delirium (sequel to apathy)

21

   21

It was just like I had walked right into a damn war zone. They were all yelling and screaming over each other, like chickens with their heads cut off. It was obvious that they were talking about me, as every other word was my name. For a while I forgot my words, so surprised to not just see grandpa and Ramiro, but my mother. 

In just a mere month or two, she had changed so much. It didn't take much to tell that it was all because of the baby, but now the soft glow she had a few months earlier was now much more noticeable, and of course her stomach was too. It wasn't as..flat, and was becoming rounder. She still wasn't showing much though, but it still noticeable that she was pregnant. Still, I was wondering why she here, as she should be at home, resting. 

"Be still, King," Grandpa looked up at me from my arm, completely serious. 

"This shit hurts.." I mumbled. 

Grandpa was trying his best to clean out my stab wound, and apparently, it was more worse than I thought. Maybe I just didn't notice how deep I was stabbed, or it could've been the adrenaline I was pumping, trying to get out of there. Either way, it was terrible, and it stung like hell while he was cleaning it. I kept bleeding though, and he had to apply pressure every once in a while, which hurt like a bitch. 

"It's not that serious, you acting like a little girl," Ramiro said. 

I felt a squeeze to my hand, and I shifted my attention towards Mom, resting my head further on shoulder. She seemed to tense up at what Ramiro said, but kissed the top of my head gently. She was holding my hand just in case I attempted to jerk away, which would only make the pain worse. I sighed, wondering how long it would be until I could get this actually stitched up. I had to give it to him, Grandpa had some real knowledge of taking care of wounds, seeing as he has a stab wound just like mine, in the same shoulder. 

It was crazy, I can't believe that Lorenzo stabbed him and had him locked in a basement. Now they're "business" partners again, and like best friends. They're crazy, period, point, blank. 

"I'm all done," Grandpa said, finishing up wrapping my arm. "You're going to have to take it easy for a while, this is the best I can do. You'll need stitches, though."

I nodded, and I felt Mom rub my back. 

"Now Monae, how the hell did you get here?" Grandpa turned his attention to Mom. She sat up, "I told you, I was worried about Amir."

He sighed, "Monae, I know that. But you're supposed to be resting, you can't be putting your baby in jeopardy like this-"

"I got a note, okay? It was in the mailbox, and like all the other ones it didn't have a return address. But the note had a name attached to it," she said. I raised my eyebrows, sitting all the way up, correctly. Grandpa's eyebrows raised as well, waiting for Mom to present it to him. Mom pulled it from her purse, sliding it towards Grandpa across the coffee table. The note was folded up, same as all the other ones. Grandpa picked up the note and unfolded it, scanning the paper.

"It's from Jose. He says he has something to tell us. He wants us to meet him, at seven. He says it's important. All of us should be there," he said.

I didn't trust it, not for one moment. That was all too easy, to get all of us out in the open and ambush us. The whole thing was just..off. Jose had everything he needed to get into contact with us, why send a note? He could just simply show up at our front door with no problems, at all. I slouched back down, sighing. 

"No, that's way too easy." 

All of the attention in the room turned to Ramiro, and he stood up, taking the note from Grandpa's hand. "This isn't even Jose's handwriting," he said. "This could be an ambush or some shit," he dropped the note back on the table, "y'all really want to take a chance on this?" He looked at each of us, taking a deep breath. "All I'm saying, is that if we do this, we at least need to be ready for whatever is going to be thrown at us." He sat down, and Grandpa nodded. 

"I agree, we can go, but we're going to need a little something just in case shit pops off.." 

"Okay, so what's the move?" 

We all waited around till it was time to go, and the ride to the location was silent. Tension hung in the air, and I thought it was so silent cause no one had any idea of what to say. Looking over at Mom, she was looking out of the window, rubbing her stomach in small circles. She must've noticed that I was looking at her, as she turned her attention to me and smiled. My eyes dropped down to her belly, and then back up to her eyes. 

"You never did tell me what you were having," I told her, quietly. 

She grinned, "It's a girl." 

My eyes widened, and I placed my hand on her stomach, "What are you going to name her?" Mom shrugged in response, "I was thinking, maybe you could help me with that." I smiled, nodding. Wow, I was going to have a little sister. After all these tears of being an only child I was finally going to get another sibling. All of my other friends said that having a little sibling was a nuisance, but they didn't understand, it was boring being an only child.  

"How about I chose the first name, and you chose the middle name?" Mom suggested.

I nodded, "It's a deal."

Before I knew it, we had pulled up to the meeting spot, Ramiro staying behind, just in case something happened to pop off. I helped Mom get out, and she kissed my forehead, holding onto my hand. The meeting spot was a park, more like a playground. The sun hadn't gone down all the way yet, but it wasn't so hot, like it is in the afternoon. Kids played on the playground, their parents watching them. I looked around, trying to keep my eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. It looked just like one of the parks back home. 

I heard someone call Mom's name, and the grip she had on my hand tightened. It seemed like she simply froze in place, and Grandpa looked at her worriedly. 

"Martin.."

All of slowly turned around, coming face to face with probably the most hated man in the family. He smiled at us, tucking his hands in his pockets.

"Long time, no see, huh?"

an: updated picture of Martin provided.