"Where I'm from a nigga die, the whole city'll try to claim him. Where I'm from, you don't make it, you gotta die to be famous."
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AMIR TURNER.
Six months later, Amir was just getting off work at almost four-thirty in the morning when she received a call from an unknown number but she knew who it was. "Hello?" She answered confused. She heard a sniffle but not a response. "Herby?" Her voice got softer and her chest started to feel heavy.
"Where you at?"
"I'm just getting off of work. What's wrong?" She asked as she walked faster to get to her car. Then she seen his silhouette in the dark, leaning against her car. She could never mistake it. His had his hoodie on his head. She hung up the phone. "Herbert?" She placed both of hands on each of his cheeks and made him look at her.
"You're scaring me." Her bottom lip began to quiver at the point as if something was wrong with her. He pulled her into a hug. It was a tight hug, like his life depended on it. He didn't want to let her go. He figured that if he just hugged her longer then she'd never be taken away from him for good.
"They shot up Vince car." It didn't shock Amir nor did it shock Hue. It was bound to happen. Vince was a real life shooter. That was the life he was born into and there was only one way out. His daddy was a head huncho. It wasn't on him, it was in him. But Hue was just so tired of losing his childhood friends then having to go to funerals. Vince was the last of his friends.
"When?" She asked.
"Bout an hour ago. I've been waiting out here for you. Are you okay?"
"You're asking me if I'm okay when you're the one who just lost your best friend. Be upset about it Herb." Amir responded to him. She never wanted him to become numb to his emotions. It was his human right to be hurt by this.
"I'm use to it. How was work?"
"Follow me back to my house." She told him while unlocking the doors to her car.
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Amir and Hue laid in her bed. She had her head on his chest and his arm wrapped around her. "You work tomorrow?"
"I'm on call. Wassup?" Hue didn't respond he just pulled her closer to him and kissed her forehead. Amir loved being in his embrace. She felt at peace. Nothing in the world mattered. She had gotten so use to being alone she forgot how good it felt to be laid in a bed of love. Genuine love.
"Why aren't you upset, Hue?"
"Because I'm use to it. I told you that. How many deaths did I go through? I've been through enough to know that's just how life is. Nobody gon' live forever." He was trying to dismiss the conversation but no way was Amir giving up on getting him to express his emotions.
"You feel like less of a man if you do?"
"It has nothing to do with being a man. My nigga killer still alive. I don't have no cry in me. His mama can cry bout that shit when he get his. Ion wanna talk bout it no more." His tone was so harsh it almost hurt Amir feelings but she's a thug for real and learned how to deal with his attitude.
She pushed his arm from around her and sat up. "Lay back down. I need to tell you something."
"You don't tell me what to do." She rolled her eyes while looking around the bed for her phone. But she found Hue's phone which was on do not disturb with a bunch of notifications.
"Rylie is calling you."
"Answer it." He mumbled while turning over to face the other wall with his back towards her.
"Hello?" Amir said answering the phone without needing to be told twice.
On the other end of the phone, Rylie was frowning her face up. Confused as to who was answering her man's phone. "Yeah. Hello? Who's this? Is Hue okay?"
"He's... he's okay." Amir put the phone on speaker. She don't know why the hell she listened to Hue and answered the phone.
"Can I... like talk to him? What the fuck? Who the fuck are you?" Her sudden rudeness wasn't a surprise to Amir. She threw Hue's phone at his back as he chuckled. She smacked him in the head with a pillow before leaving out of her room.
"Police are saying that the car was shot atleast 30 times..." Amir paused in her tracks as she heard the sound coming from her living room TV. She slowly walked into the living room. "Two of the victims have been identified as 27 year old Vincent Higgins and 21 year old Kendall-" The pictures that went across the screen.
Amir could feel her chest tightening. Hue didn't tell her. How could he? His tears weren't for him. They were for her. She crashed out. Kendall. Ouni's sweet ass, bad ass little brother. The world seen him as a hood case but to her he was the absolute sweetest who wanted the best out of life. He can't help that he fell as a product of his environment.
"Amir."
"How could you not tell?!? What the fuck?!?" She started punching him in the chest while crying. "You laid in bed with me and still didn't tell me!! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you." She cried loudly. "He was our baby." She cried even harder. " I- I need to go see Ouni."
"Now!" She yelled at him. "Where's my phone? I know she's been calling me." Her tears was never ending. Tears flowed down her face as she tried her hardest to locate her phone to call her only friend who had just lost her only brother. They were so close.
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Amir tried her hardest to call Dyouni down. But that was impossible. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to say. She was afraid of saying the wrong thing. She could see the pain in her eyes. It reminded her of when she lost Juni. It was a pain she never felt before. She wanted to die. She still wants to die and go be with him. It's her biggest dream to be reunited with him. There's nothing here without him. There's no her without him.
"But why him? He was just a baby, Amir. My baby! What am I suppose to do without my baby? I- I can't breathe. M-my chest hurts Amir. Please help. Please make it stop hurting." She said holding her chest while backing up against the wall.
Amir pulled her down to the floor. "Breathe, Ouni." Hue went to the kitchen to get her some water.
"Please make them give me my brother back. You guys have to get my brother back. I can't do this without him. I- he needed me and I- I was gone. Please just bring him back to me. Tell me that he's at home and he loves me and he wanted to play a j-joke on me." She cried harder while pushing her head into Amir's chest and crying. Amir was trying so hard to be strong for her but her tears started to flow. She wrapped her in the tightest embrace. Never wanting to let her go.
