8.3
Emerging out of a swarm of shrubs whose leaves were finally falling off, signaling the impending arrival of winter, Jelani saw his city at last.
They'd arrived in the southern suburbs, and one tall concrete building just peeked up over the roofs of the little houses and bare branches.
"We're here, huh?" Echo observed unemotionally.
Jelani stared blankly through the thick wire fence at the weathered wooden houses.
"How will we get in?" Eve asked.
Echo cocked her head to the side.
"Well, that fence looks electric. Jelani and I could jump over it, but you definitely can't…"
"We could throw her over," Jelani proposed quietly.
"What'd you say?"
"We could throw her over," he repeated, meeting Echo's glaring eyes.
She strode forward, grabbed him by the collar with both hands and lifted him off the ground. "I heard you the first time, dickhead."
With that, she tossed Jelani over the fence.
As Jelani stood up on the other side and dusted the dirt off his shirt, Echo turned around and squinted at Eve, as if evaluating her physical condition.
"I think Jelani meant you could throw me across and he would catch me," Eve softly suggested.
"I'm not throwing you," Echo retorted. "That's dangerous."
"I'm sure I'd be ok," Eve replied.
Echo clicked her tongue and turned to examine the fence, looking left and right for some potential breach point.
Eve placed a hand on her mother's shoulder.
"Jelani will catch me, Mom."
At this, Echo gritted her teeth. Through the holes in the fence, she found Jelani's eyes and growled, "Try dropping her."
Gently, she lifted Eve into her arms, holding her like a sack of potatoes.
With one last grimacing glance at her daughter, she threw her over the fence.
Eve spun through the air, seeing nothing but a blur of the world until she landed softly in Jelani's arms.
Their eyes met, and she smiled at him.
"I'll be rooting for you today," she whispered.
Somehow, Echo was already over the fence, glaring at the interaction before her.
Jelani felt her simmering rage and quickly set Eve down on her feet.
"Alright, let's split up now," Echo announced, apparently fed up with looking at Jelani.
He nodded, glanced at Eve, and turned around to face his hometown.
They'd agreed beforehand that Echo and Eve would cross the bridge to explore the north side of the city, leaving Jelani alone to reunite with his family.
He took a deep breath and stepped forward onto the street.
This was it. The end of his return journey. Homecoming.
He started forward.
Within five minutes of walking, Jelani found a street he recognized. From here, he needed to go west and north. His house was overlooking the highway just on the edge of downtown in the South Side, approximately one mile from where he currently stood.
His heart was beating hard, and he swallowed.
It was his own family, and they couldn't have changed much in two years, yet he had a strange feeling that this reunion would be like meeting them for the first time.
Perhaps it was because he had changed.
It's ok, he told himself, remembering Eve's words of encouragement and, most of all, her smiling face. It's ok.
After all, he had changed for the better. Two years before, he'd left because he wasn't worthy. Now, he returned as a man who was.
A man who was worthy of protecting his family, especially from any danger he brought himself.
He clenched his jaw.
History wasn't going to repeat itself–it simply couldn't.
No matter how many of those bastards came at him, he wouldn't let them touch his family.
He turned his left hand over, exposing the thick white scar that ran across his palm.
The gangs were powerful. Practically every member had consumed elements in some capacity, and they were ruthless with their authorities.
Again, Jelani memories threatened to resurface. Those torturous times when he was on the receiving end.
His eyes saw a sunny day, but his mind saw dark alleys. He felt blood running into his eyes and fists pounding his stomach.
Stop.
He shook his head, relaxing his tense face and reminding himself of the present moment. Right now, the past wasn't a concern. He was finally going to see his family again.
He forced a grim smile.
He should be happy.
Rounding a corner, the gap came into view. The gap between north and south–the line drawn by the highway.
When he reached the northernmost sidewalk shy of the highway, he turned left, leaving the cursed bridge behind. He didn't need to take that route anymore.
There, way down the street, he saw a boy playing basketball.
Some blockade in his brain broke, like a dam finally falling under the weight of the water it had been holding.
All that water, after accumulating day after day for years on end, finally poured out and Jelani started sprinting for home.
He didn't have to force a grin now as he pumped his arms, flying down that sidewalk faster than he ever had.
"LUCAS!!"
Lucas Wolf looked up mid-shot to see his long-missing brother bounding up the driveway, arms spread wide.
"Jelani?" he mouthed, eyes round in shock.
Without a hint of caution, Jelani screeched to a halt and threw his arms around his brother.
"He's back?" Lucas murmured from inside Jelani's arms. He looked up at Jelani's scarred face. "You're back?"
"Uh-huh," Jelani choked out, eyes shining.
Lucas took his arms, which had been hanging limply at his sides, and wrapped them around Jelani's back.
"J-jelani!" he gasped, tears streaming down his face.
He sniffled and turned his head, opening his mouth to yell for his father.
But Mr. Wolf was already scrambling out the door, arms pumping just as hard as Jelani's had.
"JELANIII!!" he yelled, leaping into the embrace at full speed.
"H-hey, Dad," Jelani stammered, hardly able to breathe under the pressure of his father's arms around his neck.
Lucas wormed his way out from between the two of them and wiped his face with his hands, but the sight of their impossible reunion pulled another round of tears down his cheeks.
"We-we've m-missed you so much, Jelani," Mr. Wolf grunted. "I needed my middle son back."
"Yeah," Jelani gasped. "I'm back."
Jelani lifted his eyes, gazing into the orange evening sun as it hung in the sky.
His tears sparkled, and the wind blew in his hair.
In his mind, not a single thought existed.
He was completely and perfectly present.
voo voo voo voo voo
A strange sound reached his ears, and he rolled his eyes instinctively to the right.
Like an accelerating wheel, the whooshes steadily increased in frequency.
voo voo voo voo voo voo
Until it all blended into one, and became like the buzzing of an approaching wasp.
Shunk.
Crash
Thud
His eyes flicked left.
His body turned solid.
The world became cold.
Wind no longer blew. The sun disappeared.
Cracks in the asphalt of a driveway that used to be dry were filled with streams of seeping blood.