Pressure Epilogue: Uninvited

Fifteen minutes later, as Gun Man was enjoying the weightlessness his newfound power of flight granted him, he spotted his allies, Smartz and Nic Angel, enjoying the weightlessness of the cool night air as well. He cupped one hand beside his mouth and called out to the couple, disturbing their quiet moment of ecstacy, and in nature honest to Gun Man's, he yelled, "Hey!!!"
Smartz turned around to see Gun Man's power fused mask smiling back at them. She slowed her pace, knowing the young man would catch up, but he continued to send his mechanical voice through the clouds. "Hey!!! Stop!!!"
She turned after she had saw that he was merely a few inches away from them. Always the one prepared for battle, she turned around with one of her fists clenched, the other hand tightly grasping Nic Angel's hand to prevent him from descending on Nashville in the most unpleasant of ways. Her voice was cautionary, full of questions. "What do you want, Gun Man? I thought our business was done?"
Her eyes told Gun Man that he was unexpected so he threw his hands up in surrender and he smiled, hoping that his smile would offer her a comfort that would unclench her fists. "Hey, I just came to say thanks for the help. Y'all really did come through in a pinch. I don't know if I would've been able to take on all those gangbangers and cops by myself." She pulled Nic up to her shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her neck with her wrapping her toned, tender arm around his waist. Gun Man's electric fiber filled eyes scoped out Nic and he added with a smile, "I see you found the hero inside of you after all, ha bruh."
Nic smiled, looking down with his eyes closed, mind captured in thought. "Yeah I guess I have. I didn't know I had it in me."
Gun Man hovered toward the couple with Smartz letting down her mental guard. Gun Man held his hand out toward Nic, waiting for Nic's hand to meet it. "You see that's where me and you are different friend. Unlike you, I saw your talent from the first moment we fought together. I knew you was special, I just didn't know that you kept such beautiful company."
Smartz glare became mean. She peered through Gun Man as if looking through a ghost. "Save your compliments Gun Man, this is merely a shell of myself. I don't think you'll ever see what lies beyond the mask."
Gun Man was shocked by her choice of words and his mechanical eyes grew large in his mask. He laughed trying to cover up the embarrassment. Even a superhero felt embarrassed. "Hey, hey.... I didn't mean to insult you, shorty." He laughed some more with his fists clenched at his sides. "Well I must say, if that is nothing more than a costume, then you have exquisite taste."
He gave the universal sign of "okay", and his smile grew to the size of the sky which in this present point in time they called home. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "You are a mess, Gun Man."
"A mess that you can't clean up shorty." He quickly retorted.
She shook her head, but then her eyes grew wide. Gun Man noticed the change in her pupils and his demeanor grew serious. He knew trouble was advancing from behind him. She clenched her available fist and took a battle stance in the clouds. "Well Gun Man, I'd hate to interrupt your so-called banter, but it looks like you brought the trouble with you."
She gritted her teeth as Gun Man turned around to see a flock of five mechanical armored men flying behind him, each equipped with assault rifles and wasp wings. He stood in front of them with questioning eyes and a defensive stance ready to battle anything that came into his path. Smartz spoke up, confused at what she was seeing. "Double U's!? What are they doing here? Those units aren't supposed to be out for months!?What are they doing in production?"
Gun Man cut his eyes, suspiciously looking at Smartz through his enhanced periphereals. He thought to himself, "How does she know what these things are? They seem police issued to me." He turned his head to Smartz when another thought popped inside of his head. "Then again, her name is Smartz." He asked with a voice filled with sarcastic charm. "Excuse me, uh Smartz, if you don't mind me asking, what are these W-U's or whatever?"
"Double U's. They're a new police unit meant to defeat Evil infections who have the power of flight. They're equipped with assault rifles with bullets that break the sound barrier, having a silencer effect on their weaponry. They carry blades on their persons that emit a charge if they come in contact with an assailant's body that are meant chop off wings. They are extremely fast, extremely powerful, and extremely dangerous."
He turned around and faced the police group with a smile. "Well what if we don't have wings?"
His sarcasm did not go unnoticed by the leader of the group. He ordered his troop to draw their weapons and he yelled, "Then we will settle for your limbs freak, and if that doesn't work, we'll just shoot you!"
