I kept hope. I knew in my spirit that I wouldn’t die in The Woods. Neither of us would. I was determined to get Meech out too. There was a lot more to the world than just The Woods. Hell, Brickhaven period. I didn’t know where I wanted to go exactly but I knew I wanted to leave. Anywhere in the world would be better than here. I was sure of it.
I might’ve hated my circumstances, but I was grateful for a roof. Sure, it leaked sometimes, but at least I had one. At leastwehad one. After momma died and daddy went to prison, I didn’t know where we would wind up. I was fourteen—Meech was nineteen. He was a corner boy, selling weed for one of the niggas in the hood, barely making ends meet. That didn’t last long though. After everything changed, Meech did too. He went from selling weed for Khaos to making money with the Christ brothers.
He laughed and mushed me in the forehead. “Nah, don’t bring that stankin’ shit out.”
“Shut up, then,” I said with a smile, pushing him in the chest. “Don’t forget to get cheese on my hashbrowns, nigga. I want extra this time, too.”
“I got you. Shoot me a text and remind me. You know my head fucked up.”
Meech’s head was fucked up.
When we were kids, he got into a fight in the yard with this big nigga named Erick. Erick used to run around The Woods tormenting everybody, bullying them, talking shit, just being an overall asshole. He used to fuck with Meech a lot. For the most part, my brother ignored him, paying him dust. But Erick went from talking shit to trying to push him around since Meech was little and scrawny. That didn’t last long. Erick caught Meech on a bad day and despite Erick being taller and bigger, Meech beat the shit out of him. However, at the end of the fight, when Meech was walking away, Erick got up, grabbed him from behind, picked him up and slammed him on the concrete, knocking him out. Everybody thought he was dead. My brother lost so much blood. The paramedics took forever to come, as usual. When they did, they got him on the stretcher and rushed him to Brickhaven Medical Center where he was diagnosed with a massive concussion that could’ve killed him. After that, his memory was never the same. So, I didn’t fault him when he forgot my cheese the last time. It was a blessing that he remembered breakfast at all. Every single time, too.
“Okay. I’ll text you,” I said as Meech slid through the doorway, past me.
I eyed him, fiddling with the black onyx crystal dangling from my neck, my anxiety starting to rise. I should’ve been okay. The prayer? It should have been enough. But my nerves werestarting to get the best of me. Meech was big on protecting me in the physical—I was big on protecting him in the spiritual.
“Meech,” I called out as I reached back to unclasp the necklace from my neck. “Wait.”
He stopped walking and looked over his shoulder at me. “What up?”
“Here,” I said, pushing the crystal towards him.
He looked down at it, his thick eyebrows furrowed, unmoving. With the corners of his mouth turned up in a slight frown, he locked eyes with me. I raised my brows at him and eyed him up and down, silently telling him to take it.
Meech took a deep breath, grabbed the crystal from me and stuffed it into the pocket of his joggers, shaking his head. Once the crystal was tucked safely in his pocket, I extended my hand to him, and we did our usual handshake.Clap, clap, grip.
We said our I love you’s, he walked out and I made sure to lock up when he did.
At some point,I must’ve fallen asleep because before I knew it, I was being jarred awake by a loud banging sound. With a racing heart, I felt around my bed, looking for my phone. Finally grabbing it from underneath my pillow, I hit the unlock button and squinted up at the time. It was three in the morning. Twelve after. Turning over on my back, I dragged my hand over my forehead until I knocked my bonnet off. With my eyes on the ceiling, I listened to Sean and Sabrina upstairs arguing. Shaking my head, I flinched at the sound of another big bang. He was beating her ass again. On cue, one of the six kids they had started to cry.
Taking a deep breath, I turned over on my side and went through my phone, hitting the message icon. I scrolled to Meech’s messages and opened them, tempted to text him, asking where he was. It was twelve after…no, thirteen after three and he should have been home by now. My thumb hovered over the keypad, hesitating. I was supposed to be sleep. I wasn’t supposed to be up worried about him. If I texted him now he’d know I was worried and I wasn’t supposed to be the one who worried. I was the one who prayed and gave it to God whenever he left the house.
“Fuck it,” I mumbled, as my fingers got to moving.
‘???’ was all I sent before I dropped my phone next to me. My eyes went back to the ceiling, listening to Sean call Sabrina all kinds of bitches and ho’s. She cried. She always cried and begged him to stop. But it was as if all of her crying just fueled him to do the opposite because her cries got louder and his voice, scarier. Later, when I saw her in passing, she’d have on a headscarf and a pair of dark tinted shades, hiding bruises and shit everybody in The Woods heard her get.
With a deep breath, I tore my eyes away from the popcorn ceiling and shifted them over to the phone, tempted to call him this time. Not even three minutes had passed since I texted him but so what? I was on edge a little. Usually, he’d be home by now. If not laid out on the couch, at least at the door, unlocking it, getting ready to walk in.
I—
Before a could complete my thought, there was banging on the front door. I shook my head, knowing it had to be Sabrina. She did that sometimes too. If things got too bad between her and Sean, she’d run downstairs to the apartment, looking for shelter. She chose us because Meech had whooped on Sean a few times for putting hands on her, and I always kept what happened to myself. I wasn’t like the majority of the bitches in The Woods.I kept to myself for the most part, only fucking with my cousins. You wouldn’t catch me posted up, gossiping about how Sabrina came to the crib, beat the fuck up, in fear for her life.
I didn’t pass judgement.
Wasn’t my place to. I just hoped for the best where Sabrina was concerned.
I tossed my thin sheet from my body, and sat on side of the bed, getting up. The banging grew louder. More impatient. I shook my head, slid into my thong sandals and headed out of the room. I adjusted my titties in my tank, stood at the door and got on my tiptoes a little to look out of the peephole. When I did, my eyebrows snapped together and I backed away from it. It wasn’t Sabrina. It was the Christ brothers. And the oldest, Exodus, stood in front, eyes centered on the peephole like he knew I was checking it.
What the fuck were they doing here? More specifically… what the fuck washedoing here? At three in the morning? At my door?Ourdoor?
I sucked in a gust of air that I held onto as I wringed my fingers, staring at the big black metal door. I flinched at the sound of another big thud coming from upstairs. With closed eyes, I tilted my head back and finally released the breath I was holding onto.
“Yeah?” I breathed out, with a shaky voice.
There was silence on the other side of the door for what felt like minutes but couldn’t be no more than a couple of seconds.
“Open the door for me real quick,” said one of them.
