I Can't Say

Chantel looked at the recording as it played. Her left hand played with her thigh. She didn't want to expose Julian but she had a feeling that Watts already knew it was Julian. After the video ended, Chantel took a quick sip from her water bottle.

"So can you tell me why Asia said those words?" Detective Watts questioned.

"I guess Asia had been stalking me for a while. You know petty childish stuff. It wasn't that big of a deal." Chantel lied and cleared her throat.

Of course it was a big deal. Stalking is something no one should go through. It's creepy and dangerous. But Chantel would not throw Julian under the bus. Watts looked at her suspiciously.

"Your boyfriend. Did he take it as a big deal?"

Chantel shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. He had been gone for a while but once the stalking got worse he came back."

"Do you think he could have found Asia and took her for you?" Watts asked.

"You never know what anyone is capable of. Our relationship was already on the rocks. I didn't know what he was doing half of the time." Chantel told him.

The interrogation was interrupted as three knocks sounded on the metal door. Watts went outside, the tech guy held a folder.

"Facial recognition came back. That's the guy you've been after all these years. Looks like he finally cracked."

Watts watched as the guy left and he opened the folder. Julian's face and fingerprints were in the folder. Watts had finally gotten his guy. He smiled and entered the room. Chantel looked tired.

"You can go now. No further questions." He said.

Chantel was now back at her house. Her sister was up and cleaning. Chantel didn't know why. It was weird. Cherise sniffed some more and wiped her nose. Chantel could see the white lines on the table and a business card next to it.

Chantel looked between the drugs and her sister. Chantel walked towards her sister scrubbing the dining room table. Chantel grabbed her sisters arm noticing the broken veins and purple spots on her arm. Her sister was on drugs.

"What the hell is this?" Chantel questioned looking into her sisters eyes.

Cherise's pupils were dilated and moving everywhere. Chantel walked back to where the drugs were and wiped the cocaine on the floor, Cherise ran over to the floor trying to scope up the crystals.

"Leave it. Where the fuck is the rest of your stuff?" Chantel said going upstairs to her bedroom.

"No, no, no, no, no. It's nothing here." Cherise said scratching her arm.

Chantel tore the room up, until she found a box of needles. With tears in her eyes she threw the needles in the trash. She ignored Cherise's cries. Chantel wondered at how she missed the signs of her sister using.

Meanwhile, red and blue lights flashed outside of Julian's home. Lucas and Demetri looked at their brother from the opposite couch. Julian sat and waited on his couch smoking a blunt. He knew they were coming, it was his time.

"Take care of each other. Ya'll all ya'll got. Make me proud, graduate high school, go to college. But for the love of God don't end up like me. Make something of yourselves." Julian confessed as knocks sounded at the door.

The three brother gathered into a group hug. Both Lucas and Demetri shedding tears as their brother opened the door. A sheriff read out the warrant for his arrest of the killing of Asia. Julian gave both of them a sad look.

"Aye, Lucas, take care of Chantel for me. I love ya'll." Julian said leaving the house and entering the cop car.

A social worker then came into the house, telling both of the brothers to pack their things. For now they would be going into foster care.

Over the next couple of months, Julian was on trial. Lucas and Demetri went to all of their brothers court appearances to find out their brothers fate. None of the gang had been talking to each other. Tiny was in the middle of it. She wanted her friends back.

So she arranged a group meeting at her place. Chantel and Octavia were the first to show up. Then the brothers. It was dead silent at the moment. Chantel's heart ached seeing Lucas and Demetri so sad about their brother. She was also sad to see Julian gone.

"I'm tired of this. Graduation is next week. I want all of my friends to be able to celebrate our last moments together before we go." Tiny said breaking the ice.

"We're moving." Demetri said putting his head down.

"Where?"

"Cali. A family adopted us, well mainly Demetri. But they didn't want us to be separated so they took me too. I'll only be going to college there and then I'll get legal guardianship and then we'll come back." Lucas reassured everyone.

A week later, Chantel waited for Julian to come out. She needed to see him one last time. She was dressed in her graduation gown. They had all finished high school, except Demetri, he would be going to 11th grade in Cali.

Julian emerged with his orange jump suit on. The court gave him ten years to life. Charges pilled on after he was arrested. Julian looked surprised to see her. They told him he had a visitor, but he didn't think it'd be her.

They both picked up the phone. Chantel stared into his now lifeless eyes. Immediately tears poured from her eyes. She just wanted one last hug. And now she couldn't get it.

"Stop all that crying. I ain't dead. I'm right here, just behind bars. Congratulations." Julian said noticing her gown.

She smiled the feeling of butterflies erupting in her stomach. Like when she first met him. She still remembered that day.

"Yeah. After this summer, I'll be going to New York to college." Chantel smiled brightly.

"I'm proud of you. Even after all the bullshit, you stood by me. I love you, Chantel." Julian said.

"I love you too."

"But you can't come back here. I don't want to see you after today Chantel. Go live your life without me. Go be with my brother, he's a better man than me. Don't wait for me." Julian said as a few tears came down his face.

Chantel was stunned. She watched Julian leave her right there. Even though he loved her, he couldn't make her wait for him. By then she would have a career, a husband, and kids. No matter what Julian would stay loyal to the streets more than to her. And that was the life of a gangsta.

THE END.......

AN: Epilogue coming in a couple days. I don't know about ya'll but I cried while tying this up. There will be a sequel to this, but only including Demetri and Lucas as the main character along with another family.

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