Speeding down the freeway with the GPS barely helping with directions, August swerved through the traffic as he pushed 100 mph trying to locate the nearest hospital as Gunna laid in the backseat with a distraught Jenna fighting for his life.
Ashley called a total of 13 times sensing something was wrong and when Jenna finally answered on the 13th call telling her to "Go the fuck to bed!" She knew her gut was right.
She called back and Jenna powered the phone off while trying to focus on Gunna.
Lil Nate was sitting upfront with his head in his hands as he tried to block out everything that took place, he couldn't lose his uncle, he was a second father to him and if Gunna died he'd lose his sanity.
Nate was trying to crack jokes with him while keeping him warm as the rest of the group held worried expressions on their faces; all thinking the worst.
"Is he gonna make it?"
"I don't think he's gonna make it,"
"What are we going to do about Courtney?"
"He's losing too much blood he—"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Jenna yelled looking around at everyone as they all announced their worries.
"Just shut... God... just shut up," she sighed looking down at Gunna.
"Tell Ash... I—I'm sorry... I tried," Gunna spoke in short breaths as blood spilled out of his mouth.
"No..." Jenna shook her head frantically as the tears stained her face. "You are going to make it... you hear me? Don't you dare leave me after all these years, you better not,"
"It's cool... I'm c—"
"Stop talking, just be quiet damnit," she sniffled tightening her grip on his hand.
"Where's the fucking hospital!" She screamed while hitting Gunna's face to keep him up.
"Ten minutes away," August sighed pressing down on the horn as he switched through lanes.
"Ten minutes.... I need you to hold on for fifteen ok?" She smiled weakly.
"I'm not go—"
"No," she gritted closing her eyes and shook her head.
When Nate placed his hand on her shoulder she shook him off. She was still pissed off that he was lying to her and the fact that it cost Gunna potentially his life, all she saw was red.
Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and stared at him, "Talk to me with your hands ok? Just squeeze it until we get to the hospital ok?"
Nodding slowly, Gunna closed his eyes as he tried to level his breathing.
"Open your eyes G... stay up," Nate told him as he shook him lightly.
"I'm... I'm cool," Gunna smiled lazily with his eyes still closed. "I'm...alright,"
"Marcus.... Marcus? GOHDAMN IT YOU OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES RIGHT NOW! DON'T YOU DO THIS TO ME!" Jenna screamed trying to shake him awake.
Giving her hand a light squeeze, Gunna's eyes opened briefly and he gasped, "Ash... c...call her,"
"When we get you out of here... but you have to fight," Jenna cried.
Closing his eyes again, Gunna's breathing began to slow.
Resting her forehead on his, Jenna let her tears fall as she tried to get him to squeeze her hand but got no response.
"Please don't leave me,"
***
9-year-old Jenna
"Ain't that the girl from like a week ago?" Playboy asked Nate as they sat on Gunna's doorstep.
"Yeh, I tink shi stay around di corner." Nate answered looking at her trying to figure out what she was doing around this way.
Feeling eyes on her, Jenna looked their way and Nate waved her over and she looked at them skeptically but strolled over.
"Nigga what you doing?" Playboy rose a brow.
"About fi ask why shi nuh in school." Nate shrugged standing up just as she approached them with a slight frown on her face.
"Did I steal something again?" She remarked and Playboy busted out laughing.
Chuckling, Nate shook his head before responding, "Nah, wah iz yur name?"
"Typically, they knew everyone around the way, so they assumed she had to be new out here.
"For what?" She sassed looking at Nate funny and he laughed at her sassiness.
"Well around here, we know damn near everyone... everyone but you." Playboy interjected and she squinted her eyes and tilted her head slightly.
"Jenna... and I live around the corner,"
"Cool, I'm Nate and dis iz Damian... but he goes by Playboy." Nate told her as he motioned for her to sit down.
"Playboy? Like that sex mansion thingy?" She questioned turning her nose up and they erupted in laughter.
She stared at the two welcoming strangers confused which made it funnier.
"That's jus a street name... that's a story for another day." Playboy told her and she nodded watching a car ride by.
"Why aren't yuh in school?" Nate asked looking at her.
"My stepdad picked me up early." She answered staring off.
"Shouldn't you be doing homework then?" Playboy asked and she shook her head.
"Didn't have any... how old are you guys?" She questioned.
"Fifteen." Nate answered.
"Same." Playboy replied and she looked at me.
"Do you guys know my brother? He's thirteen, I think you guys go to the same school." She furrowed her brows and Playboy and Nate stared at one another.
"What's his name?" They both asked.
"Simon... Simon Matthews."
"Yeah, we know him, he's aight." Nate shrugged and she furrowed her brows which made him chuckle a bit. "What?"
"Your accent... is gone." She pointed out and Playboy chuckled.
"It comes and goes, sometimes I turn it off without even knowing." He told her just as Gunna walked outside and she got up.
