The barrel cocked. Malik flinched, arm weak, reaching out for her waist.
“I need you,” she whispered, words trembling. “We need you…” She grabbed his hand and guided it to her stomach. “I’m pregnant, Malik.”
“Aww,” the man laughed. “Another Crescent baby that won’t have a daddy,” he tsked. “Probably won’t be born by the time my people run through her pretty ass,” he taunted, pushing the gun against Aku’s temple.
Aku’s words barely registered before they hit like a bullet to the soul. Through the fog, through the ache in his bones, something in him lit up.
“Fuck you, cuh,” Malik whispered. He opened his eyes wider, focused, and grabbed the pavement like it owed him a second chance.
The driver’s side door was open.
The gun - under the seat.
The voices got louder - laughing more. One of them reached toward Aku, still crying, still shielding him.
Headlights pulled their attention to the front of the alley.
A car screeched up in front of them.
“AYE!” a familiar voice barked.
Bu jumped out in all black because he’d just gotten off work. Hat pulled low, stepping out like vengeance in real time.
The men looked up too late.
Malik used all his strength to lunge his body towards the car. His fingers gripped the steel under the seat just as Bu let off the first shot.
Screams rang thru the air.
Aku ducked, covering Malik’s body.
Malik turned, raised his arm, and fired once...twice. The blood in his eyes didn’t stop him, not even when something hot pierced his skin.
Malik’s grip shook, but he held that gun like it was the only thing standing between love and death.
Bu wasn’t letting him do it alone. He let his Glock sing too. It was a duet if you asked him.
The world cracked open with noise. Smoke eased from the barrel of his piece. Aku kept screaming.
Silence.
Malik’s body slumped, his fingers still curled around Aku’s wrist.
Bu stood over him, gun smoking. Breathing hard.
“C’mon, nigga… don’t die,” he muttered, dropping to his knees.
Aku screamed again, her nails digging into Malik’s chest. “Baby? Malik? Stay with me! Don’t go! You hear me?! I love you! We need you!”
His eyes fluttered.
She pressed his bloody palm back to her stomach.
“Don’t make me raise this baby alone…”
Everything was black around them, but her voice cut through.
Malik didn’t say a word as he heard confusion and sirens in the distance.
