Jungle 3: Revisited

Chapter 38

Song in multimedia: Lil Durk- David Ruffin

One week later.

After a weeks time, Mike was still grieving the loss of his second baby. The pain was eating him up on the inside, making it difficult to go on with his day to day life. He tried getting in touch with Ebony for about three days before giving up—stopping at her apartment, the mall, and blowing her phone up. That led him nowhere, except for getting his feelings hurt even more.

His way of getting through this was working a lot of hours and then coming home to drink until he fell asleep. He recently started his new job and getting through training felt like hell. Mike didn't feel like being bothered by anyone so he stayed to himself. That went for his family too—Mike stayed in his apartment unless he had work or a liquor run.

But his family wasn't going for the depressive stage. His mother, aunt, and grandma came over unannounced to see what he had been up to. They banged on his door for ten minutes straight until he became annoyed. His headache couldn't stand the noise so he decided to let them in. With liquor on his breath, Monica shook her head and sniffed him.

"We knew you wasn't at work still." June told him.

"What're you gone drink everyday until you develop a habit of it?" Monica asked him.

"I don't know." He sighed.

"You don't know? Mike, you just started a new job, you can't be drinking like this. Then you'll be starting school soon. Don't do this, baby."

"It's not like I'm getting completely drunk. I know how to pace myself."

"And then when your body gets immune to that, it'll require you to drink more and more. Until eventually you're an alcoholic. You need to stop before this gets out of hand." Monique said.

"I honestly don't feel like being bothered. My head hurts."

"Nobody asked you that shit. We don't care if you don't feel like being bothered. Don't make me slap you upside the head, boy. I know you going through a lot, but this isn't the way to handle it." His grandma spoke.

"Well how do I handle it, grandma? Because honestly, I'm having a difficult time." He cried.

"Find something productive to do. Get some fresh air, go to the gym. Anything besides moping around everyday. When the time is right, everything will fall into place for you." June comforted him.

Like Mike's family, Ebony's family was also trying to find ways to get her to not be depressed. She hadn't been home since she found out, unless she needed to pick up some clothes. Ebony stayed at Sharon's for a few days, allowing her aunt to nurse her as she went through an unexplainable pain—both mentally and physically.

Now, she was staying with Hakeem and Megan. Hakeem wanted to keep an eye on his sister so he suggested that she stay with them until she felt better. Being around loved ones helped, but Ebony was still very upset. She stayed in Kayla's room for most of the day. She cried a lot and didn't talk to anyone unless she had to.

Her first night there, baby Keem had snagged her phone and threw it into the toilet. So until she got it fixed, she currently couldn't use her phone. Which was a good thing because her fight had gone viral and that was the last thing she needed to be paying attention to. Ebony's mental was all over the place and she knew where all of it led.

"Ebony, we're going out to eat. Wanna come?" Ronnie and Mia stepped into Kayla's room with Megan.

"No. Have fun." Ebony kept her head buried into Kayla's pillow.

"Getcho' butt up!" Kayla tickled Ebony's feet, tired of her aunt taking over her bed.

"Stop, Kay. We'll wait while you get dressed." Megan spoke.