Fatal Addiction 💀💔

Sage stepped out of her now steamy bathroom, a large cotton shirt wrapped around her head in attempts to dry her freshly washed hair. Her eyebrows instantly furrowed at the sound of her TV playing the news loudly although it had been off when she first went into the shower.

Her footsteps halted and she began to take slow quiet steps through the small dark hallway that led to her bedroom, picking up the closest weapon she could find to defend herself with: her mother’s priceless antique vase that sat on a stand against the wall. Her heartbeat began to pick up as she neared closer to her room, the blaring of her TV becoming louder and louder the closer she got.

Her breath hitched in her throat once she arrived at her closed room door, the vase present in her shaky hands, swallowing hard as she remained as silent as possible. She wouldn’t dare pull the scary movie move by calling out ‘who’s there’ as if someone who was trying to harm her would really answer.

Sage slowly reached for the doorknob, the bones in her wrists and elbows beginning to reverberate a low cracking sound under the pressure of her movements. She swiftly swung the door open, her arms ready to serve a crucial blow to the intruder with the large glass vase in her hands before immediately stopping to roll her eyes once she saw her best friend, De'Angelo, laying comfortably in her bed with his hands behind his head.

His eyes averted over towards Sage as he allowed a low chuckle to escape his lips. “Out of everything, you choose a damn vase? Ya mom’s is gonna kill you for even breathing on that thing.”

“Whatever.” She waved him off with another roll of her eyes before going back out into the hallway to put the antique item back where she had found it before her parents could find out she touched it. She headed back towards her bedroom and removed the shirt from her head, her short blond locks becoming exposed in the process. “Did my mom let you in?”

Of course, she already knew the answer. She just wanted the proof on how he managed to infiltrate her bedroom in the short twenty minutes it took her to shower and wash her hair.

“She told me to keep my mouth shut so…” He trailed off, pretending to zip his mouth closed and lock it before throwing away the key causing Sage to giggle and toss the now soaking wet t-shirt at him. “Aye, aye!” He quickly jumped up to throw the cold clothing away from him, with it landing on the floor beside her feet.

Sage playfully stuck her tongue out at her friend as she grabbed the shirt from off of the floor and hung it to dry on top of her dirty clothes hamper so it wouldn’t get that musty smell to it by being balled up. Her feet then carried her over to the side of the bed she favored most before plopping down onto the soft mattress, the silk sheets engulfing her body almost immediately.

De'Angelo soon moved over and laid his head on her lap which prompted her to begin running her hands through his low cut waves, something she always did when they were positioned this way. “You okay?” She asked, knowing the only time her best friend came to sleep over was when things weren’t going too well for him at home and he didn’t want to be alone.

“Yea, I just didn’t wanna take the chance of turning to alcohol again… you know ma dukes hated seeing me drunk.” He replied lowly, the playful tone in his voice had now shifted to sounding as if he was broken on the inside.

Ever since De'Angelo’s mother had passed away, he spent more of his nights at Sage’s house instead of his own. Her parents didn’t mind because he was like a second son to them since he was a child and they could see how hurt and messed up he had become from his mother’s death. Granted, he usually always informed Sage on when he was coming over so she knew something had to happen for him to pop up out of the blue and scare her half to death.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Her fingers continued to massage through his scalp as he shook his head no, earning silence from the both of them as the news persisted in the background.

Sage allowed the two to succumb to the quiet that had taken over the room, not wanting to push him if he wasn’t ready. She knew that he would tell her eventually.

Suddenly, a topic changer popped into her mind as a wide smile formed on her face. “Oh! Angel, guess what?” She spoke cheerfully, calling him by the nickname she had called him since they were young. He responded by shifting his body so that he was now on his back, raising a curious brow at her. “Andrew asked me out. We’re going on a date tomorrow night.”

De'Angelo instantly scrunched up his face at her revelation. It’s not that he wasn’t happy for her, he just wanted it to be anyone other than Andrew. He wasn’t someone De'Angelo felt was good enough for Sage. “Andrew? Andrew Denali?”

“That’s the only Andrew we know dick head.” She teased as she playfully flicked his forehead causing him to smack her hand away.

“Wow, so after all these years, Andrew Denali’s getting a date before I do? Tragic.” He shook his head in pretend disappointment, only earning another flick to his head.

Sage rolled her eyes and pushed his head from her lap causing him to sit up, eyeing her as if she had lost her mind. “Oh please, like I’d risk catching something from one of the hoes you like to mess with.” She spoke as she stood up to retrieve her light blue du-rag from on top of her dresser.

Sometimes, she liked to wear one when she didn’t feel like doing something to her hair since styling short hair wasn’t as easy as most people thought. One wrong move and she’d be looking like Alfalfa from The Little Rascals.

“I think you’ve forgotten that I’m in a committed relationship now.” Her best friend responded proudly which only caused Sage to roll her eyes as she tied a light knot in her du-rag so that a mark wouldn’t show up on her forehead in the morning.

She wasn’t jealous of his relationship in any way, but Chantell wasn’t someone that Sage exactly favored. She had never met someone that complained so much in her entire life and the first time they were introduced, Chantell acted like a complete bitch for no apparent reason. Sage had actually been excited to meet her best friend’s new girlfriend until she saw the look on Chantell’s face once she caught sight of her.

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Once the du-rag was secured on her head, she made her way back over to the bed to sit down next to him. “She’s lucky you were there when we first met because you know I don’t take too kindly to disrespect.”

De'Angelo responded with an eye roll of his own as he laid back against her headboard. The last thing he wanted was for his girlfriend and his best friend to have beef with each other, but Chantell wasn’t exactly a people person. She had actually been looking forward to meeting his childhood friend until she got out of the car and saw another woman come up to hug him. Her mood quickly went from sweet to sour in less than a second.

“Why do y'all have to do this every time you hear each other’s names? It’s been three months and it’s getting old already.” He exhaustedly ran his hand over his face, not even wanting to go down that road again. They had already gone over this conversation a plethora of times before and no matter how much he attempted to change the both of their minds, it never went through their thick skulls.

Sage simply stared at him for a few seconds with an expressionless face. “De'Angelo, honestly? Fuck that bitch.”

His head quickly snapped in her direction at her words, a stern glare on his face as they both stared at each other never backing down from one another. Though, Sage was never the one that could stay serious when she needed to be and ultimately ended up cracking a smile causing De'Angelo to do the same as they both began to laugh hysterically at one another.

“Yo, did you see your face?” She chuckled out, holding her stomach as they both laughed even harder.

He playfully mushed her. “Fuck up. You get on my nerves bruh. Both of y'all.”

Before Sage could respond, his phone began to ring loudly from his pants pocket causing him to fish it out, seeing his girlfriend’s name flash across the screen which only earned an eye roll from Sage as she turned away and laid on her side, her back facing him.

With a small sigh, he answered Chantell’s FaceTime call and her face soon popped up on his screen, a slight pout playing on her features as she sat in bed. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you answering my messages, D?”

“My bad bae, I didn’t know you were—”

“And whose house are you at?” She quickly interrupted him, her eyebrows furrowing as her face came a bit closer to the camera. “That doesn’t look like your headboard.”

He let out a low sigh. “I’m at Sage’s house, relax.”

Chantell’s expression quickly changed from confused to angry as she immediately began to chew him out. “Without a shirt?! The fuck are you doing at that bitch’s house anyway?”

Sage’s eyes popped open as she had to bite her tongue to refrain from saying anything that might cause them to get into another argument. She usually wouldn’t have even given her a second chance but she knew De'Angelo really liked Chantell for some odd reason. She personally couldn’t understand why but she also didn’t question it.

“Chill, I just need to talk and get some things off my chest. I was in one of my moods.” He replied in a tone signifying that he was attempting to get her to calm down but it had only pissed her off more.

He didn’t seem to realize that spending all of his time with another bitch wasn’t something that she was okay with or something that was appropriate for someone in a relationship. She didn’t care how close they were nor how long they’ve known each other. “So you go to her house when you could have easily came to mine? See, this is what I’m talking about De'Angelo. I’m sick of coming second to that bitch—”

Sage immediately popped up and snatched the phone from his hands causing him to instantly kneel up on the bed and try to get it back, struggling to grab it out of Sage’s reach. “First of all, bitch, I’m gonna need you to watch your damn mouth because I haven’t even disrespected you once for you to be calling me out of my name. Second, y'all have only been dating for four months, of course he’s not gonna spill out his heart to you immediately and tell you all of his life’s secrets. What he was going through tonight was something he barely likes to talk about with me so what makes you think he would wanna talk about it with someone he just met and doesn’t even know if y'all are gonna last or not?”

Chantell was infuriated that this girl really had the nerve and the audacity to come at her when she was having a conversation with her boyfriend, not with Sage. She already didn’t like the girl or her relationship with De'Angelo and this was just strike two of the reasons to make him stop being friends with her. Chantell didn’t care about anything else, she wasn’t about to let this girl punk her.

“Bitch, was I talking to you? No. Give my nigga back the phone before we have some problems, for real.” Chantell retorted, her voice laced with an attitude as her neck rolled in this and that way.

De'Angelo continued to reach for his phone but Sage kept switching around the hands she kept it in and pushing him back with her elbow to make it harder for him. Though, her attention remained on his disrespectful ass girlfriend. “We already gotta problem hoe, and what? The fuck you gon’ do?” Sage’s hispanic accent began to shine through as she became more angry the longer she looked at this girl’s face.

Chantell began to respond until the phone was quickly snatched back out of Sage’s hand and De'Angelo instantly pressed the red end call button so things wouldn’t escalate any further than they already had.

Not even a second later, his phone began to vibrate again with another incoming call from his girlfriend. He quickly declined it only to receive yet another call from her, it being clear that she wasn’t about to let up. He decided to turn his phone on do not disturb with a low sigh. “Why would you do that?”

Sage gave him a look as if he had eight different heads and smacked her lips. “Don’t even go there, you need to keep your dog on a leash because I could have done her way worse.”

And it was true, she could have. While Sage and De'Angelo had never had something going on, he told her everything whether she wanted to hear it or not and Sage was willing to bet that Chantell didn’t know about him slipping up with a frequent fuck buddy a month or so ago. She could have really hurt the girl’s feelings but out of respect for her best friend, she wouldn’t spill his tea just because she was angry or upset.

“You still ain’t have to do all that though. I already told you how she is.” He replied, running his hand over his face as he attempted to defend his girlfriend; something that angered Sage even more because she felt that she wasn’t in the wrong.

If she hadn’t been disrespected, she wouldn’t have said anything to the girl. Yet here they are. “Me? You need to be telling her that!” She paused before she said something she regretted. She was sure she’d be over it by the morning, but right now, she didn’t have time nor wanted to deal with the bullshit. “You know what? Just get out. Go to her place like she said because you’re about to take me out of my character. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

De'Angelo stared at his friend as if to see if she had actually been serious about him leaving but her body language clearly read that she wanted to be left alone. He simply nodded, angry and offended by her kicking him out as he scooped up his t-shirt and threw it back on over his body before leaving from her room without so much as a glance her way.

He knew that ever since he started dating Chantell, he and Sage had been getting into more arguments but she never went as far as to tell him to leave her house before. He didn’t even feel the situation was that serious.

The last thing he wanted to do was hear Chantell’s mouth too so he just decided to drive himself home; the place he didn’t want to be at in the first place. It held too many memories of he and his mother together. Memories that he’d never be able to relive nor get back.

A sigh escaped from his lips as he stepped through his front door, the house still dark with the exception of the kitchen light on. He threw his car keys down onto the counter and sat at the island that had resided in the middle of his kitchen. The same bottle of whiskey that had sat on the island’s countertop before he left still rested in the same spot.

He grabbed it with the quickness, the added stress from tonight doing nothing to help his situation. A bit of hesitation washed over him as he was about to open the bottle, his mother’s disappointed face appearing in the back of his mind and tears beginning to cloud his eyes. He had never let anyone see him when he broke down like this, not even Sage and he wasn’t even sure if the tears were of sadness or of anger.

Twisting the cap off of the glass bottle, he tossed it to the side before throwing back the whiskey, allowing the harsh liquid to slide down his throat as the burning sensation instantly presented itself in the back of his esophagus. After a few gulps, he slammed the bottle down as his eyes shut tightly and he had to clear his throat to rid himself of the pain that soon followed.

His body immediately warmed and when he opened his eyes, he could have sworn he saw his mother, her back rested against the counter with her arms folded as she shook her head at him. “Mom?” He couldn’t believe she was actually there, the affects of the alcohol coursing through his blood being the last thing on his mind at that moment.

He closed his eyes again and shook his head—just to be sure that she was real and he wasn’t just seeing things—but when he opened them up again, she was gone. The darkness overcame the space she had previously been in as De'Angelo buried his head in his hands, his heart falling to the pit of his stomach as he allowed the tears he had been holding back to now fall freely.

***4 years later***

Simone

“But mom, she’s putting my toy in her mouth!” I heard Junior frantically call out to me as my eyes averted to the rear view mirror to look at the both of them sitting in the back seat.

Xae snickered from the driver’s seat beside me causing me to do the same which only angered Junior even more since we weren’t taking him as seriously as he wanted to be taken. “Junior, your sister’s only a baby. You did the same thing when you were two.”

“Yea, but to my own toys.” He retorted back in a defeated tone, knowing that he just wasn’t going to win this one. He took one last glance over at his now slobber filled toy before letting out an annoyed huff and turning his head to look out of the window instead. “Whatever, she can have it.”

Xae attempted to hold in his laughter as he took a quick glance behind him to look at Junior before swiftly focusing his attention back on the road in front of him. “How about I get you a new toy lil man—a better one.”

“Really?!” My eight year old’s face instantly lit up at the mention of something brand new and not covered in his sister’s saliva. “Anything I want?”

Xae nodded in response, keeping his eyes in front of him as he drove. “Yup, anything you want. Just make sure your sister doesn’t get ahold of this one.”

“I won’t. Thanks dad!” Junior replied with a giddy smile on his face, completely forgetting about the toy that he had been complaining about not even two minutes prior.

A wide smile spread across my face at the sight of Junior’s excited expression. My eyes soon averted over to Xae as I grabbed his hand and interlocked our fingers, bringing the back of his hand up to my lips before pressing a soft kiss against his caramel toned skin. I loved when he took the initiative and treated Junior as if he was his child, even after we had a baby of our own. He could have started neglecting Junior since he now had a kid that shared his DNA, but it was like Xae didn’t even miss a beat. It made it that much easier for Junior to accept him as part of our family at first, although my son knew who his real father was.

“I love you.” I mumbled against his soft skin causing his hand to give mine a comforting squeeze as he glanced over at me in admiration.

He flashed me a quick smile as he replied with those same words, the passion in them still as evident as the first time that we told each other we loved one another. The drive from then on was filled with content silence as our family maneuvered through traffic and the radio played lowly in the background.

Today was a routine for our family. Every Sunday, we’d visit the cemetery and speak to our deceased loved ones. Just to feel like we were still connected to and could communicate with them somehow.

We all hopped out of the car with Xae unstrapping our daughter, Tiara, from her car seat where she had been sleeping peacefully. We named her after Tiarra, of course. Although we weren’t close, I took her murder a bit harder than I thought I would and since I wasn’t able to make it to her funeral, I figured it was the least I could do. Though, Xae and I decided to spell our daughter’s name differently because I wanted her to be the opposite of my older sister; a true queen with a name fit for what belonged atop her head.

Tiara was the beautiful baby girl from our dreams. And nothing at all how I expected her to be. I finally understood those terrible two stages that mothers were always talking about.

“Baby, I’m gon’ take Tiara to go see my grandmother. I’ll meet y'all back here in ten and if y'all are even a second late, I’m calling the police.” Xae unknowingly interrupted my train of thought as he held a fast asleep Tiara, earning a light giggle from me in response. Protective wasn’t even the word for how Xavier was when it came to our family. After experiencing people breaking into and hurting him in his own home, he vowed never to let it happen again. Especially not while his family was inside. Over his dead body.

“Alright, I love you.” I replied lovingly as I leaned into him, puckering my lips up for a kiss. He tried to fight the smile that was daring to form on his face but couldn’t as the butterflies that were still in my stomach every time I laid eyes on him was surely still in his.

He pressed his lips against mine softly, his hand cupping my cheek as I melted into his embrace. Every time still felt like the first time that we kissed; passionate and electrifying.

“Mom! Dad! Ew!” Junior abruptly called out, ultimately pulling both Xae and I away from each other as we laughed at his disgusted expression. He was still at that age where he thought girls were disgusting and just wanted to play video games all day long.

“I’ll see you in ten.” I added as I started toward Junior causing him to turn and start our walk through the small cemetery.

It didn’t take long before we reached the tombstone marked Dominick Anderson, 1992-2016.

