Mariah's POV
*
"--Wake up! We here." The sky was pitch black as we rolled up on a tore up house. The street was lined with a couple of streetlights, flushing a couple of spots with white light. I could see that the rest of the houses were tore up on the street.
"Damn," I grumbled, rubbing my sore neck. I opened the car door and got out, walking slowly towards the house. My mama called me from upstairs.
"Baby girl, this is your room." Mama opened up the door, revealing a room with dark pink walls, a bed with a black comforter and pink pillows, a black dresser and chest of drawers, and a decent sized T.V.
Where the hell she get all of this money?
I hugged her and kissed her on the cheek, smiling.
"Thanks, Ma." I say, falling on the bed. Sleep immediately overcame me.
___
I shielded my eyes from the sunlight shining through the blinds above my bed. I got up and walked out of the bedroom, wandering the find the kitchen. Mama and Marcus were sitting at the small table, whispering.
"What's goin' on?"
"Baby, sit down. We wanna tell you why we had to move down here." She sighed and pointed to the chair on the opposite side of them.
"So, why?" Marcus spoke up.
"Couple of years ago, I got caught up in some deep shit. I wanted to be a Blood so bad, Mariah. I finally got in, and I realized that shit ain't a joke like I played it to be. I seen people get killed, done shot niggas, done robbed niggas, did some crazy shit. I didn't wanna do it no more, but I couldn't just leave, breathing." He stopped once I let out a shaky breath.
"Live by it, die by it." I repeated the words my daddy whispered coldly, before he emptied the whole clip on a gang member. I knew I wasn't supposed to see. I didn't understand then, but I did now.
He was trying to leave.
"I tried to tough it out, I ain't wanna drag you nowhere, but they was gone kill me. They found out I was trying to leave and put money on my head." I went from sad, to heated.
"You knew daddy died by the gun--by the gang-- and you still fucked with it?" I hissed. It slipped before I could stop it. They both looked at each other, a sad look on their face.
"Mariah..." Mama breathed out, taking one last look at Marcus.
"Ya daddy ain't dead. He's here...in Baton Rouge. He's the one that's paying for the stuff in this house."
"We not gone be in this house for long. It was just something we could get on short notice." They kept on talking, and their words were hazing together. I jumped up out of the chair, running to my room. I slammed my door, sitting on the edge of the bed. I felt tears roll down my face.
Daddy is alive.