Do I run? do I stay?

Jaylen POV

  I woke up the next morning next to a sleeping Roman. I could see the tear stains on his face as fresh ones streamed down. I could only imagine his hurt right now. I debated on whether or not I should wake him up but ultimately decided against it. I sat up as the everything that happened in the last 24 hours replayed right in front of me. My best friend was really shot dead right in front of me. "Darren.." Roman mumbled my exact thought as my eyes watered again. I sat there for  a few more minutes and stared into a blank space.  "Ight I let you sleep long enough. Get the fuck up." a random man barged in my room, waking Roman up in the process.

  "Who the fuck are you?" I said as I stared at him in confusion. "Don't worry about it. I paid my price now let's get to work. This dick ain't gonna suck itself. " he said as he started to unzip his pants. What in the entire fuck? "Do we have a problem?" Roman asked as he sat up on the bed. '"A big one." I responded as he now got up and cracked his knuckles. "A two for one. I-" was all he said before Roman punched him dead in his face. "Ion know what type of wierdo shit y'all got going on but I don't want know parts of it."  he said as he pulled his pants up and quickly hurried out the door, throwing all the cash he had in his pocket out along the way. "You OK?" Roman said coming up to me and patting my shoulder. 

  "I'm more confused if anything Ro. I don't even know where that man came from." I said he picked up the money and handed it to me. "Come on we ain't got all day." I heard someone mutter from the other side of my door. "What the hell" I said as I opened it to see a line of niggas standing there. Bryheem lost his fucking mind! "Why the fuck are y'all standing here?!" I asked knowing damn well why. "Heem said we can have a taste of his cream of the crop. As you can see, everybody wanted a piece. Looks like I'm up next." he said as he rubbed his hands together. To say I wanted to throw up right now would be an understatement. I turned to Roman and grabbed the gun from his jacket pocket and pointed it to him. "Like hell you are. If any of you value your life, I would strongly suggest you get the fuck away from me." "Man I'm out. He ain't say that he was crazy. My baby mom is enough crazy for me." one said as he walked away from me. 

   "You don't even know how to use that shit. I ain't scared." the same dude said. I cocked the gun back and shot at his foot. "Wanna test my aim?" I said with my eyebrow raised. "Fuck this. I'm out." he said as he threw money out of his pocket and ran away along with the rest of them. Allure walked past and me and her shared the same confused glance. "Now that wasn't anyway to treat our guest's now was it?" Bryheem said walking up the stairs. Roman quickly snatched the gun out of my hand and put it up. "I don't know what kinda game you're playing but you got me fucked up!" I said to him as he continued his trek. "On the contrary, I was trying to get you fucked up. You seemed so tense so a little sex could've loosened you up. See look at me trying to help you." "Cut the bullshit bitch! That's not why you did that!" I yelled at him. "Ah, damn. You got me. Well since your little friend is dead, my cash flow is interrupted. Since you were an accomplice of his, you're gonna work harder to make it up. So I lined a good clientele for you." He said smirking.

  I felt Roman tense up at the first part because he was about to push my ass outta the way to beat his ass. "I knew your guard dog was smart. If he would've made a move, that would've been another death on your hands." He said as I heard a gun cock from behind us. "You're sick as hell if you think I'm doing that shit." "Oh but you will. Look at whose roof you're staying under. You have nowhere else to go. You can talk tough but you know better." He said with the same smirk. Darren you really should've killed the bitch *facepalm*. "Now what's it gonna be? Do you want more blood on your hands or will you comply and everybody can be happy?" he said as my I felt my stomach turned. I looked at Roman and then back as this motherfucker. I took a deep breath before answering. "I'll do it." I said as Roman held his head down. I just can deal with two deaths in the span of 72 hours. 

  "See I knew you'd make the right choice. So should I call them back?" he said tilting his head. "Um, no. I said I'd do it, I never said when." "Oh, you thought you was in a position to make decisions? THIS IS MY HOUSE!" "That's nice real nice but let's see what would happen to your cash flow why your most prize possession commits suicide." I smirked back as his face showed a hint of shock before turning angry. "Jaylen!" Roman yelled while grabbing me. I simply held my hand up, signaling to him that I got this. "You wouldn't dare." he said as he raised his eyebrow while walking forward. "You wanna bet?" I said breaking a nearby vase and slicing my arm with the broken glass. "I know you haven't been having luck finding anybody because Darren's room is still empty. You would've had his replacement that same day. Nobody is either dumb enough to fall for your bullshit or they aren't meeting your standards, hence why you're flooding the lower levels." I said as he slapped me. Bingo. 