He had committed suicide about a year into his sentence. That’s what the police informed me, at least. The Dominick I knew would harm anyone other than himself. Junior was young when it happened so I didn’t think he really understood the concept of death. Hell, I wasn’t even sure if he did now. He just knew that his father was gone and he would never be able to see him again. It was hard to explain to a child because they had so many questions that you just didn’t know how to answer.

“Hey dad!” Junior called out as we approached the gravesite. “Guess what? I made the basketball team at my school. Now watch me be the next MJ. Swish!” He stepped back, tossing an imaginary ball into the air causing me to giggle at his antics. That was the thing he was most excited about this school year.

“That’s right and I’m so proud of him. You should see him out there.” I added as I pulled my son into me making him immediately toss his arm around me in return. I always spoke to Dom right along with Junior so that he would never feel like he was going through this by himself. I would always be right by his side, no matter what his sadistic father did to me and the people I loved.

I wasn’t sure if I should ever tell Junior all of the crazy things that Dominick did while he was alive and why he ended up in prison in the first place. I was certain once he truly understood, the questions would come flooding in anyway but that just wasn’t something that was easy to admit to a person in general.

Junior playfully began pushing my embrace away with the smack of his lips. “Nuh uh, she won’t even get me those new Jordan’s that just came out.”

“Boy, that’s because them shoes were over a hundred dollars and your feet are still growing a mile a minute. You must be crazy.” I retorted back causing him to wave me off with a slight chuckle and continue his conversation with his father.

Things were so different and peaceful now that Dom had passed. Sometimes, I had to take a step back and appreciate moments like these.

***

My head rested comfortably on Xae’s chest as his arm laid over my body protectively. I allowed my fingers to trace light circles against his skin while I stared ahead at Tiara’s crib that was pressed up against the wall in front of me. The sound of his heartbeat serenaded my ears and his slow breathing had also caused me to relax a bit more.

It was nearing three in the morning and for some reason, I couldn’t sleep for the life of me.

There was something nagging at me but I couldn’t figure it out. Nights like these were rare but they happened every so often. Usually some tea or hot cocoa would warm my body and do the trick in helping me fall asleep so after a while of not being able to fall asleep on my own, I decided to make just that.

I carefully slipped out of Xae’s hold causing him to stir a bit but ultimately settle back into his deep slumber. Grabbing my silk robe from my closet, I accompanied it with some comfortable fuzzy slides and began to make my way towards the kitchen to start boiling the water for my tea.

As I passed Junior’s room, I could hear faint sniffling coming from inside making my head instantly jerk back. It was late and usually, my son would be knocked out—slobbering and all.

I gave his room door a gentle shove as my fingers immediately reached for the light switch, flipping his light on. His head instantly snapped up in my direction allowing me to get a good look at his tear stained face. It broke my heart into pieces just to see him hurting. “Aw, baby. What’s wrong?”

My feet carried me over towards his bed and I sat down beside him before enveloping him into a light embrace, my hands rubbing small circles onto his back.

“I had a bad dream. Me and dad went to the fair together and we were playing games and having fun.” He paused for a bit as I remained quiet, allowing him to continue whenever he was ready. “There were so many people and they kept pushing me and when I turned around, dad was gone. He left me in my dream just like he left me in real life. He doesn’t even wanna be with me in my dreams.” Junior shook his head in disappointment.

At that moment, I realized he was talking about Dominick and not Xae. My chest ached as I stared down at my son’s heartbroken face, unsure of what else to do except hug him tighter. “Baby, your father was battling a lot of demons and was gonna be in prison for a long time. He just couldn’t handle that. It had nothing to do with you, he loved you with all his heart.”

And that was the truth. If Dom wasn’t anything, he was a good father when he was around his son. They were like two peas in a pod when they were together.

“But didn’t he think about not being able to see me anymore? He ain’t even think about me.” His head hung low as it shook from side to side in sorrow.

I sighed, not knowing how in the world to respond without making Dom sound like the selfish man that he actually was. The last thing I wanted was for Junior to see him as a monster. There was no telling what kind of trauma the truth would cause. As far as he knew, all he saw was love from the both of us when we were all together. “Can I sleep with you tonight?”

He nodded in response before lifting up his covers, signaling for me to get underneath them. My teeth grazed my bottom lip a bit before I quickly stood to my feet. “Hold on.” I swiftly made my way over to my phone, opening up my safari app and going to the shoe website that Junior had excitedly shown me the previous week. The shoes he wanted were one of the first on the web page since I had viewed it previously.

Without a second thought, I purchased the sneakers he wanted and had them shipped to our home. I decided against telling him now and just chose to surprise him whenever the shoes came.

Heading back over to the bed, I slid beneath the covers and Junior automatically threw his arm over me protectively as he snuggled into my side. My body responded by pulling him closer to me as a small smile graced my face at the love that was radiating off of him. We had a bond that was unbreakable.

Within minutes, I was dozing off into a comfortable slumber with my son wrapped up in my arms.

Bree

I stepped into the doctor’s office with an anxious sigh, far from ready for them to be face-to-face with me as they would at any given second.

Looking around the room without purpose, my feet swung back and forth as I sat on the elevated seat in the middle of the room. Just sitting there alone and with my thoughts was enough to have me going crazy, coming up with all types of scenarios in my head as to why my OB/GYN had called me back in a week after my annual checkup.

I could only think of the worst. I mean, it was hard not to when they refused to tell me anything over the phone. But nothing felt wrong so I had no clue what it could be.

The only person I had been having sex with was Antonio. We started dating not too long after I moved in. He was an active father and was there for me through every step of the way during my pregnancy with our son, Javier. Since it wasn’t supposed to be possible for me to have children in the first place, my pregnancy underwent many complications which meant countless hospital visits and sleepless nights. Javier and seeing Antonio’s love for him was the only thing that made it worth while.

Javier was born premature and Antonio decided to take one month off from managing his restaurant to be with me through the entire process. Without me even having to ask.

I found myself smiling just thinking back on it. Antonio and I’s relationship definitely wasn’t perfect but we made it work for the sake of our child and that, I could always commend us on.

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of the heavy wooden door swinging open, followed by my gynecologist stepping inside of the room right after. She was a sweet lady in her mid-thirties that never failed to make me feel as comfortable as possible whenever I was in her care. It was why although she was transferred to a farther location a few months ago, I had no problem going out of my way so she could continue being my doctor.

“Hello, Bree.” She immediately welcomed me with a warm smile causing me to flash her one in return. Her voice was smooth like honey.

I had preferred she called me by my first name since I had taken Antonio’s last one about a year after our son was born. Things were going so well and we wanted to make things official and be a real family. Though, sometimes I didn’t like hearing his last name at the end of mine. Times like this where I was questioning our relationship entirely.

“Hi, Mrs. Rozario. How are you doing today?”

“I’m doing well.” She shut the room door behind her and set the manila folder that resided in her hands down onto the desk that sat in the corner of the room. “So, I’m aware that you came in for your annual check up a couple weeks ago, correct?”

I nodded in response, letting her know that what she had stated was right. “Yes, is something wrong? They wouldn’t tell me anything over the phone.”

She gave me an uncertain look as she sat down on a stool seated near the desk she had previously placed the folder on. “Well, your results came back.” She spoke as she swung the folder open, reviewing over the contents of the paperwork that sat inside. “I’m sorry to say this so bluntly, but you tested positive for Human papilloma virus otherwise known as HPV. Now, have you had unprotected sex with anyone in the last six months?”

The shocked expression was evident on my face as I began to stumble over my own words. “No. I mean—just my child’s father. My husband.” It felt a bit forced to even say that but she had to know that I wasn’t just out there like that. “I don’t understand. I don’t have any symptoms.”

“Well, many people that have HPV don’t develop any symptoms other than occasional genital warts. And you haven’t spotted any of those forming around your vagina or the surrounding areas?” She asked as her pen moved a mile a minute against the paperwork she had been looking over.

My heart fell to the pit of my stomach at just the thought of Antonio cheating on me. I knew we didn’t have the best relationship but I thought we had enough respect for each other not to step out. I didn’t want to believe it. “No, I don’t think so. Is it curable?” My chest began to flutter almost immediately after asking the question. A part of me didn’t want to know the answer.

“I’m sorry Bree, but Human papilloma virus is not curable but there are treatments to remove the warts if you ever come across some forming. Other than that, you must protect yourself and your partner during intercourse from now on.”

She continued to explain some things to me but I completely zoned her out as tears threatened to spill from my eyes, the gravity of the situation hitting me all at once. In a blink of an eye, I was now living with an incurable disease and it was all thanks to Antonio. He had not only stepped out on me, but brought something back to me as well and that alone had my blood boiling.

He had no care or remorse for my health or my feelings.

The remainder of my appointment was a blur and I was completely zoned out as I drove back home, unknowing of how I should react once I actually saw his face. I wanted to hurt him for putting me through this. I wanted to make him feel the pain I felt.

My vision was cloudy as I pulled into the driveway, instantly rolling my eyes as I noticed the car that sat out front. As I neared the front door, I could clearly hear angry screaming and things being thrown around inside the house. There wasn’t a time where they weren’t like this and it was beginning to get a bit annoying.

I sighed as I pushed the door open, stepping inside only for the yelling match to become louder and more evident on what the reasoning for it all was.

“No!!” I heard her voice yell out from what I assumed to be the kitchen. “I’m sick and tired of you treating your daughter like she doesn’t even exist while you’re over here giving your son and that puta everything. It’s not fair to me or her!” Serina screamed out which immediately made me even more livid. I wasn’t in the mood for her or her antics today.

After the first time they had sex, Serina had gotten pregnant with Antonio’s baby causing us to basically go through our pregnancy at the same time. She was the epitome of baby mama drama and if I didn’t have a child with Antonio already, I wouldn’t have wanted any parts.

Making my way to the kitchen, I cleared my throat to make myself known causing both Ant and Serina to snap their heads in my direction. She instantly scoffed and mumbled something under her breath before looking at Antonio expectantly. “Well? Don’t act like you weren’t about to disregard everything I was saying just to cater to her now that she’s here. You know what? I’m over it Antonio. If you don’t wanna be in your daughter’s life, that’s on you.”

“Chill. No one said that I didn’t wanna be in her life. I love Alianna with everything in me but you’re expecting me to spend every waking moment with y'all when you know I have other responsibilities too.” He responded in a calmer tone than they were using before, attempting to lighten the mood now that I was in their presence.

“Oh really?” She scoffed again as she placed a hand on her hip. “Responsibilities like what? Catering to this bitch right here?!” Serina threw her hand my way, gesturing towards me without even a glance in my direction.

And that was the last straw. “Yes, bitch, damn! You’re mad because he’s not paying you no attention. Newsflash sis, he never wanted your ass to begin with so get out of our house with the disrespectful shit and you!” I turned towards Antonio causing him to widen his eyes, not expecting things to be turned back on him. “How dare you continue to allow this broad to come in your house and disrespect your wife. Grow some fucking cajones you spineless fucking bastard.”

They both looked shocked at how bad I was seething and honestly, I was a bit surprised at myself too since I rarely ever blew up like that but after the news I had just received, I was over being nice. “Now, I’m gonna ask you one more time to leave our home because I’m trying to have a conversation with my husband in peace.”

“Oh, I’m not going anywhere. Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of the both of us.” She responded as she folded her arms across her chest, only making me more angry by the second.

My attention averted from her back over to Antonio as I glared at him with an expectant look. “Antonio. Get her ass out of here because I’m really about to chew the both of y'all out.”

“Man, you remember last time I tried to put her ass out. She was screaming and carrying on about how I was man handling her, threatening to call the cops. I don’t need a scene like that right now, Bree.”

I looked at him as if he had three heads. “I don’t give a fuck what you don’t want! I didn’t wanna catch HPV from your lying, dirty, dog ass but here I am!” I screamed at him, unable to hold back any longer. In all honesty, I was hurt that he would do that to me and it was probably with the bitch standing in front of me in the first place.

“Oop.” Serina immediately began to gather her things, trying to contain the laugh she was so evidently holding in. “Well, that’s my cue.” She brushed passed me with a teasing smirk as I glared at her the entire way out.

When I turned back to Antonio, I can tell he was speechless by my revelation but he didn’t look an ounce bit surprised and that alone turned the rest of my hurt into pure anger. I waited until I heard the door shut before I decided to continue. “How could you do this to me, Ant? I mean, why marry me if all you’re gonna do is fuck around? You’re fucking dirty and you don’t deserve me or your son.”

“So, you’re gonna try and take my son away from me because we’re having problems?” He responded almost as if he had the right to be upset with me.

“No, YOU have the problem. I wasn’t the one out sticking my dick in infected bitches and bringing that shit back home!” I yelled in his face, only growing more heated the more that I thought about the situation. This was something I would never be able to rid myself of.

Antonio smacked his lips in response. “Well, maybe if you were a better wife, I wouldn’t be out getting my needs met by your friend, Cecilia, now would I?”

His words immediately halted me in my tracks as I stared at him with squinted eyes, trying to decipher whether or not he was serious about knowingly sleeping with my friend.

But the smug smirk on his face told it all.

And then I saw red. I was so tired of everything he had put me through. It was as if I blinked and a sharp kitchen knife had suddenly presented itself in my hand as I shoved the object in and out of his abdomen repeatedly, seemingly unable to stop myself.

Blood splattered all over my hands and lower half as his body soon became limp and fell to the ground with a loud thud. But I couldn’t stop. I just kept stabbing him and stabbing him until I could feel my anger physically expel from my body simultaneously.

A natural high overcame my body but I immediately came down from it once I realized what I had done.

Xae

“Babe, you want something from the store?” Simone called up to me from downstairs as I heard a bit of rustling coming from down there, most likely Junior putting on his shoes and jacket.

Instead of yelling back down to her, I decided to get up and make my way down the stairs where, sure enough, Simone and Junior were getting ready to leave. Tiara was staying at home with me since it was a bit cold out and we didn’t want to take her out too much unless it was needed.

As I neared Simone, my arms immediately snaked around her waist as I admired her natural beauty with hooded eyes. I wasn’t going to lie, a nigga was slick in the mood but adulting consisted of having to wait for the perfect time to do those things. In other words, when the kids were asleep.

“Yea, you know those boxes of spicy Jamaican beef patties? I’ve been wanting some for a while.” I pretended to think for a split second. “Oh, and lemme get a lil’ bit of you too.”

Her eyebrow raised as a small smirk began to form on her face and she closed the space between her body and mine. “A little bit of me, huh?”

One of her hands found themselves cupping my cheek before she leaned up, softly pressing her lips against mine. I didn’t hesitate to return the favor as our lips moved in sync together, our tongues somehow adding themselves to the mix after a couple seconds of light pecks. Every time I kissed this woman was like the first time I kissed her; the day everything I knew turned out to be a lie. But she remained the same and there through it all.

“Mom. Dad. Please.” We suddenly heard Junior sigh in annoyance causing us to break away with a light chuckle. When I looked down at him, he was looking back up at us while shaking his head in pure disgust.

“What? So you get to kiss your mama but I don’t?” I teased, my arms still resting securely around her waist. “Not fair.”

He shrugged slightly. “You can kiss her on the cheek like I do. All that is unnecessary.”

Simone immediately bent down so that she was face to face with our son as she held her hand out for him to high five, which he did proudly. “Good use of that word, baby. You’re so smart.” The eight-year-old cheesed at his mother’s compliment. A definite mama’s boy to the tee.

A low snicker came from me as I also held my hand out for him to slap. “You’ll understand when you’re older why her cheek just isn’t enough for me sometimes.”

Simone gave me a playfully knowing look as she lightly hit my arm. She wasn’t ready to give him ‘the talk’ about girls and things of that sort just yet. He was still young and we decided to wait until he at least hit his teens or preteens to even bring a subject like that up. As far as we knew, Junior still thought girls his age had cooties and Simone was content with that.

“Is that all you want?” She turned her attention back over to me causing me to nod in response. We still had pretty much a lot of food to eat in our kitchen now, we had just ran out of the basic necessities such as bread and milk so she didn’t need to buy out the whole store. Plus, I wanted her to hurry up and come back home to me anyway. “Ok, I’ll be back in a few. I love you.”

We shared another light peck before I walked both her and Junior to the front door, swinging it open for them soon after. “I love y'all too. Be safe out there and make sure you text me when you make it there.”

I wasn’t going to lie and say that I wasn’t still a bit paranoid from the events that happened all those years ago. A near death experience could do that to you but for me, it wasn’t about being in control. I just wanted to know they made it safely to where they needed to go and if I didn’t receive a text or call, I would know something was wrong right away. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I was ever too late to make it to any of them.

A light smile graced my face as I watched them get seated in the car for a couple of seconds before shutting the door behind me once I saw them pull off. Tiara was up in our room sleeping when I had first came downstairs so I decided to wait half an hour before I went up and checked on her again. That girl loved her sleep and waking her up out of it would be hell for anyone that tried.

