"shhh"

chap 2

9 years later 

"Mel" I heard my older brother yell as he entered the house.

I had been at home bumming around all day.

Since it was the weekend, and I lacked friends I was able to do so. 

I got up from my desk pausing the music that played on my Alexa speaker.

'So many people they just wanna touch ya'  Beyoncé got out before the song came to an abrupt ending. 

Preparing to leave the peace of my room, I put on the shark slides that I bought from Temu. 

I swear those websites have a tight grip on my wallet. 

I opened my room door, as the slightly cooler air welcomed me into the hallway. 

I slowly made my way downstairs, taking my time as my brother rarely needed anything truly. 

My foot was placed on the last step as I looked up. My curly, untamed hair just thrown all over my head I looked over toward the large living area. 

Black leather couches and reclining chairs were filled with men I had no clue as to who they could be. 

In the middle of the floor sat a coffee table which my brothers stood by. 

Well, Khaill stood. 

Trey sat on the coffee table, knowing our mother raised him better than that. 

The thought of my parents seldomly came. But when they did it was usually followed by the incident. 

I was old enough now to understand it wasn't fully my fault. 

That doesn't mean I still don't carry the guilt with me. 

Snapping out of my thoughts I began really taking in what I was seeing. 

Why were all these men here? 

 Are they throwing a party? 

With that thought I folded my arms across my chest and raised my eyebrow in confusion. 

I looked over at my eldest brother, Khalil, awaiting answers to my unspoken questions.

"Waszzam" A dark skin, tall boy spoke from the sofa. 

He had long curly hair that sat up on top of his head in a bun. He flashed a simple smile my way. 

He was cute. I won't even lie.

But it's quite clear he was a walking fuck boy, to be fair, they all were. 

I returned the smile, as I began to turn on my heels, planning on just going to my room. 

Trey stopped me by speaking

"We about to hold a meeting, keep the music down, try not to be so loud ight?" he told me rather than asking.

The eye contact between us was short, as the last word left his mouth and swam to my ears he whipped out his phone not awaiting my response, knowing I would barely have one. 

I finally was able to return to heading upstairs. 

They wasted no time as I heard Khalil clap his hands signaling the beginning of their meeting. 

A habit he inherited from my father. 

Khalil took over the family business. 

Passed down from father to son for many years, my brother was now the leader of one of the most notorious, ruthless, and reckless gangs.