Gun Man smiled and welcomed the challenge. He extended his forearm blades and and made a hand gesture telling the Double U's to "bring it on". The majority of the group shot their bullets at Gun Man. He surprised himself at how fast he was dodging their soundless bullets, but he continued to parry, moving closer and closer to his opponents. Two members of the Double U, including the leader whose golden bars on his shoulders showcased his rank, attacked Smartz and Nic Angel, forcing her to fight with one hand, and forcing Nic Angel to fight with a handicap, seeing how he couldn't fly. The leader of the group proved he was more than adequate to handle the both of them by himself, but with his teammate by his side, they were toying with the duo, making it almost impossible to formulate any kind of strategy against them. Smartz scowl came at a realization that she wasn't going to be able to beat the two with one hand wrapped around Nic. She opened her palm and blasted the leader in his face with what appeared to be a flash bomb of energy and she backpedaled in the air. She grabbed Nic close and whispered in his ear. After she was done, he nodded his head and his face held green eyes of readiness. "Gun Man!!!"
Gun Man heard her loud clear through the skies as his soundless bout with bullets continued. He watched her throw Nic towards him and he knew he was supposed to play the roll of catcher. He swooped down and caught Nic with one hand with two of the Double U agents close behind him. He grinned mischievously as he thought about the new game he could play. "You wanna have some fun?"
Nic looked at Gun Man with that same mischievous grin. "You know it."
"Well then let's have some fun." He turned around at full speed with Nic simply riding on the velocity that was provided by Gun Man. He released Nic into the air toward their two assailants, screaming, "Cannonball!!" Nic rolled into a ball while Gun Man flew closely underneath him, throwing energy blasts at the opponent shooting supersonic bullets at him. The Double U on the receiving end dodged the long range energy blasts with ease, while the two officers who received Nic as a projectile weren't having as much success as their brother-in-arms.
With Nic's acrobatic prowess, he easily disarmed and made mockery of one of the officers, destroying his wings and removing the boots that aided his flight, causing the officer to fall desperately to the ground. The officer still firing, threw his weapon to the ground, desperately trying to reach his freefalling friend.
While the officer attempted to retrive his friend, Nic was also finding himself in a power struggle against the other officer, finding it harder to battle this officer without being able to fly. He punched at the officers wings but already having a clue as to what Nic was attempting to do, he reached behind him and grabbed Nic off of his back. Seeing the officer swooping his partner out of the air and Nic about to meet the same fate as the officer, he retracted half of his armor to form a long barreled, beautiful black revolver. He freefell as fast as a two ton rock thrown from a helicopter, until he was on the same latitude as the officer recovering his partner. His scope eyes looked through the officer's helmet into his eyes and he read the fear in his eyes. He fired the energy blast from the pistol into the officer's chestplate shattering his breast armor. He opened his free hand and blasted an energy blast toward the ground to propel himself at the freefalling Nic.
In midst transforming, his black armor formed over his body while he caught Nic with one hand. At the height of his propulsion, he began an acrobatic backflip, sending a foot into the officer who threw Nic to the ground's chest. But he wasn't finished yet. From the bottom of his foot, another energy blast exited out of his armor, close range into the officer's abdomen. His officer shattered as well, and he fell just like a dewinged wasp, screaming he would have his revenge while trying to send one last bullet into Nic and Gun Man.
Gun Man's propulsion sent him toward the remaining officers, but he did not recognize the new opponent they were facing. But Nic Angel did. His green eyes surveyed the suntouched, slim goddess whose long hair mimicked that of Nic Angel's along with the blonde streaks she had running through her mane. Her slim build held a powerful aura about it, and even though she was dressed as an emo, something about her five foot frame was sexy to both Gun Man and Nic Angel. "She sexy!" Gun Man yelled to Nic. "But she's familiar to me somehow like I know her from somewhere, but I just can't place it. Whatever she still sexy as hell."
Nic shook his head, "Don't get used to it. It's just another shell."
"Damn you Smartz for being stupid sexy. Oh well you ready to play cannonball one more time?" He smiled at Gun Man and before he knew it, Gun Man used his energy blast to propel his friend toward one of the officers advancing on Smartz.
