Amber, Dave and Rico

Part 3

I stood there with my gun smoking and tears rolling down my face. This was not the person I wanted to be. I watched the blood pour from Dave's body onto the wood floors.

Rico turned around to see where the shot had come from. "do you love me now?" I asked him. Rico picked up the bag of money and headed back towards the door. As he crossed my path, I grabbed his arm and cried out, "Rico." He looked at my hand and snatched it away.

Inside I felt like I was the person who was laying on the floor bleeding. I had just done the unthinkable for this man. My head was racing and spinning, trying to understand how. How the hell did I get to this fucking point? The room seemed like it was closing in on me.

I rushed out of the house behind Rico, and like a madwoman, I stood behind his car in broad daylight with my gun out. I screamed, "Rico." I could see him looking at me in the rear-view mirror. I pointed the gun at Rico and said, "Rico, don't make me".

Rico got out of the car and stood in front of me, looking me dead in the eye. "You bad? Pull the tiger then. I already know I'm dying," he said to me. My hand was shaking. Rico snatched the gun and pushed me towards the house; "get your dumb ass in the house." As I walked inside, Rico looked around to see if anyone was watching us.

I came into the house, sat on the couch, still shook, and put my head into my hands. Rico came in and slammed the door. "You better be glad about this, the hood. People around here hear gunshots and still mind their business. That's probably why Dave wanted to meet here." Rico said as he laughed a little.

I jumped off the couch and got in Rico's face. "What the fuck is wrong with you. You're laughing like YOUR COUSIN isn't in there laying on the floor dead." I barked. "That's not on me, that's your body. I just was trying to get my money, and now I got it," Rico said back to me. I looked at Rico and cried. "so that's it. No explanation, no nothing? You don't even care that I love you," I asked him. I need to know why. Maybe if he explained, I could walk away, and the hurt would go away.

"Tell you what, Amber?" Explain what?" Rico asked like I was annoying him. "The truth! The fucking truth Rico." I screamed out. Rico paced. "Amber, the truth about what?" he said. "Rico, about everything," I said to him, looking at him confused why he was playing stupid. "Rico, do you have H.I.V?" I tried to ask him in my calmest voice.

Rico looked at me again, now making eye contact. "Yes," he said. My chest felt like it had been caved in. I slapped Rico with all the might I had in me. The impact caused him to drop my gun he was holding, and it slid on the floor towards me.

Rico turned back towards me, holding the side of his face. "Okay, I deserved that," he said. "You deserved that? Nah, that's not even half of what you deserve, Rico. You had sex with me knowing you were infected and didn't say a word in the six months we been together." I screamed. Rico smirk I couldn't understand what he possibly thought was even close to being funny.

"It kinda hard to tell a person you're infected when they got your dick in their mouth on the first night straight after yall walk out the club." He said to me. I reached down and grabbed the gun off the floor and once again pointed it at Rico. "You think this a damn joke, this is my life," I said to him, no longer crying but shaking with rage. "You put my damn life in danger, and it's not just your fault. It's mine for being stupidly in love with you. I even put Dave's life at risk," I said emotionally"

Rico looked at Dave. You ain't just risk that nigga life you took it, and either way, fuck that nigga." I cocked my gun. Rico reached behind him for his gun, and the look on his face let me know he didn't have it on him. He was in such a rush that he dropped it in the bag with the money.

"So you're a walking death sentence and a pedophile?" I boldly asked him with the gun to back me up. That must have hit a nerve because Rico screamed out, "I didn't rape her. That little girl told me she was 19. I would have never sold her the drugs or let her give me head in exchange if I knew she was only 17. I'm a dad I would kill the nigga that did that to one of my daughters." Rico pleaded for once, sounding like he gave a fuck about something.