Keisha - Chapters 26 to 28
I know, it's been awhile but, hello Junior year is crazy! But, yeah this is Keisha's P.O.V.
Chapter 26
Man if someone don't cut the beeping noise off, I'mma catch a case! Can some body please tell me why my body feels like it's been hit by a two ton truck? I'mma need some answers real quick, opening my eyes' reality sets in. I'm at the hospital, Harmony and her crew got the best of me, I'm in full-fledged out war now. Harmony just signed her death note, she picked the wrong one to mess with. I hear the door creak open, I slowly turn my head and I see my mom looking tired and worn out, it kills me to see her looking like this. Like the world has taken a toll on her, she doesn't deserve this. It brings tears to my eyes to see my mom look beat down. "Mommy." I say in a dry voice, my throat was as dry as a cotton ball. My mom's eyes get wide as she runs over to me, "Keisha! Baby you're awake, thank God. Aww baby girl you had me scared to death, don't you ever scare me that again!" She exclaims hugging me and kissing me all over my face, all her commotion made my dad and the doctor run into the room. I spend the next half and hour being smothered by my parents and the doctors checking me out, making sure I was ok and blah blah blah.
It's nearing 4 and I am ready to go home! Right when I am about to voice my opinion, the door swings open and my sister Jas runs in. She leaps onto my bed and grabs me into a big bear hug. "Oh my God Keisha, I swear if you ever scare me like that again, I will personally kill you myself. How can you be so selfish and try to leave me here all alone. You know I can't take them 2 clowns all by myself." She says nodding her head at our brothers, I laugh and return the love. "You wrong for that Jas, I thought we were cool, I see how it is though." Taj playfully pouts, Jas waves him off and continues to hug me. Tyrone picks her up and places her on the floor, "Stop being stingy, we wanna show some love to her too." He says hugging me, "Don't even worry about them clowns lil sis, we gonna handle them. I put that on my life, you got me?" He says into my ear, I nod my head in agreement. In other words when the police come in here for questioning, I keep my mouth shut and play that innocent role, I know nothing. "Ayyite now, let me see her. Let me make sure my lil homie is cool calm and collected." Taj says pushing Tyrone out-of-the-way, he places his forehead against mine. 'You ayyite lil one? They ain't scare you or nothing did they? You still same ol' Keisha right? My little road dog, still gangstah over here?" He says making me laugh, I swear Taj may be my brother, but he's also my best friend. He gets me, like no one else does. "I'm calm, cool and collected, then clowns can't touch me kid." I say like the warrior that I am, everyone smiles and start talking all at once.
The door creaks open and we all get quiet and look towards it, Savion walks in. I smile and he looks relieved, "About time you got here boy, I thought I was gonna have to send Tyrone and Taj after ya ass." Jas says being funny, I push her playfully. Savion walks over to me and I can see the pained look in his face, "You ayyite baby girl?" He says rubbing my cheek, everybody takes this as the hint to get out. Once were alone, Savion bends sown and kisses me. After a minute or so he stops and comes up a few inches from my face. "I am so sorry this happened to you Keisha, I should have protected you..." I put my hand up and tell Savion to shh. "Don't blame yourself Savion, this had nothing to do with you, I know you would have helped me out if you could have. Don't even stress yourself about it, Harmony and then will pay for this punk act. How's Jewel doing?" I ask changing the subject, Savion still has that guilty look in his eyes. "She's good, a little shocked but she'll be ayyite. My mom is watching her for me, so I can spend some time with you. When you going home?" He asks, before I can answer the door creaks open. I swear my room was like a revolving door, it never stayed shut!
My mom walks in, followed by 2 uniformed police officers. "Here we go." I say quietly to myself, Savion hears me and smiles. "Can you give us a minute Savion?" My mom asks nicely, Savion kisses me on the forehead then walks out the room. The Paul Walker look a like cop, walks over to me first, "Nice to meet you Keisha, considering the circumstances. My name is officer Keith Jackson and this is my partner Lisa Rojas." He says pointing to the tall Latina that's standing beside him, she smiles politely at me. "Look I don't know anything about what happened. All I know is, there were about 4 girls and 2 guys, I have no idea as to why they attacked me. So there's no point for you to question me." I say getting straight to the point, they eye me for a minute.
My mom looks ready to cuss me out, but she already know how we roll. "So you have no idea as to who they were? You didn't notice any features or special characteristics that stuck out?" Officer Rojas asks, she had a look on her face that said she didn't believe my lies. Well, I wasn't about to break, I refuse to give up Harmony and her crew, I want to deal with her ass on my own.
