C H A P T E R
T W E N T Y - T H R E E

Speeding down the road Ahmad's heart held nothing but fear and worry inside. When he got the call from Detective Spencer telling him to get down there immediately, he wasted no time getting inside his car and making his way over.

Cali wanted to go with him just incase something happened that he would not be able to handle alone so she could be there to comfort him, but she had to stay back with the kids but the whole time she prayed and hoped everything went okay and that no one was hurt.

The whole drive there Ahmad also prayed that Amira and Twan were okay, he hoped everything went as planned so they could move on with their lives finally and so things could go back to normal. He was so over the bullshit involving Tristian and whoever else was involved.

If Ahmad had to admit, during the month or two Amira has been back .. he hasn't been able to actually enjoy it or embrace the blessing of her surving that shit after four years all due to this bullshit with Tristian.

Everyday they had to live in worry, hoping he wasn't gonna do something to either her or Twan or Cali and the kids.

But he had it planned that as soon as he saw she was good and the court shit was over, he was going to throw a party and invite his family and other loved ones over to finally have a moment to celebrate the return of her and his beautiful niece Normani. He wants everybody under one roof celebrating the moment to show Amira how much they love her and how happy they are to have her back in their lives, to finally have the moment of soaking in reality without any distractions in the way for once.

Many of their family members still didn't believe she was alive, they already had a hard time accepting the fact that she was dead but to hear it was all a lie and that she was indeed alive .. it was unbelievable. A few of em even called Ahmad and his parents crazy, thinking they lost their minds so Ahmad wanted to have this party to show that they hadn't.

Reaching the park his heart sunk when he saw the ambulances and all the cop cars. Parking his truck as close as possible, he got out in a hurry then jogged over towards Detective Spencer, "What's going on? Where they at?" He questioned catching the other officers attention as well.

Leaving them to speak alone, Detective Spencer sighed. "Things took a then .. but Amira is fine, she's sitting on the back of an ambulance truck but she isn't hurt or anything." He explained. "But Twan we're aren't so sure.."

"What do you mean?"

"He took a shot to the chest right when Tristian's little brother Travis turned the gun on him and shot him three times, twice in the chest and when he fell once in the head .. so Tristian is dead and Twan was just rushed to the hospital about a few minutes before you pulled up and he was unconcious when they arrived."

All he could think was, "Damn," but then he frowned wondering how Travis even got in the mix and became apart of the plan.

"How did Travis get in this?"

When detective Spencer was told to do something, he motioned for Ahmad to follow him. "Apparently, Travis has been missing for a week. His foster parents had contacted Houston PD reporting it but we honestly had no clue as to where he could be. But Travis explained to us how Tristian had some dudes beat him up, then he took him and held him hostage until this night wanting Travis to be the one who would kill Twan and take the fall for it but things went left and Travis ended up switching on his brother and shot and killed him instead."

Ahmad looked down, "Can I see them?"

Nodding his head, he turned around and pointed towards the ambulance where they were sitting being questioned by officers. "They are right over there,"

Slapping his hand, Ahmad gave him a brotherly hug. "Thanks for everything man, even though shit went wrong .. I still appreciate what you have done in the past and now."

"Hey man, its my job. I don't mind doing the right thing at all. But be sure to call me whenever you need anything and I got you."

Thanking him one last time, they went their separate ways. Approaching the ambulance truck, Amira immediately spotted Ahmad and hopped down running towards him giving him a bear hug.

"He shot him," She cried into his chest. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her forehead. "H-He shot him right in the chest." She shook trying to keep her emotions at bay but the more she thought about it, the harder it became.

"Everything is going to be okay Amira, Twan is going to be fine." He told her trying his best to calm her down.

Pulling away from him, she shook her head and started to walk away but he stopped her. "Where are you going?"

"I have to get to Twan, I gotta know if he's okay." She cried trying to pull away from him.

"Amira chill and calm down for a second."

Snatching away, she roughly wiped her eyes. "No, we need to be going to see Twan not standing here wasting time Bubba."

"Amira, you better calm down and listen to your brother." Turning around at the sound of Aaron's voice she ran over hugging him.

