After the argument, Jionni's father stormed out of the room. When he saw Jionni standing there, he walked out of the home and went somewhere else. Jionni scrunched his eyebrows and stepped inside, giving Diana a confused look.
"Oh uh.....hey Jionni...." Diana murmured as she sat on her bed, rubbing her forehead.
"What was he talkin' bout?" Jionni asked.
Diana looked up at him, taking a deep breath.
"He got another girl pregnant while he was out on bond 10 months ago. He didn't want the baby so he put him up fo' adoption..." Diana groaned. "The baby's mother been lookin' all ova for her son that-"
"So I got a little brother?"
Diana nodded her head as Jionni rubbed his face, walking back and forth.
"I'm thinking the same thing."
"Well what agency he at?" Jionni asked. "I wanna go see hi-"
"Jionni, we're returnin' the baby to his mom and dassit." Diana said in a serious tone. "I don't want you gettin' all attach-"
"No I know, but I still wanna see him." Jionni said. "Please?"
Diana gave him a blank expression as she grabbed her keys and got up out of the bed.
"Alright, let's go."
Jionni and Diana drove 20 minutes to the adoption agency that Jarold gave his second son away from almost 2 months ago. When they got there, Diana walked to the front desk and asked if she could see a baby named Jarold Jr. The woman escorted them to the room that was filled with infants, taking them to the baby that they were looking for. Jionni walked over and gazed down at the dark skinned infant who had a head full of hair. The baby was awoke, but could barely open his eyes all the way. Diana placed her hand on Jionni's shoulder as she pulled out her phone.
"I got the number from your fathers phone." Diana said. "I'm gonna call his mother and tell her to pick him up."
As Diana stepped out of the room, Jionni smiled down at his baby brother. He resembled a lot like the son he had 5 years ago. If he were alive today, his child would be an uncle. Jionni picked the infant up as it laid wrapped in a blue blanket, bonding with him as much as he could before his mother came.
"Damn." Jionni mumbled lowly to him while a few other adopting people bonded with their upcoming babies. "You look just like JJ."
The baby sneezed as inched around in his blanket, yawning and clicking his tongue. Jionni couldn't help but to think heavily about JJ. If he were still alive, what would they be? Where would his son be? How would he look? Jionni turned away and wiped a small tear from his eye, looking at his shoulder and gazing at the only remaining thing he had left.
His tattoo.
Almost 30 minutes later, Jarold's mother rushed through the establishment, hastily looking for her son. When she found him, she found Jionni holding him inside of the room. She snatched her boy out of his arms and held him tightly, bawling loudly as she clutched her baby in her arms. When she got there, the police were already there to cover for her. Diana let them know that the baby was given up out of the mothers will. Jionni watched for 10 minutes as they cleared her out, then watched the woman drive off with her son. Jionni stood by the window as Diana placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Ma?" Jionni murmured.
"Yes, baby?"
"Do you thank I can go see him again?"
Diana gazed out of the window, shaking her head.
"Probably not."
On the way home, Jionni sat silent inside of the car. He didn't know how he should feel about the entire thing. His father was being dishonest, his father was never there for him, and his father was a con.
But Jionni wanted answers on why his mother didn't want him.
"So you ain't want me when I was younger, huh?"
Diana looked over at Jionni as he stared blankly out of the window.
"What?" Diana scoffed. "What you talkin' bou-"
"You know what I'm talkin' bout, ma." Jionni interrupted as he looked at her. "Why you wanna abort me when I was younger?"
Diana shook her head and gazed angrily out of the window.
"That bastard told you, huh?" She growled to herself.
"Dis' ain't 'bout him, ma! Dis' bout YOU!" Jionni snapped. "Why you ain't want m-"
"Because I had no way of supportin' you, Jionni!" Diana yelled back.
Jionni glared evily at her as she focused back on the road, shaking her head.
"I didn't want you, I admit it. I didn't want children at all but I fell for someone as dumb as yo' father. Was I wrong, yes? Did I change my mind? Yeah. I changed my mind the second I saw you in dat' delivery room. From here on out, my life was 'bout supportin' you." Diana snarled. "Your father told you that to turn you against me."
Jionni looked out of the window, remaining silent as Diana looked back ahead.
"I'm sorry, Jionni." Diana mumbled. "But now you know I'll do anything fo' you. I'm not like your father. He ain't gone be back afta' today-"
"Nah, he'll be back to see me." Jionni said in a low and confident tone. "I know he will."