I shake my head, "Nope I don't. It all happened so fast, I was too busy trying to protect myself to get a good look of them." I sass a little, they were starting to get on my nerves. "Ok Keisha, I see we're getting nowhere with this, do you have any enemies? Are there people out there that would want to cause you any harm?" Officer Jackson asks, seeing I wasn't going to crack. I laugh a little and shrug my shoulders, "I mean if you count these silly chicken heads that stay hatin' on me. Then yeah I have enemies. Not trying to sound stuck up, but look at me. I have looks, smarts, money, a fine boyfriend and a good set of friends. People around here hate on me for that, so who knows why they jumped me. One thing I know for sure is, they're some punk bi..." "That's enough Keisha, watch ya mouth. Look officers, it's obvious she doesn't know anything. So can we be done here, I'll like to get my child home." My mom interjects, the officers look like they want to continue, but they take one look at my mother's face and think better of it. "Here's my card, call me if you remember anything. Hope you feel better Keisha." Officer Rojas says handing my mother a card.
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Chapter 27
Ok people this is the second to last chapter of Keisha... It's not what you expected and I just wanna say thanks for all the love and comments.. I really do appreciate it and I just might add Hell of a Life on here... Hope you enjoy!
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I've been home for 2 days now and I still haven't gotten Harmony back. Savion, Trey, Keena, Nychel, and Tamia came over today, so we just kicking it. Taj also decided to chill with us for the day, instead of going out with his boys. I was in straight in goofy mode, while I laid upside down on the couch, with my feet in the air. "Keisha! Get ya feet out my face!" Tamia yells hitting my leg. I laugh and move my feet. "Why are you sitting like that Keisha, I swear something ain't right with you child." Savion says shaking his head at me, I stick my tongue out at him. "Don't judge me Savion, it's not nice." I say with a smile, "Ok, so am I, the only one thinking about Harmony and her crew?" Keke asks after being silent for a while, the whole mood changes. I wasn't trying to talk about that to be honest, I mean I can just get at Harmony while at school." I mean I can get at her while at school.
Speaking of school, my grades is kind of slacking. I need to pass my exams, so I can pass the 10th grade, I refuse to fail high school." I say with all seriousness, everybody nods their head in agreement. "I feel you girl, my momma told me the school keep calling her, because I got too many tardies and unexcused absences. She was ready to ground me and everything."
Nychel comments, "Me too, my mom yelled and got all worked up for the missing work and tardies." Trey adds shaking his head, see I wasn't the only one slipping. "Got that right baby sis, you ain't no dummy, and I know it seems like I don't like Jas, but she still my sis, and you'll gotta make something of yourselves. The babies and I need for you'll to come up from this crazy ass world. Look at cousin Kimani, she doing the damn thing up there in Richmond. I heard she is traveling and what not with her school. Karma coming up to down there in Tidewater, taking honor classes and shit. She smart as hell and I know you are too." Taj says sounding like my daddy, "I hear you Taj, I'mma a step my game up." I say with a smile, I felt more focused now. I know I need to better myself, I mean I ain't living a horrible life, but it could be better, I can't rely on mommy and daddy forever.
After an hour or two of chilling and watching videos, we became bored. "Man let's go to the mall or something, they got that new Kevin Hart movie playing in the AMC." Trey says standing up, he was feeling a whole lot better since he's been shot. Kiki jumps up from the couch, "I call shot-gun!" She says sounding like a little kid, "Girl please, don't nobody want to sit beside Trey. You can have the front seat on the way back to." Nychel jokes, Trey fakes like he's hurt by her words.
"Damn Nychel, it's like that? I thought we were cooling." "Let's go then, we can get something to eat afterward." I say putting my shoes on, everyone walks out the door, "Jas you trying to roll with us?" I yell up the stairs, she and her boyfriend Romell were up there the whole time. I can only imagine what they were doing, "Yeah, we coming." She yells back, I hear them moving around.
I go outside and join the others on the porch, Savion and Taj were debating about something, from the look on Trey's face, he started it. After a minute or two, Keena gets fed up. "Oh my Jesus! Will you'll chill already, nobody cares about who the best player is! Can we go now?" She whines to me, Savion waves her off. "See that's why girls don't need to be all up in our business. They don't understand the importance of it all when it comes down to the best player or team." Taj comments, oh Lord. Kiki and Tamia both jump in and start debating the topic with Taj and Savion. Next thing I know Taj has Tamia over his shoulders and runs down the porch steps. "Boy put me down! Taj I ain't playing no more, ok I quit!" She yells swinging her feet, she looked so silly. "Nah, first you gotta say..." "Hey ain't that Harmony's dude?" Jas asks coming out the house with Romell right behind her.
Everybody looks up to see a dark blue 2010 Honda Civic slowly creeping up, "Oh my God!" I hear someone yells. Everything that happened next went by so fast, a round of shots go off. Savion tackles me to the ground, Nychel and Kiki duck behind the banister and Trey dives to the ground.
