Black Widow.

When Tyrone walked out of the police station it was night, he found his crew all huddled next to the car in front of him. They were all leaning on the car and facing him as if they had been waiting for his arrival the whole time. Tommy had his arms crossed, leaning on the hood of the car with a lollipop in his mouth. He took a deep exhale, seeing his breath in the air, the seasons having shifted along with their lives. Tommy's gaze was fixated on the ground, unable to face Tyrone.

Ryan was next to Tommy, fiddling around with a fidget spinner, spinning it around in his right hand. His hands were shaking – shaking a bit too much as the spinner fell out of his grip. Quickly, he dropped low and picked it back up. He gazed down at it with sullen eyes, wanting to fidget some more to keep his thoughts at bay. But after a pause, he stuffed the device in his pocket, knowing that it wasn’t the time.

And lastly, Flash distanced himself away from the other two, leaning on the passenger door with his hands in his pockets. He couldn’t bear facing the door, and instead, gazed out into the road, watching the cars roll by.

“Yo,” Tyrone said, sounding more melancholy than ever. His voice cut through the silence and alerted the trio. Ryan kicked off the car and walked over to him, wanting to ask a question but not having the strength to do so. With tears in his eyes, he embraced the delinquent. Tyrone accepted the hug, and gave it back, patting his back without a drop leaving his eyes.

“...So, what happened?” Tommy asked, shifting his gaze from the ground to Tyrone’s eyes; he didn’t have to say anything for him to know what happened. His eyes told him all. “That’s fuckin' bullshit!” He exclaimed, kicking at the ground. “Yuh saw whatcha saw, yuh ain’t a liar when it comes tuh family! Why can’t dey unnerstand dat! It happened, it really fuckin' did!”

“So, they didn’t believe you? Did you explain everything? All the details?” Flash turned to him and walked towards Tyrone as he let go of Ryan.

Tyrone shook his head, “I did, but they…” He froze, gazing at the ground. “...They said that with my track record I might have been high out of my mind and seeing things. They said that…” He choked and turned away from his boys, not wanting them to see his poker face break. His body trembled as he raised his hand to hold his mouth, trying to stop a cry. “...They said… They said that he might have just run away from home… ‘Cause… Of my bad influence…”

“WHAT DE FUCK?!” Tommy exclaimed, his voice so loud he caused everyone to flinch. “Nah, nah, nah, I’m gonna go ovuh dere and give dem a piece of my fuckin' mind!”

“Tommy, no!” Flash ran over and grabbed Tommy’s arm while Tyrone watched.

“How dare dey! How fuckin' dare dey!” Tommy growled as he resisted Flash’s pull, glaring at the police station doors. “What gives dem de right, what gives dem de right tuh tawhk shit like dat! Why I oughta–!”

“Tommy,” He turned to glare at Tyrone with tears in his eyes, “...Enough… Just… Enough…” He shook his head and walked towards the car.

“But dey need tuh pay–” Tommy protested only for the delinquent to interrupt.

“They need to pay nothing,” Tyrone took a swift inhale and exhaled deeply. His fists clenched and shaking. “Do you know who needs to pay?” He turned around and faced the trio that stood side by side, all of the looking at him with curious eyes.

“That fucking spider.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out Jamal’s watch. “We’re gonna find that fucking thing and we’re gonna pay it back in blood for what it did to me, what it did to us. Jamal was more than a brother, he was a proud wondercolt, the star basketball player of Canterlot High, a loyal and trustworthy friend… He was everything. But I can't find the spider alone, I can't do this alone. I need help. Your guys' help.”

“I’m in,” Tommy immediately stepped forward, “I’m gonna hunt dat spiduh tuh de ends of de Earth, I fuckin' promise yuh dat. I will crucify dat fuckin' ting.”

Ryan stepped up next, “Yeah, when you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!”

Tyrone gave a nod of respect to them, turning to look at Flash, who stood behind the two at a distance, having not stepped up. “And you?”