  "You don't know shit." "Oh?" I said licking the blood on my lip as I cut another part on my arm. "If I didn't, why'd you hit me? Hmm. Are you really sure you can afford to lose two of your highest priced toys. Me and Darren together brought in what? 20k all together? I would've wagered to bet that we make up more then half your income? I guess we aren't shit so I gguess you can afford to lose another one." I said as I started to cut another part of my arm as he stopped me. "When are we starting?" he asked as I gave him a crooked smile. Smart boy. "Wednesday." I said as I dropped the bloody glass. "Oh, and Roman is now one of my clients. When he's here. Nobody is allowed to disturb or book any session until he leaves." I said smiling. "What if he's dead?" "Then I'm dead. Don't play with me." I shot back. Roman was trying hard not to smirk. "Fine. Whatever. Mal, he good. Go count the money." he said as he walked away, not breaking eye contact with me. 

  Once he was gone, Roman dragged my ass back into the room. "Are you fucking crazy?!" he said as he pinned me against the door he slammed his hands on. "I'm sorry but that was the only way." "So you were just gonna kill yourself?! Did you forget that I just lost boyfriend and now you're trying to add to it? I'll ask again, ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?" he said again. "Roman calm down. Some times you have to fight fire with fire. It was the only to reason with him as well as save you." I said as tears welled up. "I can't lose you too." we both managed to say as he pulled me in for a hug. Maybe I was a little to reckless. "Uh, Ro. Unless you want to be a prime suspect in an imaginary murder, I think you might wanna let go." I said earning a laugh from him. "Forgot your crazy ass did that. You have a first aid kit?" he asked as I pointed to the bathroom. He went in there and came back out with said kit. 

  He swabbed the cuts with alcohol as I hissed in pain. "Nigga get outta here. Now you wanna be a baby. Man get outta here." he said as he laughed. I'm glad he found this funny. Once he was finished, I walked back to my bed where he came and sat down. "Lemme ask you something? Did you and Darren really bring in that much money together?" he asked as I turned to him. "Honestly that was on our worst day. We normally brought in 25k." I said as his eyes widen. "Before you go assuming anything. We really didn't have to do anything. Darren was good with his hands so basically he was a massage therapist. Me on the other hand, my looks or just me dancing brought in that much. That and the fact that he has a strict no sexing policy on me. Call me the forbidden fruit." I said as he nodded his head. 

  "Ah OK. Well that made sense. Did Darren ever- you know?". I laughed. "Nah he was saving allat for you. He just couldn't do it no matter how much they offered. Anytime he got in that mood, he would start talking about you. I'm surprised y'all didn't fuck already." I laughed again. "We actually did. That day he was late coming to the window." he said as my eyes widened. "The little fucker. He said y'all didn't do anything. If he wasn't dead, he would've been because of that." I said as he laughed. "He didn't want to tell you because he said this was exactly how you would act." "He knew me well then cuz....." I said as he started to laugh. "You know you can't protect me forever." I said when our laughter faded. "I know but as long as I'm around you, I'm gonna do my best to make sure nobody does you any harm. You're just as important as he is." he said as I smiled. 

  "How close were you two from actually....being free?" he whispered the last part. "About 80%. The other challenge would've been to actually get out of there. I mean knowing Darren, I know he brought money, we just would've had to find a cab or public transportation. Wouldn't have been hard to hitch hike or something." I said as he nodded his head. "I mean for us, it definitely would've been better if we ran through the nearby forest. Careful steps would've been necessary though. If only that gun had a damn silencer." I said getting pissed again. "Hey, calm down. I don't blame you two for anything. It was an unforeseen circumstance. There was no way y'all would've known that." he said grabbing my shoulder. "I guess you're right." "I mean I did give him my number." he said as I turned my attention to him. "I'm sure he told you I was against the idea, even more so because I couldn't be a part of it. After hours of persuasion and soft arguments, I ended up giving him my number. I told him that whenever you guys made it out and were finally free, I would come to where ever you were and start my life there with you guys."

