"What!" Kevin yelled as I sat him down on the couch to tell him about the plan, "Are you seriously fucking stupid?"
Predictable reaction from Kevin because Caleb and Harry did the same thing when we explained it to them. I think Harry broke the world record for the most cuss words ever in a paragraph, so Kevin was being mild as his skin went extremely pink.
"What possessed you guys to agree with this?" He yelled standing up and pacing, "I mean this shit is-is-is dangerous. All of you can get hurt!"
"We carefully ironed out everything with the police officers," I assured him standing up and stopping his frantic walking, "Other officers will be there if anything is to go down and Deonte is well prepared as well."
"Well prepared? The guy fucking sold you out to save his ass. What if he just went on a rampage and decided to kill off everybody one by one, huh?"
"Deonte says Corey is calculated. He likes to plan things out and Deonte has always helped him with that. He won't suspect a thing."
"Don't you hear yourself?" He asked pointing his finger to his ear, "Deonte is going to help put his brother in jail. The same Deonte that you warned me to stay away from when I got to the school. Where did all this trust for him come from?"
"Kevin please just- "
"No! I need you to really think about this!"
"And I have been thinking about this and if this can save my family's life then I'll put faith into anyone that is willing to help me!"
He took a hard breath staring at me. He was heated and hot tears ran their way down his face. I knew his concern ran deep. Just like everyone else that knows about the plan. It was obvious that there was no way I was turning back and he knew there was no way to talk me out of it. My usual advice throwing friend was stuck and he hated it.
"What does Evan think about this?" He asked not even making eye contact with me.
"He doesn't like it either," I answer honestly, "he is more worried about my mental state after if it doesn't work."
"As he should be! Could you really take it if something went wrong?"
I paused to gather my thoughts. If I was being truthful with myself, I would say no I wouldn't be. Evan knew and Kevin wasn't even going to pretend that it wasn't a possibility that I wasn't going to try something. I guess I paused for too long and he got the answer clearly.
"I promised Evan I wouldn't," I told him but it didn't seem to make him feel any better. I slowly walked toward my best friend as he bit his quivering lip. Before I could say anything, he pulled me into a hug. He gripped me tightly, not once taking time to realize that I was suffocating.
"Uhm...Kevin?" I stammered out, "I need to be alive."
"If I squeeze the life out of you right now, then you won't have to worry about this stupid plan," he slightly laughs. I smile too but this hug couldn't last forever. He pulled back from me slowly as he asked, "So it's happening tomorrow and you couldn't have told me this before?"
"They wanted to get it over as soon as possible," I told him, "The best Deonte could do was one week from the wedding."
"You had a week to tell me though," he cried wiping his face, "You knew how I would react!"
"Yes and get your dad to call in some troops or something."
"My dad works for the government in an office, not the FBI."
We share another bittersweet laugh as we sat down again. Everyone had been on edge all week and I didn't want to put my best friend through that considering he had his own life to think about. It was a blessing Corey didn't threaten his life and telling him late only saved him from thinking over it.
I had been feeling sick to my stomach for the past week. Evan and I couldn't get much done at work thinking about it. Darrius and Caleb's wedding has been put on standby and Caleb's overwhelming anxiety has tenfold to the point that he missed a week of classes. Chris and Harry decided to take a week off work and everyone except me, has been staying with them until everything blows over.
Tonight, I was going over there to spend time with everyone. The guys had invited the others and they were all oblivious to what was going on. Kevin agreed to come too before I broke down and told him. Now, I didn't know if he still wanted to.
"I don't know if I know the answer to this but," I softly spoke, "do you still want to come tonight?"
"Of course!" He didn't even think about it, "I don't know what is going down tomorrow. I don't want to regret not seeing you guys before it happens."
I wanted to say something but his fear was justified. Quite honestly...I was afraid too. I had caused everything and if I made it worse by trusting Deonte, I was for sure not going to be able to live with myself. I just smiled at his sly hint of his own fear and we got ready to go.