My heart was beating 100 times faster than it should have been, a few seconds go by and then I hear tires screech. It may have been only a few seconds, but it felt like hours, I open my eyes and try to sit up. Savion threw his whole body on top of me to protect me, "They've gone?" I ask in a shaky voice. "Yeah I think so, everybody good?" Trey asks standing up, everybody starts standing and people from around the neighborhood start coming out also. "Jas? You ok?" I ask, the screen door opens and she comes out with tears in her eyes, Romell was holding onto her hand. We make eye contact and she starts bawling, we hug each other. "Taj?" We both say together, we look around and he's nowhere to be found.
"Taj!" I yell when I spot him sprawled out in the front yard, he was lying on top of Tamia. "Oh my God, Tamia!" Kiki and Nychel yell, we all run off the porch and over to them. Savion and Trey lift Taj up and I feel my soul leave my body. His green Tee was soaked with blood, he was also bleeding from his mouth. "Lay him back down!" Jas demands as we kneel beside him, I take his hand. "Taj please wake up, open your eyes." I say in tears, Kiki and Nychel help Tamia up. She looked spooked, Taj coughs and makes more blood come out his mouth. "I'm good baby girl, can't no bullet harm me." I smile a little, "Cuz I'm made out of steel baby." I say with tears streaming down my face, "We're from the streets homie." Jas adds finishing the sang we all made up a couple of years ago. "Taj please don't go, I need you here." I say bawling like a baby, Jas was doing the same. Everybody had tears in their eyes, as we stood over Taj and watched him fight for his life.
I could hear the ambulance in the distance, Taj shakes his head and winces in pain. It kills me to see him like this, "Don't worry about me baby sis, it's cool. If it's my time to go, then it's my time to go and be with G.O.D and the rest of the falling homies. I need for you to be strong Keisha, for me and mommy and dad, also for Jas. Look out for Tyrone too, don't let his hot head lead him into getting revenge. Promise me that Keisha." He says coughing some more, I shake my head. I refuse to believe he's going to die, not my brother Taj. He's only 16 years old, he still has a life ahead of him.
I swear on my life Harmony will pay for this, I know she told her man to come after me and I know that bullet was for me. Thing is her dude was real sloppy about the job and shot my brother instead of me, so nah Taj don't gotta worry about Tyrone going after them clowns for revenge, it's me he needs to worry about.
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Chapter 28
Ok so the time has come, Keisha is ending, (still in Keisha's P.O.V and well a lot happens in this chapter... A funeral, revenge, and goodbyes.)
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The ambulance finally arrives and they quickly take Taj away, "He's fighting you guys, that's make something happen." One of the medics say slamming the door shut and running to get inside the driver's seat. Just then my mom, dad, and Tyrone pull up, my mom flies out the car and over to us. She basically does a head count, sees the blood on my hands, on Savion's shirt and her missing son. Tears sprang up into her eyes and she runs into my father. "What hospital?" He asks with a face I can't read, "Mount Carmel South." Trey says with the saddest voice I've ever heard, my parents run back to the car and speed off after the ambulance.
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The street was quiet after my parents left, nobody said anything we were all in shock still. I swear if Taj dies, I'm going to lose my mind, I just might go crazy. Tyrone is walking around, trying to collect his thoughts. "Let's go." He says walking over to his Youkon; me, Jas, Romell, Tamia and Nychel hop in the truck with him. Savion goes with Trey and so does Keena. The ride to the hospital is a quiet one, every now and then Tyrone will start cussing and going off. Jas was in the backseat trying to control her tears, Romell did his best to comfort her. Tamia and Nychel look spooked and were crying too, me? All I could do was sit there and think of punching Harmony in the face over and over.
We get to the hospital and we all run inside, to my surprise Savion isn't behind us. I didn't have the time to think about him at the moment, I spot my mom and dad. They looked defeated, me and Jas run over to them. "Mommy." I say with tears, she looks up and opens her arms. "My babies. Thank God you two are okay." She says holding onto us for dear life, my dad and Tyrone walk over to us. "That bullet was for me mommy, Taj shouldn't be the one laying up shot and close to death. That should be me." I say crying, my mom rubs my head. "Why would you think that Keisha, it could have been anybody, don't think that. Taj will be ok baby girl." My father says trying to comfort me, I shake my head in denial. I was crying so bad I couldn't even explain.
We've been here for a good 3 hours and we still don't know what's going on. Savion, Trey, and KiKi finally made it to the hospital but they bought company. They came back rolling deep with Devante, Qua, Kareem, and Aarron. I'm sitting on the floor by myself, lost in my thoughts. Savion and the guys were all huddled up, my guess planning something about Sade. I look up and I see the doctor come out, his scrubs were covered in blood. My brother's blood was all over the doctor, I can't help the tears from coming down my face. Before the doctor could even speak, I knew the deal. My brother was dead, he walks over to my parents. I stand up and make my way towards them. "I did everything I could to save your son. He fought like a true soldier, it's just that the bullet punctured a major artery and he lost too much blood. I am terribly sorry for your loss." He says somberly, I could tell he wanted to cry. My mom falls to her knees and my dad catches her to break her fall, she lets out a gut-wrenching scream. It was a scream that only a mother could scream, a scream only a mother that lost a child could let lose. I become angry, Taj gave up on me. He gave up his life, he told me he would fight this, then he said he was ok with dying. He wanted to leave me all by myself. My legs give out on me and I fall down to the floor, Savion walks over to me and picks me up. I fall into his arms and break down. All the tears that I've been holding inside finally come out, Savion doesn't say anything but hold me.