I wasn’t even able to reach the living room couch before hearing frantic knocking coming from my front door. Quickly rushing to answer, I swung the door open praying that Simone and Junior hadn’t gotten into any trouble that fast but immediately froze instead.

My eyes traveled downwards then back up to her face in pure disbelief. I couldn’t quite make out what I was looking at, but I could tell that it was nothing good at all. “What you doing here?” Was all that could manage to slip from my mouth. Not even a 'what happened’ or 'are you ok’ could form because there was something in me telling me that I didn’t want to know the answers to those questions.

Bree immediately barged in, nearly shoving me to the side altogether as she began pacing the floor back and forth repeatedly. Almost every inch of her was covered in what seemed to be dried up blood and her eyes looked as if they hadn’t stopped shedding tears in hours. There were a million questions I wanted to ask but didn’t at the same time.

“Bree, what are you doing here?” I repeated myself, being sure not to step too close to her. My front door remained open behind me up until she rushed over to it and slammed it shut before sinking down to the floor, her head buried in her hands.

Tiara’s loud cries instantly filled the house causing me to sigh, realizing the loud noise from the door closing most likely woke her up. Quickly rushing up the stairs to grab her from her crib, I made my way back down to see Bree still sitting in the same spot I left her. Only this time, she was rocking back and forth.

I rocked my daughter on my hip as she laid her head down on my shoulder, still a bit fussy from being woken up out of her sleep but more calm since she was now in my arms. Bree slowly looked up at the both of us, a bit surprised to see a baby on my hip I presumed.

She slowly made her way back up to her feet and eyed the both of us down quietly. I was beginning to feel a bit uneasy with her presence as a whole. It didn’t feel right to have her in here, especially while Simone was gone.

“Is she yours?” She finally broke her silence. The pettiness in me wanted to say that she was the only person who would put a child on a man that wasn’t the father, but I just nodded instead. Bree looked back over to Tiara with a small smile, looking almost as if she wanted to hold her and mother her herself.

But her smile instantly fell as the empty look she arrived here with soon took over once again. “I’m never gonna be able to see my son again now. And because of me he’s gonna be put into the system.” More tears began to pool from her eyes and I couldn’t do anything but stare at her. Not an ounce in me wanted to comfort her in this moment; I just wanted to know why she showed up here.

“Wait, why wouldn’t you be able to see your son again? Where is he? And where’s Antonio—”

“He’s dead!” She quickly cut me off at the mention of his name as her head sunk down until she was staring ahead at her feet. “…I did it—I killed him.”

A hardy laugh immediately escaped my lips. Bree might have been a lot of things but a cold hearted killer wasn’t one of them. I just couldn’t bring myself to believe that the tiny girl in front of me actually had the gall to take someone else’s life. Especially the father of her child.

But when she looked up at me without a hint of laughter in her expression, I knew she had to be serious. “Wait, you’re for real?”

“Yes, Xae. Please, you have to help me!” She took a couple of steps closer to me but I instantly moved back, looking at her as if she needed to be checked into a mental hospital.

“Help you?” I mimicked her tone of voice unintentionally. “Bree, how the fuck am I supposed to help you? You killed someone! Then you’re gonna have the audacity to bring this bullshit back to me and my family. No, I’m not helping you. And how dare you even ask me that in front of my daughter.”

She sighed, attempting to hide the fact that she rolled her eyes but failing miserably. “It’s not like she can understand what I’m saying. Please, Xae. I don’t have anyone else.”

“No!” I reiterated more sternly this time. “I’m not doing anything. Matter of fact, you ain’t even come over here and tell me this shit. You need to leave now. I won’t turn you in or nothing but you needa get far away from my house and never contact me again. You’re gonna have to handle the decisions you made on your own.”

The painful expression on her face only deepened as she nodded her head and began making her way back towards the direction she came. I could tell she was hurt by my bluntness but her problems didn’t involve me anymore and neither did her drama. I was finally happy and I couldn’t let something that had nothing to do with me mess that up.

She left without another word and thankfully she headed out when she did because not too long afterwards, Simone and Junior had pulled back up from the store. I wasn’t sure how Simone would have reacted seeing Bree after four years of never hearing about her and I didn’t want to know either.

But there was no way I was about to hide what just happened from her either so as soon as they stepped through the door, I told Junior to watch his sister and pulled her into our bedroom to explain everything from start to finish.

“So, she waited on me to leave before she came in here? Sneaky ass bitch.” Simone shook her head, nothing but disdain for my ex on her face. I was still angry that she would actually try and get me involved with something like that.

There were times where she would hit me up over the years to see how I was doing and wish me well, but I knew for a fact that I had never made her feel comfortable enough to even think that she could come to me with something like that. And our history together didn’t mean a damn thing to me in that moment; all that mattered was protecting my family.

“Well, I guess since we’re revealing things, I have something to tell you too.” She added, instantly causing one of my eyebrows to raise in confusion. My heartbeat began to quicken. I couldn’t take any more bad news right about now. “I’m pregnant.”

I only stared for a few seconds as my brain took a little while to process the information. “You? As in—” Stuttering over my words, my hand began to caress her stomach as she giggled and nodded yes.

Without another word, I wrapped my arms around her waist and swept her off of her feet as I dressed her face in multiple kisses all over. Her light laughs filled my ear as my kisses continued to rain down on her, the good news ultimately making me forget the reason I was even angry in the first place.

My wife was having another one of my children and there was nothing that could ever pull me away from that.

Simone

Looking down with a bright smile, I watched as Junior held my hand in his small one and hopped over every crack that he saw on the sidewalk. I couldn’t even describe how happy I was to finally have him here with me and meet the man that practically saved my life without even trying.

I knew they had met before on Xae’s wedding day, but that was only a brief meeting. I wanted them to really be able to sit down and get to know each other more because Junior and I were a package deal. So, if Xae really wanted to be with me, he had to also accept my baby boy with open arms as well.

Though, I had no doubt in my mind that he would happily accept Junior without a second thought.

I wanted to take things kind of slow with Xae since I knew he was still hurting from what happened. He tried his best to act like he wasn’t, but I knew better. He asked me to move in as well but I didn’t want to do that considering another woman had just moved out.

Although I wanted more than anything to be able to lay in his arms every single night, I also knew that he needed time to heal and I’m no one’s rebound either.

Sometimes I felt wrong for catching feelings for someone while they were with somebody else, but then I remember that somebody else was kicking it with a whole other person. But if Bree had never done what she did, would I be wrong then? It’s a question that I constantly asked myself and one of the reasons it didn’t feel right moving in with him again so soon.

“Mommy,” Junior quickly broke me away from my thoughts as I felt his small hand pat my leg repeatedly in order to get my attention, “How come I no see Big Man no more?”

My steps immediately halted as Junior’s nickname for Saint slipped from his mouth causing all of the painful memories from the night he died to come rushing back to me all at once. The sounds the bullets made as they hit the plaster, the feeling of my heartbeat skyrocketing at the thought of sudden death. But what stuck with me the most was the warmth of his arms as he protectively guarded me from anything that threatened to take my life. And for that… now he was gone.

“No cry, mommy. Sorry.” It was as if that was the cue that caused the tears that I was holding back to start rushing down my face all at once.

Kneeling down to get to my son’s eye level, I quickly pulled him into a tight hug as I let out a light chuckle at his words. “It’s ok, baby.” I knew that Junior was the reason I was still here right now instead of Saint. He was adamant on keeping us away from Dom and he knew I couldn’t just leave Junior all alone with him.

“Big Man is watching over us now up in heaven.” I responded as I pulled away from the embrace and looked at him.

Junior’s face contorted in confusion. “The pretty sky house? But why?”

I couldn’t help but to sigh. I didn’t have it in me to tell my baby that one of his favorite people had died several months ago and wouldn’t be coming back to see him. I just didn’t have the heart for it.

“It was just his time to go up there. Everyone has to go up there one day.” I responded as my fingers lightly brushed some of his hair away from his face.

“But…” He trailed off, a small frown gracing his face as his eyebrows furrowed together in a look of innocent confusion. “Do he not like us? Why he wanna move?”

Another small sigh escaped my lips as I wiped away a couple of the stray tears that continued to fall down my cheeks. “He does, he loves us both very much but he went there to protect us.” I explained as best as I could, earning a slight nod from Junior in response. I could tell he had no clue what to say back to that but wanted me to know that he understood. “But hey, we’re going to visit mommy’s other friend today and he’s excited to see you and finally hang out with you.”

Giving me a small smile, Junior nodded and began tugging at my hands causing me to stand to my feet and continue our trek towards Xae’s house. It only took about a few seconds to finally reach his home since we were only walking from my parked car by the side of it.

Junior took it upon himself to lightly knock against the door as I slyly pressed the doorbell button, knowing the light taps wouldn’t be enough for Xae to hear from inside the house but wanting my baby to feel like the big boy that he claimed to be so much. After a few seconds, the door swung open revealing the handsome caramel toned man I had grown to love and the strong aroma of seafood and andouille sausages coming from inside.

“Mm, it smells like I just walked through the gates of Heaven in here.” I spoke with a small smile as we stepped through the doorway and Xavier closed the door behind us.

I was met with the same goofy grin once Xae turned to the both of us. “Close enough.” He replied as he leaned in to press a light peck against my lips, my eyes fluttering closed to savor the softness of the short lived kiss.

“Lemme find out you can cook.” My eyebrows raised with a devious smirk as I teased him. I knew he could cook since he had done it for me countless times, but nothing had ever smelled nearly as savory as whatever he made today.

His smile slightly faded as a more nervous look grew on his face causing mine to mirror his sudden uneasy expression. “Actually…”

He was immediately cut off when a short, lighter skinned woman with light freckles stepped out from the kitchen and earned the attention of everyone with her soft but powerful voice. “Xavier, how many times have I told you that these sausages don’t need to be cut as thick as your skull—oh!” She halted in her tracks once she spotted me and as if on cue, we both looked to Xae.

He gave me a cheesy grin as he moved to the woman’s side and threw one of his arms over her shoulder. “Actually, my momma here cooked for us today—”

“This is your mom?” My mouth hung slightly ajar. “I’m sorry but you look like you could be his sister. My name is Simone.” I respectfully introduced myself as I walked over and held my hand out in her direction for her to shake.

She looked down at my hand with furrowed eyebrows for a few seconds before surprising me with a tight hug that took me no time to return. Once she pulled away, I was met with all of her pearly whites as she smiled back at me. “My apologies for being so forward but I’m a hugger. Xavier here should have warned you about that.” She added as she turned to her son with a playful glare. “You can call me Mrs. Loraine.”

I nodded in response before my eyes averted down to a respectfully silent Junior who I could tell had been allowing us to get acquainted while he watched the interaction. “And this is my baby Dominick but everyone calls him Junior.”

“Mommy…” He instantly spoke up as he looked at me with pleading eyes causing me to let out a light giggle.

“Oh! I’m sorry.” I cleared my throat and quickly corrected myself so he wouldn’t have a fit. “This is my big boy Dominick, but everyone just calls him Junior.”

He turned back to Mrs. Loraine with a confident smile and a nod as she allowed a hearty laugh to escape her lips, bending down to be at my four-year-old’s level. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you Junior. You hungry?”

As if on cue, his stomach made a small gurgling noise causing the woman to chuckle once again. But me, I looked down at him with a shocked expression. “How? You just had pancakes and eggs.” I reminded him of the breakfast he had eaten a couple hours prior, but he only offered me a smile as Mrs. Loraine took him by the hand and led him into the kitchen to dish out his food. I let out a light laugh and shook my head. “That boy has a bottomless pit forming inside him, I swear.”

The sudden alone time had prompted Xae to snake his arms around the small of my back, pulling me closer to him as I happily obliged. “You look beautiful today, you know that?” A slight blush crept its way onto my cheeks as I allowed his simple words to serenade me.

“Good enough to eat?” I retorted, playfully raising my brow as my own arms found themselves propped up atop his shoulders. A deep chuckle escaped his mouth as he leaned in closer.

My eyes immediately shut softly, expecting my lips to be met with his own but instead, a cooling shiver shot down my spine as his low raspy voice practically echoed through my ears. “Trust, I’ll be having some dessert tonight.” He placed a light peck right below my jawline, only earning another quiver from me as I nearly melted in his arms.

The things I wanted to do to him were too much for words and that sentence alone had me wanting to risk it all right then and there, but I knew I had to keep my composure. Or at least seem like I still had it all together. “And how are you so sure about that?”

He only responded with a knowing look as I fought to hold back the smile threatening to peek through.

***

My phone had vibrated for the third time during the duration of the movie that Xae, Junior, Mrs. Loraine, and I were watching causing me to release an annoyed sigh. There was only one person that could be calling from an unknown number and there was no parts of me that wanted anything to do with him.

“You okay?” I heard that same soft but powerful voice from earlier call to me as she placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

Xae and Junior had knocked out after they ate although they were the ones that turned on the movie. Each time we would try to turn it off, they’d wake up and complain about how they were still watching then end up falling right back asleep. Mouths wide open and all.

“No, I’m not actually. My son’s father keeps calling asking to see him but… I just don’t think that’s good for us. I’ve been doing so well, I just—I don’t wanna go back to that dark place. I can’t. And seeing Dom would just bring all of that back because he’s nothing but darkness.” Another sigh escaped my lips as I watched the call end for the third time, knowing to expect another either tomorrow or in another half hour.

“I see.” She paused for a second, looking like she was thinking of what to say next. “I don’t mean to overstep my boundaries but I believe you should see him.”

My face immediately scrunched up at her words. “No, you don’t understand. He—”

“Trust me, it’s not easy telling you to go and visit the man that nearly tried to kill my son. But if not for your boy, do it for you. You’re still scared of him. Look at you, you’re shaking.” She pointed out, causing me to look down and finally realize how badly my nerves were at just the thought of seeing Dominick. “I think that seeing him behind that glass and understanding that he can’t hurt you or your baby anymore would be beneficial for you. And hopefully, seeing Junior like he asked would cause him to ease up on the calls so you aren’t stressed like this everyday.”

My eyes averted downward to my fidgeting fingers. I was so conflicted because, of course, I didn’t want to keep Junior from seeing his dad but at the same time, his dad was a controlling psychopath. It would be more dangerous than good for them to keep in contact with each other. And I, for one, had no problem never having to see Dom’s face again.

“I don’t want you to feel like I’m pressuring you. Ultimately, it is your decision and I will support and try to help you through whichever you choose.” Mrs. Loraine had moved her hand from my shoulder to give my own hand a comforting squeeze as tears stung at my eyes that were still focused straight ahead of me.

“But I promise, you are never going to be alone in this again baby girl.”

Dom

When one of my calls finally went through to Simone, I almost didn’t believe it. She had been putting me off so much that I had figured she wiped her hands clean with me and just blocked the number altogether.

That’s how I knew that she still had some love for me somewhere in her heart. And she always will. I was her first everything. Not to mention I gave her our first born. We were naturally connected for life.

That was something that I had learned a long time ago and that’s why I fought so hard to get her back in the first place. She was the entire reason I was locked up to begin with. Simone owed it to me to at least visit and allow me to see my son. Regardless of what anyone else thought, I loved my little man to death. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him and Simone.

The smile on my face was evident once she agreed to bring him up to come see me. I had them both approved for visitation when I first stepped foot in this hell hole. Though, I definitely expected a visit a lot sooner but I wasn’t going to complain. I was just happy that I was going to get to see the both of them together again. I felt like there was nothing we couldn’t work through for the sake of our family.

Although the last thing I wanted was for the both of them to see me in the condition that I was in, I had to take what I could get right about now. My palms were literally sweating from the anxiousness of waiting for them to arrive and for me to be called over to visitation.

“You should have listened to me.” My head quickly snapped in the direction of my cell doorway, a breath of relief escaping my lips once I realized it was just the guy with the scar that I had a brief conversation with in the cafeteria.

I immediately smacked my lips once his words processed through my brain. “Newsflash nigga, your warning came too late. And anyway, don’t think this shit over just ‘cause I’m in a wheelchair now 'cause it’s not over until every single one of them niggas is being buried underneath this damn concrete.” My tone of voice was the epitome of seething anger which only caused the unnamed man to shake his head at me.

“You don’t get it, do you? Niggas like you be the ones buried underneath this damn concrete.” With another shake of his head, he turned to walk away but not before turning back to me one last time. “I really hope it don’t come to that. Be safe out here nigga.”

I waved him off as he walked away, not wanting to hear any words of wisdom that he thought he was trying to give me. Clearly whoever gave him the scar that decorated his face made him pussy because I wasn’t about to just lay back after the shit those niggas pulled on me. And I really hope they didn’t expect me to let it go either because they were in for a rude awakening.

***

The officer wheeled me down to the single visitation room where Simone, Junior and I were only separated by glass.

Simone immediately stood once I entered the isolated room, her eyebrows knit together in confusion as her eyes traveled down to the wheelchair I had been settled in since I couldn’t move around much due to the stitches that still needed to heal. “Dom, why—what happened to you?”

