Jemma and Mags don’t say much for a long time. It’s when I feel lights shining against my lids that I open my eyes again and see downtown Atlanta come into view. It’s then when Jemma speaks again. I hold as still as I can to listen.
“You brought us here. You’re actually taking us to him.” Jemma gives a laugh. “You should have run.”
“It will be the end for us all,” Mags says emotionlessly.
Panic rises in my chest. My man and my baby are in danger if I don’t do something. This bitch is off her rocker.
I flex my fingers and toes. I don’t know if I have the strength to fight her, but I think I can run if I need to. Owen’s words ring in my head about protecting our baby and not fighting.
I crack my eyes open to look out of the window. My head is still pressed to the cool window. At first nothing looks familiar in this area. In the four years I’ve been here in Georgia I’ve rarely explored the city.
I almost gasp out loud when I see the Soul Deep Enterprise Building come into view. It rises up like a beacon of hope. If I can get to that building I can get to help. Security is there around the clock.
I wait for the car to get a few blocks closer to the building. God is on my side, because the light turns red about two blocks over. I can see the building from between the surrounding ones. That’s my path.
If Mags wants to follow me, she’ll have to do so on foot. I may be a heavier girl, but I’m fast. I had to be if I wanted to run behind King and Brick.
This is it, I think. I slowly move my hand to the lock and the handle, but I freeze when I hear Mags hiss.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“You’re going to let us out of this car,” Jemma demands, causing me to sag against the door in relief. Mags wasn’t talking to me.
“Where’d that gun come from?”
“You have always treated me like I’m the stupid one. You’d be dead by now if it wasn’t for me.” Jemma’s voice shakes.
“You are the stupid one. You think David gives a shit about you. He left us, he wouldn’t do shit for you or his unborn baby,” Mags says vehemently.
I look into the passenger side-view mirror from the back seat. I can see Jemma through it with the back of her head facing the window. I shift my eyes into the car and see Jemma’s arms shaking as she holds out a gun.
Mags is facing the barrel of the gun with her jaw clenched tight. “No, Magdalena, he wouldn’t do anything for you. You fuck up everything you touch. I was fucked up when I met you, but you made me into an even more fucked-up person.
“I hate what we do to people. I hate who people think I am because of you. You’re crazy Mags, you’re so lost in your lies you don’t know the truth anymore. I’m tired, this ends now. I can’t play crazy with you anymore,” Jemma sobs.
Behind us horns start to blare and the atmosphere in the car shifts. It happens so quickly. Mags reaches for the gun and they begin tussling. My good sense tells me to make a run for it now. I’m not waiting around to get shot or to find out the outcome.
Swiftly, I pop the lock and throw the door open. I bolt out of the car. My body feels like lead, but I push with everything I have in me. I tense up when the sound of a shot firing behind me goes off.
Don’t look back, keep going, Eva.
I push forward willing my legs not to give. My heart pounds when Mags begins to call my name behind me. I ignore her and plow forward.
My lungs start to burn. I guess it’s been a while since I’ve had to run. I push that aside. My goal is right before me. I can see the front doors of the Soul Deep building straight ahead.
“Stop running, you bitch,” Mags huffs. It’s clear she’s winded. I can also tell she’s a pretty good distance behind me.
I call on all my strength and push my burning legs forward, hard. I push clear of the buildings on either side of me and that’s when I hear it. A sound that used to scare and excite me when I was a little girl.
The growl of a motorcycle engine. Not one, but multiple. I pray the riders are my family. My family, my Lost Souls. I’ve never felt those words more than I do now.
“Fuck,” Mags hollers and that’s when shots are fired.
A bullet whizzes right by my ear. I pump my legs harder. Moving toward the sound of the roaring engines. Two things happen at once.
I register the sound of a chopper overhead as its light beams on me and the area around me. Then I see them, I would know them anywhere. I’ve looked up to them for as long as I can remember. I falter a step because I can’t believe what I’m actually seeing.
I know the bikes, but one doesn’t make sense. The sight before me doesn’t make any sense. King is leading the formation, but right beside him is my daddy, Cage. I don’t have to see his face. I know the bike, I know the way he rides, I know his frame on a bike.
Flanking King and Cage are Brick and Mix. Behind them are eleven other bikes. Squad. Our family came for us, Baby. I think to my unborn child.
The pink and black bike in the middle of the formation breaks rank and rides around the other bikes. I know right away it’s Reap. She puts herself and her bike between me and the gunfire.
I stop in awe as Reap’s bike
