Thirty-Five

“Bri! Bri! Bri! Bri!”

The crowd chants my name. Is this real? I pinch myself. Shit! Ok this is real, I take a moment to myself. Thinking of how only 4 months ago none of these people knew who I was. Well except for my Trey, Scrap, Sonney and Malik but they don’t really count because they are family. I see the Crowns in the back with my chain still laughing at me. My father’s chain I should say.

People congratulate me as a walk back to Trey’s car, the Crown still taunting me. We get in the car. “So should have seen Supreme and James’s faces when you started freestyling” Malik says “It. Was. Priceless” Sonney adds They all start to laugh…

Bang! Bang!

I put my head down below the windows, did we just get shot at? Trey says. I briefly hear an “Oh Shit” from outside.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The shots continue to go off. I haven’t ever been this close to a shooting, Jay is gonna kill me. That's if these bullets don’t…

Bang!

I hear someone say “gimme that chain, bitch” I poke my head up to see what is going down. I see Aunt Pooh with a pistol of some kind in her hand. I see two bodies on the ground but it looks like Aunt Pooh is limping as she gets behind a car for cover.

Trey pulls my head back down. “Are you trying to get shot?” he says. I have never seen this side of Aunt Pooh Before… I don’t know if I like it. A tear runs down my cheek. I now understand why she was so mad at me for releasing that song. She knows that I can’t protect myself, she didn’t want to put both of our lives on the line just for some clout and a bit of money. Another shot goes off, I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder.

My eyes begin to open, I'm in a bright room. As my eyes adjust to the light, I look around, am I in a hospital? “Yes” Jay says “You got shot in the shoulder in the shootout at the Ring” Jay adds. “Is Aunt Pooh ok!?” I ask.