Fow.
Then another.
Fow.
The weight of his body rested on Hyphen. She struggled to push him aside, freeing herself. I closed the distance between me and his already dead body.
Fow.
Fow.
Fow.
Fow.
I didn’t stop applying that pressure until the clip was empty.
“Tell Pops I said what’s up.”
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
I’ll doanything necessary for her. So don’t let the necessary occur. –Jay Z
Through swollen eyes, I stared into the darkness. There hadn’t been a time in life I’d felt lower. My body was glued to the mattress, head throbbing from the tears I’d cried.
I’d been depleted of my strength. For the first time in life, I was weak. Susceptible. Vulnerable. Unrecognizable.
“Hyph,” Flocco lowered his body onto the floor, pressing his back against the nightstand.
“Hm?” I choked out, tears blending with the dark sheets on his bed.
I’d cried enough to drench his covers.
“I need you to eat, baby.”
The sound of metal tapping against glass confirmed my suspicions.
More soup.
“Open up.”
I parted my swollen lips. They hurt. So did my gums. My teeth. My nose. My jaws. My eyes. My head. My neck. My back.
“I’m sorry, Hyph.”
I swallowed the soup. What I couldn’t swallow were my tears. I wept. Chest caving, back quivering.
“Don’t cry. Don’t cry, baby. You’re good. You feel me? I got you. No matter what. I got you. Always.”
“I just– I didn’t know.”
“Even if you did, I ain’t tripping on it. That’s my story, not yours. You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“I’m sorry about your mother. I’m sorry about your father.”
I had mother issues of my own. As long as my mother was on drugs, she’d stay away. But, if ever I needed her, she’d be there. But, it didn’t negate the fact that our relationship didn’t exist and she was only a few blocks away. Realizing how blessed I was to still have my mother, I made a conscious decision to actively share my existence with her.
