By the look on Kathy's face, I could tell that she wasn't in the mood to hear it. She glanced to the side and stared blankly at the wall, then turned back to me.
"What happened now, Josh?" Kathy asked me.
"My family is going through some really tough shit right now." I mumbled.
I glanced down at my twiddling fingers, sighing afterwards.
"My aunt is hovering between life and death and my cousin sprung out about it. The twin brother of Isaiah." I groaned, scratching my head. "Basically Isaiah need me to help him get back on track with Kayson, Tyler, his brother, all of that...."
Kathy glanced at me, then placed a smile on her face.
"Okay." Kathy smiled.
My eyes widened as I turned to her and gave her a serious look.
"That's it?" I gasped.
"Yeah. I understand." Kathy nodded. "This is a serious situation, and I would never try to keep you away from your family."
"Well, what about last time?"
"Last time was stupid, Josh. You just wanted to stay here just to stay here." Kathy groaned. "This time, your family needs you. That's more important than anything."
I was so happy she finally understood. Still, I wasn't sure if I was staying there just yet. It would all ride on what happened to Aunt Shay and if she came out alright.
The next day, Isaiah drove Kayson to school. Tyler did it sometimes, but her morning sickness kept her from doing anything. She was now 2 months pregnant. Since today was the day that the cops said that they could clear Kayson out and put him back in, Isaiah figured that he could drop him off there at school. When Isaiah dropped him off at the door of his classroom, Mrs. Allen stepped out into the hall and gave Isaiah a blank look.
"I'm here to drop my son off." Isaiah sighed as he looked down at Kayson. "You be good, Kays-"
"Actually, I can't let you do that." The teacher sighed.
Isaiah scrunched his eyebrows at her, giving her a funny look.
"Why not?" Isaiah snarled.
"Because I've had him removed from the class."
"Come on, nah!" Isaiah growled. "That shit was a week ago-"
"He never behaves, curses like a sailor, and the students in my class are afraid of him because of his violent temper." Mrs. Allen growled. "He's going to have to be moved to a different class. Sorry."
As Mrs. Allen shut the door, Kayson teared up and looked up at Isaiah. Isaiah crouched down and hugged his son, listening to Kayson sniff and wipe his tears on his shoulder.
"Why dey don't like me?" Kayson cried in a low tone.
"Because they don't deserve nobody as special as you, Kays." Isaiah said as he grabbed Kayson's hand. "Come on, lil man. We'll take you somewhere else."
I have no clue why Isaiah was putting the blame on the teachers when it was his fault that Kayson acted the way he did.
Meanwhile, Aunt Shay was still fighting. She'd managed to awake again. The doctors took the bullet out of her upper chest, but they had one more to take out. The one that was a little lodged in the left side of her neck. Of course, Noah was taking care of her. That's how he wanted it to be. As it cleaned her area around, Aunt Shay opened her eyes halfway and glanced up at him.
"I talked to Isaiah, Noah..." Aunt Shay whispered as Noah quickly turned around.
Aunt Shay wasn't supposed to be awake, so this caught him off guard. His eyes widened at her as he rushed to her side, sitting on the stool next to her.
"Momma." Noah whispered loudly. "You're awake!"
Aunt Shay closed her eyes, cracking a large smile.
"They got me goin' through surgery after surgery, huh?" Aunt Shay laughed in her weak tone.
"You only got one more, momma." Noah nodded. "We just gotta take that bullet outta your neck."
Aunt Shay managed to open her eyes a little, glancing at Noah again.
"Isaiah told me what's been going on between you and that girl." Aunt Shay whispered.
Noah glanced down, looking away as Aunt Shay opened her eyes a little more.
"Why'd you put your hands on her, Noah?"
Noah paused again, then looked back up at his mother.
"I got so drunk that I don't even remember doing it...." Noah sighed. "Everyone else has this clear picture, but I don't.......I haven't talked to her since she left my house."
Aunt Shay closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Is that what you want my granddaughter to see, Noah?" Aunt Shay asked. "It's not good for her, y'know."
