Through the depths

Chapter 11

Darien

Darien pushed the door to his mother's house open. Dropping his bag to the door, he made his way to the couch in the small living room. Throwing himself on it he placed his arm over his face. It had been an overwhelming morning to say the least. From speaking to his chief about Khalil case, and his personal issue with the department, to Jasmine's breakdowns. It all left him feeling as if he was drowning, especially witnessing Jasmine tremble in fear when news broke about Khalil. He knew he broke protocol; he should've never told them what Khalil was to face. But he wanted to give Jasmine an answer.

Darien recalled her sobs and words after Cassidy attacked her sensibility for her brother. Never had he seen Jasmine so helpless and broken, not even her screams at Yasmine's funeral could compare to the pain he saw in her face at the hospital. He felt like an ass, all those years he'd call Jasmine selfish and only thinking about herself like everyone else. But he should've known, he should've sensed there was depth to her sudden departure. Even if he wasn't part of it. Jasmine would've never left her twin sister if there wasn't something beyond her control that was propelling her to do so. Her fear of failing her family made her choose to only care for herself. After high school she understood life would only get crazier from there and she couldn't bear struggling to care for her brother alongside her sister. She couldn't bear the idea that it was hers and Yaz reality. So, she chose herself. How could he have condemned the woman he loved for fearing failure. Grown man and women cower from taking care of lives they've participated in creating. Why would it be different for a young woman who hadn't lived her life, yet her path already paved. The twin had been responsible for a life neither created.

He groaned in frustration, ever since she'd been back it was a constant battle with himself whether he still cared for her. He wanted to hate her, after all every bad event in his life since her departure was blamed on her. Truth was he'd only been angry with himself, because she left him, he felt lost. He used her as a reason to lash out because he too felt stuck in this City without a purpose.

Darien realized he still wanted her. She was still his world, and he would do any and everything to bring her peace.

He heard soft footsteps approaching and knew his mother was home. Darien kept his eyes closed, he had not come home the night before and in the mist of all the chaos he did not even remember to call his mother to check on her. Now it was not almost five in the afternoon. He felt her move his feet roughly off the couch. With a humph, they landed on the ground.

"Get your feet off my couch, boy," she said.

"How is he?" she asked, settling next to him. Darien straightened himself up on the couch.

"Fractured rib. Fractured nose. They're not sure yet until he wakes up, but they believe he might have some permanent damages to his left eyes. He took some bad hits there," Darien explained. He hadn't been able to get the image of Khalil lifeless body out of his mind. He had to get a rental for a few days while they cleaned out the blood stain on his back seat. His mother made a whimpering sound, and Darien pulled her to his side to comfort her. She placed and head on his shoulders and breathed.

"That boy never had a real chance at life you know. No father or mother. The sister that stepped up is now dead. Who knows what must've been going on in his head"

Darien nodded, he didn't need to fill his mother in on the situation. She worried enough about him alone.

"I tried to be there you know. For all three of them babies. Since their mama moved into this city pregnant. She was just a kid herself, terrified of what's to come. She did her best you know, she really tried. But a young woman with no partner, mother of twin and no family to stepped up the stressed made her do some unimaginable thinks. That's why I always told you when you were old enough to understand. If you see those girls come by the house looking for me give them anything they want," She said