cw: language, school shooting, guns, police violence, gang affiliation, unfiltered anger, mention of child abuse, mention of child neglect, mention of child abandonment
Shots-Fired-
The next morning, Kush woke up to a frantic stream of texts from his younger sister.
'KUSH!!'
'TEXT ME BACK'
'PLEASE'
'911'
He groaned at the repeated buzz of his phone before checking it. "Shit," he muttered, quickly texting her back to see what was wrong.
'Somebody's on my campus'
'They have a gun'
'I'm scared'
"Fuck," he cursed, throwing the comforter off to get up. He texted his sister to stay hidden, even if it meant she was behind someone else, then instantly called Leo.
Of course, his best friend didn't answer because he was in class, but that didn't stop Kush from calling again and again as he went to take Snoh's keys.
"Where you going?" she immediately asked.
"Ry said somebody on her campus got a gun."
She was up in seconds and driving them to Jourdan's house when Leo finally answered the phone.
...-༄
Leo sighed and walked out of class at the fifth call. "Bro, what?"
"It's somebody on Ryélle campus with a gun and I'm two hours away."
"It's a kid?"
"I don't know. It's either a kid or somebody that's supposed to be for me try'n'a take my sister while I'm not there. Either way it go, I need her safe. I don't care if everybody else in that mu'fucker die. My sister gotta make it out."
He'd already started running, "Aight, I'll let you know what happen."
"What?"
He stopped with a huff to speak, "I said 'I'll let you know what happen.' I'm finna go get her."
"Fasho. Be safe."
"No promises."
Leo hung up before taking off again. I really hope this just a kid that don't know what he doing.
The school wasn't at all on lockdown, which meant faculty had yet to find out about the weapon on campus. He went to the office for a visitor's pass then texted Ryélle to see where she was.
She replied instantly. 'Bathroom by the gym'
He went that way calmly, watching his surroundings for any sign of hostility that might suggest someone around him was armed.
He called for her as soon as he made it to the bathroom, "Baby K, let's go."
She ran out immediately to hug him, sobbing in his arms.
"Relax, li'l one. You know we ain't never go'n let shit happen to you," he assured.
He picked her up and walked off campus without saying a word to any of her teachers. All of her belongings were left behind, but it didn't matter because she was safe.
"How bad you need your book bag and stuff? Do I need to come back and get it?" he asked.
She shook her head silently, tightening her grip around him.
"You wanna go to my house and sit with my momma? 'Cause I gotta go back to class."
She only buried her face in his shoulder, which he understood as her wanting to stay with him.
He put her down when they were on the high school campus, letting her hold his hand and cling to his arm as he walked back into his class.
"Well, you just missed the whole lesson. You wanna tell me where you were?" his teacher called without turning around.
She finished writing on the board then faced him and was immediately taken aback. "And why you have a little girl with you?"
"Can we talk in the hall?" he returned.
She furrowed her brows and followed him out to the hallway. "What's going on?"
"There's a gun somewhere on campus at Grant. Kush on the way from San Antonio and this his li'l sister. Now that she out, you can call her school and let them know, but she wasn't finna stay there."
"Her teachers are supposed to be the ones protecting her in this kind of situation-"
"She staying with me. If she can't be here and I gotta take her home, that's cool, but she not go'n leave my side until her brother get here."
She sighed, "Go take a seat. Chances are we'll have to go into lockdown, too, since it's right down the street."
He went back to his seat, letting Ryélle sit on his thigh and lay against him. "You straight?" he asked, gently moving her hair out of her face.
She nodded silently.
The intercom chimed with an announcement that the school was going into lockdown. Several of the students were talking and panicking.
"Aye, all y'all, shut the fuck up. Cause if that mu'fucker come in here and put her in danger, I swear, I'm whooping everybody ass," he announced loudly.
Their teacher walked back in the room to quiet her students, then closed and locked the classroom doors before turning off the lights. Leo went to a corner at the back of the class, putting Ryélle behind him before sitting down.
"I'm scared," she whispered, shaking as she clung to him.
He took off his hoodie a gave it to her, knowing she always found comfort in oversized clothes. She hugged him again once it was on.
