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DAMITRI

Damitri brought Marc's car back to the park. When he arrived, all he could see was flashing lights. The cops already had yellow tape closing off the park. It seemed as if the whole neighborhood was behind those barriers, waiting for answers.

Damitri found Marc and handed him back his keys. "Thanks man." He said as he shoved them into his pocket.

He watched as they zipped up a body bag and placed it on top of a stretcher.

"Who dat?" Damitri asked Marc. He left so quickly that he wasn't even aware that someone got killed.

"Man, that's Malcolm." Marc replied shaking his head.

"My baby!" Malcolm's mom yelled. She ran towards him but was soon caught by an officer.

"Ma'am, stay behind the tape." The office warned pushing her back.

Damitri shook his head. That was her son and she wasn't even allowed to see him. But then again he wasn't surprised how the cops were acting hostile towards her. They didn't give a damn about anything.

"Meech!" Damitri turned around and saw Dorian pulling up in his car. He jogged across the street and got in.

"Man, this shit is crazy." Dorian stated before puffing on his blunt. He tapped it a couple of times on the window to knock off the ashes.

"Every at the spot?" Damitri asked.

"Yeah, man. Everything straight."

Dorian made his way to one of the many trap houses they had. Damitri didn't think it was a good idea to go home yet. He suspected Quentin was behind it but he wasn't sure. When Damitri and Dorian arrived, everyone was in the living room waiting.

"What do we know about what went down?" Damitri questioned.

"It was Quentin boys, man." Dorian said. "I saw Roscoe my damn self."

"He was one of them shootin'?!" Damitri questioned. That made his blood boil. At one point, Roscoe was working for Damitri, and now he was trying to kill him.

"What was the point in this, though?" One of the guys asked. "You haven't really been doin' shit, so why try to kill you?"

All Damitri was doing was selling a little dope. He didn't agree with it but it was a source of income. Quentin obviously wanted to be the only one with that occupation.

"Nigga so greedy that he willin' to kill you for it." Dorian blurted out. "He makin' enough money with just sellin' up in The Villas." Dorian shook his head.

Damitri sighed.

"So, what we doin'?" Joe asked.

"Right now, nothin'." Damitri waved him off.

Dorian scrunched up his face at Damitri. "Fuck you mean?"

"What I just said." Damitri shot back. He was tired of Dorian questioning every decision he made.

"This man trynna kill you and you don't wanna do shit?!" Dorian yelled.

"Look, all I'm sayin' is that we should wait till shit cool down." Damitri explained. "Going after him right now would be a dumb move."

Dorian always wanted to shoot first and ask questions later. That's exactly why Damitri was in charge and he wasn't.

"Man, a kid died!" Dorian yelled getting up. "Malcolm was only sixteen years old. Sixteen! He ain't deserve that shit."

"And I agree with you." Damitri stated. "But if we do somethin' right now he gone be expectin' it."

"He right." Tbone agreed. "We should wait it out."

Everyone else agreed that it would be best if they waited to deal with Quentin when he was least expecting it.

"All y'all go home." Damitri ordered.

Everyone got up and left the house. Dorian still thought it was better his way.

"So, we just gone sit back and do nothin'?" Terry asked Dorian once they were outside.

"Hell nah." Dorian said. "We gone get that nigga back whether Meech wit it or not." Terry nodded and they both left.

ARNELL

Arnell woke up in a cold sweat. She held her head as she tried to catch her breath. She had a nightmare over the event that happened.

She watched the news earlier which didn't help at all. She found out that a boy died in the drive by. She didn't know Malcolm very well, but she had him in a class. He was a good kid.

She walked to the bathroom to take a hot shower. She didn't know why, but it always seemed to calm her down. When she got back, she checked the notifications on her phone.

Meech: u still want me to scoop??

Please.

Arnell chewed on her nails as she waited for Damitri to come. It was a disgusting habit, she was aware, but she was just so nervous.

She jumped up when she saw headlights beaming through the curtains. She grabbed her purse and walked over to the door. Damitri got out of the car and walked up to Arnell.

"You ready?" Damitri asked.

She nodded and just as they were about to get in the car, another set of headlights pulled into the driveway. It was August. He quickly jumped out of the car without even cutting it off.

"Where you goin'?" August asked Arnell.

"Um." She stuttered.

"Wassup, man?" Damitri greeted August.

August wasn't even the slightest bit amused. He just stared at Damitri mean mugging the hell out of him.

"Nell, go in the house." He said ripping Damitri and Arnell apart.

"The fuck is yo problem, man?" Damitri said shoving August.

"I don't have no problem, I just don't think my sister should be goin' anywhere with you right now." August said balling his fists. He turned around and looked at Arnell. "Go inside, Arnell!" He told her.

"No!" she shot back boldly. She didn't mean to disobey her brother, but he was acting crazy.

"It's alright, Nells. Go inside." Damitri assured. "I'll catch you later."

Anthony came outside due to all the yelling they were doing.
What's goin' on?" He quickly. "Man, August, what you doin'?" He asked.

