One Regret

*~Rizzles’ Perspective~*
“Where’s Will?” Snap asked, walking over to me.
We were by the gang hang-out. I shook my head. “He’s not back yet.”
“That’s not like him.” Snap frowned. “He’s never late.”
I sighed. “Let’s go look for him. Where did he say he was going?”
“To the club down town.”
When we got down town, we looked all over the place. The liquor store, the clubs, but he wasn’t there. We finally just decided to settle down in a bar called Blue Moon. We were about to order drinks when he over-heard some guys talking.
“So, Ry finally murdered Will and some H.S.B.’s that were with him.”
“Yeah? I bet Ry’s happy. Will hurt him bad, killed his brother, and shit.”
“Chris?”
“Yeah, you remember him?-“
I looked at Snap and he looked at me. Our shot-caller had been… murdered? We left the bar in a hurry- If Ry or whoever killed Will, then they were probably on the lookout for any H.S.B.’s that came across their land.
“An’ where are you two going?” I heard a familiar voice growl.
I turned to see Sam, wearing a black bandanna around his head.
“Sam,” I stated, glaring at him. “What gang did you flip-flop into?”
“D.O.T.S.” Sam replied. “And I see H.S.B.’s is no longer a gang since Will abandoned you all.”
“He was murdered!” I shouted, defending my shot-caller.
“No. He was abandoning you. He didn’t care if he died. He was done with running.”
“You little son of a fucking-“
“Rizzle. Just face it. He was running.” Snap sighed. “Before Big Slim was murdered, he told us that Will wasn’t a real gang leader… he told us he’d abandon us one day. It’s come true. Will was shot while running away.”

*~Ice’s Perspective~*
“Riley, C’mon, you need to get out of that room.” I sighed, walking into his bedroom.
“No,” He moaned and took about six god-knows-what prescription pills.
I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “Idiot! What’re you doing!?”
I grabbed his jaw, and made him open his mouth. “Spit them out, damn it!”
He finally obeyed and spit them out, into the palm of my hand. I tossed them on his bed, beside him.
“What were you doing?” I gaped. “We have drugs you know.”
“I don’t want to live.” Riley sighed, and laid down on his bed.
I gaped at him. “What the hell. Why?”
“Have nothing to live for. Erika’s out of my league. I killed Will, yesterday… I just don’t know what to live for.” Riley admitted.
I sat down next to him. “Ry, you have the gang to live for. Yo’s our shot-caller.”
Riley shook his head. “When I murdered Will, I thought it would make everything right… but now… it’s like- Chris is still dead. He’s never going to come back. He’s gone.”
*~Riley’s Perspective~*
The next week, I finally came out of my room. I had noticeable bags under my eyes, and on my pale arms I had cuts and cruises from needles.
“Hey I’m glad you came out.” Ice said, who was sitting on the couch.
I nodded. “Mhm.”
“You okay?” Ice asked.
“Mm,” I moaned, feeling as though the world was spinning. Something was coming up my throat. I realized I hadn’t really eaten that much…
I ran to the kitchen sink and threw up. “Shit!”
“Ry?” Ice gasped, getting up and rushing to my side.
I swore again, as he grabbed a dish towel and handed it to me. I took it and whipped all the crap off my face. “I hate my life.”
“No you don’t. You hate it now, but later you won’t.” Ice replied, then frowned. “Goddess, what were you doing in there?”
I showed him my arms.
“Oh. Okay. Well, hey Wolfhowler and Rebal are coming over later and maybe Sam-”
“No not today!” I shouted, and then looked around. “Damn it, where are my dogs?”
“Outside.” Ice said.
“Well, bring them in.” I growled.
He did so, and I smiled when my dogs came sliding in on the wooden floors. “Max! Blue!”