**
Upon arrival, I was met with loud early 2000s music playing. The house smelled just like Evan's homemade lasagna and garlic bread. The other guys were already here, enjoying their time. We walked into the house being greeted by seeing Tre and Gerald doing the chicken noodle soup dance as the rest of the guys tried to even remember. Harry and Caleb were just looking before another song came on and Darrius yelled out, "I want to dance with my husband."
My brother pulled his fiancée off the couch as Justin Timberlake's Until the End of Time played. My heart swelled as everyone groaned comically at their sweet moment and Tre said, "Can y'all wait until your wedding for all that mushy stuff?"
Caleb's stiffens but Darrius quickly kisses him and they continued to sway. Ever since he was told about the plan, Caleb couldn't stop worrying about my brother. He just wanted him to get out of the plan safe and instead of worrying about what I would do, I was also worried about how he would take it. However, Darrius has been phenomenal at keeping him sane because anytime he showed a hint of uncertainty, he was always there to give him kisses and show his love.
Kevin leaves my side to go sit on the couch with Johnny as I walked back towards the kitchen. Gabe was "helping" Chris setup the table by trying to get to the cake placed in the middle. Chris waved at me after pulling him off the seat after probably doing it multiple times today. I could only imagine Chris as a dad with his own kid as Gabe laughed in his arms.
Everything was pretty normal. If the guys knew why they were actually all invited here, this whole house would be in chaos. I'm glad that for one night, everything wasn't surrounded by a dark shadow. I finally made it to the kitchen to see Evan, hovered over the sink crying. I quickly walk up to him and saw that he was only chopping onions.
"Oh, hey baby," he sniffs, careful not to wipe his eyes, "Oh my God these things will be the death of me."
"I thought you were really over here ballin'" I hugged him, "I thought you were done cooking though?"
"For tonight yeah but this for Leo. He asked me to make him something for tomorrow night. He has a date."
"What are you making?"
"Basic spaghetti with a little Evan twist," he shimmied in my arms, "But I'm missing a few things."
"I thought Chris and Harry always kept their fridge stocked," I stated surprised.
"We do hater," I heard Chris say holding on to a kicking Gabe, "Your son, is working the nerve right now but did you check the second fridge?"
"Yeah but I still couldn't find some things. Plus, your seasoning rack needs updating."
"Okay Chef Boy Evan," Chris laughed putting Gabe down, "I'll go make a run and keep Gabe from getting into the dining room, please? Don't make no sense how much this boy loves sweets."
"I just want one piece," Gabe whined but still waltz to his dad's side. Something about Chris going somewhere I alone now didn't sit right with me, so I volunteered to go with him. He didn't seem to mind as he just shrugged and we made our way towards the door. However, one more person wanted to join us.
"Hey, where y'all going?" Darrius asked still hugging on to a gripping Caleb.
"We going to make a quick run for Evan," Chris answers, "The store is literally down the street."
"I'm going to come with you," he said loosening Caleb from around him. He softly kisses him and he smiles as my brother walks with us out the door.
**
"How you have two fridges and not buy basic ingredients?" Darrius jokes as we enter the grocery store making Chris roll his eyes.
"That's Harry!" He rebuttals, "He wants to go to all these expensive ass places sometimes and I be having to tell him that Walmart is cheaper and it gets the job done."
"I don't know," I added as we got a small basket, "Those expensive places be having fresh everything."
"So does a produce market. Still cheap and serves the same purpose but no...we have to go to these random ass places where the food is like 20 dollars per pound."
"What kind of foolishness," Darrius says earning a laugh from both of us, "Who in the hell selling anything 20 dollars a pound?"
"Meat people," Chris states pulling seasoning from the self, "Harry loves fresh meat. We don't get it all the time but when he does, he goes all out."
"Man, I take Caleb's bougie ass to Walmart Deli and call it a day."