When Nic's forearms connected with the officers back and wasp wings, the cracking in his back sounded like thunder rolling through the sky. While the officer's back hyperextended, Nic used this opportunity to grasp the officer's cloth covered neck and climbed on the officer's head and used it to jump on the leading officer. Gun Man wasn't far behind Nic, blasting the damaged officer in the face, flipping the officer until his head was facing the ground. He didn't have the opportunity to complete his rotation because Gun Man sent a vicious kick into his exposed back and sending an energy blast into his spine. If the blow had not killed the officer, it was a guarantee that he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life. Again the blast propeled him toward the fray. With Nic at his back and Smartz at his front, the officer fought bravely against impossible odds. He took his blade and attempted to swipe Smartz across the face but Nic came from off of his back and smashed him in the face, not only causing him to miss, but leaving Nic open as well. Even though his helmet was damaged, the lead officer recovered quickly, not needing his sight to know where Nic's hands was.
He easily removed Nic from his back and threw him at Smartz. The two were sent aback a couple of feet, but before he could regain his breath, Gun Man was right at his side with his fists clenched ready to do further damage. Having already spotted him through his peripereals, the leader of the Double U took his helmet off and spiked it toward Gun Man, but to no avail as Gun Man performed an evasive maneuver to avoid the helmet. He exacted his vengence by giving the leader a swift but deadly punch to the gut. The leader came back with a double fisted hammer into Gun Man's back and then recovered by grabbing his nemesis by the back of his neck and throwing him in the air. Gun Man saw the anger in his eyes before his fist stunned him.
But the odds were against the leader. As soon as one of his opponents were falling back, Nic came charging forward, leaping off of Gun Man's shoulders and landing a square punch in the leader's face. The leader was left on his back as his wasplike wings were slowing down, an evident sign that the leader was losing conciousness. Smartz would prove to be the one to wake him up, grabbing his face with one hand and planting an energy bomb in the other, she launched the leader by his face and allowed him to explode by himself. She flew back as the leader fell into Nashville.
Gun Man held on to Nic Angel tightly as Smartz joined by their side. Her face read caution as she flew toward them. "We got to go now!"
"Yeah! I know! Follow me! We'll go back to the crib. They won't think to search for us there."
She nodded her head. "Okay."



They flew for a few moments until they reached the front door. Gun Man reverted back to his normal form while placing Nic Angel on the ground. Smartz hazel eyes looked upon Gun Man's form knowing she has seen his face before. "Are you sure this okay, I mean if we walk in your house, your identities will be revealed. So will ours. It would only be right, so tell me, how do we know we could trust you?"
Gun Man looked at her, face hidden by the shadow of the night, and he flashed his trademark smile. "I can tell you that out of our whole little family, I am both the most trustworthy one and the most trusting. I'm a bad judge of character, so I trust you until I have a reason not to, and when I don't trust you, you'll know."
Nic Angel smiled. "Sounds to me like your the gate keeper to a secret society of heroes?"
"All we demand is trust."
Smartz walked by Nic's side and with fierce eyes, she retorted, "That's all we want from you."
"Hmph." Gun Man was already starting to have a bad feeling about Smartz, her attitude wasn't helping how he felt, but he had already come this far. He just shook his head, placed the key in the door, and he opened it, granting the couple an inside glimpse of the inner sanctuary that very few have seen.
Gun Man was greeted by Chevy's mom, an elderly woman with a couple of gold teeth and a smile as precious as Gun Man's own. Nic looked at the way she hugged her adopted son and jealousy formed in his heart. It had been a long time since he felt a motherly love like he had. "Hey son! Where have you been!? You had all us worried. You got Chevy and Quentin sitting up here smoking back to back, Kayla crying in her sleep, Kylie wit her gun just waiting, you know the girl is crazy! Where have you been!? Why ain't you pick up yo' phone?"
Gun Man scrambled for his phone and when he pulled out, he saw missed calls from everyone in the house. He looked up with a smile that spell 'ooops'. He held his hands out and with his largest smile, he told her, "I was uh caught up in a fight something fierce, ya' understand, but we good, we gucci baby." He said patting her arm in a comforting manner. "This my peoples right chea'." He pointed at Nic first and intrduced him with a smile on his face, "This the homie ri'chea Nic, ya' know, my stunt double and all that." Then his smile fell when he had to intoduce her, giving a clue to Chevy' mother how he felt about her. "This Smartz. Y'all this my mama ri'chea, my love man. Took me in after my daddy died and all that. She looked after every person in this house man." Mama looked at Nic with a smile but gave Smartz a look of suspicion. He had a feeling she had seen that shell somewhere to, but like him, she couldn't place it.
