Living The Life

Chapter 14

"Answer the phone Rian" I said to no one in particular. Everyone in the house was silent except for the occasional sniffle from Riah. A knock on the door made everyone jump. Riah ran to the door, an officer walked in. "Jayriah?" he asked Riah. She nodded and started trembling. "I'm sorry to inform you, but we just found your brother's body. 17 shots in the chest. My legs gave out but Damon caught me. "No, no, no, nooooooo! Not my baby, not my babyyyy!" Riah screamed falling to the floor. Courtney wrapped her arms around her and they cried together. Bonez walked through the door with a look of confusion on his face. "Lord please not my lil cousin" Shaneka cried out. Chase wrapped his arms around his mama and hugged her tight.

Bonez P.O.V

I watched Riah stare into space. You could see it all in her face, a part of her was missing. Simone and Shaneka were a wreck. I hated that somebody took out Jayrian, he didn't fuck with nobody! The part that fucked everybody up was we found out Maria was pregnant. "Riah, you ready to go home?" I asked. She just shook her head, never looking my way. After we went to go confirm that it was Rian I brought her back to my house so she could just clear her head. I sparked up, the silence was killing me! "Can I hit it?" Riah asked softly. "You don't smoke Riah" I said hitting my blunt. "Please Bones" Riah pleaded. I past it to her and she hit it. "Inhale" I said. She started coughing and choking. I patted her back. "Try it again" I said. This time she got the hang of it.

Four blunts later Riah was ready to talk. "I don't know who would do that to my baby" she said. "Me either man, Rian didn't fuck with nobody" I said shaking my head. I could tell Riah was high as hell cause her eyes were low and she was chill. The front door opened and Courtney walked in. "You should really start locking these doors" Courtney said walking over to Riah and plopping down. "Wanna hit this?" I asked firing up another blunt. Courtney grabbed it and took a long pull. "Mann Imma miss Rian, that was my buddy in school. We stayed getting high in the back of the gym" Courtney chuckled. Riah laid her head on Courtney's shoulder. "What I'm gone do with out my other half?" Riah asked bursting into tears.

Damon P.O.V

Destiny looked up at me and smiled. I kissed the bridge of her nose, this is what true love feel like. "Money go be with Simone" Candace said reaching for Destiny. "I need to spend time with my daughter" I simply said. "We gone be here when you get back, Simone hurting right now. You don't want her putting the babies in danger stressing out" Candace said. One thing I loved about her, she wasn't no hater and she knew my situation. I kissed her and Destiny and sped home. Shaneka and Simone were teary eyed just holding each other. I pulled both of them into a hug. "Its gone be alright, we gone get through this!" I said trying to convince myself as much as I was them. "I love you Money" Simone whispered. I kissed her face and pulled her closer.

4 Days later

The funeral is today and everything was moving in slow motion. "Daddy I'm hungry" Serenity whined. "Go get Mahogany and go to the kitchen, I'll make y'all something" I said adjusting my tie. Simone stepped out the the bathroom in a knee length black sequin dress, with a big church hat. Her round belly poked out even farther. She just turned 8 months pregnant and she was ready to pop. I walked over to her and kissed her cheek, for the last few days there hasn't been any crying. Just numbness, Jayson was on a war path. We still didn't know who was responsible but if anybody was going to find out it was going to be Jayson.

The funeral was packed, everybody in the Hood had love for Jayrian. We were viewing the body and I spotted Candace and Destiny. She walked right up to Simone and whispered something in her ear. Simone broke down and Candace rubbed her back. I walked over to them and hugged Candace and took Destiny. I led Simone to the first row where all the family were seated. April sat to the side alone crying her eyes out and shaking uncontrollably. Jayson walked over and led her out the door. Riah clung to Bonez trying to hold it together but as soon as she saw Rian in the casket she lost it. "They took my baby!" Riah screamed reaching in the casket and hugging Rian. There wasn't a dry eye in the building, we all knew how much she loved her twin. It took me, Bonez, and trap to pry her away. When we finally did Simone grabbed her and held her, whispering in her ear until she quieted down. Jeremy walked up and sat next to Riah. He kissed her cheek and rubbed her hair. I rocked Destiny and looked back at Candace, she smiled as she wiped tears away.

Simone P.O.V

I really respected Candace for showing up and paying her respects. I wasn't mad at her, just disappointed in Money. Riah was loosing her mind, she couldn't even watch Rian get lowered into the grown. Bones had to lead her back to the car. Out of all of us her and Jeremy were taking it the worse. My mother, well that was a whole different story. The guilt was killing her slowly. My father turned his pain into rage, bodies were dropping left to right and we knew why. "Mommy" Mahogany screamed running up to me. I pulled her on my lap and rocked her. Mario walked over to me and kissed my forehead. "We gone find who did this to lil bruh" he assured me. "Mario this has to stop! I Can't keep losing the people I love the most" I stressed.

Bonez carried Riah up to her room and laid her down. "Long day" Shaneka said popping down on the couch. "I'm just ready to wake up from this dream!" I said rubbing my stomach. Damon walked in the house with Destiny and went upstairs. He came back down with her in his arms and a diaper bag. "Can I hold her?" I asked. Damon handed her to me and she looked at me and smiled. She melted my heart. "She's beautiful" I said to Damon.