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The day has arrived, it's time to bury my brother. I stood in my room looking at myself in my full length mirror, I wore a black Gucci two piece suit with a silver chain belt, I also wore my silver cross and some black heels. My hair was done up in a simple bun and I made sure to have my black oversized glasses, I need something to hide my puffy eyes. I grab my purse and walk out my room, I pass by Taj's room and I get ready to knock on the door. It hits me, he's not here any more, I have to get used to the fact Taj won't be here in the morning no more, he won't be here to play his loud music, he won't be here with his friends clowning and acting a complete fool no more. A single tear slides down my face, I wipe it away and walk down the stairs. "The limo is outside, momma and Jas are already in it." Tyrone says turning off the TV and radio, I just nod my head. "Where's daddy?" I ask cutting off the lights. The house didn't feel right any more, like the house knew one of us were gone. "He's outside already, I forgot to mention him." Tyrone says looking distracted, I follow his eyesight and I see he is staring at a family photo. His eyes start to water up, "Come on Ty." I say grabbing his hand. Together we walk out the house and to the limo.
The ride to the church is a quiet one, all 3 of us women had on glasses, but it didn't hide the tears that slid down our cheeks. Arriving to the church my eyes get huge. Can you say packed times 10? I wanted to believe the whole city of the Bronx were here, people were lined up, waiting to get in. I already know people were about to be standing up, hell some people may not even make it in. I let out a huge breath and brace myself for all the "I'm sorry's" and other lines people use when someone loses a loved one. Me and Jas get out of the limo together and we hold hands as we walk inside the church, we make sure to greet those who speak to us.
Once inside my cousins Karma, Kyra, and Kimani bum rush us. "Oh my God Keisha, Jas!" Karma cries as she runs over to us, we all end up in a group hug. "I can't believe he's gone, I just talked to him like 3 days ago." Kyra says wiping her eyes, only for more tears to fall. I nod my head, I look up and I see Savion. Ok, so I know this is a sad situation and this is probably real inappropriate, but man he looks good in a suit! He smiles sheepishly at me and opens his arms up. I don't know why but this made more tears escape my eye sockets, I walk right into his embrace. "I got you Keish, remember that ok. I'll never leave you, I promise." He says into my ear, I just nod my head against his chest and close my eyes.
Around 12 the sermon starts, it took about 2 hours for everybody to get situated and for people to view Taj's body. The service was a beautiful one, first my girl Nychel performed a poem she wrote, then Kimani sang Footprints in the sand by Leona Lewis, by the time she finished that everybody was in tears. Tyrone and our cousins Malik, Sean, Chris, Marquez, and Kevin put together a slide show of Taj. All of this was just too much for me, I was bawling like a baby while my mom rocked me back and forth. After the slide show ended, it was my turn to go up and say something. I wipe my eyes and take a deep breath, and walk up to the front.
"For those who don't know me, my name is Keisha and Taj is my older brother, I say "is" because I refuse to lower him to "was", as in the past tense. He may be gone, but he'll always be my brother and I will always hold him in my heart. Taj may have been my brother, but he's also my best friend. We clowned together and played jokes on Jas and Tyrone all the time." I say with a small smile, this makes the crowd laugh a little, a tear slides down my cheek. "When Taj got shot, I felt like my world ended, I couldn't believe it was happening. I always thought my family was untouchable, nothing could ever harm us. Obviously I was wrong, Taj died in the hospital officially, but to me he died in my arms. While he laid on the front lawn bleeding to death, he told me he was ready to go and be with G.O.D Himself. He said he was ok with the terms and that I should be ok with them too. At first I was mad at him for saying this, like he was agreeing to the terms of leaving me on this hellhole we call earth. Excuse my language but I'm just speaking the truth, Taj was supposed to go to college and make something with his life, we all were. He was supposed to get married and have kids and become a big baller with a college degree. But instead he lost his life to the streets, a place he didn't even hang out at. I asked God how could he let this happen? Taj was a good guy, he went to school, was a gentleman to the ladies, he cared for his family and friends. He didn't gang bang or deal with the drug crap. So why did He takes my brother away? I never got my answer, and I guess I never will. All I know is my brother is in a safer place then we will ever be, and I know he's watching over me, Jas, Tyrone, all of us." I say with tears falling down my face like a waterfall. Everybody stands to their feet and start clapping, Tamia, Nychel, Keena, Karma, Kimani, Kyra and Jas run up to me and engulf me into a big hug. I look up and whisper 4 simple words, "I love you Taj." If I'm not mistaken I even heard him say, "I love you too Keisha."
