Part 2 of this story will be on that account ]

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𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚃𝚇.

❦

"Yo folks house just got shot at."

Without another word, I quickly got up from the couch and grabbed my keys off the table and started heading straight towards the front door. I ignored the conversations and commotion happening behind me, my only focus was getting to my people's house.

I got into my car and started it, resting my head against the steering wheel, trying to control my breathing. I literally can't catch a break lately.

All the boys and Aijah started filing out the front door. Tasia stood leaning against the door frame goin back and forth with Duck. She probably wants to come but knowing Duck he won't let her since she's pregnant and he's very overprotective.

I heard a knock on the passenger door window and turned to see Samiron standing there impatiently. I unlocked the door, not making eye contact with him while he got in. I glanced out the window and seen Aijah, Rell and Duck getting into Rell's car, and Soovy and Eli getting into Eli's.

I took a deep breath and started pulling out the driveway, focusing all of my attention on the road in front of me to try and calm my nerves. 'Cause lord knows i'm ready to go off on anyone right now.

We stopped at a red light and I pulled my phone out my pocket to call my parents but neither of them answered. I kept calling and it went straight to voicemail, making my anxiety get ten times worse with all the worst-case scenarios running through my head.

"Fuck.." I said lowly to myself, gripping the wheel and closing my eyes. If I lose my parents or my sister it's over for me.

"Calm down ma, yo pops was on the phone with Duck earlier. They're probably just not near they phones right now." Samiron tried to reassure me.

My dad been out the drug game for a little over two years but when he left, he made sure he didn't have beef with anyone nor did he leave any loose ends. So theres no reason for someone to be targeting him after two whole years. All that leaves is the possibility that Messiah's behind this.

But for Messiah's sake he better hope that he doesn't have anything to do with this 'cause it's one thing to shoot my house up or my studio up, but it's another thing to shoot up where my parents and my little sister lay their head at. Especially when they don't have anything to do with the vendetta he has against me.

Clearly he's trying really hard to make me suffer before he ends my life but it's too late for that 'cause I already suffered when his brother killed Bri'on.

I've never seen a nigga so desperate to get revenge for someone who was clearly in the wrong. Dakari killed my brother, not the other way around

About 10 minutes later we pulled into the driveway of my parents house. I made sure my .30 was tucked into my pants before unplugging my phone, getting my keys, and rushing out of the car.

Most of the windows and the front door were riddled with bullet holes. There were bullet holes on the second floor of the house too; specifically near Layva's room window. I shook my head and walked onto the porch as Duck 'nem got out of their cars.

I used my key to open the front door since it was locked and we walked into the house. The first thing I saw was my momma sweeping glass off the floor into a dustpan.

The house didn't look too bad on the inside aside from the shattered glass and the picture frames that had fell off the wall.

"Momma, you good?" I walked over to her and she jumped at first before pulling me into a hug.

"Yea, I'm good." She pulled away from the hug, giving me a reassuring smile. It was pretty obvious that she'd been crying and that tugged at my heart. I hate seeing her cry.

Duck came over and gave her a side hug, "Where LayLay at?" He asked and she let out a breath.

"One of the bullets grazed her arm so Travis took her to the hospital.." My momma muttered.

The boys looked at each other with raised eyebrows while I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. They were so close to shooting my sister.. God knows if that bullet would've hit somewhere else, she could've died. Her small body can't handle that.

"Man shit." Soovy huffed, shaking his head.

"How did she get hit?" Aijah asked as my momma put the dustpan down and sat on one of the barstools at the island.

"All three of us were upstairs in me and Travis' room watching tv. Travis told LayLay to get him water or something from downstairs so she walked out of the room and as soon as she started walking down the steps we heard a bunch of gunshots go off and her screaming. Me and Travis ran out the room and seen he ducking on the steps balling her eyes out. Once I picked her up I noticed the blood on her arm." My momma sighed.