"But da—"

Holding his hand up, he stopped her. "But nothing, you know we are not about to let you drive like this. We'll take you to the hospital to see Twan but first you need to bring it down and calm down."

Nodding her head, she controlled her breathing and tears. "I'll take her to the hospital, y'all mama taking her car and dropping it off at your house." Aaron explained wrapping his arm over her shoulder.

"Alright, I'll meet y'all up there. I gotta have a talk with my boy over there first."

Slapping his hands with his dad he then walked over to give Amira one last hug and kiss on the head. "Text me when y'all make it."

Walking away from them, he looked back over at Travis who just sat there at the edge of the truck looking straight ahead with a dull look on his face.

Walking over towards him, he placed his hand on his shoulder which in a way triggered his emotions because he started to cry.

Staring down at Travis, Ahmad couldn't help but see himself within' him. Taking a seat next to him, no words were said since Ahmad wanted to first let him let out his emotions and get himself together before asking him a lot of questions.

He knew what Travis was feeling at the moment, because he too felt the exact same way after he killed his aunt Shondra.

If you don't have the mindset of a killer, or if you aren't cold hearted killing someone or even witnessing a killing will affect someone in the worst way possible.

"I don't even know how to feel right now." He mumbled followed by a sniff. "I killed my own brother." He said in a disbelief tone.

"I-I killed him .." He repeated at least three times.

When Travis pulled the trigger on the gun, it was out of reflex. He felt what he did needed to be done since Tristian was clearly dirty and gave no fucks about no one except himself, but even though he did the right thing he still felt like shit.

"Trav—"

"Can you just take me home? I can't think straight. I just gotta get out of this area before I lose it."

Nodding his head, Ahmad hopped down and helped him down as they both started walking towards his truck. Saying bye to the officers, Ahmad cranked up his truck and burnt out.

The whole ride Travis laid his head on the window looking out not saying a word.

Pulling up to his foster parents home, he went to open the door but stopped and turned to Ahmad. "Can I stay with you? Just for a few days please.. I know they're gonna be asking me a million questions and I just really need a moment to myself and talk with Derek."

"Yeah, but first let me go talk to them and get your clothes."

Sighing in relief, he watched him get out the car and head towards the front door. Letting his seat back, he yawned loudly feeling that sleep he's been missing out on catch up to him.

Closing his eyes for a second he immediately opened them once flashbacks of what happened appeared in his mind. Breathing heavily, he cursed to himself hoping this wouldn't haunt his mind forever.. cause if so he knew he wasn't going to be able to handle living like that.

          At the hospital, Amira sat beside Twan's bed holding his hand. He was knocked out at the moment but as long as she heard that heart monitor going off she was at ease.

The doctors told her the bullet was only a few inches away from his heart, and explained to her how lucky he was.

Kissing the back of his hand, she looked up when she heard the door opening but when she saw Twan's mother creeping in she frowned.

Twan explained to her everything that happened after her death, and he explained how his family basically gave up on him and how he hadn't spoke or saw them in years so her being here at this moment threw her off.

Stepping all the way in, she cleared her throat. "I'm not here for no trouble, I just came here to check on my baby boy."

Standing up, Amira walked over towards her. "Now you come? What about when he actually needed you back then? You just gave up on him when he needed you the most."

Stepping back she chuckled looking Amira up and down. "Little girl, I did not come here for this. He is my son and what I do with him is none of your concern or business."

"Yeah he's your son, but you sure as hell don't act like it. You haven't spoke to him or even checked in on him in four years. My brother had to step up and take him in since you're such a sad excuse for a mother."

Holding her hand up, she paused. "You think you have it all figured all out huh? Well you don't! Twan was out here wildin' and getting in trouble back to back and time after time I gave him chances and he always let me down by doing what I told him to stop doing. So when he came to me about going to college and stuff I of course didn't believe it. I had other kids to focus on and I felt he was just feeding me bullshit. Turning on my son was the last thing I wanted to do but he let me down way too many times to where I couldn't put that trust into him." She snapped back.

Pulling out a card, she handed it over to Amira. "Give this to him, I only came to see him but since he is sleep I'm going. Tell him I stopped by and be sure to open that card."

Amira nodded watching her leave out before going back to her seat. Sitting the card down, she grabbed Twan's hand kissing it with a small smile on her. "It's finally over baby, we're free." She whispered as her eyes glossed over.

