Hypnotic

Eviction

Marshall's POV:

In only a week from now, the Rap Olympics will take place in LA and I'm not nervous about slaughtering motherfuckers on the mic. I'm excited about it because I'm way closer to my dream of being a famous rapper. I always wanted to be a rapper but after Hailie was born, she gave me motivation to go harder than ever and become a monster with my words. I want to give her the life I never had, I can't stand being like my fucking deadbeat dad, that's the one thing I'll never be. Things between me and Nicole are amazing, and every day I fall more and more for her. She is a great person and it's fucked up what I put her through over a fucking mistake. I regret being a dick to her because she cares about me more than Kim ever did. I was Kim's personal punching bag. When she cheated on me it was a wake-up call that Kim is fucking toxic for me but regardless, I'm always gonna love her even if we're not together.

I'm smoking pot with Deshaun outside of his house, on his porch "How's it going with you and Nicole?" Deshaun asks me as he takes a puff of smoke and blows it out, looking at me with a sly smirk. We spent almost an hour talking about battling and hip hop so I'm wondering why he's bringing up Nicole all of a sudden "We're good man, before Nicole went to Wisconsin I finally told her that I love her" I tell Deshaun. I'm keeping it vague. I smoke my pot and blow out a puff of smoke "You know Kim is gonna kill her dawg because they were best friends" Deshaun warns me "Fuck Kim, Nicole treats me better than Kim ever treated me, all that bitch did was lie and cheat" I sound angry "Dawg, I told you that bitch ain't good for you" Deshaun places his hand on my shoulder and rubs it "I know man but I wanted to try, at least for Hailie's sake, I didn't want her growing up without her parents together" I sigh "I know but it's better this way, man, instead of raising her in a dysfunctional relationship" I finish my pot and get up with Deshaun, I toss it on the floor and stomp on it "I'mma head home, man" I give Deshaun a bro hug "Aight man, tell me how the Rap Olympics go" Deshaun smiles and I nod.

I walk to my car and get in. I drive back home and walk through my front door, my foot hits the mail on the floor and I pick it up. It says it's urgent, I walk to my living room and plop down on my couch. I rip open the letter and it reads "Notice of Termination" I read the second to the last paragraph, squeezing the letter in my hand. I'm fuming "You are required to vacate the premises within 30 days. Failure to comply will result in legal action" I throw the paper across the room and flip the table. What the fuck am I suppose to do? I'm being evicted and I gotta fly out to LA. I got no-fucking-where to stay and I would hate to ask Nicole to stay with her until I get my shit together because she has a little brother to take care of and I don't want to burden her, and I know my mom is not gonna fucking let me stay at her place. I can't go to Deshauns either because he lives with his parents in a small two-bedroom house so I'm fucked.

I get up and head to the kitchen to crack open a bottle of vodka. I flip the top open and down already half of the bottle. I sit on the floor without a single thought in my head, just drinking my fucking body weight in vodka and hoping this shit will kill me. Sometimes I'm so fucking down with life because life has a way of throwing curve balls at me all the fucking time and I'm so fucking done but I got a little girl to take care of. How the fuck am I supposed to raise her when daddy is drinking, popping pills, getting evicted? Sometimes I lose sight of hope. Hailie is down to her last diaper and has no socks on her feet to keep them warm "Fuck" I scream and throw the vodka against the wall, the bottle shatters, and shards scatter across the floor with only a few drops of vodka splashed on to my kitchen floor, I was almost done with it.

I'm a little tipsy and out of my fucking mind. Man, I can't do this shit anymore. I rise to my feet and drag myself to my small, cramped bathroom that's almost fucking broken. I open up the cabinets and retrieve my prescription drugs, I pop open the lid and shake out the entire bottle of small, white pills. I toss the bottle onto my tiled floor and close the cabinet. I look at myself in the mirror and all I see is a fucking loser "I'm sorry Hailie, I failed you in every fucking way, I'm sorry Nicole, I can't be the boyfriend you need me to fucking be, I'm sorry Kim, I'm so fucking in love with you and didn't know how to fucking treat you right. I'm so fucking sorry Alaina, Uncle is a fucking shit head" Tears burn my eyes but I quickly blink them away. I take the handful of pills into my mouth and fill a cup with water, I take a big sip of my water and swallow the pills.

