Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Reese Ta'vian Jackson Jacksonville, Florida
"I feel like I'm losing control bro. My feelings a whole mess and I can't cope." Reese explained to Leighton. Tears welled up in his eyes but he didn't bother focusing on them.
He'd been struggling to get out of bed these past couple of weeks, he was locked in his room and felt as if a heavy, grey cloud was hanging over him. The facade that he'd kept up had broken down and after talking to Pearl, he had a mental break down.
"I been trying to be strong but my heart aches. It feels like pain is leaking out of my chest and ion know what to do. Bico's death never hurt this bad." He continued on, they were currently sitting on the floor of his room.
Soft music played in the background after Leighton tried to drag him out of bed which led to him shouting and then eventually sobbing. He'd been trying to avoid these feelings of sadness because he feared that they'd stay with him forever. Reneé was a big part of him, she was a huge influence on the type of person he was today.
Losing her felt like he'd lost the person that had been holding his hand this whole time. Her death really made him realise how much he'd leaned on her emotionally and mentally. Without her, he had to learn to stand on his own.
Reese had always thought he was his own person and he was independent but now he was realising just how much he depended on her. Without her to guide him, who was he?
"Of course Bico's death ain't gon be the same as Nene's. Nene was your moms, sister and best friend all at the same time." Leighton said as he rubbed his cousin's back, Reese had just finished crying.
"All you gotta do is acknowledge that she's gone, allow yourself to feel emotions, even the painful ones but just make sure you don't let em stay for too long." Leighton continued, "And talk. Talk to yo pops, talk to me and even talk to a shrink, Reneé told me her's helped her a lot before she died."
"You allowed to cry bro, you allowed to hurt. Ain't nobody expecting you to soldier through this. Reneé always said that you was allowed to cry, she just didn't want you to cry forever." Leighton finished as he stared at his cousin sadly, Reese began crying again on his shoulder.
Death was something that humbled everyone; demons and non-demons.
-XX-
Reese walked down the stairs of his house for the first time in 3 weeks, where his father was preparing his favourite breakfast. Pancakes and strawberries.
"Son, I got yo food." Keith shouted from the kitchen as he dished up the food for everyone.
Walking into the kitchen, he saw the dining table with three plates. The smell of pancakes filled the room and there was a huge bowl of sliced strawberries in the centre of the table. Smiling, he sat down and had a quick prayer for munching.
Keith watched his only child eating, feeling his heart ache as he realised that Reese had lost a lot of weight. He was so glad that Leighton was here and even happier that Leighton had told him how Reese was doing so that he could adjust things to make it easier for him.
"I'm comin off work later so I was thinking that we could go play basketball on the public courts." Keith sat down next to his son, Reese glanced up in surprise. His pops was always busy with work, he'd never taken a day off except for when Reneé was shot.
"In the suburbs or the hood?" Reese asked, he wasn't about to play basketball with no white people. Then again, since there was no competition, the easy-win boosted his ego.
"In the hood boy." Keith said with a smile which made Reese chuckle in agreement, he hadn't seen his son laugh in a long time.
"You beat white folk in basketball, they start getting embarrassed and call the police talkin about some suspicious black man." Leighton said as he walked in, everything that came out of his mouth was always stupid, which just made the father and son chuckle and shake their heads.
Slowly, slowly, Reese was going to learn how to carry the pain of his loss. He wanted to make something of his life, that's what his mother and sister would've wanted.
"Imma ask Kirari to tutor me." Reese said as he stabbed some strawberries with a fork. He didn't bother to look up to know that both Keith and Leighton were looking at him in shock.
"Stop playing." Leighton chuckled as he sat down, eating ass apple.
"I wanna do sum with my life. Ion know what yet but I'm gon' start with graduating, Nene and Mama would've wanted that." Reese looked up with teary eyes, he just wanted to make his family proud.
He knew that graduating wouldn't make the pain go away; but neither would going back to the streets.
As Reneé used to say, "Just because the streets are the easier option, don't mean they the best option."
"I support you, Reese. I got your back all the way." Keith said before standing up, patting both boys in the back and leaving.
-XX-
"What you gon' do about Blanco?" Leighton asked as he took a long drag of his blunt, they were currently driving to school after not going for a long time.
Kissing his teeth, Reese rubbed his chin as he thought about it. He wasn't going back into business, his assassin days were over but he didn't want to disappoint Blanco either. The man was there for him at his hardest times.
"I'm gon' tell him that I already got family." Reese shrugged, he had goals and Blanco wasn't a part of any of them. After all, the boy was still only 17 years-old.
Reese parked his car in the school parking lot before the two boys slipped out. Both slinging their bags on their shoulders as he locked it. They both dragged themselves into school, they were actually just on time since the bell had just rung.
"Leighton and Reese Jackson, how nice of the pair of you to finally show up." Mrs Grace said as they walked into classroom, Reese's changed appearance shocked everyone.
He'd lost weight and some of his muscle but he was slowly gaining it all back. Both of them had just disappeared off the face of the Earth. Ignoring the murmurs, Reese looked around the class for some seats before he spotted Pearl. She was staring right at him with surprise.
Their eyes met for a second, her curiosity was painted across her face but he didn't care, before he blankly looked away and spotted two empty chairs for him and his cousin, they walked over. Leighton immediately went to sleep but for the first time ever, Reese got his books out and focused.
He wasn't going to be a victim of the streets like his sister.