Laying her head down beside him, she stayed there the whole night not wanting to leave his side

          Three weeks had flew by and things were slowly getting back to normal. Twan was healing good but they couldn't remove the whole bullet due to it being so close to his heart but other than that he was perfectly fine and taking it day by day and step by step to get back to himself.

Travis was taking what happened day by day, he was diagnosed with PTSD and they made it a mission for him to go to therapy three times a week instead of once.

The thought of actually killing someone good cause or not was a hard pill to swallow and hard to get over. So to not think about it he put all his attention and time on school and football which was his way of coping with it.

But it was still hard for him to sleep at night cause all he could do was think and dream about what happened so he spent a lot of his nights either listening to music, watching uplifting movies or talking to Winter or even his homeboys.

No one could relate or understand what he wes going through, except Ahmad since he also killed someone so sometimes during their practices he would just sit and talk to Travis to see where he was at mentally and tried to be a mentor to also help him cope with what was going on.

Sitting inside the courtroom, Ahmad and his family all held smug looks when Dr. Hightower entered the room. Today was his trial and after doing a lot of investigation today was the day everyone would finally hear what happened the day Amira and the other two guys supposedly died.

All rising when the judge entered, she gave a small smile before telling them all to be seated.

Amira sat next to her lawyer playing with her fingers ready to get this all over with. She had so much already on her mind and plate and this was one last thing that she needed to dead so she could heal and move on with her life with Twan and Normani.

She eventually toned the judge and everyone out for a moment, as everything she has endured over the years clouded her mind. She honestly didn't think she would ever escape that place, she believed she was going to die there so the fact that she was here on trial to get one of the men who played a major part in her kidnap sent to jail was a sureal feeling.

Feeling a small nudge on her arm, she looked up at her lawyer who was already staring. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine."

"She wants you on the stand," He told her as he stood up adjusting his tie. Standing up, she smoothed down the dress she wore before making her way to the stand.

Looking back at her family, they all smiled her way giving her that feeling of hope. Reaching the stand she took her seat, greeted the judge before focusing on the people in the courtoom.

Walking over towards her, the guard held her hand up placing it on the bible. "Do you Amira Sinclair swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"Yes,"

Stepping away, the judge motioned for her lawyer to step up.

Clearing his throat, he walked up to Amira. "Amira, can you please give a brief description of what you remember the night of the car crash and any memory of events that occurred after that?"

Going to speak she was cut off when the courtroom door opened and in walked Imani along with Tremaine holding hands. Instantly locking eyes, both Amira and Imani eyes got watery not believing either one was here at the moment.

Twan told her how hard Imani took her death and the bullying that came after her death as well. He explained the shit Tristian did to her and how after the whole rape incident she left and no one saw her since. So seeing her today and knowing that she was okay made her happy.

"Amira?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, she apologized. "I-I'm sorry, what was the question again?"

"Can you give us a brief description of what happened the night of the car accident and any memory of events that happened afterwards."

"Um yes, I well .. I remember the party we attended before the night went crazy. I remember swerving off the road and that was it. I don't remember the car flipping or anything like that. I just know I woke up in the hospital the next day and I remembered asking for my parents and my brothers and no one would give me an answer as to where they was or why I couldn't see them. I had no clue they reported me dead to my family, for all I knew I thought they just didn't know I was in the hospital .. I stayed in that room for about a week or so not exactly sure and I remember Dr. Hightower walking in with a smile on his face and he told me I was able to go home to my family and that they were waiting for me." She paused for a moment before locking eyes with Dr. Hightower who tried to keep his composure.

"I was so happy knowing that I was about to see my family, I was so ready to apologize to my brother for sneaking out and scaring him half to death .. but then I knew something was up, I knew something wasn't right the more I thought about it. I hadn't seen my family the whole time I was there and I found it weird that all of a sudden they were waiting on me and still not once came up to my room to see me. But I trusted that a doctor wouldn't lie so I got ready, grabbed the belongings that survived the car accident and he rolled me out in a wheel chair to the waiting area and that was when I met the Devil himself and my life changed for the worse."