He reached over his shoulder to rub the top of her head for a moment, "Keep your head behind me. If I go anywhere, you stay right behind me unless one of us stays with you."
She nodded with a soft sniffle, "I want Kush."
He took her hands calmly, "He on the way back right now. Breathe, li'l one."
...-༄
Before that moment, Kush was talking to Jourdan with Snoh right beside him.
"Wait, hold on. Kentrell had another kid before he died?" he asked.
"No, A'merie had her with her second husband." He got up impatiently, "Can we talk about this in the car? Or if y'all ain't coming just say that, cause either way it go, I'm going to get my sister."
Jourdan sent a simple text message and headed for the door, "Who the hell said we wasn't going? I'm just tryna figure out what the fuck going on, the reason you in my house this early in the morning."
Kush followed silently, too lost in his own thoughts to come up with another response. They got in the car and started towards Corpus Christi-Jourdan's subordinates not far behind.
"So how you know this one of Shawn boys?" Jourdan asked as he drove. There were four cars tailing them on the way to Corpus Christi, everyone in them was ready for whatever.
"I don't," Kush replied. "It might just be a kid with a gun. But Shawn know me way better than I know him. He knew what school I was at and my locker number before I even knew who he was for real. I wouldn't put it past him to go after my baby while I'm gone."
...-༄
In present time, a round of gunshots rang loudly, just two halls away from where Leo and Ryélle were. The number of bullets that were let off so quickly made it all too obvious that whoever it was had an automatic rifle.
Ryélle flinched hard, gasping sobs overtaking her breathing. "I wanna go home," she whined.
He turned face her, shushing her as he wiped her tears and pulled her into his arms. "Kinda late for that. We stuck here now," he muttered inconsiderately.
"You're the worst. Where's Baby? And Dee?" she sniffled.
He pulled out his phone to text them, "Still here in they classes." He gave her the phone, letting her talk to them in attempts to calm her, especially considering Baby was much better with emotions.
'I'm scared' she texted simply.
The two of them sent back reassuring words and promised to protect her with their lives, but it didn't make her feel any better.
She gave Leo's phone back and hugged him tightly, I don't want y'all to die either.
She was still shaking but stopped when his hand came to rest on the back of her head. "I love you, kid. I won't let anything happen to you," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her head as more gunshots and screams flooded their ears.
She flinched at every round.
He pulled her ear to his chest and covered the other so she could focus on the sound of his heartbeat. He was completely calm, he'd been in multiple shootouts-at this point it was almost normal for him.
Damn, I wish I had my gun, he thought regretfully, knowing his pocket knife couldn't do much for protecting when there was a military-grade weapon involved.
The shooter was just outside their door when, suddenly, there were booming voices in the hallway.
"Drop your weapon! Get on the ground now!" an officer shouted.
Seconds later, several more shots rang out. Ryélle clung tightly to Leo, trying her best to stay silent as heavy tears streamed down her face.
He held her closer, silently listening to the sound of raining bullets, Police have single shot pistols and whoever that was had a AR... That AR only shot once after they showed up, so it's gotta be at least three cops emptying they clips on bruh right now.
Everything fell silent after the last shot rang. Leo was the only person in the room that was still calm.
"Is it over?" Ry whispered.
He nodded, "I think so."
"I wanna go home," she whined quietly.
Several of the other students were crying and hyperventilating, and their emotions only over flowed when the all-clear was given.
The moment everyone was released from their classrooms to leave the school, Darnell and London rushed over to Leonard's class.
Ry sobbed in their arms as they held and comforted her. Leo got up silently and left the room, trying to find any information on who the shooter was and what they were after, but considering they'd come from Ry's school and straight to theirs, he already had a decent idea.
Once Ryélle had calmed down enough and Leonard returned, the group headed for the front of the school. Ry walked directly behind Leo, Baby and Dee angled slightly behind her on either side to keep her surrounded.
It was another half-hour before Keyonte showed up at the front of the school, and the moment he stepped out of the car, Ryélle pushed his friends away to run to him.
"Kush!!" she whined, sprinting full speed to reach him. She ran straight into his chest, sobbing uncontrollably as she hugged him.
