Gone.

Chapter 4.

Craig . . .

I woke up the next day with a huge headache. I turned over to empty sheets, the sadness and emptiness in myself taking over once again. I was just hoping. . . Praying that last night was a nightmare, but it wasn't.

I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, connected to my bedroom. I stood in front of the sink and looked at myself in the mirror. I didn't even look like myself. My eyes were bloodshot red, my skin was paler than usual, causing me to look sick. My boss heard about what happened on the news earlier and called to send his condolences on his behalf and others at my job. I didn't have to worry about working for as long as it took me to heal.

I turned the knob on the sink, cupping my hands underneath the faucet, filling my hands up with the cold water. I brought my hands up to my face and splashed the water in it to wake me up. Maybe I needed to go somewhere. . . Staying in the house all day kept reminding me of everything that happened and it was literally killing me.

I ambled back into my room. Pictures of me, Ashley and Christian sat firmly on the nightstand. . . Yeah, I needed to get out. I walked into Christian's room and woke him up.

"Christian." I said sternly, gently shaking him to wake up.

His little arms moved, when he heard my voice. "Christian, get up." I said. He opened his eyes, sitting up on the bed. He yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"You wanna go to the park?" I asked and he nodded.

He slid down onto the floor, still rubbing his eyes. I walked to his closet and threw an outfit together for him. Getting him into his clothes was a struggle because Ashley usually dressed him so we took a while. I couldn't get his arms into his shirt, I put his shoes on the wrong feet and I was nervous the entire time because I was afraid that I was too rough with him. He ended finishing the process.

This was going to be harder than I thought. . .

After I got dressed, we drove to the park next to the beach. I sat down on a bench while Christian played with other kids. My phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Wassup Prod." Roc said.

"Nothing. I'm at the park with Chris." I said, looking up at the playground, spotting Christian going down a slide.

"How you holding up, man?" He asked.

"Just going through one day at a time, man. That's all I can do." I said, scratching the back of my head.

"Yeah. It's crazy how all of this happened. But I'll pray for you." He said.

"Thanks Roc." I said.

"No problem. You my bro." He said.

I sighed, "Yeah.."

"Oh and Ray told me what about what you're planning to do. I'm down with it.." He said.

My eyes looked all around the area. People were all over the place. A couple walking. A few people jogging, kids playing, dogs barking. Everything was still normal for everyone else but me.

"Is this seat taken?" I heard a voice call out. I looked up at a girl who had been jogging. "Go ahead."

"Aye man. Who's that?" Roc asked through the phone.

I glanced over at her, sitting up right on the bench. "Nobody."

"You were cheating on YN?" He asked. I scrunched up my face. "No. I wasn't cheating. Why would I cheat on her? You know me better than that, Chres."

The girl glanced over at me, then started drinking from her water bottle.

"My bad! Dang. No need to go all angry on me! I'm just asking." Chres said.

"Ima hit you up later, okay?" I asked.

"Yeah bro. Prince said he gone call you later on." Roc said.

"Aight." I said, hanging up, shoving the phone is my pocket. Christian ran up to me and held on to my knees. "Daddy, guess what!" He yelled.

"What, Chris?" I asked.

"I did a flip! I did a flip!" He cheered, jumping up and down causing the girl next to me to giggle.

"Good job, little man." I said, rubbing his head as he giggled. At least he was happy.

"Go get your jacket." I said as he ran back to the playground.

"He looks just like you." The girl said. I looked over at her and smiled a little. Wow, that's a first. "Yeah, everybody calls him my little twin."

She smiled, "How old is he?" She asked. "He's four." I said.

"Well, he's an adorable little four year old." She smiled. "Thank you." I said.

Christian came running back with his jean jacket. I helped him get it on and stood up. "It was nice talking to you."

"You too."

Christian and I walked back to the car. I put him in his car seat, buckling him in. I made my way to the front seat of my car when I saw a car that blasted through my memory. The black car.. tinted windows.. loud music.. black rims.. That was it. That was the car!

I jumped in the front seat, pulling out of the parking space, nearly running down by standers. I caught up with the car at a stop light. I dug for my phone, calling Ray.

"Wassup Prod." He said.

"Get a pencil and paper. NOW!" I said. I heard him scrambling around then moments later he came back to the phone.

"Aight. I got it." He said.

The light turned green and the car turned. I turned slowly, easing behind it. I needed the license plate.

"Write this down. C2ash36n." I said.

"I got it but what is this?" He asked. "The license plate number off the car. Give it to Prince." I said.

"How'd you get it?" He asked.

"Rayan! Fuck all the questions, just give it to him." I yelled.

"Aight, damn man." He said.

I turned around, making my way to Roc's house. "Tell Prince to meet me at Roc's house. Tell him to bring his cop car and you meet us there too." I said.

"Aight man." He said.

Tonight was the night.

~

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- McKenzie.