Surviving the Valley- Murda She Wrote

10. Decided

Alicia and Cliff stand outside the hospital building. Alicia reaches in her purse, grabbing a pack of newports. Cliff gasps at the sight. "𝙂𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙧𝙧𝙡𝙡𝙡! 𝘼𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙝𝙩!" she says, reaching into her own purse instead. "𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩?" Alicia asks with a smirk. Cliff and her share a quick look. 𝘖𝘰𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘸𝘰𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘢! Cliff thinks to herself. "𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙈𝙨. 𝘼𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖...𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙖𝙬𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣' 𝙣𝙤 𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩" Cliff says, pulling out a pack of Malboros. "𝙊𝙤𝙥!" Alicia responds, following up with a cackling laughter. Cliff takes two cigs out, putting one in her mouth and handing the other one over. Alicia nods, holding the lighter up to Cliff's cigarette, a non verbal ask to light it for her. Cliff responds with a nod back. "𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖 𝘾𝙝𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙖 𝙜𝙪𝙝 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚" Alicia says in chuckles, lighting her own cigarette. "𝘽𝙖𝙗𝙮, 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬" Cliff says in smiles, pointing to herself before taking another puff.

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙡' 𝙨𝙪𝙢 𝙨𝙪𝙢 𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩' 𝘾𝙝𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙖 𝙮𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣' 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙀𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚'𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙠𝙚 𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩" she says, as if she's asking for some unfinished answers from earlier. Cliff cant't but to be a little nosey, she is Ernestine's grandbaby after all. Alicia catches on. "𝙂𝙪𝙧𝙡" she says, playfully leaning a shoulder into Cliff's arm. They share a look and laugh. "𝙀𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚'𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙩!" Alicia says, reminiscent on her past. "𝘽𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣, 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙦'𝙨 𝙙𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙚𝙬 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨. 𝙃𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨" she laughs, looking out into the street. "𝙄'𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨... 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙮𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙤" They laugh together. Alicia continues turning to Cliff. Cliff lets her talk, not bothering to add too many responses of her own. Though Murda mentioned his momma a few times, there was still so much Cliff didn't know about her.

"𝙄 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙩... 𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙠𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙪𝙝𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖 𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚" She adds. "𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩" Cliff says, shaking her head in scoffs. Alicia laughs, patting Cliff's shoulder and thinking about the hell Murda's hot headed ass has probably put her through. "𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙀𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚'𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙗 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙧... 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙛𝙚𝙬 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚, 𝙞𝙩'𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣' 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣' 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚" Alicia admits. Cliff turns to Alicia, who now has a face full of regret. They share a look for awhile, as Cliff pieces what was said earlier, and what's been said now together. "𝙄'𝙢 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙈𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙡 𝙨𝙪𝙢 𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝" Alicia says before puffing her cig.