He kneeled to hold her, squeezed her tightly, and left a long, relieved kiss on her head. "I never should've left you alone," he sighed.
...-༄
When the incident report came out, there were six casualties-five students were injured and one killed.
The shooter opened fire at the middle school first before going to the high school to do the same.
The student who'd lost her life was in sixth grade just like Ryélle, and when her picture was plastered on the news, Kush's blood ran cold.
She looked just like his sister-brown skin, glasses, wild, curly hair-but she didn't have vitiligo. He knew it wasn't a coincidence. The killer was looking for her, they wanted Ryélle because they couldn't get to him-or considering their path of destruction, they wanted Ryélle and him.
He quickly switched off the TV and went to the guest room to check on his sister. Two of Jourdan's men stood armed just outside the door, in case anyone came to the house next.
She was nothing more than a lump in the comforter when he walked in the room. "Ry," he called to no response.
He took a seat beside her and placed a gentle hand where he thought her head was. "From now on, you won't go anywhere without protection. I'll hire a personal body guard for you if I have to," he promised, kissing the top end of the lump.
She lifted the bottom of the covers to poke her head out, "That's my feet."
He turned around to look at her as Jourdan snickered from the doorway. Ryélle instantly grabbed her brother in fear of the unknown man.
"Relax. You safe, Ry. This my dad old friend, Jourdan."
Jourdan walked in calmly and squatted in front of her. She sat up to hide behind Kush, just barely poking her head out to see him.
He was silent for a moment as he examined her face. A small smile spread across his as he sighed shortly, "Can't nobody say you ain't your momma daughter."
"You know my mom?" she asked quietly, still clinging to her older brother.
Jourdan nodded, "And his dad." He gestured to Kush. "He look like Saint, and you look like A'merie."
She didn't respond and he stood to his full height again. "What time your momma get off?"
"Why do you have a gun?" she countered, staring directly at the pistol tucked in his pants.
"To protect your family. Think of me as like your uncle or something," he replied, decidedly leaving the room without an answer to his own question.
It didn't matter when she'd be off, he'd be there until she was. He was only worried about when he'd be home to see his own daughter again-he hated being away from her.
"Don and River, and everybody that rode with them, go back home and make sure my babygirl straight. I don't give a damn how much she whine about it, she not leaving the house after sunset. Understand me?"
Eight people immediately left Snoh's house to return to San Antonio, leaving Huncho with only half the people he'd come with. But it wasn't as if that'd make a difference, his men were trained to kill on sight-if anyone they didn't know showed up hostile, they'd be gunned down before they could ever make it inside.
Four men were on the porch and in the yard, five more in the house-including Huncho, and every single one of them was armed with more than one firearm and already had their orders.
It was all just a waiting game now.
Snoh was sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of wine, one of Jourdan's men sitting with her.
"What'd you say your name was again?" she asked.
"Malakai," he responded shortly.
A red blush lightly tinted her cheeks as she unzipped her jacket, "Are you hot?"
He shook his head, "Maybe you should chill on the wine. You go'n be drunk soon if you ain't already."
She giggled, "You think so?" She leaned on the table, intentionally pressing her breasts up and tempting the hell out of him in the simple cami she wore-without a bra.
Goddamn, he thought. He stared at them for a moment and wet his lips with a quick swipe of his tongue as he met her eyes again silently.
"So you're assigned to me? You're supposed to stay by my side at all times?"
He nodded, "Something like that."
"Does that mean you'll be in my bed tonight?"
He furrowed his brows, "You know I'm only here cause I'm s'posed to protect you, right?"
"Don't act so shy. You've been watching me every time I get up and move away from you."
"That's my job," he snickered.
"Well, make it your job to fuck the shit out'a me. I'm drunk and horny, and you fine as hell," she returned.
Huncho chuckled softly, "Quit teasing my boys, Snoh."
"Just this one," she hummed, staring seductively at the man in front of her.
He walked over to his subordinate and spoke quietly in the man's ear, "I'll kill you if you try it. I don't give a fuck what you do to 'protect' her once we get home, but here, I need you on your shit."
Malakai nodded silently and Snoh sighed softly, having a good idea of what the man had said.