Man if someone don't cut the beeping noise off, I'mma catch a case! Can some body please tell me why my body feels like it's been hit by a two ton truck? I'mma need some answers real quick, opening my eyes' reality sets in. I'm at the hospital, Harmony and her crew got the best of me, I'm in full-fledged out war now. Harmony just signed her death note, she picked the wrong one to mess with. I hear the door creak open, I slowly turn my head and I see my mom looking tired and worn out, it kills me to see her looking like this. Like the world has taken a toll on her, she doesn't deserve this. It brings tears to my eyes to see my mom look beat down. "Mommy." I say in a dry voice, my throat was as dry as a cotton ball. My mom's eyes get wide as she runs over to me, "Keisha! Baby you're awake, thank God. Aww baby girl you had me scared to death, don't you ever scare me that again!" She exclaims hugging me and kissing me all over my face, all her commotion made my dad and the doctor run into the room. I spend the next half and hour being smothered by my parents and the doctors checking me out, making sure I was ok and blah blah blah.
It's nearing 4 and I am ready to go home! Right when I am about to voice my opinion, the door swings open and my sister Jas runs in. She leaps onto my bed and grabs me into a big bear hug. "Oh my God Keisha, I swear if you ever scare me like that again, I will personally kill you myself. How can you be so selfish and try to leave me here all alone. You know I can't take them 2 clowns all by myself." She says nodding her head at our brothers, I laugh and return the love. "You wrong for that Jas, I thought we were cool, I see how it is though." Taj playfully pouts, Jas waves him off and continues to hug me. Tyrone picks her up and places her on the floor, "Stop being stingy, we wanna show some love to her too." He says hugging me, "Don't even worry about them clowns lil sis, we gonna handle them. I put that on my life, you got me?" He says into my ear, I nod my head in agreement. In other words when the police come in here for questioning, I keep my mouth shut and play that innocent role, I know nothing. "Ayyite now, let me see her. Let me make sure my lil homie is cool calm and collected." Taj says pushing Tyrone out-of-the-way, he places his forehead against mine. 'You ayyite lil one? They ain't scare you or nothing did they? You still same ol' Keisha right? My little road dog, still gangstah over here?" He says making me laugh, I swear Taj may be my brother, but he's also my best friend. He gets me, like no one else does. "I'm calm, cool and collected, then clowns can't touch me kid." I say like the warrior that I am, everyone smiles and start talking all at once.
The door creaks open and we all get quiet and look towards it, Savion walks in. I smile and he looks relieved, "About time you got here boy, I thought I was gonna have to send Tyrone and Taj after ya ass." Jas says being funny, I push her playfully. Savion walks over to me and I can see the pained look in his face, "You ayyite baby girl?" He says rubbing my cheek, everybody takes this as the hint to get out. Once were alone, Savion bends sown and kisses me. After a minute or so he stops and comes up a few inches from my face. "I am so sorry this happened to you Keisha, I should have protected you..." I put my hand up and tell Savion to shh. "Don't blame yourself Savion, this had nothing to do with you, I know you would have helped me out if you could have. Don't even stress yourself about it, Harmony and then will pay for this punk act. How's Jewel doing?" I ask changing the subject, Savion still has that guilty look in his eyes. "She's good, a little shocked but she'll be ayyite. My mom is watching her for me, so I can spend some time with you. When you going home?" He asks, before I can answer the door creaks open. I swear my room was like a revolving door, it never stayed shut!
My mom walks in, followed by 2 uniformed police officers. "Here we go." I say quietly to myself, Savion hears me and smiles. "Can you give us a minute Savion?" My mom asks nicely, Savion kisses me on the forehead then walks out the room. The Paul Walker look a like cop, walks over to me first, "Nice to meet you Keisha, considering the circumstances. My name is officer Keith Jackson and this is my partner Lisa Rojas." He says pointing to the tall Latina that's standing beside him, she smiles politely at me. "Look I don't know anything about what happened. All I know is, there were about 4 girls and 2 guys, I have no idea as to why they attacked me. So there's no point for you to question me." I say getting straight to the point, they eye me for a minute.
My mom looks ready to cuss me out, but she already know how we roll. "So you have no idea as to who they were? You didn't notice any features or special characteristics that stuck out?" Officer Rojas asks, she had a look on her face that said she didn't believe my lies. Well, I wasn't about to break, I refuse to give up Harmony and her crew, I want to deal with her ass on my own.
