MERCY.

01 | TAKE ME

"I'm up! What?"

Messiah took three harsh blinks to adjust himself to the light coming from his phone as he placed it against his ear. His queen-sized bed creaked upon reaching to the left to hit the light switch slightly above. He looked around the brown, melancholy room.

What was supposed to be a thirty-minute nap turned into three hours of sleep. The sun had fallen from the sky, leaving the Detroit sky its usual jet-black color and cloudy ambience. He was surprised to see his girlfriend and baby mother wasn't home from work yet. The time on the old black clock to his right read 9:12.

Messiah worked in between the hours of 11pm and 6am, those graveyard shifts being the only solution to his financial instability. He and his girlfriend continued to live paycheck to paycheck, but they were making do with what they had.

When she wound up pregnant eight months ago, he wanted her to get an abortion. They could barely afford living in this tiny apartment by themselves, adding a baby to the mix wouldn't help with their monetary problems. Due to her beliefs, though, she couldn't bring herself to do it, despite the fact that she agreed with him.

The baby forced Messiah to get up and find a new, better paying job, so that he could save some money up for the incoming addition to the family. He'd never thought being a nineteen-year-old would be such hard work. But he had every intention of making it work for his baby and his girlfriend. Hopefully he would get the chance to propose soon, preferably after the baby was here and they got some more money in.

"Nigga, get the fuck up! I called you thirteen times!"

He rubbed his face, surprised to hear the voice of his own best friend. He checked his phone to make sure he wasn't tripping. Messiah had no idea how he managed to sleep through all of this, especially since the slightest sound or movement always woke him without fail.

"What's the problem? I got work tonight," Messiah slid out of bed and paused for a moment when he felt a wet spot beneath his foot. "Damnit, this stupid ass dog. I told her didn't want this rat."

"Messiah, fuckin' listen!" Demonte screamed, making him shut his mouth. "Michel'le got shot!"

«»

3 days earlier...

"Messiah." An extremely pregnant Michel'le walked into the bedroom, wrapped in a dark blue towel with her long scarfed wrapped around her freshly done box braids.

"Yeah." He looked up from his HP laptop briefly, lifting the electronic to make sure it wasn't getting too hot. He couldn't afford his blankets getting all burnt up again.

"We don't have hot water."

He set his gaze upon her again, face dropping. Breathing out, he shut his eyes. He was late paying the utilities again, but the landlord did have some sympathy for them, knowing of their situation and all. Lionel promised he wouldn't turn the water off. Messiah didn't realize that meant he would still take the hot water from them.

"Damnit."

"I thought you paid him." She tilted her head to the side, waiting for him to think of some kind of story.

This wouldn't be the first time he lied about paying the bills and she wanted to help out. But he insisted that Michel'le use her money for anything involving her or the baby and that be all. His own ego kept him from asking her to chip in to pay bills.

"I..." Messiah realized he couldn't lie to her. "Lionel said he would give me another week and a half to get my shit together. He told me he wouldn't turn the water off."

"Yeah, 'cuz he took the heat instead."

Adjusting her towel, lifting it farther over her tender breasts, she took to her side of the bed, lifting the mattress a little bit. She brought out a brown, paper bag, handing it to him. She watched his confused expression as Messiah opened it up, seeing wads of cash inside.