Hood by Noire

nasty,” Moo complained swallowing the cherry-flavored cough syrup. “I don’t like it, Lamont.”
    Hood pressed his ear to his brother’s chest, listening to wet rattling noises as the boy wheezed. He made him take another teaspoon and then covered him up and wrapped a blanket tightly around his thin shoulders.
    By the next morning Moo was even worse. Fat Daddy, Felton, Lil Jay, and a bunch of other old heads had gone to Atlantic City to the casinos, and once again old Uncle Chop was the only one home. Moo was real bad off. He coughed so hard he peed on the sagging green couch and his whole body shook. He had a fever and his blanket was soaked through with sweat. Hood was mad worried but he tried not to show it.
    “I’m sick, right, Lamont?” Moo wheezed. Dreko had just swung by to see what was happening and Hood told him to stay in the room and watch Moo while he went to call Fat Daddy on his cell phone. He didn’t know what else to do.
    “I know I’m sick,” Moo declared. His eyes were runny and he didn’t even complain when Uncle Chop came in the back room and gave him some liquid Tylenol and some more cough syrup. “I must be sick ’cause even my fingernails is hurting me, Mont,” he said with his eyes wide. “That’s what Moo know.”
    Hood lay down on the damp couch with his brother and put his arm around him. He felt Moo struggling to suck air in, then struggle just as hard to push it out again. By later on that day Moo’s skin was half-gray and he was out of his mind as he desperately tried to breathe. Egypt came downstairs and stood in the doorway watching them. When Lamont looked up and nodded her over, she crossed the room and pressed her lips to Moo’s hot, shrunken face.
    “Moo,” she said softly. “You okay, little man?”
    Moo tried to smile at her but he was too weak to even open his eyes.
    “I’m scared, Lamont,” Egypt whispered, her own eyes wide. She didn’t want to say it out loud, but there was a reason she had stopped in the doorway and just stood there instead of coming in. Moo had looked dead laying there like that. She’d thought he was dead.
    “Fat Daddy said he’ll be back first thing in the morning.”
    “Mont, I don’t think we can’t wait for Daddy to get back. I think Moo needs to get to a hospital right now.”
    Seeing the tears forming in her eyes, Hood agreed.
    Egypt ran and told Uncle Chop to call an ambulance. But them muthafuckas hated coming in the hood without a police escort, and after what seemed like forever and a day they still hadn’t shown up.
    Dreko and Egypt paced while they waited, sticking their heads out the door and looking up and down the street for the flashing lights of a phantom ambulance.
    Hood sat on the couch holding his little brother in his arms, talking to him softly as he rocked back and forth and counted each second that went by.
    “Oh shit,” Dreko said suddenly. He had been watching Moo closely and now he put his hand on Hood’s shoulder, stilling him. “Man, hold still. Quit rocking him. Shit.” He stared at Moo for several long seconds. The boy’s chest only moved every so often and it didn’t seem like he was taking in no air at all. “He ain’t even breathing, yo. I think he dying, man.”
    At that, Hood jumped up and hoisted Moo and the blanket over his shoulder. “Get out the way!” he said, running. He was through the shop and out the front door before he could be stopped, and he had carried Moo halfway down the block before Dreko and Egypt caught up with him.
    “Man what you doing?” Dreko blurted, jogging beside his boy.
    Hood kept moving fast as he headed toward the hospital with his sick brother in his arms.
    “Hold up,” Dreko said, taking long strides until he was jogging in front of them. Hood could prolly get Moo to the emergency room all right, but Dreko was bigger and he was stronger. He could get him there faster. He lifted Moo off his brother’s shoulder and cradled him. Then both boys took off