Chapter 4

It was 7:30am and Rico had been up for about fifteen minutes. The night before, he set his alarm for 8am that morning, but knew he was going to wake up before it went off. Whenever there was something on his mind, he either could not sleep and was restless all night until he was too tired to think anymore or fell asleep, only to wake up way before his alarm was to go off. When and Zo got to their safe houses, he chose the bigger of the two and attempted to go to sleep once he settled in but ended up tossing and turning in the bed all night until about 2am.

He reached over to the nightstand for his phone so that he could turn the alarm off before throwing the blankets off himself and walked into the bathroom. He turned on the shower and stood in front of the mirror. With his hands on the counter, his head hung between his arms. Within a matter of seconds, tears began to roll down his face. His mind had been on the go since receiving the news that Marcus was in the hospital that he never had time to sit in silence and get his emotions out. This brief moment of clarity allowed him to release some of the pent up sorrow and anger that he had deep down inside of him. The sound of his doorbell snapped him out of his thoughts. He wiped his face and turned off the shower before going to see who could be at his front door this early in the morning. Nobody knew he was at this location outside of Zo and his grandfather. He knew both would have called before showing up. He texted Zo to check his front door since his safe house was across the street and three doors to the left.

Church folks

That was the response Rico received. Rico was halfway down the stairs and turned around to go back up. The random visitor had Rico’s heart racing. Just yesterday he had a run-in with people he did not expect to cross paths with and after their interaction, he thought they were coming for him already. That they had somehow found out where he was or followed him home last night. He would not have put it past them to do so. Xavier and his men were known to handle things on the violent side. He has always known that. They just never messed with him personally. It was always about Marcus or through Marcus. Yesterday was his first time being confronted face to face. He was never afraid of them like everyone else is. His grandfather taught him to never show another man kind of fear or doubt. But be smart with your words and fights. Pick your battles and live to fight another day.

Rico returned to his bedroom and grabbed some clothes from the closet on his way back to the bathroom. He again turned on the shower and slowly undressed before stepping into the walk-in shower. He let the hot water run over his body, pressing his hands against the wall in front of him. He took a deep breath and then proceeded to clean up. Dressing quickly once he was done with his shower, Rico went downstairs to have a look into the refrigerator. Satisfied with what he saw, he grabbed an apple and was on his way out the door to begin his day. His first stop was going to be the hospital. That was going to be his routine every morning to start his day.

The hospital parking lot had a decent number of cars when Rico arrived. As Rico was trying to pick a spot to pull into, he noticed a couple that was having a conversation next to what Rico guessed was their vehicle. Wanting nothing to do with the couple, Rico parked two aisles away from them, hoping that neither the man nor the woman would try to flag him down for help or for him to come over to them. When he got out of his car, he could hear the couple from where he was. As he walked towards the entrance of the hospital, Rico would look over at the couple, making sure that the woman was not being physically harmed. He disappeared into the hospital and went up to the third floor. He looked out the first window that he could, checking to see if he was able to get a glimpse of the couple, not realizing that he was on the other side of the building. When he reached Tasha’s desk, he was a little surprised to not see her sitting behind it and that couple escaped his thoughts. There was another nurse, a much younger one, sitting in his godmother’s chair. She did not see him approach as she was writing something down, just like Tasha was the day before.

“Excuse me.” Rico said softly.

“Yes?” The nurse responded, freezing in her place momentarily.

“Is Ta…Nurse Baker off today?”

“Uh…she should actually be starting her shift in about thirty minutes.” The nurse looked at her watch. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“My name is Ricar…”

“I know who you are. Your mom and Nurse Baker talk about you a lot. I’m sorry about your friend.”

“Thank you.”

“You know which room he’s in?”

“I do.”

“If you need anything, I’ll be right here.”

Rico flashed a smile to her as a thank you before walking down the hallway to Marcus’ room. He was just outside of the doorway when he could hear his mother’s voice inside the room. It was in a lower tone, just above a whisper. Rico peaked in and saw his mother standing by the window with her cell phone to her ear. He knocked on the door and slightly startled his mother.

“I gotta go.” Sherrell said, quickly ending her phone call. “Hi son! You by yourself today?”

“Yea just me.” Rico hugged his mother. “How is he?”

“No changes. I was just in her checking the reports and monitoring the machines.”

“When do you think he’ll wake up?”

“There’s no timeframe. Could be five minutes. Could be five years. All we can do is wait.”

“Medically induced?”

“You’ve been paying attention over the years, I see.”

“Just a lil’ bit.” Rico smiled.

“You want me to stay?”

“You don’t have to. I know you’re a busy woman.”

“Ok. Call me if you need me.”

“Will do.”

Mother and son hugged each other before Sherrell gave her son a kiss on the cheek and stepped out of the room. Rico grabbed the chair that was in the corner of the room and fixed it so that it was aligned with the middle of the bed that Marcus was laying in. He sat down with his hands interlocked together in front of his face. It was different seeing Marcus today than it was yesterday. That first time seeing him was a shock to Rico’s system, but he was prepared this time because of that visit. He sat in silence and listened as the monitors beeped in a rhythmic cadence. He closed his eyes for a moment and took it all in. Memories were flashing through his head like a movie. All of the times he would hang out with Marcus at Frankie’s or whenever he would go get his haircut at the barbershop Marcus owned. Every memory flipped through his head like he was changing the channels of a television.

A few moments went by before he started to feel the presence of someone watching him. When he opened his eyes, he caught the blurry outline of someone standing in the doorway. By the time his eyes adjusted after a few blinks, the figure was gone. Rico grabbed Marcus’ hand, as if to let him know that he was leaving and left the room. Out in the hallway, he looked left and right but there was nobody around other than the staff of the hospital. He could hear a familiar laugh around the corner and proceeded towards it. When he stepped around the corner, his mother was standing next to Tasha behind the desk, chatting with the nurse that Rico talked to when he arrived.

“What’s so funny?” Rico asked as he approached the desk.

“Girl talk baby. Just girl talk.” Sherrell responded. Rico smirked.

“I see that.” Rico observed.

“How are you feeling this morning, Rico?” Tasha asked.

“I’m ok. I’ll feel better sooner or later. But for now, I’m managin’.”

“You know we’re here for you if you need us.”

“Yea I know. We’re doin’ the best we can, givin’ the circumstances, right?”

“Of course, dear.” Sherrell reassured.

“Imma get outta here.”

Rico hugged Tasha before hugging his mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek. His mother did the same. He waved to the other nurse that was standing with them. She waved back with a smile on her face. For the rest of the day, Rico was all over town. He made a few stops across various cities. He felt good about being home. He wished it was under different circumstances but that was out of his control. Seeing as he was no longer a kid, he knew things were going to be different for him now. It had already been proven that people were going to test him. How he handled himself and those situations were going to determine if he saw tomorrow. Rico knew he was not alone though. He still had his best friend and he brought along his other close friend. Derek and Zo already seemed to have been getting along just fine. Only time was going to tell if those thoughts were true or not.