Maps- Nightcore
Felix throws the man down onto his knees in front of everyone. In front of Aiden. I had my arm around Felix's waist because he was still helping me stand. We had been searching for him for hours and it even started raining but that didn't make us stop. It just made us wet and tired. Felix and I both breathed heavily as Aiden looked between the man and me. He didn't know what to think and I didn't blame him. I don't think he's figured it out yet so someone has to tell him. I have to tell him. I take a deep breath to calm my rapidly beating heart.
"This is him." I say. "This is the guy that- that tried to kill me." Aiden realizes and he looks down at the man. He was gagged and his arms were tied behind his back. He didn't look at anyone he just stared at the ground as he should.
"What should I do?" Aiden asks looking up to me.
"Whatever you want." I say. "It was your brother he killed. It's your right to do whatever you want." Aiden nods and looks down at the man one last time.
"I want him in lock up. No food. No drinks. Nothing." I nod and stand up straight.
"Do as he said. Take him away." Men come and grab him taking the man away. He fought and tried to yell something at us but none of us could understand it. I look to Aiden to see him staring. I wondered if he's grieved yet. He needs to let it all go, he can't hold on to that pain. That's what I did and it turned me into something if shouldn't have.
"Is that what you've been doing all this time?" He asks and I hesitate score glancing to Felix. Yes, and other things. I shake my head and look back to Aiden.
"Well for a couple hours I laid in the middle of the road and stared at the sky." I say. "That was right after everything happened. Then he found me. Cleaned me up and we've been searching ever since. It'd only been about three hours maybe." I look to Felix for confirmation and he nods.
"That sounds about right." Felix says and I nod again. Aiden looks down and I wondered what he was thinking. Was he happy that we caught him? Was he happy that he could avenge his brother? I doubt he was happy at all. I take my arm from Felix's waist and I step forward putting my hand on Aiden's shoulder causing him to look up at me.
"Aiden, I am really-" before I could finish, he wraps his arms around me pulling me into a very tight hug.
"It wasn't your fault." He whispers.
"Nor was it yours."
"Thank you. For catching him. Thank you. I saw on the new he killed someone that had your hair color. He know he was meaning to kill you. It's good he's off the streets. It's good that we have him because we can do things the police can't." He pulls away and lets his arms drop. "We can make him suffer."
"Have you seen Minnie or Jinx or Finn at all?" I ask and Aiden nods.
"They came by looking for you but I didn't talk to them, Leon did. Minnie tried to come talk to me but I walked away from her. I was just so mad. She won't think I'm mad at her will she?" I shake my head.
"She'll understand. She knows the pain you're going through Aiden. Has she told you about what happened?"
"Jinx did when we were looking for you. Minnie ran away and when to a dealer. One of ours." I shake my head.
"She was clean for so long." I shake my head again and step back bumping into Felix. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and I wrap mine around his waist.
"She was just worried for you but she's okay now. I know she knows what I'm going through, but I just don't want to see her right now. I need to be alone. I'm still processing and I'm tired of people telling me they're sorry for my loss. I can't hear that again, especially from her." I nod in understanding.
"I'll tell her whenever I see her again. Alright?" Aiden nods and steps back. "We're setting up for Brice's funeral. We think it will be around six." I nod but then remember something.
"Is Leo still in the morgue?" I ask hesitantly. We've all be so busy, we didn't even have a funeral for him. Aiden nods.
"He's still there. You want me to tell them to get him ready too?"
"If it's alright with you." I nod and he nods backs.
"He was one of us no matter what he did to hurt Ryder. He deserves a funeral too." Two funerals in one day. This was going to be rough on everyone.
"Make sure there is alcohol but not a lot. We don't need a bunch of drunk Italians on our hands." Aiden chuckles.
"You're right about that. I'll get everything set up." I narrow my eyes.
"You? Why not have someone else do it?" I ask.
"I need to do this. I need to work, it helps. It really helps." I hesitantly nod.
"Okay. If you're okay with doing it then okay." He nods.
"See you later boss." I nod again watching as he walks away.
"He's not grieving." Felix says making me jump. He hadn't talked this whole time I forgot he was here.
"He will today. We all will today." Felix turns us around and we walk to the elevator and get in going up to my floor. "Maybe you shouldn't be here for the funeral. Maybe you should go to your people."
"Blake-"
"I know you said your people included me. I remember that but this is a funeral. I don't know what my people will think if you come along. You didn't even know them that well. You might not have even known them at all. Your people need you too. I can't just take you from them. You should be with them and lead them. The less you're with them, the more they with realize you're here instead of there. You need to go to them."
