Roomies ✔

33 - Targets

It felt as if hours had passed by before another car pulled up. The doors opened and the three shooters climbed into the vehicle, taking off with tires squealing. Esai's heart was leaping in his chest. Again and again he saw the image of his mother lying on the floor, followed by images of Jamie and Tessa lying dead under the table. Once he was sure the men were gone, he ran downstairs. Paramedics had entered the house through the back door, already taking care of his mother. Before he could ask how she was, Jamie flew her arms around him, holding him tight. She wasn't crying, but he could feel her tremble. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against chest. 

"It's over baby," he said in a shaky voice. Taking a deep breath, he buried his nose in her hair. "It's over."

He was proud of her, proud because she hadn't panicked. Instead, she had taken care of his little sister. His father had been wrong. She was the perfect Old Lady. Raking his fingers through her hair, he pulled back his face to look at her. Her skin was pale, her eyes wide. 

"You okay?" he asked quietly. 

She nodded, over his shoulder she looked at his mother. A moment later, her glance wandered off to Tessa, who was still hiding under the table. 

"I'll take her upstairs," she whispered. "She shouldn't see her mom like this."

Esai nodded. Leaning into her, he kissed her lips, then he let go of her. While Jamie helped his sister from under the table, Esai turned to his father, who had knelt down next to his wife and was holding her hand while the paramedics were examining her. 

"Is it bad?" he asked his father. 

Marcus looked up, the restlessness in his eyes causing a stab in his stomach. "She lost a lot of blood."

Esai nodded. His glance was drawn back to her body; the sight of all the blood made him feel sick. She had closed her eyes, seemed to have lost her consciousness. He was relieved that she wasn't in any pain right now, but it also scared him. Did this mean that her body was losing the fight? One didn't lose his consciousness without a good reason... 

His mother was hoisted on a gurney, his father got on his feet and laid a hand on Esai's shoulder. "I'm glad you and your girl are okay, son."

Esai nodded quietly. 

"I'll go to the hospital with your mom. Can you inform the others?"

"Yeah."

His father squeezed his shoulder, then he followed the paramedics outside. Esai took a deep breath. Once he was sure that his voice was no longer trembling, he called Norberto, his vicepresident. Briefly he described the shooting, telling him his mother had been transferred to the hospital. 

"Is there anything we can do?"

Esai looked around. The place was torn to pieces.  "Maybe you can sent a few girls to clean the place up? And a prospect to get a new window. It's a fucking mess around here, man."

"Got it. The rest of us will go to the hospital. Was it Ramirez?"

"I wouldn't know who else."

"I'll let someone ask around, there have to be witnesses."

"Okay, thanks." Esai ended the call and put the device away. 

A little awkwardly he turned to Jamie's mothers who had retreated to the kitchen. Strangely they looked less shocked than he'd expected. He thought back to the gun Roman had carried, making him wonder if they had been faced with danger before. 

Just when he wanted to ask them where Roman had gone to, someone opened the front door. Jamie's brother stood still in the doorway between the hallway and the living room, motioning Esai to come over. Esai walked over to him, noticing the blood stain on his sleeve.