In the middle of it all

October 12th '58

There was pounding on the door. Loud, loud pounding. Mum ran out her room to the door, in her sleepwear. Tanisha, Tyler and Tyrell followed. I also came out but from the bathroom.

"Aunty, what-what happened." Said Mum, woken up from the distress of the woman who was standing in front of her.

"Jesus !" She shouted.

"Mrs. Cato, it's late at night, refrain from shouting and use your words." commented Tyler.

"Ah ! Nuh bodda mi, disrespectful child." She sucked her tongue. "Janet, sweetie."

"Yes aunty, what happened."

"It is Denzel an mi son Kelvin. Our sons have bin tek from us oh. Dem have been taken ! Dem bodies has been found alone eena an alley..." The woman proceeds to cry out in patois. Tanisha covers her mouth with both hands. "Aii di Guzumba hab taken dem !" continues the woman.

"Fi mi baby.." mumbles mum. Her body hits the side of the door frame as she covers her mouth with her palm. Slowly tears fall down her cheeks while she slides down the door frame.

"A di devil dweet." Adds Mrs. Cato kneeling down to Janet's level. I go down and hug mum as well.

"Did Denzel die ?" Asks Tyrell.

"She doesn't know what she's talking about." Answers Tyler, indifferent.

"Mi wud radda yuh nuh chat to mi." says Mrs. Cato. Tanisha falls to her knees and cries along with the rest of us.

* * *

The woman stayed over that night. All of us aside from Tyler slept in the living room. When I woke up, Mrs. Cato and Tyrell were still sleeping. Mum was silently sitting on the couch with Tyrell on her lap not moving an ounce. I hesitated to greet her. Her eyes were open yet they weren't opened to the world around her. I was walking towards the bathroom when I saw that the door to Denzel's room was agape. I slightly opened it a bit more before walking in as Tanisha was seated on the floor inside.

"Sha.." I quietly said.

"I need to call JJ." She said, holding a phone by her ears. It was her brother's phone that he had forgotten at home last night. Her phone was lying on the floor next to her. "Jordan isn't answering his phone. I need to tell them about what happened. Ace needs to know. She's not answering..." She got up the floor, grabbing her phone. "I need to go to the crib." She continues.

"I'm going with you."

"Let's go now." She declares. We didn't bother showering due to the urgency. We changed our clothing and walked out the rooms. Mrs. Cato and my brother had woken up and mum had turned on the Tv.

Last night a restaurant in the West side of Naire has been vandalized...At an abandoned parking lot many corpses were found covered in blood. Cars were parked around it, some destroyed and some intact. A motorcycle was also found at the scene as well as a katana sword, originating from Japan and multiple, diverse guns... At an alley nearby three bodies were found, all of them being male. The investigators suspect that it was the result of a gang fight...The cops labeled this case as Gang Massacre...

"Oh mi lawd.." said Kelvin's mom, covering her mouth with both of her hands.

"Was Denzel part of a gang ?" Asked mum. Sha and I paused for a second. Mum didn't turn herself around to look at us. But we knew who she was talking to.

"I-I don't know..." Tanisha lied.

"Is that where you children always go, Tanisha ? A place with gangsters? The crib... Is that what y'all call it ?" she turned her head to the side.

Tanisha's lips started to tremble. She couldn't tell her this. Not now at least. "Mum, I have to go..." she said with a brittle voice. Mum turned her head to Mrs. Cato and the two mothers started to speak in patois dialect.

Tanisha and I left in Denzel's car. Arriving in front of the tall black gate at the Silver's location, she honked but no one opened the gates. We got out of the car and started hitting the door.

"Someone open the door !" I said.

"Sky ! Sky please let us in !" Begged Sha. Her hitting was getting stronger.

Someone must be in there

"Diego ! Cash ! Wave ! Ray !" She shouted. Finally someone opened the door. It was Isabel.

"Why are you pounding on the door ?" She asks.

"I urgently have to talk with Sky."

"She's not here."

"Did she leave ?" I ask.

"If she did, she must've left early in the morning like a lot of the members. I didn't hear her today nor last night." She shrugged her shoulders. We entered the premises. There was nobody to be seen at the crib.

"Who's here ?" Questioned Tanisha.

"Only Asad, Aneesa, Kyle and I. Why ? What's so urgent ?"

"It's Denzel and Kelvin... They were found dead in an alley." Answered Tanisha. Izzy's eyes widened as she covered her lips with her palms. "I need to see Jessie. Jordan, Cash...all of 'em." she continued.

Izzy calls out the twins and Kyle. "Sky is sometimes at Cash's place. When I can't find her here that's where she's mostly at." Says Izzy. The three others arrive shortly after and we leave for Jessie's place. It was a 15 level apartment, she lived there with her maternal aunt and uncle, I heard.

"I'm going up." Says Tanisha, unbuckling her seatbelt.

"Can we also go ?" Asks Aneesa. Tanisha refuses but I manage to change her mind and all 6 of us go. We get out of the elevator at the 6th floor and walk through the hallway looking for apartment 608. At the end of the hallway we can see that apartment 608's door was already open as there was a man standing in front of it. The people at the door were a middle aged East-Asian couple. After their conversation with the man had ended they closed their door and the man turned himself around.

"Cash !" said loudly Tanisha. We rushed towards him.

"What are you all doing here ?" he asked.

"I tried calling JJ and Jordan but they weren't answering. It's Denzel and Kelvin..."

He lowered his head. "I'm sorry...for what happened to your brother Sha..."

" I need to talk with Jordan-"

"You can't... JJ is at the hospital and Jordan..." Before he even ended his sentence I could tell by his expression what he would say. It made sense, I think Tanisha knew that too but didn't want to acknowledge it. "Jordan passed away..." he finished.

"We need to tell Ace..." mumbled Tanisha, lowering her head.

"I need to go see Klaewkla... He's my priority right now." replied Cash. He walked right by us, heading to the elevator.

"L-Let's go..." murmured Tanisha, sniffling.

"You can't drive in this condition. You know that !" I protest, grabbing her by the arm. " It's alright to cry Sha... You've been through a lot-"

"I need to talk to Ace, Tamika!" I let go of her arm. "Either y'all come with me or y'all find your own way home." She declared. Her eyes were roaring with anger. Guilt is more like it. They were teary and fierce. I shut my mouth and we followed her as she directed herself to the elevator. We went down with Cash, he entered his car, we entered ours and we followed him to his house.

"Can you call, Ace ?" Asked Tanisha.

"Klaewkla..." He let out a loud relieved sigh as Nate opened to the door.

"Were you with Skylar ?" asks Nate.

"Can you please call him, Cash. I need to talk to him." Begged Tanisha in a frustrated tone.

"No ! No I can't call Caleb ! I can't call him ! Caleb died ! He was murdered last night. So many of us died ! Caleb, Skylar, Keemo, Jordan, Kelvin, Denzel..." He broke down in tears. "They won't answer if I call them... They will not answer us..."

"Pops..."