Page 8 of Dionysus
She placed the phone to her side and wiped her tears. “Are you ready to talk?” she asked.
I wanted to know about Dionysus. I wanted to know how he was doing. Instead, she wanted to have a fucking therapy session that I wasn’t interested in. I rolled my eyes and hesitantly sat down. Zaria placed her hand on my lap. “Samara, we cannot tell you how to feel and what to do, but I have a few rules. Number one, you respect my house, and yelling in it doesn’t work. Number two, open up. June and I are here for you in any way we can be. I—”
“June?”
Zaria laughed. “Yes, June, but don’t let him catch you saying that. So, it’s Chevy to you.”
“Well,Chevyhere for me? Yeah right.”
Zaria nodded as she stood. “I know he seems tough but give him a chance. This is a new experience for him just as much as it is for you,” she paused. “How did you end up in this situation?”
I knew it was coming. This conversation was supposed to be about Dio, but somehow it ended up on me. “I had a family that didn’t care enough to keep me around. Their interest was in other things, and I’ve been on my own ever since.” I shrugged.
“Ok, so you andChevyhave much more in common than you think.” She winked.
I stood from the bed to leave the room because this conversation wasn’t going in the direction I wanted it to.
“Do you love Dio?”
My body stilled because the wordlovewas like that brown I had painted him in. “I—”
She jumped in before I could say anything. “I know how you feel. I’m only asking because, if by chance you do love Dio. I need you to hold on to whatever memory you have of him and keep it safe. Dio is not doing well.”
I didn’t want to hear anything else. Knowing Dio sacrificed himself to be my savior was eating away at me, and right now, I didn’t want to think about it. I rushed out of the room and into mine. I couldn’t sit in this house any longer, with sadness bleeding from the walls. I hurried down the steps and grabbed my keys to leave.
Chevy and Zaria had gotten me a car, and any chance I had to use it, I did. I pulled out my phone to text Keith. I was headed to the Parkside Cove to find a little peace.
DIO
Darkness.I was still stuck in this place. I couldn’t tell if I was asleep or awake, the torture of being stuck in my head. I thought my thoughts were eating me alive while I was out there, but in here, they haunted me even more.
“See what not listening gets you?”
The sound of Ace’s voice made me nervous. I knew he wasn’t in the living and that only I could see him, but I also knew I wasn’t in the living or at least in a deep sleep, and the nigga was still showing up.
“Ace, what is this place?”
I knew he would know more about this realm than I, and I needed to know how to get out of here and back to the real world.
“It’s your conscious, nigga. You are in a place to keep you safe, and depending on you, will determine if you check back in or out.”
Check out?I wasn’t dying, this wasn’t the plan. Whatever it was I needed to do, I would do it. I needed God to hear a nigga out. Zeus needed me. Samara was probably waiting for me. I had a birthday coming up, and I couldn’t go out like this. I just couldn’t. The sound of the door opening alerted me.
“Dio, if you can hear me, it’s Preach, your big homie.”
Preach!I hope this nigga starts praying. God always listened to him. I need all of the talking in tongues, holy water, and laying of hands. Preach knew what to do. It was only a matter of time before these eyes would see the world again.
“I knew I should have beat yo ass,” he gritted.
The fuck?I could tell by how he said it; it was done with all his teeth. This wasn’t the time to talk about what he should’ve done. Preach nigga,pray!
“Nigga you got us out here not knowing where the fuck to turn. Yo brother is fucked up. Chevy is ready to kill anything walking, and now I’ve got to beg God to save you.”
I knew they were disappointed in me, and this was the chance for them to get out how they felt and the shit hurt. I was forced to listen, and no matter how much back-talking I did, they couldn’t hear me.
“Lord, I come to you—”
Yes, nigga!
