Chapter 2

It was a little after 12:30pm on a Sunday afternoon when Rico and Zo touched down at Long Beach Airport in Rico’s hometown of Long Beach, California. The weather could not have been any more perfect. There was not a cloud in the sky with a slight breeze and the temperature was a crisp 80 degrees. Per instructions from Richard, Rico and Zo did not fly with any luggage. They just had simple carry-on bags. He had three safe houses already set up for them, one for each of them to live in and a third that they could use for whatever they pleased. Each house was fully furnished and had multiple hidden exits in case they got any surprise visitors while helping Richard. At the airport, there were cars waiting for the young men to pick up as well. Rico asked for a rebuilt classic, a 1990 Chevy Camaro IROC-Z. Zo chose to have a brand new 2007 Cadillac Escalade EXT.

“Want me to follow you to the hospital?” Zo asked when the friends go to their vehicles.

“I was gunna say no, butchu know what, maybe we should go together.”

“At least ‘til we get setup.”

“If I’m correct, Marcus won’t be alone. At least you can meet everybody all at once.”

“Fair enough.”

Each man got into their vehicles and they were on their way. The ride to the hospital was quiet for Rico. He had not been back home since he was 20 years old, except for quick holiday visits. As much as he loved music, there was not anything that could be played that would take his mind off what he was about to walk into. Rico still had to get his head together to see his mentor in a hospital bed with tubes attached to him. Marcus meant a lot to Rico. Marcus taught him everything he knew about the streets. He took a young Rico under his wing when it looked like the kid was about to go down the wrong path. Marcus had already taken that journey and did not want to see Rico take that same plunge.

Once at the hospital, Rico’s heart started beating fast, his hands began to sweat and his body started heating up. He was getting nervous. Rico and Zo walked side by side into the hospital and got on the first elevator they could and went to the third floor. Upon reaching their floor, they stepped off the elevator and turned right to make their way down the hall to the check-in desk. Rico immediately recognized the lady sitting behind the desk. He started feeling a little better as he approached the desk. Tasha, Rico’s godmother and his mother’s best friend, was sitting down writing something that a nurse standing next to her was saying. Sherrell, Rico’s mother, and Tasha started at this hospital together, it was how they met. Originally, they worked the same shifts. That was until Rico’s parents separated. Afterward, the two mothers formed a bond to help each other out. One woman would work during the day and the other would work at night so that their boys would have somewhere safe to be while the other mother was working. Tasha looked up from her writing when she felt the presence of the young men reaching her desk. She immediately flashed a smile when she noticed her godson was standing in front of her. She jumped up and walked around the desk and hugged Rico.

“It’s been so long!” Tasha said through tears and the biggest hug she could give.

“Hi Mama T. How are you?” Rico asked.

“I’m better now. When did you get here?”

“About an hour ago. Came straight here when we landed. This is my buddy, Alonzo. Zo, this is my godmother, Tasha.”

“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” Zo said, extending his hand.

“Oh please, call me Tasha. Ma’am is so formal and makes me feel old.”

“You are old mama!” Derek yelled as he walked down the hallway towards the group.

“You wanna be in the other bed next to your friend?”

“That’s cold D. Long time no see brotha.” Rico hugged his best friend.

“You the one that never comes home.”

“Anyways, D this is Zo. Zo, this is my best friend, Derek.”

“What up!”

“Damn, that accent kinda thick ain’t it?”

“Be nice!” Tasha punched her son in the arm.

“No hard feelin’s. Rico warned me about the jokes.”

“Good. C’mon bro lemme show you where Marcus is at. You too, country boy.”

Derek turned and started walking back down the hallway he came from. Rico and Tasha both shook their heads. Zo just smiled. Rico did warn him about Derek and the jokes he always seemed to come up with. In this case, they were harmless. But there were and have been times when Derek’s mouth got both him and Rico into trouble. Derek did not care who he was talking to, there was going to be a joke or some sense of sarcasm that he would respond with. It was just in his nature. When Rico was telling Zo about Derek, it kind of reminded him of his father. Rico talked about Derek so much that Zo felt like he knew the guy personally. He could tell just how close Derek and Rico were from the way Rico would talk about Derek. Zo was not close with his siblings since he was ten and twelve years younger than them. Zo never thought he would not fit in with the dynamic of Derek and Rico. He just wondered if Derek would accept him. From the looks of things, he already had.

When the three of them made it to Marcus’ room, Derek and Rico stood on each side of the bed. Zo lingered around the door. He glanced over all the beeping machines and watched as Marcus’ chest rose and fell. Rico sat down in the chair in the corner of the room next to the head of Marcus’ bed. He looked at his mentor from head to toe. He tried to talk but no words would come out of his mouth. The silence was deafening. The beeping of the machines that kept Marcus alive were what kept Rico in the real world. Derek remained standing. He had been sitting in the very chair Rico was just moments prior. He had been there every day since Marcus was admitted, first sitting in the visitor’s area, then Marcus’ room after all of his surgeries, as well as standing around his mother’s desk. Rico dropped his head after not being able to come up with any words to say to Marcus and a couple seconds later stood up, put his hand over his heart and left the room, Zo and Derek followed closely behind him. He was still wiping his face when he came around the corner and saw his mother standing at Tasha’s desk. He dropped his head again, making an ill-fated attempt to hide his face from his mother. It did not work seeing as she was almost a foot shorter than him and she knew how close that he was to his friends.

“You know you can’t hide your face from me.” Sherrell stated. She was extremely happy to see her only child.

“Hi Bunny.” Rico hugged his mother tightly. He had missed her dearly.

“How you doing?”

“I’ll be alright.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Who is this?”

“Bunny, this is Alonzo. Zo, this is my mother.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise, ma’am.”

“Aren’t you just the gentleman.”

“We gunna get outta here, Bunny.”

“Of course. I know you guys have some catching up to do. Y’all be safe.”

“Always and never!”

Both mother and son tandems said the phrase in unison. Derek was the first to say the phrase whenever he was about to leave Tasha. Eventually, Rico started saying it to Sherrell and it later became their slogan. Rico felt a little better after his visit to the hospital. Seeing his mother and godmother were a plus and helped even more. Derek’s antics were another thing that helped. Rico felt great about coming back home after being away for so long. Whenever he came home, he would only go to see his mother and talk to everybody else on the phone. He would stay about three days max and head back to Dallas.

“We headin’ to the spot?” Derek asked.

“You already know! I’m starvin’.” Rico responded.

“Fa sho. See you there.”