Gangland II.

Chapter 41 - Deja Vu.

Asha sat next to Q, telling him the story with Noah. For the longest, Q and Asha always remained close. Q was Asha's best friend and Asha was Q's rock. What was once supposed to be some entertainment from a prostitute bonded into a close friendship. Ever since, Q saved her out of prostitution and they've been inseparable since. As they both sat on Carlos's couch waiting for him and Stacey to come back with the cooking items.

"You ain't talked to him since?" Q asked.

"No....." Asha said, shaking her head.

By the way that Q was glancing down at his beer, she could tell that he was enraged. In fact, he was. Asha glanced at Q and gave him a sad look.

"Q, you have to promise that you're not going to hurt him." Asha said in a serious tone. "He's going through a tough time right now so I think he's reacting off of impulse."

Q nodded his head, smiling at her.

"Ash, I ain't gone hurt him." Q smiled. "You my little sister. I ain't gone nothing that you don't like."

Asha gave Q a tight hug, then grabbed her purse.

"Thank you, Q. I love you so much." Asha smiled. "Now, I have to go pick Lily up from school. I'll be back later!"

The second Asha left, Q's smile flushed. He was enraged. Anybody messing with Asha was like someone messing with his family. And when Noah came by yesterday, he was going to let him know.

Where was Noah at?

*Bzzz. Bzz. BZZZ!*

At the hospital, Noah found out that Aunt Shay made it through her first surgery. Still, the doctors said that there's a chance that she could die from the amount of blood that she lost, so she wasn't completely off the hook. After spending his shift taking care of his mother, Noah got off a little early. He was able to leave the hospital while the skies were still blue. Where did he head to? Not home, not to Asha's, not even to Aunt Shay's.

To a tattoo parlor in Schaefer.

When Noah walked inside, he seen a bunch of men from Schaefer getting tattoos. Most of them were on his arms. As he looked around the place, a few of the boys lifted their heads and chanted

"Hey Isaiah!" The boys smiled. "What's good, nigga?"

"Oh nah I'm not Isaiah." Noah said, shaking his head. "I'm his brother."

"Damn..." The other boy chuckled. "Y'all look just alike."

"He got a twin you fuckin' idiot." The tattoo artist at the front desk growled. "What you come to get a tat off?"

"I came to get a tattoo of my daughter." Noah said as he pulled out a small picture of Lily. "You think you can tattoo her face on my shoulder with the name 'Lily' in cursive?"

"I got yo' man right over there." The man at the front desk said, pointing at the right corner of the shop. "Go to the white boy in the black shirt and he'll hook you up."

As Noah walked over to the man, he sat on the chair and laid back as the man rolled Noah's sleeves up and rubbed his upper left shoulder with peroxide and sanitizer. Afterwards, he sketched Lily's face on a sheet. The boys already getting tattooed scrunched their eyebrows at Noah, giving him a funny look.

"Wait a minute, you that nigga who shot TJ on the street a couple days ago?" One of the boys smiled.

Noah gave him an agitated look, mouthing to him to be quiet.