"Not Walmart," I laugh with Chris busting his gut beside me, "Brother you knew he was spoiled when you got with him."
"He ain't bad but sometimes I be wanting to shake the rich out of him."
"Oh c'mon," Chris decreases his laugh, "They had it rough before, so don't do that."
"I know but still man...but I love him though. Love him more than anything."
"Yeah. I love mine too, even though he does get to be a little too extra for me."
"Well, Tre is more extra than everyone, so we all had some practice," I added and we shared another heart filled laugh. A trip that should have taken us about 5 minutes, took us a good 30 because all we could talk about were the people in our lives. Then we got on to the topic of how Uncle Lawerence and Chris's mom were for sure getting it on tonight and he walked away from us for a good 2 minutes. Then as we chased each other down the aisle, Aunt Ruby was brought up. As kids, all three of us use to run up and down the aisle way while she tried to reign us in so she wouldn't lose us. We even talked about those rides we took with her and for the first time, I noticed I could talk about her without crying.
We all could.
We had finally made it to the cashier and purchased the items. The heavy cloud that was over us was gone for those 30 minutes but quickly showed us that it was getting ready to hail down as we walked back to the car.
"BOO!" A loud taunt made us jump, dropping everything in our hands. Once our eyes turned up, we were all frozen as Corey stood there with a devilish grin running across his face. He was wearing all black like before with an additional black beanie on his head. He blocked our path to the car with 2 other menacing guys behind him as he laughs, "Damn! I didn't think that still worked but I guess I did catch you off guard."
None of us responded. We were all just in shock that we were facing the very person that is trying to take away our existence. Why were we facing him? Didn't Deonte say that he had this under control? What's going on?
I looked towards my brother and Chris, who stood firm but I could see their heartbeats peeking through their chest. We waited for him to cool down before he straightens up, "Y'all don't think that's funny? Because uhm word around here is that...y'all were trying to catch me off guard."
"Who told you that shit?" Chris yelled out and I wanted to shut his aggressive ass up because now wasn't the time. Corey immediately turned his eyes to him and smiled, "Oh, I think you know."
Just as I feared, Deonte came from behind the two men. I was trying to rile in my anger as Darrius whispers angrily, "I fucking knew it man."
I was shattered. I never felt so stupid and betrayed. I had fallen victim to another Jones man's façade. My gut was wrong this time, even though I was confident in my choice. I wanted to run over there and punch the very breath out of him but it would only make the situation worse. I could only imagine how Chris and Darrius felt. They went along with me and now look at them.
"What do you have to say now pretty boy?" Corey mocked pulling Deonte to his side, "Did you really think my own blood was helping you? Must have been Marcus's dumb ass decision as usual."
No one came to my defense and I didn't expect them to. It was my decision and I put my family in danger. The tears were flowing again and Corey turned his eyes to me before approaching. He stood directly in my face and sarcastically mocked, "Oh no! Poor little Marcus is crying."
He stopped, returning to his original sinister voice as he grabbed my face, "You should have never thought that you could fuck with me. You just pissed me off even more."
Darrius pushes him away from me only to be staring down the barrel of Corey's pistol a second later. My stomach turned as he froze in place again and I heard Chris's breath hatch as his testosterone jumped down a few pegs. Corey was straight lipped as he said, "You always have to be the aggressor, huh? Don't you get tired of trying to prove how tough and protective you are?"
He paused, sinking the gun a bit into my brother's forehead as he yells, "All I need to do is pull this gotdamn trigger and you will be laid out right here on the ground. AND FOR WHAT?"
He stops again and I turn to see that now Darrius was silently crying as he finishes, "Because you want to keep on protecting someone that is so naïve, that they can't even rely on common sense to let them know who not to trust."
Corey turns to me again, torturing me with the gun still on my crying brother's head, "This could have been avoided Marcus."
He paused, "You should have stayed in California."