"Who dat?" He asked nodding towards Jenna before handing Playboy his notebook.
"Hi... I'm Jenna... I'm nine." She introduced and Nate laughed at how proper she sounded.
Bb"I'm nine." He mimicked causing Playboy to laugh lowly and she frowned.
"I'm just messing around, you can call me Marcus or Gunna... whichever you prefer," He shrugged then offered her a slim Jim but she declined.
"Shouldn't you be in school tho?" He asked and they busted out laughing when she blew out a frustrated breath; she was tired of that question.
GUNNA |1993|
"Word around town is, you and my bro tryna make baby number two happen?" I inquired and Jenna smirked.
"Maybeee.. maybe a little bit."
"Don't you wanna give my nephew some time to get spoiled?" I asked and she laughed.
"He's spoiled enough, he's gonna grow up acting jus like y'all." She shook her head and I chuckled picking up my sub, I was gonna make sure my lil nephew was thugged out.
"I would rather Prince act like us and not these lames."
"Lames? Why are they lames?" She asked about to steal some of my fries but I swatted her hand making her laugh.
"I'd rather him act like us meaning, he stays ready for smoke, he can for damn sure protect you and himself if needs to be and he won't let none of these cats out here try to bitch him."
"If he were to grow up being a perfect gentleman that would be considered lame?" She furrowed her brows trying to set me up and I chuckled.
I liked how she tried to twist it.
"You know dat ain't what I meant sis. Nate would rather his son grow up with da same heart as him and not cowardly." I corrected.
Nodding, she looked around the diner then sighed, "Damian acts like he can't have simple lunch dates like this with me, he's so wack."
I keep telling her Playboy and I are just 2 different people.
"Oh, so he's Damian now?" I joked and she rolled her eyes picking up her sub.
"Because he acts like it's weird to hang out like this, if Nate doesn't have an issue with you and I and you don't think anything of this why does he?"
Shrugging, I just ate my food, only person that could answer that is Playboy, he was wired differently.
"What is dat shit you got up there?" I asked deciding to change the subject.
"Avocado."
Scrunching my face up, I picked up the hot sauce and poured some on top of my sub, she ate weird as hell, I blame Nate for that.
"I wonder if Prince gon' grow up with yo weird ass ways or venture more towards his pops?" I pondered and she laughed waving me off.
"What is wrong with avocado?"
"Dat shit nasty as hell, literally has no taste to it." I answered and she rolled her eyes.
"You jus don't know how to season it." She said and I sucked my teeth.
"If it ain't chicken, ribs, greens, none of dat soul food I don't want dat shit in my face." I told her and she gave me a look and I copied her.
"You're a very judgmental person you know that?"
Shrugging, I bit into my sub without a care in the world.
"If we were strangers I would assume you and Playboy were brothers, y'all act just alike." She said and I chuckled.
"To an certain extent sis." I chuckled picking up my drink.
"Don't say it like it's a bad thing."
"To be like my brothers is never a bad thing J, we're alike but also very different." I clarified and she nodded.
"So where do you think you guys will be five years from now?" She asked picking up the ketchup.
"Hopefully nearing our retirement to get out da game with a few businesses already boomin' and few safe spaces spread out across dis damn country." I answered and she nodded slowly.
"You think Nate will leave the game since the incident?"
"Nobody ever wants to stay in long, just long enough to do what we need to do and get what we need to get and disappear. You gotta learn some shit soon though just so you can be prepared in da line of fire." I said and she rose a brow.
"Nate doesn't want me to have any knowledge of what y'all do tho,"
"I'm talking about defending yourself, as in learning how to shoot, take a gun apart, how to kill someone with yo barehands, how to really box, how to lie so well dat da Feds will think they've been chasing da wrong person, shit like dat." I clarified.
"Stuff that I've been wanting Nate to teach me but he always brushes it off." She pouted and I chuckled.
"Dat man is protective over you and you can't really blame him but I'll talk to him about it. I think it's about dat time." I told her and she smirked.
"Look at you playing big bro." She cooed.
Chuckling, I swatted her hand when she tried to touch my face, "Come on wit dat fruit shit J."
"It's not even dat serious, good Lord G." She huffed and I laughed at her lil hood ass.
"You been around me too damn long, I'm starting to rub off on ya, Nate gon whoop my ass."
"Y'all got a lil thug on y'all hands, hehe." She giggled and I busted out laughing, I know damn well she did not hit the Michael Jackson.
Oh yeah, she was definitely gonna be a handful...
***
"He wasn't breathing when we got here... you think he'll make it?" Quentin asked looking at a nervous Skylar.
"I don't want to hear anything about him right now... not now," Jenna exhaled massaging her temples.
They've been sitting in the lobby for over an hour with no updates from any of the staff members.
"My bad," Q apologized then sighed sitting down.
