C H A P T E R
F I V E

        Cali covered her mouth as tears swelled up in her eyes. She couldn't believe someone would do this to her. "Take the kids outside, they don't need to see this." Ahmad demanded while grabbing her arm helping him bring her in.

Anari and Alisha rounded up all the kids escorting them out the back door that lead to the backyard while the others were getting towels and a first aid kit to clean her up.

Sitting her on the couch, Ahmad looked over at Twan wondering what tha hell happened, "What tha fuck happened?"

Twan shook his head, "A little while after Imani and I moved in together, she started seeing this dude from her school, I met him a few times whenever he would come and pick her up but we never spoke to each since he apparently he doesn't like me. But I ain't too much care if he liked me or not, I got a weird vibe from him the day I met him but she seemed happy so I was just like man whatever makes her happy is all that matters since she deserves it .. but here recently she'd come back home from being with him with little cuts and marks on her and whenever I would ask what happened, she'd lie and say his dog or something did it and she never lied to me before so I took her world for it .. I thought we was close enough to where she would tell me if a nigga was beating the shit out of her but I guess not..

"So today when I came back home from the gym she was there laid out on our doorstep looking just like this. She hasn't directly said he beats her but I know he hitting her cause thats only person she be around besides me and whenever that nigga call she jumps, and does whatever for him like a lost puppy. So I'm not really sure what happened .."

Ahmad nodded, "This nigga got a name?"

"Tristian, he be hanging out around fifth .. the dude a lowlife, I tried to tell Imani to leave his ass alone but she won't listen to me."

Ahmad shook his head looking down at Imani who was getting cleaned up by Kamry since this is what she does for a living. "Has she said anything since you got her?"

"Nah, she just been crying and I didn't know where else to bring her besides here. Plus I knew if he came looking for her he would go straight to our apartment .. this is like the safest place right now."

Ahmad scratched his forehead letting out a sigh, "If y'all need to stay here, y'all are more than welcome too. But first she needs to file a restraining order on this dude and work on getting him locked up."

Twan nodded then took a seat on the arm of the couch staring down at her. He felt guilty that this had happened and he wasn't able to protect her.

Over the past two years Twan and Imani grew real close, pretty much like bestfriends. They went to different colleges but decided to get a place together since Imani didn't want to live on campus nor did she want to live home.

But Twan really just wanted to protect her, after everything she dealt with at school with kids bullying her and blaming her for everything, he knew she was still not over none that completely yet.

It was many nights of suicide attempts but he was always there to stop her. He continued to tell her things were gonna get better, and that shit isn't always going to be fucked up. Sometimes she listens but its like something will trigger inside of her and she'll just get depressed but Twan never left her side since he was all she really had besides her family.

But even then they weren't always there for her. They sometimes felt she needed to grow up and stop acting out. And since they had other kids to focus on they sometimes couldn't deal with her mood swings and break downs.

Plus they felt that she wasn't depressed, they felt she was just looking for attention but Twan knew that wasn't the case and tried his best to be her biggest supporter.

People of course assumed Twan and Imani were more than just friends but Twan never let the small rumors get to him, he knew who his heart belonged too and it was going to stay that way. Plus, dead or alive he wouldn't date Amira's bestfriend he just felt that would be passed disrespectful to her.

Twan also wasn't sure if he wanted to date again, he talked to a few girls in the past tryna get back out there but deep down he just wasn't feeling it. He compared every girl to Amira and none of them were like her, none of them gave him that special feeling inside his heart so he was just gon' hold off on dating until he was fully ready.

He hasn't even had sex with anyone since Amira passed, it was times where he could have and was about to but he always ended it before it could go any further.

But even though things in Imani's life wasn't all peaches and cream, Twan managed to get his associates degree in sports medicine and was now working on getting his bachelor. He kept his promise with Ahmad even after he moved out of the condo and stayed away from the streets and kept his head in the books so Ahmad continued to bless him with whatever he needed to make sure he was good.

