Internal Affairs

15.5: Resurrection

The world was foggy, and his body felt as if it was levitating from the ground. Gravity did not work here, and oxygen was no longer needed. Damien opened his eyes to darkness amongst a foreign land for any form of familiarity that might register in his mind. However, the recognition he tried to find never came to mind. "Where the hell am I?" he said.

"Damien!"

Damien turned to the sound of his name but there was no one around to greet him. Was he going crazy now?

"Damien! Come on man, wake up!"

The wind spoke to him again, but this time with a sense of urgency. Who was the wind to tell him what to do? He ran the streets; he was King of California; a fool to ever get close to Sha'Mear, let alone kiss her. That part he remembered before the lights went out and he felt like floating. But why was that the one thing he could remember? Yes, the kiss felt highly inorganic on his part, especially at the given time, but his mind said to do it. Despite the contradiction of his hardcore façade. But Damien normally did whatever came to mind, and for the first time in a while his heart agreed with it. What was so special about that girl?

"Damien, you gotta wake up!"

But Damien didn't want to get up. There was peace here, which was something he hadn't felt since a little kid. But even then, there was chaos in the streets whenever he and Desmond–

Desmond!

Dez was dead; that was something he remembered now. His only flesh and blood left on the Earth, was now taken from him because of his violence. Something he put his brother in, instead of pushing him to run from it. This life was never something he wanted for his brother, but that was life. They did everything together, and even to the very end Dez put his life on the line for his brother. Mama would have been pissed with Damien if she knew he didn't protect Desmond like he promised he would. But Damien tried! He told Dez to shut up and just let him die! Oh how Damien wanted death to take him away, but his stubborn brother would never listen to him. If only Desmond would have shut up and ran, he would still be alive, and Damien could have finally separated himself from Adonis. He didn't enjoy the gang violence, and he never did. But he wanted the respect from Rales, and from the Reds. He wanted the title, but without the pain. Although you could never have the joys of pleasure without first experiencing the pains of heartbreak. But now he wanted revenge for his brother's death, then accepting his fate after that didn't matter anymore. He wanted a legacy; a family to pass down his inheritance to, but love wasn't his thing. But maybe it was something worth trying for?

"Damien!"

His eyes opened this time to bright lights, and the familiar face of Mark; his third in command after Desmond. The constant beep of the heart monitor acted as a metronome to guide the flow of their words. A faint smile touched the corners of Damien's lips, as he thought of how Desmond used to play the piano back in his middle school days. His brother would always complain about the metronome being too loud whenever he would try to play.

Mark sighed and cracked a smile when their eyes met. "Glad you're awake man. For a moment, I lost a bit of hope. I hate to say it."

Damien smiled in response. He felt the same way, but to be honest he was disappointed that he did in fact live. But his survival was only confirmation that he hadn't finished his job here on Earth. He needed to make Legend pay for what he did, because Desmond was all he had. Mark sat back in his seat, and frowned. "I'm sorry for your loss, Damien. We know how much Desmond meant to you."

"It's okay." Damien said, despite the pain in his throat. He hurt all over, especially his stomach. Mark reached out to help and and informed him of his recent surgery to remove the bullet from his abdomen.

"I already told a few of the guys to find out where Legend and Terrence are. I let them know that this was a shoot on-sight operation. No questioned asked."

"Good."

"I can't believe Terrence was a rat! Damn I should've had better eyes on him, Boss." Mark said before he eyed Damien. "I messed up with that one."

"He's a cop. We should've known he couldn't be trusted from that fact alone." Damien interjected before he shifted in the hospital bed to get more comfortable.

"Just like that Sha'Mear chick?" Mark asked, which made Damien arch an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Damien said.

"I mean, you should have had more caution when it came to her." Mark frowned. "I know she saved Desmond from the cops that day, but isn't it a bit strange that when she got caught they let her go the same day. Most of us would've been still behind bars. Also, she willingly came from purple district to red district. And we all know only cops and rich white people live in purple district. So it makes me wonder which one of those she is." Mark said confidently.

Damien narrowed his eyes at the thought of falling for a cop. Not for the fact that she was a rat that couldn't be trusted anymore. But he was a bit angry at the idea of allowing his guard down a bit too much, to where he missed obvious signs that may have prevented all of this.

"Boss, think about it," Mark began, "she ran to our hideout, then shortly after, Legend showed up. It sounds like a setup to me."

"How do you know that?" Damien said. Their eyes met for a brief moment, and there was understanding between them. Damien smirked. "Security is one hell of a tool."

Marked laughed, "Yeah it is. I caught the whole thing on tape, so I called Desmond and–"

"–You did what?!" Damien retorted.

Mark flinched at the sound of Damien's voice, which soon followed with a painful look that Mark had never seen from Damien before. "Boss, I called Desmond and some of the boys back to the hideout the moment Legend showed up outside. I didn't know Dez was going to die, I swear!"

"Get out."

"Boss, I promise I'mma make things right! I'mma kill them for what they did; all three of them!"

"I said get your ass out!" Damien yelled. He clutched his stomach in pain as he glared at Mark. "Do whatever the hell you have to do, but leave Sha'Mear alone." He forced out through gritted teeth.

"But, what about her?"

Damien shifted in his bed once more, and continued to glare at Mark. "Don't worry about her, because I will handle that lying bitch myself."

Mark excused himself from the room to leave Damien alone to think. Damien was a fool to think that Sha'Mear could have ever be trusted. But he started to trust her because Desmond spoke so highly of the girl. Desmond was always the person to see the good in someone, rather than accepting them for who they really were. Now, Sha'Mear didn't have Dez to vouch for her ever chance he could, and Damien wasn't going to allow her to distract him anymore. He needed answers for his brother, and for himself. There was no way he was going to allow himself to catch feelings for a woman that was only trying to play him in the end.

For the first time in his life, he followed his heart despite better judgement. But he knew not to ever let that happen again.