BANDIT

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People are supposed to fear the unknown, but ignorance is bliss when knowledge is so damn frightening. - Laurell K. Hamilton, The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #2)

That Same Night...

Zee...

I watch at the door as Lisa drives off with the twins. I hate to see them go, but ain't no telling what's going to pop off tonight. So it's best they go with Lisa so they'll be safe. I close and lock the door, traveling up the steps to the bedroom. Bricks and I are waiting on my Connor, Cornelius, my father and Scrapp. I lean on the door frame, watching Bricks lace his Timb's.

Of course he's mad at me for looking through the shit, but completely understands because we have kids. Their safety is far more important than ours.

"You ready?" I question him. He nods, following me down the stairs to the back door. Ricco and Kirk are still out by the basement doors, guarding them. They hand both Bricks and I a flashlight and we enter the basement. Bricks holds onto my hand as we enter the room where the caskets are. I laugh shaking my head.

"Why are you holding onto my hand Bricks? Let go." I whine, trying to shake from his grip.

"Fuck no! We in a room with dead people I ain't letting go shit!" He defines. I hit his arm screw face.

"The dead can hear you, respect my grandfathers." I tell him with furrowed brows.

"They can't hear shit, they dead!" He exclaims.

"So then why you scared to be in here, if you know they're dead and can't do anything?" I question with pursed lips.

"Because I saw Thriller! Plus I'm black! We don't do no shit like this b! I'm from New York, the only crazy thing we see in the city are crazy homeless people and rats. Not no damn caskets and graveyards." I burst into laughter because he's highly upset and scared.

"It's graveyards in New York baby." I reassure him in slight laughter.

"Yea, but they ain't in the city. In the south it's like you see them jawns, every mile. It's depressing. And I ain't never been this close to a dead person." He clarifies with assurance. I nod in understanding as we hear something crack behind us.

"Oh HEll naw! Bye!" Bricks tries to leave as I sigh, grabbing him by his shirt. We hear something fall to the cold concrete, and I witness my ring fell. Bricks and I look at each other and I pout in innocence. He smacks his lips, using the flashlight to guide his sight.

"Why you got a casket in here, and you still breathing?" He questions, bent over. I laugh and hunch my shoulders, pinching his butt cheek making him jump and almost knock over the casket. I burst into laughter as he catches his balance.

"Stop fucking playing!" He argues, screw face.

"What chu thought a ghost tried to cop a field?" I question in a fit of laughter, holding my chest. He straight faces me, clenching is back teeth.

"I love how you find this shit funny, and we in a basement full of dead people." He dryly states.

"I'm sorry. You know I get my foolishness from my daddy. Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying." I tell him, hugging him sideways around his torso. He smacks his lips, passing me my ring and I take it, putting back on my finger, admiring it. I smiled to myself thinking how he proposed to me in Tahiti. Best day of my life.

"Aight fake Tyler Perry, look." He says pointing to the casket. I avert my attention to it, putting the light on the gold plaque with my name on it.