Her lawyer nodded, "That's all for now your honor," He spoke up retaking his seat. He just wanted the judge to hear the story of the night of the accident, he was saving all of his questions for Dr. Hightower.

Amira looked over at Dr. Hightower's lawyer who came walking up. She was a beautiful black woman, and the way she walked screamed confidence and excellence but the look in her eyes held a hint of uncertainty, and sadness but she did well covering it up.

"Hello Amira, I just have a few questions .. did it ever cross your mind that maybe Dr. Hightower here thought that the man was a relative to you?"

"At first yes, then later no."

She nodded, "What changed your belief towards him not knowing? How are you so sure about this?"

"I was pregnant before the car accident happened, three weeks to be exact and while I was held captive in that mans home against my will.. I started to show and since the man wanted no one to know I was alive .. he got Dr. Hightower to be the one who gave me the proper meds I needed, and he gave birth to my daughter."

His lawyer turned and gave him a horrified look, not once did he ever mention this and that pissed her off. She already did not want to defend him, but he promised that he told her the whole truth about everything but clearly he didn't.

But sadly she still had to defend him at all costs, sighing she held the bridge of her nose. "But that can still go both ways, he could have possibly just assumed your family wanted an in home doctor to care for you. People do it all the time." She argued.

"Your honor, there was clearly no way he thought that man was a relative to Ms. Sinclair. He was the one who told her family she was dead." Amira's lawyer spoke up.

Once again his lawyer stood there in disbelief, he told her he had no idea she was reported dead to his family. She mentally laughed at herself because due to his lying he was making this case an easy win for Amira.

"No further questions your honor," Retaking her seat, she leaned closer to him. "If you want someone to defend you properly make sure they have all the facts first." She whispered before focusing back on the judge.

She watched as Amira stepped down from the stand and retake her seat. She just knew she was not about to win this case, with all his lying it made it impossible for her to defend him.

After taking a recess, it was now time for Dr. Hightower to go up. Taking his seat, he cleared his throat and coughed a little knowing Amira's lawyer was about to get in his ass.

The guard walked over to him, placing his hand right on the bible. "Do you Jason Hightower swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

Hesitantly, he nodded. "Yes.. Yes I do."

Adjusting his suit jacket, Amira's lawyer stood with a smirk on his face. "You're the only person here who knows exactly what happened the night of the wreck and all we need to know now is why? Like why did you tell her family she was dead when she wasn't? Why did you let this mistreatment go on for so long?" He questioned.

"I don—"

"Do not lie, you're under oath! Tell us the truth for once, Amira's family deserves to know the truth behind this sick and wicked plan you played a part in." He demanded.

Closing his eyes, he let out a sigh. "I had no choice, if I didn't listen to them they were gonna kill me and my family. I never wanted any parts in the plan but my love for my family is stronger. I'm sorry." He partially lied.

"But what about Amira's family? You don't think they suffered? That was four years they went without her in their life and that all could have been prevented if you went to get help or told someone at least to save this young lady."

"It wasn't that easy." He defended standing to his feet.

Banging her gaval, the judge shook her head. "Be seated Mr. Hightower."

Retaking his seat, he apologized. "Explain how it wasn't that easy, you gotta give us something Jason. Be a man for once and stop making excuses for this selfish and heartbreaking act that you did." He urged before turning to the crowd. "Your wife and children are here today, don't they deserve the know the kind of man their father really is? You're living in this bubble trying to justify your actions and decision making when in reality there isn't no excuse for this. So please explain to us, how it wasn't that easy for you?"

Making eye contact with his wife, she gave him a look basically wanting him to lie. She knew the truth behind what happened, but she couldn't afford to lose her husband and raise her kids alone. She felt sorry for Amira and her family but only to a certain extent, they didn't pay her bills he did. So she wanted him to do whatever it would take to get him off the hook so they could move on with their lives and push this to the back of their minds.