He pulled back the gun and when he retracted the safety, I could feel my very soul leave my body before I heard Deonte yell, "Wait!"
Corey stopped, letting me know how influenced he was by his brother as he asked, "What?"
"You shouldn't kill him first," Deonte's voice shook as Corey looked back at him, "You should kill the pretty boy."
Corey's eyes turned to a bewildered Chris, who now was looking at Deonte. The smaller of the two brothers begin to step forward, "Don't you remember? He was the one that cracked your head open."
"Oh yeah!" Corey says moving to Chris, "You were also trying to protect that piece of shit too."
"Not to mention what he did to me," Deonte spat but I couldn't hear the malice behind it. I've heard plenty of hate coming from him over the years but this time, his words didn't pierce like before.
He continued to move towards Chris as he spoke, "You played me Chris. Just like Marcus played my brother."
"Oh shit!" Corey let out a laugh, "This is the dude that I had jumped for you? Damn y'all really have no fuckin' sense of what respect is do you?"
"Obviously just like you have no grip of what reality is," Chris angrily remarked through his tears and in seconds, Corey has his hand around his throat with the gun concaving his cheek in. Surprisingly, Deonte tapped his shoulder. He had the same evil grin spread across his face as he took hold of the gun himself and announced, "Naw bro. I can handle this one."
"I knew you were full of shit!" Darrius yelled out.
"Just like all of y'all always been!" He stated, "The high school basketball star, the school player, and the innocent naïve brother that could do no wrong. Well you fucked up! You played the wrong cards and now you are getting what you deserve."
Corey had fully let go of the gun at this point and he was sporting a wide grin to show how proud he was for his brother. However, he couldn't see Deonte's facial expression as he held it against Chris's wet face. His sad brown eyes were deadlocked on his blue ones and I read his lips as he mouthed, "I always loved you."
Chris was shook just like I was. What was he doing? He didn't have to answer because the next moment, Deonte turned around. Pointing the gun towards the two guys standing behind his brother and fired off booming rounds.
"GO!" He yelled at us as I saw the two guys fall. We took off but didn't get far before hearing two more shots fired. My gut instinct told me that it wasn't Deonte because I heard fast feet coming after us as we almost reached the store entrance again. I quickly looked back and everything seemed to go in slow motion for me. Corey had his gun in hand, aiming it towards Darrius. As the bullets left the barrel, I could hear loud sirens but I didn't realize they were in the parking lot. But the police weren't fast enough to stop the bullets. Without a second thought, I dived behind him.
"Freeze!" the last thing I heard before the two bullets made contact with my body. My initial feeling was shock as I fell against Darrius's back making both of us fall over. Laying there on his back, I saw black booted feet running towards Corey's direction as Chris screams, "NO!"
My hearing became almost muted as Chris pulled me off my brother, laying me on the ground in his arms.
"No please! Marcus please!" Chris cried over me but I was starting to feel it now. The blood seeping through my fresh wounds rapidly as I struggled to breath. The pain was like no other. My skin was on fire where the bullets had connected and I was starting to shake. Was it always this cold?
"Marcus! Stay awake okay!" Darrius yelled desperately weeping and I didn't even realize I was in his arms now, "Please help us! Please!"
Then I heard ringing. Slowly disintegrating sound. I could barely feel my brother touching my face and I was fighting to keep my eyes opened.
"No, no, no, no! Marcus stay with me!" My brother continued to cry and I could only think about how much I hated seeing him like this. I was losing the fight to stay conscious quickly but I had to let him know that he will be okay. I weakly gave him a small smile and he smiles back saying, "Help is coming."
It was inevitable as my body turned even more cold. The last thing I saw before my eyes close was a man placing an oxygen bag over my face as my brother and Chris continued to cry over my non responding body. I wasn't scared and I wasn't afraid of what could possibly happen next. I just knew as I finally closed them that my family was safe and that dark cloud wouldn't be over us anymore.