"He won't, Jionni. I can bet on that."
And unfortunately, Jionni never saw his father since. He remained on the run since this incident.
For the next two months, Melissa and Jionni spent a majority of their school time doing these childish pranks towards each other. In February for Jionni's birthday, Melissa found another one of his assignments and threw it through a shredder. This didn't stop him from partying with half of the school for his big 18. But afterwards, Jionni filled Melissa's entire swim bag with nacho cheese and hamburger meat from lunch. While pulling these immature pranks, Jionni and Kiara managed to maintain a decent friendship. Melissa on the other hand, stuck with the girls. She also helped Sway with boxing class for his anger, which was helping according to his mom. Also, Melissa pulled her grades up so quick that her father gave her her car keys and cell phone back as a reward. After taking two drug tests as well to clear her name, Mrs. M decided to give her another chance for the swim team and right before the nationals.
This was Jionni's time to make his move.
In between fourth hour classes, Jionni and Chevy took a hall pass out of their classes and crept to Melissa's locker. Since Melissa put a new lock on there, Chevy used a lock picker that he had from home and knocked it off, watching Jionni open it and rummage through her bag. He grabbed the original orange Gatorade that was inside and placed the one that Chevy made inside of her bag.
"Nah you sure this'll make her fall asleep befo' she swim?" Jionni asked.
"Yeah." Chevy smiled. "She won't taste shit."
Jionni placed the spiked Gatorade inside of her bag as they shut the locker and crept back to their classes. After school, Jionni and Chevy waited at the end of the hall as Melissa opened her locker and grabbed the drink. She unscrewed it and took one gulp, carelessly walking off. Jionni gave Chevy a smack on the hand as they headed out of the door.
"Say Chevy, why 'ont we go watch her swim at nationals?" Jionni smiled.
"Shit, lesdoit."
Jionni and Chevy googled the directions to her swimming class. It was only 10 minutes away and it would be the first time that they had nationals at that building in the last 5 years. When the two arrived, the place was loaded with people. The crowd was filled with relatives, the floor was filled with swimmers and refs, and the atmosphere was good. Chevy leaned close to Jionni's ear, looking around.
"Where da' hell we supposed to sit?" Chevy murmured.
"Shit, ion' know." Jionni murmured back.
Chevy looked around, then started walking.
"Come on."
Jionni and Chevy walked into the bleachers and moved to the top where there was limited space. As they scooted in, Chevy nudged Jionni's shoulder and pointed at her.
"Aye, dere' she go!" Chevy whispered loudly.
Jionni grinned as they watched Melissa walk in. Her bottle looked like it was just as full as it was when she drank it at the school.
"Did she even drink anythang?" Jionni asked in confusion.
"Don't look like it." Chevy mumbled in confusion.
The two watched as Melissa rubbed her forehead with her hand, standing there for a little bit. Her friends latched onto her arm as she snapped out of her dazed form and walked inside of the locker room with her.
"DAMN!" Jionni smiled as him and Chevy got hyped. "She barely drank shit and she already tired as hell!"
"One gulp, nigga!" Chevy laughed. "One gulp!"
Almost 5 minutes later, the announcers announced that the swimming was about to start.
"Alright, in 20 minutes we will start our 79th annual swimming competition!" The announcer chanted over the intercom. "I hope that you guys are rea-"
"SOMEBODY HELP!!!!"
Camille sprinted out of the girls locker room screaming and crying at the top of her lungs.
"Melissa's not breathing!!! There's a swimmer in here who collapsed!!!" Camille screamed in a tone so loud that it echoed throughout of the swim class. "Her face is turning blue! She's not breathing!"
Maria quickly covered her mouth as her and Rodrigo joined the upcoming crowd that ran into the women's locker room. Jionni and Chevy jumped out of their seats as Jionni gave him a terrified look.
"What the hell just happened!?!" Jionni panted.
"Ion' know!" Chevy panted back as they jumped down the bleachers. "She was 'sposed to just fall asleep!"
Jionni could hear his heart beating in his ears. He rushed and barged through the people crowding by the door when he saw her being carried out in a stretcher. Her face was a faded blue and she wasn't moving. Jionni's eyes widened as he covered his mouth, watching as she escorted out of the building. An ambulance backed up near the door and escorted her out, leaving her team to wonder.