Looking away from her, he sighed. "Nate aka Snake was my childhood bestfriend, he's done more for me than my own family .. we just took different success paths in life. I chose medical legal route, whilst he chose the street life and the illegal way to make money but we still remained closer than ever. I knew he was involved in a gang but I was never once affliated with it like that. We just made sure to look out for each other because at the end of the day he was like a brother to me. So when he asked me to set up the whole thing with Amira .. I felt I was obligated to say yes out of loyalty. It's fucked up I know, what I did was beyond wrong .. I played a part in stripping this young lady away from her family and I can't take that back." Looking over at her, he held a sympathetic look. "I honestly was going to come up and try to lie my way out of this, but I've already lied enough that I can't even try to lie to these people again when they never deserved my dishonesty to begin with."

His wife stood up shaking her head in disbelief, before grabbing their two sons hands and walking out of the courtoom.

Ashley and Aaron sat there with tears in their eyes, they knew it was evil in the world but they never thought someone could be this fucked up as individual to cause that type of pain to a family and not once feel a certain way about it until now.

"I plead guilty for everything, I've put her and her family through enough already no need to drag this out and keep it going when I know the truth and the truth is I lied and covered up dirt for a criminal who I thought was a brother to me." He admitted standing to his feet. Holding his arms out, he turned towards the judge. "Do whatever you feel I deserve, I'll take whatever punishment ..but sadly I know no matter the punishment I get it still won't add up to what she had to deal with for the past four years of her life and I apologize for that."

The judge looked stunned along with everyone else for the fact that he actually admitted to his wrong doings. Banging her gaval, she ordered for the guard to take him back for his sentencing.

In the end, Jason was sentenced twenty-five years to life in prison no bail for being an accessory to his abduction of Amira. The moment was bittersweet, they were all glad he got what he deserved but those four years they lost because of him were gone and they couldn't make that time back up.

Standing from her seat, Amira turned to thank and hug her lawyer. Pulling away, she smiled then turned to face her family but then looked over at Imani who was already staring at her with her hand covered over her mouth and watery eyes.

Walking towards her Amira held her arms open as tears streamed down her cheeks. Meeting her half way, they instantly hugged both crying their eyes out.

Imani hugged her tightly, not wanting this moment to ever end. Her world became instantly better the moment they touched. Her best friend was back and she couldn't be happier.

All those nights of crying and being depressed were at an end now, and the feeling she was feeling at the moment couldn't be expressed in words. "I missed you so much," She told her causing everyone that was watching to smile lightly.

Ahmad held onto Cali's hand as he watched the two hug. He felt this is what Imani really needed. He honestly had to admit that Imani probably took her death the hardest for the simple fact that she recieved the most backlash from it.

She lost friends, everyone blamed her and her family didn't care too much about her feelings and that she was indeed hurting from this.

Over the years, he's watched Imani deal with a lot of demons and he knew that what people were saying when they blamed her Amira's death that she actually believed it. So watching them hug and cry together made his heart warm.

"I missed you so much too," Pulling away, Amira held onto her hands. "You look so beautiful," She complimented.

Wiping each others eyes, they shared a laugh. "You look beautiful too," Reaching up Imani just touched her face in disbelief trying to wrap her mind around this.

"You're really here," She laughed causing everyone else to do the same.

"Yes, I'm really here." Not saying anything else, she just her again as they rocked back and forth.

After their moment, Imani introduced Tremaine to everyone and then explained to them where she has been for the past few months and how she was mentally and emotionally in a better place for once.

Ahmad was truly happy for her, and felt she deserved whatever happiness to come her way. He even thanked Tremaine for helping her find herself again, and being there for her in her time of need.

At the moment it was nothing but good vibes in the air. That gray cloud that lingered around over Ahmad's life, cleared up a little finally. He was so happy this shit was over and that everyone came out a live and well. He was so ready to just be able to focus on his life and family without the extra shit getting in the way.

Leaving out of the courtroom, everyone made small talk amongst each other just soaking in that moment of relief. They all held smiles on their faces, and for once their eyes matched that happiness they felt.

But sadly that happiness was only gonna last for so long, it's many other things that were gonna happen to knock Ahmad and Cali down but now the question is will they be able to get back up this time?

-

I'm back bitches!
Did you guys miss me? I missed y'all frfr 😩

But yes, it took me a minute to write this chapter for the simple fact that I wasn't sure how I wanted it to go but two days ago it finally snapped into my brain and I was able to bless you all with an update!

Sorry for the wait, thanks for the love & support though♥️
- Denise 💋