Brittany Hills Chronicles: Act 3

Xion 14

I thought I could move past what happened in Georgia, I thought I would be able to go about my life and forget what that nigga did.... but when he walked into The Cages, I tensed up and though my every instinct was telling me that the dude who walked in with his friends WASN'T Zelle, the resemblance was uncanny. I needed to get my shyt together because the last thing I wanted was for Carter to see me start freaking out, especially when I knew that I was just overreacting. As we sat there waiting for one of the courts to open up I scrolled through my phone looking for something to keep me distracted but it was extremely difficult considering that the dude with the dreads was sitting just a couple feet away from me.... maybe I was more affected by this than I thought because the hairs on my arms were standing up and there was his cold chill on my neck even though I was sweating profusely. Yeah, I really needed to get my shyt together because I could feel my heart racing and now I was thinking about what happened to my older brother Jayceon and...... Before I could go into a full blown panic attack, Ronnie walked over to me, put his hand on my shoulder, and asked me if I wanted to walk with him to get some water for everyone at the gas station.

"How did you....how did you handle what happened to you?" I asked Ronnie as we walked down the street to the gas station, Ronnie was quiet for a few minutes and I knew he was thinking about those few weeks he spent locked in a basement and I knew it couldn't have been easy for him to go back to that place.

"You don't get over it.... you just learn to move on, it's like a scar that never fades and I can't tell you how to move on because it's different for each person but this is how I did it... I focused on the good people in my life; my brothers.... Dejon, Tay, Jace, Carter, Tino, Black, Josiah and I focus on the dude who stood by my side through everything... Antwan. I know if I ever need someone to talk to about that incident then I got a good support system around me, and so do you." Ronnie said quietly.

"Do you think I should tell Carter about these.... feelings I've been having? The fears, the constant paranoia, the guilt......" I asked softly.

"He should be the first person you tell, but I wanna touch on something that you just mentioned. Xion you have nothing to feel guilty about, what happened to you isn't your fault and in order to heal that's the first thing you need to realize, the ONLY person who is to blame for what happened is the sick fuck that did it, no one else." Ronnie said firmly and I nodded. "Nah I wanna hear you say it Xion." Ronnie said.

"It wasn't my fault..." I said my voice cracking.

"Look Xion.... you know if you ever need to talk or let out some steam you can always come to me and the rest of the team, hell if you want I'm sure that I can talk to Big John and see about letting you use my room since most of the time I'm either over Black's or Antwan's house." Ronnie said and I nodded. "But I really feel like you should start with Carter, that dude is extremely protective of you and despite his arrogance, he has a big heart and he's a good listener." When we got back to the Cages Carter was standing with Antwan and they were laughing about something, and seeing Carter smile made me forget about all my problems and it was like nothing else mattered.

"Ahh Xi we're up next and I got a little bet going with Fat Daddy so I need for you and Ronnie to do what y'all do." Carter said smirking. "Oh and I was thinking that you should stay over tonight, as much as I love it at your house things are a little bit more complicated now that your mom is back and I don't wanna you know.... do what I was planning with her in the house."

"The only thing we were going to be doing tonight is sleeping. Come on let's blow these niggas off the court." I said smiling and that's exactly what we did... that dude Wes was salty because on more than one occasion I broke his ankles and left his ass dancing by himself. As we were waiting for our next opponent I noticed the dude with the dreads staring at me and once again I felt nervous.... maybe he wasn't looking at me but just him looking in my direction made me start thinking about Zelle.

"Hey, are you alright?" Carter asked looking at me. "Xi.... Xion? Ayy y'all we're going to the car Zyn, Fat Daddy y'all niggas fill in for me and Xion." Carter said pulling me away when we got to the car Carter stood in front of me looking into my eyes as if he was reading my soul. "You're thinking about that day aren't you?" Carter asked.

"Yeah.... Carter, I'm sorry.... I...." I couldn't finish because I could see Carter was growing angry.

"Xion what did I tell you? It's not your fault and you have nothing to apologize for... This is all on that nigga Zelle and when I catch him I'm going to......" Carter's voice trailed off and I followed his eyes to where Frog Face was walking with a couple of dudes from school. I don't know what that dude's problem with me was but ever since school started he's made it a point to fuck with me and ever since he and Carter fought it's only gotten worse, as I've stated in the past I wasn't a fighter so I actively tried to avoid conflict. "You want me to beat his ass again?" Carter asked and I shook my head.

"Nah let's just go back to the house." I said as Frog Face continued to mug us as he walked past.

"Bruh what the fuck are you staring at?" Carter asked and of course, Frog Face and his boys stopped walking and looked at us. Thankfully at the moment, Wes and Najee walked over so that it was pretty much even and if shyt got really crazy we had four more people not too far away.

"Come on y'all.... let's just go, Carter, I'll catch you in school." Frog Face said smiling but even as he said it he was staring at me.

"Nigga you I'm right here and what makes it even better is the fact that there's no one around to break us up so why wait?" Carter said moving around the car and I just knew that he was about to start fighting this nigga again but I moved in front of him blocking his path because honestly, it wasn't worth it. "Xion move...." Carter said with the veins in his neck sticking out showing me just how angry he really was.

"Fuck that nigga Carter... he's all talk, let's just go." I said almost pleading with him because Carter was about to kill that boy. I could see that Carter was starting to calm down but Frog Face just had to open his fuckin mouth.

"Nah let that nigga go I'm going to be his bitch ass then piss on his daughter......" After that there was no stopping Carter, I'm pretty sure Carter chased him around campus for about an hour before losing him and I had to admit dude was pretty fast.

"I'm just letting y'all know now that I'm probably going to get suspended on Monday... possibly arrested because when I catch that nigga it's a fuckin wrap." Carter said as we walked into Brittany Hills, Ms. Gina looked at him and shook her head. "Come on let's go upstairs." Carter said and we walked up to his bedroom.

"Carter....." I said trying to talk some sense into but I could see that we were past the point of no return.

"Xi, I was already going to beat his ass for talking shyt.... but the second he said something daughter it was a fuckin wrap, so please don't try to tell me that it's not worth it because there is nothing more worth it than my daughter." Carter said and I sat there trying to figure out what our next move should be because there was no stopping this fight from happening.

"What if he doesn't show up for school on Monday?" I asked grasping at straws here because I really didn't want Carter getting suspended again or worse. "What if he shows up and brings a gun? Carter, I get that you're mad but you gotta think smart." I said looking at him.

"Maybe you're right... so look I won't beat his ass on Monday because more likely than not his bitch ass isn't going to come to school, so the next time I see him is when I'm going to beat his ass and I don't care where we are, we can be in a fuckin police station and I'm still going to beat his ass..... so please Xi don't try to stop me." Carter said taking his shirt off and walking into the bathroom. I needed to do something to keep Carter from killing that boy so I did the only thing I could think of at that point which was to call for backup, but before I could make that call Carter's door flew open and there stood the answer to all my problems.

"CARTER BRING YOUR BITCH ASS OUT HERE!!!!!" Valentino said smiling and I knew if there was anyone who could stop Carter from going to jail it was him but there was a risk involved because Valentino could either stop him or be sitting in a jail cell right next to him..........

****** QUESTIONS ******

1) Who should get the next two chapters; Carter, Ronnie, Jace, Tay, Masai, or Idris?