Damitri shook his head and got into his car. Arnell rolled her eyes and stomped inside. August and Anthony follows behind her.

"Nell?" August called.

She didn't reply. She just opened the fridge and grabbed two water bottles. She walked over to the pantry and filled her hands with snack until they were completely full. She knew she wouldn't be coming out of her room for a while.

"Arnell!" He shouted at her.

"What?!" She yelled back.

"So now I'm the bad guy because I want you safe?" August asked. "Why didn't call you me?! I would've left work. But no, I hear about the shit hours later from Ant."

Arnell shrugged. She did feel bad for not calling him. The thought didn't even cross her mind.

"You my sister Nell, and I love you but you ain't bein' very smart." He told her.

"I'm goin' to my room." She said sadly.

Arnell jogged upstairs to her room. When she went in, she dropped all of her snacks onto her bed. She shoved cookies into her mouth while watching movies on Netflix.

It was three a.m. and Arnell was still up. For some reason, she had trouble falling asleep. She pulled out her phone to text Damitri.

Hey.

Meech: u okay?

Yeah. I'm fine.

Meech: What you still doing up?

Can't sleep 😕

Meech: Damn, I'm sorry.
Meech: FaceTime me until you fall asleep?

A few seconds later, Damitri's name popped up on her screen and she answered it.

"What you doin'?" She asked him.

"Shit. Watchin' Freddy vs. Jason." He told her.

Arnell scrunched up his face. She hated horror films. They made her stomach turn. "Why you watchin' that scary shit?" She questioned.

Damitri chuckled. "It's not scary, it's funny."

"Well, I think it's scary." She responded.

"Why you talkin'?" He asked her. "You supposed to be falling asleep."

"How you expect me to fall asleep and you got that shit in the background?" She shot back. "It's gonna give me nightmares."

Damitri grunted before changing the channel. "There, you happy?"

He now had it on some cartoon. Arnell didn't know which one, but it sounded like Family Guy. Before she knew it, she was knocked out.

Arnell groaned when she heard her alarm ringing the next morning. She turned it off laid back down. She groaned again when she heard a knock at her door.

"Huh?" She yelled.

August opened the door and came in. She tried to sit up but couldn't because her head was killing her. August squinted at all of the snack wrappers Arnell had everywhere.

"You feel like going to school?" August asked while sitting on her bed.

"Not really." She sighed.

"That's fine." He told her. "But, I want you to stay inside." He added.

Arnell smacked her lips. Where the hell was she going to go on a Monday.

"Stay inside, Nell." He repeated.

"I heard you." She told him.

August got up and walked towards the door. "If Maggie wants to come over, that's fine."

Arnell grabbed her and called Maggie.

"Hello?"

"Maggie, you goin' to school today?" Arnell asked.

"No." Maggie sighed. "My mom says I should stay home because I'm still pretty shaken up about what happened."

"Do you think she would mind if you came over?"

"Probably not, but we're goin' down to the police station." She explained. "You should go, you seen more than me." Arnell rolled her eyes. It's not like it was going to do any good. The police where she lived was useless.

"I don't think so." Arnell responded.

"Well, think about it. I gotta go." Maggie said before hanging up.

Arnell's phone buzzed while it was still in her hands.

Meech: wyd

In bed 😴. I stayed at home today.

Meech: u feelin better?

Yeah, I'm starving tho 😕

Meech: I'll bring you breakfast. 👍

Arnell bolted up to change her clothes. She was looking like a bum and didn't want him to see her that way. After she was finished she went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and hair.

"Hey," she smiled while opening the door. He was carrying two bags full of food.

"I got it." He told her when she tried to help him with the bags. She let him inside.

"Why did you buy all this food?" She asked.

"Cause you said you was hungry." He replied.

Arnell shrugged and began rummaging through the bag. He literally bought every breakfast food she could think off. From pancakes and waffles to grits and sausage. It was all there. Arnell grabbed a plate from the cabinet and put a little of everything on it.

"Lemme see yo hand." Damitri said.

"It's fine, Meech." She said biting into her bacon.

"Lemme see, Nells." He said again.

She handed her hand to him and he examined her bandages. Arnell had already changed them before he came.

"You changed your mind about my party?"

"You're still havin' it?" Arnell questioned.

"Of course." He said looking up at her.

"I'll think about it." She smirked.

"I gotta get goin'?" Damitri said getting up. Arnell pouted a little. "You better eat all that." Damitri told her while pointing at the food. "I spent sixty dollars on it."

"Why on earth would you spend sixty dollars on food for?" She asked.

He looked around the room before shrugging. "I mean, you said you was starvin' so.."

"Thanks Meech." She laughed.

He winked at her before turning to leave. She closed the door after he left and made her way back to her food. Maggie said she would be over in a couple of hours which she was looking up to. In the meantime, she enjoyed the time she had to herself.

- I know some of y'all want longer chapters, but honestly if I made them longer, I wouldn't be able to update every day like I like to. But thanks guys, I'm glad y'all like my story ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️