Complicated 3

by Chenell Parker

  “Y’all two had better learn how to answer the phone. We have an emergency,” Sara said as Zyrian moved aside and let them come in.

  “What’s wrong grandma?” Rylee asked. Sara looked over at Amber for her to speak up.

  “Derrick said that everybody has been trying to call y’all. Snake got shot, and they’re all at the hospital. We came over to watch the babies so y’all can go see what’s going on,” Amber said.

  “Damn! Is he dead?” Zyrian asked the first question that came to his mind.

  “No, but Derrick said that it’s bad,” Amber replied.

  Zyrian didn’t need to hear anything else. He raced up the steps and headed straight to the shower. Rylee turned on the TV and made sure that her family was comfortable before she went upstairs behind him. She checked on the babies first right before she entered their bedroom. Zyrian was still in the shower, so she stripped out of her robe and got in there with him.

  “You okay?” She asked as she squeezed some of her liquid soap onto a towel. She started washing her husband’s back while the warm water washed away his anxiety.

  “Yeah. This shit just reminds me of when my brother got killed. I hope that nigga pulls through. That’s gon’ kill my auntie if he don’t. Snake ain’t no saint, but he’s still family. I just don’t want to go through that again,” Zyrian replied.

  “I understand baby. You know I went through the same thing when my sister got killed,” Rylee replied. She and Zyrian continued to shower in silence. Once they were done, they got dressed quickly and headed back downstairs. After making sure that her family had the baby monitors, Rylee and Zyrian drove to University Hospital to see about Snake. Derrick had called and said that he was in surgery, and they were praying that he pulled through. Snake had been hit four times, but the most critical wound was in his chest. He’d lost a lot of blood, so they were now hoping for a miracle.

  “Who’s at home with the twins?” Glenda asked as soon as Rylee and Zyrian walked up. She and her husband were sitting with Snake’s mother trying to console her. She looked like she was torn up inside and Rylee understood that feeling all too well.

  “Amber is there with my auntie and grandmother,” Rylee replied.

  The waiting room was packed, so she and Zyrian greeted everyone before they sat down next to Grim and Buck. Derrick was in a chair by the window with his mother who seemed to be just as upset.

  “What the fuck happened?” Zyrian whispered to his cousins.

  “Man, it’s some shady shit going on. I don’t want to talk about it right now. We’ll talk once we leave from here. I just need to make sure that my brother is alright,” Grim answered.

  They all sat around the waiting room quietly for over an hour without anyone hearing any news about Snake. Rylee noticed that China wasn’t there, but she never got a chance to inquire about where she was. When the doctor came out, Grim and Buck were on their feet and walking over to him. They both had hopeful looks on their faces and Rylee prayed that they heard something good.

  “I’m guessing that y’all are here for Steven Hunter,” the doctor said while looking around at all of the people who were waiting. That was Rylee’s first time ever hearing someone call Snake by his real name.

  “Yes, I’m his uncle, and this is his mother,” Zach spoke up.

  “Okay, well Mr. Hunter lost a lot of blood, but we were able to remove the bullets that didn’t go straight through. He’ll probably be here for a few days, but he should be just fine,” the doctor smiled relieving them all.

  “Thank God,” his mother yelled as she clasped her hands together like she was praying.

  Everyone was thanking the doctor for the good news when China and Kirk walked in. She looked like she’d been crying as well, but Rylee was still wondering where she had been. Once the doctor left, Buck and Grim set their sights on their sister. She couldn’t even look them in the face, but she really didn’t have a choice. China’s heart started beating a mile a minute when Grim walked up to her. Rylee expected him to embrace his little sister, but he raised his hand and slapped the shit out of her instead.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you boy?” Zach yelled as he grabbed his nephew around his neck. His sister had been a single mother for years, and he stepped up and acted as a surrogate father to her sons. They gave him hell, but he stayed on them as much as he possibly could.

  “Where’s your truck China?” Buck asked as he walked up on her. She was holding her stinging face as tears continued to pour from her eyes.