Chevy and Quentin walked behind Mama with Quentin still smoking on the blunt. Their eyes inspected the couple as though they were ready to perform cavity searches on the two. Chevy recognized Nic but he didn't recognize the sun kissed white girl with a bad attitude. Quentin didn't recognize neither one of them so his level of suspicion was higher. He passed Gun Man the blunt and as Gun Man was smoking, bringing his nerves down a notch, he introduced Chevy and Quentin to the two. "Yeah, you know ya' boy who was picked us up. This him right here and this Q, he been chilling wit' us a long time daddy."
They all shook hands and went to the living room where Gun Baby was waiting with her automatic shotgun. She recognized Nic and offered him a smile, but when her eyes fell upon Smartz face, her immediate question was, "Who is this, Brody!?"
Gun Man knew something was wrong when she called him by his real name. All he could say was, "This Smartz man. I guess she Nic partner and s***, but she cool though, she helped a lil' wodie out when we was fighting off gangbangers and polices or whatever. She cool though."
Gun Baby got up with her shotgun in hand and said with a calm demeanor, "Well I don't trust her, Brody. Nic cool, but her.....her face is new so I ain't really got no trust in her yet. But I am glad that you safe, baby boy. That's all I need to sleep tonight." She moved closer to him, and grasped his face softly and added, "And don't ever patrol on your own, alright."
Gun Man or Brody whispered in her ear, "Okay baby." He kissed her lightly on the cheek and her smile let him know that she had forgiven him.
She smacked his cheek playfully, "Good night, sweetie," and with that, she retired to her bedroom with Smartz staring at her all the way to her bedroom.
Gun Man looked behind him as Mama retired back to her own home and ushered Nic and Smartz to follow behind him. "C'mon guys follow me. I'll show y'all to yo' rooms." They followed behind him through the immaculate house, admiring the statuettes that rested on their pedastals and the portraits of the members of the household that rested on the walls. Even Smartz was impressed. She began to ask questions to how they attained all of this merchandise. "How exactly could you afford all of this on a hero's salary of nothing?"
Gun Man's first reaction was to become angry, but his noble more gentleman like side took over, "Well....really ma'am, that is my business, but if you must know, if you don't recognize me, then more than likely, you aren't supposed to. But since you acting like polices or whatever, I got all this legally. Call me the ghetto Bruce Wayne, ya' heard me."
He smiled faciously and she looked at him with distrust. He thought to himself, "This b**** in my house all distrusting me and what not man, whatever." He just pointed to her room and let her go about her business. Now Nic, he liked Nic, so he gave him the bigger of the rooms and gave him him the grand tour. "Now homie, anything you need dog, we downstairs probably finna blaze up on this dolja. Just holla at me my guy and make ya' selfat home." Nic nodded at him and shook his hand before Gun Man left him to his own devices.
While Nic Angel was getting used to such an extravagant room, Smartz knocked on the door before entering. "I see you're enjoying your room huh Nic?"
He turned around to see Smartz out of her shell. His green eyes surveyed the small Asian in front of him in all her curvaceous wonder and he responded, "Yeah, some set up Gun Man got ain't it? I mean just look at this house. I haven't seen nothing this nice ever."
"I'm glad you like it." She added somberly.
He sensed the apprehension in her voice and he grew concerned. He placed his hands on her toned shoulder blades and asked her, "What's wrong, sweetheart?"
She shook her head with tears welling up in her eyes, "I think I had a bad impression on everybody."
"Why do you say that?" He asked, voice filled with concern.
"I don't know, I just think I left a bad taste in everybody's mouth. What that little girl said really got to me."
He continued to rub her shoulders comfortingly. "Well...you did come off kinda strong, but I understand."
"No you don't." She interjected. "My cop instincts kicked in and I judged them as soon as I saw them, and Gun Man knew it. I just assumed that he was a bad person and I was wrong for that. I listened to the way he talked to me and how he described my shell and I just knew he was one of those Evil infected people who I joined the police force to help put away, not considering for a second that maybe he was one of the good guys, and now I don't know if I'll ever be able to make things right."
He smiled and answered, "Just you knowing that you done something wrong and feeling bad about it should let you know that you are a good person. All you have to do is apologize, and everything will be alright."
"You think so?" She asked looking up into his eyes.
