Brown Sugar

Chapter Thirteen.

*Warning: Explicit Content*

"Burn to hell, you grimy bastards!" One of the men (who had an unusually gruff voice) yelled, he too lighting his cocktail.

"Gimme another one, Alex," the leader snapped, turning to a man in the group who stood idly. "Come on, boys; keep 'em comin'!" The ringleader yelled like a coyote, his demeanor becoming almost maniacal as the thick orange flames behind them dramatized the mob's silhouettes.

"No! Stop it! Leave them alone!" Beyoncé shrieked in horror, banging on the window in a desperate attempt to stop the slaughter.

Her loud plea was easily heard across the street, garnering the attention of a couple of men bending over the cardboard box. Their gazes snapped to the Knowles' home directly across the way as one put down his unlit bottle, walking to the front of the Neely driveway. Putting his hand to his forehead as a visor, he surveyed the surrounding homes.

At that moment, Beyoncé saw the perpetrator as clear as day, the hellish flames behind him illuminating his pale face with a radiant glow. As she looked into the eyes of the man, she felt all the air escape her lungs, and the beat of her heart ceased. She blinked rapidly, sure that the recognition was her imagination...but she knew she was lucid.

Benjamin snapped at his sister. "Beyoncé, Shut up! Before—"

"Hey, did y'all hear that?" The young man from the mob called out loudly behind him, pointing across the street, directly at the Knowles' home.

Mathew and Benjamin grabbed Beyoncé, pulling her down to the carpeted ground, the three landing in a heap. The two men could feel her shaking like a leaf underneath their grasp, unable to control her loud sobs. "They're going to kill them! We can't just let them do it!" She pleaded as Benjamin's large hand quickly covered his sister's mouth.

Mathew angrily let go of his hysterical daughter, whose only intention, it seemed, was to make things worse for the already vulnerable family. "Beyoncé Giselle Knowles! You better hush your mouth this very instant, or so help me God!" He whispered harshly, pointing at his frenzied daughter, who silenced immediately after a series of short hiccups.

Benjamin held onto his sister while watching his father spring up and leave the room. "Pop! Where are you goin'?"

"To get my gun!" Mathew replied quickly without looking back.

Benjamin and Beyoncé lay sprawled on the floor as they heard the loud crackling of the poorly constructed wooden beams, succumbing to the powerful flames that destroyed everything in its path.

Beyoncé covered her ears to shield them from the piercing screams of anguish mixed with diabolical laughter and cheering. "Ben, we have to do something! Ray's probably so battered that he won't be able to get out of the house. He's your friend!" She pushed her brother off her with all her might, not wanting to be confined. "Raymond and Lucianne could be in there right now, burning or suffocating to death! And the cowardly men of this neighborhood are all watching it happen!" She wiped her eyes, not wanting to cry anymore. "Well, I don't want the death of the Neely's to be on my conscience!"

Benjamin looked away, feeling convicted as his sister's words pierced his heart. He thought of his mother, who would've raced out when she saw the intruders and chased them off with whatever she could handle. And here he was, her son, crouching on his living room floor, possibly letting his friends burn to death. "You're right, Bey...just—" He stood up. "Just wait here, you hear?"

Benjamin opened the front door without much thought and immediately felt the heat from the Neely house caress his brown skin. Leaving the door open but stepping back into the house, Benjamin watched as the thick flames engulfed the bottom floor of the house, and they were moving to the second level by the moment. The sheer brightness of the blaze made him squint as he turned to see the men of the surrounding homes begin to leave their sanctuaries with the same intentions as him.