  "He told me that I couldn't move in because he still wanted his privacy as well as best friend time with you but agreed to the terms. It would've been fun." he said as I burst into tears. Darren really thought about me. He really thought this through. That life seemed so beautiful and happy. It's exactly what he said we needed. "As long as you're here. I'm going to do my all into protecting you. Even if that cost me my life. I'll be happy to let him know that I gave him my word." "No. You won't die here. Matter of fact, you won't die at all. I'm not having that shit. I WILL get outta of this bitch if it's the last thing I do."" I said as he smiled. "Now that's what I want to hear. Here." he said handing me a piece of paper. "When you get out of here, give me a call. That will be my cue to do the same because it'll only be a matter of time before they try and find me as well. " he said as I nodded my head. 

  I was starting to say something else when his phone rang. "Yeah? How the hell he do that? OK, I'll be in. Give me a few minutes." he said before sighing and hanging up the phone. "Everything OK?" "Man these motherfuckers can't do a simply task right. Now I gotta play clean up." he said as he grabbed his jacket. "I hope you're not going to work like that." I said pointing at the few bloodied spots on his shirt. "Man no. I'm not that dumb. Imma change first and then head to work. Trynna play me." he said as I laughed. He started walking to the door before turning around. "I'm going to try to be back tonight. Knowing that I'm your new client, they might try to charge me more. Please try to stay out of trouble." he said as I laughed. "You worry too much. I got this. As long as they don't say shit to me, I'm good. Hurry up and get to work." I said as I pushed him. "I'm serious." he said as I nodded my head. "Aye, aye captain. Now go." I said as he laughed before finally leaving.

  "What a day." I said as I locked the door and walked into the bathroom to take a shower. I allowed the water to get a warm before stepping in. Each time I would close my eyes, I would see that night play out. The most prominent part being Darren getting shot. It was almost as if I was shot at the same time he was. "Chill out Jay, you still have to make him proud and make it out. Besides graduation is coming up." I said trying to mentally distract myself. "A nap should do it." I said as I stepped out. I dried myself off and looked in the mirror at my cuts. "I guess you could say I really lost my damn mind. Thank God Dion and Malika didn't see this. They'd have a whole damn fit." I said as I laughed. Thinking of those two and Darren seemed to have boosted my moral a bit. I got dressed before laying down in the bed. 

  I was awakened later by someone knocking on the door. "Go away!" I said as the knocking continued. "I'm trying to sleep! Please!" "Jaylen, it's me." I faintly heard Allure say. "You can come in." I said groggily as I sat up in my bed. "How are you feeling?" she said as I held my head. "I honestly can feel myself fading. While I physically feel OK, mentally, I'm crumbling at the seems. I'm trying to grasp Darren's death and here comes with Bryheem with the bullshit. It's just too much to deal with right now." I said. Not to mention the barrage of questions my friends are gonna ask me if these bruises don't heal up by tonight. Bad enough I missed a day already. "I honestly don't know what to say. You know you can always come and talk to me if you need anything. You have some much weight on your shoulders." she shook her head. I let out a small laugh. 

  "You know, I always assumed that you really didn't like me like that." "Quite honestly, I admired you. You were one of the few people to go toe to toe with Bryheem and didn't give a damn about the consequences. Bold as hell if you ask me. You stayed to yourself and didn't gauge in the petty antics that tend to happen here.  You were determined to get out of here no matter what. You and Darren both did something that only a few of us only dreamed of. That only made me admire you guys even more. If you'd succeeded, I would've only hoped that you guys would've came back for me. So again, you were wrong. I was enamored by you strength and resilience. You're a beacon of hope for me." she said tearing up. "Wow" I simply said as I hugged her. To say I was speechless was an under statement right now. "Darren told me to give you this." she said handing me a letter as she stood up. "Don't give up. Please. If you fall, the rest of us will have no hope. Please stay strong." she said as she left.

  "I'm not a hero though." I mumbled. 

