Gangland II.

Chapter 12 - Snowed In.

The next day, Isaiah had to wake up early so that Donna could come pick up Kayson. When she arrived, they didn't give each other any type of eye contact or anything else to indicate that they liked each other. Donna just grabbed Kayson and his car seat, then left without saying anything. As I got ready and drove off to go to class for the first time in like 8 days, Isaiah showered and went over to Carlos's house. Tyler's pink car was gone. When he walked over there, he seen Carlos smoking a blunt. For the first time in a while, Carlos was home by himself. No Stacey, no Q, no Asha. Isaiah stood there for a few seconds, then sat down next to him.

"What up, nigga?" Isaiah said in a tired tone, wiping his forehead.

"What up, 'Saiah." Carlos said as he squinted his eyes out at the street and blew his smoke out.

As Isaiah scratched his shoulder, Carlos pulled a blunt out of his pocket and handed it to Isaiah. As Isaiah leaned forward and placed it between his tucked lips and allowed Carlos to light his blunt for him, then they both looked forward and blew their smoke out.

"Yo man, I apologize fo' yesterday." Isaiah said as he turned to him, cradling his own shoulders. "I ain't mean to go off like dat but.......I thought y'all was takin' dat shit too far..."

"What you mean?"

"Like y'all was pourin' alcohol and crackin' bottles against her head and shit!" Isaiah scoffed. "Y'all was tormentin' her ass when it wasn't that serious."

"It's that serious to me." Carlos said in a serious tone.

As he looked at Isaiah, he took another puff of his smoke and looked away.

"I known you since you was 14 years old, nigga. I'm 22 and you 18. I damn near raised yo' ass." Carlos said, staring off in the blue. "You think that I'm gone take that shit lightly when a bitch betray you like she did?"

For once, Isaiah didn't talk. He just listened. As he listened to Carlos, he nodded his head and flicked the end of his blunt on the walkway.

"You know that out of all of us me and you the closest. You my lil brother and I 'ont like nobody takin' advantage of you." Carlos said in a serious tone. "I love you to death and when I get mad at yo' ass, it mean that I care about you. Dassit.

As they took another long pause, Carlos scratched the side of his short dreads and looked ahead.

"And the truth is I 'ont think she deserve you. Not after the way she threw yo' ass under the bus." Carlos continued. "If she'll do it once, you know she'll do dat shit again...."

"Los, I ain't datin' her again." Isaiah said in a serious tone. "I kicked her ass to the side....."

"That's smart, nigga."

"Yeah. She came ova askin' could she stay at my crib and I told her no." Isaiah said as he shook his head. "If she think that I'll kill my damn son then I blew her ass off. If that's the case, I would kill her ass in a heartbeat....."

Carlos held his hand out, giving Isaiah a handshake and blowing his smoke out between his tucked lips.

"You can't trust these hoes." Carlos said in a sinister tone. "That's what yo' niggas is fo'......"

When I arrived to my college, I came expecting to have a regular day with Mr. Umlauf. When I prepared to walk inside, Mr. Umlauf stood in front of me and shook his head.

"I'm sorry Josh, but I can't let you inside." Mr. Umlauf said as he shook his head.

"What? Why not?" I said in a surprised tone. "I'm on time."