I shake my head, "Nope I don't. It all happened so fast, I was too busy trying to protect myself to get a good look of them." I sass a little, they were starting to get on my nerves. "Ok Keisha, I see we're getting nowhere with this, do you have any enemies? Are there people out there that would want to cause you any harm?" Officer Jackson asks, seeing I wasn't going to crack. I laugh a little and shrug my shoulders, "I mean if you count these silly chicken heads that stay hatin' on me. Then yeah I have enemies. Not trying to sound stuck up, but look at me. I have looks, smarts, money, a fine boyfriend and a good set of friends. People around here hate on me for that, so who knows why they jumped me. One thing I know for sure is, they're some punk bi..." "That's enough Keisha, watch ya mouth. Look officers, it's obvious she doesn't know anything. So can we be done here, I'll like to get my child home." My mom interjects, the officers look like they want to continue, but they take one look at my mother's face and think better of it. "Here's my card, call me if you remember anything. Hope you feel better Keisha." Officer Rojas says handing my mother a card.
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Chapter 27
Ok people this is the second to last chapter of Keisha... It's not what you expected and I just wanna say thanks for all the love and comments.. I really do appreciate it and I just might add Hell of a Life on here... Hope you enjoy!
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I've been home for 2 days now and I still haven't gotten Harmony back. Savion, Trey, Keena, Nychel, and Tamia came over today, so we just kicking it. Taj also decided to chill with us for the day, instead of going out with his boys. I was in straight in goofy mode, while I laid upside down on the couch, with my feet in the air. "Keisha! Get ya feet out my face!" Tamia yells hitting my leg. I laugh and move my feet. "Why are you sitting like that Keisha, I swear something ain't right with you child." Savion says shaking his head at me, I stick my tongue out at him. "Don't judge me Savion, it's not nice." I say with a smile, "Ok, so am I, the only one thinking about Harmony and her crew?" Keke asks after being silent for a while, the whole mood changes. I wasn't trying to talk about that to be honest, I mean I can just get at Harmony while at school." I mean I can get at her while at school.
Speaking of school, my grades is kind of slacking. I need to pass my exams, so I can pass the 10th grade, I refuse to fail high school." I say with all seriousness, everybody nods their head in agreement. "I feel you girl, my momma told me the school keep calling her, because I got too many tardies and unexcused absences. She was ready to ground me and everything."
Nychel comments, "Me too, my mom yelled and got all worked up for the missing work and tardies." Trey adds shaking his head, see I wasn't the only one slipping. "Got that right baby sis, you ain't no dummy, and I know it seems like I don't like Jas, but she still my sis, and you'll gotta make something of yourselves. The babies and I need for you'll to come up from this crazy ass world. Look at cousin Kimani, she doing the damn thing up there in Richmond. I heard she is traveling and what not with her school. Karma coming up to down there in Tidewater, taking honor classes and shit. She smart as hell and I know you are too." Taj says sounding like my daddy, "I hear you Taj, I'mma a step my game up." I say with a smile, I felt more focused now. I know I need to better myself, I mean I ain't living a horrible life, but it could be better, I can't rely on mommy and daddy forever.
After an hour or two of chilling and watching videos, we became bored. "Man let's go to the mall or something, they got that new Kevin Hart movie playing in the AMC." Trey says standing up, he was feeling a whole lot better since he's been shot. Kiki jumps up from the couch, "I call shot-gun!" She says sounding like a little kid, "Girl please, don't nobody want to sit beside Trey. You can have the front seat on the way back to." Nychel jokes, Trey fakes like he's hurt by her words.
"Damn Nychel, it's like that? I thought we were cooling." "Let's go then, we can get something to eat afterward." I say putting my shoes on, everyone walks out the door, "Jas you trying to roll with us?" I yell up the stairs, she and her boyfriend Romell were up there the whole time. I can only imagine what they were doing, "Yeah, we coming." She yells back, I hear them moving around.
I go outside and join the others on the porch, Savion and Taj were debating about something, from the look on Trey's face, he started it. After a minute or two, Keena gets fed up. "Oh my Jesus! Will you'll chill already, nobody cares about who the best player is! Can we go now?" She whines to me, Savion waves her off. "See that's why girls don't need to be all up in our business. They don't understand the importance of it all when it comes down to the best player or team." Taj comments, oh Lord. Kiki and Tamia both jump in and start debating the topic with Taj and Savion. Next thing I know Taj has Tamia over his shoulders and runs down the porch steps. "Boy put me down! Taj I ain't playing no more, ok I quit!" She yells swinging her feet, she looked so silly. "Nah, first you gotta say..." "Hey ain't that Harmony's dude?" Jas asks coming out the house with Romell right behind her.
Everybody looks up to see a dark blue 2010 Honda Civic slowly creeping up, "Oh my God!" I hear someone yells. Everything that happened next went by so fast, a round of shots go off. Savion tackles me to the ground, Nychel and Kiki duck behind the banister and Trey dives to the ground.
My heart was beating 100 times faster than it should have been, a few seconds go by and then I hear tires screech. It may have been only a few seconds, but it felt like hours, I open my eyes and try to sit up. Savion threw his whole body on top of me to protect me, "They've gone?" I ask in a shaky voice. "Yeah I think so, everybody good?" Trey asks standing up, everybody starts standing and people from around the neighborhood start coming out also. "Jas? You ok?" I ask, the screen door opens and she comes out with tears in her eyes, Romell was holding onto her hand. We make eye contact and she starts bawling, we hug each other. "Taj?" We both say together, we look around and he's nowhere to be found.