He smiled. "If Gun Man is the person I think he is, I have no doubt about it." They hugged and he gave her a peck on the lips. "Now you go to sleep alright? We'll talk to everybody tomorrow, okay?"
She closed her eyes in his chest and replied, "Thank you, Nic. You always seem to put things in perspective for me."
He smiled and answered,"That's what I'm here for sweetie."
She left and left alone in the room, dark and full of thought.


An hour passed and sitting in his room grew boring, so Nic put a shirt over his four leaf clover tatoos, and went into the hall. As he was walking down the stairs, he was greeted by loud rap music and the voices of Q, Chevy, and Gun Man rapping. "Take off!" He heard Chevy yell loudly, and soon after he said that, Gun Man started to rap and before he knew it, he had known where he had seen Gun Man before. He remembered hearing about a rap mogul slash writer making millions when he first got into Nashville, but he didn't put two in two together. He ran down the stairs to see all three with a cup of liqour in their hands, passing blunts back to each other. "Now I know who you are!" Nic yelled.
Gun Man turned around and Q and Chevy stared at Nic as he looked at the three of them in amazement.
Gun Man looked up at him with inebriated eyes and asked with a slurred voice, "What you talkin' 'bout homie?"
His smile was what gave it away. "You're Lucc'y Lucciano! I knew I had seen you somewhere before, but I just couldn't place it! Now I'm sure. You had stuff all over the radio, all over the headlines, and then they was like you just dropped off of the earth. Like what happened? But I know now that you just retired your Fame belt for the Hero belt didn't ya'?" Gun Man smiled, confirming what he was saying. "I knew it. That's cool as s***! I never thought I would meet somebody famous."
Chevy stepped up to Gun Man's side with a smile, "Yee, but we always knew there was something special about Brody. You should have been around us when we were all coming up in Franklin. Crazy times." He said while sipping his liquor.
Nic bubbled up with excitement, looking like a starstruck girl who had just received an autograph from her idol. "I wanna know everything about him!" He yelled.
Q laughed and joined Gun Man's side. "Oh we got plenty of 'em with this character here."
"Whoa, whoa now...." Gun Man put his free hand up in an effort to pause this conversation. "If y'all gonna tell stories about me, at least let me get a chance to tell my story first, ya heard me. That's the least y'all could do for me, ha." Nic clapped his hands excitedly and Gun Man could tell he had not been this excited in a long time.
"Let me see this blunt real quick. Let me at least get some music on, ya' heard me."
Chevy passed his blunt to Gun Man as he went to the large sound system and begun to go through his immense music collection. Growing tired of trying to find something to listen to, he yelled back at the group of boys, "Matter fact, let's just play some videogames man. You know that new 2K '90 edition out right now, ha bruh?"
But by the time Gun Man turned around, Q and Gun Man were already playing a football game on the 97" fully 3-D screen. The players were so big it felt as though the football teams were playing inside of the living room with Nic watching comfortably on a loveseat that matched the decor of the room. "We already on it, bruh."
Gun Man just laughed and walked over toward where they were playing. He smiled and looked toward the comfortable Nic. "Say homie you don't wanna drink or something, you wanna hit the blunt?" Nic nodded and Gun Man passed him the blunt.
Now usually Nic didn't partake in any illegal substance. He was always down for a drink. He still had Irish blood coursing through his veins. But marijuana was something he had done once every blue moon to ease stress, but having fought the worst of the worst gangbangers, police, and being thrown in the sky would make any man want to hit a blunt or two. Gun Man returned with a styrofoam cup filled with liquor and he passed it to Nic. Then all of a sudden loud but peaceful music came on. "Bout time, that player be taking to long to register."
He chuckled while Nic's expression was stuck in a permanent state of shock. "Who is that?"
"Man, that's Drake Rodgers right there. He busting ha?"
Gun Man laughed but Nic only bobbed his head. "Yeah....he's actually really good. I like what he talking about. I like hearing music you could just party to."
Gun Man laughed and smiled, "Yeah. He cool. He be talking about the life I'm living right nah. Well the life I lead behind the scenes of Gun Man, ya' feel me."
