The End

Ain't No Damn Stockholm

The human mind is one of this world's most amazing mysteries. We truly don't give it enough credit. It has these certain talents that researchers spend the meat of their lives attempting to explain.

Like the fact that the conscious mind will ignore stimuli so that it doesn't outwork itself, but the unconscious mind will store those same stimuli without us even knowing. Or like how having a mindset is more literal than we believe. Evidence of the social brain says that having a set of attitudes that are reinforced through behaviors creates new pathways which quite literally changes the shape of your brain. Amazing right?

Another talent would be the brain's ability to pick up on danger and simultaneously ready the body for fight before we're even consciously aware of it. Like now, as I sat in the middle desk of the outermost row in my final period.

My leg bounced anxiously as I waited for Biology to end. I couldn't tell what it was that gave my stomach a mean case of bubble guts and made my chest heavy. Or the dryness in my throat that had me swallowing my spit just to gather moisture. I was ready for something.

But what?

My back was scorching from the sun, skin sticky from Louisiana humidity. Eyes squinted to keep the sun from blinding me. Every now and then, I'd look at the cracked concrete of the sidewalk out of habit. The last time I looked down, I finally noticed them.

Their shadows.

Their voices.

Suddenly, I realized that the sun wasn't the only thing burning my back. The target that being Kel's little sister put there was heavy. These boys, they sat in the back of me last period, as they do every period. I knew their voices from their determination to being known as class clowns.

"Aye, you sure this her?" The screechy feminine tone gave me some relief. A girl fighting me wasn't anything for me to be afraid of.

"Yeah this that nigga sister, she look just like his bitch ass!" A male. This sound of his voice faded as the sound of his shoes brushing against the concrete grew. My heart was in my throat--or maybe it was in my ears?

I braced myself for what was to come next and shuffled faster. I needed to at least get close enough to the house for some type of protection. This block wasn't where I belonged.

"Nah don't try to walk yo' ass up now, moe. Jericka, tag that bitch!"

My scalp seared at the sudden pulling of my locs, I screamed in pain as my neck bent so far backwards that I swore it almost snapped. The grip was way too strong to be a female's. Jericka, a thicker girl in a grade higher than me, came in my line of vision.

Her caramel complexion was riddled with scars from acne and most definitely fights like these. We were around the same height, though she had a good twenty pounds on me. If it was just me and her, I knew I could hold my own with her. But the fact of the matter was that it wasn't just me and her. She had four other people ready to back her up if necessary--or unnecessary.

Even still, as she came towards me with her arm cocked back and powering up, I was ready. At least I thought I was. I swung my bookbag at her with as much force as I could muster. The boy holding me hostage yanked harder as a means to punish me for daring to fight back. I ended up losing my balance and meeting the pavement back-first.

Wrong move of course.

Jericka wasted no time in swinging at me while my guard was down. I tried to swing back, but the boy who'd had my hair began kicking me in the side ruthlessly. What'd I do to this boy to make him so vengeful? The weight of his Jordan clad foot was backed by the force of his personal vendetta.

It became obvious to me then, that I had no choice but to cover my face as the two of them attacked me. The surrounding boys called for him, Mike, to back off, yet none of them stepped in. I waited for it to end, for them to see that they'd won and I wasn't going to fight back anymore. It seemed like forever, but eventually they wore themselves out.

They left, but not before Mike decided that beating me senseless wasn't enough for him. He used all the saliva he had available in his mouth and chucked it my way. It landed on my arm.

I laid there for minutes trying to gather any remaining dignity that my bloodied, beaten body would allow. I kept my head down all the way home, the blood from my nose traveled down to my top lip.

I walked through the door of mine and Kel's home. A group of his friends were in the living room passing around a blunt. I could barely see through the cloud of smoke; I damn near choked. In the few seconds I'd been there I'd already caught a contact high.

They instantly saw me and my condition, stopping their game of Spades. Kel was the first one that ran over to me. I wanted to cry in his arms, but I knew how he felt about tears and weakness overall. I cringed at how weak I must've looked to him in that moment. He scowled, shaking his head. His locs were pulled back leaving the muscle in his forehead that popped up when he was angry in view for all to see.

"What I tell yo ass about walkin' home alone, man? Look at you, I thought I taught yo ass how to fight. You let a bitch do this to you?" He sucked his teeth, disdain evident in the way his lip curled.

"It wasn't just a female, Kel. There was niggas there too." I struggled to say with my swollen jaw.

"Oh word?" Steebo, one of Kel's closest yes-men, said as he hopped off the couch. "You know where them lil niggas stay, Maya?" I could only shake my head no, but even that was painful.

"Look, Steebo gone walk you home from school tomorrow. But you need to learn how to handle yo own shit cause I ain't wit' all this weak shit. This just what happens so you need to learn to throw 'em with niggas, too, if you have to. Ain't nobody gone be able to save you all the time, Maya."

Ain't nobody gone able to save you all the time, Maya.

Ain't nobody gone be able to save you all the time, Maya.

Ain'tnobodygonebeabletosaveallthetimeMaya...

I don't know what today is or how long I've been in here. It feels like months. Months of Dr. Harper--I've been here long enough to figure out his name--torturing me endlessly. All in the hopes of finding a cure that would probably take years to perfect. I had to commend him though, he had a hell of alot of perseverance. I would've admired him for it if his ambition hadn't held me hostage and had me pissing and shitting in a catheter.

By now, he'd stripped me of my outside clothes and dressed me in a hospital gown. He was smart enough to do it while I was passed out, otherwise I would've tried to escape. That was a while ago because I'd long given up the hope of getting out of here or somehow Drew and Sam coming to my rescue. They never came for me.

I was all alone.

No one was coming for me. Today, I had a plan. Today, I'd have to be my own damn cavalry.  

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IT'S BEEN SOOO LONG RIGHT?  But I'm currently working on the next few chapters for this book so the next update isn't far behind I promise.

The writer's bug has bitten me once more finally, every now and again life sucks it out of me, but it always comes back.

I know there's probably not much to say about this chapter since most of it was backstory (for character development) but if you do have comments, feedback, or any predictions it's always nice to read them.

Until next time...