Page 42 of This Is Law 3

“Let’s do a few laps up, and down the field.

Come on,” I started, happy because anything that required being outside, working out, and in my zone was my happy place.

Summer was right around the corner, and I wanted it to fly by because I was ready for my junior year to start, so that I could be right back on that baseball field, kicking ass just like I did my previous high school seasons.

Soraya ‘Yaya’ Crawford

“Sevyn, what you doing now?” I whined the second he answered the phone.

In the last thirty minutes, I’d called him already three times.

I was calling him about Creed, and Quay, telling him how I was having this mommy intuition that something wasn’t right.

I’d sat out in the parking lot for at least twenty minutes, doing nothing.

I lied to Creed, telling him that I had business calls to make, but that was just my way of giving him a valid excuse as to why I was going to stay, and wait.

I watched the boys run their drills, and they looked to be having a good time.

When my boy got in his zone, and he worked out, he wasn’t aware of anything, or anyone that was around him.

Quay wasn’t the same though. I kept catching him stealing glances at my car, which made me question why he was doing that.

When I called Law the second time to tell him that, he felt like I was being paranoid.

“Soraya, I’m doing the same shit that I was doing when you called me ten minutes ago.

I’m in the office, baby. I’m about to hop on a call in like five more minutes.

Where you at?” he asked me. I could hear it in his voice that I was annoying the hell out of him, even though he was trying to keep his cool, and pretend that I wasn’t.

“I was heading to the grocery store, but I’m about to turn around, so that I can go back, and keep eyes on my baby,” I voiced, and he sucked his teeth.

“You kill me with that shit, man. If I wasn’t in they life, you would have them boys soft as fuck.

You baby them too much, Soraya. He out there on the field, running drills and shit, and you heading back out there to do what exactly?

You be hovering over them and treating them like they still five.

I just got on you last night for making that nigga’s bed up,” Law snapped on me. I knew it was coming. I could feel it.

“I wasn’t making up his bed. I was fixing the poor ass job that he did with making it up.

Sevyn, just see where I’m coming from with this.

This situation doesn’t seem weird to you?

I feel like based on the last conversation that Creed and Quay had, the friendship was pretty much over.

They both went in on each other. What would make him come back after that, you know?

He didn’t reach out to Creed for weeks after that, now all of a sudden, he calls and wants to hang out.

It doesn’t feel right. I’m going back out there, but I’m going to park my car in the cut, where they can’t see me,” I replied, hoping that he would give in, and side with me.

He was quiet for a while, and then he cleared his throat.

“If you that headstrong about it, go back out there then. I don’t want to be the one to stop you, just in case there is some small percentage that you might be right. I just don’t think that Quay would try anything. That lil nigga know I’ll kill him for fuckin with my son,” he said.

“Okay. I’ll be there in a few minutes. I’ll call you back,” I let him know.

“Alright. I love you,” he confessed.

“I love you more,” and like that, I hung up, and I headed back to the park.

Creed Crawford

“Alright, nigga. I’m tired. You working me like we about to go to the fuckin Olympics,” Quay panted, sitting down on the grass, with his legs out in front of him, his hands behind him, as he breathed heavily.

He’d come out of his shirt, and he was sweating just as badly as I was.

My shirt was off too, as I leaned down, and I picked up the face towel that was on top of my gym bag, so that I could wipe off my face, neck, stomach, and back.

I was drenched in sweat. We went at it hard right here in this Miami heat.

“You feel good though, right? You can’t tell me you don’t feel like you can run a million miles right now,” I said, and he just waved me off, and reached over, so that he could grab the big gallon of water that he’d come out here with.

I walked over to him, standing not too far away.

I wanted to ask him something, but I didn’t want to offend him.

All afternoon, I felt like his temper was quicker than what it usually was, and he wasn’t the same Quay that I knew, but I really did enjoy being out here with him, so I tried not to let it bother me too much.

“Yeah, aight. I’m out of shape like a motha fucka,” he said, and I just laughed.

“Ay man, can I ask you something without it sounding like I’m offending you?” I just went ahead and asked anyway.

“What you got to ask me?” he wanted to know.

