The King Brothers [BoyxBoy]

24. Zephyrus

"Who are you man?" I say directing my attention to the man who grabbed me, and said he was our father.

"I'm Zion Lowe. I'm you and Cedric's da-"

"Don't even say that shit." I say cutting him off. I can't look at him... His image was disgusting. If I was in the right mind, I would do him like how he did my mom when I was too young to defend her.

"Look I just wanna see my so-"

"Don't say that shit either." I say cutting him off again.

"Kids!" I see Isadore and my mom rushing up behind Zion and reaching the group.

"What the fuck?" My mom says, noticing Zion.

"Sherrece!" Isadore fusses. I can't stand his ass either... All the dads in my life just can't do right.

"Shut up..." She looks at Isadore. "Why are you here?" She turns to Zion.

"I'm here to see my so-" Isadore makes a face.

"Don't you dare." She says putting her hand up in his face. "Excuse me, umm can we see my son?" She asks the lady behind the desk.

"Umm you know whay, fuck it." She stands and leads us down the hall and to a room separated by curtains.

"Oh no, he's not staying here." Mom said. "Make some calls Isadore." She says, he walks away and pulls out his phone. We see Cedric laying in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of his throat and IVs and shit in his arm.

"Ohh god... I can't believe this." Mom says, exhaling. "What happened??" She asks.

"Zeph punched TJ in his throat before he could tell us." Donyelle blurts out. I swear she stay snitching.

"What the hell Zephyrus?" Mom says. Zion creeps into the space we were in and stands there staring at Cedric.

"Zion why are you here??" Mom yells. Cedric's body jumps, and his heartbeat starts increasing.

"Shhhhhh!" A nurse yanks back the curtain and says.

Mom flips her hair, and pulls out her cell phone.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Calling the police on this bastard. He's violating his restraining order." She says.

"Mom no!" I snatch the phone from her, and put it in my pocket. "I wanna hear this." I say looking at Zion.

"Hear what?" Zion asks.

"Why are you here?" I say.

"I wanted to make sure he was okay." He tells us.

"Okay so why now?" I ask him.

"Exactly." Mom says.

"I know I did a lot of fucked up shit in the past, but I've changed. I've been going to church and-"

"Bullshit." Mom says. "You're here because my babies got academic scholarships to UCLA, and Zeph here, has a basketball scholarship." She continues.

"You think this about money?" He asks.

"Its always about the money honey, remember when the boys turned twelve, and then Isadore's car business started to grow and you got thrown in jail for that potential "domestic violence"?" She puts her fingers up for emphasis. "You hit MY line first when you got busted, asking me for bail money."

I shake my head.

"You know what, I'm gonna get them back from you." He threatens.

"See if you actually gave a damn, you'd know were about to be 18." I bud in. "So you ain't taking shit from nobody. But you can leave though." I say waving him off.

"If this is what I get for trying. Forget it." He says leaving.

"I can't believe this." She says.

Isadore walks in soon after. "Okay he's being moved to Emory. I've made arrangements." He says.

"Okay. My poor baby." She stoops down and hugs his lifeless body.

"Where is TJ?" I ask.

"Who?... Oh the boy. I don't know. Why?" Mom asks.

"I need to find out what happened. I leave the room, and I go searching for TJ. I aggressively flip back every curtain I see, walking in on scenes from old people getting ready to die, to kids who just broke limbs. I finally run into TJ. He's sitting on the edge of a stretch table with his fingers linked together.

"Yo." I say, creeping into his curtain.

"Wassup." He says in response.

"So uhh, what happened?" I ask him.

"You hit me in my adam's apple." He chuckles.

"Dude.. What happened with my brother?" I ask, sitting next to him.

"We was just chillin, and he fell." He says, shrugging his shoulders.

I take a deep breath. "I know what's going on with y'all. Tell me the truth." I say, patting his back. He looks me in the eye and I raise an eyebrow.

"Damn you look just like him." He says shaking his head and looking down.

"So the other day, we had a fight... Like a real fight, but I took it too far. He was so upset and I felt so bad. Then last night, he called me and didn't say nothing, so I apologized, and he hung up on me. I didn't see an end so I decided to go back to the army... And they accepted me back. And so I left Ced a voicemail saying I would be leaving, and I packed my shit and got ready to go. But as I was locking up, I opened the door and Cedric was running up to the door. He tried to stop himself and fell backwards and hit his head on the concrete. I swear I didn't hit him." He says, I see his eyes turning red.

"I trust you." I say.

"Its all my fault." He starts to tear up and sniffle.

"Oh come here." I pull him over to hug me. He cries into my neck. I pat and rub his back.

"It's okay, stop crying witcha big ass." I say laughing and rubbing his back. "Big bear... Aight." I let him go and he sits up.

"Don't tell nobody I did that. I just was feeling your pain you know?" I say standing up.

"Yeah." He wipes his nose.

"Bruh..." I shake my head. "I need to get back to my brother." I say. "You good here?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"Seeya around." I say before leaving.

"Oh. And by the way." I stick my head back in. "You should go back to the army. We got too much going on right now. As you can see." I explain. He nods and wipes his nose again. I leavehim for good this time.

When I get back to Cedric, mom and Isadore are standing over him.

"He grabbed my hand earlier." Mom said. "And oh! The doctor came in and said its not a serious injury, that he should be awake in no time. And also that my suggestion to sending him to Emory is a great idea." She continues.

"I hope he wakes up soon." I sigh. "Its gone be different without him in the house." I say.

"Yeah, well he's gonna be in the best hands. Emory has great reviews." She says.

"Yeah." Isadore says.

"Where is Donyelle?" I asked, after looking round the room and not seeing her.

"She left. Said it was too much for her." Mom said.

"I think she just didn't wanna be in the same room as him." I say pointing to her husband.

"Well they're gonna move him pretty soon. Why don't you go home and get some rest." Mom says.

"Whatever." I say leaning down to hug Cedric. I walk out of the room and I leave the hospital. This shit is getting too hectic. Senior year was supposed to be fun. Not like this. And then Zion had the audacity to show up like this?? Hell nah....