The concern in her voice made my heart swell. Knowing that she still cared about me—that at least one person still cared about me—was something that I needed if I was ever going to survive on the inside and not lose myself.

“It’s a long story that I’m not really tryna get into in front of our son.” My eyes instantly traveled downward to my little mini me who was looking just as baffled as Simone did. “Hey little man, your daddy misses you and loves you. Know that?”

Junior’s face straightened out a bit. “Then why you never come see me and mommy?”

My eyes instantly stole a glance up at Simone, knowing she didn’t know how to explain to our son that I wouldn’t be able to leave here for a while. “I can’t baby boy. I’m stuck in here, you guys have to come see me.”

“Stuck? Mommy, we have to get daddy out!” He turned to Simone, viciously patting on her thigh to get her attention but her tear filled eyes just couldn’t break away from me. “Mooooooom.” He dramatically fell into her lap causing her to jump out of her head and return to reality, looking down at Junior as she wiped some of the tears that began to fall.

She sat him up as she sniffled lightly and looked back over at me, as if her next words were for me and not him. “There’s nothing I can do about daddy being in here, baby. He did a lot of bad things to people that didn’t deserve it.”

“People that didn’t deserve it?” My face instantly screwed up at her words causing me to completely forget where I was. “Every single person got what they deserved except for your little boyfriend and that snitch bitch Ajanae but don’t worry, they gon’ get what’s coming to them.”

Simone’s hands quickly flew over Junior’s ears as she glared at me as if I was the craziest person she had ever laid eyes on. “What is wrong with you?! You’re sitting in here for everything you’ve done and still haven’t learned? Are you that sick?”

“Nah,” A bitter chuckle escaped my lips, “Sick is Ajanae putting a hit out on your sister’s head and then Tiarra suddenly ending up dead. Did she tell you that? Or about how she attended your sister’s funeral after the fact?”

Her eyebrows slightly furrowed before she swiftly shook her head. “This isn’t about Ajanae or Tiarra. This is about you and the shit you’ve done because you thought you could control me.”

“Newsflash baby.” I flashed her a smile that showed all of my teeth as my arms lifted up to gesture at the environment around us. “I still do control you, don’t you see where you’re at right now?”

She shook her head as Junior began to attempt to pry her hands from his ears so he could hear what we were saying which ultimately prompted her to remove her hands. “You just don’t get it, do you?” She asked, sounding exactly like the scarface from the cafeteria. “I came down here because even through everything you’ve done to me, I wanted Junior to at least be able to keep contact with you. If you were nothing else, you were always a good father to him. But now I’m starting to rethink my decision.”

Simone began collecting her things and standing up, which instantly made me internally panic. “Wait!” I sighed as she halted in her tracks, running my hands over my face slowly. “I really do appreciate you bringing him down here, believe me. You don’t even know how happy I was when you told me y'all were finally coming down to see me. It’s been lonely in here man and it’s not easy.”

She slowly sat back down with a small sigh escaping her lips as well. “I’m not an evil person Dominick but you’re gonna have to change if you want me and Junior to come see you more often. Outbursts like that don’t help you out at all.”

“As long as y'all are willing to come see me, I’m willing to change. I’m sorry, for real. Y'all are the only ones I got left man, y'all can’t leave me.” Simone flashed me a small sympathetic smile as I spoke and she remained silent.

I bit down on my bottom lip a bit, that rare feeling of anxiousness creeping up on me once again as our eyes met. “Do you think…” I quickly cleared my throat. “Do you think me and you would be able to work on us again?”

“Us?” She chuckled bitterly as she tore her attention away from me and shook her head. “Dom, I don’t think there was ever really an us to begin with. It was always me, you, and whatever female would throw herself at you, including my sister. And there will never be an us either.”

I had to fight back the urge to smack my lips again since I had literally just promised to change my behavior around them. “Well, why not? I’m sure people have been through way worse than cheating.”

“And you know you did way more than just cheat.” She swiftly retorted back. “And anyway there will never be an us because… I think I’m in love.” Her tone and expression were almost wistful as she spoke those words, a smile daring to tug at her lips as she thought about whoever she thought she loved.

“Love? Right. Who? That light bright nigga?” I immediately began cackling causing her face to straighten out as I continued to literally laugh my ass off. “Bitch, you must be fucking crazy if you think that nigga could ever love you as much as I do. And you gotta whole kid, ain’t no man gonna wanna deal with you so I don’t know why you tryna play yourself with that pretty boy.” I dismissively waved her off.

She let out an offended chuckle as she shook her head and stood up. “FYI, he loves Junior and me in a way that you never can because you’re a sociopath. You have to be. You have no feelings about nothing or no one but yourself. And I just realized that you’re never gonna change. No matter how much you say or try, the real you is clearly always gonna come out eventually.” She began gathering her things for a second time, this time not stopping as she hoisted Junior up on her hip so she’d be able to leave as quickly as possible. “I hope you enjoyed your time with Junior and I because you’ll never get to see either one of us ever again.”

“Fuck, Simone wait!” I quickly called out to her but she just continued to open the door and step out of the visitation room without so much as a glance back at me, prompting the same officer that walked me here to come back into the room and take me back.

My breath began getting shaky as my heartbeat sped up and I started hyperventilating. The only family I had walking out on me at a time where I needed them most was causing me to go into a full blown panic attack as the officer yelled for a nurse to come and assist me.

The prison’s nurse quickly rushed over to me and attempted to calm me down but I immediately shoved her away from me, not wanting anyone else in my personal space. I stood to my feet and the crippling pain that shot through my body soon afterwards instantly made me drop down to the ground as the officer and nurse rushed to my side to help me up. “Get the fuck away from me, yo! I swear to God I’ll off every one of y'all, man, if y'all don't—” I hiccuped as tears started to pour from my eyes.

I couldn’t tell what I was experiencing right now but my chest hurt and the clear salty liquid couldn’t stop falling effortlessly from its ducts. The officer and nurse had finally helped me back into the wheelchair causing me to feel the warm liquid that began to lightly pool in my pants.

The nurse let out a sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “I think he just ripped his stitches, I saw blood.” She spoke causing the officer to mumble an annoyed 'not this again’ as he rolled his eyes and began speaking code into his walkie talkie.

I didn’t know how much longer I could do this.

Xae

I packed some of the things that Bree had left behind into its own separate box to rid myself of her and her presence in my life once and for all. I didn’t exactly know what I was going to do with them; I just knew it all had to go.

Everything felt so surreal; I still couldn’t believe that this was all happening. My mom, of course, was eager to help me get rid of the last of her things since she never really liked her to begin with. Maybe I should have went with my mother’s intuition on that one.

“Is that the last of it, baby?” She called out to me just as I was finishing up sealing the last of the two boxes with tape. I knew the type of person Bree was and knew she had to have left this many things on purpose. One of these days, she was going to try to hop her happy ass back into my life by attempting to get something she quote-on-quote “forgot” at my house but I wasn’t going for none of that.

Setting the last box on top of the first one, I turned back to my mom and nodded just as I threw the roll of tape down to the floor. My mother immediately sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes at me as she went over to pick the tape up and place it on the counter. “Boy, you know that’s how mess starts.”

I let out a light chuckle at how clean everything had to be with her at all times. “I was gonna pick it up later—”

Suddenly, the door busted open causing my words to halt as my mom and I both turned towards the door to see a teary eyed Simone with a crying Junior on her hip. She shakily sat him down and instantly began pacing. “He won’t stop crying for his dad because of the way we left but I can’t go back up there again. I can't—”

My mom interjected by planting her hand on Simone’s shoulder causing her to break out of her slight panic attack and look over at the warm and loving lady who had touched her. “Why don’t I take him out for ice cream or something? You seem stressed baby girl.”

Simone just nodded blankly as my mom silently gathered her belongings and grabbed Junior’s hand, not before having to convince him to tag along in the first place with the promise of the frozen dairy treat. “Talk to her.” She mouthed to me as she walked past to exit out of the door with the four-year-old in tow.

Once the door closed behind her, a silence took over that I knew the both of us wanted to break but just didn’t know where to start. “Tell me what happened.” I decided was the best thing to begin with as I grabbed Simone’s hand and led her towards the couch. She hadn’t spoke since the outburst she had when she first came in and instead of looking at me, she was staring straight ahead of her the entire time. Almost like she was mesmerized.

“I told him I was in love with you…”

And again, silence.

I wasn’t sure if I heard her correctly or if my heart was just letting my brain hear the things it wanted to hear but I immediately felt the urge to hear it again. “Hold on, you what?”

“He wanted to get back together and be a family again because he said he was gonna change for Junior and I but I told him we couldn’t be together because I was in love…” She finally broke her attention from the wall in front of her and her eyes panned over until they landed on me. “With you. And don’t worry! You don’t have to say it back or anything, I just wanted to let you know—”

And just like our first kiss, I cut off her adorably nervous rambling by pressing my lips against hers as they almost instantly fell in sync with each other, moving at a pace that made it feel like we were the only thing that mattered to each other at that very moment.

Her eyes fluttered open as I pulled away from the passionate kiss, those doe brown orbs holding a hunger in them as they longingly stared at my lips then shifted back up to my own eyes. “So, is that always gonna be your way to shut me up?”

A chuckle escaped my mouth as I quickly pecked her lips again, purposely avoiding the question just to tease her a bit. “You wanna know the very moment I knew you had to be special to me?”

She gave me a knowing look but decided to go with my subject change anyway, the topic obviously peaking her interest. “When? When I made you those amazing shrimp tacos you said would taste weird because 'shrimp doesn’t belong on tacos’.” She made air quotes with her hands as she mimicked my voice causing me to release another laugh.

“Nah, but that was pretty good though.” I looked at her, my hand reaching up to tuck some loose strands of hair behind her ear. “The dreams I had about you. There would always be this little girl tryna find you. Or sometimes you’d be there with me.”

“You saw a little girl?” She asked curiously just as she sat up a bit more causing me to have to shift a bit so my arm would lay comfortably around her shoulders.

I nodded in response and shrugged a bit. “I wanna say the girl was your complexion with freckles. The prettiest brown eyes I’d ever seen—aside from yours, of course.” I immediately caught myself making Simone giggle a bit.

“Remember when I told you I had dreams about you too? Well, it would always be you and you’d be waiting for me and calling me over but no matter how much I tried running to you, I just couldn’t reach you. You seemed so close but just not enough to grab I guess.” She spoke as she let off a little shrug of her own. “But after I had the miscarriage, I kept getting dreams about a little girl when I was in the hospital. I thought it was from the guilt I had of losing Saint’s baby but whenever I woke up, you would have just texted me or would be coming in to see me in the next couple minutes. I never thought much of it but I think she was trying to guide me somewhere.”

We both just held a silent staring contest for a couple seconds before simultaneously busting out in laughter. “I know it’s corny, but it’s weird, right?” She asked causing me to shake my head no.

“Maybe that just means we were meant to be together from the beginning.” I playfully wiggled my eyebrows at her followed by her plucking the middle of my forehead with a small laugh.

Sitting up a bit, she seductively tossed her leg over me and lowered herself on top of me, my hands immediately finding her hips as she straddled me. “But I knew that the whole time.” She replied as she slowly leaned closer to me.

“Oh, did you?” I mumbled huskily against her lips before she expertly pressed them against mine, my hands moving to instinctively pull her body closer to my own.

She allowed a low moan to escape her lips once our centers consequently found each other. Meanwhile, my member had been stiffening for her from the moment she found a seat on my lap. My hands slowly trailed up her shirt, her soft skin being lightly caressed by the tips of my fingers as our mouths continued to move together as one.

Her hips found themselves slowly rocking against my lower half as my hands effortlessly danced along her body, wanting to feel every inch of her that they could. It was something I hadn’t realized they longed for, for a while now.

She broke her lips away from mine and began planting light wet kisses along my jawline and leading downward to my neck, causing my jaw to immediately clench at the shiver that shot through my body at her touch. I couldn’t take the teasing; I felt like I had been craving her way too long to beat around the bush but I still wanted to make sure I took my time with her and handled her delicately, the way an angel like her should be handled.

My hands gripped at her thighs as I lifted us both from the couch, her hands instantly wrapping around my neck for security as I walked us over to my room. If there was one thing I wasn’t going to do, was have our first time be on the couch. Plus, I wasn’t sure when my mom would be coming back.

Kicking the door closed, she let out a light giggle as I threw her down onto the plush sheets, her legs immediately spreading for me as I lowered myself over her body and began trailing kisses of my own along her neck and collarbone. I could feel her back arch off of the bed as she pulled me closer, her breath hitching in her throat as my member found itself pressing up against her center with ease. Almost as if they were calling to each other.

As if my hands had a mind of their own, they began removing her clothes. First her shirt, followed by the leggings she sported on her lower half which left her in nothing but a lace bra and panty set. The underwear was so simple yet they had me licking over my lips hungrily as I started down at her perfectly curved body. She had just the right amount of everything and the sight of her alone was causing my dick to bend in my jeans.

“Damn girl.” I mumbled lowly as my hands lightly brushed against her second pair of lips causing her first pair to tuck themselves between her teeth as she watched me admire her body. Lowering myself down a bit, my lips pressed soft kisses along the inside of her thigh and getting just close enough to tease her the way she had attempted to do to me. I then began kissing her through the fabric of the thin laced panties that had covered her in the first place.

Simone let out a groan. “Xae please…”

A small smirk played on my features, knowing she was fed up with the teasing and wanted to feel me as much as I wanted to feel her. I made my way back up until my body was parallel with hers and she wasted no time in taking the initiative to unbutton my pants as our lips found each other once again. My member immediately sprung to life once it was released from both my boxers and jeans as she pulled them down simultaneously.

The moment I realized I fucked up was the moment she grabbed my hand and guided it into her panties, allowing my finger to glide around in her creamy wet juices for just a few seconds before she pulled them right back out and popped my fingers into her mouth to suck them clean, her eyes never breaking contact with mine. I was stunned that someone so innocent looking could be so nasty, and I was loving every minute of it.

Not another second went by before I was nearly ripping her underwear from her body and slowly running my tip along her open. Her mouth opened to complain but came up empty once I pushed myself inside of her, her walls immediately molding comfortably around my dick as we both released low moans at finally getting to feel one another.

Hiking her legs up on my shoulders, my hand trailed upwards to cup her neck as my hips began moving back and forth, my member disappearing inside of her only to reappear more coated with her juices. “Fuck.” I grunted lowly as I made sure to sink every inch of myself deeper into her causing constant light moans to escape her lips breathlessly. All the while, our eyes never broke away from each other. It was like we were in a trance with one another.

Dom

The prison orange that I was required to wear just symbolized everything about my freedom being taken away. I couldn’t even eat freely anymore; everything was on a timed schedule, every single day.

It was something I hated since usually, I had always been so unpredictable.

I got mean mugs from people I didn’t even know and the food tasted like they just threw any old thing together and called it breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It only took a few days for me to stop pushing away the food and not eating it, seeing as I was most likely going to be in here for a while.

My trial had been held about a week ago and seeing everything that I had been charged with, the judge gave me the maximum of fifteen years for the attempted homicide alone. Once I heard that, I didn’t even care to listen to the rest of the sentencing for my other charges. I most likely had a life sentence on my hands and I wasn’t sure if I could do the full twenty with all of these criminals around me.

We had to be up at a certain time every day and although I tried to avoid going to get breakfast as much as I could, we couldn’t just roam around whenever we wanted to since this was a maximum security prison. Only the worst criminals who couldn’t be trusted were transferred here, and I just felt like I didn’t belong here at all. Nearly half of the men here have murdered someone. The only person I’ve tried to kill ended up living so I didn’t understand why the judge had me here.

What I’ve done wasn’t even half as bad as what some of these other people have done.

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted when I felt a hard shoulder bump into mine as I walked towards the cafeteria for breakfast, nearly knocking me off balance since I wasn’t really focused. Once I caught my footing, I almost broke my neck snapping it in his direction as a cold glare resided on my face.

“What, you got a problem?” He spoke in a teasing manner as two of his friends stood behind him, giving me the same mug that he was giving me.

I knew he was just trying to start shit with me because that’s what most people did to fresh meat, attempting to see what they were all about. Whether or not they were pussy. “Yea, watch where the fuck you going. I know you seen me walking nigga.” I retorted quickly with venom laced in my voice as the trio began to surround me but I couldn’t back down now. Even if they beat my ass in this very spot, I couldn’t go out without a fight.

My head was held high as we eyed each other with menacing looks, neither one of us backing down from the other. I wasn’t even worried about the two followers behind me because I could tell this one was the one who called the shots.

“This nigga think he bold. Bitch boy, you ain’t even with no crew. We could stab yo ass right now and the only people who won’t look the other way is the guards. And that’s only ‘cause it’s they job.” The inmate in front of me spoke causing his two lackeys to laugh.

