All I had to do was let them in. But letting them in… it would change the trajectory of my life. If Meech was dead or in jail, everything about life as I knew it would change. And well… I wasn’t really ready to face the reality of what it meant to have the Christ brothers on my doorstep at three in the morning.
“Sereia,” said Zeke with a sigh.
Swallowing, I finally stepped forward and undid the chain lock and then untwisted the other locks. It took me a few seconds, but eventually, I opened the door. Not too wide. Just enough to peek my head through, to size them up.
Exodus, standing at over six feet, stepped forward and looked down at me. “Can we come in?”
I shifted my eyes away from his browns and put them on Zeke. “Where my brother?”
“You let us in, we will tell you,” said Exodus.
I watched as Zeke dragged his hand down over his face, visibly stressed. The other brother, Kiss, stood resting against the wall behind them with his hands clasped in front of him, staring at me with dipped brows. There was something behind his eyes that would sit with me for a long time.
Swallowing, I stepped aside, opening the door fully so they could walk inside. I wrapped my arms around myself and stood against the back wall, watching, waiting for them to pile in. There were four Christ brothers, but tonight only three of them stood in my living room. What were they doing here? Things felt weirdly out of place. Although Meech and Zeke were close, they never kicked it here. Zeke only came through in passing anddidn't spend no more than five minutes here. The other two? I barely ever saw them. They were widely known in Brickhaven, but they were rarely ever seen.
“What?” I asked, shifting my eyes between them. “Ezekiel,” I stressed, centering my eyes on him.
Zeke ran his hand over the top of his head before stepping forward. “Meech?—”
Before he could say anything, Exodus put his arm in front of him, stopping him. “Sit down.”
Shaking my head, I tightened my arms around my body. “Just say what you gotta say.”
Exodus nodded and stuffed his hands into the pockets of the black hoodie he wore. “Meech got shot.”
My stomach dropped and I bit down on the side of my lip. With so much force that I drew blood. “Okay… so… my brother dead. You couldn’t just say that?”
I wasn’t surprised.
Why else would they be here? Earlier, I was overthinking, maybe they were here to do some harm to me but that was just overthinking and a bit of denial. I knew what it was the first time I looked out of that peephole and saw them.
Kiss took a deep breath and shook his head. Exodus glanced over at him, before putting his eyes back on me. He shook his head. “Nah baby girl. He’s—they?—”
“Just say it,” I snapped, giving him a nasty look. “Just say my brother dead.”
I noticed Exodus’s jaw clenched before he said, “We don’t know if he’s dead.”
I pulled my lips into my mouth, nodded and started to pace, tightening my arms around my body.
“Where is he?” I asked.
“Wildermere. They had to take him to Hope General.”
The wheels in my mind got to turning as I thought about where he was. Across the bridge. In Wildermere. While I stood here, all the way in Brickhaven, without a whip.
The questions running through my mind must’ve been clear on my face because not even two minutes later, Exodus said, “Get dressed—I’ll take you.”
About ten minutes later,I was riding in the backseat of Exodus’s Wagoneer, sitting next to Zeke, biting on my thumbnail, a nervous mess.
Meech was shot.
The chances of him being okay were slim to none. Something in my spirit told me he was dead and that I would never see my brother alive again. It was an uneasy feeling. One that made me nauseous.
I stopped biting on my nail, leaned my head back against the seat and stared out of the window as we sped down the freeway. From where we were, I could see the bridge. It was some ways away. My vision from here, hazy, but I saw it. The lights illuminating it, drew me in. I hadn’t crossed the bridge over into Wildermere since I was a kid. It was a rare occasion. Momma had just gotten her taxes back, so she had a little money to spend. We went to the mall, Battleground Play Den, and out to eat. It was a great day. That was a core memory for me. Whenever I thought about Wildermere, I thought about that day. Now when I thought about it, I’d think of Meech.
I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath and tried to let the sound of Tupac playing at a low-level ease my thoughts.
About twenty, thirty minutes later, we were pulling up in front of Hope General. My chest tightened as the truck came toa halt in front of the emergency room doors. I swallowed, looked over at the building, noticing the hustle and bustle going in inside and I wondered if all of the commotion was about Meech.