I wait for the pills to kick in, remaining in my bathroom with my hands on the sink, slightly bent over with my eyes closed "Marshall" I hear Nicole's voice echoing through the hall. Fuck. I'm feeling lightheaded "Marshall" I hear her yell again. I don't want her here, what the fuck is she doing here? Isn't she supposed to be spending the day with Logan or something? "There you are" I look over at her and she smiles "What the fuck you doing here?" I glare at her as I remove both my hands from the sink "I called your phone a few times but you didn't answer so I came over to check on you" She takes a step closer to me "You're getting evicted" She says softly "How the fuck did you find out?" I give her a nasty look that's telling her to stay the fuck away from me "The letter was on the floor so I read it" I walk towards her. Fuck, I'm feeling dizzy "You shouldn't have fucking read it, Nicole" I raise my voice at her "I'm glad I read it because I can offer you a place to stay" She glares at me "I don't need your fucking charity or your sympathy, Nicole, so just get the fuck out" I push her a little too hard back "Don't you dare push me" She yells "Get the fuck out" I scream at her while I run my hands down my face in frustration and punch the wall, she jumps "No" She stands her ground, I chuckle in an evil way "If you don't get the fuck out of here, I swear to God we're done" I glare at her "You think that's gonna scare me away" She glares at me "If you fucking love me like your fucking ass says then you should" I'm not feeling "LEAVE" I scream at her and she turns away.

She's about to reach the door but turns around "Marshall" I black out. I wake up in the hospital, full of tubes and I look to my right to see Nicole holding my hand with her forehead on my arm. What the fuck happened? Nicole gets up and a look of relief hits her face "Oh my GOD you're okay" She gives me a big kiss on the lips "What happened?" I ask her, I'm groggy "You overdosed" Her voice cracks "Oh" I divert my eyes to the ceiling "What happened Marshall?" She clears her throat "I don't wanna talk about it" I sigh "No, we're gonna talk about this because you almost died" Nicole sounds pissed "Now tell me what the hell gotten into you?" She asks me one more time and I finally meet her eyes "I fucking failed, I wanted to die because all I do is fail everyone around me" It hurts to say it

"You didn't fail" She cups my cheek and caresses my cheek softly with her delicate thumb "We're going to the Rap Olympics and you're gonna win because you are talented, everyone knows that" I look back up at the ceiling "What if I lose?" I ask her "You're not gonna lose, do you hear me? You're gonna win, get signed by a hot ass label and you're gonna be a rapper" She tries cheering me up but it's not working because I got a family to think about and I can't afford to lose this battle "I'm sorry how I spoke to you" I look over at her with a regretful look "Don't be, you were drunk and took a handful of pills" Nicole sighs and looks down "Just focus on getting better" She cracks a small smile "How long am I gonna be in the hospital for?" I ask her "Three days and then you're gonna move in with me" She smiles at me "I love you so much" She looks away from me "What?" I ask her, furrowing my brows at her sudden reaction "Not enough" Nicole sighs "What?" I ask her even more confused, I reach over to her hand to try and grab it but she pulls it away from me "You almost killed yourself and left everyone who loves you behind" She looks at me with tears rolling down her cheeks "That would've been the most selfish thing you could've done" She glares at me as she tries holding herself together "I couldn't fucking take it anymore, I-" She cuts me off

"You couldn't take it? My dad died, I don't talk to my mom anymore, my brother's baby daddy hates me, my life was threatened by Natasha's brothers and I work as a stripper to keep the roof over our heads and food on the table, my uncle has dementia and thought I was dead for two years, I'm raising my brother alone, barely keeping it together and you are the one thing in my life that has been constant besides Deshaun and you almost died" She breaks down now "Fuck" I sit up and grab her "I'm sorry baby" I pull her in for a hug and she cries into my chest "I hate you so much for what you tried to do" She cries hysterically "I know, I hate myself too" I kiss the top of her head and squeeze her.