"What are we gonna do about the competition now, Mrs. M?" One of the teammates asked in a nervous tone.
"The competition is gonna have to g on. We'll have to go see Melissa afterwards." Mrs. M sighed.
Mrs. M shook her head as the ambulance drove off.
"Some people you just can't help..." Mrs. M murmured.
"How dare you. How dare you! My daughter gave you two drug tests! Did you see her damn face!? She was BLUE!" Maria scowled at her. "She was not taking any drugs!!!"
Maria shook her head and grabbed Rodrigo's arm as they stormed out of the building.
"Let's get out of here, Rodrigo." Maria sniffed as tears ran down her eyes.
Jionni jogged back into the gym and found Chevy staring out of the door.
"Chev, we gotta go to da' hospital." Jionni panted in a scared tone. "I gotta make sure she aight."
"I got you, mane!"
Chevy and Jionni rushed to the hospital to check on the status of Melissa. When they arrived 12 minutes later, Trina and the girls, Sway, Louis, Fran, Rosa and Melissa's parents were already there. Maria and Rodrigo impatiently waited for the result of Melissa's status, not knowing what was going on. Jionni walked up to Rosa as Rosa glanced up at him. By her smeared makeup, he could tell that she was crying all day.
"Wats da' word?" Jionni whispered.
"They don't know." Rosa sniffed. "That's what we're waiting on."
10 minutes turned into 20, 20 turned into 40 and 40 turned into an hour. An hour and 10 minutes later, the doctor walked out into the hall to deliver the news.
"By the family's request, we ask that the news only be delivered to them." The female doctor said in a calm tone, speaking to Melissa's friends.
Jionni and the others stepped back as the family went into the secluded hallway. The doctor gave them a sad look as they pulled their papers.
"Melissa's stable, but that doesn't mean she's alright." The doctor said. "With these high levels of rat poisoning and sleeping medicine in her system, she'll be lucky if she makes it through the ni-"
"Wait wait wait, RAT POISONING?" Rosa interrupted. "Where the hell would that have came from?"
"Yes ma'am. Rat poisoning or 'arsenic' poisoning. We're guessing that it's from food poisoning." The doctor sighed. "Has Melissa complained about any foods giving her a stomach ache?"
"My daughter was poisoned!?" Maria scowled.
"Everything she eats is home-cooked since she isn't allowed to eat fast food for her swim class!" Rodrigo plead.
"Well whoever has been cooking for her might've poisoned her-"
"Never. Me and Fran cook EVERYTHING for her since she's staying with us. Everything she eats, we eat." Louis said in a serious tone. "I wouldn't DARE poison my sister. I'd shoot myself in the head before I did something deadly."
"Well something that she's ate, drank, or inhaled contained arsenic. With levels this high, I highly doubt that this was by accident. This was intentional." The doctor said in a serious tone. "If she makes it through the night, she'll be lucky."
Maria placed her head on Rodrigo's shoulder and started bawling loudly as the doctor tried their hardest to console the family. All of them were losing it. The whole time, Trina was listening through the bathroom door. She walked out into the hall, giving all of Melissa's friends a sad look.
"Well, what dey' say!?" Mercedes asked as they all jumped out of their seats.
Trina's eyes welled with tears as she placed her fingers together.
"There's a high chance dat' she won't make it thru the night..." Trina said in a shaky tone as tears shot out of her eyes.
Everyone gave Trina a terrified look, especially Chevy and Jionni. Jionni placed his hands on the back of his head and started pacing back and forth in front of the exit. His heart was pounding, his ears were ringing, and his legs were going back and forth.
"G, it's gone be aight!" Chevy whispered as he rushed up to him, placing his hands on his shoulders.
Jionni continued to take deep breaths and pace, breathing heavily to contain himself. Suddenly, it wasn't working. Every memory that he had with Melissa surged through his mind within 10 seconds. Jionni stood there for a while, then realized that his body couldn't handle it. He collapsed and passed out on the floor, lying sprawled out as his friends rushed by his side.
"Jionni!" They all called out.
"Someone help him!" Trina yelled at the doctors as they rushed to get more assistance.
"A person has collapsed out on the floor!" The lady at the front desk chanted out loud. "Someone get him some assistance and a stretcher!"
Melissa possibly dying and it being Jionni's fault was obviously too much for him to bear. But the one thing that Jionni didn't have an idea about, was the rat poisoning.
The question was, where did it come from?