*~Nobody’s Perspective~*
Weeks went by, and Riley wasn’t doing well. He’d overdosed, and had almost died. Luckily Ice was there in time to take Riley to the hospital. Ice was worried about Riley, always wondering if the next day he’d still have a shot-caller, and a best friend. The gang would surely fall weak to other gangs if Riley died. They’d get attacked over and over again until they were no more.
The H.S.C.’s were glad the H.S.B.’s were no longer a threat. The H.S.J.’s had rose up again and were allies with the H.S.C.’s. The H.S.C.’s new shot-caller was Lone Wolf. The H.S.J.’s new shot-caller remained the same; S. Dizzly.
*~Riley’s Perspective~*
Finally, they let me out of the hospital. They told me I should go to a rehab center. Nah, I’m not going. I noticed Ice and Sam were acting strange around me, and I wondered why.
“Dude, seriously. I think you should go,” Ice told me one day. “To Rehab.”
I gaped at him. “No! You too? Goddess, I’m not going!”
“You’ve got to go. Ry, look, man, it will help you.” Ice told me.
I shook my head. “Nope, not going, Ice. I like my life with the drugs, not without. I plan to keep it that way.”
After that, I decided I’d go get some coffee. I walked over to Dutch Bros (It was about a mile walk) and got a random cup of coffee, I forgot what I ordered. I began to drink it, but then heard a familiar voice.
“Riley?”
I looked up, and my eyes met Erika’s.
“Erika.” I stated, giving her one of my smiles.
“I haven’t seen you in, well- Weeks.” She told me smiling back.
“I know. It’s been a while, how you doing?” I asked.
She shrugged and sat down, across from me. “It’s been alright. How about you?”
“About the same. Ice and Sam have been acting strange around me, though. I don’t like it.” I admitted, frowning.
“Oh, that’s odd. I’m sure it’s nothing…” She trailed off, but her smile reappeared. “Katie’s turning six on the 5th.”
This time, my smile reappeared. “Is it? That’s in about a week, that’s awesome.”
“Yeah, Katie wants you to be there. She still remembers you. You should come.” Erika said.
Really? That’s weird… I thought Katie wouldn’t like me, or remember me, even.
“Oh, well… I’ll try to come, but I don’t know where you live...” I reminded her.
“You could walk with me to my house, well- unless you drove a car. It’s a long way.”
“Why didn’t you drive a car?”
“I just like walking.”
So, after I finished my coffee, I bought her one to go. As we walked, I couldn’t stop thinking of things to say. I don’t know why I had a hard time with that, I’ve been hitting on girls since middle school, so this should be easy.
“What have you been doing for the past few weeks?” Erika asked.
I frowned. “Um… nothing really…”
I wasn’t going to tell her about my sudden suicide attempt, nor my drug overdose. Most girls I hung out with would fall for guys like me, but I’m not so sure Erika would. She seemed more distant from gang members. All gang members just want to have sex all the time, get money, or use drugs. That pretty much sums it up. But Erika didn’t seem like she wanted any of that. “What about you?”
She blinked. “Oh, well, I’ve been looking for a new job, and looking after Katie.”
I nodded. “That’s always fun. My gang makes a lick for a living. Most of us are D.D.’s”
“What’s a lick? And… D.D.’s? What’s that?” Erika asked, confused.
“A lick, is making easy money. D.D.’s are Drug Dealers.” I told her. “You get a lot of money from dealing drugs.”
I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. We were being followed. We’ve got to get out-Suddenly, I heard gun shots, and they were close. I took Erika’s hand in mine, and lead her to a near-by alley.
“Where are we going?” She asked, sounding scared.
“We’re finding cover, or we’ll be shot.” I answered, as we ran deeper into the alley.
“Riley, your arm!” Erika gasped, in shock.
I glanced at my right arm, then my left arm. It was bleeding; from the gunshot wound.
I swore. “Great!”
“You need to go to the hospital!” Erika advised.
“Can’t.” I gasped, as I dug for the bullet in my arm.
“What are you doing?!” Erika shouted.
“Taking the bullet out.” I replied. I had taken many bullets out of both my arms. It never did anything harmful to me, though, so I knew this one wouldn’t be any different.

After I was done, I chucked the bullet to the ground, then covered the wound with the palm of my right hand.
“Look who we have here!” I heard a voice coming into the alley. “R.O.T.S. without his gun. My my.”
I wasn’t looking at them, I was looking at Erika. I could tell she was afraid, and I didn’t want that. I wanted to protect her. “Erika. You’ve got to run. Just run! You get out of here, and get away from them, alright? Outside this alley, there’s a park- scream. Just scream as loud as you can. Help will find you.”
“Riley, what about-“
“It doesn’t matter, go!” I shouted.
Erika ran, past the guys who were coming close to us, and I looked away. They didn’t care for her, all they wanted was me.
“Riley, Riley Riley…”
I flinched. I knew who it was.
Finally, looking toward the voice, I found S Dizzly, and LoneWolf. One was the H.S.C. shot-caller and the other was the H.S.J. shot-caller.
“Hey,” I smirked.
“Don’t hey us, Riley. You murdered Will, and therefore broke the alliance between us.” S Dizzly said, pointing a gun at me.
“So, you’re going to kill me.” I assumed.
“Why wouldn’t we?” LoneWolf growled, but in a weak raspy voice.
Well then… this is my day. Great.
That’s when they shot their pistols. Both of them. But of course, being the awful shooters they were, they both missed vital killing shots. One shot went into my shoulder, the other in my lower stomach. Really? They were only four freaking feet away!
I fell to my knees gasping in pain. Oh goddess, this isn’t-
“Hey!” I heard Ice yell. “Get away from my shot-caller!”
I was too weak to look up. I fell over, and laid on the cold, concrete ground. I passed out, right then, but heard my name being called. It echoed in my head… “Riley!”