"He's gonna be ok," Jenna mumbled more to herself as she stared at the blood on her hands.
As if a switch clicked in her head, she looked towards Nate and narrowed her brows, "What's wrong with your leg?"
"Not now J,"
Scoffing, she stood up and put her bloody hands in his face, "Look at this shit! My brother's blood is on MY hands for trying to save you! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR FUCKING LEG!"
"Mum... relax," Lil Nate sighed moving Gabby off of his lap and stood up.
"Don't you dare!" She yelled pointing at him with tears in her ears, "You know don't you?"
Lil Nate dropped his head then looked back up at her ready to explain but she held her hand up and turned back to Nate, "What's wrong with your fucking leg huh?"
"I'm not doing dis wit yuh Jenna," he spoke as calmly as possible.
"To hell you are! I would've been just like Gunna because of you! Now he's in there possibly dead or in a fucking coma because you wanted to be careless!" She screamed about to smack him but he caught her hand and gave the coldest glare known to man.
"If I have to raise my fucking voice to get you to calm the hell down the next thing you're going to want is a divorce. Sit. Your. Ass. Down," He spoke through clenched teeth before releasing her hand.
Jenna stared at him shocked that he even used profanity on her and that's when she started thinking back to her and Gunna's conversation; she pushed him too far.
Sitting down slowly, she stared at her bloody hands as the tears rolled down her face. Nobody said anything, just sat there in their thoughts wishing for the best, hoping that they would get some good news soon.
"Are you going to talk to me?" Skylar asked joining August by the vending machine.
"Skylar," He exhaled slowly before pressing the button on the machine, "I do not want to say anything to you right now... it's not a good time,"
"So when will it be? I didn't know what other way to tell you,"
"I don't want to talk about it," He sighed grabbing the bag of chips from the machine.
"August seriously... you ignoring me isn't going to make things better,"
"Leave it alone Skylar... for real man," he warned inserting another dollar into the machine.
Folding her arms, Skylar leaned on the machine and stared at him for a moment before replying, "You didn't even crack a smile when I broke the news to you... the least y—"
"SHUT THA FUCK UP! JUST SHUT UP!" His voice created a ripple through her stomach as he punched a hole into the vending machine.
"Yo... what the hell going on?" Nell asked coming around the corner with Trina behind him.
Looking at Skylar one last time, August walked away.
"What happened?" Nell asked when Skylar finally broke down.
"She told him she was pregnant," Trina mumbled then shook her head regretfully.
"Preg— what? Tell me you just found out like before all dat shit Sky?" Nell pleaded but the guilty look in Skylar's eyed told him otherwise.
"We didn't know things would get crazy," Trina spoke and Nell turned to her.
"You know better and you of all people know shit always goes south for us... come on Trina... seriously bro?"
"Mind your attitude Donell, go talk to yo homeboy," she rolled her eyes pulling Skylar away from him.
Nell wanted to reply to her smart remark but only shook his head before going after August.
"What am I going to do?" Skylar cried.
"We'll figure things out after we leave here sis, I told you I got your back... I just wish you would've waited,"
"He... he di... he didn't even smile,"
"I'm gonna tell you some real shit right now, so stop crying and listen to me," Trina asserted as she grabbed her face.
Sniffling, Skylar wiped her face and waited on her to speak.
"He's happy, but da fact dat you went somewhere knowing things could get crazy... dats where you fucked him up at. You put your life and your pregnancy in jeopardy, it may not be a baby yet, but you're still at da mark of having a miscarriage. Were we wrong for not telling you to stay at the hotel? Yes and I'm sorry for dat, but coming from a guy's view, who's a soon-to-be father... dat was a low blow sis, I'm sorry,"
Skylar let her words simmer for a bit as the tears continued to roll down her face.
"I feel so stupid tho T... I can't think straight, there's so much going on," she cried.
"I know, I'm not belittling your problems love, but right now we need to figure out if your Uncle is gonna make it alright?"
"Ok," Sky mumbled wiping her nose.
"Give him space, we've all had a long night,"
"I don't want to go back out there, I know everyone is going to have questions," Sky added and Trina smiled softly.
"Ok, let's go outside for a moment then we'll come back inside ok?"
Nodding, Skylar wiped her face and picked up the drink August got for her and followed Trina outside.
Everyone needed a nap of something to take their minds off of the Gunna situation, the lack of information only made things worse and have everyone assuming the worst. Now August wasn't speaking to or even sitting near Skylar, he was upset with all the ladies and Q because they knew and allowed her to put herself out there like that. Nate went searching for a Nurse to ask some questions about his leg since none of them wanted to give any updates on Gunna.
Gabby was still worried about Courtney, Jenna was completely out of it, Lil Nate was deep in his thoughts trying to remember all of the good things about Gunna and the rest of the group was in silence praying for good news soon; they needed it.
*************************************
How y'all feel?
Thoughts?
Still mad at me?🥺