Because Mom Wasn't Enough

When it's sudden death we fight back

I awoke to a loud pounding in my head. My whole body ached like hell and I could hardly move. I reached up to caress my aching head and felt a warm liquid on the side of my face. I opened my eyes but couldn't see anything until my eyes started to adjust to the lack of light. I squinted at my hand in the dark. I could only assume it was blood.

I heard a door slam and laid my head back down and shut my eyes, pretending I was still unconscious. But after that I heard nothing; no more movement no footsteps. It must have been my mom leaving.

I slowly stood up, taking account of which parts of me were the most injured. My head was still pounding, and one of my legs was bad, I probably twisted my ankle in the fight. And my shoulder was sore, but it wasn't anything worse than I could handle. The rest of me felt basically dead; it felt like I had been repeatedly kicked in my stomach, which I wouldn't doubt actually happened.

I looked around the room I was in and identified it as my old room. I found the light switch and flicked it on. The room was untouched from when I left, except for the puddle of blood that just formed on the floor from my injuries. I turned and face my mirror. Honestly I'm surprised it didn't break, I looked awful. My light brown hair looked like I had dyed it red, and I looked like a Dalmatian with all these bruises and cuts. I heard a screech and looked out my window to see my mom's car speeding away from the house. The clock said twelve o'clock. I had only been here for an hour.

I changed my cloths and tried to open the door, but it was stuck. She must have blocked it from the outside. Crap.

I looked towards the window again and unlocked it. I slid it up and knocked out the screen. It fell two stories, twenty feet, which is exactly what I was about to do. I swung my feet over and held onto the edge, trying to get my feet as low as possible before I dropped. I looked down, the ground still looked so far away. I counted to three. 1...2...3! And I let go. I slammed into the ground and yelped in pain. My twisted ankle felt like it was on fire. But I forced myself to get up and I started walking back towards the warehouse. It was probably two miles from here which isn't too far, except when you have to walk there alone, at night, after just getting beat half to death by your mother. I started limping down the sidewalk as fast as I could, but even after just a few minutes of walking, I could tell this was never going to work.

There was one shortcut I knew about to get there, but I would have to go through Bulldog territory, which was now taken over by another gang. I had no choice now, I had to get somewhere safe. Maybe it was an oxymoron to go through the most dangerous part of the city to get there, but I trusted Cali, and hey, maybe they would let me get through without killing me.

I turned down the alleyway which would take me there, and I walked right bye the blood splatter on the wall. I felt chills run up my spine. I knew they were watching me; they always had this area under surveillance. I heard footsteps behind me and I whipped around, but no one was there. I turned back around and my face was right in someone's chest. I gasped as their hand clamped over my mouth and I was shoved against the wall. I tried to push them away but they pinned my arms above my head. Only then did I see who it was; Sam. In some way I was relieved to know who it was, but at the same time, Sam was pissed at me right now.

"Hey, baby, remember me?" I tried to move but was slammed against the wall again. "No one takes advantage of me! And I know you still love me. I know this is how you want this to go," he whispered seductively in my ear. "This place is surrounded, and if you scream, I'll kill you right now," I nodded. I was terrified and I knew he would. He removed his hand from my mouth, and grazed over my chest as he dropped it to the waistband of my jeans. "You've been really bad to me, Jo, and now you're going to make it up to me. You're going to do what I say, and let me do what I want to you," I knew what he was doing. He moved his head in close to mine and pressed his lips against mine, hard. I twisted my head away so his mouth was on my jawline. He pulled away and chuckled. He slammed me against the wall as hard as he could and I yelped and slumped to the ground. I really didn't want to get beat up twice in just a few hours. Sam slapped me across the face and I yelped again. I braced myself for more abuse but none came. I heard a pounding sound and looked up. Sam was back against the wall fighting with another guy.

"Jo, run!" It was Bull! Oh, thank god. I turned to run but heard a loud blast. I was horrified. I turned to see a guy standing holding a gun up. My eyes filled with tears. Please tell me this was one of Bull's guys! Please tell me they shot Sam! I looked to the two who were fighting. Bull dropped to the ground in front of me, choking.

"Bull!" I screamed. I dropped next to him as he choked on his blood. He was shot in the chest. He coughed up blood, and his eyes were glazed over. I took his hand in mine and held it tight. He pulled it away and replaced it with something cold and hard. I looked down to it; a gun. He pressed it into my hands and I nodded.

"Enough!" Sam shouted, and I saw the other gunman walking towards us. I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again. I lifted the gun and shot. The gunman dropped and I turned towards Sam. He looked shocked and put his hands up backing away. "Whoa, Jo, I--" I didn't let him finish. I shot him right between the eyes. He dropped to the ground as blood oozed from the shot.

I kneeled back down to Bull and sobbed. I put the gun back in his hands; I could never take his gun, it would make me the leader of his gang, and his gang would forever be the Bulldogs. He was still alive, and he had to die a Bulldog. I knew he wouldn't make it, and so did he. This would be how he wanted to die: honorably.

"J-Jo," he choked out. "Take this," he ordered, pressing an envelope into my hands. "And run." The worry in his eyes said something to me. I nodded, and stood up.

"Thank you, Bull, I love you." I told him, then I turned and ran.