The Color Line

Bang Bang: Conclusion

"Tim?....Riley?" my voice comes out as a whisper, barely audible as I stare at the pool of blood nearly ten feet away from me. Eve is crying now, uncontrollably, and she tries to follow me as I walk towards them.

"No, Eve. Stay back," I push the five year old back into the house. She nods in understanding, with eyes wide in fear. Guns are still pointed towards Tim and Riley as my mom pulls up.

"What happened? " she screams and tears automatically start flowing.

"He shot them," I say, pointing towards the officer. "For no reason. They were just walking to the car to leave...and he...he," I break into a fit of sobs before finishing my sentence. "We need to get them to the hospital."

I nod as my mom gathers as much strength as possible and carries Riley to the car first then comes back for Tim. I grab Eve and rush her to the car.

"Harmony...," Tim finally speaks.

"Tim! Tim please be okay. We're going to the hospital." My voice is shaky and I can't help to continuous flow of tears down my face. "I'll be fine Harm. It's just a stratch," he attempts a smile, but winces at the pain. I look over at Riley. He's breathing but his eyes are closed.

"We'll be fine Harmony," Tim reminds me.

I can't help but peer out of the back window at the people responsible for this. I see that damn police officer and people surrounding him...are they...cheering? The police officer glances at us as we drive away, with a devilish smirk playing on his lips.

. . .

"Will they be okay?" My mom asks a nurse with jet black hair and brown eyes.

The ride here was terrible. The hospital in that sorry excuse for a town wouldn't allow us to go in, so we had to drive all the way to Atlanta. Tim blacked out during the ride and I ended up having a panic attack.

"They should be fine," she offers my mom a smile. "They've both lost a significant amount of blood, but it's nothing too serious. We have them bandaged up and they should be able to go home soon."

My mom nods and Tim and Riley's parents look relieved.

"Would it be okay if we go see them?" I ask the nurse while holding Eve securely in my arms.

"Of course sweetheart," she simply replies and leads us to the room they're in.

"Are u guys okay?" I ask while standing between their beds.

"We're fine. This hospital food is gross though," Riley scrunches his nose. I laugh softly and look towards Tim who looks like he's deep in thought.

"What's wrong Tim?" I sit next to him on the hospital bed.

"Our parents don't want us going there anymore Harmony... I can't live with knowing that you're there. What if they do this to you? I know it's not just us they disliked. They don't like any of us because of the color of our skin." I know he's right but there's nothing I can do. We can't move until next year.

"We'll be okay, at least until next year," I say, not believing the words at all. He sighs. He knows that he can't do anything, but I can tell that he's worried. "We'll be okay," I repeat and hug him.

"Fine," he huffs.

Eve and I spend a couple more hours with them before we have to go home. I'm dreading the entire ride back "home", but I decide not to complain as we walk to the car.

The ride was too short and before I know it, we're pulling back into town. Everyone is gone, at home, I assume, and the streets are empty. My mom rushes us inside and I end up going straight to my room.