  “Somebody stole it,” China answered as she looked down at the ground and continued to cry.

  “Bitch, stop lying. I saw that nigga that me and Snake had a fight with in the passenger seat. You know that nigga and you better start talking,” Grim yelled as he tried to pull away from his uncle.

  “I don’t know who you’re talking about. I reported my truck stolen,” China continued to repeat.

  “What’s going on? What are they talking about China?” Their mother asked.

  China refused to look up at anyone and was practically admitting her guilt. She didn’t actually do anything, and she really didn’t know what was going on. Mekhi called her and told her that something serious had popped off and that she needed to report her truck stolen. She laughed it off at first until he told her what Big Moe had done. She was scared out of her mind, but she called the police and did what he said. She knew that her brothers wouldn’t buy her story, but it was worth a try.

  “On God China, you got one minute to tell the truth, or I’m bout to beat your ass in this hospital,” Buck threatened.

  “I swear I don’t know what happened,” China answered.

  “Well who was driving your truck?” Grim questioned.

  China paused for a while, but she shocked the hell out of everybody with her answer.

  “Mekhi,” she mumbled while looking over at Kirk.

  “Mekhi!” Buck yelled as he snatched her up by her shirt. “You fucking Mekhi?”

  Rylee and Zyrian stood there speechless, but they still didn’t know what was going on.

  “Yeah, she’s been dealing with him for a few months, but she didn’t think I knew,” Kirk spoke up when his girlfriend wouldn’t.

  “I can’t believe this shit,” Buck said as he pushed his sister into a nearby wall.

  They were obviously being too loud because the hospital’s security was coming their way soon after. Since they wouldn’t be able to see Snake until the following day, Zach suggested that that they all go home and take turns coming back the following day. Buck and Grim hung around for a while replaying everything that happened to Zyrian and Rylee. Grim was heated, and he was out for blood. He wanted Mekhi, but not more than he wanted Big Moe. He’d almost lost his brother, and somebody was going to pay for it. He’d already washed his hands with China, and he knew that Snake would do the same. She knew how they felt about Mekhi, and she went and messed with him anyway. She was just stupid on so many levels.

  “That nigga Mekhi fucked just about every female in New Orleans. What he be telling them hoes like that?” Zyrian inquired as he and Rylee drove back home. He wanted to say that he was shocked about what happened, but nothing seemed to surprise him anymore.

  “He’s like a bad rash that nobody can get rid of. I’m so tired of hearing his name all the time. He’s always in the middle of somebody else’s drama. I’m so happy that I don’t have to deal with that no more,” Rylee replied.

  “See, you should be happy that I took you from that nigga,” Zyrian joked as he blew a kiss at her.

  “I sure am,” Rylee replied as she blew a kiss at him in return.

  “Damn,” Zyrian said when he looked at his wife’s lips. “I should have asked my mama to come get the twins while she was out already.”

  “No Zyrian, I need a break,” Rylee yawned.

  “Ain’t no such thing as a break. You remember what the judge said when we got married. I lead, and you follow. That means following me to the bedroom whene
ver I want it,” he said seriously. Rylee was too tired to answer him, so she let him have that one. She reclined her seat back and closed her eyes while he drove them home.

  Chapter 25

  Two weeks had passed since Snake was shot. He stayed in the hospital for a little over a week before he was released to go home. Zyrian, Rylee, and his entire family took turns visiting him and making sure that he was straight. April stayed with him every night until he was released and he appreciated her for that.

  “How you feeling man?” Zyrian asked Snake when he walked into his auntie’s house. Buck, Grim, and Snake were all sitting around their mother’s house watching TV when he went over. Snake had been staying there while he was recovering.

  “I’m good man. That pain medicine got me feeling right,” Snake replied with a goofy smile plastered on his face.

  “You took four bullets man. I’m sure you need all the pain medicine you can get.”