"She was crying, sayin' that it burned and it hurt, but by the time they left to go to the hospital she seemed better." I let out a deep breath and rubbed my eyes to avoid crying.

Knowing that Lay is okay doesn't make me feel any better bout the situation. They could've killed my 7 year old sister and judging by the amount of bullets near her bedroom window that's what they were trying to do anyway. Messiah's digging him and his homeboys' graves at this point.

"Thank god she's okay." Eli took a deep breath and my momma nodded, wiping a single tear.

"I thought they were gonna take my baby." She fanned her eyes. Duck brought her in for another hug, rocking her side to side.

I felt a tear run down my cheek but I quickly wiped it. I don't want to cry in front of my momma because knowing her, she'd probably start crying too. Samiron pulled me out of the kitchen leaving Soovy, Rell, Duck, Eli, and Aijah in there with my momma.

He led me into the hallway and stood across from me leaning on the wall, waiting for me to say something. I didn't even realize that I had started balling until Samiron sighed and stepped up closer to me.

"She good, baby." He said lowly, wiping my tears with the pad of his thumb.

"I know but it doesn't make me feel better about it." I sniffed as my voice cracked.

"It shouldn't. You can be thankful that nun worse happened to her or your parents, but you should still be mad as fuck. Shit, I would be too." I nodded, wiping my face.

"You still gon' try to stop me from going to Louisiana after this?" I asked after a short period of silence and he sighed.

"Nah. You had yo reasons for wanting to go before and you have even more of a reason to go now. I just didn't want you to get hurt. That's why I didn't want you going to Louisiana in the first place, especially alone. Cause you see what these niggas are capable of." He shrugged and I nodded.

Obviously I wanna go to Louisiana and get this shit with Messiah over with, but now I got even more of a reason to go. He crossed the line shooting at my parent's house and on top of that shooting at my little sister and barely missing her.

Clearly Messiah doesn't have boundaries or any lines that he's not willing to cross and he showed that today by having his goons shoot up my parents house. So from now on I don't have any boundaries

either. Whatever happens in Louisiana happens. As long as he's dead before we leave i'm gonna be content.

"You straight?" Samiron looked straight into my eyes.

"I will be once that boy is dead."

All this shit with Messiah is really starting to weigh on me. I hate the feeling of having to look over my shoulder or wait for the next bad thing to happen. It really does seem like Messiah has a lot of control over my life right now and I don't like that. He can dictate how I feel or how paranoid I am and it's showing how much power he has over me.

"Shit, that makes two of us.." Samiron muttered, putting his arm around my shoulder and bringing me into his chest. I wrapped my arms around his torso, inhaling the smell of his cologne.

"You still mad at me for not telling you 'bout all of this when I first found out?" He looked down at me.

"I mean I understand why you didn't say anything. But I still wish y'all would've let me know something. Especially considering the fact that me and my family were in danger the whole time."

"I'm not mad at you though," I reassured him. "it's just a lot to process at once." I shrugged and he nodded.

"I get that." He leaned down to kiss my forehead twice.

He threw his arm over my shoulder and we walked back into the kitchen where everyone was spread out and indulged in their own convos. My momma seemed fine and wasn't crying so I feel a little bit better.

A few minutes later the front door opened and Layva walked in ahead of my dad who was on the phone looking mad as hell.

"Hey Lay." I smiled. She noticed me and smiled back

"Hi Mari!" She walked into the kitchen and we did our lil' handshake with her non-injured arm. Her left arm was wrapped and she wasn't moving it a lot. For the most part she seemed fine which relieved me and calmed my nerves in the slightest bit.

"You okay, baby?" My momma asked her. She nodded and put a thumbs up before going straight to Duck— her favorite. He smiled and picked her up, kissing her cheek.

"So you just gon' look at me and not say nothing, potato chips ?" Soovy rolled his neck looking at my sister. They had this lil' beef goin on since the cookout or whatever because the nigga kept calling her Lay's Potato Chips.

