Because Mom Wasn't Enough

Move like a fugitive tonight

Cali, Mark and I were walking through Bulldog territory, which was not as dangerous during the day, but still. I had tho take them through all the back alleys and through certain buildings just in case. I had no idea what was actually going on right now, but I had to find out before this Danny guy did, if he didn't already know. I could tell Cali and Mark were a little nervous; they weren't involved with any of the city  gangs as far as I knew, so I had to babysit them for the time being. The only reason they came was to hopefully keep Vic from hyperventilating  while I was gone. This is why I loved them.

"Where is this place anyway?" Cali asked. I glanced down at my hand again where I had written the coordinates of the current meeting place.

"It's just up the road, we're almost there." I said. "And don't act so scared, it'll be fine." We found a back door to the building and I pushed it open. The hinges were rusty, and it was crooked on it's frame, preventing it from being able to completely close. It squeaked and slammed shut behind us. There was nothing in the room, but a stairwell in the corner. I assumed we were meeting in the basement, so I led the others down the stairs.

I heard voices as I casually stepped down the stairs and into the dimmly lit room. There were about forty people there, talking around the table, or just lounging around on some chairs. I saw a guy I recognized as one of the gang members. Damion was like Bull's second in command. We had met a few times, and were friendly with each other, but I didn't know him well.

"We can't just sit around waiting for something to happen."

"Yeah, they'll come after us eventually."

"Sam and his group, they aren't the type to hit and run. They're going to--"

"Sam is dead." I said from outside the circle. They all turned to me, just noticing my presence. "I killed him a few days ago." Damion started to make his way over to me.

"Jodie, what are you doing here? You left the gang, it wasn't safe. And what were you doing in this area anyway?" I took the letter Bull gave to me and handed it to Damion.

"Sam attacked me, Bull saved me. There was another guy who shot him, and I shot Sam and the other guy. Bull gave me this and told me to run. I was in a tight situation, and I need some answers, now." Damion sighed after he finished the letter. "All I need to know is if my friends are in danger, and who this Danny guy is."

"Danny, yeah, he's your brother. Everything Bull said is true. Yes, you're in danger, and so is anyone you're close too. We aren't sure how much this guy knows right now, but he will find out, no matter what we do."

 "Even if I'm not involved in the gang, he still won't just leave me alone?"

"No, he wants you dead, or will, again, depending on how much he knows. You're his blood, which to him makes you a threat. He was loyal to Sam, but much worse if you get in his way. Infact, I think Bull was right, you have to be the head of this now. We can do anything in our power to protect you, and this is the easiest way to do that."

"But leader versus leader, won't that just give him more of a reason to kill me?"

"Yes, but just keeping you alive isn't our goal. Bull told us everything, and basically, he wants you two to work this out. If at all possible. This is serious and we wa--Hey!" Damion looked past me, glaring at someone. Then he rushed past me towards the stairs. I spun around to see what it was, and I saw a boy trying to hide from sight, unsuccessfully. He raised a gun and squeezed the trigger, firing one shot into Damion's skull.

"No!" I screamed. I ran towards the boy just as two others from our group grabbed him and threw him to the ground. They started to beat him. I looked at Damion's fallen body as blood oozed out of the shot wound. I knew there was nothing anyone could do at this point.

I noticed a small black object lying on the stairs where the boy had been. I picked it up. It was a walki-talki with static buzzing emitting from the speaker. They heard everything. I looked at the boy who was being beaten to death, no doubt from Sam, I mean, Danny's gang. I felt anger rising in me as I wiped Damion's blood from my hands. I pressed the 'speak' button down on the walki-talki and spoke into it.

"I'm going to kill you, Danny. You hear me!? I'm going to fucking murder you in your sleep!" I held the device up to the boy who was crying out in pain. "You hear that? That's going to be you. And I'm going to tell you right now that we might be related, but you will never be my family! We could never work out what's happened here. And I'm not going to be the one getting slighted!"