  “Man, I gotta stop shooting people. I didn’t know I was making people feel that kind of pain. That shit hurt,” Snake said making his cousin and brothers laugh.

  “What about Big Moe? You not gon’ shoot him?” Grim chuckled.

  “I don’t want to shoot that nigga. I want to burn his ass alive,” Snake frowned.

  “And Mekhi’s punk ass gon get dealt with too,” Grim replied.

  “Fuck Mekhi ole scary ass. He been trying to plead his case, but I ain’t got nothing for him,” Buck spoke up.

  Mekhi had been calling him like crazy trying to explain what really happened. Buck heard him out the first time just to see what he was going to say. He stopped answering for him after that, but that didn’t stop him from calling. He was leaving voice mails and text messages like a lovesick bitch. Of course, he blamed everything on Big Moe, but that was what Buck expected him to do.

  “Mekhi ain’t have nothing to do with it. He ain’t even bout that life. Big Moe dragged him in it, but he gotta get it too. That’s just how shit works. I might play with him for a lil while before I do him in, though,” Grim laughed.

  “April said that nigga Moe hang out at this lil pool hall in the east. He might change up his routine for a while, but it won’t be hard to catch up with him. That nigga love the hood too much to lay low for too long,” Snake said.

  “What’s going on with China?” Zyrian asked.

  “Fuck China!” Snake snapped. “That’s my sister, and I love her, but I can’t fuck with her. She can’t be trusted. She turned on Zyra for Brandy and look at how that played out. She’s a hater, and I can’t have that around me.”

  A few days after China reported her truck stolen, the police found it in perfect condition on a deserted road with the keys still in the ignition. Her story was a bunch of bullshit, and a blind man could see that. Nobody in the family was speaking to her, and Mekhi blocked her from calling him.

  “You just worry about getting well. I’ll handle Big Moe and everything else,” Grim told his brother. He didn’t tell him, but he already had a plan in motion. April had been keeping up with Moe’s whereabouts, and Grim planned to make him a distant memory very soon.

  “Nigga you thought you was out of here when them bullets hit you, huh?” Zyrian joked with his cousin.

  “Boy, I was seeing the white light and everything. I was just waiting for the angels to start singing and come for me,” Snake said seriously.

  “Nigga you got more bodies on your hands than the state of Texas lethal injection. The fuck made you think you was going to heaven,” Zyrian said as he fell out laughing.

  “Man, fuck you. I was saying my prayers and asking for forgiveness. I was walking through them pearly gates by any means necessary,” Snake laughed with him.

  Since Rylee and the twins were out shopping with Zyra and his mama, Zyrian spent the day with his cousins until his family made it back home.

  ***

  Big Moe had been cooped up inside of his one bedroom apartment for an entire month, and he was about to lose his mind. He hadn’t heard anything about Snake since he shot him, but he wasn’t worried. They didn’t run in the same circles or hang around the same people. The nigga wasn’t dead so he should have been happy for that much. Mekhi’s ole punk ass seemed to have dropped off of the face of the earth. Once they left China’s trunk on the side of the road, he hadn’t heard a peep from him since then. He tried to call him, but the nigga never answered. Big Moe knew that Mekhi wasn’t built for his kind of lifestyle, so there was no love lost.

  “So what’s up? You coming home with me tonight or what?” He asked the sexy red bone that he’d been kicking it with all night. She was the first thing that caught his eye the moment he walked into the pool hall. He asked around before he approached her and a few locals said that she had been in there just about every day. They said that she was always alone and never gave any of the men who flirted the time of day. Big Moe felt special because she seemed to be really into him.

  “How are we going to get there? You said you got a ride here with a friend, and I don’t have a car either,” The woman replied.

  “I never said that I don’t have a car. I just don’t like to drive after I’ve been drinking,” Big Moe said. He really didn’t have a car, but he didn’t want to scare her off.

  “Okay, so how am I gonna come home with you?” She asked him.

  “I can call us a cab. And don’t worry, I’ll get you home safely whenever you’re ready to go,” he promised.