Corny ass.

She rolled her eyes, "No, and you still owe me 10 dollars." We started laughing before hearing my dad's loud ass cussing someone out on the phone.

"I don't give a fuck Shawn, them niggas shot at my house! My wife and my daughter was in here and my daughter almost got shot, fuck you talkin' about ?" I looked back at my momma with a confused face and

she rolled her eyes at my dad.

Lay quickly hopped off of Duck and ran to stand in front of my dad, "Daddy you said a bad word." She held her hand out.

He looked down at her and rolled his eyes before pulling a dollar out his pocket and slapping it in her hands.

"You said it twice." She put two fingers up and he huffed pulling out another dollar and giving it to her. She smiled and skipped up the steps and the rest of us bussed out laughing.

"She takes after you, slow ass." He mouthed and

pointed at me while he held the phone to his ear. I threw my hands up in defense as he followed Lay up the stairs.

"Come on, da! We need to finish watching Moana." Lay huffed and rolled her eyes.

I turned around and looked at my momma who was watching Lay walk up the steps with a solemn look on her face. I know she was relieved that Layva was okay, but the fear of losing her is still there.

"Are you straight, Momma Chy?" Samiron asked, noticing her facial expression as well. She looked up at him and nodded.

"I'm good. These drive-by's ain't nothing I haven't been through before." She shrugged.

"They got me fucked up doing that shit while my child is here though. Whoever 'they' is." She shook her head while the boys exchanged looks with one another.

My momma used to be down with my pops in all that street shit when they first met. She used to be the target to all the niggas my dad had beef with just because they knew my dad loved her and she was

considered his weakness. They knew he'd do anything for her. So they would do stuff to her to get back at my dad.

She got shot before, robbed at gun point, assaulted, all that. So the shootings in our neighborhood never really phased her up until Bri 'on died and she realized that no matter what you do you're always gonna have a target on your back.

We continued our conversations in the kitchen and my dad came back down the stairs a few minutes later. "Haul yall asses to the corner sto' or something. Let me talk to Chy." He said and I narrowed my eyes at him. Niggas really making us leave the house just to talk to my momma? I hate it here.

"Daylon stay back. Let me holla at you." My dad said and Duck raised his eyebrows. I'm guessing he already knew what he was gonna talk to my momma about.

Obviously since I decided i'm going to Louisiana, my dad gotta break the news to my momma too. Who i'm guessing is just as clueless bout the whole situation as I was. Truthfully, I'd rather not be here when she finds out anyway. My momma always treated Messiah like a son so I can just imagine the look on her face when she finds out he's the one that's been making my life a living hell for the past few months and he's the reason I almost died.

Me, Samiron, Aijah, Eli, Rell and Soovy made our way out the house and started walking to the corner store. Once we turned the street to the store, there were a group of about five boys shooting dice near the front of the store. Of course I recognized my

cousins, Thirty and Ju, who were watching the boys shoot dice while Ry stood off to the side cussing someone out on the phone.

Rell, Eli, Soovy and Samiron dapped up a few of the boys that they knew. Me and Aijah just looked at each other and shrugged. I had no idea who any of these niggas were other than my cousins.

"Oh shit! C'mere cous'!" Thirty's loud ass yelled, making all the boys on the floor turn around and look at me. I rolled my eyes playfully and walked over to give him and Ju a hug.

"What's yo ass doin' over here?" Thirty pulled away from the hug and dapped Samiron 'nem up.

"Folks house got shot up." I muttered low enough for just Ju and Thirty to hear. I didn't need those other boys in my business because I don't know them or who they hang around.

They looked at each other and sucked their teeth. "Swea?" Ju asked and I nodded.

"Finna stop by there later." Thirty said and Ju nodded in agreement before turning his attention towards Ry who was still yelling at someone over the phone.

