F.A.M.E (book 1 & 2)

23

OMNISCIENT

Two weeks had passed and it was finally Friday. The day of Eros' burial.

The service had taken place in the morning, and now everyone was gathered in Ms. Joyce's house to celebrate Eros' short life. There was plenty of food in the kitchen for anyone who pleased; Hazel's mother had made a tremendous effort to spend the whole of the previous evening with Joyce to help her prepare and season most of the food, and now she was helping the other aunties in the kitchen to dish out people's food.

The service was unorthodox in the idea that nobody wore black. When Adonis first asked his mother if everyone could wear pink, she looked at him like he was crazy and straight away brushed the idea off. But she came around sooner or later. It was the only thing Adonis wanted more than anything for Eros's funeral because he knew that pink was E's favourite colour. A street nigga who loved pink. Imagine that.

There had been a lot of crying from Joyce during the service. She couldn't believe the reality of her situation. She'd spent twenty-three years raising her eldest son, and suddenly he was gone. He may've been a menace to society, but he would always be her sweet boy in her heart. She just wished she had done a better job at raising him, because ultimately, his character came down to her parenting skills. Right?

She had tried her very best when it came to her boys. All she ever wanted was to give them a good life. But in all her efforts she had still failed, and it hurt more than anything.

The sad truth was, it was nearly impossible for a woman to teach a boy how to be a man. That was the job of a father. And sadly, Eros had never really had one.

Of course the aunties and uncles who disapproved of Eros' Insolent, distasteful lifestyle had also turned up for the service. And there was nothing that Adonis wanted to do more than tell all of them to grab a straw and suck their mums.

Then there were the guys who were associated with the gang. Them lots all turned up to show their support to the family, but nothing hurt more than seeing them all alive and kicking whilst Eros was six feet under. Michael sat with Adonis in the front row during the service. Now that Eros was gone, he had made a vow to look out for Adonis in any way that he could.

For Adonis, no tears came throughout the service. Not even when the preacher man did the whole 'ashes to ashes, dust to dust' speech. That was his nigga they were putting in the ground, and he couldn't bare the thought of Eros watching him cry. E would've wanted Adonis to comfort their mother during this painful time. So that's exactly what he did. He wrapped his mother in his arms as she balled her eyes out.

The worst part of the funeral was having to carry the casket. Adonis had asked Michael, James, Sean and two other guys to help. If Josh was still alive, he definitely would've been helping to carry it too. Joyce felt her heart breaking with each step that the boys took.

Now everyone was at the reception and Adonis was sitting with the guys as he did his best to engage in conversation with them. He was honestly struggling to keep his concentration with everything on his mind, but he was trying none the less.

Hazel emerged from the kitchen where she had been helping her mum and the other aunties with the food and drinks. She was knackered to say the least; she felt drained from seeing so much pain in the atmosphere, and quite honestly she just wanted to leave. Most of the aunties had been gossiping with each other as they served people, and it had gotten to the point where Hazel knew all about a girl called Bjanca who was opening her legs for anyone who showed her a little attention. When would aunties learn to mind their own business?

Once she noticed Adonis sitting with the guys, she hesitated for a hot second. She didn't want to pull him away from them, but he looked like he was out of it. It was such a sore sight for her to look at, and she couldn't lie and say she wasn't worried. The guy hadn't cried since he last broke down. Was this normal?