Black Queenz

Ch. 15-Jumped

***Ra***

Osiris hadn't been the same since we found out that Dewan had shot Bobby on New Year's Eve. The betrayal literally shocked her into silence for days. As for Richard B., we left him in the forest after Fly roughed him up a bit. He survived, though, and came home stumbling. He kept his mouth shut, too, cuz he knew better than to snitch. If he did, there'd be too many questions asked that he wouldn't wanna answer.

As we were driving home, Osiris told me the story of Aaron, Dewan, and Richard B. It made me sick to know how ruthless Dewan was and how sneaky Richard B. was, too. Osiris watched me, waiting on anger because she'd waited so long to tell me, but it never came. I understood. Knowing was obviously dangerous, and she wanted to protect me.

Time seemed to pass slower since we knew we could only trust each other and school was dragging on without teaching us anything we needed to survive in East JP. I spent most of my time with Osiris, the way I had before, but even our relationship had changed from the ordeal with Bobby.

All Osiris wanted to do was lay up and watch TV. I was happy that she'd almost completely stopped smoking, and that we had more alone time, but I lamented at how sad she was. I still had yet to see her cry, but the hurt in her eyes when she looked at Dewan was apparent even after two and a half months. And all I could do was hold her.

We were at my house curled up in my bed and watching Love Jones for the fiftieth time on a windy Saturday afternoon. Valentine's Day was on Monday, but Osiris already knew better than to expect anything from me. I hated the bs, made up holiday, but Osiris loved it, so I'd already bought her a little pink teddy bear to give her later as a surprise.

"Osiris?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"Are you okay if I go downstairs for some chips? Do you want me to get you anything, queen?"

She shook her head from on my stomach, so I got up gently and she pulled the blanket back over her body. Seeing Osiris in a rut like that hurt me, too. And I couldn't even lie and say I understood what she was going through. She'd nearly lost one of her best friends because of her cousin's paranoia.

Dewan had become convinced Bobby was smoking up his weed instead of selling it, so he shot him as a warning. It didn't help that he was still living with her and Fly. They couldn't kick him out cuz it'd only make Memphis suspicious, and Memphis couldn't know what Dewan had done. Osiris hated him, but didn't want to see him dead, either, and that's exactly what Memphis would've made happen if he knew. Disloyalty was a cardinal sin in the BRS, punishable by death.

My dad and Tanya were sitting and watching TV like usual. They wouldn't be leaving for their V Day date until around ten. I hoped that I could slide into the kitchen and back out without detection, but I failed miserably.

"Rashaa? Is that you in the kitchen?"

"Yeah," I mumbled back to Tanya.

"Is Osiris gonna leave soon or something?"

"No, I'm just getting us some chips. She's spending the night since I don't wanna be here alone at night."

"Oh, that's nice," she replied absently. She was always watching TV, and it was annoying how distractedly she talked when she had her face in the screen. My dad was just as bad, but he didn't try to interact with me at least, so it was a little better.

"Yeah." I sprinted back up the steps with a bag of Doritos and a couple water bottles, still bummed out about Osiris' behavior. I hadn't seen her really smile in weeks.

When I came back into my room, Osiris was still balled up under my covers and half watching the movie. Her phone was sitting on the table beside mine, and she looked at me, forcing a small smile.