Page 9 of Dionysus
I could hear footsteps that stopped Preach from praying.Goddamn!The steps were soft, almost light taps to the floor.
“Hello,” her soft voice emerged.
This had to be that doctor lady. One thing about her ass she had bad timing.
“Dionysus, you seem to have people who love you,” I heard say.
“Well, considering you took almost a month to call, we would have been here sooner.”
A cute laugh left her. I bet the doctor was fine as hell, too bad Preach had a woman.
“I’m not sure who you are exactly, but—”
“Prentice.”
“Nice to meet you, Prentice.”
Ah shit!Preach you trying to holla?
“Where is his brother?”
“Gone, he will be back. How does his test look? Like, what are his chances? He can’t be in the state for long.”
That’s right Preach ask her ass the questions, fight for me. Preach had always been a solid nigga. He was the hidden gem the Zoo needed.
“Well, Prentice. I cannot share that with you, but what I can say is keep him in your prayers.”
“Dr., I understand you can’t share information, but the God he serves has the final say.”
Well!Tell her ass since she trying to withhold information.
“You’re telling me to pray, but it has already been done. Can you please leave me and the little homie alone for a second?”
Preach was a cold nigga. He always knew when to sprinkle a little God in the conversation. I hadn’t really talked to God. I figured he didn’t want to hear anything I had to say because I’m sure I had disappointed him so many times that anything I would have said, he wouldn’t believe me.
The room had become silent.Was Preach still in the room?
“He’s still in the room. Give him a minute. Dio, the way you're handling this is like you’re still out there. This situation is serious. You have something I never did, and that’s family. Listen to what they have to say,” I heard Ace say.
“Ace I’m listening nigga, damn.”
I tried blocking Ace out so I could focus back on the sounds. I began to hear sniffling again. “Dio, man, I hope you can hear me. I know you think you know it all, I know. At some point, we all did, but this, seeing you like this, it hurts. Zeus is losing his mind. We had to force his big ass to leave.”
Leave?Where did he go,Preach?Call him, tell him to come back. I didn’t need Zeus to see my place. It would explain what I had been going through. The depression, the drugs, the loneliness, all of it. None of this was supposed to happen.
“Dio, we’re about to shed blood over you. People are about to lose their lives. It’s Zoo over everything. I pray you come out of this, and when you do, I hope you learn. I hope God places something on your heart to help you see the light. I love you little nigga.”
I didn’t know Preach felt that way. I knew the guys fucked with me but to hear that they thought I was a true fuck up and needed saving, hurt.Preach, I love you too, man.I began to regret even coming to New York.
Since day one, my life has been flipped upside down and I wanted was some fucking peace.
The guys forced me to leave and get some rest. If it were left up to me, I would never leave the hospital. Seeing Dio like that ate away at me.Was he alone when it happened? Did he call out my name?There was so much to take in, and every single time I thought about it, I became angry.
I called the driver to pick me up. I wanted him to tell me about every single person Dio had encountered. When he pulled up in front of the hospital, I began going outside when some guy smelling like a box of Newports bumped into me.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
He glanced at me briefly, then quickly pulled his eyes away. The Spanish guy's eyes were red as if he had been crying for hours, and I understood, so I spared him. I hopped in the back seat of my driver’s car. “Take me to his crib.”
