Affliction

f i v e

{Liza}

"Dani, this isn't all of it."
Dallas pushed his own brother up against the wall.

"It's all they wanted!"
"They wanted fifty, thats twenty five."

Dallas's grips on his brother collar got tighter.
"Where is it," he said, gritting his teeth.

Dallas was greatly respected by every gang, we all knew he was Dani Turner's brother.

"West Side," Dani choked through his grip. Dallas dropped him and grabbed my hand.
"Come on," he said pulling me towards his car. I smiled at the thrill of it all.

He opened the drivers side door, letting me climb through because we were in a rush.
He got in and turned the car on.

Soon enough, we were driving down a dark highway.
"Dani gave the other twenty five pounds to the West Side gang."
That was the gang that was run by the Reynolds family, their daughter being one to hate me. But she wasn't the only one.
They were always loosing money, because they couldn't stop spending it. So they blamed it on my father.

After his death, several people looked up to our gang. Knowing we had money, the West Side started coming to my brother and I for support.
We turned them down over and over. They became weaker, and continued to blame us for it.
They claimed we stole money from them and other gangs.

"Ready?" Dallas looked to me with a slight smile.
I nodded and ran my hand over the gun on my hip. He got out and I quickly followed.

The large house stood before us, where the West Side hid. The dirty white lining of the house was visible in the night. The front porch light was on, and you could see light peeking through the windows. Every now and then, a shadow would pass.
Dallas and I walked up to the door, as he grazed the handle.
"Get your gun ready," he whispered.
With that, I pulled my gun and held it out in front of me.
"3...2....1."

He forced open the door, causing whoever was be hide it to stop and stare.
He held his gun tightly in his grip.
"Where is it," he shouted.
"What the fuck are you talking about," a brunette boy shouted back.
"The drugs!"

We shoved through the door, gang members gathering.
"Where the fuck is it?!"

"What the hell?"
Brooke stepped forwards from the crowd.
"Koshy?"
"Reynolds."

I gripped my gun tighter, holding back from shooting the bitch.
"Why the fuck are you in my house?"
"Why the fuck do you lie?"

"Good question."

My finger methodically fiddled with the trigger.

"Where is the other twenty five Brooke?"
"Not here."

"Liar."

My eyes grazed the room, finding those familiar, soft, brown ones.

{David}

I tried to grab Brooke's wrist from the back of the crowd, but she got away too quickly.
I pushed through everyone around me, finding Liza with a gun in front of her, pointed towards Brooke. The innocence I once saw in her was gone, and it was fine with me.
She and Brooke were going at it for a few seconds, and Liza looked over at me with her beautiful brown eyes.

I think back to the notebook, that I had shoved under my pillow, and the page it was open to.

She was so perfect, in her own little way. As I sketched, all I could think about was her. I thought about what its like to be with her, to touch her, to walk with her, to hold her. I wanted to know what it felt like to run my hand through her hair as she stared back at me. I wanted to know, I needed to know.

"Liza," I said, weak.
Her grip on her gun loosened. "David..? What are you doing here?"
She lowered her gun to her side.
"He's in the gang," Brooke spat.
I looked at Brooke, then back to Liza.
I had never seen a flash of fear in that girl's eyes before, but fear isn't what I saw. What I saw was pain; I hurt her.

This was the Liza I saw through. She wasn't and Koshy, or a gang leader, or a criminal. She was just.... Liza.

"You are," she choked up.
I nodded slowly.
"Right," she said quickly, raising her gun again.
"Liza-"
"Where is it?"

She was guarded. She didn't let the pain I saw affect her.
Instead, she raised her gun. No longer being herself.
Becoming a Koshy once more, as anger grew in her eyes.

Here I was, looking beauty in the face, as beauty had a gun to mine.