Nic looked around at the beautiful surroundings, amazed by the decor. Then he looked at the wonderful mansion's occupants, and his first thought was, "They don't really fit in these surroundings. I mean they are the last people who you would think to live in a place like this." He always thought of old, white people who were so judgemental, that they wouldn't be able to recognize a genuine person if he kicked him in the rear or old rockstars who he would never be able to meet anyways living in a castle like this, but then he thought, "There is nobody more deserving of this success than Gun Man." He smiled at the thought while Gun Man laughed at Chevy getting tackled by one of Q's players. Q began to talk trash while Chevy simply hit the blunt and passed it back to Gun Man. It was time fo Nic to find a little bit more about his newfound friend. The vibe was right. The mood was set for him to speak his mind. "It must be nice."
Gun Man looked at Nic with low, puzzled eyes. "What you mean homie?"
"I mean look at how you live. This is wonderful."
"Thank you dog."
"Do you ever look back ya' know at ya' life and just ever think, 'wow I've come a long life'?"
"Yeah, all the time. It wasn't too long ago where me, Chevy, and Q was hustling drugs round here, but then again it wasn't that long where I made a decision not to do it like that anymore."
"Why did you leave that life alone?"
Gun Man hit the blunt again and looked away. He cut his eyes back at Nic and asked him, "You really wanna know homie?" Nic nodded his head as if preparing for a scary story. Gun Man bobbed his head, distracting Nic with the movement of his body to the music. "Well I ain't gon' lie dog, I got a lot of spirits in Heaven looking down on me. I know I was a disappointment to my daddy, my sister, my brother, but at that time, I was mad ya' know, mad that my pa left me on earth for me and my sister to fend for ourselves. I started hustling then, had to behind my twin, my baby, but when she was killed, that's when everything just went crazy. His ma...." Gun Man stuck his thumb toward Chevy and continued, "took me in. Then when Lady Gun and Gun Baby peoples died off, she took them in too. That was three more mouths more then she had to feed and I love her for that. I started writing and rapping and she jumped right behind me. Chevy taught Baby how to draw and she took off from there, and I got Lady her first digi-camera cause you know she always just loved beautiful things ya' heard me, so all of our talents just bursted out but I was still hustling. It wasn't til' I started passing through little towns that I really started noticing what we were doing to people who was addicted to what we was selling and I tapped Chevy on the shoulder and I was like 'This is wrong. Look at what we doing to people, ya' know. My daddy wouldn't like seeing us go through this, avoiding polices, killing people who not too long he served ya' know.' It just had me thinking, 'if my pa was here or if Bailey was here, how would they feel to see me hustling?' That's when I made that change from the trap to this rap, all while wondering what to do wit' everything my daddy taught me, Kayla, and Kylie and what we were supposed to do with our new Evil powers." The music switched from rap to the smooth singing of a songbird, changing the vibe once again, mellowing everybody out. Q and Chevy cut the game off and sat back listening to the music. Gun Man pulled out a cigar and lit it before continuing while Q and Chevy rocked their heads. "Then after I made my money, Kayla was good, Kylie was good, Chevy was good, Q....Q always gon' be good." Q smiled and nodded his head. "After Mama and Grandma was straight, wodie, I was like yo' let's do something different. We spent so long hurting people, why don't we do something to help people?" Gun Man shrugged his shoulders. "That's me man, that's the story of us, daddy."
Nic Angel just looked at Gun Man in amazement. "So that girl who was down here earlier, and the other girl who I saw you with the other day, your dad taught all you guys how to do all that stuff?"
Gun Man smiled, proud of the memory of his father, and he answered, "Yeah, each and every one of us."
"So he was like the master, huh?"
"He was Daddy Gun." Gun Man replied while hitting the blunt again.
"So if you don't mind me asking, how did he die?"
Everybody just paused and looked at Gun Man with Q and Chevy waiting for a reaction. He just hit the cigar again and passed it back to Q, with Chevy passing him the remainer of the blunt. He hit the blunt, took a sip from his cup, and answered, "It's cool y'all." He smiled and looked down, looked back up and continued, "He was killed by the E-v homie."
"What you mean? I never heard of the Evil Virus actually killing somebody."
"It kills when you a good dude, like pure. That's how I always took it anyways. I never really got an explanation. I just watched him die. Just convulse and die homie."
Nic shook his head. "Damn, I'm sorry to hear bout that."
"It's cool homie."
"You said you had siblings though. Did the same thing happen to them?"
Gun Man smiled, "Nah, my older brother was miscarried."
"What about your twin? Your sister?"