"How the fuck was I supposed to know she filed a restraining order?! Huh?" He yelled into the phone and a few of us started laughing. Ry always had a bad temper ever since we were kids. When he's mad I just steer clear of him completely because he's the type to hurt yo feelings when he's upset and not give a fuck about it later.

"Who he talkin' to?" Soovy laughed, watching Ry.

"His PO officer." Thirty shrugged as he lit a blunt and I shook my head. That man is definitely going back to jail if he's talking to his PO officer like that.

"Yall want something from in here?" Aijah asked. Me, Samiron and Soovy shook our heads and Rell, Eli, and Aijah went into the store.

"Damn Ju this yo cousin? Yeen tell me she was this fine." One of the boys walked up to us and licked his lips as he eyed me.

I looked to my side and seen Samiron mugging the fuck out of him and I sighed.

Ju looked at the boy and laughed, "You must be outta yo god damn mind."

"She know she's fine." Samiron said as he possessively wrapped his arm around my waist, making me stand directly in front of him.

"Damn. I didn't know this was you Mir." The boy threw his hands up with an awkward chuckle.

"Hm." Samiron hummed. Thirty looked at the boy and laughed, blowing smoke out of his mouth.

"You betta turn yo ass around Marquis, this nigga would shoot you over this girl! He would have yo parents filing missing persons reports and shit. " Ju laughed and the boy rolled his eyes before walking back to the dice game.

"Better turn yo long neck ass around before I put a bullet in it." I heard Samiron mumble from behind me and I shook my head, fighting off a laugh.

Ry finally got off the phone with a mug on his face and walked over to us. He dapped Samiron and Soovy up before snatching me aggressively into a hug. I furrowed my eyebrows. He must be out of his damn mind.

"Don't be snatching me like that 'cause yo PO officer told yo ass you goin' back to jail." I looked at him like he was crazy as I pulled away from the hug.

"I'm not going back no fockin where! Bitch mad 'cause we fucked her in her office ONCE and ain't gave her dick since. Now she threatening to take me back to jail over MY dick. Fuck typa shit?" He frowned as we bussed out laughing.

"That's why I don't be fucking on my PO officer anymore. They be so quick to threaten you with jail time and shit. " Ju shook his head, taking the blunt from Thirty as I stared at my cousins in disbelief. Imagine fucking your PO officer? I can't believe we're blood related..

"Hollup! Yo baby momma got a restraining order?" Soovy said, trying to catch his breath from laughing.

Ry looked at him and sucked his teeth. "She's been trynna get one. That hoe acts like I'm a deadbeat or somethin'.." He frowned. Thirty and Ju look at each other and stifled their laughs.

"Nigga you is! You seem them lil' niggas twice a month and got the nerve to say you raise 'em. You a deadbeat." Thirty laughed and Ry glared at him.

"Twice a month is enough! As long as they not starvin' and they got clothes to wear for school, they good! Yea.. they good." He repeated, more so to himself.

"Who you trynna convince? Us or yourself?" Ju tilted his head at Ry and he rolled his eyes.

"I don't care! I said what the fuck I said dumbass broad!" We turned around to see Eli yelling from the doorway of the store.

Aijah, and Rell were walking out the store while Eli was standing at the door cussing the cashier out and I shook my head. Everyone I hang around is ghetto.

"ELIJAH, stop cussing that girl out, fuck her!" Aijah yelled, pulling Eli out of the doorway but he wasn't letting up.

"That hoe mad 'cause Eli said her pussy tastes like vinegar.." Rell mumbled, walking back over to us and shaking his head.

Aijah dragged Eli away from the door by his arm. "Bitch mad cause I told the truth." Eli frowned. He snatched his Arizona out of Aijah's bag and she gave him the death stare.

We stood there talking for a lil' minute before Thirty's homeboys who were shooting dice

started arguing.

"What the fuck wrong with y'all?" Thirty scrunched his face up trynna get the boys' attention.