She Needs Me (Kendrick Lamar Fan Fic)

Chapter 1: Die With a Coward

Party
"Aye!" Erika said as she met up with some of her girls. Darius and her moved through the rooms and danced together as the songs played.
"90's throwback!" The DJ hollered and everybody cheered.
Meanwhile Kendrick was hanging out with his boys.
"Check it, Marcus and Chad are going to grab whatever they can, K-Dot all you gotta do is lookout. You can party, talk to your future wifey. Whatever just don't leave us hanging." Kendrick's friend Quayshawn said.
So Kendrick walked in, his eyes wondering around for Erika. He spotted her automatically as she was the only one who's smile could radiate through crowds. He looked around for his homies before watching Erika. She was laughing a lot and once somebody had moved he saw who she was dancing with and on.
"The damn guy from the grocery store." He said out loud and watched Erika as she mouthed the words to 'Keep Ya Head Up' by Tupac.
"Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice
I say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots
I give a holler to my sisters on welfare-" he watched her mouth and then he saw her older brother Desean approach her. They had different mom's so they lived separate, until their dad was murdered and Erika's mother was too busy being on drugs. Her mother had a younger son that lived in Arizona with his dad, she visited over summers. They didn't see each other often but when they did, it was like they hadn't been apart. That's for all her siblings. She kept dancing on Darius and when the song finished she walked to the kitchen to grab a drink. He felt a buzz in his pocket and took out the phone.
-clear?
-yeah, take the stuff 2 the white mobile. I'll b out ASAP.
-no rush, hood, enjoy the party, text when you ready to go.
- k
He looked up just to see Erika standing next to him. She was slurping on whatever was in her cup and smiling.
"Best friend." She said and looked him in his eyes.
"Hey." He said and she passed him her cup. He took a sip just to taste Fanta with maybe a splash of tequila.
"I see your brother is here." He said and she smiled.
"Yeah, he is." She smiled and he moved in a little closer.
"I know I've been acting weird lately, but I just feel different around you. Like everything is going to be alright. You don't even have to be my girl, just my best friend. You're family, I can tell you anything. I felt like I made one choice to dance with Sherane and it just messed things up for us. Whatever path we were about to take-" she placed her finger on Kendrick's lips and he shut up. She looked him in the eyes and smiled.
"I'm sorry too." She said and the amigos hugged,"how has everything been?"
"I've been talking to her, and we might still, you know."
"Did she come with you?" Erika asked.
"No but I saw her here." He said. Her eyes glimmered as the red lights flickered over their heads.
"Well, my friends and I will be over there if you still want to dance with us."
"Nah. I see you with your boyfriend." Kendrick said and she laughed.
"He's not my boyfriend. I told him about me leaving in a few weeks and we agreed to be friends. I promised him that we were gonna enjoy every second of this party though, so come with me."
"Wait, I get my twerk though, right?"  He said and she popped him.
"Maybe...not. Nigga." She said and grabbed his hand. They walked together to the group and Shay smiled.
"Hey Kendrick." She said and he nodded.
"Darius." He said and they shook hands. Drop It Like It's Hot came on and she took Kendrick into a different room and they danced together on a wall. She felt his laughter radiate through her and when the song finished they looked at each other and laughed.
"Ayo, Erika you need to get your brother." Chad said and she nodded.
"What's happening?" She asked.
"He and Harrison are arguing." He said and her and Kendrick ran towards the group. When they returned to the group their was a dispute going on between her brother and Harrison 'Storm' Brown. Storm and Erika were friends before he joined the Bloods. They even dated for six months up until he joined. She didn't want him to be involved so she dumped him and they haven't spoken since. She looked at Kendrick and listened to the argument.
"On moms, Blood, S.O.S, on yo punk ass next time I see you, Nigga." Storm said and she hopped in front of her brother and him.
"Storm, stop. Go the hell home. This my brother, you gone shoot my brother really fam?" She looked at him and her voice was shaking, her forehead was wrinkled up, and she was getting dots of sweat on her face. She looked at Storm and he nodded.
"Get your brother 'fore he get fucked up." He said and started to walk away.
"Nigga fuck you." Desean said and she pushed him.
"Shut up, Desean!" She said and slapped him on the side of his head. He looked at her shocked before realizing what happened. Kendrick grabbed her and they walked upstairs to the bathroom. She sat on the toilet and he sat on the rim of the bathtub. She started to tear up. Kendrick started talking.
"He's gonna be alright, we're all gonna walk out of here together." He started.
"It's petty ass arguments like this that lead to our people dying for no reason. All these gangs and shit, hoodlums robbing people and then getting shot in the face two weeks later over a chain. It's ridiculous, K." She stood up and they hugged under the dim light. They held each other close until they heard another argument break out.
"Erika!" Desean shouted and she ran out the bathroom and Kendrick followed. When they caught up to Desean he was livid.
"I'm tired of your little friend, it's time to go homie." He said and Kendrick looked at Erika.
"I'll look out for him, just go check on your girls." Kendrick said and she nodded. She hugged her best friend and looked at her wildin' brother.
"I love you, Desean." She said and he seemed to soften.
"I love you too." He said.
The next few minutes passed with nervous jitters. The moment Erika calmed down she heard five gunshots. Time moved slow for her as she walked outside to see Kendrick with blood on his shirt and holding her brother in his arms. She looked around for Storm and he wasn't there. She could hear somebody screaming but didn't know who it was. She ran to her brother and Kendrick moved.