"Taj!" I yell when I spot him sprawled out in the front yard, he was lying on top of Tamia. "Oh my God, Tamia!" Kiki and Nychel yell, we all run off the porch and over to them. Savion and Trey lift Taj up and I feel my soul leave my body. His green Tee was soaked with blood, he was also bleeding from his mouth. "Lay him back down!" Jas demands as we kneel beside him, I take his hand. "Taj please wake up, open your eyes." I say in tears, Kiki and Nychel help Tamia up. She looked spooked, Taj coughs and makes more blood come out his mouth. "I'm good baby girl, can't no bullet harm me." I smile a little, "Cuz I'm made out of steel baby." I say with tears streaming down my face, "We're from the streets homie." Jas adds finishing the sang we all made up a couple of years ago. "Taj please don't go, I need you here." I say bawling like a baby, Jas was doing the same. Everybody had tears in their eyes, as we stood over Taj and watched him fight for his life.
I could hear the ambulance in the distance, Taj shakes his head and winces in pain. It kills me to see him like this, "Don't worry about me baby sis, it's cool. If it's my time to go, then it's my time to go and be with G.O.D and the rest of the falling homies. I need for you to be strong Keisha, for me and mommy and dad, also for Jas. Look out for Tyrone too, don't let his hot head lead him into getting revenge. Promise me that Keisha." He says coughing some more, I shake my head. I refuse to believe he's going to die, not my brother Taj. He's only 16 years old, he still has a life ahead of him.
I swear on my life Harmony will pay for this, I know she told her man to come after me and I know that bullet was for me. Thing is her dude was real sloppy about the job and shot my brother instead of me, so nah Taj don't gotta worry about Tyrone going after them clowns for revenge, it's me he needs to worry about.
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Chapter 28
Ok so the time has come, Keisha is ending, (still in Keisha's P.O.V and well a lot happens in this chapter... A funeral, revenge, and goodbyes.)
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The ambulance finally arrives and they quickly take Taj away, "He's fighting you guys, that's make something happen." One of the medics say slamming the door shut and running to get inside the driver's seat. Just then my mom, dad, and Tyrone pull up, my mom flies out the car and over to us. She basically does a head count, sees the blood on my hands, on Savion's shirt and her missing son. Tears sprang up into her eyes and she runs into my father. "What hospital?" He asks with a face I can't read, "Mount Carmel South." Trey says with the saddest voice I've ever heard, my parents run back to the car and speed off after the ambulance.
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The street was quiet after my parents left, nobody said anything we were all in shock still. I swear if Taj dies, I'm going to lose my mind, I just might go crazy. Tyrone is walking around, trying to collect his thoughts. "Let's go." He says walking over to his Youkon; me, Jas, Romell, Tamia and Nychel hop in the truck with him. Savion goes with Trey and so does Keena. The ride to the hospital is a quiet one, every now and then Tyrone will start cussing and going off. Jas was in the backseat trying to control her tears, Romell did his best to comfort her. Tamia and Nychel look spooked and were crying too, me? All I could do was sit there and think of punching Harmony in the face over and over.
We get to the hospital and we all run inside, to my surprise Savion isn't behind us. I didn't have the time to think about him at the moment, I spot my mom and dad. They looked defeated, me and Jas run over to them. "Mommy." I say with tears, she looks up and opens her arms. "My babies. Thank God you two are okay." She says holding onto us for dear life, my dad and Tyrone walk over to us. "That bullet was for me mommy, Taj shouldn't be the one laying up shot and close to death. That should be me." I say crying, my mom rubs my head. "Why would you think that Keisha, it could have been anybody, don't think that. Taj will be ok baby girl." My father says trying to comfort me, I shake my head in denial. I was crying so bad I couldn't even explain.
We've been here for a good 3 hours and we still don't know what's going on. Savion, Trey, and KiKi finally made it to the hospital but they bought company. They came back rolling deep with Devante, Qua, Kareem, and Aarron. I'm sitting on the floor by myself, lost in my thoughts. Savion and the guys were all huddled up, my guess planning something about Sade. I look up and I see the doctor come out, his scrubs were covered in blood. My brother's blood was all over the doctor, I can't help the tears from coming down my face. Before the doctor could even speak, I knew the deal. My brother was dead, he walks over to my parents. I stand up and make my way towards them. "I did everything I could to save your son. He fought like a true soldier, it's just that the bullet punctured a major artery and he lost too much blood. I am terribly sorry for your loss." He says somberly, I could tell he wanted to cry. My mom falls to her knees and my dad catches her to break her fall, she lets out a gut-wrenching scream. It was a scream that only a mother could scream, a scream only a mother that lost a child could let lose. I become angry, Taj gave up on me. He gave up his life, he told me he would fight this, then he said he was ok with dying. He wanted to leave me all by myself. My legs give out on me and I fall down to the floor, Savion walks over to me and picks me up. I fall into his arms and break down. All the tears that I've been holding inside finally come out, Savion doesn't say anything but hold me.
