When I woke up the next morning all I could think about was Gia and the accidental murder she witnessed. My brothers always told me that witnesses are the worst type of people when you're the bad guy and Pops taught us to never take prisoners. But I couldn't just kill her like that. She was at the wrong place at the wrong time. One thing I am going to do is figure out why she was following us in the first place.

I saw Vince first when I got to school and he seemed cool about the whole thing.

"Have you talked to the twins?" He asked me

"Nah they won't answer the phone."

"I think that shit really fucked them up."

"Why the fuck did they agree to do this shit then? We could've had his ass if they didnt freeze up."

I couldn't have the twins walking around being all scary and shit. That would only make them look suspicious. I knew my nigga Vince was down to ride for anything but I couldn't be so sure about the twins. I had to talk to them quick and make sure they knew not to crack under pressure.

In the mean time I had to find Gia. She was more important than the twins right now. Unfortunately for me I haven't see her all day. The only hope I had was seeing her in 6th period.

I was a bit earlier to 6th period than usual which made Mrs. Anthony look at me weird. But I had to make sure I saw Gia walk in the classroom. I watched all the students come in one by one with Gia being one of the last to come in.

She darted her eyes in my direction and kept her head low as she took her seat.
My heart was pounding the whole class not knowing if Gia had snitched on us or not.

At the end of class, I took my time getting my things moving at her pace while trying not to look obvious to Mrs. Anthony.

I waited until her friend said their good byes and then approached her.

"Can we talk in private?" I asked her

"I dont think there's anything to talk about."

I impulsively grabbed ahold of her arm and yanked her close to me.

"You and I are gonna talk you hear me? But not in here."

"I dont owe you shit!"
She snatched her arm away from me and walked out the classroom leaving me there dumbfounded.

"Mr. Jackson may I have a word with you please?"

As if things weren't bad enough, I now had to worry about whether Gia told Mrs. Anthony.

"What's up?"

"There was a murder yesterday after school in the neighborhood right behind us. Do you know anything about that?"

"Nah I dont know shit about it. And why would you think I would?"

"I don't, but the teachers are required to ask all students. Aren't you a student?"

"I guess so."

"Look, I've noticed your test scores going down a bit is everything ok at home?"

"Depends on what your definition of "ok" means."

"I think you could use some extra tutoring before school ends. Maybe we can set up a meeting in a library or something." She got up from her chair and came close to me. "I would hate to see you come this far to fail."

She made tiny circles on my chest with her acrylic nails which was a clear sign of flirting in my book.

"Sure." I answered nonchalantly

"Great I'll give you a call this weekend."

It was odd the way she turned around to go back to her seat. Almost like she wanted me to see what she was packing back there. But we'll see how this "tutoring " goes. For now I had to catch up to Gia.

I didnt bother to look for my homies when I got outside. My tunnel vision was straight on Gia. So when I saw her walking home i jumped in my car and pulled up next to her.

"Need a ride?"

"No thank you!"

"What's the attitude for?"

"Just leave me alone Christian."

"Look, it's too hot for you to be walking home. What happened to the bus?"

"I missed it ok! Now just leave me alone."

"I dont have any intention of leaving you alone. I dont want to."

When I said that she stopped in her tracks.

"What do you want from me?"

"I want you to get in this car and let me take you home."

She thought about it for a second and chose to get a ride instead of walking.

"Dont worry I dont bite."

We got to our neighborhood in about 10 minutes.

"That's my house right there. "

I pulled up to the curb and got out before her so we could talk.

"You can leave now." She said

"Not before I talk to you."

"Talk about what?"

"Yesterday. You didnt say anything did you?"

"No!"

"I mean it! Not to your friends or any teachers right?"

"I didnt say shit ok! Can I go now?"

This definitely wasn't going the way I expected it to. I had a whole plan of how I would confront her and what I would do if she lied to me. But standing in front of her pretty ass softened me up. Gia was feisty, short as hell and thick in all the right places. She was everything these other girls weren't.

When I didnt say anything, she walked away. I felt played like she had just got over on me and there was nothing I could do.

I watched her walk all the way up her driveway before I decided to get back in my car. I was about to close the car door when I heard Gia scream so loud that the neighbors could hear.

I ran up the driveway and found Gia in a state of shock as she stood over the dead bodies of her parents in the doorway. I took a quick minute to scan the scene. The house had been ransacked and the bodies laid out for display as if they wanted them to be found. Then I heard what sounded like heavy footsteps bolting down the hallway from upstairs.

"They're still here we gotta go right now Gia!"

"But, but-"

"Do you wanna die too?"

"No." She cried

"Then let's go!"

I took her by the hand, charged out the door and got her into the car, speeding off before the gunmen had a chance to fire.

Now I had an even bigger problem.
Do I keep her safe from the men that just killed her parents or kill her myself to stop her from talking? Either way this girl was screwed. I wanted to keep her alive but my brothers would want the opposite. And there was no way I could hide her from them.

I tried my best to calm her down before we walked into my house but it was no use.

Saint and Roman were moving mom upstairs to her bedroom after she zoned out once again.

"My room is right there. Go wait for me." I told Gia then I joined my bros in moms room.

"What's up lil bro?" Saint dapped me

"Who's the shawty?" Said Roman

"That's Gia." I told them

"You always have been able to pick the best looking girls." Roman playfully tapped me on the shoulder but I wasn't in the mood for laughing.

"What's wrong with you?" Saint asked me

"I'm in some deep shit. Me and the homies tried to get some quick cash but things got out of control and I had to shoot him. Gia and her friend saw the whole thing."

"What!" Saint yelled

"Man what the fuck were you thinking?!" Roman yelled

"I was thinking I needed to pull my weight around here. We cant just survive off of your business Saint and we damn sure ain't got enough disability checks to cover our asses so excuse me for trying!"

"Fuck that! You should've came to us!" Saint got louder. "Now we got a fucking witness on our hands? You know what Pops would've said."

"Well he ain't here is he!"

"Let's just all relax and find a way to get rid of her. " said Roman.

"Hell no!" I told them. "She didnt say shit to anybody. "

"Who gives a damn!" Said Saint

"I do!"

"What the hell is she doing here Chris?" Roman asked me

I dropped my head knowing this would only make shit worse.
"I gave her a ride home from school so I could talk to her and she found her parents dead on the floor. If I didnt bring her here those bastards would've killed her."

"Better her than us." Said Saint

"Fuck you!" I spat out trying to move Roman out my way to get to Saint.

"Both of yall calm down." Said Roman.

"Whatever I'm outta here! I got a party to set up and yall mother fuckas better come."

I took a minute to calm myself down once Saint left out.

"How you gonna keep a witness to your crime safe from another crime? You better think this one through." Said Roman

"What should I do Rome?"

"Keep her close to you. Make her feel like you care so she won't turn on you. That way you dont have to put her down."

"But Saint's party is in two hours. I cant leave her here by herself. "

"Looks like you'll have a special date tonight."

Roman checked the text he got on his phone, kissed my mom on the forehead and left in a hurry like he had an emergency all off a sudden. This whole situation was turning out to be more than I expected but Rome was right I had to keep Gia close to me until I figured out what to do. I went looking for a dress in moms closet that would fit Gia and took it to her.

"Here put this on."

"I'm not putting on shit. "
She turned her back to me with her middle finger up.

"You either take the dress or the bullet."

With the meanest frown, she tilted her head towards the dress.

"Good choice. Now get dressed and look nice, we gotta party to go to."