"Desean." She said opening up his eyes. He wasn't moving at all. She looked for a bullet hole and found one going through the middle of his back and through the left side of his chest. She started wailing and placed her hands on her big brother's face. She sat in a puddle of blood until the cops came. They asked her what happened but she made the mental note to not get herself killed, so she said what she knew. He was in a confrontation with somebody she didn't know and when she came out her brother was dead.
-/-
The Next Morning
When she awoke she had that moment. Anybody who's ever lost a family member/friend knows that moment. It's when you wake up and wonder if they really died. You wake up and forget they died, and you have this yearning for them that wasn't there before they died. That was the moment. When Erika awoke, she was on Kendrick's couch. She was in her bloody clothes from yesterday night. Kendrick was sitting next to her with a bowl of cereal and watching cartoons. She realized what happened yesterday and she popped up and let out this horrific scream. She had her brother's blood on her hands, on her varsity jacket, on her jeans, and some on her feet. She dropped to the floor and Kendrick put everything on the table. He went to pick her up and they sat together with each other. He was saying something but she couldn't make it out. She felt his tears drop on her cheek and then she turned to look at him. She wiped his tears and they took deep breaths together.
"You have to go to the police station to pick up his stuff." Kendrick said and she nodded. She wiped her tears away and they stood up. They walked to the van, which Kendrick had since his siblings and parents went out of town for the weekend for a funeral. She couldn't speak and so she just got in the passenger seat.
-/-
Police Station
"Desean Jahmirus Dullsine." Erika said as the cop got down her brother's information.
"Date of birth?" The cop, Erin asked.
"5/26/83" Erika said, he was only 22. Erin passed her a ziplock baggy with her brother's wallet, his watch, his keys, his cross, and whatever money he had on him. Only sixty-two dollars.
"Thank you, Erin. I have a question though." Erika said.
"What's up?" Erin asked and Kendrick rubbed Erika's shoulder.
"Were you guys able to contact his mother?"
"We just sent two cops out twenty minutes before you got here to go give the news to his mother and his siblings." Erika looked at Kendrick.
"Thank you for all your help."
"You're welcome, sorry for your loss Erika." Erin said and they walked out of the cold police station and to the van. She called Desean's mother and she answered.
"Hey." His mother answered in a cheerful mood.
"Hey Liz, have any cops come to talk to you?" Erika asked as Kendrick drove in the direction of Desean's mother's house.
"No, why? Where's your brother?"
"We were at this house party yesterday, and Storm and him got into a confrontation. Twenty minutes afterwards he got shot and he died. I haven't been able to change out of yesterday's clothes yet, and I don't want you to see me like this. But I want to see you guys." She said and Liz gave her the okay. As they were getting off the phone, Erika could hear the knock of the police on the door. Less than five minutes later they were there.
Erika and Kendrick grabbed each other's hands and then walked to the door. She looked for her keys and when she found them she unlocked the door.
"Liz." She said as her and Kendrick walked in. Liz walked in the room where Erika was and she immediately started crying. She grabbed Erika from Kendrick and gave her some fresh clothes to put on. Liz ran her a bath and Kendrick looked at her hands, still covered in blood and he looked at her. In all this...emotion, she still as gorgeous. She still was at peace with herself.
"Erika, it's ready for you. When you're done, throw those clothes away." Liz said and she nodded. Kendrick let her go.
"Are you going to be okay?" He asked and she nodded. She walked upstairs into the bathroom, and closed the door. She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked at the droplets of dried blood that remained in the middle of her forehead. She peeled the bloody clothes off her and she turned off the lights. She scrubbed herself until she couldn't feel her skin anymore and then she leaned back, pulling herself underwater. She opened her eyes and kept herself underwater. Suddenly she felt somebody pull her up and she coughed up water. She looked around and saw it was Kendrick. He pulled her out of the water onto the floor and wrapped her in a towel. He wrapped his arms around her and he looked at her. She got dressed and he drained the water. She talked to Liz for a little while before leaving with Kendrick.
"I'm going to head out, if you want to stay here you can." He said and she nodded.
As he got to the van he called Sherane.
"Hello." She answered.
"You busy?" Kendrick asked.
"Nope, you ready to roll through?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'll be there in fifteen minutes." He said.
He was approaching her rapidly, he could see she waving at him from across the street. He smiled at her and as he got closer he saw two guys in black hoodies. He froze as his phone rang. He felt the punches and kicks and then heard Sherane.
"Enough, enough. Kendrick, don't come for me. Lose my number...and pick yourself off the floor you idiot." She said and then she walked into her house.
"Compton, cuz." They said kicking him once more. Kendrick dragged himself to the truck. He pulled his phone out and coughed. It was his parents calling. He called them back.
"Hey." He said and his mother calmed down.
"Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, what are you up too?"
"Nothing momma." He said and his mother sighed.
"Just calling to check on you. Is everything alright?"
"Yeah
"You sure?"
"Yeah." They quickly spoke and then got off the phone. He drove home and then sat in the drive way. When he limped in Erika was sleeping on the couch. The TV was on and there was a popcorn bag on the table. He walked to the bathroom and looked at his face.
He had a black eye, that was swollen, a busted lip, and a cut on his forehead. He turned around and Erika was in the doorway. She looked at him and shook her head before pushing past him and going to use the bathroom.
He limped to his parents room and sat on their bed. He turned on the television and texted the boys about what happened. Erika came in and laid next to him. They held each other close and fell asleep together, with school the next morning being the last thing on their minds.