"Mama, I swear on grandmothers grave that I didn't intentionally put my hands on her. I would never put my hands on ANY female." Noah said in a serious tone. "But for some reason nobody believes me. Not even Isaiah....."
As Noah bowed his head a little, Aunt Shay placed her hand on top of Noah's hand and smiled.
"I believe in you, baby. I raised you and Isaiah right." Aunt Shay smiled. "I know you wouldn't ever put your hands on a woman, especially after what your father did to me."
Noah started to tear up again as he laid his watery eyes back on his mother.
"You my only friend, mama. Don't nobody else listen or even want to get to know me." Noah sniffed. "This is why I'm spiralin' outta control at this moment."
"Ain't nothin' wrong with being a loner, Noah. You don't need friends to feel complete." Aunt Shay whispered. "All you need is me, Isaiah, Josh, Asha, and my grandbaby Lily. No one else."
Noah kissed his mother on the cheek, then smiled at her.
"Thank you, mama." Noah smiled. "I love you."
"I love you too, Noah." Aunt Shay smiled. "Now run off to Asha and let her know how special you think she is. I'll be here pullin' through my next surgery."
And this is why Noah was going crazy. Noah was in the process of losing the one person who listened, understood, and cared the most about him. Aunt Shay. As long as she was around, he didn't need anyone in his life other than the people Aunt Shay just listed.
If Aunt Shay dies, he doesn't know what he'll do.
As night came about, Stacey picked me up from the hotel so that we could go to the club. We'd been attempting to have a good time every time we met up, but it seemed like it would always fly south. When I got inside of the car, I seen Isaiah driving the van with Carlos in the passenger seat, Q and Asha in the middle, and Stacey sitting with his legs out in the back.
Based on how their outfits looked, I could tell that they weren't ready.
"Shit, am I the only one looking flyer that y'all asses?" I snarled as I shut the van door and closed the door.
"Hi Josh!" Kayson and Lily squealed from the back.
I scrunched my eyebrows at them, looking up at everybody else.
"Uh, why are the kids-"
"Isaiah's gonna drop them off to Tyler on the way to the club." Asha giggled. "We're gonna just get ready at 'Los's house."
When I sat next to them, I noticed that Q had his arm around Asha while he sat on his phone by the window. He didn't have his arm around her shoulder or anything, but he had it around her seat. Asha only looked at him as a brother, but Q always looked at her as his crush.
Anyway, we drove 7 minutes down the strip since my hotel was close to there. We arrived at Schaefer 5 minutes later, parking in front of Carlos's and sitting in the car for a while.
"So how's Aunt Shay?" I asked as I looked at Isaiah.
"Straight. Noah told me that she woke up again." Isaiah sighed. "My momma strong so that's why I air stressin' it. She'll pull through."
Before we could get out of the car, another van screeched beside ours. Suddenly, two masked men snatched out their guns and pointed it inside of Isaiah's window.
"We want that white and we want it now, nigga!" The first gunman barked, pointing the gun at Isaiah's left temple.
Isaiah groaned and shook his head, looking out of the front window. All of our moods changed in the car. Isaiah turned and looked at Lily and Kayson as they gazed from the backseat. Kayson was terrified out of his mind. Just as everyone was about to start drawing their guns, Isaiah put his hand out and shook his head.
"Nah man nah nah nah." Isaiah said, shaking his head. "It's alright, y'all!"
Next, Isaiah did something I never thought that he would do. He took out his block of cocaine from the side and handed it to them.
"Just take it and get outta here.." Isaiah growled.
"WHAT?!" Everyone inside of the van chanted.
"And they said that this nigga would've put up a fight!" The second masked gunman laughed as they got back inside of the van. "Let's bail!"
"Isaiah you just gave that nigga damn near $10,000 dollars!" Carlos shouted. "What the hell was tha-"
"Do you see who back there, Carlos! Look at who in the backseat!" Isaiah yelled back. "My son and my niece is back there! What would've happened if them niggas started bussin' at us while they was in the car!?"
"Fuck that!" Stacey snapped as he jumped out of the car.
And that's when it all began.
Stacey snatched out his semi automatic handgun and started shooting at the van, blowing all of their tires. As the van stopped, Carlos and Q jumped out and also started firing. Me, Isaiah, Asha, and the kids scrunched down inside of the van as the front windows shattered.
