Knowledge
As you can probably figure out, Amber was furious when we told her what Tahj had done. She was on the brink of leaving him for good; for the sake of Lilly. I would hate to see my bro lose the best thing that ever happened to him but I can't blame the man for trying to save his momma. I just gotta make sure we finish this shit before we lose control.
I urged Amber to send a note to Lilly's school telling them that she would be out for a while. When the truth was, they were hiding out at my place. Now that Tahj escaped, it wouldn't take long before word got back to Cyrus.
The stakes were higher now than they ever were before. More lives are going to be lost after this is all done.
I've managed to keep control of this situation but things were quickly getting out of hand.
And little did we know...
Things were about to get worse, a whole lot worse. And I don't think any of us were ready for it!
This Is How It All Went Down.
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"Dre can you do me a favor and take Lilly upstairs to play for a minute? " Said Amber
Dre kindly took Lilly up to the play room that Knowledge had set up just for her.
Then Amber directed her attention back to Knowledge and Stacy who were sitting at the kitchen island.
"You just expect me to sit here while you go run off to find Tahj? "
"It's better that way, " Said Knowledge.
"That way you can be here for Lilly. She's still a bit traumatized."
"Don't give me that sob shit Kai! I know what I'm doing."
"He's right Amber. If we all go running after Tahj, who's gonna be here for Lilly? This shit is gonna get dangerous and if we lose Tahj-"
"We ain't losing Tahj! " Amber shouted.
"Look sis this ain't some ordinary man we dealing with. " Knowledge intervened. "This man has been spreading out all over the states killing and taking control. He's weaker now only because he doesn't have the man power here in LA. If we don't finish this shit now, there'll be no Kai, no Stacy, no Amber, no Tahj, no Lilly, no anybody! "
Amber paused. The reality of the situation came crashing over her suddenly. She tugged at her hair and then broke down to the floor.
"I understand..... And you're right, Lilly does need me." She cried. Do what you gotta do. "
Knowledge knelt down and rested his head on her shoulder. "I promise I'll bring him back alive and in one piece. "
As they hugged, Stacy thought she heard something coming from the basement.
"Ssh," She told them. "Y'all hear that? "
Amber and Knowledge paused to listen.
There was another loud noise that raised their alarms.
"Somebody's in the house. " Amber whispered.
"Stacy go get Dre and Lilly. " Said Knowledge.
Just as Stacy began to move towards the stairs...
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Five gunmen burst through the door, kicking it to the ground. Bullets blazing and flying through the house!
"Get down! " Knowledge yelled.
Amber hid behind the island.
Knowledge reached for the two handguns he had stashed in a secret compartment at the bottom of the island counter.
He slid one to Stacy who had just jumped back in time when the bullets came flying in. And the other to Amber.
For himself, he took the Glock-19 from the pantry and joined them in shooting back at the gunmen!
That's when Stacy saw two more men come up from the basement and run upstairs.
"No! " She yelled and got up to chase them
"Stacy what the hell are you doing! " Knowledge called to her. But she kept running. Dre and Lilly were upstairs and she knew these guys wouldn't hesitate to kill kids.
When she got to the top of the stairs she caught a glimpse of them entering the room.
She could hear Dre and Lilly screaming! So she ran faster.
She pushed the door open and fired, praying she didn't hit Dre or Lilly. Instead she shot the smaller guy in the back of the head!
But she was immediately met with a hard punch to the face by the heavier guy. She tumbled to the ground and found herself under his control as he sat on top of her and tightened his hands around her throat.
Stacy kicked and thrashed around trying to reach her gun but she was losing consciousness fast.
"Who gets the last laugh now? "I've been waiting to get my hands on you. And now I'll be the one who gets paid for turning you in. " The man laughed.
Lilly was curled up in the corner crying.
"Lilly hide in the closet now." Said Dre.
Lilly got up and ran to the closet; locking herself inside.
Dre saw the other gun in front of him. Now was his time to help. Now, while the big guy had his back turned!
Dre quickly picked up the gun and fired! The first shot hits the ribs, the second shot hits the leg.
Before he could fire again the man got up, undeterred from being shot and punched Dre in the face.
Dre fell down and crawled backwards as the man picked up the gun and came towards him.
"Sorry kid." Said the man.
"No witnesses"
"Nooo!" Stacy screamed
She struggled to get up but realized she was too late when she heard the four shots go off.
Dre was dead....
Time suddenly felt like it had slowed down.....
She watched Dre's body jolt violently as if it were in slow motion.....
When in fact it happened so fast that she couldn't stop it.....
And almost as fast as time had suddenly slowed down, Stacy snapped back to reality.
Full of rage, Stacy took her gun, placed it to the back of the man's head and blew his temple wide open!
" Lilly?" She cried out
"I'm in here. I'm ok. "
Stacy was relieved but hurt at the same time. By now, the gunfire downstairs had ceased.
She didn't know if Amber was dead or worse Knowledge. She didn't know if the intruders retreated or if they were killed. All she knew was that Dre was dead, and all to save her life.
She dropped down to her knees and held Dre in her lap.
When she heard footsteps coming, she was ready to die to protect Lilly from the intruders.
"Can I come out Aunt Stacy?" Lilly whimpered.
"Not yet Lilly, I hear somebody else coming. Stay down and stay quiet. "
She replied with a broken voice.
Despite her heavy heart, she raised her gun with her right hand while still holding Dre's head with the left.
The tears filled up again as she figured this would be the end of her. Cyrus had finally come to finish her off and there was no where to run or hide. But if killing her would save Lilly, she would gladly welcome death. Never having a chance to say goodbye to Knowledge would be the hardest part.
With a shaky hand, she held the gun up to the door and rested her finger on the trigger.
"Stacy!"
Much to Stacy's relief, it was only Knowledge and Amber who came running in.
She dropped her gun and went limp as he dropped to the floor after seeing Dre's lifeless body.
"Damn Dre." He hung his head.
"Wait where's Lilly!" Amber panicked
"I'm here mommy! " Lilly ran out of the closet crying and jumped into her mother's arms.
Amber fell to the floor and hugged her daughter as tight as she could.
"Don't let her see him like this. " Knowledge told Amber.
Amber nodded and quickly took Lilly out of the room.
"I-I tried to save them but..... Dre shot him and then he.. he.. "
"It's ok baby. You did what you could. If it wasn't for you, Lilly wouldn't be here either. "
He wiped the tears from her eyes and hugged her.
"What are we gonna do with his body? We can't leave him here. And calling the police ain't a option. "
"I know people that can help us bury him the right way. You go sit with Amber and Lilly and let me handle the rest."
Stacy kissed Dre on the forehead and headed to the door.
"Stacy, "
"Yes." She turned to look at him
"I love you. "
She walked back to him with tears building up all over again and kissed him.
"I love you too. "
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