don't leave me this way

t e n

"So tell me what happened and you'll be free to go, no trouble, no fuss" Shrank starts and her stomach turns inside out remembering what had happened.
"Well, there was a fight"
"I know that" the man snaps at her harshly.
"Don't talk to me like that, do you want me to tell you things or not?"
"Fine, fine"
"When I got there, Bernardo started to hurt Tony because he didn't want him coming onto Maria, they fought for a few minutes before it was revealed that Bernardo, he, he had a knife"
"And then?"
"And then they danced with the blades before Tony tried to stop Riff"
She pauses. She remembered it all too well. The look on his face, the tears slipping down peoples cheeks, the way she couldn't breathe.
"Riff turned back around and the next thing I knew, the knife was sticking out of his chest, Bernardo looked so afraid, like he knew what was coming and what he had done"
"Okay so he stabbed your boyfriend and then?"
She let the comment slide.
"Then Tony got mad because Riff was bleeding out, and so he um, he, he took the knife and stabbed Bernardo where he was hurting the most and he dropped dead on the scene"
He stares at the younger woman, clearly in distress and he shakes his head.
"I'm gonna find them, every last one of them and evict em"
"What?" She snaps and he looks to her confused as to her reaction.
"Well they got to pay for their crimes"
"They lost a man tonight lieutenant, someone they cared about and loved, locking them up is wrong, they haven't done anything"
"They been causing trouble with the jets since they got here, it's for the best"
"No it's not, what happened to Riff tonight was an accident, it wasn't right but the man who did it is dead, no punishment is needed for innocent people"
"What that man and his gang did to our boy was criminal and now he's dead!" The man shouts at her.
"He's not dead! And don't act like you care about him or the jets! Riff is my boy and mine alone you hear me? He doesn't belong to a group of misfits, he's safe with me so don't sit and pretend that you ever cared when I was the one who saved him from the trouble every time"
"And where were you when he was bleeding out huh?"
"Right by his side, unlike you, who didn't even know where he was till it was too late" she spits before turning and leaving the room, stopping outside to let herself catch her breath.
She felt like she couldn't breath, she couldn't take the thundering beat of her heart in her ears. She quickly walks her way outside and stands with her back to the building, a few tears slipping down her face every passing second.

Another woman walked out a few minutes later and she turned to see Anita shaking.
"Hola Anita" she says making the woman in black spin round quickly.
"Oh Lisa" she cries as they wrap each other in a hug, sinking to the ground in grief.
The brunette strokes the lady's hair softly and lets her catch her breath before she could speak.
"He was just lying there, dead, gone" she whimpers and the girl nods, the images of Bernardo dying circling in her head.
It was terrifying watching him fall to the ground, knowing that the same exact thing happened to Riff. She still didn't know if he was going to be okay. She felt immense guilt next to the woman. She got to see him before he died and she didn't.
"I'm sorry" the girl breathes out and she shakes her head before pulling the pair of them off the ground and looking at her before putting a hand on the side of the younger girls face.
"You are so kind Lisa, I hope to see you more" she smiles weakly.
"I hope so too Anita" she smiles back before the woman starts to walk away from her.

It was around twenty minutes later when Lisa found herself in the nearest hospital, looking for her best friend, praying that when she walked in, his heart would still be beating loudly for her. She scanned through the rooms before she finally found him lying on a bed, his face pale, eyes closed and his arms hooked up to various machines. He looked awful. Her heart clenched and she sucked in a few tears before walking into the room where he lay unconscious. She crept over to his body slowly and sat down on the edge of the thin mattress. She leaned forwards and stretched out to hold his face in her hands softly, the cold skin making her breathe in sharply at the contact.
She stares down at him, a few tears slipping out and falling onto his chest. He was so peaceful, so cold. Her heart ached, more than it ever had at the sight of him, at the sight of what she was losing.
"Oh Riff, if only I'd acted sooner" she whispers to him, as if he could hear her.
She knew he couldn't, it's maybe what made it so easy to talk to him this way, to let her guard down.
"I'll never forget the first time I saw you, when you came into my bedroom and looked at me confused out of your mind cause I wasn't Grazie, but it was a beautiful moment and I was so happy to talk to you" she continues and watches as there is no movement from him meaning he's really out cold.
"I fell in love with you very quickly, and I prayed everyday that you would love me too, that you would finally tell me and we would run away together, we'd finally leave all this gang business behind and it would be just me and you, like it was always meant to be" she whimpers before breaking down.
She falls into his chest and sobs, his shirt becoming wet from all the tears that are escaping her.
"Please don't leave me, please, I can't do this without you Riff, you are everything to me, you're my love, my life, I need you to come home" she cries before raising her head and looking at the boy.
She sighs and shakes her head before she presses a kiss to his forehead, placing her head to his after.
"I love you"
And with that, she gets up and leaves the room, knowing that sitting in there would only drain her.