But my face remained straight as I looked at him, multiple other inmates eyeing us to watch the drama that was about to go down. It was like high school all over again. “Unlike you, I don’t need two niggas up my ass all day to feel tough. I wouldn’t even be surprised if they could tell me how yo shit tastes.”

The male in front of me clenched his jaw, moving closer towards me before he suddenly stopped as he glared over my shoulder in annoyance. I subtly looked behind me and saw two guards standing there, trying to see what all of the commotion was about since there were literally inmates leaving their table to come into the hallway and watch the brawl that was bound to go down. He let out a deep exhale as his eyes refocused on me. “Don’t think you safe now nigga.”

He motioned the other two to follow him as he started backing away from me slowly, never taking his glare off of me and I did the same. All I was trying to do was go and eat breakfast but as always, there’s got to be some bullshit.

Rolling my eyes, I turned around and continued my trek to the cafeteria, ignoring the multiple stares that came my way. I knew that I couldn’t just say something to everybody because I’d end up dead by tomorrow so the best thing I could possibly do was ignore it.

Once I got my food, I sat at a table that only one man occupied. Most of the other tables were full and I didn’t want to be surrounded by a bunch of men who seem to gossip like women since there wasn’t much entertainment in here. After sitting down away from the other inmate, I began to eat my food quietly. Jail food was probably the most disgusting thing I’ve had to eat thus far in my life but I’ve found a few things that were okay to eat and I wasn’t about to starve myself.

I heard the man across from me mumble something to me as he scooped a spoonful of oatmeal into his mouth, not even looking my way. My head turned both ways to figure out if there was someone else he could have been talking to but no one was even remotely focused on what we had going on. I turned back to him. “What nigga?”

“I said you need to be careful. Sometimes the best thing in here isn’t trying to prove yourself, it’s staying off the radar.” He spoke, not once making eye contact with me.

I smacked my lips. “Well, how am I supposed to do that when niggas like that go around looking for trouble? I’m not finna let nobody punk me. I don’t care if it’s my momma.” I retorted back, being sure to give him the full attention that he wasn’t giving me.

He finally turned my way and I almost gasped once I got to see him fully. The other side of his face held a long scar that started at his forehead and ended right below his left eye, which had a white cast to it indicating that he couldn’t see out of that eye anymore. “Just listen to what I say nigga. Or don’t say I didn’t warn you.” With that, he got up and left the table leaving me to ponder on what possibly could have happened to his face.

It also made me wonder if what happened to him happened while he was in here locked up.

***

I impatiently waited in line to use the phone, the person before me seeming to take forever to finish his conversation. There was a set time that we were able to use the phone and if we didn’t get to call anyone because we were too far back in line, well oh well. We’d have to try again next time.

I had gotten here a bit earlier since I knew there would be a line wrapped around the corner by the time I got here if I didn’t. I was the next one up but it sounded like the person in front of me was speaking to his mother. He was a white man that didn’t look like he could even hurt a fly but I knew looks could be deceiving, especially in here. He could be someone who raped and murdered twenty people and I wouldn’t even know.

My foot tapped loudly causing him to look down at it, then up at me before turning back around to finish up his conversation. He finally said his goodbyes and as soon as that phone was being placed down, I was picking it up and dialing a number quickly. We only had about six minutes left to make a call and I was hoping it would be enough time since it took the receiving caller a good two minutes to be able to accept the call.

But she never answered my calls. Hell, she probably had the number blocked for all I knew. I still called her every day though, hoping that at least one day she’d pick up the phone for me.

That day clearly wasn’t today as I heard the beep signaling to create a voicemail message sound off on the other end causing me to sigh heavily. “Simone, baby, answer my calls. Please. I hate being in here and not being able to see you and Junior. Can you just bring him down to visit? At least once. I’m going crazy in here and I don’t wanna end up—” Suddenly I heard another beep, letting me know that was all I could record for right now.

I closed my eyes and sighed, attempting to calm myself down before I threw the phone and messed things up for everyone. Each day, it was like I left the same message over and over. I just wanted to see my son.

I hung the phone back up and walked back in the direction of my cell, the message I had just left weighing heavy on my mind. It had been over a month and she was still ignoring me. Either that or she changed her number which was worse because I’d never be able to find out how to contact her while I sat in here for years.

Despite everything that happened, Simone was the love of my life and I still want to be able to see my son grow up. I don’t want my last memory of him to be when he was four and I don’t want him to end up forgetting about me either.

I stepped into my cell and let out a breath of relief that my cellmate wasn’t there. He wasn’t that bad, he just enjoyed talking a lot. Half of the time, I don’t even think he knew what he was talking about himself, he just kept blurting out words.

Laying on my bed, I closed my eyes and threw my arm over my face, attempting to get the depressing thoughts of my son forgetting who I was out of my head. He was at the age where he wouldn’t remember most of things that happened when he grew up. I didn’t want him to also not remember me. I definitely didn’t want him to end up calling another nigga his dad either. That would hurt me to my core.

I sighed once I heard my cell door close, not bothering to look that way since giving eye contact to my cell mate was like an invitation to converse in his eyes. “Aye yo, George, I really don’t feel like talking right now man. Just give me a minute.”

Once a few seconds had passed by and I didn’t hear a response, I removed my arm from over my eyes and sat up immediately seeing that nigga from breakfast and his two puppy dogs standing right by the door. I quickly jumped up and attempted to reach into my little cabinet where I kept a shiv made from an old toothbrush I found, but the three men swiftly grabbed me and began throwing blows anywhere they could.

The only thing I could do was curl into a ball and shelter my face from the six hands that were trying to get at it. Suddenly I felt hands grab my wrists as I was somehow forced onto my stomach, the two followers holding me down as their knees dug into my shoulder so I wouldn’t be able to move.

I instantly began thrashing and fighting hard against the two once their leader began tearing a hole down the back of my jumpsuit, followed by him nearly ripping my underwear off of my body. I moved violently in their hold but their grip on me only tightened more as I kicked behind me as best as I could.

A gut wrenching scream escaped my mouth once I felt a sharp object being shoved into my anus, the brutal force of the item tearing at the skin and instantly causing internal bleeding. The inmate from breakfast forced the object in and out of me repeatedly as one of his friends stuffed their sock in my mouth to keep my cries for help muffled, salty tears freely falling from my eyes as pain shot throughout my body.

“How that taste bitch.”

Bree

I sullenly packed the boxes holding all of my belongings into the moving truck I had rented out for the day. The coldness in his eyes as he watched my every move only made the pain I felt inside so much worse.

Tears pooled in the brims of my eyes as I stared at all of the cardboard boxes filled with my things, finally causing me to realize that this was really happening to me. Xae was kicking me out of the house. He wasted no time in packing up my stuff once he got home from the ceremony.

He stood at the foot of the front doorway, watching with crossed arms as he made sure all of my things were gone so that I’d have no reason to come back, as he stated to me. I neared closer to him as I made my way to get the last of my boxes, his stone cold expression never faltering from his face.

“Xae,” I reached out to touch his arm as the hot and salty liquid continued to leak from my eyes, “I’m so sorry baby but please… don’t do this to me. I don’t want things to end like this.”

He responded by simply moving his arm out of my reach and stepping to the side so that I’d have better access inside to get the rest of my belongings. I sniffled quietly as I hung my head low, slowly allowing my hand to fall back down to my side.

“I think this is the last of it.” My head rose again once I heard the sound of Simone’s voice calling out to me as she appeared in the doorway with the last box in her hand. She had been helping me make sure that everything was packed into the U-Haul truck since Xavier was refusing to give me any type of assistance.

Simone carried the box out to the truck as I remained standing right in front of Xae. While my eyes were on him, his eyes were strictly focused on her and it made my heart fall to the pit of my stomach. I knew that what I was afraid was going to happen between the two had no obstacles holding them apart now.

“Xae,” I called out to him one last time causing his eyes to slowly trail back over to me with annoyance written all over his face, “Can we please just talk about this? I made a mistake but that’s no reason to throw away what we had together for almost three years.”

A bitter chuckle escaped his lips as he shook his head. “I didn’t throw shit away, Bree. You did. So now, shut the fuck up and deal with it.”

My mouth fell agape as I stared at him in complete shock. He had never even fixed his mouth to say something so disrespectful to me before. I had to have really sent him over the edge for something like that to have left his lips. It had only caused more tears to frequent my eyes as I watched him stare down at me without an ounce of sympathy. “Xae… please don't—”

Before I could finish my sentence, Simone had jogged back over causing me to stop talking because I didn’t want to embarrass myself by seeming too desperate. But my heart ended up falling to the pit of my stomach once I witnessed Xae immediately throw his arm around her waist and pull her body into his, almost protectively. My eyes couldn’t even tear away from his hand that rested on her hip as my blood began to boil.

“So, y'all are together now?” The question came out in a barely audible whisper but I could tell the both of them heard me because Simone subconsciously took a step away from Xavier. Unlike him, she actually looked like she felt bad for me and didn’t want to make things worse by being all touchy feely with the man I was supposed to marry a couple of days prior.

She looked like she wanted to say something too, but Xae quickly shook his head and motioned for me to leave. “That doesn’t matter. You have all your shit so it’s time to go.” Simone quickly gave him a stern look that made it unnecessary to even open her mouth to lecture him and lightly squeezed his hand before leaning over to whisper something in his ear.

I attempted to subtly lean forward to hear what she was saying to him, but to no avail. Once she pulled away, Xae looked at me and sighed. “I’m sorry. I might be hurt but that doesn’t give me the right to treat anyone like shit.” He spoke lowly causing my mouth to fall agape once again.

My eyes swiftly darted between him and her, wondering what in the world she could have said to get him to apologize to me in a matter of seconds. “I—uh, it’s okay. I probably deserve it.” I hung my head low as it shook from side to side; disappointed in myself was an understatement.

An awkward silence soon took over between the three of us and I took that as my cue to finally leave. Xae clearly wasn’t going to give me another chance and I was beginning to get tired of the look of pity on Simone’s face. I knew she was just being nice but it wasn’t making me feel any better at all.

My legs slowly carried me over to the driver’s side of the large U-Haul truck and due to my short stature, I literally had to climb in. Once I was seated and closed the door, I took one last glance over at Xae who was now not even focused on me at all, but had a slight grin on his face as he spoke to Simone. His hands just couldn’t stay away from her as he kept attempting to pull her into him and she kept a slight distance between them most likely since I was still there.

I allowed the remaining tears to fall freely down my cheeks as I started up the truck and drove away before my heart exploded in my chest from watching the two of them together. But I guess it wasn’t all bad; at least he was happy…

***

I skillfully backed the truck into Antonio’s driveway so that I wouldn’t have to walk too far to grab my stuff and take it inside. My eyebrows furrowed once I realized the other unknown car parked in his driveway and I exited the truck to look inside of the empty vehicle. There was nothing even remotely distinguishable about the car. Nothing hanging from the rear view mirror nor any knickknacks on the dashboard.

I shrugged and headed inside to let Antonio know that I was here and I was going to need help with carrying some of the more heavy boxes. I figured he’d probably bought me a cheap car to drive since he was usually busy dealing with his restaurant and such and was going to be gone majority of the time. The car I used to drive around was Xae’s so I couldn’t keep that and Antonio knows how much I hate being stuck inside all of the time.

Knocking lightly on the door a few times, I rocked back and forth on my feet as I awaited an answer but it wasn’t coming quick enough for me so I knocked again. It was as if the second knock triggered something inside and I suddenly heard loud yelling causing a look of confusion to wash over my face.

The screaming from inside became louder and before I knew it, the door had swung open revealing a fuming Serina who looked as red as a tomato. She instantly rolled her eyes at the sight of me and I held no hesitation in doing the same. I was tired of seeing this bitch.

“What do you want?” She asked as she leaned against the door frame, blocking the entryway as if this was her house.

My face immediately scrunched up. “What do I want? Girl, I’m not about to play with you.” I retorted as I forcefully pushed passed her and began calling for Antonio once I was inside. He finally came out from what looked to be the direction of the kitchen, looking just as livid as she did. “I need help moving my stuff inside.”

A low chuckle sounded off from behind me but when I turned around, Serina was staring straight at Antonio instead of me. “So, you’re really letting this bitch move in with you? How long have y'all known each other again?”

“Mind your fucking business.” Antonio mumbled as he moved passed the both of us to go outside to the truck.

Her eyes immediately fell back on me, a hateful look in her eye that I knew for a fact was jealousy which only caused me to smirk back at her. “You think you’ve won because you’re here now but, newsflash sweetheart, you’re only here because you might be carrying his child. He doesn’t love or care about you.” She spoke with nothing but pure venom laced in her voice.

“And you think he loves you?” I laughed out, honestly amused at her attempt to get under my skin. “Remember that you’re only mad at me because I had the man you wanted. In front of you, no less. So don’t come at me on that bullshit.” I replied, completely fed up with holding my tongue for people. If she wanted to play that game, I could really hurt her feelings and I wouldn’t mind doing so either because this bitch had it coming.

Serina rolled her eyes as her hands found their place on her hips. “I don’t give a fuck what you think you had. You also had a fiancé up until a few days ago too but where’s he at now? Oh yea, he doesn’t love or care about you either.”

My nostrils flared as soon as she brought up Xae and my blood instantly began to boil over. I couldn’t believe that Antonio’s been telling her all of my deep and personal business when he knew damn well that I didn’t like this bitch at all. “You’re nothing but a cheating, lying, hoe and frankly, I don’t care what a cheating lying hoe has to say about me anyway. That’s exactly why I fucked Antonio all up and down this house. Did you ever get the chance to even make it to the bed yet?” She added with a devious smirk painted all over her face.

I’m not sure what exactly took over me, but the next thing I knew, I was on top of her sending slaps and blows to her face as she scratched and pulled at my hair, occasionally landing a few hits of her own. My legs kicked and flailed once I felt myself being pulled off of her.

“LET GO OF ME! You fucking asshole, you told her everything!” Hot angry tears stained my cheeks as I tried my best to get out of Antonio’s hold and take off on him as well.

Serina soon began to stand up, holding her nose due to it being busted and charged at me again. Antonio still hadn’t let me go so she was able to grab a huge chunk of my hair and started throwing wild punches causing me to rapidly kick my feet out to defend myself. “Yo, what the fuck, stop!” I heard Antonio yell which instantly caused her to halt her movements and back away from me. It was as if she was his little puppy dog, following all of the orders he’d give her.

With a heaving chest, she stormed out of the house and was sure to slam the door behind her. Antonio and I both waited but we didn’t hear a car start. Instead, glass began breaking from outside and loud thumps could be heard. My eyes immediately widened as I thrashed to get out of his hold once again. “Get off! My stuff is out there!” I just knew this broad wasn’t damaging my property.

“Ok, calm down! I’ll handle it.” Antonio replied as he cautiously let me back down to my feet, waiting a few seconds to make sure I wouldn’t go outside and run up on her again before he jogged out his front door causing the loud noises to stop altogether.

Shaking my head, I headed over to the bathroom to check on my face which had started burning a couple of minutes ago. I stared at my reflection to see my skin riddled with scratches and one of my eyes beginning to swell a bit, knowing it would leave a slight bruise once it went down.

If this was what was going to happen just because of me living here, I’d rather just be alone.

Ajanae

A shaky breath escaped my lips as I sat in my car, staring ahead of me at the police station I had been hesitating to go into for the last hour. I knew that once I went inside, my life was over and I just wanted a few more minutes of freedom before that happened. 

It just felt like my apology wasn’t enough. After all, they were only just words that meant absolutely nothing since my actions have been anything but apologetic. I hadn’t told Simone yet because although I was doing it mainly for her, I was also doing it for myself; living with the guilt in aiding the end of someone else’s life was something that was painfully hard to live with and I didn’t want to anymore. I couldn’t just keep thinking about myself and saving my own ass.

My hands anxiously gripped and un-gripped the steering wheel as my heart beat out of my chest. It felt so loud, the person in the car over could probably hear it. Allowing an anxious breath to escape my lips, I finally shut off my car and allowed the newfound silence from the engine cutting off to surround me as Antonio sat quietly beside me. I had to leave someone with my car and I didn’t necessarily have as much trust for any of my other family members as I did for him.

As I reached for the handle of the car door, my phone’s ringtone began to blare throughout the speakers of my car due to me having my phone hooked up to the bluetooth to play music. A shaky sigh of relief left my lips and I quickly reached for it before pressing the green button to answer the call. Subconsciously, I knew I was trying to do everything I could to procrastinate.

I had never been to any type of jail or prison before and I knew once I entered the building, I wasn’t going to be leaving in a very long time. I had done my research beforehand to find out the maximum and minimum sentences for accessory to murder and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to spend years with my freedom abruptly stripped from me. But for Simone, I was going to do it all anyway.

“Hello?” I answered a bit more anxiously as I watched the seconds on the call tick by.