  "OK! I'm first up. Let's see what the forbidden fruit taste like." some drunk man said walking into my room. I slipped on the brass knuckles that Roman left me (you didn't think he'd leave me defenseless now did you?) and gave his ass a mean right hook. I heard a slight crack in the process. "Now unless you want me to break the other side, the best bet would be to leave." I smiled as he instantly sobered up. "Crazy ass motherfucker." he said instantly leaving. I locked my door as I opened the letter that Allure gave me:

  "Jaylen, 

  If you're reading this, then that means our plan wasn't successful and I may be dead. You know it kinda feels weird saying that when I'm right across the hall from you. Anyway, I want to say thank you for being the best brother that I could ask for. Each and every moment I spent with you was amazing and I want you to know that I don't blame you for anything that happened to me. Maybe it was something I didn't factor in or maybe it was just fate. You know how life works, look at how we me." I laughed. "I wanted to tell you that I admired how strong you were. No matter how bleak or hopeless something may have seemed, just knowing that you was in my corner was all that I needed to keep moving forward with things. That's why I told you that you were a key piece in the plan. I needed that strength, that push, that motivation. I honestly wouldn't have do this with anyone else." I smiled as tears started to stream down my face.

  "Look after Roman, make sure that man doesn't do anything stupid. You know how short tempered he can be. Oh and if he didn't already tell you, yes we had sex. I didn't want to tell you cuz you would've killed me. Yes the dick was bomb as fuck." I scrunched my face up "I aint't ask for all that." "Please keep him together. I know it's hard because you have to keep yourself together as well but please try for me. One death is enough. I don't think you can handle two." I nodded my head. He knew me best. "Now to the real reason why I wrote this letter. With me being dead, I leave all of my money to you. I have no need for it. They don't accept cash in heaven and it'll burn up in hell anyway. The money is in two places in my room. The first one being under that creaky ass floor board by my bed. The second is in the closet. Slide the board to the right and a bag should fall out. I want you to use that money to escape with and start a new life. You thought I was gonna let you give up on that idea? Fuck no, you don't belong there. We didn't belong there."

  "You can't put a puzzle piece where it doesn't belong. It'll only mess the whole puzzle up. Jaylen I just want to say I love you so much. More then words could ever express. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything. Sorry I couldn't cross that line with you. Make my sacrifice justified by living your life. You can do that for me right? Of course you can. Love you baby boy." 

  "Darren, I'm so sorry." I mumbled as I curled into a ball and instantly broke down again. I sat like this for god knows how long until I remembered that last part he said. I jumped up, fixed my face and ran to his room, double checking to make sure there was nobody in the hall. I carefully closed his door. "If I remember correctly, that board should be right here." I said as I found the exact floor board. I was two brick sized of saran wrapped bills underneath. On the plastic itself, 2k was written on it. Damn Darren. Shit was kinda heavy too. I quickly placed the floor board back and ran back to my room with the money. I place the block right in the compartment behind my bed. I had set this up just in case they did a room search. I pulled on the string to open it up as I placed the money in. I pulled it again as the money disappeared and went to the foot of the bed. I ran back into Darren's room and headed to the closet. I did as he instructed and an even bigger bag then before fell out. "Shit." I said as I lugged the bag over my shoulder. I looked like Santa himself. 

Merry Christmas bitch. 

  I peeped out his doorway to make sure no one else was coming up the stairs or out of the rooms. When the coast was clear, I headed to my room. I locked the door and put my dresser by it.  looked at the bag again before opening it. I was 3 cinder blocked sizes of the same saran wrapped bills. Each had 4k written on them. 16k Darren, damn! I remembered that my mirror in the bathroom had another cabinet to it. I lightly tapped on the mirror as the other cabinet appeared. I quickly placed the money in the cabinet before closing it. The thing about this mirror is that you have to lightly tap it otherwise, it won't open or even be visible. Knowing these dumbasses  love banging on shit, I ain't have nothing to worry about. I quietly hurried back to my bed as I put everything back. I spent the rest of the night rereading and crying over Darren's letter. 

  "You really had been planning this for a long time." I said as I cried harder.

Damn.

Thoughts?

Roman?

Jaylen?

Darren?

Bryheem? 

Allure?

Chapter 10, chapter 10, aww man.