Twan's family on the other hand were hating, mad at the fact he proved them wrong and that he was out there living better than they ever have so he ain't really mess with them too much, he looked at Ahmad's family and friends as family now.

He was happy and proud of everything he has accomplished, but he was really waiting for Imani to reach that point in life. He even thought about putting her in therapy to actually talk with someone about her problems, so he was going to ask Derek if he could help her, cause he was honestly tired of seeing her so stressed and sad .. people looked at her like a bad person but she wasn't at all and Twan knew that and he wanted the world to see that too.

When Imani cried out loudly that snapped him out of his thoughts immediately, Kamry was trying to see why she was crying so loud since she really didn't have much damage to the face besides a busted nose and lip and a few bruises on her cheeks. "Are you hurting anywhere else baby girl?" She questioned.

Imani pointed to her side slowly, wasting no time Kamry lifted her shirt up to see she had been stabbed. "We need to get her to a hospital, she was stabbed."

Ahmad waited til Kamry moved out the way then lifted Imani up with ease. "Cali grab my keys to my truck and start it for me." Nodding her head she grabbed his keys off the key ring then ran out to the garage cranking his truck up.

When she saw him coming she opened up the backdoor, helping him lay her down in the backseat. Getting in beside her, Kamry applied pressure to her wound to keep her from bleeding out.

Twan eventually walked out of the house and hopped in the front seat, "I'll stay here with the kids and everyone else and get their rooms set up. Call me to keep me updated." Kissing his lips quickly, she tapped the hood of his car then walked back inside the house with everyone else watching him pull off.

Everyone except the ones that left with Ahmad stayed behind, "I hope babygirl is alright," Chris mumbled.

He just felt too much was happening at once. He just found out his daddy is trying to be back in their life and barely had enough time to mentally process that in his mind then this incident, he needed a drink, a strong one.

Bringing the kids back in, Cali directed them to the living room and put on cartoons for them to watch. Coming from outside with toys, Alisha locked the door behind her then sat the toys down by the kids making sure they were good before walking over to where Cali and the rest of them were at in the kitchen. "What happened?" She asked wrapping her arm around Shaun's waist.

Cali continued to clean the kitchen, "Twan believes her boyfriend beat her and just left her at their doorstep for dead and they saw she was stabbed so Ahmad rushed her to the hospital."

"Oh my god, I hope she is okay."

"Yeah I hope so too, but um can you and Anari do me a solid please?"

"Yeah what's up?"

"Can you ladies make sure the beds in both of the guests rooms across the hall from the kids rooms are made and that the rooms are presentable .. we're gonna let Twan and Imani stay here for a few days until shit gets figured out and we find out what exactly happened."

"Yeah we gotchu,"

"Whatchu need for us to do sis?" Marcus asked.

"Um nothing besides help keep these kids in line, y'all can reheat your food and finish eating.. if y'all want." She said with a shrug.

Sharing a look between each other they rubbed their hands together then walked over to where they plates were at and took turns heating them up in the microwave before digging in. "So Shaun when are you and Alisha planning on taking the next big step in you guys relationship?" Cali questioned lowly while wiping down the counter.

Wiping his mouth, he smiled. "Soon, I was actually gon' ask you about that."

"What's up?"

"Okay so she has never mentioned marriage but like I feel like we ready for it. I mean we have a kid, we live together, money is good .. But I don't wanna ask and she says no, so I just wanna know like has she mentioned wanting to get married to you? Or threw out hints that she wants to marry me?"

Cali smiled, "Women never mention marriage because we don't want to seem as if we're pressuring you guys to make a step that you guys may not be ready for. So yes to me, she has mentioned marriage .. she loves you Shaun and if you were to ask she would say yes."

"Alright bet, well can you help me propose to her .. I want it to be cute and special she deserves it."

Cali squealed, "Yes of course! When do you want to do it?"

"On her birthday so that gives me four months to plan it all out,"

"That's enough time, just text me and we'll set it all up and get started."

