Down Chick

Chapter Five: Memory Lane

             No racial offense intended by this. I'm just portraying what I've been witness to. I'm from Flint, Michigan. Whenever I leave the city and go to other cities like East Lansing and such then they ask questions about the city that I'm from. Questions like: "Is it true that...?" "How can you stand living there?" etc... On the otherhand people who live in places near Flint, such as Grand Blanc, Davison, Flushing, etc some of the people there behave in the same manner. Not all of them, but some of them. So no offense intended towards anyone. Understood? 

                                            Chapter Five: Memory Lane

“Put me down,” I demanded.

I was beyond calm. I was terrified and ready to roll out. Everyone knew that between Angel and them North end nigga, lives would be lost if they kept this going for too long. I looked up for the first time since Angel had pulled me away and saw that it was an all-out brawl. Dark skinned dude’s crew and Angel’s crew was fighting.  Fists were flying and cuss words were being spat. Miguel and Ale had found their way into the middle of it all. I could practically taste the impending disaster.

“Tio!” I shouted, as Angel set my feet back down on the ground. He kept one arm around me and looked out indifferently at the riot. He didn’t care if this turned into something else. He was too used to this scene. He knew the dangers and obviously didn’t care.

“You’re not going back out there, it’s too dangerous,” Angel commented.

I turned my head towards him and stared at him in disbelief. “No, you’re too dangerous to be around!” I snapped, pulling away from him.

“Tio! Miguel! Ale! Let’s go!” I shouted.

When they continued fighting, I sighed. The cops would be here soon. That would send them scattering and I knew it. This was too close to downtown and the remaining white people would be calling the cops and scattering. I shook my head. All of this just because some ignorant nigga didn’t know how to talk to people.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean, Keish?” Angel asked.

I ignored him for a good three minutes watching Tio and then in desperation. I didn’t want anything happening to any of the three of them. My shouting for them came to a halt when Angel grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. He looked down at me, one hand came up to grasp my chin and hold my face in place.

“Answer me,” he ordered, reminding me of the night that I had first met him.

Just like then his voice held a whiplash of command and power. Unlike then, I didn’t tremble in fear. I wasn’t scared, but I was worried. Him touching me like this holding me like this was being viewed by the wider public eye. I didn’t need people to get the wrong idea. To start thinking that there was anything going on between Angel and me. If they started thinking that then people would start thinking that they could come after me to get to him.

Hell.

“Death follows you,” was all that I said.

He looked down at me and his eyes studied the depths of mine.  Then, he rubbed his thumb over my bottom lip. His gaze was intense and he didn’t say anything for a moment. We both stood there with him staring at me with that look in his eyes. The look in his eyes held me captivated in that moment, his intensity and intent was clear in his gaze. It left me feeling as though I were trapped in his gaze. Yet, I could feel the tension between us. His eyes revealed a shard of pain and then just as quickly it was gone.

I wondered about his pain. What was it like for him to deal with the fact that he was a target that caused death simply by being in another's presence? I'd never understand him. He knew that what he did was dangerous, yet he made no move to stop what he was doing. He walked around like he didn't have any worries.