  He smiled inside when he saw that she was giving it some thought. He was confident that he was going to have some company in his bed for the night. That was until she opened her mouth to speak.

  “I don’t think so. Maybe next time,” she said crushing his dreams. He was already fantasizing about what he wanted to do to her, and she was turning him down. Big Moe wasn’t opposed to begging, and he wasn’t giving up that easily.

  “I thought we were feeling each other. Don’t tell me you’re scared. I promise that I won’t do nothing to you that you don’t want me to do,” he said while kissing her neck.

  “Who said that we were going to do anything?” She blushed.

  “Trust me, you gon’ be begging for it when I finish with you,” he bragged.

  “Damn, well let me call my sister and tell her that I won’t be needing a ride,” she smiled.

  “Cool, let me call a cab and I’ll meet you outside,” Big Moe replied.

  He licked his big dry lips in appreciation as he watched her walk away. His first day out had proven to be a very good one. He was happy that he cleaned up his small apartment before he left. He wouldn’t want his new friend seeing the way that he really lived.

  “Damn, I didn’t even ask the bitch for her name,” Big Moe mumbled to himself once he got off of the phone from calling his cab.

  He said his goodbyes to a few of the regulars before he made his way outside. The cool breezed greeted his skin as soon as he opened the door. After lighting a cigarette, Big Moe waited patiently for his companion for the night to join him. He was lost in his thoughts for a while until the roaring of a motorcycle grabbed his attention. He watched the loud piece of machinery as it came closer to where he was with two men riding on it. Big Moe’s eye bulged when he saw one of the men point a gun directly at him. His first thought was to run, but his legs wouldn’t budge. Fear had him paralyzed as the hot led from the gun ripped through various parts of his body. He hit the ground hard as the bike sped away as fast as it came. A few people ran from the pool hall to offer assistance, but it was all a blur to him. Their voices sounded muffled as he drifted away from this life and on to another one.

  “He doesn’t have a pulse,” was the last thing that Big Moe heard before his life slipped away from him right there on the stained concrete.

  ***

  “You sure nobody saw you leaving?” Grim asked his cousin Felicia.

  “No, I left out of the back door right after I called you,” she replied.

  “Alright, get in your car so we can get the fuck aw
ay from here,” Zyrian instructed.

  Grim was dead ass serious when he said he was going to deal with Big Moe. April was still in contact with him, and she reported his every move. He was lame as hell for still talking to her after she went against him for Snake anyway. For two weeks straight he and Zyrian had their cousin Felicia going to the pool hall where he hung out in hopes of catching him there. April provided her with a photo, but he hadn’t been in there for a while. When she called them earlier and told them that he was there, Grim was ready to put in work. They hopped on Zyrian’s bike and waited around until it was time. When Felicia told him that Big Moe was on his way out, Zyrian drove while Grim let his gun do the talking for him.

  “Thanks, cuz, I owe you for this,” Grim said to Felicia.

  “You don’t owe me anything. Family over everything else,” Felicia said as she hugged her cousins and left.

  “Let’s go, nigga. I need to make it home to my wife and kids in one piece,” Zyrian said as he put his helmet back on. Grim did the same as they sped away from what was now considered the scene of a crime.

  Chapter 26

  “Why didn’t you stay in the program that the court system put you in Nicole?” Nakia asked her sister as she sat at her bedside.

  “Because I didn’t need it,” Nicole said as she scratched like a stray cat.

  “Yes, you do Nicole. Look at you. You’re barely one hundred pounds and your arms are full of track marks.”

  “Don’t worry about me. You didn’t care about me before so don’t start now.”

  “I’ve always cared about you. You and mama just make some stupid decisions. I’m tired of begging you to let me help you. You let that Banks character get in your head and make you think that he’s all you got. If he cared about you so much, you wouldn’t be in the hospital being treated for an overdose for the fourth time.”

  “It’s not his fault that I’m this way. You wouldn’t understand, and I don’t need you judging me,” Nicole said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.