dead state of mind; tee series

t e e .

"Gold lives inside of you"

Revenge left the taste of panic in his mouth. The moment Caine's body hit the ground, he'd thrust the gun in his pocket, twisted on his heels, and sprinted from the scene of his crime. He ran through the twisting streets of the block, turning into new streets and following the winding paths. He avoided a junkie with their back slumped against a brick building and found himself on yet another unfamiliar street.

The world melted behind a veil of panic and the rhythm of his breathing. He didn't need to think, he didn't need to slow down - he just needed to get away.

He came to a slow stop when a familiar street stretched out before him. His eyes darted to the left - yes! He knew that street light next to the wall of graffiti. He managed a sigh. He was back on his block.

He thrust his hand into his hoodie pocket and allowed himself a sigh of relief when he still felt metal brush against his fingers. Kight had sorted him out real well. Minimal recoil when he fired, easy to hold, and easy to hide. He'd thank him when he next saw him.

Tee put his back against the wall. Shit, he needed a joint. Something to calm his nerves, make him feel better about himself. He pulled his hands from his pockets and held them in front of his eyes. His hands wouldn't stop shaking. He looked down, the street light revealed the blood droplets that had spattered on his hoodie - he saw Caine's face in every single one.

("Because if something happened to any of your brothers or sisters, I'd expect you to do the same.")

When he put his hands back in his pockets, they weren't shaking anymore. But the dead man's blood on his hand couldn't scrub itself from the back of his mind. Two; the number of people he had put in the ground.

Ukutshalwa - his mother had taught him that word from their mother tongue. Meaning 'to plant'. She told him it was because even though someone was dead, that didn't mean their influence on the people around them had ended. When tall kings came to the end of their life, they simply joined their ancestors. Damn, she even made death sound noble. So, Tee liked to plant flowers for his father, every month returning to watch them grow. Sometimes he wondered if Tee would join his ancestors when his time came.

He wondered if people would plant flowers for Caine.

He sighed, spitting into the ground and standing up straight again. Caine had made his bed the moment he thrust steel into Tee's brother's leg, Tee had simply made him lie in it.

He stepped from below the street light and kept walking, letting the darkness swallow him as he made his way through the block and further. He knew where he needed to be, the spot where he could cover his tracks. Everyone in his set went to this spot after disposing of an opp. A place to hide murder weapons and burn his clothes.

He found himself in front of the familiar door and swaggered in front of it. He clenched his knuckles and pounded on the door repeatedly.

"Ey. Ey Geneva! Open up! Geneva!"

He only stopped when the door swung open and a tired-looking woman appeared in the door frame. "Shit man, you're late as fuck," she said, wiping her eyes. Geneva was in her mid-twenties, short yet ferociously independent. Affiliated, but she wasn't stupid like Tee. She'd actually managed to become a doctor. Hell, she'd even skipped a few grades. That didn't mean she took bullshit from anyone. One time, she had a boyfriend who slapped her in front of the set. She stabbed him in the neck.

She yawned before tilting her head to the side. "Not gonna lie, was starting to think Caine had smoked you instead."

She turned and walked inside and Tee followed. When he glanced back at him, Tee had carved an artificial smile where his lips should've been. "Nah, you know how I be," he motioned to the blood spatter on his hoodie quickly. "Motherfucker ain't even put up no fight."

She rolled her eyes before going into the cupboard. Damn, Tee always found himself looking at her twice. It would never happen, obviously, but she still always caught his eye. Truth be told, Tee didn't know why she put up with them. She was smart enough to be a doctor before she was thirty, she didn't need to be fucking around with gang members. Wait, she was a gang member herself. Tee never asked why she got involved. A part of him didn't want to know.

She pulled out a bottle of gasoline and matches and set them on the counter. "Right, you know the drill, walk out into the field and burn your clothes there."

Tee nodded gratefully. "Yeah, I remember." He replied. Oh!. Tee thrust his hands into his pocket and pulled out the murder weapon. "Can you look after this for me?"

"You don't want me to destroy it?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tee shook his head. "Nah, this gun's too good. Don't want to give it up yet." He replied before holding it out. He could've sworn he'd seen the gun attached to the belts of peacekeepers. Tee wondered how Kight could've gotten it.

She carefully took it before studying it, slowly twirling it in her hands before setting it on the counter. "You got this from the Kights," it wasn't a question, it was a statement. "You better have paid them up front, Tee."

Tee shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Kight owed my homeboy a favour so he hooked me up with it. Won't be a problem."

She nodded, ending the discussion right there. She nodded towards her sofa. When Tee turned, he saw his next pair of clothes on them. Folded and neat. He couldn't help but smile, when he'd dropped them off, they'd been scrunched up in his backpack.

"Imma leave you to get changed."

Minutes passed and he shed the layers of a killer from his skin. He threw the clothes stained with Caine's dried blood in his backpack along with the gasoline and matches. He went towards the door before Geneva called out to him again.

"Tee, you should crash on my sofa tonight. It's bad luck to go home to your momma after killing someone."