Flash glanced at the three men in front of him, a part of him hesitating to step forward. All of them faced him and waited expectantly. After a pregnant pause, he groaned out a sigh and…

…Stepped forward.

He could feel the eyes from his peers on him, sitting in Mr. Cranky Doodle’s class. Everyone had heard about what "happened" to Jamal and everyone wanted to ask about it but were too scared to, given his previous track record. Tyrone was seated in the dead middle of the room. His arms were over his desk, his hands folded in front of him, a pencil on one end and a sheet of paper on the other end of the desk. Instead of the clothes he usually wears, he was dressed appropriately. He wore a gray hoodie and under it, a black shirt. His pants were blue jeans, and his shoes were a nice pair of gray and white Jordans.

With his hands over the desk and him sitting up straight, one would assume that he’s paying attention, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Instead of being in the moment, his mind was racing a thousand miles per hour, his eyes staring straight ahead, not following the teacher’s movements as he and reality were completely separated.

In his mind were the events leading up to him discovering Jamal’s body, he replayed the day from scratch. He remembered waking up to the smell of chicken and waffles prepared by his brother for them to eat and a note left by their mother about having went to visit G-Mama up north to care for her because she was sick, leaving them to fend for themselves for a couple weeks. She had left them eight hundred dollars for them to split between them. They decided to split and got a text from Tommy to pick him up because he missed the bus.

So, they drove over to his neighborhood and picked him up. Then, they received another text from Ryan to pick him up because his bicycle broke down, and so, they drove over and did just that. On their drive, they found Flash walking to school from a while away since he had also missed the bus, Tommy called him over since they knew each other, and Flash got in the car.

The rest felt like a blur with him and the boys jamming in the car on the way into the school, getting reprimanded by Vice-Principal Luna, chasing around his brother and getting to class. He recalled that after second period, during his walk to his third, Derpy bumped into him and dropped her books. He thought about how he stepped over her while she tried to pick her books back up and got dirty looks because of it. When he turned around, he saw that his brother, Jamal was helping her pick up her books, apologizing for Tyrone’s actions.

Going further into that day, Tyrone remembered towering over Snips and Snails after they purposely poured apple juice on his Js. He almost got physical with them before his brother stepped in and convinced him to let them go; and instead of getting physical, have them pay lunch money for compensation. Even further, he minds the fact that he almost pulled the fire alarm but at the last moment, Jamal stopped him after alerting him of the Vice Principal entering the library.

And later that day, he remembered when his brother hadn’t come out of the school, so, he went to go looking for him and…

…

…

…

…He spaced out, a dark part of him grabbing hold of his mind and showing him that bathroom stall. Completely in ruins, the webs, the destruction, everywhere. Jamal’s cold lifeless body wrapped in a blanket of spider silk, the large spider bite on his neck. Ever since that day, he hadn’t gotten a lick of sleep. The nightmares of seeing his brother’s body haunted him, not just his body too; it was the fear of what kind of spider did this to him and most importantly, who it was going to go after next. Was it going to be him? His mother?

Sweat rolled down Tyrone’s cheek, he tapped his foot on the ground, his fingers twitched – aching for his phone. To dial the numbers of his–

Ring–ring–ring… Ring–ring–ring…

He didn’t dare turn his head as he heard that damned ringing, it wasn’t coming from his phone, it sounded like it was out of the room. Out in the halls. The ringing was unceasing, never ending, from where his eyes were at, he saw that no one was clearly reacting to it. Was it just him or were they just ignoring it?

Ring–ring–ring… Ring–ring–ring…

The phone from the outside rang yet again, beckoning him to come out of the classroom and follow it’s call.

Ring–ring–ring… Ring–ring–ring…

A large shadow scuttered down the hall, he could see it from the small window on the door. The sight nearly brought his head to jerk towards it. However, fear was the only thing keeping him from doing so. “That must have been Granny Smith, lunch is coming up anyway, she must be late.” He thought to himself. But then, it scuttered by the door again, and he saw that the shadow didn’t have a humanoid shape, but rather, it had an abnormal one.

