Trap Queen.

17♛

                                                C H A P T E R - 1 7

      Tears were rolling down my face. My cheeks were soaking wet, and I can’t remember ever crying like this before. I never been so hurt. I knew my momma was going to die sometime soon, but this quickly. Not right now. I didn’t know she would’ve been murdered.

      My mind wasn’t even working correctly. I didn’t know what I should do. I didn’t know if I should run outside and tell A.J. first, or call 9-1-1. I didn’t do neither. I just sat and cried. I even wanted to touch my mother, but I already had blood all over my hands.

      “Egypt? What’s wrong?” I saw A.J.’s face peer into the room. I turned around to look at him, and his facial expression completely changed. He kneeled down next to me, but I didn’t say anything. “Oh my fuck!” he shouted. 

      “We need to call the police! We gotta do something about this!” A.J. screamed. He hopped up from the floor and dashed out of the room. Even though calling the police wasn’t something I exactly wanted to do, I didn’t care. However, I had to think logically. I couldn’t just leave my mother’s body here for forever. I had to do something.

       “This shit can’t be happening to me. God, please!” I cried even louder. When will this shit ever end? First, Reggie is shot and now my mother is sitting in the bedroom in her own cold blood. Compton just wasn’t getting better for anyone who lived here. I put my palms in my eyes and cried and cried, until it felt like no more tears would come out.

      ❂

      I woke up in Reggie’s house the next morning. I had no idea what happened, and I didn’t want to remember. Sometimes I wish I could just forget about everything. Sometimes I wish I could go back to Riverdale, and everything would be okay. I got up from the blow-up mattress and walked into the living room. Hopefully there’d be nobody in there—I wasn’t in the mood for company. 

      I’m glad no one was in there.

      “Goodmorning,” Serena greets. “Guess what?”

        “I ain’t in no mood to guess. Spit it out.”

      “Reggie’s okay. We’re going to see him later today. We just waiting for everybody to wake up and start movin’ around.” I smile a little bit. Now I had a little bit of something to be happy about. Reggie’s okay, so now the only things that’s missing my mother.

      My mom. This shit still don’t even feel real.

       Inside the kitchen, Rah was there cooking. I didn’t know whether to assume he was cooking up one of his famous concoctions or real food. “Good morning,” I greet to him. “How’d you sleep?”

      “You seem awful cheery for somebody’s momma who just died. What wrong witcha?”

            “I guess I already knew it was happen. Not like this though. . . but what can I do? She’ll be heaven just like all the other momma’s working hard to raise their kids,” I say. “I want to go see Reggie. Maybe that’s why I’m cheery.”

     “I’m ready, too,” Rah replies.

       “You didn’t seem to messed up about it when he got shot. Why is that?” I finally question him. I’ve been thinking of that question for a while, I don’t know why I hadn’t asked him that yet.

      “I just knew he’d be okay. Reggie is a strong dude. He’s been through a lot of bullshit and has done a lot, so I just knew nothing too bad would happen to him. Sometimes I think that nigga’s black Jesus—he stay resilient.” Rah went back to the stove and flipped the last pancake over. I guess he was right. Reggie has been through a lot, but it’s like Rah knew that whatever would happen Reggie would okay. 

      And he was right.

      “I wanna go now.”

       “Then go get dressed!” Rah laughed at me. “Don’t forget to eat, also. It took a long-ass time to cook these damn pancakes. I can throw down in the kitchen, if you ain’t know.” Rah laughed again. I didn’t really know Rah as well as I knew Reggie, but I could tell they were both down to Earth and really funny.

      I didn’t know what to wear today. All my clothes were inside of my house, and I don’t think I could ever go back inside there. I was basically raised all my teenage years in that house, learned a lot, and grew up there. I also had to witness my mom’s dead body in there, so it was a house that I learned to love and hate.

      I looked inside the drawer and just grabbed a oversized wifebeater and basketball shorts. I usually didn’t even dress like this, so I felt. . . different. I couldn’t tell if it was good or bad. This house didn’t feel like home. Nowhere felt like it was my home anywhere. I felt like home was where my family was at, and right now I didn’t have any family anymore.

      The only ‘family’ I had was my Compton family, and they weren’t my blood. We was close, but they weren’t my blood. It was fucked up to know that I had my own father and my brother living here, and they ain’t never try to make contact with me or nothing. They ain’t never try to see how was I was doing; never sent me a letter or asked around about me. Did my momma know they were here? I didn’t know myself. I doubt my momma would do something like that to me. Hell naw, she wasn’t perfect, but I doubt she’d stoop that low to keep someone such as my father away from me.

      Or would she really?

      “Are you ready to go?” Serena intrudes, asking me. She was looking like she was about to hit up the club instead of going to visit Reggie in the hospital. She was wearing huge hooker-hoops and a strapless white summer dress with red pumps. I furrowed my eyebrows at her, but didn’t question her.

     “Yeah. . . ready as ever.”