This time everybody turned and looked at Nic, and it was then that Nic knew he had brought up the wrong topic. Chevy looked at him with an evil look and answered back, "We don't talk about that."
"Chevy.....be cool, man. Be cool. He good, he ain't got no idea, ya' feel me." Chevy nodded his head.
Nic began to backpedal, not realizing he was going to offend the whole room by talking about the taboo subject of Gun Man's sister. "I'm sorry, man. I had no idea..."
"You really don't...." Gun Man added, "....but it's cool, dog. You cool." Gun Man paused for a second to hit the blunt again, then begun an inquiry of his own. "What about you, homie? You know everything about me, but before the night you appeared, we ain't heard nothing about you or Smartz. Where do y'all come from?"
With a straight face, Nic answered, "Amityville."
Taken aback, Q laughed and replied back jokingly, "Amityville? What the hell is that? Sounds like something out of a horror movie."
Nic's eyes were dead still. "That's because it is something out of a horror movie. It's a horrible place where none survived without having some sort of scar of the Evil Virus." Dredging up the memories were taking a toll on Nic, opening emotional scars that did not go unnoticed by neither Gun Man or Chevy. "I seen a lot of disgusting things happen there, a lot of tragedy that made never want to return. I have no family. No friends besides Smartz. For a long time, I had no reason to live, even when I was with Smartz. See you, you got something to fight for. You have a family and even though you may not be biologically connected to anyone of them, I can see the love you have for each other pouring out of your eyes." Chevy nodded his head in agreement along with everybody else. "All I have is Smartz."
Nic smirked, "So y'all is steady ha?"
Nic nodded his headand answered, "She's all I got man."
"I can understand that."
Q chimed in after that with a question of his own, "But is she cool though because you is right, I would kill for anybody in this house. Even though I don't have the E-v, Nashville would see a terror like no other if my people ever got killed, and I put that on Franklin."
"What Q tryna say is," Chevy intervened, "That we all our family here. Brody here, he has a real good heart. He was the one who would tell us to give a people a chance, but see us, the Gun Girls, we don't trust nothing new when it comes to bringing someone so close. I have a good feeling about you though, but ya' gul, she suspect, I don't really trust her. Something about her gives me a bad vibe, so what's her deal, is she cool?"
"Yeah, she's cool. She's a real sweet girl when you get to know her. Like Gun Man say, you just gotta give her a chance. Bad things happened to her by the hands of the Evil. Things I've watched her toss and turn in her nightmares about. Ever since I first met her all I wanted to do was make sure she never has to go through that again. I don't want anybody to go through what it seems we all have went through. I know she comes off of like she hates the world, but she really has a good heart if you give her a chance."
Gun Man smiled. "I know man."
Chevy looked at Gun Man confused. "You know?"
"Yeah I know. Ya' see there's a reason why I'm the person who tells y'all to give everybody a chance. Because I am more likely to see the good in a person rather than the bad. I think Smartz is more like y'all then y'all realize."
"How is that!?" Chevy asked confused.
Gun Man took the cigar from Q and took a long pull from the tobacco. He exhaled the smoke and watched it float in the air. He had everyone's attention then. "Look at how defensive we are when it comes to our well being. Don't you see....she has the same nature for Nic, her man, ya' know, and in these crazy times, everybody needs a friend, a brother." Gun Man stood up with his hand out toward Nic. "Well, welcome to the brotherhood friend. It's a secret society, all we ask is trust."
Nic stood and his hand met Gun Man's. He replied, "We'll give you more than that, friend." Gun Man smiled, eyes growing smaller with fatigue. "I think I'm bout to go to sleep though."
"Yeah, me too. I'll get up wit' ya in the morning homie."
"Cool." And with that their conversation had ended, and Nic retired upstairs.
Gun Man, Chevy, and Q all retired to the kitchen with their cups in hand. Chevy looked around to see if the coast was clear before he spoke his mind. "So what do you think, Brody?"
Gun Man took a swig from his cup, and it was as if the general came out of him. "Nic is cool, but I haven't had a conversation with Smartz, but I know it's coming."
"Do you think we can trust her?"
"It all depends."
"On what?"
Gun Man smiled a conniving smile. "We showed her a few of our secrets, let's see if she is willing to reveal a few of hers. Let's see how far she is willing to go." They all raised their cups in agreement and that night faded to black.