As cliche as it sounded, Eric spiraled into a deep pit of despair. It was not clearly visible through his exterior, but anyone could have guessed. According to the guys, ever since Eric left the hospital earlier this year, he never reverted back to his old self. I couldn't tell, considering the fact that I wasn't close with him prior to his illness.
I worried about him dearly. I knew that he was a grown man, capable of handling what's his, but I knew his head was in several different areas right now. Him and the others were trying to develop a plan in regards to Suge. While equitably difficult, at this point they were just ready to smoke his ass. I was against the idea, whole-heartedly. I'd rather see him rot in jail, leaving him no choice other than to marinate his brain with thoughts of what he did, or tried to do. Not to mention, Suge had already been to prison twice, he would've been gone forever if he were prosecuted.
"That snitchin' shit is dead as fuck," Ren stressed when I proposed the idea to them. There were mixed responses, but who cared about snitching? It's not as if Suge was their homeboy, which he was far from being.
But apparently, I was missing the point as stated by D.O.C, "Suge got outside connections, he'll fuck some shit up even incarcerated." All my suggestions were getting shot down, but I wasn't afraid to stress the fact that they portrayed themselves as some big and bad group, they could handle whatever was thrown at them. Was I wrong?
At that moment, Eric contemplated my statement. I would've thought I stumped him until he parted his lips to speak, "We are big and bad. But the extra shit ain't necessary, you dig?" This had happened a good hour ago, so I had stayed quiet for the remainder of the whole 'round table' thing.
Eric kept making eye contact with me throughout the entire thing, and I had no idea why. But after keeping to myself, I thought of something that I wasted no time in telling. "Um," I said, trying to get their attention.
"What you got to say now?" Eric teased with a smirk.
Simply rolling my eyes, I continued my sentence, "Dre and D.O.C could show up to Deathrow and tell them they're staying, y'know, with the label. And uh, maybe y'all can meet up, Eric can sign a fake contract and where ever you guys are at it can all happen there." Awaiting their criticism, I slightly cringed at what was to come.
They all stayed silent, looking every which way and possibly thinking. After an exaggerated eternity, Cube said, "It ain't like we got nothin' else." Earning a slow nod from Dre.
"We can't stick to it just yet, but it's somethin' to think about." Dre said, rhythmically tapping his fingers on the wooden table. Even though the idea wasn't fully ready to initiate it's fruition, I was happy that they were pacified for the time being.
The rest of them piled out and all went their separate ways. I had to get back to the hospital soon, but Eric told me to wait, and that he had to talk to me about something.
"This shit is stressful," Eric mumbled before running a hand through his silky curls, "I knew I'd be killin' this nigga one day, but for this reason? Shit."
I said, "It'll all be over momentarily, Eric. Just give it time. I'm assured they wouldn't waste time on this." After I said that, Eric started to laugh, obtaining much confusion from me.
"You so smart, all these big words." Eric chuckled lightly with a grin, cordially drawing circles on the table with his finger. I giggled right along with him, and to think I was just speaking like a normal person. He added on, "You different."
"Good different, or bad different?"
Eric scoffed, "Good different! Fuck is you 'sayin?"
I only laughed, his personality was so loveable. As charismatic as he was, I understood why so many people rocked with him. You couldn't stay away, and you never knew what was to come. But in retrospect, people like him bring others up because they're sad themselves. They know what it's like to be in that state of mind, so they keep the people they care about away from it. Once I realized that, my laugh faded away, and my eyes fell on Eric. He was still occupied with his invisible masterpiece on the table.