The person on the other line held their silence for a few seconds longer, their slow breathing being the only thing that could be heard from the other end. My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion and I reached for my phone to hang up, but the voice that came through my speakers immediately halted me in my tracks. “I know what you’re doing Ajanae… and I shouldn’t have to tell you that it isn’t smart.”

My heartbeat unwillingly started to quicken as my brows only knitted closer together. “…Dom?”

“Nae, baby, I thought you were smarter than this. Just pull away from the police station and go home.”

I slightly jumped in my seat as my eyes darted around the outside of the station and parking lot to see if anyone was around or watching but there was not a soul in sight. Antonio stared at me from the passenger seat in pure confusion. “How did you—”

“Why do y'all keep asking me that dumb shit and why do I keep telling y'all the same answer? Just 'cause I’m locked up don’t mean I don’t still have eyes and ears everywhere. I gotta say though… I didn’t think you’d actually do it.” His tone was eerily calm and nonchalant, almost as if he was just doing this to play with my mind.

And it was starting to work.

“Dom, why do you even care? It’s not like you’re getting out any time soon. What’s a few more years added on? I’m tired of living with these secrets.” My voice cracked slightly as I spoke and tears began to form in the brims of my eyes.

I was more haunted by the situation than it seemed but my fear of going to prison had been the only thing keeping my guilt in check.

“I’m only thinking 'bout you here, baby girl. Trust me, you’re not built for this life… no one is.” His voice had lowered as he trailed off, seeming a bit contemplated. It was a tone I never heard coming out of his mouth before, but he was sure to quickly dismiss it. “So, like I said, just go home, run yourself a warm bath, and enjoy your freedom while you have it.”

More tears poured from my eyes as he spoke and I began shaking my head as if he could see me. “I can’t. It’s not right.”

“You wasn’t thinking 'bout what was right when you was helping me so stop bitching.” He snapped. “Don’t do it or I’m telling you right now, you’ll regret ever meeting me.” And with that, the call abruptly ended leaving nothing but silence to take over.

After a few seconds, I quickly wiped the tears away from my eyes with a new determination. I wasn’t about to let this man keep controlling me and everyone else the way he had been for years. And the gag was, I already regretted ever meeting him. It was crazy because just a few months ago, he still had me head over heels in love with him. I thought he could do no wrong.

“Who was that?” Antonio’s voice spoke up from beside me. He sounded cautious to even say anything, like he didn’t want to bring it up but knew he had to.

I quickly shook my head, dismissing the subject entirely. I didn’t want to have to explain the entire situation. He didn’t even know the reason that I was turning myself in; just that he needed to keep my car safe and maintained during the meantime. It just made things way less complicated for me. And frankly, I didn’t want to see the look of disappointment on my cousin’s face when I told him what I’d done.

“Just an ex—”

He quickly shifted in his seat as if he was The Flash. “You mean that punk ass bitch that had you laid up in a hospital bed for two weeks because he thought you were cheating on him with me?!” I could literally feel the seething anger radiating off of him as he spoke.

The car fell silent and immediately, I knew that he knew the answer to that question. I had always tried to defend him, telling myself and others that he only did it because he didn’t know Antonio was my cousin and not some random guy I picked up on the street. But now I know that, that was nowhere near true. This was just what he did to the women that fell in love with him.

“Yo, why the fuck is he calling your phone talking 'bout some he’s gonna make you regret meeting him? I’m gonna make that nigga regret ever being born when I get my hands on him.”

My head snapped in my cousin’s direction in irritation. “Just let it go, alright? Forget this ever happened. Besides, the only way you’d be able to 'get your hands on him’ was if you were sitting in a jail cell.”

“Shit, we in front of a police station right now. Say I won’t go and smash the windows on one of them squad cars—”

“Just stop!” I quickly interrupted before he actually managed to work up the courage to put some action behind his words. “I don’t want anything to do with Dominick and I don’t want you or anyone else to get involved with him either. Everything he touches becomes toxic.” By now, my tears had all but dried up and I was a bit more agitated that Ant was really trying to risk his freedom for something that happened years ago.

He glared over at me, clearly still livid about the whole situation before looking out of the window with a frustrated sigh. “Whatever, man.”

“I’m serious, Antonio! I’m not saying that to be dramatic because when I walk through those doors,” I yelled as I swiftly pointed towards the double doors of the police station, “I’m being charged with accessory to murder and he’s being charged with murder.” His eyes widened a bit at my revelation, his lips not even daring to part themselves and say something. “So when I say everything he touches becomes toxic… I mean that shit.” My voice had softened up a bit as I attempted to read his facial expression but I couldn’t quite tell what he was thinking.

“So, you—you helped him kill someone. Like someone is six feet under right now because of you two?” He asked as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It was surreal even hearing it come out of my own mouth.

A low sigh escaped my lips as I shrugged slightly. “I mean, it’s a bit more complicated than just that but yea. Someone’s dead and I played a part in that. So yea…”

The car was overcome with silence once again as neither of us knew exactly what to say to each other. There was nothing to really say at a moment like this. Antonio sat back in his seat, staring ahead of himself in what I knew to be pure thought. It wasn’t everyday your cousin told you they helped commit a murder. I know I didn’t help in the physical sense, but the guilt still feels all the same.

“Just… don’t tell ma or tía, please. I don’t want them to have to live with knowing that. And you know if you tell one, the other is gonna find out like that.” I snapped lightly to add emphasis to how quick information got around with the two. They were always like two peas in a pod since they were younger; which was why Antonio and I were so close. We basically grew up together too. “If they ask, just tell them I wouldn’t say. And that goes for all our other nosey ass family members too. I don’t want anyone knowing why… at least not out of our mouths.”

He nodded and let out another sigh as he just looked at me. I knew that he was disappointed in me too, but still wanted to support me doing the right thing. He’d always have my back when I needed it the most. “I hope you know you’re fucking crazy. And dumb as hell for letting that nigga talk you into ruining your life.” My eyes lowered as they stung a bit, feeling the water works already coming over me. I knew I was stupid from what I did but hearing it from someone so close to me just hit different. “But… I really admire you for running towards your problems instead of away from them. I don’t know if I’d be able to turn myself in knowing I’d get years.”

“You wouldn’t, pussy. You couldn’t even tell your friend that you fucked his bitch.” I retorted, earning a stern glare from my cousin. I knew the subject was still a bit fresh but I couldn’t help it. It was just so funny seeing how worked up he got over just the mention of it. “Kidding, kidding. But I—uh, I think I better do this before I really do chicken out.”

He nodded and we were soon both hopping out of the car and making our way up to the front of the station. I stopped directly in front of the doors and let out a nervous breath that I didn’t even know I was holding in. It was now or never.

Reaching to my side, I tightly embraced Antonio as a couple of stray tears crept down my cheeks. “I love you big bro.”

“I love you little sis, you be safe in there and make sure I’m the first person you put on your visitation list.” He replied causing me to let out a light laugh as I pulled out of the hug and swiped my tears away.

***1 month later***

Antonio

A suit wasn’t really something I’ve made a huge use of throughout the years. The only time it really came out of my closet was for special occasions such as this one.

I glanced at myself through one of the mirrors in the large room of the venue where the groom and his best man were to get ready—away from the bride and her maid of honor, of course. The black suit and tie that was clad on my body had still fit nicely, even after all of these years.

Adjusting my blazer a bit, I looked over at Xae who was only in his suit pants and white buttoned down shirt and pacing the carpeted designed floors with a distraught look on his face. His shirt hadn’t even been tucked in yet. “Yo.” I called out to him causing him to break out of his trance and turn to face me, allowing me to see the bullets of sweat that decorated his face. I raised an eyebrow at his appearance. “You good?”

He stopped pacing and let out a small sigh, using the back of his hands to wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead which prompted me to snatch a small hand towel off of the rack beside me and hand it to him. He swiftly wiped his face and his hands dry before throwing the towel down and continuing his pacing. “I don’t know, man. I know people talk about getting cold feet before their wedding all the time but I didn’t know it would be like this.”

“Xae.” I stopped his constant moving by standing in front of him and placing both of my hands on his shoulders. “Relax. You’re just overthinking things too much. I mean… you asked her so why wouldn’t you be excited?”

He exhaled a shaky breath as he nodded his head in agreement. “You’re right. I just—I wanna be sure that I’m making the right decision but… I guess no one could ever really be one hundred percent sure of anything, right?”

Pressing my lips together to refrain from saying anything, I nodded in response to his question. It had been a month since I last spoke to Bree at my house and we had that huge argument that made me realize how immature she really was. She had been staying around the house a lot more lately and every time I was even remotely close to telling Xae about us, she would do something to thwart my plans.

And since Bree was pregnant with what Xae thought was his baby, he would cater to her until his dying breath. Anything she asked for, she got it and she was surely basking in all of the glory of being pampered whenever she pleased. It was a little disgusting to watch because she and I both knew that she was taking advantage of him, and I kind of distanced myself from him because of it. I didn’t want to watch her do that to him.

“Xae, I gotta tell you something…” I spoke after a couple minutes of silence, exhaling a low sigh as my heart began to race at the anxious feeling that immediately overwhelmed my body. Admitting that I had sex with his fiancée, not once but twice, wouldn’t be an easy thing to tell him. Especially since he had been nothing but a good friend to me ever since we first met at McDonald’s. And I knew that as soon as those words left my mouth, we would no longer be the friends we once were.

He glanced up at me in curiosity. “What? Don’t tell me I got sweat stains on my shirt now.” He replied, swiftly raising the both of his arms to check himself in the areas near his armpits.

I shook my head in frustration and put his arms down so that his attention would return back to me. “No, it’s not that. It’s about—”

Loud knocks sounded off on the wooden mahogany colored door that had closed off the room we were in from the rest of the venue. I let out another exhausted sigh as he held up a finger to me and went to go answer the door. The wedding started in a little over half an hour and he still wasn’t even fully dressed to be waiting for his bride at the alter.

I watched as he made his way over to open the door, revealing Simone who wore a wide smile with both of her hands behind her back. The spaghetti-strapped all black fitted dress that she was in hugged her curves beautifully and her natural hair was pressed out with loose curls adding volume at the ends. It was odd to see her in a full face of makeup since she usually didn’t wear any all of the times I had saw her but she looked amazing, nonetheless.

“Hey Antonio.” She tossed me a quick wave to be polite causing me to do the same before focusing her attention back on Xae. “Okay, so I know you have to get up there soon but I have somebody who wanted to meet you.”

As she stepped to the side, a small boy that looked around four or five came into both of our views as he looked up at Xae with a shy smile. Simone leaned down as best as she could in her dress and fixed up the boy’s little suit, the grin never leaving her face. “Junior, this is mommy’s friend Xae. He helped mommy get you back. Say hi.”

Mom? I had no idea she had a kid. Then again we weren’t really the best of friends to be telling each other our personal lives. I had never seen the little boy around Xae’s house though and judging by the introduction, I’m sure this was his first time meeting her son as well.

“Hi.” He spoke, revealing the missing tooth on his top row.

“Hey little man,” Xae replied as he sank down to his knees and held out his hand as Simone looked between the both of them with a happy expression written all over her face, “I’m glad I get to finally meet you. Your mom talked about you all the time.”

His words caused an even bigger smile to play on the boy’s features as his small hand shook Xae’s. “Mommy talk about you too. She say she l—”

“Okay!” Simone quickly covered her son’s mouth before standing back up to her feet as Xae did the same. “That’s enough of that. I just wanted you to meet him really quick because I know you wanted to. And I just wanted to thank you again… for everything. Staying with you changed my life.”

She reached over and pulled Xae into a short embrace which he seemed like he didn’t want to pull away from. “It’s no problem, I told you I always got you.” He responded as he took another glance down at her son with a warm grin on his face. “And he looks just like you.” He chuckled out.

She smiled back and looked down at him as well. “Thank you. Say bye Junior.” Her son innocently waved to the both of us before grabbing onto her hand protectively. “Alright, I’m gonna go take my seat now. Congratulations on everything again.” She turned to me. “Bye, Antonio.”

With that, she left us to continue what we had been doing before she knocked on the door. Xae closed it behind her and turned around with whimsical grin as clear as day on his face. “I can’t wait until I finally have my own family, man. That just reminded me on why I wanted to marry Bree in the first place.”

“So… does that mean you’re finally ready to be bounded to her for life?” I asked with a raised brow causing his smile to swiftly fall.

The stressed look that had been on his face before Simone came quickly returned as he began to think about his answer. “Yea—I mean… I don’t know, man. Why do I feel like I should be happier?”

I took a minute to think about my response. It was obvious he was feeling a bit uneasy about his decision to marry Bree and he was making no attempts to hide it. “You’re not happy?”

“No, I mean I’m happy but it’s my wedding day, you know? I feel like I should be happier and not nearly as nervous as I’m feeling now.” He shook his head as he began to walk over to the seat that he had rested his blazer on earlier when he started getting ready.

He finally started to tuck his shirt in and placed his tie around his neck, taking the time to securely fix it to fit him properly. “Like you said, cold feet. It’s a big step y'all are taking together and you’ve only been engaged for a few months. Some people take years to actually get married.”

He nodded and stepped into the body sized mirror that I had previously looked into to check on my own appearance. Throwing his blazer over his shoulders, he sighed as he began to button up his suit, his eyes never breaking away from his face as he did so.

I tore my gaze away from him and sat down on one of the small couch-like seats in the room, burying my face in my hands. I felt terrible for even being here right now but I had already told him that I would come when he first asked me about it. Things had become so much deeper and more complicated than they were at first, and the more I held things off, the harder it was to admit my faults. Each time I tried, I’d either chicken out or obstacles would somehow pop up and stop me. The same way they did today.

“Are you good?” Xae chuckled out once he noticed my stressed mannerisms, breaking me away from my train of thought. “You’re starting to look like it’s your wedding day too.” He added, earning a forced laugh from me as I allowed the conversation to fade into silence.

There was so much I regretted, but I couldn’t say it was a mistake because it happened when we were friends too. Maybe before I knew they were together, I could have let the truth out and still kept a friend, but now… it was too late. And the fact that she was pregnant made it all the more worse because neither of us knew who the actual father was and both she and I were too angry to even speak to each other about it. She had clearly made her decision and didn’t care who she hurt in the process.

“Nah, I’m good. Just thinking is all.” I answered as I stood to my feet and readjusted my clothes, brushing over any creases with my hands. “We should probably get out there. She’ll be coming out in,” I trailed off to check the time on my watch, “Ten minutes.”

He nodded in agreement as he looked over his appearance once more, making sure everything was spiffy before heading out of the door. The venue they had rented out for the evening was beautiful, although they had paid extra for it since they requested it last minute. Xae had told me that Bree wouldn’t agree to any other venue but this one, and he wanted her special day to be perfect for her so the money wasn’t an issue to him. Hearing him speak about what he would do for her made me feel worse than I already had because I could tell he really loved her and she did nothing but lie to him. Hell, so did I.

Everyone in the crowd smiled at us once we came into view and made our way up to the alter, with me falling in line with the other groomsmen and him standing in front of all of us. The solemniser stood to the side of him as everyone at the alter looked to the opening the bride had to enter through, awaiting Bree’s arrival.

My heart nearly dropped once I heard the pianist begin to play Here Comes the Bride.

Bree

My eyes began to become glossy the longer I stared at my reflection in the mirror. This was the happiest day of my life.

I swiftly attempted to fan the tears from my eyes so I wouldn’t mess up the makeup I had gotten done earlier. This was the prettiest I had felt in a long time and nothing could stop me from being happy today. Not even the fact that Xae had invited his precious Simone to our wedding without informing me or asking me first.

But she was a non-factor today because it was my day. I was the one that would be saying the words ‘I do’ to Xavier today, not her. So, none of the other stuff really mattered right about now.

My sweetheart laced dress was an off-white color and strapless with a mermaid-like shape where the dress began to flow outwards near my knees and had a silver trim wrapped around my waist. My hair had been done in a beautiful sleek high ponytail that went perfectly with my tiara-like veil and showed off the extension of my beauty today. I felt even more gorgeous than I had on prom night.

My cousin smiled at me from the side with nothing but awe in her eyes as she approached me and began to readjust my veil so it would be as secure as possible when I walked to the alter. “You look so beautiful, Bree.”

I gave her a heartwarming grin in return as my eyes averted back over to the full body length mirror in front of me. I just couldn’t stop looking at myself and each time I did, more butterflies erupted in my chest. I was really about to be someone’s wife. “Thank you. I feel beautiful.”

“You should always feel beautiful.” She lectured; something she did a lot of when we were kids. I didn’t have any sisters so she was the closest thing to it that I had. “And I’m sure that man of yours out there believes that you’re the most beautiful woman for him too. Or else he wouldn’t be marrying you, now would he?”

Shrugging slightly, my smile instantly fell as I broke my attention away from the mirror and went to sit at one of the small cushioned seats that were placed on each side of the room as Sangria followed closely behind me once she noticed my change in mood. “I don’t know… I’m kind of starting to feel like he’s only doing this because of the baby in my belly.”

