Trap Queen.

27♛

                                                 C H A P T E R - 2 7

      “Let’s just get the weed and leave. We’ll just run by on they asses tomorrow,” the dude replies. I exhale, but not loud enough for anyone to hear me. Now I knew for sure that we needed to get the fuck out of Compton. People were constantly looking for us, and we might as well relocate. It would do us better than to just to steady dodge bullets all the time.

      “Shit, I could've swore my mans told me that Egypt and A.J. were here tonight.” The two guys left, but I don’t get up immediately. I wait until I hear the front door close, and the dudes speed out of our driveway, burning rubber.

     I got up and put the gun back in it’s rightful place. Where the hell is A.J.? He promised he’d stay here with me the entire night, and this dude left me. I could’ve died from this home invasion bullshit. 

      I grabbed Reggie’s house phone and dialed A.J.’s number quickly. He didn’t answer immediately, the phone had to ring a few times. “Hello? Is this Reggie?” He answers. It sounds like he’s outside, walking from somewhere.

     “No, it’s Egypt. Do you know what the fuck just happened? Two dudes came by the house, and tried to kill me. They was looking for us two. I guess the guy that was tryna warn us was correct. Where were you? I thought you was finna stay with me all night,” I reply. I’m still mad at him. If I wasn’t as smart as I am, I could’ve been in the same position I put other people in.

     “I’m just at the corner store. I went down there because somebody called me talking about ‘meet him down there’ because he had important information. I ain’t take that dude that threatened us seriously, and you know that. If I did, I would did whatever I could protect you, Egypt,” A.J. promises. I sigh deeply.

      “Whatever, man. Where is Reggie and them?” I ask him. I ignore him tryna be sweet.

     “I don’t know. You know they take care a lot of business down in Long Beach, so my best guess would be there. When I get home, I gotta come up with a plan to keep us out of danger. We need to relocate,” A.J. suggests. “We got the cops on our back, and folks tryna kill us. Compton just ain’t for us no more.”

     “I was thinking the same thing. I’ll talk to you when you get home about it.”

     “Alright, love you. Bye,” A.J. dismisses.

      “Bye. Love you too.” My cheeks burn because A.J. says he loves me. I just repeated what he said as a reflex, I didn’t even know if I really meant it. I mean, A.J. was nice to me and cared about me. He was a great friend, and probably an even better boyfriend. I just got more stuff on my mind right now than a man. I’m worried about my safety and my court dates. That’s all for now. Who’s to say that won’t change? Once that court bullshit is done and over with, I’ll be done with this.

      I sat down on the couch and put my face in my palm. I was just thinking about all the stuff that happened while I was here in Compton. I lost one of my parents, I reunited with one of my parents, and I got betrayed by someone that I actually thought was my friend. It was crazy. I heard the front door open, and I turned to see who came in. “I’m home, and I have some excellent news,” A.J. buzzes.

     “Come sit down beside me and let me know,” I instruct him. He does what I ask him to. I’m kind of excited for good news, but we still had a lot of bullshit going on still.

      “Someone at the corner store told me that Dante’s family and the little girl’s family decided to drop all charges. They came together and they finna make a memorial of some kind instead of being in court trying to solve the murder. We all good now!” A.J. exclaims, smiling. My heart began to race. That had the be the best news I’d heard all day. Even though their motives had me suspicious, now we had nothing to worry about. It was a clean slate.

     “You lyin’!” I screamed, still in disbelief. What kind of family wouldn’t want justice for their kids or their family?

     “Naw, I wouldn’t mess around about something as serious as that. Hurry up and turn on the news, it’s probably going to be all over it,” A.J. tells me. I grab the remote and turn on the television, and yes, indeed it was all over the news.

     “The families of the shooting that killed a little girl and a few young men have came together and decided to drop all charges against the murderers. Police still hadn’t came up with a solid suspect, and word is — they don’t have to. Los Angeles citizens are shocked at the family decision, but they insist it’s for the best,” a news reporter says. “Today, we have the victim’s mother here today to speak upon the families decision.” The screen switches from Deea Nawlins to a girl that I had seen around Compton a few times. I never had spoke to her, but I seen her around.

     “So, Miss Eliza Broadnax, why did your family come together and decide to drop charges together? Wouldn’t that be an action that most families wouldn’t take?” Deea asks the girl.

      “Well, since both of our families knew each other, we both grieved together when the shootings happened. My little girl, Tammy, was the light of my life. When she was murdered, I decided I didn’t even want to have a funeral. I just wanted her buried. I also decided that I didn’t want a trial, neither. The way I feel about it is, God will catch up to whoever did the horrendous act upon others. Karma is a bitch, and it does indeed exist. I want to create a memorial for my little girl, and a program that teaches that violence is not the answer to every problem. We shouldn’t breed violence in our community. We should promote peace, like God says,” Eliza says. Her last name seems familiar to me.

     What she says to me really hit home. Now I know that conscience would be eating me alive because I killed someone’s daughter, just to prevent myself from going to jail. It makes me sound like a monster, but I know I’m not.

      “We can stop watching this now,” A.J. says, turning off the T.V. “What we need to worry about is this relocation. Where are we gonna go once we relocate?” 

      I thought about it for a minute. “Do you want to stay in the state?” I ask him.

     “Yeah, we gonna have to. I’m kinda nervous, though. Where we gonna work? How will we make it out there? I don’t know no place except Compton. I ain’t finish high school, so the only place I’mma be workin’ is McDonald’s,” A.J. voiced. I sighed, he had a point. But we needed to get out of L.A. It wasn’t like we coulda just moved to Inglewood or Long Beach, because trouble would find us there, also.

      “What you think about Oakland?” I asked him. I had only been up there one time, and it was the ghetto part of the city — West Oakland.

      “I ain’t never been down there, you’ll have to just think about it before we move. You can leave Compton, but Compton ain’t ever gonna leave you.”