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The day has arrived, it's time to bury my brother. I stood in my room looking at myself in my full length mirror, I wore a black Gucci two piece suit with a silver chain belt, I also wore my silver cross and some black heels. My hair was done up in a simple bun and I made sure to have my black oversized glasses, I need something to hide my puffy eyes. I grab my purse and walk out my room, I pass by Taj's room and I get ready to knock on the door. It hits me, he's not here any more, I have to get used to the fact Taj won't be here in the morning no more, he won't be here to play his loud music, he won't be here with his friends clowning and acting a complete fool no more. A single tear slides down my face, I wipe it away and walk down the stairs. "The limo is outside, momma and Jas are already in it." Tyrone says turning off the TV and radio, I just nod my head. "Where's daddy?" I ask cutting off the lights. The house didn't feel right any more, like the house knew one of us were gone. "He's outside already, I forgot to mention him." Tyrone says looking distracted, I follow his eyesight and I see he is staring at a family photo. His eyes start to water up, "Come on Ty." I say grabbing his hand. Together we walk out the house and to the limo.
The ride to the church is a quiet one, all 3 of us women had on glasses, but it didn't hide the tears that slid down our cheeks. Arriving to the church my eyes get huge. Can you say packed times 10? I wanted to believe the whole city of the Bronx were here, people were lined up, waiting to get in. I already know people were about to be standing up, hell some people may not even make it in. I let out a huge breath and brace myself for all the "I'm sorry's" and other lines people use when someone loses a loved one. Me and Jas get out of the limo together and we hold hands as we walk inside the church, we make sure to greet those who speak to us.
Once inside my cousins Karma, Kyra, and Kimani bum rush us. "Oh my God Keisha, Jas!" Karma cries as she runs over to us, we all end up in a group hug. "I can't believe he's gone, I just talked to him like 3 days ago." Kyra says wiping her eyes, only for more tears to fall. I nod my head, I look up and I see Savion. Ok, so I know this is a sad situation and this is probably real inappropriate, but man he looks good in a suit! He smiles sheepishly at me and opens his arms up. I don't know why but this made more tears escape my eye sockets, I walk right into his embrace. "I got you Keish, remember that ok. I'll never leave you, I promise." He says into my ear, I just nod my head against his chest and close my eyes.
Around 12 the sermon starts, it took about 2 hours for everybody to get situated and for people to view Taj's body. The service was a beautiful one, first my girl Nychel performed a poem she wrote, then Kimani sang Footprints in the sand by Leona Lewis, by the time she finished that everybody was in tears. Tyrone and our cousins Malik, Sean, Chris, Marquez, and Kevin put together a slide show of Taj. All of this was just too much for me, I was bawling like a baby while my mom rocked me back and forth. After the slide show ended, it was my turn to go up and say something. I wipe my eyes and take a deep breath, and walk up to the front.
"For those who don't know me, my name is Keisha and Taj is my older brother, I say "is" because I refuse to lower him to "was", as in the past tense. He may be gone, but he'll always be my brother and I will always hold him in my heart. Taj may have been my brother, but he's also my best friend. We clowned together and played jokes on Jas and Tyrone all the time." I say with a small smile, this makes the crowd laugh a little, a tear slides down my cheek. "When Taj got shot, I felt like my world ended, I couldn't believe it was happening. I always thought my family was untouchable, nothing could ever harm us. Obviously I was wrong, Taj died in the hospital officially, but to me he died in my arms. While he laid on the front lawn bleeding to death, he told me he was ready to go and be with G.O.D Himself. He said he was ok with the terms and that I should be ok with them too. At first I was mad at him for saying this, like he was agreeing to the terms of leaving me on this hellhole we call earth. Excuse my language but I'm just speaking the truth, Taj was supposed to go to college and make something with his life, we all were. He was supposed to get married and have kids and become a big baller with a college degree. But instead he lost his life to the streets, a place he didn't even hang out at. I asked God how could he let this happen? Taj was a good guy, he went to school, was a gentleman to the ladies, he cared for his family and friends. He didn't gang bang or deal with the drug crap. So why did He takes my brother away? I never got my answer, and I guess I never will. All I know is my brother is in a safer place then we will ever be, and I know he's watching over me, Jas, Tyrone, all of us." I say with tears falling down my face like a waterfall. Everybody stands to their feet and start clapping, Tamia, Nychel, Keena, Karma, Kimani, Kyra and Jas run up to me and engulf me into a big hug. I look up and whisper 4 simple words, "I love you Taj." If I'm not mistaken I even heard him say, "I love you too Keisha."
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