        Ahmad, Twan and Kamry all sat in the waiting room waiting to get word back on Imani. The nurses and doctors told them the stab wound didn't look severe but they were gonna stitch it up and check her for more body injuries.

Twan sat there with his head down as his leg shook uncontrollably. He needed answers, he wanted to know who and why someone would do this to her.

After waiting a good thirty more minutes, a doctor soon emerged from the back. "You guys can relax and stop worrying, she is fine the stab wound wasn't deep or severe like I said before .. we stitched her up, put her on pain meds and she's responding pretty well to us. No head injury or anything was caused but her nose took a beating its not broken but it is fractured but other than that she is fine."

"Has she talked yet?"

"Yes but not alot .. whatever happened I think it was really tramatizing .. she wouldn't even let us touch her at first but she's coming around now." Motioning for Ahmad to step away with him, he sighed. "We do also believe she was raped as well, she had blood stains on the inside of her thighs .. we wanted to check and test for rape but she wouldn't allow us to touch her or do anything below her stomach .. I pulled you to the side and told you this because I feel if you were to ask her what really happened then she would open up .. all we want to do is help her,"

Ahmad closed his eyes, "Thanks doc, I'll talk to her and see what is up."

"Great, and if she was tell us immediately so we can treat her and test her for any STDs or anything of that sort or damage to her lady parts such as vaginimus, or vaginitius." He explained.

Ahmad nodded, "Will do, are we able to see her now?"

"Yes she is stable now and hopefully she'll talk more with you guys." Following behind him towards her room, Ahmad texted Cali keeping her updated.

Reaching the door to her room, the doctor shook each of their hands before scurrying off to the next patient room. Pushing her door open, Twan smiled when they locked eyes. "How you feeling?"

"Better," She mumbled breaking eye contact.

She didn't even feel like herself at the moment. She wasn't sure who the person was that laid in the hospital bed. She felt ashamed, embarrassed, dirty, sick and digusted with herself all she wanted to do at this point was to die and give up.

She was simply tired .. of everything.

"Can you tell us what exactly happened so we can help you?" Ahmad asked after a moment of silence.

Thoughts of what happened clouded her mind as her vision started to get blurry due to her tears. "I-I can't,"

She wanted to tell, hell she wanted to scream out the truth but she couldn't well at least she felt she couldn't.

Ahmad motioned for Twan and Kamry to step out for a second then pulled up a chair beside her bed grabbing her hand. "If you don't tell us we won't be able to help you ma', I'm sure whatever it was that happened was alot to take in but we gotta know love,"

Lifting her hands up to her face she sobbed into her hands, causing Ahmad to look away so he could control his emotions. "T-they r-raped me," She said inbetween her cries.

Instantly getting mad, Ahmad grabbed her hands so he could see her face, "Who? Who raped you Imani?"

Images of their faces popped up in her head, the smiles they had as they took turns taking advantage of her haunted her mind causing more tears to fall. She went to speak but stopped when Ahmad held his hand up, "You have to calm down first or I won't be able to understand you, take a deep breath, and relax okay? And once you are ready tell me what exactly happened from the beginning to the end."

Nodding her head, she took a few deep breaths and wiped her steady falling tears. After five minutes of doing that she was ready, "T-tristian came and picked me up like he always does and we chilled at his house watched movies and talked .. the usual for us, an hour or two later all his homeboys came over, I instantly felt uncomfortable and wanted to leave but he insisted we just chill in his room while they played the game in his living room.." Taking a pause, she let out a deep sigh. "I felt safer and more comfortable being in there, and he soon started kissing on me and soon one thing led to another and we had sex, but I-I thought he l-locked the door.." She cried shaking her head.

"I thought he locked the door behind him but he didn't and one of his homeboys walked in on us. I tried covering myself and tried pushing Tristian off of me but he wouldn't stop, it was like he got turned on more when he saw we had an audience.. I tried screaming for him to stop and when he finally did, he laughed then rose up off me and that's when I saw his other homeboy had already stripped and was waiting for his turn ..and then the rest of them entered," Biting her lip, she looked off.

