Blood, Sweat And Revenge

Chapter One

Out of all the people to end up in love with, how did I fall for a murderer? Today was the big day. Not my big day, but his big day. My boyfriend, Dj, had been fighting three murder charges for three years now, and the time had finally come for everyone to know his fate. My palms were sweaty as I looked around to see who all came. The look on everyone's face let me know that this wasn't a dream, and in fact, very real. Honestly, everyone knew that he wouldn't get off due to the nature of the crime. I think we had a small hope that he wouldn't get the book thrown at him. That's all we were waiting on. To see how much time he would get. Or the death penalty. Don't know why we even had that much hope of him ever being home again. Looking over at the victims' family, I noticed everyone had grins on their faces as we waited for the sentencing. Years ago, Dj had got into some shit, and ended up killing some niggas from the other side named Kenny, Money, and Rasheed. Word around town was them niggas tried to rob him, but I knew better. So did the people and the family. But that was my nigga, though. I'd never get in front of a crowd and down him to anybody. "They need to hurry up so I can finally put this shit behind me," Kenny's mom said to her other son, Kentrell, but everyone called him Slick.

He must have felt me looking at him because he swiftly turned his head and glanced at me. For a moment, we made eye contact until his mom looked at me too and rolled her eyes. There were some ill feelings between us because I used to date Slick back in high school. He was my first everything, so everyone felt like I should have been on his side. But that's not how shit worked. DJ was my man, so that's whose side I was on. Shit. How was I supposed to know his ass would turn out to be a killer? If I turned my back on him now, I would be labeled a fake ass bitch, and I wasn't that. More like down-ass bitch. Though everyone threw dirt on my name because I chose DJ, Slick and I had an understanding. An unspoken understanding. It was understood that it was too late to straddle a fence. He stood on loyalty, so he wasn't tripping on me being loyal to my nigga. Because once upon a time, I was loyal to him. Rasheed's mother was being overly dramatic too. Crying and shit like this was the funeral. Never understood why the fate of my nigga was so important to them. Didn't they have jobs to be at? Kenny's mom and Rasheed's mom were on some bullshit, trying to push for the death penalty. That ain't real. Money's mom was the only one who was calm. But she had been like that all her life. Meaning she's been through worse shit. When everything first went down, she stated that she knew it would happen sooner or later because her son was in that life. That's why I fucked with her. She was very logical about shit. "All rise," the bailiff said as the judge entered the room. He asked DJ if he had anything that he wanted to

say. DJ didn't respond, he just smirked. "Stupid-ass," Kenny's mom whispered. "Shut up 'fo you get us kicked out on some contempt of court shit. Nigga ain't bailing you out of jail no more this year," Slick said as he consoled his mom. He was right. She had been in contempt several times during this trial. Hell, I'm surprised they let her in today. Bitch looked at me again and rolled her eyes. "Old, ugly ass," I said loud enough for her to hear me, but not everyone else. She literally sat right across from me on the other side. I'm convinced she did it purposely because we somehow always ended up sitting directly across from each other. "Tuh," she responded and tapped Slick on the shoulder. It was too hot and too crowded for her bullshit. Still didn't understand how in the fuck she had the audacity to be mad. I wasn't with her fucking son anymore. "Adrian Watkins, I must say that this is the coldest case that has run by my desk. Not only did you kill these young men, but you literally fed them to the dogs while they were alive but too weak to move. These poor women couldn't even have a proper funeral because of the overkill. I pray that God has mercy on your soul, young man, and you one day get the help that you need," the judge said as her eyebrows sank low. She was one of those white women who thought they were black, and it was obvious by the way she dragged her words. She wore her hair cut short like every other judge. I've always wondered why all female judges rock the short haircuts. Was it policy or something? Look at Judge