"Josh! Asha!" Isaiah called out from the front seat. "Y'all good?"
"Yeah!" We both replied.
"Cover Kays and Lily fo' me!" Isaiah yelled as the loud noise of gunshots rang into our ears. "I gotta go out and help them, man!"
And we did as Isaiah said.
Me and Asha grabbed Lily and Kayson and shielded them with our bodies just in case any of the bullets flew inside of the car. Back at old times, Isaiah got out of the car, crouched down beside, and exchanged gunfire with one of the men too. As all four of them shot four bullets into the gunman's shoulders, he fell down onto the ground and started moaning. Isaiah and the others stood back onto their feet, looking at their guns.
"I'm out of bullets!" Carlos yelled.
"Me too!" Q and Stacey called out.
"Don't worry, y'all. It was only two people in that van." Isaiah sighed.
Out of nowhere, four more men got out with semi automatic handguns. Carlos, Q, Isaiah, and Stacey's eyes widened as they ran to the back of the van and shielded themselves from the hail of gunfire.
"Shit!" Carlos called out. "How the hell we gone get the guns if my house ova there?"
"We can't walk out or we gone get lit up!" Isaiah chanted.
"Come on out you pussy ah' niggas!" One of the gunmen shouted. "Y'all wanted a gunfight, so y'all got it!"
As if the moment wasn't crazy already, we heard a car circle and screech into the complex, wildly parking next to our van.
It was Noah.
Noah got out of the car and shot one of the men three times in the collarbone, causing him to fall violently onto the ground. As everyone started firing at him, Noah placed his back to his car and crouched down, holding the gun by his face. Isaiah and the others looked at him in shock as Noah peeked through the window of his car and fired multiple rounds, hitting and striking the other gunman. The driver of the vehicle tried to fire some shots at Noah, but he was out of bullets. As Noah stood up and glanced at him, the heavyset man dragged three of his friends into the back of his van, got back inside of his car, and sped out of the complex.
As smoke from the guns filled the street of the complex, Noah stood up and snatched his hood off of his head, looking down at Isaiah and the others.
"Y'all....." Noah panted, especially since he was out of breath. "Y'all alright?"
"Yeah." Isaiah sighed.
As Noah helped Isaiah up, Carlos, Q, and Stacey stood up and brushed the glass off of themselves and looked inside the van.
"Y'all straight?" Carlos panted.
Me and Asha looked at Kayson and Lily. There wasn't a scratch on them. They were safe.
"We're fine." We chanted.
"How the hell you learn how to shoot like that?" Isaiah asked.
"Grand theft auto." Noah laughed. "I used to play it in your room when you left the house. Heh heh."
Isaiah gave Noah a hug, then cracked a small smile.
"Noah, i'ma go get my son and my niece." Isaiah sighed as he headed to the van.
As Noah stood aside, Carlos and Stacey gave him a pat on the back.
"You got heart, man." They nodded. "Thank you."
As Carlos and Stacey stepped onto the shattered glass of the car, Q walked up to Noah and sighed. They both smiled and gave each other some dap in respect.
"I got respect fo' you, man." Q smiled. "Just treat Asha better, alright?"
"Speaking of her, where is she?" Noah asked.
"In the van."
"Asha...." Noah said in a breathless tone, jogging up to her. "I........"
Suddenly, Noah jolted to the side and started coughing up blood. When Isaiah seen him, he ran over to his aid and helped him stand back up.
"Is dat blood?" Isaiah asked.
"Y-Yeah...." Noah coughed, spitting the last of it out.
"You hit?"
Noah lifted up his shirt and looked around his body. There wasn't a single bullet wound in his stomach, torso, arms, hands, shoulders, chest, anywhere. Noah lifted up his jogging pants and examined his legs. Nothing. He scrunched his eyebrows and started feeling on his head and neck to see if he was shot there.
Nothing. No blood, no cuts, nothing.
"I'm not hit..." Noah said in a confused tone. "What the.......?"
But if Noah wasn't shot or injured, why was he coughing up blood?