———

Lisa slid her body through the small window in the back of Valentinas basement, knowing that the boys would be occupying the upstairs, and she didn't know if she wanted to face them yet. She finds her footing and jumps onto the ground, hearing voices in the same room.
She walks round the shelves and sees Tony and Valentina, the former packing a bag, presumably to run away.
"So this is it tony?" She calls making the two of them look at her quickly.
"How did you get in here?" Valentina asks shocked and she looks to the taller boy.
"You haven't told her about your secret entrance from when you were a kid?"
He laughs slightly and shakes his head before she walks over and pulls him into a tight embrace.
"Stay safe Tony" she whispers before they hear a ruckus from upstairs and the trio all look up.
"I'll go check on them" the girl nods and runs up the staircase and opens the door, seeing the boys all attacking someone, her eyes widening in terror as she starts to scream.
"Jets, stop it!"
Her voice is broken and she is beyond mad at them for what they are doing. They all quickly step away and turn to the devastated girl who looks down and sees Anita lying on the floor, the back of her dress open as she shakes.
The girl falls to her knees and helps her up, zipping up the dress again and brushing her hair down as she sobs. The woman's eyes are full of pain and sorrow and grief and she is scared. These men were horrible and her new friend had to be the one to save her. She goes to leave very quickly and Lisa makes sure she is safe, which Anita assures her she is as the bad people were inside. Lisa's heart sank at that knowing that these boys who she had been with for the past few years, had turned so sour.
The pair bid their good nights before she walks back inside to the jets who are still covered in blood and sweat and a few tears. They all hold their breath as she looks at them with a look they've never seen before, one of anger and shame.
"Lisa-" mouthpiece starts and she holds her hand up to him, cutting him off.
"I don't know what has changed in you tonight, but it's disgusting" she starts looking at them all as they cowered down in guilt.
"You were good men, you stood together, womb to tomb remember? Riff used to say that a lot, and you guys almost lost him tonight and it shows he was what held you together, what made you good, without him you are just children who can't handle their feelings"
They all looked to each other knowing she was right, that what they had done was wrong, so wrong.
"I know you are grieving, but Anita has lost everything tonight, and she is drowning in grief and sorrow and you have turned into the worst type of people"
She walks around and stares them all down, watching as they crumble in the heat.
"You are no longer men, you are pathetic little boys, and you have dishonoured Tony, and Riff" she watched as they winced, knowing it stung them to talk about how they had failed their leader.
"And you have dishonoured me, you are shameful creatures who I never want to see again, so leave and don't come back" she seethes and they shake their heads.
She had reached her breaking point and they were all suffering in it, they had lost the one person that would've tied them all back to Riff, the one person who would carry his legacy.
She shakes her head at all of them before throwing open the doors and standing in front of them, waiting for the boys to leave which they slowly did. The boys she wasn't close with left first, shamefully. Then the people she was closer with until mouthpiece and baby john were left. She looked at both of them with so much pain in her eyes.
"You two listen, and you listen good, you are better than this, and you better make a better life for yourself, become good people, for me" she tells them and they nod, the older leaving before John stops and pulls her into a quick hug before running out after all the other boys leaving her alone in the shop, and letting her breakdown after all she had lost.