I Can Touch the Bottom by Ms. Michel Moore Page A

each had looked at Stackz, sizing him up, and could easily see he was not like the other customers that’d come into the restaurant to grab a late-night, early-morning meal. Devin should have seen that much for himself, but either was blind to the fact or just didn’t give a damn. Whichever of the two factors that made him jump for bad had caused him his own life and almost the lives of his two follow-the-leader henchmen.
    Dressed in soft powder-blue scrubs, the technician working the day shift aided Rank back to his room. With her assistance, she helped him up into his hospital bed in the Emergency Room. Thanks to Stackz attempting to peal his cap back, Rank had a deep, inch-long open wound from the bullet, narrowly penetrating all the way full force. Having just come back from x-rays, the doctors advised Rank that had he’d been hit a mere three centimeters over toward the right, he’d be downstairs in the refrigerated morgue, laid out alongside his friend.
    Rank’s head wound was thoroughly cleaned before they put three staples across it and a white gauze bandage. Having one of his eyes semiswollen shut and his front tooth missing from diving face-first onto the ground to avoid any more of Stackz’s return fire barrage of bullets, Rank was sore all over. He had the worst headache of his life, almost wishing he was dead. Lying back in hopes of getting some rest, Rank replayed the entire avoidable incident in his mind. He knew Devin was wrong as two left feet and knew he and Mickey were misguided for running out in the parking lot trying to be hard, but it was what it was and is what it is. Stackz had killed they manz and one day, someway, Rank vowed revenge to the nigga that’d almost took his life as well.
    Out loud through a cracking voice Rank mumbled, “RIP, bro; he gonna pay. Can somebody please get me a charger for my phone?”
    Upset and snapping on people because they only had iPhone chargers and he had an Android phone, one of the young nurse’s aides went to the gift shop and bought him a charger. Finally, he powered his phone on, and fifteen text messages from Leela popped up, back to back to back. As Rank read through texts, Mickey walked into his room with his arm in a sling and his shoulder patched up. Since the bullet went in and out, he was able to sign himself out of the hospital and be on his way. They greeted each other and shared a deep sense of shame knowing they got fucked over and their boy body bagged; all three by one man.
    â€œWhat are you on? Who are you calling?” Mickey asked Rank, who was focused on looking at his cell.
    â€œDude, Leela has been blowing up my phone and texting the shit outta me. Devin sister came up here on the nut before I went to take x-rays. You know she going ham about, bro.”
    â€œWord,” he replied while trying to adjust his sling a little bit more comfortably.
    â€œYou know she was going through it down here. His entire family was. Did they come in your room?” Rank looked up waiting for an answer as he still talked. “She was all up in my damn face like I killed his ass. And as soon as I even mentioned Leela’s name, she went ape shit with her big ass. Dumb bitch wouldn’t even give me a chance to tell her Leela didn’t have jack shit to do with it, but she wasn’t try to hear nothing else I was trying to say. Last I know, she was headed over to Leela’s house on some rah-rah shit. I was trying to call and warn Leela; give her a heads-up.”
    Mickey could only shake his head, not being able to imagine what Devin’s family, especially his mother, was going through, waking up to the news no parent or loved one wanted to receive. “Naw, I didn’t see them, but the fucking police came to my room. But you know me, I played the amnesia role on they ass and said it was some random nigga we never seen before just started spraying the parking lot. I sent them packing, but they ho