Ring–ring–ring… Ring–ring–ring…

Tyrone’s heart was pounding out of its chest as the shadow darted by the window again. Scutter, scutter, scutter, each and every time it passed, he saw the shadow get clearer and clearer. Scutter, scutter, scutter, skitter. From the window, he saw a giant arachnid, what seemed like a thousand eyes on its head. It put its many arms beside the door to push itself up to analyze the room as if it was searching for something, or, someone.

Ring–ring–ring! Ring–ring–ring!

It was at that point that the ringing was blasting in his ears. The ringing was so deafening that he couldn’t think, reverting him to his natural instincts, watching as the giant spider gazed into the door. He couldn’t run, that was his only exit. He couldn’t kill it; he didn’t have his brass knuckles. He froze, it was the only thing he could do. The spider opened its mouth…

“Tyrone!” It cried out, using Jamal’s voice. “Tyrone, where are you!?”

Ring–ring–ring! Ring–ring–ring!

The spider banged on the door, trying to knock it down.”Tyrone, help me! I’m scared, Ty, help! I don’t wanna die! Help me, please!” It mimicked and mocked, the wooden door having started to bend and creak. The spider slammed its arms into it, causing more damage. And Tyrone couldn’t do anything but watch.

BANG!

“TYRONE!”

BANG!

“TYRONE!”

BANG!

“TYRONE!”

BANG!

“TYRONE!”

Tyrone was snapped out of his trance. Reality having finally grabbed hold of him. He looked around the room, everyone was gone except for a frustrated Mr. Cranky Doodle that stood in front of his desk. He had his hands on his hips and frowned down at him.

“The bell has already rung,” Mr. Cranky Doodle grunted, raising his arms to cross them over his chest. “You’re going to be late to your next class. Maybe if you hadn’t been daydreaming then you’d–” Tyrone slowly gazed upwards to meet Mr. Cranky Doodle’s eyes, and almost immediately, the teacher dropped the snark in his voice. He saw the terror and the unshakeable trauma in the young man’s eyes and dropped his gruff voice into a smooth and comforting one. He went down to one knee to be on Tyrone’s level. “Hey, kid, I, uh, didn’t mean to scare you like that. Is everything alright?"

Tyrone stared into Mr. Cranky Doodle’s eyes.
The teacher stared right back.

“I’m fine.”

Lunch. The only time in school Tyrone could chat with his friends about the event, and nobody was there at his table. All of them were busy; Tommy skipped school to search for the spider, Ryan got sick from grief, and Flash had a doctor's appointment. And so, it left Tyrone in his lonesome. He was in the school's cafeteria, two bootleg airpods in his ears, listening to music. Trying to listen to anything that could separate him from this nightmare, as he listened to the song, he nodded his head gently to it. Tapping his feet, a little.

The song came to an end, which led to Tyrone reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone. He scrolled down the music page and found "Leave Me Alone" by NF. A classic. A soft smile cracked on his face before playing the song. He stuffed the phone back into his pockets and sat up straight. Hearing the opening to the song made him tense - the phone ringing and the background talking - was exactly how he felt. Up until it happened, he didn't think he had any fear other than cops, but now, he had more than just one. The fear of ringing from anything, from phones to bells, and the fear of the dark. But what about spiders, you ask? Why would he fear something he's going to kill?

Tyrone didn't sing along to the music and instead let himself get absorbed by the passionate rapping. Taking deep and slow breaths, he calmed himself, leading to his shoulders to relax a little. He closed his eyes and blocked off his senses to escape once again. With his headphones in his ears and his eyes shut; he finally felt calm.

That was until his peace was broken by a muffled, “Hey.”

With a sharp exhale – and a tinge of frustration – he tapped the side of his earpiece and paused the music. He bent his arms like he was curling weights and reached his headphones to take them off. After he did so, he put his hands together and formed a ball with the off brand airpods. Finally, he opened his eyes and saw Sunset Shimmer sitting across from him with an awkward grin, a plate of food in front of her.

