“Marcelle!!” Justin yelled as he crawled across the ground towards his friend, the ring of gunshots deafening him as he searched with cautious eyes for the other man.

Who knew enjoying a midnight smoke would prove to be so dangerous?

Someone grabbed his ankle, and Justin turned sharply, relaxing once he saw Marcelle’s face behind him.

“Fuck, you ok?”

Marcelle nodded then looked around, the bullets suddenly ceasing. “Fuck, white boy. They knew it was us.”

“Of course, who else would it be?”

Marcelle raised cautiously and checked around his apartment, cursing the damage. “Damn. They shot up my place, what the fuck?!” Out of anger, Marcelle kicked the coffee table, sending it sprawling towards the beat up couch.

Justin shook his head and put a hand on the other man’s shoulder. “Don’t sweat it, man. We’ll get them pussies back. Ain’t nothin’ big.”

“It is big! This is my home, you gonna come up here and disrespect me like that! Fucking pussies!” he yelled and Justin whipped out his cell phone.

“Slim?” he asked and Marcelle plopped down on a wrecked chair.

“Ey, J. Whats happenin’?”

“Fuckin’ 64s is what happened, bitch. They shot up ‘Celle’s place.”

“What?! Right now??”

Justin nodded and kicked Marcelle who was sulking. “Yeah, they just jetted a few seconds ago. Look, man. We need to do shit about this. They can’t come ‘round here shootin’ up like some fucking maniacs.”

Slim sighed. “Dammit. Look, lemme get some of the block together. Tomorrow night, we’ll go for them. They got a lounge where most of ‘em stay out. Show them bitches who the fuck not to mess with.”

“A’ight. Look, call me tonight, Marcelle is fucking pissed.”

“Ok, ok. Just tell him not to do nothing I wouldn’t do.”

“Alright. We’re ghost.” Justin hung up and twirled towards Marcelle, whose face was etched in stone, his mouth a tight line. Marcelle was pretty angry and that wasn’t too good, other sides raising to the surface.

Justin sat across him and sighed. Marcelle wouldn’t even look at him.

“My grandma gave me this fucking couch.” Justin reached behind him for the nightstand and pulled out a pack of cigars. Marcelle went on, that eerie distant look in his eyes. “She gave it to me when I was ‘bout two. She said it was special and that it was mine, even though I was small as shit. I kept it after my moms died. That’s all I got left of my family, J. Who the fuck do they think they is, disrespecting my family like that?” Justin reached for the little packet of marijuana, sprinkling it inside the empty cigar paper. “They gonna be shown who the fuck they are. Watch. Just watch, J. I’ma blow they nuts off and make them eat that shit. I’ma fuckin’ blast they whole fuckin’ family in fronna them before shootin’ them in the legs, watchin’ them suffer.” Justin paused before licking the paper, his eyes darting to Marcelle’s, who looked way too serious.

“Celle, don’t worry, we’ll get them. No need for the families-”

“They wanna fuck with my grandma? They did and now they all gonna pay. Watch.” Marcelle’s eyes glinted when they zoned in on Justin and for once in his life, Justin was literally shaking in his boots, afraid of his long time friend.

“Marcelle, don’t play like that.”

“Like what?” he answered, his voice low.

Justin pursed his lips together, his heart racing inside his chest. He put down the unraveling blunt, standing to go to the bathroom. “Don’t move, alright?”

Marcelle shrugged and Justin hurried to the bathroom, sitting on the toilet as he looked into the mirror. Though his face was set and strong, his eyes showed the fear pooling in them. He hated that.

He reached for his cell phone again, his fingers hesitating above every number they dialed. When he held the phone to his ear, he took a deep relaxing breath, hoping he was doing the smartest thing.

The ring sounded out loudly before there was a click and that soft voice floated through the line.

“JC?”

Tricky 25 [coming soon]
Tricky Index