“You straight? Like money wise? You need anything because I got you. I got some money in my account that I can send you if you need it. I’m not trying to offend you or assume anything.

Your my brother, so I just want to make sure that your good.

That’s all,” I admitted to him. There was a hard look on his face, and because he was looking at me like this, I really didn’t know what his response was going to be.

“Nah man. I’m good. You already know how I am. A nigga don’t need no handouts,” he said. I nodded, going to respect his response, and leave it alone.

I turned my back towards him after that, so that I could go over to my gym bag.

I finished the water bottle that I had been holding in my hand, so I was going inside to get another one.

I was down in a squatting position, moving the items around in my gym bag, when I suddenly felt movement behind me.

I turned around to see what was going on, and Quay was right there, hovering over me.

He had a look to him that I couldn’t really read.

“And you be saying that I’m gay. Nigga, back your ass up,” I joked. He didn’t laugh though.

“Creeeed!” I could hear my mom yelling from the other side of the field. When she dropped me off, I vividly remember her being in a denim dress, and she wore tan colored sandals.

Looking over at her, I saw that the sandals weren’t on her feet, and like this woman wasn’t pregnant, carrying twins, she was taking off in our direction.

I was ready to snap on her because her ass was supposed to have been gone, going to the grocery store like she said she was going to do, but here she was.

I took my eyes off her just for one second, and I looked up at Quay. He was looking down at me like he was a lion, and I was his pray. That’s when I turned to what was in his right hand, and I saw the switch blade.

Even with my mama running full force towards us, he still made a move towards me like he was going to use it, but I was able to think fast, and on my feet, throwing the water down on the floor, and I went for that nigga’s legs, tackling him down to the ground.

With the knife still in his hand, he was swinging that shit, trying to slice me anywhere that he could, but I dodged it.

My mom made it over to me, and she came in, arms and feet swinging, not giving a damn.

“Ma, moveeee! Go! Moveee!” I screamed at her because this nigga had a crazed look in his eyes right now, like he was completely out of his body, and I didn’t want him to nut up, and do something to my mama.

I was on his ass, fighting to get that knife out of his hand, and it eventually slipped out of his hand.

My mama picked it up, tucked it in her dress pocket, and I blacked out, and started beating the shit out of this nigga.

During the fight, I could hear my mama yelling for me to stop, and that’s when I did so.

She pulled me off him, and I watched Quay lay there limp.

I really didn’t know if he was even alive or not.

There was blood all over his face, but when I looked at his chest, it was moving up, and down, so that meant that he was alive.

“Go in the car, Creed. Let me call your dad,” my mom said, after two minutes of us standing here, looking down at him.

“Ma, what if?—”

“Go in the fuckin car, Creed!” she screamed at me.

I didn’t even test her. I scanned the lot where her car had originally been, but I didn’t see it out there.

“Where you parked?” I asked her.

“All the way in the back. Go,” she snapped, handing her keys over.

I walked away, leaving everything out there.

I didn’t want her to be alone out there with him, but I knew my mom was tough and could handle herself.

The whole time that I was walking off the field, I was breathing hard, and it wasn’t because I was out of breath from beating that nigga’s ass.

I felt like my body was filled with so much rage right now that I couldn’t seem to catch a steady rhythm of breathing.

That nigga came out to that park today to kill my ass.

He lured me to that park, with plans of stabbing me to death.

All I could think about was how all week my mom had been tripping, saying how she felt it was weird that he would want to squash our beef all of a sudden.

Just like she did everything else, I felt like she was overreacting.

I made it over to her car, standing outside of it, and I cried angry tears.

A nigga that I grew up with, spent the night the night at his crib, and he’s slept at my crib as well, almost fuckin killed me.

I was posted outside my mom’s car, arms crossed, legs shaking, as angry tears fell from my eyes.

I had the perfect view of my mom from where I was standing, and she had her phone to her ear, and I’m sure that she was on the phone with my dad.

I already knew that he was going to be a different kind of monster when he got out here, and saw what was going on.

I really didn’t know if he would keep Quay alive after this.

That stupid ass nigga just tried to end me.