Sangria quickly smacked her teeth as she glared at me. “Ay dios mio, he was gonna marry you before you even told him about it, remember? All that baby did was make you guys move up the wedding—which you’re lucky I even showed up with this unexpected change, might I add.”

A light giggle escaped my lips as I pulled her in for a short embrace. “I know and I’m glad you’re here. I don’t know if I would have been able to do this without you.”

“What?” She immediately scrunched up her face. “Girl, this is your wedding day, not mine. And whether I was here or not, you better have strutted down that aisle to go marry your husband or I would have told auntie to get the chancla because you’re trippin’.”

I let out another laugh and playfully waved her off as she chuckled at herself as well. “I’m just saying. I’m way less nervous now that you’re here. I’ve always been ready to marry Xae and I would have done it either way. Fuck all these other pendejos.” Attitude was laced in my voice as I rolled my eyes, my mind instantly thinking about Antonio as I spoke.

We hadn’t said a word to each other since I left his house that day we had gotten into an argument. Partly because I was too busy focused on taking care of an injured Xae and another part being that I didn’t want to talk to him. I didn’t even want him here at our wedding today but Xae insisted that he came. And I couldn’t put up too much of a fight because then he’d start to wonder why I was so adamant on his friend not being there to witness his special day. When really, I was just afraid that he might tell him the truth before I got to finally say the words 'I do.’

Breaking myself out of my thoughts before I got myself upset, I turned my attention back to Sangria who had been eerily silent and was giving me a knowing look. “Sounded kind of angry when you said that, huh?”

Panic settled in my chest, already knowing what she was hinting at. I hadn’t told her or anyone for that matter about my affair with my fiancée’s friend and I wasn’t planning to either. Especially not to my cousin because she’d be so hell bent on me doing the right thing and telling Xae what happened. Of course, she’d never break my trust and tell him herself, but she’d make me feel so terrible about myself that I would want to do it anyway.

“N-No, I was just saying that I don’t need any other man because mine is the perfect one for me.” I hastily replied, giving her a forced smile so that she would delve too deep into what I said.

But her facial expression didn’t change one bit and it was then that I knew that she knew. She was very perceptive. She let out a low sigh as she looked away from me and straight ahead at the wall in front of us. “Bree, who was it?”

“Who was what? I don’t know what you’re talking about Sangria and I really don’t wanna get upset on my big day—”

“First of all,” she held up her pointer finger as she looked at me once again, “You don’t call me by my full name unless you’re angry at me or you’re lying. Second, you’re a terrible liar so just tell me who it was or so help me God.”

One thing about my cousin was that she was terrifying when she was upset with you and her glares made you want to hide away in a cave for the rest of your waking life. So, I made sure to keep my eyes in front of me as I remained silent, not knowing what to say or how exactly to say it. “Alright, let me go get my tia since you don’t wanna talk to me.” She spoke as she stood up and began to walk towards the door causing me to quickly grab her wrist before she could get too far.

“No!” I yelled frantically. The last thing I wanted was for my mother to know what I did. She’d be devastated. “It was Antonio… he’s kind of, sort of his best man—”

“WHAT?! I swear Bree, tienes que ser la puta más tonta que conozco. What’s wrong with you?”

I looked down at my lap as I sat and nervously fidgeted with my fingers. “It just happened… I didn’t mean for all of this to go down but I can't—”

“Hold on.” She immediately stopped my blabbering by holding her hand up and giving me a stern look. “Please, at least tell me that’s Xae’s baby you’re carrying.” My silence was enough of an answer for anyone. Sangria instantly stood and began to pace around the room, something she did when she was more than angry but didn’t want to hit or break anything. “Ay dios mio, you have to tell him! How could you sit there with a smile on your face about to marry this man when you’re fucking his friend and making him think that’s his child?”

I quickly stood to my feet, getting a bit defensive. “It was only twice! And I don’t know for sure whether or not it’s Antonio’s baby, it just makes the most sense.”

“Only twice.” She mocked me with an annoyed expression on her face as she soon rushed me causing me to flinch thinking she was about to hit me but instead, she pointed a finger in my face. “It doesn’t matter if all you did was kiss him! Like who the fuck are you right now because this is not the Bree that I grew up with.” With that, she stormed out of the room and left me in silence with tears threatening to fall down my face.

***

The ceremony was beautiful and Xae’s vows were even more touching than I thought they’d be. I was glad I had worn waterproof makeup or else I’d look a mess.

Sangria ended up leaving the venue right after our altercation, which I knew she would do or else she’d probably end up telling someone. That was something I loved about her since we were small. Although she was pissed at me, she would never betray my trust.

“Do you, Xavier, take Bree to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful only to her, for as long as you both shall live?” The officiant’s deep baritone voice broke me out of those thoughts as I looked at Xae who wore a warm grin on his face.

“I do.”

The marriage officiant then turned to me, repeating those same words but about Xae as my fiancée continued to stare at me with that same smile on his face. My mouth opened but soon closed immediately after as silence overtook the ceremony. Xae’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he mouthed the words 'what’s wrong’ causing my heart to shatter even more than it already had.

“I…” My eyes trailed over to Antonio, who was looking right back at me with eyes full of hurt and disdain. Then they traveled over to the front row where both of our families and Simone sat with her son, everyone wearing confused looks on their faces. I felt so conflicted. I just couldn’t do this to him. “I can’t.”

There were a few gasps that could be heard throughout the crowd as Xae’s face quickly turned from confused to just as surprised as the audience. My heart felt heavy as I swallowed the huge lump in my throat. “Xae…” I looked down at my feet that were covered by my dress, not being able to see the look on his face once I spoke my next words. “I can’t marry you because I—I’ve been having an affair.”

More gasps could be heard as my words resonated with everyone throughout the room. Once I didn’t hear a single response or movement from him, my eyes averted back up at him as he stared at me with an expression I couldn’t make out. “You cheated on me, bruh?” The words came out so simple, yet I could literally feel all of the pain in them. Tears spilled from my eyes as I watched him internally battle with himself right in front of me. “How could you—is the baby, at least, mine?”

“I don’t know but… I don’t think so…”

His jaws clenched in seething anger as he stepped away from me, finally breaking away his hands that had been joined together with mine throughout the ceremony. “Who was it?” He asked lowly. I couldn’t even answer him with the lump stuck in my throat. My tear filled eyes traveled over to Antonio’s who never kept his off of me. Xae soon noticed and followed my gaze as he looked back at his friend before turning back around to me with a look of betrayal.

My head suddenly snapped to the side as I immediately felt an aching pain in my jaw soon afterwards. I held onto the side of my face that was now throbbing as my head straightened out to see Xae and a couple of other men holding his cousin, C'yara, back as she thrashed in their hold trying to get at me. I slowly backed away once I realized that she was putting up a pretty good fight although she was being held back by four people.

“Chill CeCe, she’s pregnant!” I heard Xae yell out as he struggled to keep her in his grip.

Her eyes held an almost blackened look as her attention remained trained on me, not caring about anything else in that moment. “I don’t give a fuck! If she can fuck, she can fight!” As soon as those words left her lips, she broke away from the men and rushed towards me causing me to almost trip over my dress trying to get away. Her hand nearly snatched my weave clean out before even more people caught her at the last second and held her back.

“You need to leave, NOW!” Xae’s mother yelled at me as she attempted to calm her niece down, but to no avail.

I quickly gathered my dress in both of my hands and began to run out of the room, afraid that she’d be able to break free again and actually get to me.

“DON’T LET ME CATCH YOU IN THESE STREETS, HOE!” I heard C'yara yell out to the top of her lungs as endless tears clouded my vision and I ran out into the hallway.

Simone

The entire environment was in complete chaos after everything that had just took place. I had to hold Junior’s hand just so I wouldn’t lose him in the crowd.

I skillfully maneuvered my way through the hundreds of people who had been either talking to each other in groups about what happened or were trying to hold C'yara back as I kept a tight grip on my son’s hand.

A couple of weeks ago, I had gotten a call letting me know that Junior was placed in a group home because Dominick was rightfully arrested for Xae’s attempted murder. As far as I knew, his charges as of now were attempted murder, breaking and entering, possession of cocaine, and child endangerment for leaving the narcotic in the room with a four year old there by himself.

The chances of him getting his way out of this one were slim to none and I was more than happy to finally be set free from his psychotic possessive and controlling ways. Once the judge who had worked our case had to sentence Dom for the same exact thing I had told him about months before, he personally called me to apologize and did everything in his power to help me get Junior back into my custody now that I had a good paying job and Xae helped me to find a cheap apartment that I could afford monthly without completely breaking my pockets.

Granted, I also had to find a cheaper daycare that wasn’t sketchy to put him in while I was at my job, but I was making things work day by day and that was all that mattered to me.

Tears of joy slipped unwillingly from my eyes once I was finally able to see my baby and hold him in my arms. And the crying only got worse since the first thing he said to me was that he missed me and he handed me a couple of drawings of us that he said he always carried around in his pocket. I was so happy that I even hung up the drawing of him, Dom, and I on our fridge with the rest of them. I didn’t exactly know how to explain to him that he probably wouldn’t get to see his dad anymore, but I was still currently working my courage up for it and hoping that he understood.

I felt a light squeeze to my hand causing me to turn around and look down at a frightened Junior. There were too many people and too much noise, and while he was an extroverted child, I think the scene was just too much chaos for him to fathom at that moment.

Suddenly, a loud smacking sound echoed throughout the venue making everyone’s head snap towards the alter to see Xae facing Antonio with flared nostrils and Antonio holding his nose that had started bleeding only seconds afterwards. He tried to grab at Xae to stop him from walking away and apologize, but Xae quickly snatched away from him. “Don’t.” Was all he said before he swiftly stepped off of the alter and stormed out of the room, leaving everyone stunned.

My eyes followed him out of the double doors he had exited from and I quickly picked up my pace in attempting to maneuver through the tightly packed crowd who were now even more riled up than before due to actually seeing some action.

Once I finally pushed through the sea of people, my eyes searched for C'yara who was still surrounded by the men that had held her back earlier, minus Xae of course. She still wasn’t fully calmed down, tears streaming from her eyes as she hit her palm with her fist multiple times. “I swear, if y'all don’t let me go beat her ass, y'all getting beat right along with her.” She sobbed angrily as the suited men continued their attempts to talk her out of it due to Bree being pregnant.

I still couldn’t believe the same person who gave Xae and I all of that shit for supposedly messing around was the one that went out and got pregnant by another man—his friend at that. With the way she was acting, I would have never guessed she would have the audacity to cheat on Xae but it just went to show that you never really know what goes on behind closed doors.

Once I reached C'yara, her attention averted over to me as she sniffled. “Please don’t tell me that you’re here to tell me not to get her too. I love you and I don’t wanna have to beat you along with these niggas.” She instantly glared at them as she spoke that last part.

I let a laugh escape from my lips, knowing she didn’t mean it—well, maybe to them but not to me—she was just angry. “She would have deserved it if you did. I tried so hard being cordial with that girl but she acted like such a… B.I.T.C.H.” I spelled out the word once I realized that Junior was still attached to my hip. I didn’t want him repeating any curse words, especially not from me.

“Oooh, I knew there was a reason I didn’t like that girl. Let me go.” She tried to break through to get away again but the men surrounding her were like a brick wall, refusing to allow her to get through.

She stomped her foot in frustration as she wiped at her tears. “I actually have a favor to ask you.” I blurted out, immediately catching her attention. I couldn’t lie and say I didn’t want her to calm down too. If she fought Bree and the baby got hurt or ended up dead, C'yara would most likely end up in jail and that was the last thing I wanted to happen. Especially not over a girl like that. “Could you please watch my baby and take him outside? He’s scared and I want to go check on Xae really quick. I don’t want him going through this alone.”

It was like C'yara’s mood did a complete 180° as she looked down at Junior with a bright smile, swiftly wiping away the rest of her tears. “Of course. Hey baby boy, I’m C'yara but you could call me auntie CeCe.” She spoke as she knelt down in front of him and playfully shook his small hand. He hesitantly looked up at me for approval then back at her to say hello back when I gave him a slight nod.

Once I knew that he was in good hands and witnessed the two walking out of the venue and into the parking lot myself, I quickly averted my attention over to finding Xae. The crowd had dispersed for the most part, so it wasn’t as difficult to get through them and to the other side of the room. I pushed opened the double doors and looked directly down the long narrow hallway, knowing that I had my work cut out for me.

I began opening every single door that was unlocked, poking my head inside and calling Xae’s name as I hoped and prayed that he hadn’t left while I talked to his cousin. I knew how devastated I felt when I found out that Dom was cheating on me with someone I was close to. The only difference was it was my sister instead of my friend, which broke me ten times more. I had to go through it alone and it mentally messed my head up; I didn’t want him to have to take that same path.

As I neared the end of the hallway, I started to lose hope that he was still here as I opened up the last door and to my surprise, he was sitting on the floor directly across the room with his back against the wall and his head buried in his arms. I figured he hadn’t heard me come in since he didn’t even look up and closed the door behind me, the loud clicking sound that followed causing him to finally check to see who had came into the room with him.

His eyes were red and puffy and he honestly looked defeated, but once he noticed it was me, he immediately stood to his feet and attempted to wipe away the stray tears that had stained his cheeks. “You don’t have to do that, I know you’re hurting. You know you don’t have to put up a front for me.” I said as I inched closer to him, now noticing the slight glint in his eyes as he stared at me, not moving a single muscle in his body.

“If you don’t wanna talk, it’s fine. I’ve just been through this type of heartbreak before and wanted to make sure that you were—”

My words were instantly cut short once I felt both of his hands gently grab onto the sides of my face as his lips hungrily pressed themselves against mine. My eyes widened in surprise for a second before they gracefully fluttered closed as I melted in his embrace, the softness of his lips sending sparks and shivers throughout my body. His arms wrapped tightly around my body as our lips moved in sync with each other, his touch feeling as if he had been waiting for this moment since he first laid eyes on me.

My lips nearly tried to follow his as he pulled away from the electrifying kiss, his forehead resting against mine as he looked down at me with nothing but pure adoration. One of his hands traveled back up towards my face and cupped my cheek as his thumb lightly caressed my skin. “You’re the strongest woman I know. When I see you, I see hope for a better future. And I’ve always had so much faith in you because I know you’re just that special. I know you’ll push through anything and come out ten times stronger, like you always do.”

Light tears fell from my eyes as he spoke nothing but beautiful things to me, his words hitting a sensitive spot as I thought about all of the things that I had endured over the course of going on twenty-three years. His thumbs gently wiped them away as my hands clutched onto his wrists, not wanting him to let go of me any time soon. He placed another light kiss to my lips. “I’ve been denying my love for you for way too long. I hated seeing you love somebody else and I didn’t know why at first because it wasn’t like I was single either.” My breath hitched in my throat, immediately knowing who he was referring to. “And I can’t believe that I was really about to go my whole life without letting you know that.”

“I love you too.” I replied in an almost breathless whisper, placing multiple pecks against his lips just wanting to feel them on mine as my cheeks began to hurt from the small smile that I couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard I tried.

I pulled away and held him at an arms length as our fingers instantly intertwined with one another, both of us wanting to feel each other the entire time we were in each other’s presence. “I’m really sorry about what happened though. You didn’t deserve what she did to you.”

I felt his hands squeeze mine as he looked away for a second, seeming conflicted. “If we’re being honest, Bree and I’s relationship had been over for a while now. I tried so hard to fix things because we were together for almost three years and I didn’t wanna just give up on her after all that time, but things just didn’t feel the same anymore. The only thing that really made me happy in our relationship lately was the fact that she was having my baby and now, that’s not even…” He trailed off as he shook his head causing me to instantly attempt to comfort him by rubbing gentle circles on the back of his hands with my thumbs. He turned his head back towards me as a light smile graced his face. “But you—you make me happy without even trying. And whenever I see you hurting, it makes me hurt too.”

Simone

My mind just couldn’t keep still as I sped to the hospital with determination. It’s funny because I seemed to be in and out of the hospital a lot more lately.

I had just gotten back from my interview and was hired on the spot since they desperately needed more workers. Before the interview, I had turned off my phone and once I turned it back on, I received the voicemail message from the hospital informing me that Xae was in the hospital finally stable after being in critical condition all night long. My name was the first thing he said when he came to and he wouldn’t answer any questions until they called me and told me what happened.

I immediately dropped anything and everything that I was doing and began to rush to the hospital, hoping and praying that he was okay although, the doctors had already told me that his condition was stable. It was nerve wracking to say the least; the day I left is the day he suddenly gets hurt? It couldn’t be a coincidence.

Swiftly pulling into the first empty parking space I could find, I cut off the engine and hopped out of the car, practically power walking through the automatic front doors of the large hospital building. Since I had been here so often, the maze of hallways were practically etched into the back of my head as I made my way to the E.R. section of the establishment.

