Winter Toes III: Defending the Heart

WT3| "Fuck The Old Version Of Me"

c h a p t e r t w e n t y t h r e e
-
fix this shit

Roman stared down the girl that Taylor had in the house. As soon as Taylor had called and told him everything that happened, his blood was boiling and he flew down immediately. Fuck that mural. He hadn't felt so pissed in so long and now it was all bubbling up. He knew something was off when he was in Detroit.

Facts were that Roman knew he wouldn't be able to live a normal lifestyle for long, shit from the past always came back to haunt you and now it seemed as though it was coming but on Taylor's behalf.

Roman nodded slowly before taking a deep breath and pulling his phone out of his pocket to check the time.

"Nine times outta ten, them niggas gon keep coming for you." Roman said, looking at Taylor. His eyes lingered on her dress for a while before he looked back at Sin. "And since y'all left ole girl alive, she probably gonna be coming for ya ass too."

"I couldn't just kill her, that's my best friend."

"Not anymore." Roman said. "You can't just keep her ass alive either. So either you're the enemy or she is, choose wisely."

He had a gun glued to his hand, his eyes switching between Sin and Taylor for a reaction. "She is." Sin said, lowering her eyes to the floor.

Sin knew this is how it all worked. She even predicted the day would come that her and Roni would go separate ways, however she predicted that long ago and after 25 years of friendship she thought the thought was just a mere thought.

Roman nodded, pushing a piece of gum into his mouth. "We gotta relocate." He told them. "Not to a different city, just somewhere undercover for now. Taylor, we gotta get your sister out the hospital and your nieces-"

The door slammed against the wall and Roman was quick to aim at the door. China and Rei raised their arms, Daye and Mase pointing their pieces back, and Chase hid behind Mase for protection.

When Roman saw Reiya, he put his gun down. "Close the door." He said.

They all walked in, closing the door behind them. Ever since Mase basically saved Chase's life, she was kinda glued to him and Mase liked it. It wasn't in a "love" type of way, they related to each other and felt comfortable around each other. More than they did any family.

"What's going on?" Daye spoke up first.

Taylor's eyes traveled across all of their faces before she looked to Roman. "We have a problem."

-

Wyn ducked low in his car, Kayo doing the same as they waited for the car to pass. They had just got out of shoot out with some random dudes. Bullet holes were pushed through the sides of both their cars, windows shattered, and Wyn had been hit. He was holding his arm in pain, trying to think what the last dude had said.

"Calib coming for that ass! We taking over!"

Wyn shook his head, his left hand covered with blood as he applied pressure to the wound. Once the car was out, Kayo got out of the car to check on Wyn. When he opened the passenger door, Wyn gave him a look that begged for help.

"Don't worry, man. I got you! I got you!"

-

Maison, Dayton, Reiya, Chase, China, Taylor, Sin, and Roman all piled into the large truck. Roman had made a call and they were on the way to who he made the call to. He had told the man he needed somewhere to lay his head safely in New York, the man told him he knew just the place and to come see him.

The man's name was Slug, he and Roman went as far back as Roman and Lani did before Slug moved away. They used to keep in contact all the time but got distant as the years went by. No matter what though, they always had each other's back.

Back in the day, before Roman was a "good man" and Lani was all into school, all three were young thugs running around trying to find themselves in the streets of South Carolina. Solaman "Slug" Johnson earned his name back then because Lani said he resembled one and always left a mess when they had to kill niggas, he got a kick out of it. The name just stuck and Slug went by it ever since. They always considered each other family even after Slug left.

China was complaining about Mase's elbow being stuck in her rib cage and Mase was telling him how it was there on purpose when they pulled up to the spot that Slug named.

"Can y'all shut up? At least you don't got somebody foot crushing ya fucking ankle." Sin complained, looking over to Daye.

"I'm sorry." Daye said with a laugh.

"You don't gotta apologize to her." Reiya said with her lip turned up. "If it was me, I'd stomp on that shit."

"Well, it's not you so shut up and stay in a child's place, little girl." Sin argued.

Rei tried to lift up. "Who you calling a little girl? You white, waste of a sperm ass bitch!"

"Aye, aye! Calm down." Daye tried as they all struggled.

Roman beeped the horn loud and long. "All you motherfuckas shut the fuck up, yo. I don't wanna hear that shit. We here, get the fuck out. All y'all fucking annoying ass kids. Just shut the fuck up. Shit." He yelled, his bass making everybody silent.

Everybody piled out the car leaving Taylor and Roman alone. He looked at her, his angered expression softening. She looked up at him and laughed a little. He laughed too before leaning over and kissing her.

"We're going to figure this out, I promise." He told her.

Taylor nodded. "I know."

-

Wyn had passed out from loss of a lot of blood. He opened his eyes slowly to the sound of arguing. As far as he knew only he, Kayo, and Slug was supposed to be there. Wyn opened his eyes a little faster as he turned his head.

He was laying in a flat, hospital-like bed in the center back of the room. Slug's personal spot was something of a warehouse that looked extremely small on the outside but once you came inside there was music blasting in his large abode. There was a living room area, somewhat a kitchen, an area where he fixed up cars, and a little spot over to the right where he played the game throughout the day. There was also an upstairs where he assumed he actually lived. Wall to wall was graffiti Slug had done himself over the years.

When Wyn's eyes met the entrance he could see a bunch of teens entering. He knew two of those teens out of five and then he saw purple hair. He squinted to get a better look. What is Daye and Mase doing with Sin? He wondered before staring a little longer.

As he stared, he then noticed two more people come in and he got pissed.

"Aye, Roman!" Slug let out in his thick accent, going to him and giving him dap. "And Taylor."

"Slug." Taylor greeted with a hug as the teens went to explore.

"You like?" He asked doing a 360 spin, motioning around his spot. Sin and Taylor's eyes danced around the room and when they landed on the hurt Wyn, they both looked shock.