GUILT

Chapter 23

     Trae's uncle aimed the gun at Joi's head and told her to hold down the latch on the handle. As she held the down the handle, he kicked the door in. He saw JT, who froze, and two bodyguards that were aiming their guns at Trae, but quickly aimed them at him. JT continued to aim his gun at Trae and smirked.

    "Uncle? Hey, how's it going," he chuckled.

    His uncle glared at him with the most disgusting look on his face. "You don't have shit to say to me boy." 

    "This is funny, very funny," JT pressed the gun against the side of Trae's head. "I specifically told him that things were gonna get messy if he brought other people into this."

    "Try it," his uncle said pressing the gun harder into Joi's head.

     JT continued to laugh. "That's the way you want to play it, huh?," he walked over to the closet. He opened the closet and dragged Chantelle forcefully out, which caused her to cry as she fell to the floor.

    Trae tried to yell with the rope still covering his mouth.

   "Boy, you sick," he uncle said.

   "You know what? You wanna know how sick I am Unc?"

   "Don't do nothing you going to regret," his uncle said, putting his hand around Joi's neck and aiming the gun at JT.

   "This is about business? You see my brother and my cousin, the ones that's about to finish you if you do anything stupid?"

    "What about them?"

   JT aimed his gun at his cousin, shooting him twice and his brother once.

   "What the hell? Boy what the hell is wrong with your mind?" his uncle asked.

    "This about us right? Too many people was in our business."

   Trae's uncle looked up to see if he could spot his crew aiming their guns, and they were. "Let my nephew and his girl go."

    "Or what? You gonna shoot Joi? You can go ahead and have her. I don't need her, she takes up too much space around here."

    "JT, what?!" she shrieked.

   He continued to laugh, "Sorry baby, this is business."

   His uncle threw Joi to the floor and walked slowly up to JT and Trae.

  "Take anymore steps, and he's done," JT ordered.

  "Look, I'm not about violence and you know that. But when it's my family involved, you know I can't let it go down like that."

  "I don't give a fuck about your family. Your nephew betrayed me years ago and now he's got my girl? Hell no," JT said, pressing the gun back against Trae's head. 

  "I don't want to do this JT," his uncle said, signaling the crew to get ready.

  "Do what--"

  Trae's uncle ran swiftly towards JT and tried to grab the gun. They both wrestled for it and JT ended up shooting Trae's shoulder. JT and Trae's uncle fought until his uncle got a hold of the gun. Once he got a hold of it, he aimed it at JT. He continued aiming the gun at him while he moved to free Trae. Trae stood up and thanked his uncle for saving him, then he rushed to Chantelle to untie her.

   "It's about to get ugly in here, so I suggest y'all leave," his uncle said.

    Trae picked up Chantelle and carried her out of the building. They both headed for his car. He placed her the car and pulled her seat back. Tears formed in his eyes after seeing how bad she looked. Her body was covered in bruises and the side of her face had scratches. He held onto her gently and kissed her.

    "Baby, I'm so sory I had to put you through that," he said with the tears, now, falling down his face.

    Tears filled Chantelle's eyes, but she couldn't say anything.

    Trae continued to hold her, and then he placed his hand on her stomach.

    "Trae, why is your hand covering my stomach," she said brokenly.

    "I know, Chantelle. Shay told me when I got to your place."

    Chantelle busted out crying, "I'm scared Trae."

    Trae continued to hold her and kissed her forehead, "Everything's going to be okay."

    Inside the building, his uncle continued to hold JT at gunpoint. He asked JT if he had any last words, but JT didn't say anything. He smirked a few times, but he kept quiet. He motioned for the crew to begin firing shots into the basement and they did. Trae's uncle grabbed the bag of money and the windows shattered as bullets began to spray into the building. Trae's uncle dodged the bullets and ran out of the building. Joi was too frightened to move, so she watched JT's life end. 

   Once Trae's uncle returned to the crew on the outside, he told Devin that he'll take Shay and him home to let Trae and Chantelle comfort each other for the rest of the day. Shay really wanted to be there for Chantelle, and so did Devin. But they figured that the both of them needed some time to support, rest, and time to comfort each other. 

   "What's going to happen to JT's body?" Devin asked as he rode home.

  "We'll take care of it," his uncle replied.

  "So, let me get this straight. You can just shoot anyone and not get in trouble with the law?" Shay asked.

   "That really does make sense," Devin added. "You must be one of those undercover people."

   Trae's uncle laughed, "Boy, shut up and just mind your business."

    "I was just wondering. Are you a hitman?" Devin joked.

    Trae's uncle grinned and dropped them off.

    The following day, Trae took Chantelle to the hospital to get make sure she, and the baby, was healthy. The doctor noticed the bruises on Chantelle's body and asked many questions about what happened to them. While she was getting checked for any complications, the doctors treated Trae for his wound and scars. When he returned, he saw Chantelle smiling and talking to the nurse in the room. 

     "You guys are all good," the nurse said leaving the room.

     "What were y'all in here talking about?" Trae asked.

     "I just had some questions about the pregnancy and she helped me," Chantelle replied.

     "Oh, okay baby," he said kissing her and helping her off the stool.

     Chantelle stared at Trae, thinking about how great of a father he'd be. She pictured in her mind of him holding their child and it made her heart melt. Then, she placed her hand on her stomach and smiled.

     "What's going through your head ma," he asked.

     "Just thinking. You know, I haven't told my mama yet."

     "When do you plan on telling her?"

    "Sometime, soon."

    "Okay baby," he said driving home.