Page 94 of Heart Of A Goon II

“Aye, let his ass go. That’s a damn kid… he ain’t got shit to do with—” One of the men punched him in the mouth so hard that he fell back.

Blood poured from his lips, and he said something muffled, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. My heart was beating so loud that I could hear it inside of my ear drums.

“Now why the fuck would you run, I was gonna let you go.” His tone told me that he was lying to me.

He wasn’t going to let me go. “Please.”

Knowing that he was lying to me, I wanted one last attempt at saving my own life. When he lifted that gun and stepped back some, I felt limp in the man’s arms. I had never been this close to a gun, and I never wanted to be.

The burning sensation started immediately, as I slid down the freezer. I could live from one bullet, right? Goo knew people who had been shot multiple times and still lived to talk about it.

I stared up at him, as he looked down at me like I was the scum of the earth. His finger massaged the trigger, and he pulled it again, and again. My body jerked, as the pain eventually started to feel like ice.

“Goo, please! I nee…”

It was cold.

I felt lighter, and then I saw light.

I wanted my mommy.

I wanted Goo.

I wanted to go to basketball camp this summer.

Don’t let me die, please.

GOON

I should have been on my way to my baby, and here I was chasing down my junkie ass cousin. I hated to refer to her as one, because then it made it real. I say real, as if I had never picked her ass up out of a trap house while being fucked.

It was a real thing, and something that we had to stop referring to as a sickness. Soup, rest, and some medicine wasn’t going to cure Inez’s sickness. Life was already too fucking short and now I was out here when I should have been out of dodge. Putting my life and freedom on the line like I didn’t have a girl and a baby on the way.

Niggas had respect for me and Khaos in the streets, so once we put the word out not to sell to her, we knew she would emerge. The minute one of the lil niggas from the block called us, I told him to keep her there and pretend he had work on the way.

It had been two days since everyone had left to head to Menace’s island. I had been running around doing last minute shit, and making sure my brother was with me. This stubborn nigga thought I was about to leave his ass behind.

The fuck I looked like laying low and leaving my brother to fend for himself? My aunt was in Jamaica, so I didn’t have to worry about her.

For the last few years, either me or Chef had been locked up so we never did the whole celebrating thing. Not that I celebrated Christmas, but I knew it was important for my moms to have all of her family together, and she could never make it happen.

“How was the drive to Ashbourne?” Khaos questioned, sparking up a spliff, and rolling the window down to let the smoke waffle out.

I turned off Nostrand onto Synder avenue, making my way to where Inez was. We needed to leave tonight, and I wasn’t about to hear shit from her. Quasim hit me up and told me that there was a storm, and he wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it onto the island.

If I had to row that bitch myself, I was making it onto the island. With how pissed Inez had me, she would be fucking rowing before I would. She was the reason that I was here past the days I said I would be.

Moms was already away from home, and I knew that was a lot for her. She had been snatched from her home to fly out the country. The one thing I wanted to give her was her family around the table for Thanksgiving.

If I had to strap both Khaos and Inez to the fucking seat, I would. She deserved this more than anyone that I knew. It was the simple shit that she wanted, and I hated that I had never been able to deliver those things.

Shit like homes, cars, and money were usually the hardest things to give your loved ones. So, you compensated with spending more time, making memories and doing the important shit. In our situation, the easiest thing to give her were the homes, money, and cars. The hard shit was always the time she wanted to spend. I could never give her those things. The missed holidays and never being there when I should have. With a baby of my own on the way, I had to do better for my family.

I needed to be an example, and to make sure I made those memories and made up for the lost time. My mother was getting older, her health wasn’t the best, and she needed her sons to be there for her.

As much as I loved my cousin, I knew that eventually I would have to walk away. I couldn’t drown while trying to save someone who kept taking their life vest off. Inez had a line of people that were there to help her and push her into recovery. Instead, she chose to ignore the shit.

“Quick trip. Had some business to handle there.” I was vague in my response, because I was mentally preparing to fight tooth and nail with my cousin.