My Brother's Hood Bestfriend

THIRTY TWO

Janiyah

"Rj swear down you better not fucking touch her." spoke Mari's voice from my phone held in the man's hands. Held in his other hand was a gun. He laughed loudly before pressing the trigger on the gun, shooting down on the floor causing me to jump in terror.

As I watched the man end the call with Mari, I began to feel afraid. My fear increased more and more as my heart began to beat aggressively.I had given up hope and was left only praying that Mari had heard me when I asked him to text Donelle for the location. I was literally trapped. I was bound with a rope and sitting on a chair with no means to escape. The rope was fastened firmly against my body, pressing against my skin, leaving marks.

Eight men, all dressed in black, towered over me They were all enormous and terrifying. They had such a hostile attitude, and I could tell they were deadly by the way they spoke. My heart began to beat so loud, I swore some of them could hear it. I was unable to see any of their faces, because of their ballys. I was so terrified.

I shook my head as I began to second-guess all of my foolish decisions. I had not talked to my mother all day. It was like 11pm now and I hadn't even gotten the chance to text her. She must be anxious, horrified. She almost lost her own son and now her own daughter may go, and she is completely unaware of it.

Imagining how frightened my mother would be caused me to start breathing heavily. It pains me to see my mother in fear. I want want her to be happy, but how can she be when one of her sons is involved in a gang and has people after him 24/7? I struggled to control my tears as I contemplated the possibility that my life might end at any moment. A few minutes passed.

I cocked my head up, enabling the tears from escaping my eyes as the man with my phone in my hand, who I'm assuming is Rj began to shout.

"We told you to ask him where he fucking was!" I stayed silent, keeping a straight face.

Rj continued, "Man gave you a simple job. One fucking simple job! Ask Mari for his location fam! And you disrespect me cuz! Who the fuck do you think you are blud!" He spoke aggressively before hitting my forehead hard with the back of the gun. I attempted to maintain my composure, but I'm sure the fear I was feeling showed itself for a split second as he hit me.

"Fuck man!" He then yelled. He punched the wall as the rest of the men stood quietly, looking pissed. While Rj paced the room furiously, there was a brief period of silence. I sat still uncertain of what to do.. My mind was racing. I just wanted my mum. I just wanted my brother. I just wanted Mari. I just wanted to be safe for once.

"So... what now fam. What we gonna do with her?" Spoke one of the men, pointing at me. Suddenly, all 8 of the men turned to face me sat on the chair. It was silent for a while, as everyone waited for a response. Suddenly, Rj chuckled to himself before replying, "we kill the don init."

I screwed him, is he crazy?

"Nah Rj shut up fam." Responded another guy.

"She's pissing me off." Rj scoffed. "I told her to do something, and she didn't do it. Ain't nobody gonna disrespect me like that."

"Ay you're moving too reckless fam." Replied another as I nodded. "Can't just be going around killing little girls and shit-"

"I don't care for fuck sake! Mari killed my fucking brother fam. My fucking blood!" Rj shouted in response. "I ain't letting him get away with that shit."

"Then we don't kill Jordan's sister, we already fucked Jordan up, so we kill Mari then init." Shrugged another.

"Or Rage." All the men then went silent again, looking a little scared once Mari's brother was mentioned. Rage. I heard so little about him. Just knew he was Mari's brother and was deadly. Mari was only on this road life because of him, and he led him to become a dangerous man on these streets.