"Cockblock," she scoffed at Jourdan.
He snickered, "You'll be aight."
Another hour passed before A'merie finally showed up. Usually she'd just text her daughter that she was there, but this time she was taken out of her car.
"Who you?" one of the men asked at her window while the others watched from the porch.
"Who the hell are you, and why are you and all these other motherfuckers crowding around Snoh house?" she scoffed.
He looked over at one of the men standing on the porch and nodded at him before returning his attention to A'merie.
He stood tall beside the car door, using his tongue to swish his toothpick from the left to the right side of his mouth. "Step out for me."
"Where is my daughter?"
"I don't know who your daughter is. Get out the car, shawty," he replied.
"I'm not getting out of shit."
He sighed and quickly reached in the window to unlock the door before opening it. "I'm not finna play with you," he said, lifting his gun to her head. "Get yo' ass out and tell me who you is before I stop being nice."
"Rich, that's enough," Huncho called, stepping off the porch.
The man immediately backed off.
"Jourdan?" A'merie huffed in slight relief, tears still flooding her waterline.
He smiled, "Hey, beautiful. You miss me?"
"Where the fuck is my child?!" she yelled.
He hummed, "Which one?"
"Give me my little girl!" she demanded.
He shook his head, moving to put an arm around her shoulders, "And what about your boy, A? You don't care about him? I remember when Kush was your whole world."
She pushed him off to go inside with a scowl, "I don't have a boy." She stopped in her tracks seeing even more thugs inside.
"Ugh, shoot her," Snoh scoffed quietly. Malakai didn't even try to hide his laugh.
"Snoh," A'merie growled, marching over to the table.
"What?" she sighed.
She lowered her voice to a scolding whisper, "My daughter just got out of school shooting and you think it's okay to have her surrounded by all these...gangsters with even more guns?!"
"Girl, why is you acting like everybody in this bitch ain't come from the same damn place. Your daughter the only one here that wasn't born or raised in San Antonio. Get the fuck on with that uppity shit," she scoffed.
"Are you drunk?"
She sighed and stood, "Yes, A'merie. I am. It ain't exactly easy to cope with the fact that the same motherfucker that killed my brother is after my son now. Oh, and apparently your daughter, too. And chances are, either you or me go'n be next. So excuse me for trying to enjoy my life before it's taken from me."
"Ryélle!! Yo' momma here!" she practically roared in annoyance, heading for her bedroom. Malakai followed and she smirked back at him, "You coming with me?"
"I don't have a choice."
...-༄
After a long conversation with Jourdan, A'merie still refused to let her daughter go to San Antonio, nor would she be going.
Kush was infuriated. "So you go'n put my sister in danger 'cause you stubborn? That shit is so fucking crazy to me. You don't care about shit but getting your way, no matter who you hurt in the process."
"Watch your mouth, boy," she growled.
"My momma don't care if I cuss. And you ain't been her for some years, huh? You threw away your old life as soon as we moved out here. I had to beg you to see my fucking sister-"
"Keyonte, that's enough," she demanded.
The tension in the room was thick as everyone, including Ryélle, silently watched the two of them go back and forth.
"My name is Kush," he corrected.
Ryélle interrupted, "If I can't go to San Antonio, that means you're coming home with us... Right, Kush?" She was just barely hopeful, but that feeling died out completely at his response. It was the same as always.
"That ain't my home," he replied coldly, never even glancing at his sister.
"But you're supposed to stay with me, remember? You just said that!"
"And my other option was to get you a bodyguard, which I plan to do. I'm not coming with you, Ry."
"But Kush-"
He cut her off to speak to her mother instead, "A'merie, why you don't tell my sister the real reason I can't come with y'all?"
"Stop it," she warned.
"Why? She in middle school, she might as well know the truth. Especially, since it's a price on my head again. I might die the next time I step outside. Hell, maybe before that. Unlike you, I don't like lying to people."
"Keyonte, stop. There's enough going on without you bringing up old drama."
