"Love can be a cure, but also a curse.
I know it too well, trust me."
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Evangeline was trying to have a calm life with her best friend. She simply wanted to graduate from college, find a decent...
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Jerome's P.O.V.
I should have figured Nathan would want her. I'm still not sure why, but I should have known. I told them it was a bad idea. She should have stayed back home, where she was safe, protected.
But apparently she doesn't need help anymore. If she thinks and believes she can handle all of this on her own, I can't do anything else than just watch how she only makes it more difficult for herself.
Being a Phoenix, or any other gang member, is obviously not easy. You can't trust anyone, sometimes even your allies and people you once trusted. And loved.
That's a lesson I learned a long time ago. Maybe I learned it too soon...
"It's okay, Jerome. Mamma's here."
I closed my eyes, hiding in my mother's arms. I covered my ears with hands, hoping it will make all those noises disappeared. The broken glass, heavy footsteps, male voices.
All that slowly became nothing, as I listened to my mother's heart. It was relaxing, but at the same time it worried me. Her heartbeat was fast, unsteady - just like mine. She was probably even more scared than I was.
When I heard another scream, I yelped, afraid of the uninvited guests. I recall that before those men came, I was having a dinner with Mom, waiting for Father to come back home from work. But he never did and instead of him, they came.
"It's okay, baby. It'll be over soon."
I loved this woman so much. She was the only reason, why I got up in the morning. I wanted to make her smile and feel proud. I was one of the best students, I played in a baseball team, I was her only son.
I knew she loved me. She did till the end.
One of the men must had heard my cry. He opened the door of the wardrobe and I opened my eyes, holding my breath. I don't remember his face, but I couldn't forget his voice and laugh.
His hand reached for my mother, grabbing her by her beautiful dark hair and dragging her away from me and the closet. I screamed, seeing her in pain as she tried to break free from that brutal animal.
But then the rest came.
There was three more of them and one of them was holding a bat. My baseball bat. The man holding my mother, forced her to lay on the ground as the other two hold her arms and legs.
I wanted to look away, but I also wanted to help her. But I couldn't. I froze, as I watched her body slowly being crashed with my bat.
When they were done, her blood was all over the floor, matching the walls of the room. They took her hand, took away the wedding ring and left, not even looking in my direction.
