𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 ²

thirty five.

"L-Lucious!"

Lucious came running in and froze too. Andre looked at them and spoke plainly. "Hey, Ma. Hey, Pop."

Lucious spoke slowly. "Dre...I'mma need you to put the gun down."

"I can't do that, Pop. That's not what Rhonda wants."

Cookie was confused. "Rhonda? Rhonda isn't here, baby."

"Yes she is. She's sitting right next to me."

Cookie and Lucious exchanged a puzzled look. Was he hallucinating his dead wife? Oh boy, he was really losing it.

"Okay...what exactly does Rhonda want?"

"She wants me to pay for my sins."

"By shooting yourself in the head?" Cookie exclaimed.

"Yes. I'm okay with it because I shouldn't be here anyway. I'm unwanted."

He was breaking Cookie's heart right now. "You're not unwanted, baby!"

Andre snapped. "Yes I am, Ma! Rhonda didn't want me! My own family doesn't want me! And I know for a fact God doesn't want me! I should kill myself and check into hell early!"

"You're not going to hell, Andre!"

"Yes I am! I killed Rhonda, Ma!"

Huh? "What? What are you talking about?"

Andre looked at Lucious. "Tell her, Pop! Tell her what we did!"

"We?!" she repeated.

Lucious said, "We didn't do anything, baby. He's out of it right now."

"Tell her the truth!" Andre yelled.

"Yeah, you better tell me the truth, Lucious! What the hell is he talking about?!"

Lucious exhaled deeply. "Okay, fine. Since he wants you to know so badly, I'll tell you. Your suspicions were right; he did have something to do with Rhonda's death."

She looked at Andre in horror. "What?!"

Lucious continued. "Rhonda did fall over the railing, but Andre didn't push her. Instead, they were fighting over a suitcase because Rhonda wanted to leave and Andre didn't want that. She ended up losing her balance and fell over."

Andre gripped the gun tighter. "I killed my own wife. I didn't get arrested because Pop and I covered up the crime and told the cops she killed herself."

Cookie couldn't believe this at all. "You lied to my face, Lucious?! You lied to the entire family?!"

"Yeah I lied, Cookie. Because I know for a fact you wouldn't want your son rotting in jail like you did. Jail isn't a pleasant experience; you know that firsthand. Andre wouldn't survive in there. And I feel like he's needs something more than jail time. He needs help," Lucious finished.

"I don't need help! I just need to die!" Andre pulled the trigger and Cookie did some fast thinking. She quickly pointed the gun away from his head so it missed. Then Andre broke down and cried as she held him tight. She cried too because he really just tried to leave her!

"Why'd you do that, Ma?!"

"Because you're not dying on me, Andre! I won't be able to handle losing you!"

Andre cried some more. "I shouldn't be here! I did so many horrible deeds! I destroyed this family, and killed my wife! God will never forgive me!"

"But I forgive you, baby. And so does your father. Doesn't that count for something?"

"I don't know."

Lucious held Andre too. "It should. We love you, Dre. And yeah, your siblings are mad at you right now, but they love you too. They don't wanna see you dead."

"Hakeem does."

"Don't listen to what Hakeem says. You know he talks a lot of shit when he's mad. But if you were to die, I know he wouldn't be okay with that."

Andre wiped his face gloomily. "So what should I do?"

"I hate seeing you down like this, so I think it's time for you to check yourself in to get some help," Lucious answered.

"Yeah, maybe. But Empire-"

Cookie cut him off. "Don't worry about Empire. Your mental health comes first. The professionals are going to fix you up, and you'll be right back at Empire before you know it. I promise."

Andre nodded sadly. "Okay. I guess I should go then. But what about my siblings? I should say bye."

She advised against it. "I don't know, Andre. You're not in the best state right now, so I think it's best if you just go. We'll let them know what's going on."

"Okay, Ma."

They helped Andre off the bed. He seemed so weak and defeated. They helped him out of the house and into the car. They were going to drive him to the place and then go home and tell the kids what had happened. Cookie hoped they took the news well.