"I tried to fight each of them off the best I could but they were so much stronger than me .. they just kept hitting me and hitting me and Tristian just watched .. he did literally nothing to help me. I just had to take the beating and raping from all five guys until Tristians older brother came home and stopped them .. I guess the tears and bruises on my face let him know what was going on .. he kicked them all out and helped me get dressed, he asked if I wanted to go to a hospital and apologized for his brothers actions but I just wanted to go home to my room and sulk .. so I begged him to take me home and he did.."

"He even offered to walk me up to our apartment but I didn't trust him so I declined his offer and he told me before I left he would handle them for me, but in my mind I just felt like whatever he may do to them still won't take away the pain I endured .. but I appreciated his help .. I couldn't even make it inside the apartment cause I collapsed from the pain I was feeling and I couldn't build up enough strength to get up so I laid there for what felt like hours until Twan showed up.."

"But I just feel so fucking stupid for trusting him, I let my guard down and I let him in and he turns around and does this. I'm so fucking tired of being depressed and sad all the time, I don't even see the reason why I am alive.. I just want to die Ahmad." She cried, "I don't want to live anymore, I'm tired of feeling pain."

Getting up Ahmad got in the bed beside her wrapping his arms around her as she cried falling into his chest, "You not stupid ma' and you gon' get through this and we are gonna help you. I hate that you had to go through this but I've been in your exact shoes and I promise you it will get better.. its not gon' be easy, your trust will be fucked up but it is possible for you to get better .. you just have to want to get better."

"Nolan bring yo little naked ass back here," Shaun shouted chasing behind his son. Alisha stepped out into the hall in her robe brushing her teeth to see this fool really chasing her baby.

Shaking her head she squatted down to his level then called out his name causing him to stop immediately and run into her arms. Scooping up his nude chubby little body, she carried him into their bathroom to turn the water on.

Shaun appeared at the door way shaking his head, "Why does he coroporate with you but gives my ass a hard ass time? Got me out of breath and shit,"

"He likes taking baths with me, somedays he'll take a bath by himself but you know when he gets sick he gets extra clingy towards us and this is one of the things I realized he likes to do."

Shaun scoffed, "That little nigga ain't sick, he was just out there running and laughing butt ass naked. He faking and yo gully ass believing it." He spat watching as their son held a small pout on his face with his head laid on her chest.

"Shaun shut up and get out so me and my baby can wash up."

Rolling his eyes, he walked back into their bedroom sitting sideways on the bed looking at whatever that was playing on the tv.

Back in the restroom Alisha sat Nolan in the tub passing him a toy then grabbed his baby bubble bath soap pouring it in the water. "You see the bubbles?" She asked and he nodded cheerfully.

Slipping out of her robe, she got in the tub with him letting the water and bubbles fill up before shutting it off. She watched as he played in the bubbles in his own little world, smiling lightly just amazed at the fact that she was now a mother.

She honestly didn't even know how her parents could treat her the way they did all her life when kids are so innocent. She couldn't even see herself hurting her baby the way they hurt her. She loved him more than anything on this planet and would forever make sure he was good. She never wanted him to endure none of the pain and heartache she experienced.

Grabbing his sponge she began bathing him while he just played with his toy. She hated he looked so much like Shaun but at least she knew her baby boy would grow up very handsome.

When she started to bathe his back, she looked at the tattoo on her forearm shaking her head. The tattoo was a tattoo her and Anaya got when they were teens. She's been wanting to get a cover up for it but just never had the time.

She wanted no ties with her sister, her sister was dead to her along with her parents. Even after Anaya got sentenced and sent to prison her parents were still on her side, Anaya even tried writing Alisha apologizing but no apology could make her forget or forgive what she did to her and Shaun.

And she honestly didn't even know why Anaya would have thought Alisha would have forgave her that easily in the first place.

When she finished bathing him, she lifted his small little body and cradled him in her arms. "You know mommy loves you?" She questioned rubbing her hand over his head.

He couldn't talk much but he understood a few things. Like he knew