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11. Chiraq

Chiraq

Chapter Eleven

September 7, 2012

It was as if darkness loomed in the city of New York. The weather didn't fair nicely, and the moods didn't either. The town had been whispering loudly about the recent death of an important figure in the Knowles home. Jermaine Lamar Knowles had been murdered in his own home while his longtime girlfriend, Jasmine, was forced to watch. As Jasmine recanted the story to his family, Beyoncé had left the room. She couldn't dare listen to someone tell the story about how someone broke into his home and murdered him. They wore masks, disguising their faces, but the streets had already begun talking. It was news to Beyoncé that her younger brother had been on Giovanni's radar, but she couldn't understand why. She hadn't even known that her brother personally knew Kingston. But, she also had the thought that the Carter boys had something to do with it. After all, Beyoncé left her party unharmed.

Beyoncé gloomly looked into the mirror at her black attire that she'd decided to wear to the event that she was forced to attend. She didn't wish to attend her brother's funeral, but Tina wasn't having it. If she had to show up and save face, everyone else would have to, as well. Terrence and Mathew donned poker faces, whilst Beyoncé and Tina wore their emotions on their faces. "Are you ready?" Tina asked her family softly.

Everyone except Beyoncé nodded their heads, and they all piled into the family purchased black on black SUV. Beyoncé couldn't believe that they would be riding together, as she wanted to drive herself. After the funeral, they would have a traditional dinner, but she didn't see herself eating and conversing with people that Jermaine didn't care for.

"Are you okay?" Terrence asked his younger sister softly. He had noticed that ever since the news of the death, she hadn't said a word. When it came to planning the funeral, she opted to remain mute. Many people expected Beyoncé to be be the main one to plain his funeral accordingly, but she simply didn't say a word. She didn't even prepare a speech.

Beyoncé looked over to her only living brother and gave him a deathly glare. [Was she okay?] What kind of question was that to ask a woman that had just lost the person that knew her the best? What kind of question was that to ask someone that was burying her baby brother? Jasmine's sniffles could be heard in the far corner of the back seat. Having to witness the murder and attend the funeral was the worst thing for her. It was also the fact that whomever had broken in just as she was about to tell him the good news. She was pregnant and moving back to New York to be around him during the pregnancy.

Tina had opted to take Jasmine in until she healed from the death, in fear of the baby's safety, but Bey didn't see the point. Every time she looked at the baby, she would be reminded that her child's father was dead. The SUV stopped in front of the church, and Beyoncé released a deep breath. It was finally time for her to face the music and the reality of her brother's fate. They all hopped out of the SUV and went into the church. The church was filled with several people from the community. Beyoncé knew that more than half of them only showed up to be nosy, and it was another reason she wanted to curse her mother for wanting to do this. In her mind, a small, family only funeral would've done the trick.

The church had been decorated with red and white flowers, something that Jermaine often gave to his sister, mother, and girlfriend at any given moment. He was sucker for surprising the women in his life with flowers to remind them that they were special to him. Bey sat on the front row with her family as the casket was being carried in by his friends. Bey could feel someone's hand sympathetically resting on her shoulder, but she didn't bother to turn around.

"My baby," Tina sobbed, causing Beyoncé to close her eyes. She couldn't and wouldn't break down in front of these people. Her father had taught her that much.