THIRTY

                                    

                                          
"O my God, what did you just do?" Jamal paces in panic as he looks around the dark alley to see if anyone saw them.
"Relax," Nico says as he moves his eyes from Sparks lifeless body to his friend.
"Relax?" Jamal yells louder than intended. More calmer he repeats, "Relax? There's a dead body here. You just killed someone, How are you not freaked out as I am?" 
Nico sighs, looking at the dead body then back at a horrified Jamal. 
"He needed to be killed." He says plainly putting the gun at the back of his jean pocket. "He's not a stable." 
Jamal starts pacing, "You knew he wasn't stable when you brought him into our plan. You should have expected  situations like this!" 
Nico remains silent.
Jamal stops pacing and faces Nico, "Or else the plan was always to kill him?"
"The plan always would have ended up with him dead." Nico corrects. "I never intended to be the one him, Rudy was the one I imagined will pull the trigger but things don't work out as planned."
Jamal stares at him dumbfounded. "Are you hearing yourself?"
"It's not like Sparks is innocent, he has killed a lot of people. Including tonight-"
"Who cares, we don't kill people that what separates us from Rudy, Sparks and fucking Uncle." 
"You didn't kill anyone, I did." 
"This is your first kill right?" Jamal asks trying to feel a little bit better about the situation. 
Jamal sighs.
"Good God," Jamal throws his hand up.
Nico's first kill was in prison. He wasn't the biggest or the strongest, it was a matter of time before he ends up being someone's bitch.
It's killed or be killed. So one night, he sneaked into one of the leader's cells who has been threatening Nico and slit his throat in his sleep.  The next week, he did the same for the other one who rose to power. 
From the "pretty boy" that they usually called him, he became feared and his clique included the big and the strongest. 
That's how he survived prison.
He has never told his best friend or family any of this when they visited. He didn't want them to worry and they reminded him of who he was before prison. 
"I didn't sign up for any of these." Jamal shakes his head. 
"Look now you know what my plans entail, you can stay or leave?" Nico points at the entrance of the alley.
Jamal stares at him in disbelief, then shakes his head before walking away. 
Nico sighs sadly before turning to the dead body before him. "What am I going to do with you?" He mutters to himself. 
~~~~
Nico rests on the door frame before lazily knocking on the door a couple of times. 
The door opens and reveals Gianna who surprisingly throws her hands around him and pulls him in for a hug.
For a second, he pauses in confusion but then his body relaxes to her warmth as he wraps his hands around her tiny waist. He squeezes her a little, craving the comfort he so needs after the day he has had. 
"Where the fuck were you?" Beth yells breaking the hug with the suddenness and loudness of her voice. "Jacob said you left in a hurry, we were worried sick."