Fight For Her

Chap 7: There Were Three

She let go of my hand and brought her knees to her chest, leaning her head down.

"Hey, if you don't wanna tell me it's-" She grabbed my shoulder and looked at me, nodding. She wanted me to read it. I nodded back and started.

So, it wasn't always just Lauren and I. There were three of us. Me, Lauren and our other friend, Keke. Well, her name was Lauren as well, but she went by Keke. Anyway, we had been best friends since 3rd grade. I had a hard time making friends because I'm so reserved. Lauren had a hard time making friends because she was always in trouble. And Keke had trouble making friends because she was sick. And stupid kids, they thought they could catch cancer, or something. But anyway, we'd all gone to college and graduated together. My mother started Lady Venus and made me the vice president of the company. Lauren is an artist, doing sculptures and paintings, having her work shown in galleries and selling them. Keke wanted to be a chef, and her food was damn good too. But she began to get bad again. Her illness had left her feeling so bad that she could barely stand for long. Lauren had gone on a vacation with her family and was out of town. I was on my way to see Keke after work. I had made it a daily thing since she had started to get sicker. As soon as I walked in her apartment, I saw her standing at her window with a gun in her hand. She said the doctors told her that she wasn't getting any better and the treatment wasn't working. She said she didn't wanna be in pain anymore, that she wanted to die, but not like that. I walked up to her slowly, trying to console her, but she wasn't having any of it. Seeing no other option, I tried to take the gun from her. Surprisingly, she put up quite a fight. Well, I don't know why I was surprised. She was always a fighter. Always strong... We'd somehow gotten on the ground, rolling around, fighting for the gun. She elbowed me in my nose, stunning me enough for her to gain control of the weapon. As I  tried to get it from her once more, she yelled my name and I stopped and looked at her for a second, a split second. Then BAM. She'd shot herself in the face, right in front of me. The sound was deafening, making my ears ring. But I didn't have too much time to think about my ears because I immediately turned around and threw up. One of my best friends blood and brains was all over my face. Her blood got in my mouth, I could taste it... I don't know how long I sat there, my ears ringing, thinking about where she even got a shotgun from. But most importantly, I thought about the look in her eye. She... wasn't scared. She looked like she was ready. Ready to finally be at peace and not hurt anymore. I think maybe a part of me wanted her to find peace and she knew it. That's why she yelled my name with so much desperation, her voice hoarse. I had let my friend kill herself. And I was so conflicted, not knowing if I did it purposely or if I could've done more to stop her. I still don't know. I want her to be pain free but I also want her back here with us. I haven't spoken since that day. Plus, the sound of the gunshot so close to me caused semi hearing loss, so I can't hear as well as I could before. A lot of the time, I read lips. But you wanted to know, and that's the truth. I let one of my best friend's kill herself. This happened a year ago today.

I looked up from the phone with tears in my eyes. Normani had her head on her knees.

"Normani, I'm so sorry. That had to be... damn... I'm so sorry." I said, wiping my eyes, wondering if she heard me since she didn't move a muscle. I put her phone down and engulfed her in a hug, which shocked her because she let out a little whimper. She slowly uncurled herself and hugged me back. I don't know how long we sat like that. And to be honest, I didn't care if we sat that way forever. Surrounded by lights, the moon, and that warm feeling that was making it so this cool fall night felt like a summer one. Eventually, she pulled away from me and grabbed her phone. She gasped so I leaned over to see what was the matter. It was 1 o clock in the morning. She jumped up and started putting the containers back in the basket, so I tried to help her. She smacked my hand when I picked anything up, giving me a "I got this." look. After she'd picked everything up, we went back to the car. She threw the basket in the backseat and started to drive. Fast.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Mani, slow down! What's the rush?" She stopped at a red light and grabbed her phone, typing something. When she was done she handed it to me.

I have a banquet tomorrow to celebrate me taking over the company and my mother retiring as CEO. I haven't even gotten anything ready. Speaking of which, would you and Dani like to come?

"I'd love to go. And I know for a fact that Dani would too." I said, handing her phone back. She smiled and nodded and continued driving until we got to my place. She looked over at me and smiled.

"This was nice Mani. I thought you were gonna take me to some fancy place, but, you showed my different. I'm glad I know you better now." I said sincerely. She leaned over and kissed me on my cheek, causing excitement to course through me.

"I-I should get inside before Dani eats me outta house and home. See you later Mani." I said, opening the door. It slid upward and I chuckled.

"Still cool."
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