“The fuck do you want?” Tyrone leaned back a little, lifting his chin and tilting his head to the side to give her a stink eye. Sunset, having caught on, had a small bead of sweat rolling down her forehead.

“Um… Well, I’ve heard about your brother,” Sunset began, pausing to gauge Tyrone’s reaction. Tyrone didn’t really make a face and remained solid as stone. “And I just want to say I’m so sorry and I hope you find your brother.”

Upon hearing this, he dropped his head back to its normal position to look her properly in the eye. “He ain't lost,” Tyrone droned, which brought the ex–bully to raise a one of her eyebrows. “He’s dead.”

Instead of one, she now raised both. “We don’t really know that; how can you be so sure?”

“I saw his body with my own two eyes. He was murdered in cold blood by that fucking spider.” He huffed. His fingers twitched, wanting to reach in his pockets to light a blunt, but he stopped himself.

Realization seemed to hit her as she made an audible ‘oh’ sound. “You mean that investigation last week? The bathroom was completely clean, there were no webs or anything.”

This seemed to tick Tyrone off, “I know that. The spider must have covered its tracks, it wanted only me to see my brother’s body.” He planted his index finger on the table as he leaned forwards, “This is a strategy a gang used back where I grew up. What they did was that they'll beat, or kill, your closest partner in an attempt to make you slip, and when you slip, they get you. When you show a crack in your poker face, they start hammering away to break you. That ain’t happening to me; I’m gonna find that spider and nail it onto a cross because of what it did to me, what it did to J.”

All that he received from Sunset was a wide-eyed expression that said: ‘you’re crazy’. “O…kay? Well, it isn’t healthy to bottle up your emotions like that.”

“Fuck my health,” Tyrone spat, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sunset tilted her head as she analyzed his face, “Have you been getting enough sleep?”

“What does it matter to you?” He huffed.

She nodded slowly, taking that response as a ‘no’, she gazed down at the empty space on the table in front of him. “And have you been eating?”

Tyrone threw his hands up in the air and let them flop on the table, “You is not my Momma, stop. I don’t need your concern or your pity.”

Sunset leaned back and showed Tyrone the palm of her hands, “Hey, I’m just trying to look out for you.”

Tyrone’s glare intensified, he put his elbows on the table and folded his hands together to look at her dead in the eyes. “Why are you really here, Sunset? ‘Cuz I sure as shit know it isn’t because you’re concerned for me.”

“It is because of that!” Sunset protested, slamming her hands on the table. “Listen, Ty, I–”

“Don’t fucking call me, Ty, you whore.” Tyrone furrowed his brow. Sunset let out a sigh of exasperation and face palmed, slumping her shoulders as she shook her head.

“Okay, let’s just… Start over.” Taking a deep breath, she sat up straight, masking annoyance with a polite smile. “Hello, Tyrone, I have come to your table to try and figure out what’s been going on with you. You haven’t been acting like yourself as of late, you’ve been avoiding people in the halls, you’re a lot quieter, and you tend to have moments where you gaze off a thousand miles. Which is a symptom of PTSD, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Bullshit.” Sunset frowned, making Tyrone roll his eyes. “Do you want to know why? It's because you're trying to make something up that didn't even happen, trying to make sense of your brother's disappearance. Tyrone, you claim that your brother was killed by a spider and there was web everywhere in that bathroom. Here are three reasons why that isn’t a likely story." She cleared her throat, beginning her list. "Reason one, when the police came, there was no source of Jamal’s DNA or even a trace of a spider anywhere." She raised a finger, "Reason two, there is no spider in the world that could be big enough to prey on humans." She raised her second. "And finally, reason three, where would the spider nest? We live in a city, the spider would have to have a dark and damp space to nest, and I don’t see anywhere that the spider could hide.” She raised her third with a flat stare that fell onto Tyrone.

Throughout Sunset’s speech, Tyrone’s head remained tilted, staring into Sunset’s eye with nothing but a stone-face. When she was done, the two locked eyes for a moment, and Sunset waited for him to say anything in response – a comeback, anything.

…Nothing.