"If you want me to leave. I will leave." He says. The elevator dings and we walk out walking to my room. We push the door open and there Nadia and Leon were. Leon was laying her down because she was asleep before he looked to us.
"I was just putting her down." He says and I nod before he walks past us and away.
"Are you and him okay?"
"We will be." Felix says walking me to the bed and helping me sit. "Are you sure I can't stay Blake?" I shake my head.
"My people, my responsibility."
"Blake it wasn't your fault. You can't protect everyone."
"I have to try. I can't just sit back and let my people die. Not the way Brice did. Not like that. I don't need you here right now Felix. Just go."
"Okay then." He leans down and kisses Nadia on the forehead before doing the same to me. "I'll see you later." I nod watching him walk out.
"I love you." I say making him hesitate at the door.
"I love you too Blake." He says and then he closes the door behind him. I look at the time seeing it was twelve. Okay. Maybe we were out there longer than I thought. Longer than Felix thought too but it was definitely worth it. Someone needed to get that guy off the streets and that someone just happened to be me. He does deserve to suffer for what he did. I scoot back in the bed and lay down wrapping my arms around Nadia and pulling her close to me. I didn't want to let her go but I knew I couldn't be with her all the time.
People around me died and I couldn't lose her too. Not like I thought I did before. Felix was an asshole for that but he's made up for it. He's made up for a lot of things. I lay down hugging Nadia to my chest until it was five o'clock and I knew I needed to start getting ready. I get up walking to my closet and I pull out a black dress. Then I leave my room and walk in to Nadia's finding her a small black dress and then going back into my room. I lay the clothes on my bed before going to Nadia and shaking her gently.
"Hey Nadia." I say and she starts moving and then her little eyes open. "Do you need to go potty?" I ask and she nods. "Okay. Come on let's go." I get her off the bed and let her walk to the bathroom. She was faster than me anyway, I was still hurting. She pulls down her pants and sits on the toilet before rubbing her sleep eyes.
"Are you okay mommy?" She asks and I nod.
"I'm at just fine." I smile. When she's done she climbs off the toilet and I grab toilet paper and wipe for her. Then I take off her pants and her shirt leaving her in her underwear and I let her go back to the bed.
"Where are we going?" She asks.
"We're going to a funeral. We've lost some people Nadia. We need to see them one last time before they go away forever."
"Where are they going?" I pick up the dress and pull off the tag before sliding it over her head and fixing it at the bottom.
"Heaven. They're going to heaven."
"The place where angels go?" I nod.
"I have to get ready now. Okay?" I ask and she nods. I take the dress and I walk into the bathroom leaving the door slightly open and handing the dress on the top of the door. I brush my teeth and then my hair before taking off my shirt and seeing all the cuts. I try not to look at them but today I just couldn't help it. I trace the ones on my arms that were turning into scars and then I look to the more recent ones. The ones from Greg. They were beginning to scab over but they still hurt like hell. I shake my head.
I needed to stop thinking about it. When I thought about it, the pain got worse. I take the dress off the hanger and I slide it on over my head. The dress was a spaghetti strap so it showed all the cuts on my arms. Those were from the game I played. I shake my head. That stupid game. I walk out to the bathroom toward Nadia and I take a soft brush and brush her hair even though she complained and whined about it. I French braid it then and I look at the time. Five-thirty. We should head down. "Come on. Let's go."
I take her hand and walk out of my room and then out the door. We get into the elevator and go down to the lobby. When we go there I saw chairs set up already. Two caskets were at the front and a stage like area was set up. I guess we got a priest to come. I wondered how they managed that. The lobby was big enough for all of us to be in here at once and people were already sitting down. I spot Aiden, Dallas, Eddie, and Rocco all standing together. Leon was there too for some reason. Archer stood away from them with a drink in his hand already.
I head to them as Nadia skips around and hums to herself. "Boss." They all nod and I nod back.
"What's the stage area for?" I ask nodding over to it. Aiden shrugs.
"Jinx said she was going to sing. Minnie was gonna okay the piano." Aiden says and I narrow my eyes. Jinx singing? She rarely sang and never in front of anyone. The light in the room was dim and the sound of a piano begins playing making everyone turn and look. Minnie was at the piano playing the keys and Jinx stood the the mic.
"I guess they're starting." Leon says. I study Jinx. Her hair was in a bunch of small braids and she worse some makeup. She rarely wore makeup. She wore a short spaghetti strap dress and Minnie wore her hair down and curled. She wore a knee high black dress also but hers covered her shoulders.
"We've come along way
So don't give up now.
This is not where your story ends
When you fall down,
You gotta get back up, but,
We're here for you when you need us
And I hope you're the same."
Jinx's voice was so soft and sweet. She sang slow and gentle similar to the tune Minnie played.
