Demario's POV

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust..."

My eyes were full of tears that never fell as the closed casket that held the remains of Yvonne Bianca Bader was lowered into the ground while a sobbing Denise, a stoic Trey, and I said our final goodbyes to her at Woodbridge Memorial Park. My heart was aching to the core upon learning of Yvonne's demise and how Denise and Trey almost met the same fate by Theo and Ryan- sending a message to me that I was soon to be next if I wasn't careful.

Stepping forward to the grave, I tossed my roses alongside those of Denise and Trey's, the couple still shell-shocked from last week's events. "Thank you for finally making peace with me," I said softly my eyes trained onto her white casket. "I hope you finally find peace within yourself and be reunited with your child. Safe passage to the afterlife, Yvonne. Tell Grandma Lottie that I love her."

The funeral director came forward and clapped me on the back. "You okay, son?" he asked me.

"I will be, but not yet," I replied honestly. "Things are chaotic and I..."

I shook my head as I finally let myself cry silently for the people who didn't deserve to die. I cried for Artem, Jillian, and even Yvonne. Surprisingly enough, I even cried for the people who didn't care one inch about me and wished for my unhappiness- Uncle Carl and his brood, Douglass and Evangeline Bader alongside Candace and Amelia, and others who have suffered yet still live in fear of being killed next. I cried for them all.

"It's going to be okay, Demario," I heard the deep voice of Uncle Trey as he and Aunt Denise came to me, both of them still shedding tears. "Yvonne's resting easy with Lottie Mae and her husband. She would've wanted you to be comforted that her suffering's over."

"I know, but...I still can't get over how-"

"Peavey and Blake, we know," Aunt Denise interrupted. "They'll get what's theirs, Demario, but Trey and I gotta leave soon. The only reason why my husband and I stuck around was because we needed to pay our respects when everyone else didn't show up since Yvonne joined us in making amends with you. But Ryan warned me and Trey that we'd be in the same situation if I wasn't pregnant with boys. We leave in a few hours for Arizona since Trey has family in Phoenix."

I nodded, finally looking at the adults. "Are you two going to be okay?" I asked, drying my eyes with a tissue.

"We hope so," Uncle Trey replied, "but Denise and I are worried about you, little dude. There's no telling who's going to be next on those fools' hit lists. I pray that this nightmare is going to end soon. And for your sake, I hope those boys finally get what's coming to them."

We turned our attention back to the ceremony, the final remarks now made as I was presented with a memorial blanket and heirloom Bible from the funeral home's director before we prayed the benediction as the undertakers came to fill in the graves.

I saw Joel and Taylor's car arrive, the latter getting out and coming over with urgency in his eyes. "Demario, are you okay?" he asked me.

I nodded. "It's going to take a while, but I'll be fine," I replied. "The service just wrapped up and all."

"Good, because I got some news that might blow things out of the water," Taylor said, his choicolate-brown eyes full of seriousness. "Theo Blake was found dead not too long ago. Police say that there might've been a scuffle or Ryan might have double-crossed him in some way. All the same, one half of the Gruesome Twosome is no more."

"Damn," Trey hissed, shaking his head. "Shit just got real. That's why Denise and I need to get out of here before Peavey changes his mind and kills us. We leave for the airport soon."

To me, "Demario, you got a good head on your  shoulders. Denise and I should've done right by you beforehand. But maybe this is meant to be with you with the Lomax family and all. In either case, Denise and I wish you nothing but the best. God bless you, man."

"Thank you," I told him before wrapping my maternal aunt in a big hug. "Be a good mom to your sons. Be a better mom than my mom was to me. Promise me that you will."

"I promise," she vowed as two police officers came to escort them to the airport. They would be under protective custody in the event Peavey planned to do his cruelty to them in Phoenix. "This isn't goodbye, Demario. We'll see each other again once everything is put to bed. Be safe."

She and Trey followed the  officers to a sleek black sedan that would take them to DFW Airport as Taylor led me to the car where Joel was waiting for us. I fastened my seatbelt before we pulled away from the curbside and made the journey out of the cemetery. "Where to now?" I asked.

"Theo's father's been asking for you alongside his family members," Joel told me. "They've been meaning to talk to you for a while since everything that's been happening."

I inhaled. "I don't supposed that they hate me for-"

"Not so," Taylor interrupted. "If anything, they've made it clear that Theo was the one at fault while you're caught in the spiderwebs. You're having lunch with them as they're expecting you."

"Right," was all I said as I embraced for what was coming. And I just hoped that there wasn't going to be any more unwanted surprises lurking around.

**************

"Demario, my family and I want to express our sympathies for what my son and that Peavey boy did," Mr. Blake, a former military man with a manly and athletic build, said as I greeted his family and his Hispanic husband for lunch twenty minutes later. "What they did to you- exposing your past, shooting you and killing Miss Kendricks and Mr. Hillman, and even executing your former blood relatives- was completely horrendous. I really can't say that I have any more sympathy for Theo since he was already known to be caustic and cruel from the time he was in middle school."

I nodded, accepting a plate of food from an older woman who reminded me of Grandma Lottie while a raven-haired young woman named Tessa gave me a can of orange soda. "Well, I can only imagine how everyone at school will feel about all this when word gets out," I replied. "Was Theo always like this?"

"Not necessarily, since he was a happy little boy up intil he was initially rejected by that Peavey child," the older woman (who identified herself as Theo's paternal grandmother Jade) responded. "He admitted that he was infatuated with Ryan, but it went unrequited. That's when Theodore's heart and soul turned black and he started hanging out with the wrong crowd. It's a surprise that he became that Kendricks girl's godbrother while that disgraced jock started to come around and made things more confusing with them sleeping around."

"And with Artem coming to town and Theo losing Ryan's attention, I knew that things were starting to get way over our heads," Mr. Blake's husband added, his Puerto Rican accent brooking seriousness. "Then you came along and soon led things to more complications. We knew that you didn't mean to cause it since you were focused on your mental health and all that. But Theo didn't want you to have Ryan despite Ryan wanting you. And when they got spurned and earned Jillian's scorn, it didn't take long for things to get lethal. In a way, Theo should've been tossed out for causing a lot of chaos for so long. And no one would miss him now that he's gone."

"That's a bit harsh to say, isn't it?" I asked, giving everyone a pointed stare.

"Not to us since Theo didn't like me and Juan marrying each other," Mr. Blake said. "Theo was the thorn in everyone's side other than Ryan with his double-dealing ways. In a way, I'm glad that he's finally out of everyone's lives, including mine. But Ryan's a different story. He's not going to let things go and from what I can gather, he's got a big score to settle with you. If I were you, I'd watch out."

Ain't that the truth, folks! Anyway, Demario and a couple of his friends pay a visit to the Kendricks before he's shocked by the late appearance of one Ryan Peavey! Oh, my! I can only imagine how things will go down from here!

Dedication: ViviAnneHunt. Song: "Rama Lama Bang-Bang" by Roisin Murphy.

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