again. He's standing off to the side jerking off as he watches us.

 

 

I moan. I can't help it.

"Fuck..."


I am panting. It feels so good. AK might have a baby face but he definitely was no baby. As he eats me out I can feel my body collapsing underneath him.


"You got me so horny," he says as he climbs back up. He presses up against me. His dick is pressed up against my hole.


"I said no."


"I want it. You trying to say you don't think I'm sexy."


"You just robbed me."


"But it turned you on," he tells me.

I feel him pressing the shaft of his gun on my ass cheeks. He slides it up and down slowly. I can feel the cold metal against my warm body. I shiver. He continues to do it. He licks me as he does it. He licks the back of my neck. I am panting feeling his muscular arms and abs up against my back. I pant over and over and over.

 

 

"Damn..."


"Let me fuck you," he tells me.

 

 

"Naw," I state.

 

 

"I'm not taking no for an answer," AK tells me getting aggressive a little bit, "I told you I want you."


"You going to rape me?" I ask him, "Because that's the only way you're going to fuck me right now.

I turn to him at that moment. He looks at me. He squints.

 

 

"No. I'm not," he tells me.

Just at that moment AK's boy who was doing lookout stops.

 

 

"Someone's coming!" AK's boy says.

 

 

"Fuck."


Just at that moment shots break out. A car pulls up and the boys start running. As they run away I get one look at AK. I swear he offers me his hand as though he wants me to run away with him. He's OFFERING me his fucking hand.

 

I don't take it.

 

The car comes out and I realize that it's none other than Keon.

 

 

~

 

 

 

We end up at Keon's apartment on the other side of town. He's pacing back and forth at that moment. I realize that he isn't alone. Jamila is with him.

 

 

"Jamila...Jamila..."


"No point," Keon tells me when we get back to the house, "She's too high."


Jamila has passed out. She's laying on Keon's couch. I look around his house. It's pretty decent for the area. He has some interesting art work on the walls. Old school art work. Art work from another era. An era that I didn't know but I've heard of so many times.

 

 

"Are you OK?" he tells me, "Did they..."


"Did they what?"


Keon looks at me. When he saved me my underwear was dripping wet. AK had precum all over the bottom of my leg. I knew Keon saw all of those things when he picked me up in the car. He hadn't said anything though. Now he was mad. He had been pacing back and forth the entire time.

 

"Did they...take you?" Keon asks.

 

 

"You're wondering if they raped me," I state.

 

"A lot of these dudes fresh out of prison," Keon explains to me, "They still used to that prison mentality. So yes. I'm concerned. Did they rape you?"


"Not...exactly."

I don't know how else to say it, besides not exactly.

 

"Who was it?" Keon asks.

 

 

"What?"


"Who fucking did this to you? Did you get a name?"


AK. I knew it was AK but the look on Keon's face right now said that he was more than pissed. I hesitate to tell him the name. AK did rob me. He did try at least to force himself on me. But there was more to it.

"I... kind of liked it," I admit to Keon.

 

"What?"


"I kind of liked it. When AK did that..."


"AK? Fuck..."


Keon sits down at that moment. The name AK must be someone important. I can tell by the look on his face.

 

"Whose AK?"


"His brother is the leader of the Crips gang. Damn. If it was anyone else, we could have fixed this somehow...damn. This is bad. This is really really fucking bad man."

 

 

"It's not that serious."



"You have no idea what just happened," he tells me, "Do you? AK just broke the treaty. He attacked Joyous."


"He didn't attack Joyous. He attacked me."


"You ARE Joyous. You know how your brother is about family. You have no idea what just got started..."

 

Within a matter of seconds Keon walks over to his closet. He pulls out a suitcase. It's all guns at that moment. That's when I hear cars coming up. I walk to his window and look outside of the window. It's not 1 or two cars. I count 20. It's the middle of the fucking night. I'm horrified. It's like the goddam National Guard is pulling up to this apartment.

 

 

"You told my brother?" I ask Keon.

 

"I had no choice..." Keon explains.

 

 

"What did you just start?"


"I'm pretty sure the Fruit Town War just started over..."

 

 

To read the next chapter in advance go to www.crushedcrown.com