“See?” She gestured to him, “You can’t even say anything back, you know I’m right.”

Tyrone closed his eyes, trying to calm himself, even by a smidge. “...Tell me, Sunset, how come it isn’t likely that a large spider is preying on humans when you literally turned into a demon during that whole shit at the Fall formal?”

“Well, uh…”

“And to go a little further, the sirens had everyone under their spell, and was fucking with their minds. Also, that Twilight girl ALSO turned into a demon, and to backtrack, you used mind control!” Tyrone exclaimed, “So, how come a big fucking spider isn’t likely, but mind control, transformation, and messing with minds with music is? How come, Sunset?”

…

…

…

…Nothing.

“That’s what I fucking thought, bitch.” Tyrone pushed himself up from his seat. “And if I somehow find that spider and it manages to kill me, I just want to let you know right now…” He moved next to her and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

“...I. Fucking. Told you.”

The day was finally over, the school day had ended, the sun had set, and most importantly, he was finally back home. While the day at school was rough, he thanked the good Lord for the mercy he’s brought. After lunch, he was caught skipping his next class and was brought into detention for basically the whole day, and now he was finally free, he could rest.

‘Rest?’ He didn’t know how but he managed to scoff in his mind, shaking his head afterwards as he got out of his car. His car was parked right in front of his house. Something that he always made note when driving back from the clean and safe city was that the whole neighborhood was just run down and dangerous. Something that he takes for granted, even at night the city was safe, something that couldn't be said for this neighborhood. So, he quickly locked his car with his keys – stuffing it in his pockets after doing so – and sped-walked towards the front door to his house.

He almost skipped as he put one foot in front of the other. Upon reaching the door, he reached down to get his keys when he noticed a small crack, about an inch or two, from the door frame. The door wasn’t fully closed at all, he remembered locking it, heck, he remembered closing it. So, who could have possibly done it?

“Better not have gotten fucking robbed, I swear to…” He paused and prayed silently for forgiveness before pushing the door open. The door thankfully made not a creak or groan when opened and led to a small hallway where all the shoes went. Silently, he kicked his own off his feet so as to not dirty the floor. He reached into his pockets and slowly pulled on his brass knuckle that he put on his left hand. He didn’t bother turning on the flash to his phone, if the perpetrator was still here, they would notice the light. He crouched down and put his right hand over his fist, as if he was ready to throw the punch like it was a baseball.

He walked down the hallway, past the door that led to the AC unit, and made it into the dining room that had two different pathways. One path led to his mother’s room, the other led to him and his brother’s room, despite being teenagers, they still slept together as they couldn’t afford another room. So, they just bunked. Still in a crouching position, he made a decision – his own room, that was where the game console is at, something of major value.

He turned right, which revealed a dark and narrow hallway and at the end of it, the half open door to his room. He raised his brass knuckle and kissed it for good luck and began stalking like a lion. His feet made not a sound as it touched the hardwood floor, and if he was truly feline, his eyes would be glowing with bloodlust.

A couple of seconds passed but it felt like minutes, which it probably was. He had reached the door and stopped behind it, preparing himself to rush in; why, you ask? Because he is many things, a delinquent, a bully, a thug, a ruffian, a rogue, a pot head…

A bitch is not one of them.

He shoulder checked the door and flicked the light on as he lunged inside the room in a swift motion. He got in a fighting stance and glared around his room, “Surprise motherfucker!” He shouted, readying himself to strike. But as his gaze went around the room, it eventually fell on something in particular, or rather, someone.

There, on the wall, was Tommy. There were webs holding him up on the wall around his waist, around his wrists, and around his ankles. His arms were outstretched like he was T-posing, his ankles were on top of each other, his head hung limp in a direction that revealed a nasty spider bite on his neck. He lacked color and was so pale that Tyrone could see the color of his veins, but instead of blue, it was black. It must have been the venom coursing through it, all around, up and down, everywhere in his body. It wasn’t that he was dead or his body was in his house that really sent shivers down his spine, it was that…

…He looked exactly like Jesus Christ when he was crucified.