"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished...That is when a new chapter begins."
Love..
Itâs what makes the world go round, doesnât it? At least, Id like to think it does. You meet someone, you fall in love, and they become your world. And sometimes, their world lures you from the light and into the darkness.
I was just a medic. I would go on shift everyday and say the same phrase at the beginning of every shift: âEMT Garden is beginning service under E-95 and will be 10-8 from Pillbox MDâ
I saved lives for a living â until I met the man who took them for a living â Yousef.
We had a very organic meeting at the bank. He was actually trying to flirt up some girl that was behind my pink comet for fun, and I thought he was HELLA cute but I had no idea who he was. How could a girl like me get this man to introduce himself to me without it being obvious I donât know him?
I said âYoâ and he was like âHey!â. I told him âI think I know you actually, do you mind taking off your mask for me? You seem really familiarâ (I had no idea who this man was, I just thought he was hot and wanted to check out his face some more ) He takes off his mask, and I was just like yup, love at first sight. He's beautiful. To play it off though, I jump out of my car and walk towards the black Komoda that was 2x occupied, not counting Yousef. I asked the others to also take off their masks because I âthought I knew themâ (I didnât.) Long story short, I decided to go talk to a friend across the street and left those 3 mysterious guys at the bank in their all-black clothing and all black Komoda. Then, I began driving home to Eclipse towers.
âŚUntil I looked up at my mirror and realized they were following me. âWhat the fuckâ I whispered to myself. âAre they following me?â
I park my pink comet at eclipse towers and walk with confidence to the black Komoda sitting outside of the apartment building. âAre you guys following me?â I say with sass. âNo, we live here.â The 3 passengers proceeded to say, which it was obvious to me they didnât live here. I thought to myself for a second â they made the effort to drive all the way from the bank to eclipse towers after me when there are speed cameras everywhere on that road, I might as well just see what they want from me. I sucked in my breath and opened the door of the passenger seat and decided to sit inside with them. It turns out, those 3 males happened to beâŚ
Yousef. Hector. ShawnâŚ. Members of âThe Rooksâ.
Hector began driving away the second I hopped into the car with Shawn and Yousef. I peek over at him through my side-eye and try not to make it obvious that Iâm a little nervous, as I've just jumped into the car with complete strangers. It turns out, he has a gun in his hand as he drives. I panic. I start checking to see if there is a child lock on my door, which there wasnât. I think to myself âMaybe Iâm not being kidnapped.â Just in case though, I text my friend Majik from White Rose to let him know what is going on.. in case he doesnât hear from me again.
We finally make it to our destination. A club. We get inside and everyone chills on the sofa and I just stand there awkwardly. âSo⌠who are you guys?â The guys sitting before me just look at each other and whisper amongst themselves. I wasnât an idiot. I knew gangs existed in the city because Iâve always been a curious medic who asks too many questions. People called me âdetectiveâ.
Finally, Yousef speaks up and tells me that theyâre members of The Rooks. I gasp slightly to myself, as Iâve never actually met a rook before considering theyâre extremely hard to find in the city. I play it cool and start giggling nervously and begin to ask if I could hold any cool heavy weaponry they may have. Yousef leaves briefly and comes back with a fully loaded AK-47 and body armor. I donât even hesitate before I put it on, and thatâs when I notice⌠Shawn had been recording the whole time, which can easily be sent to the chief of EMS â Nicole Crawford. That wouldâve gotten me fired for sure.
I instantly take it off and begin to quietly beg Shawn not to do anything with that footage of me. I could easily be blackmailed because I was stupid and decided to trust these strangers. He assures me he wonât do anything with it, so long as I donât snitch on where they live, who they are, or what they do. I nod to them all and decide to leave the club.
We head towards Mors so that Yousef can take out his comet retro after it had been chopped. The others (Shawn and Hector) decide to go to sleep, so I stay with Yousef for a bit. I was nervous but feeling confident. I know Iâm a pretty girl with a great personality, so it had to be easy. We drove around for a bit, and he ended up asking for my number. I giggled to myself and proceeded to play hard to get slightly, until I finally gave in and handed him my phone number. For the days proceeding, we talked a lot and hung out a lot.
Then one day, he asked me: âHave you ever thought of cooking together? Itâs a great way to make money and it would help out my family a lot.â I think to myself âOhhh shit, last time I was in a lab, it went kaboom. But maybe its worth a shot, especially because I already care about this guy.â I finally speak up and say, âId be more than happy to helpâŚJust please be in charge of the watering.â I giggle and he proceeds to laugh and nod.
âŚ..
Time goes by.
.....
My R1.
After holding down labs with The Rooks and helping them out in various ways just as Yousefâs girlfriend, Harley and Shawn suggested that I join the family. I was hesitant at first, but then I found myself standing by the edge of a cliff. I guess I chose to give it a shot â being a prospect. âFly or dieâ they say⌠and they fucking mean it.
Everyone stands before meâŚ.waiting for their chance to either vote yes or no on my behalf, based on my performance as a prospect⌠Charlie, Yousef, Harley, Shawn, Johnnie, Suken, Lele, Andrew, and Dante.
Iâm up. I walk towards the edge and turn to face The Rooks. I gulp and stand there looking as confident as I can.
Charlie: Yes
Yousef: Could not vote because Iâm his girlfriend. (But, Yes of course)
Harley: Yes
Shawn: Yes
Suken: Yes
Lele: Yes
Andrew: Yes
Dante: Yes
Johnnie: Yes
I smile WIDE.
Although it hadnât been official yet, they were my family at heart. I grew to love every single one of them, and now Iâm finally officially part of the family.
Anneliese Garden â a Rook. Who wouldâve thought?
Guess what? Fly or die huhâŚ
I fucking flew.