Retributed

Chapter 43

Retributed: Chapter 43 

~Lexis P.O.V.~

In the few days that followed, I've actually been feeling my best. For me, my best is being able to get out of bed and not have the aches and pains, coughing and being out of breath after two steps down the stairs. I'm not trying to be too hopeful that things are getting better because what if it all goes back downhill and I'm at square one stuck in the hospital? Taking life one day at a time has been the best thing for me and just overall such a big change since most of my life has been spent in the fast lane and making life or death decisions what felt like on an minute to minute basis. So to actually relax and live in the moment without that pressure, was new but I was beginning to appreciating it.  

However, I do miss being involved with IRG and my entire empire. Everything I've worked so hard for and I can't even enjoy it the way I was hoping to. I brought fear to the eyes and ears of people in the streets but by now I'm sure word of my cancer spread and I know these same people have replaced that fear with anticipation and placing bets on when I finally end up six feet under right next to Rommel. I'm not worried about IRG being vulnerable with my absence, I have Arlie and Varo to make sure there are no obvious weak points but it's the people I don't know who are keeping a close eye on me and my health that have me concerned. I know for a fact there's more people hiding in the shadows than those who show themselves in the streets.  

"Lexis?" Nelle Bells' sweet voice rang through my ears, snapping me out of my thoughts. I picked my head up and saw her come walking out the back door. "You have visitors here. One of which I'm very reluctant to let into our house." She said, her voice quickly souring and that got me to crack a smile of amusement because I already knew who's ass she was talking about. "Wipe that smirk off your face, I can easily kick you out." She spat at said individual with enough venom to kill everyone in California. 

"Thank you Nelle Bells." I said to her. That familiar wild laughter flooded the house as Varo came out onto the back porch, He came out wearing at least six thick Cuban gold chains- at first that was all I could hear, the chains hitting against each other but that laugh drowned out the noise and naturally I started to laugh because it was contagious. Arlie followed not too far behind, of course his demeanor was calm and laid back. Nothing bothering him as they both approached and dapped me. "What's good?" I asked them. 

"Nelle Bells called and you know, I made the world stop spinning for a nice cool minute. Answered that call and got the handcuffs ready but then she said she wanted us to give you a call because she worried you're isolating yourself-"

"Varo, shut the fuck up!" Nelle Bells yelled out from what I assume to be the kitchen window above the sink. "That was not what happened and you know it!" I couldn't keep in my laughter but I didn't want Nelle Bells thinking I was siding with Varo and his explanation of how things happened. If she even had the thought that I was siding with him, I would end up kicked out and in the neighbors dog house, not even the one in our own yard. 

"She hates you." Arlie said with a shake of his head. "What happened was, Nelle called the both of us and asked if we could check in on you. She feels like you're becoming distant and you'd more likely open up to us about what was really going on." 

"She's overthinking everything. Thank y'all for comin' by but I'm good. I'm not isolating or distancing, I'm just tryna come to terms with everything and accept what life is for me now. It's a tough pill to swallow and she doesn't understand. " I know Nelle Bells has been with me for a little over thirty years but she still doesn't fully understand the IRG lifestyle like she thinks she understands. She's not in my shoes- I'd never want her to be because I don't think I could handle seeing her deteriorate right before my eyes. "She wants me back at the hospital being monitored twenty four seven, on meds around the clock and doing chemo or whatever. I get why she wants me doing all that but it's like, that's not a life I want to live."