Everything happened so quickly as the men stepped into view. I pulled out my gun and shot one of the men in the back of the head before he could fully make it inside. I hit the other man at the same time that he aimed his gun at Dreaux. Within a matter of seconds, more gunfire erupted, and I heard Dreaux roar. Three bodies were on the ground as Belleza limped her way over to Dreaux. He was clutching his side as she held onto her stomach.
Belleza was too focused on Dreaux; she didn’t have time to react when I lit her up with bullets. Adrenaline rushed through me as I watched her body jerk. I stood over her body, watching blood pour from her mouth. Squatting down, I gathered all the saliva I could and spat on her.
“I told you his dick wasn’t worth dying over. You should have listened, bitch.” I put a bullet between her eyes, then rushed over to Dreaux.
I noticed blood on him, but couldn’t find the entry wound. When our eyes locked, he stared at me with an incredulous expression. There was no time for explanations because I had no idea if someone had heard the gunshots or if there were more people on their way inside.
“Baby, where are you hit?”
“My stomach,” he grunted.
I helped him up and allowed him to lean on me. He winced as we walked, but we needed to get out of there as soon as possible.
“Shit!” Dreaux pushed me out of the way and pulled out his gun. I hadn’t noticed the man sitting up with his gun aimed towards me, with shaky hands. I mistakenly assumed they were all dead. Dreaux shot him, then limped over and shot each one of them in the head to make sure they were gone.
“Baby, we’ve got to go!”
Panic began to settle in as I moved close to him. He yelled out in pain, and I couldn’t risk him bleeding out. Dreaux did his best to help me, but his body was growing weak. Once we got a good distance from the building, I helped him sit on the ground and raced down the street to grab the car. I had never moved so fast in my life, but this was a matter of life and death. I lifted him and placed him inside the car as he groaned in pain.
As I drove down the street, I called Justice. He answered on the first ring, and I tried to tell him what was going on without saying too much.
“I can’t say too much, and I don’t have much time. Dreaux’s been shot, and I need you to tell me what to do. Please don’t ask me too many questions because I don’t have any answers right now.”
My heart was thumping so loud, and my ears were ringing. I tried to focus on the road so I wouldn’t draw attention to us. The last thing I needed was for us to get pulled over by the police.
“Where are you?”
I sent him my location since I had no idea where we were.
“I’m gonna send you an address. Get there as fast as you can. If he’s bleeding, apply pressure to the wound. I’ll meet you at the address.”
“Okay.”
Justice disconnected the call as the address came through. I hadn’t even realized there was blood on my hands until I looked down to open the link Justice sent me. I reached into the backseat to grab my favorite pink hoodie that I kept in case it got cold. I kept one hand on the steering wheel while I pressed the hoodie into his chest.
“Baby, I need you to stay with me. I’m only a few minutes away from the location. Keep your eyes open!” I could see Dreaux drifting in and out of consciousness, so I tried everything I could to keep him awake. God must have been on my side because I sped the whole way to my destination. The GPS said 12 minutes, but it jumped to 7 because I was driving so fast. My eyes shifted from the road to Dreaux, and all I could do was pray we made it in time.
When I turned onto the street, I saw Justice standing outside a house, with Truth standing next to him. As soon as I pulled into the driveway, they opened the door to retrieve Dreaux. I saw another gentleman talking to Truth as they all walked inside the house, but I had no idea who he was.
I trailed behind them as they rushed Dreaux inside. They carried him into the basement, but Justice told me I couldn’t go down there. Instead, he led me to a bedroom and handed me a towel and some clothes to change into. When I took a look at myself in the mirror, I saw how disheveled and crazy I appeared. There was blood all over me, including my face.
As I stood in the shower, it felt like an out-of-body experience. My brain was moving a thousand miles a minute, but my body seemed to be moving in slow motion. The waterwashed the blood down the drain, and I couldn’t believe I had taken a life. T lives. This wasn’t some game simulation or virtual reality.
The adrenaline began to wear off, and my body began to crash. My hands were shaking in the shower as the scenes played out inside my mind over and over again. I had no business being there in the first place, so I could only blame myself. There were no regrets when it came to saving Dreaux, but I wasn’t sure how I would move past it.
An hour passed before I emerged from the shower and into the bedroom. I dried off and put on the clothes Justice provided. They were a little too big, but they were comfortable. I headed back downstairs to see if there was an update on Dreaux. My mind wouldn’t even allow me to think about the worst-case scenario because I refused to live in a world without him. He was going to be okay, and we were going to get the happily ever after we deserved.
When I got downstairs, Justice and Truth were in the kitchen talking. The conversation stopped the moment I walked in, but I could tell it was because of their concern.
“Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” Truth asked, walking over to examine me.
“I’m okay. A couple of scratches, but nothing major. How is he?”
“They are still working on him. We should have an update on his condition soon. In the meantime, do you care to explain what the hell you were doing out there? Why would you put yourself in danger when you had no idea what you were getting yourself into?” Truth chastised me like a child, but I understood where he was coming from.
“I don’t know. It was clear that she only came after Dreaux’s family because of me. I thought I could handle her so she would leave them alone once and for all.”
“Do you hear how stupid you sound? You could have been killed,” he hissed. My head dropped in shame because I fucked up and couldn’t even justify my decision.