He laughed incredulously, "'Old drama'? So you mean to tell me that when you was neglecting me, telling me you hated me, that I was the reason my pops died, and then abandoning me here with my auntie that ain't know shit about how to raise a kid 'cause she was still one her damn self-all that shit just drama to you? You could've just put me in the system if you hated me so much. Then I could've been abused every day until I got adopted, it wouldn't've been no different from what you was doing."
Snoh moved to sit beside him and silently rubbed his back.
"Tell your daughter about how you hated looking at your first child 'cause I reminded you too much of my dad. Tell her how you told me you wish that bullet would've killed me, A'merie. A kid got killed today and she looked just like Ryélle. Same grade and everything. Do you wish she would've been the one to die, too? Or is it just a me thing?" he asked calmly.
A'merie only stared at the floor as she cried softly. The room was silent, her distanced sniffles being the only sound to fill the space.
"Mom?" Ryélle called softly.
The woman glared at her first born as she stood, "She's not coming with you. I won't let you put her in danger."
"She been in danger! A nigga went to her school today! What the fuck you think gone happen later?"
"Kush," Snoh called, trying to calm him.
He shrugged her off and stood up, "Marshawn was after all three of us! He killed my fucking dad, barely missed me and tried to get to you. He not fucking done, he not go'n be done until we dead, too. And it ain't even just us no more. He still want you, he for damn sure want me, and now he want her, too. Y'know why?"
Hot tears still streamed down A'merie's face as she shook her head, "Shut up."
"It's 'cause she yours, A'merie. He tryna tear apart everything that meant something to my pops. That's me, you, and my momma. But Ryélle mean some to all three of us, so that mean she worth something, too. You put a target on your daughter back. You put one on your own back, my back, and Snoh back, too."
"Kush," Snoh called again, trying to turn him away from her.
He didn't budge at all, "I might've killed my dad, but you killed our whole family. Which one of us really dangerous?"
His mom grabbed his face, forcing him to look down at her, "Kush, that's enough, baby. You made your point. Come sit down."
He didn't say anything else as she dragged him back to the couch.
"Ryélle, let's go," A'merie demanded.
"Can you, please, just wait a minute?"
"Now," she growled, walking out the door.
The girl quickly ran over to hug her brother and aunt tightly. She stepped up to Huncho nervously and he kneeled to her level.
"Please, protect us, too."
"Ain't nothing for you to worry about, princess. I'm'a handle all this shit," he assured.
She nodded as her mother yelled for her. She thanked and waved to everyone else quickly before running out.
"Good kid," he sighed.
"She shouldn't be involved in none of this shit," Kush muttered.
Snoh curled her legs up on the couch and pulled him into her arms, rubbing up and down his back.
"Neither should you, Snoh, or A'merie. I don't know what code Shawn been following since he got here, but that ain't how we rock at home. If you beefin' with a nigga, y'all beefin', but his family stay out of it."
Snoh spoke with a faraway look in her eyes. It was as if she wasn't fully there. "He used to believe that, too. He was one of my brother's best friends when we was still in San Antonio. Trell started changing shit, though, try'n'a bring everybody together and get the community right. Crips were hood angels for a while. Apparently, Trell got recognized, and next thing I knew, my big brother was head huncho."
"We finally had money. Bills was paid, it was good food on the table. But I always felt like it was something...weird about Shawn. But Trell was always tryna see the good in people, so he just brushed it off saying he was just a private person. But I know my brother, so I know he saw it, too. Shawn respected A'merie, too, until she got pregnant. He used to always come over and be on the slick try'n'a convince her not to have Kush."
"He was the one that put a price on Kush head before he was ever born, 'cause he thought Kush was go'n be a prince or some shit, like Trell was try'n'a build a empire. I moved out a couple years after Kush was born and the plan was for them to come with me after Trell got off the streets. Then my brother said he was done, and y'all know the rest."
Jourdan sighed and looked at Kush, "Your daddy was a good man. Don't you ever think he wasn't just 'cause he was in a gang."
"You ain't gotta tell me that. I know my pops," he replied blankly.
It was silent for a moment before Jourdan announced to everybody that they were leaving soon. A few of the men took turns in the guest bathroom while others asked Snoh if she had any snacks in the kitchen.
Once everybody was ready, they loaded the cars and got back on the road towards San Antonio.
Rolling...-༄