"Right now we're together
And that's all that matters.
We have each other to make it through
We're going to hit bumps in the road
We just gotta keep moving and believe it gets better
Because Although This may seem like the end,
its only the beginning..."
Everyone takes a seat in a chair and I pick up Nadia and do the same.
"On this road so far,
We've made friends
We've made foes
We've met people
Who give us hope,
And we've met people
Who bring us down.
"On this road so far,
we've seen darkness
We've seen light
We've seen things
That give us fight
We've seen evil come from good
And we've seen good come from evil
"On this road so far..."
She wrote this song? I knew she wrote music but I still can't believe she's singing it in front of all of us.
"Anything can happen
If we're together or apart.
Bad or good, we have to
We all have to suffer once in a while
It all depends on if you get back up
We all have some bad days,
We all make mistakes.
"Not every problem is yours
Not every mistake is your fault.
Not every guilt we feel is meant for us
If we get knocked down,
Just take my hand.
I will lift you up
And I won't let go."
As Jinx continued singing. People began standing and going to see each casket. Leo and Brice. They were both two good men. By each casket there was a picture of each one. Neither one smiled though. They both looked serious.
"On this road so far,
We've made friend
We've made foes
We've met people
Who give us hope,
And we've met people
Who bring us down.
"On this road so far,
we've seen darkness
We've seen light
We've seen things
That give us fight
We've seen evil come from good
And we've seen good come from evil
On this road so far..."
Aiden and Leon both watched Minnie and Jinx so their magic. I didn't know it was because the liked them or because they are distracting themselves.
"On this road so far...
"On this road so far,
We've seen beautiful things
And we've seen some ugly
We've been sad and we've been happy
We've been mad and we've been crazy
But just remember,
We've been in this together
"On this road so far..."
Jinx stops singing and looks back to Minnie as they nod to each other. The room fills with clapping and we all get on with the service. They did get a priest and he talked and talked about gospel and other things. We all got time to spend with each one of them before the service ended and Jinx sang another song while Minnie played. I spot Braxton in be back and I go to him. "Can you watch her for a few?" I ask. "I have to go do something." Braxton nods and picks up Nadia.
"Go do whatever needs to be done." I nod too and I walk past everyone and all the chairs before walking out of the building. Although it still hurt to walk I pushed through it and I walked and I walked. I walked to the Russian mafia building and hesitate at its doors. This could be the second stupider thing I've ever done, but I won't know until I do it. Better now than later. I push through the doors and step inside seeing so many Russians. They all walked and talked while I stood there and watched. I heard Felix's voice but I couldn't see him anywhere.
That is until the doors slam close making everyone stop and look at me. I couldn't tell what they were thinking by the expressions on their faces but they all just kept staring making me feel awkward. "Um. Hi." I say awkwardly. There were so many Russians just staring at me. What did I expect? A man pushes his way to the front and I sigh in relief. It was Felix. He had narrow eyes as if he was confused as to why I was here. I was confused as well. "I may have lied to you earlier." I say slowly as he takes a step toward me.
"When I said I didn't need you I mean. Not when I said-" I think and look around at all the people still staring. "Um. The other things I said." I say slowly letting my eyes roam around and meet everyone else's. This is getting too awkward. "Yeah... this is getting way too weird so I'm just gonna-" I slowly turn around feeling very awkward still when I hear footsteps and look back. Felix was walking toward me. "I'm just gonna go-" I start again but before I could leave Felix grabbed me and pressed his lips to mine making every bone in my body tense.
We never did this when his people were watching like this. It was weird. Felix pulls back and leans his forehead against mine. "I understand." He whispers as we stare into each other's eyes.
"That's good because it was getting really awkward for me with all your people staring like that." Felix chuckles.
"They're still staring Blake." He says and my face goes to fear making him chuckle again. "Come on." He says wrapping his arm around my waist. He turns me around to face his people and I hide my face with my hair. I never thought I would feel scared like this. His people just saw him kiss me. Well damn. He walks me through his people as the let's us through and it was similar when he carried me in here. We get to the elevator and step inside waiting till the doors close. "There. They aren't watching anymore. So let's do it again." He presses his lips to mine again with out hesitation.
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How did Blake and Felix find the man who killed Brice? What is Aiden going to do with him? So they are going to have a funeral for both Leo and Brice? Why did they wait so long for Leo? Was it really because they never had time? Why did Jinx sing? Did she do it for the funeral? How did she write that song by herself? If she never sang in front of anyone how did she manage her fear? If she could, could everyone else? Why did Felix kiss Blake in front of his people? Was it to prove a point of because he couldn't keep away? 5-17-19