Once there, I rushed over to one of the receptionists desks out of breath and frantic, my heart pounding so hard in my chest that I could hear it clear as day. “Xavier Mitchell. Where is he? What room is he in?” I let out all in one breath causing the woman at the front to instantly begin typing loudly on her keyboard.

It was the same lady who I had somewhat told off for being unprofessional when I was visiting Ajanae in the hospital except this time, she didn’t say anything other than the designated room number. “719.”

I hadn’t even waited for her to finish before I was doing the best jog that I could do, without having someone saying something to me about running, over to the elevator. Things just weren’t moving fast enough as the elevator slowly made its way up to the seventh floor and stopped there with me having to push through a crowd of people who were attempting to get on that same elevator.

Once I was in front of his room door, I let out a small sigh and reluctantly twisted the door knob until it was able to be pushed open. My eyes immediately watered at the sight of a battered and bruised Xae, who sat up in his hospital bed connected to various wires and machines. His face was swollen and there was a large gash on his lip from it most likely being busted open,

As I stepped further in the room, I noticed the eye that wasn’t too swollen to see out of turn its attention towards me as I stood there with tears unwillingly falling down my face, feeling as though I couldn’t even move any closer.

He quickly attempted to sit up a bit more but ultimately winced at the pain that soon shot throughout his body from trying to move too fast. “Simone…” His voice sounded frail and brittle as he spoke my name. I could literally feel my heart sink to the pit of my stomach as I looked him over, gauze covering up his left shoulder and abdomen area with two large spots of blood decorating each area.

“What happened?” Was all I managed to let out through my tears.

All I wanted to do was wrap him in my arms and hug him but I was too afraid to do even that without hurting him. So, I just stood in that same spot in the middle of the room terrified that if I get too close, I might officially break down. Right now, I just wanted to hold myself together for him but seeing him like this… I realized that this had been my worst fear ever since that night he stopped to give me a ride for the first time.

“Dominick… he broke in.” He spoke in a breathy manner, sounding as if he had been running.

I turned my head away from him and shut my eyes tightly, not being able to see the damage my ex had done to Xae for just trying to help me as more tears poured down my cheeks. I knew that Dom had something to do with it but the confirmation just made me feel like complete shit. I knew it. I knew what would happen if he got involved with me, yet I stayed living with him long enough for Dom to find out where he lived. This was my fault. “I’m so sorry…”

“Hey, look at me.” I heard him call to me with a bit more base in his voice but it wasn’t enough to sound any less frail than when I first entered the room. Hesitantly, I opened my eyes and turned my head back to face him, his eyes already fixated on me with a serious expression playing on his features. “I already know what you’re thinking and you need to stop blaming yourself. This isn’t your fault.”

“How? How isn’t it my fault, Xae? I warned you, I knew how he was and I still put you in the position to get hurt.” I sniffled out, shaking my head at myself in disappointment. “What if you would have died? I don’t know if I could—” A slight hiccup escaped my lips as I buried my face in my hands, attempting not to break down at just the thought of him being gone.

A new hatred for Dom quickly formed in the pit of my stomach. He’s already taken everything from me; Saint, my children, my sense of dignity and independence. What more could he possibly want from me? What have I done to have to live in the constant fear of needing to look over my shoulder? It wasn’t fair. And it wasn’t fair to Xae to have gotten him involved in the drama. I should have never given in and accepted that ride from him. None of this would have happened.

“That doesn’t matter because I’m alive and kicking. And you had nothing to do with this, you hear me?” He sounded so sure of himself but I wasn’t nearly as convinced that I hadn’t played a part in what happened to him. He looked like he was in so much pain and I couldn’t even do anything to help him like he has always helped me.

I quickly shook my head in response, my eyes finding his as I noticed the tears falling from his own brown orbs. “You need to just leave me alone and forget about me Xae, that’s the only way you’ll be safe.”

“I don’t care about being safe if that means I can’t talk to you and make sure that you’re safe.” He retorted defensively. I wasn’t sure if he realized how serious this situation was. When Dom broke into his house, I know for certain that he wasn’t trying to injure or scare Xae; he was trying to kill him. The same way he did Saint.

“Don’t say that…” My voice came out in a low whisper as my attention averted down towards my feet, unable to look at him for too long without more tears falling. “You have a whole wife and baby to live for now… and they come before I do. You can’t put yourself in more danger for me Xae and I won’t let you.” I then looked back up at him so that he could understand the seriousness of the situation. “After I go to your wedding, I’m cutting off all ties with you. As long as Dom is out there and he sees us together, he’ll keep coming after you whether we’re just friends or not. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something else were to happen to you.”

As soon as those words escaped my lips, he sat up in the bed and ignored the pain that I knew shot through his body. I could hear the heart pace monitor’s rhythm begin to pick up, signaling that his heart was beating at a quicker speed. “I told you I’m fine. You don’t have to run away every time something bad happens baby girl. I thought we were in this together…?”

“It’s for your own protection, I’m sorry—”

I was cut off as the door swung open and Bree stepped through the door, her face instantly hardening once she caught sight of me. “You.” She immediately charged at me and shoved me with all of her might causing me to stumble back, almost falling onto Xae’s hospital bed. “It’s your fault he’s in here right now! If you would have never hopped your happy ass in our lives, none of this would be happening right now!”

Her words stung because it confirmed what I had been thinking and telling Xae. In one way or another, it was my fault that he was nearly killed and it hurt even more to be told by another person. “I’m sorry.” My head hung low as I let out a barely audible whisper, not knowing whether I was saying that to him or her in that moment.

“Sorry doesn’t change the fact that my fiancé is sitting there with bruises on his face and two bullet holes in his body. Even when you leave, your fucked up life comes back to hurt people.”

“Bree!” Xae called out sternly, attempting to get her to stop berating me but that only seemed to make her more angry.

Her narrowed eyes cut towards him, the attitude evident in her voice and body language. “And why are you always defending her?! There are more important things that we need to be worrying about other than this girl’s baby daddy drama. We gave her a place to stay and look what happened. Shit has just been going downhill left and right. We’ve never had this much drama in our relationship until she came along Xae, why can’t you see that?”

The room suddenly stilled, a silence taking over the conversation as his glare remained on her and his jaw visibly clenched in anger. She had a right to be angry. From what I heard, they were happy until I came back into Xae’s life and ever since then, problems had constantly been arising for them.

“Maybe Simone’s not the problem, Bree.” He mumbled back after a couple minutes of awkward tension residing in the room.

She gave him a hurt look, tears forming in the brim of her eyes as she shook her head and turned on her heel before storming out of the hospital room without another word to either of us. Once she left, the silence continued to hover over us like a dark rain cloud, neither of us knowing exactly what to say to each other after something like that.

He sighed and fell back against the bed, his eyes fixated on the ceiling above him as I stood in the same spot I had been previously pushed in towards the edge of his bed, looking down at my feet so that my eyes wouldn’t avert anywhere else.

“She’s right.” I finally spoke up after a few minutes of the excruciating quietness. “Everything that she just said was true and that’s why you have to just forget I ever existed. It’s the only way to keep Dom away from you and keep your relationship in a good place.”

“But if I go to the police about it, he’ll be arrested right? And then you won’t have to run away from me anymore.” He replied as his attention quickly turned from the ceiling and back over towards me. “You wouldn’t have to live the way you do anymore.”

I sighed and shook my head. “I don’t know. He’d probably find some way to get out of that too. You don’t know him like I do. I used to go to the police all the time when he first started beating me but nothing ever changed or was investigated. Eventually, I just gave up…”

“Well, we don’t know until we at least try.”

Ajanae

I stared at the contact name for what seemed to be an eternity, just contemplating on if I should really put my pride aside and most likely get my ego hurt in the process.

There have been so many mistakes I’ve made dealing with this girl that it seemed as if I was constantly saying sorry to her. She probably wouldn’t even believe me anymore if I did say it. Though, I still wanted to make it known that I messed up and I’m not after her head anymore.

She most likely didn’t even have my number saved anymore and to tell you the truth, I honestly don’t blame her. But I still had to give it a shot to at least say that I tried.

Quickly clicking on her contact name before my mind could make me overthink things once again, I held my phone up to my ear as the dial tone repeatedly sounded in my ear. My eyes widened in a bit of shock once I heard her voice come through on the other end, sounding a bit annoyed but answering nonetheless. “What do you want?” She spoke dryly, her voice pulling me out of the small trance I was in due to being surprised that I wasn’t blocked from her phone.

“Simone! I—Hey. Can we talk? Just me and you.” I asked as my world famous puppy dog eyes played on my features as if she could actually see me.

I instantly heard her scoff on the other end of the line. “What could we possibly have to talk about, Nae? Ajanae—whoever the fuck you are. You made it clear that I’m a dead bitch to you so why would I even be stupid enough to say or meet up anywhere with you?”

And that was honestly a good question. I’m not sure that I would meet up with someone who threatened to kill me not even weeks before but I just wanted to show her that I was being genuine. I didn’t want to do things over the phone because I wanted her to actually see my sincerity. After this, I’d happily leave her alone if she wanted me to but I just couldn’t live with myself without at least saying something to her to explain why I came at her like that.

“I know, I know. But I swear I’m not trying nothing, we can go to a public place and everything. Matter of fact, you can choose where we meet. I just… really need to talk to you.” I spoke, allowing a shaky breath to escape my lips.

There was a bit of silence on the other end and I had to pull the phone away from my face to be sure that the call hadn’t disconnected or something until I heard her sigh from her side of the phone. “Fine. The Waffle House down the street from Saint’s house in thirty minutes. You know which one I’m talking about.” Before I could respond or thank her for agreeing to see me, the call ended abruptly causing me to slightly scrunch up my face but quickly soften it back out once I remembered that we weren’t actually friends anymore so there was nothing else that we really needed to talk about.

I let out a small sigh of relief before throwing on a simple black and white Adidas tracksuit with matching slides to go along with it and wetting my hair a bit so it wouldn’t look like I had just crawled out of bed before heading out.

***

My hands anxiously gripped the steering wheel as I sat in the parking lot of the designated Waffle House, already seeing Simone sitting down inside but being too nervous to actually go inside myself just yet.

I had to get my thoughts together and I had to do it quick before she became too impatient and decided to leave. Closing my eyes, I inhaled through my nostrils and exhaled through my mouth just so I wouldn’t start hyperventilating. It was something that hadn’t happened to me since I was in high school but then again, I haven’t been this nervous since then either.

Once I saw her check the time on her phone for the fifth time, I swiftly exited my car and locked the doors before making my way into the quaint establishment. She hadn’t even looked up from her fidgeting hands until I slid into the booth in front of her, shooting a small awkward smile her way that she, of course, didn’t return. “Make this quick, I have to be at work in an hour and a half.” She quickly broke any silence there may have been with a blank expression on her face.

“Work?” Anything that I had to say quickly flew out of the window as excitement instantly was laced in my voice. I had never heard her talk about having anything even remotely close to a job so this new update was a shock to me. A happy one. “You have a job? When’d you start? How are you liking—”

“This isn’t what I came all the way here for, is it? Because that just means I wasted my time.” Her face remained straight with no kind of playfulness in her tone as she spoke to me and that’s when I realized the difference in her.

There were large black bags under her eyes, her skin seemed a bit paler than usual and though her hair was usually always on point, today it was just thrown into a quick low ponytail. It looked as if she hadn’t had sleep in weeks and the large white bandage that resided around her wrist had only suggested the worst. Once she noticed me staring, she quickly pulled her sleeve over it as if she had just remembered that it was even there. “Alright.” She said as she began to gather her things and get up from the booth causing me to quickly break out of my trance for the second time today.

“Wait! That’s not—” I looked around at all of the customers that we had suddenly gotten attention from due to my outburst and instantly lowered my voice. “That’s not what I wanted to talk about… I wanted to talk about what happened that night.”

“Which night? The one where you threatened to kill me or the one where you helped kill my boyfriend?” There was nothing but pure venom in her voice as she glared at me through squinted eyes. I could tell that this girl was tired of being pushed around and toyed with by everyone in her life. She was the true definition of fed up.

I sighed and looked down at the table as I slowly nodded my head. “Ok, I deserved that one.”

“Oh no, you deserve a lot more. You’re just lucky I don’t have the heart to give it to you because I once called you my friend.” She slammed her hand down on the table. “No, fuck that, I called you my sister. And you smiled in my face like everything was cool while you were sitting there plotting with that sick ass nigga that I call my child’s father!”

My heart fell to the pit of my stomach as she spoke but I couldn’t say anything because I knew that she was right. Every word she spoke was the truth and instead of coming clean like I should have, I betrayed her and someone close to her ended up dead because of it. Someone who I also smiled at and talked to throughout the months that Simone and I were friends.

“I know and I swear there’s not a day that goes by where I don’t regret what I did. I knew Dominick was crazy but I didn’t think that he…” I trailed off and shook my head, not wanting to be the one that said it out loud. “I didn’t know things would go down like that. I thought he would just try to beat him up or something like normal people. But now I see that Dom’s far from normal, especially when it comes to you.”

Her facial expression softened for a split second before her eyebrows became furrowed and her hard glare returned once again. “If that’s the case, why haven’t you said anything? You’re telling me you’re sorry and think about it everyday but yet, you haven’t said shit to the cops. I don’t have any proof against him but you do. All I have are allegations that he’d find some way to get out of.”

“Simone, don’t you understand? He’s not the only one going down for Saint’s death. If he goes down, I do too.” I leaned in as I spoke just above a whisper to avoid being heard by anyone else in the small restaurant.

“I don’t give a fuck!” She responded loudly, immediately thwarting my attempts to not attract attention to ourselves. “It’s YOUR fault too. You don’t even know—” She abruptly stopped speaking as if she couldn’t form another word, tears gathering in her eyes as she quickly turned away so that I wouldn’t be able to see her crying but it was too late.

I did the only thing I felt I could at a time like this and stood up from my seat to go and sit down next to her, wrapping her up in my arms as her head instantly fell against my shoulder. I could feel her hot tears soaking through my shirt as the seconds ticked by, hearing soft sniffles being muffled from her head being tucked into my body. My hands ran up and down her back gently as I tried my best to comfort her.

She lifted her head only enough so that her face wasn’t still buried in my clothes. “You don’t know what that man has done to me and then you go and help him ruin my life. For what? What did I ever do to you?”

She finally raised her head more to make eye contact with me and the look in her eyes nearly shattered my heart. “Simone, if I would have known—”

“Yea, yea. If you would have known, you wouldn’t have done it. That’s all you keep saying but even if you didn’t know, why?” The sadness in her eyes subtly shifted back to anger as she looked at me with disgust. “I’ve never done anything to you, I didn’t even know who you were before all this happened. You should have just left me alone. How could you even do that to someone?”

My arms dropped back down to my sides as I looked away from her. I didn’t even know why myself, I had just been so caught up in the moment. “I don’t know… I thought I loved Dom. Or at least what we used to have with each other before the two of you got together and became a power couple. I guess I kind of envied you…” I shook my head. “God, I sound so pathetic. I didn’t come here to make amends or anything but I wanted to let you know that I made a mistake. I know now that it wasn’t you that tried to kill me.”

Her tear stained eyes squinted a bit as she raised a curious brow at me as if she didn’t believe what I was saying. “Who was it then?”

“It was Tiarra. That’s why the description I got sounded so much like you.”

Simone’s brown orbs instantly grew wider in size as she tore her gaze away from me and stared ahead of her, in shock at my revelation. Her expression quickly went from surprised to livid, though, as she nearly shoved me out of my seat. “So you did it? You had her murdered so brutally because she tried to kill you?”

“No, no! I swear, someone else got to her before I even found out that she did it. She just had a lot of enemies I guess.” I answered truthfully with a shrug, not exactly feeling bad about Tiarra’s death but at least hoping that Simone would believe that I had no parts in it.

“Why should I even believe you?”

An exhausted sigh escaped my lips as another shrug rolled off of my shoulders. “You shouldn’t. You have no reason to… but I’m telling you the truth. I would never wanna hurt you like that again.”

She looked straight ahead as if she was thinking about what I had said, trying to decide whether she wanted to trust me or not. “I believe you.” I instantly sighed in relief. “I meant what I said before though. We can’t be friends. I would just find it too hard to trust you.” She replied and I couldn’t say that what she said didn’t hurt me, but I also couldn’t be mad at her for the way she felt. “I want to thank you for all the memories and lessons you’ve given me though… I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

And with that, she gave me a small smile before standing up and exiting the restaurant, leaving me with a slight weight lifted off of my shoulders.

Dom

Chuckling at Junior’s so-called drawing of me, I chopped up the lines of my favorite substance on the nightstand. By now, he knew not to touch it or even look at it for that matter.

I sat in the comfortability of my bed as my son sat on the carpeted floor with markers and coloring pencils scattered all around him as he continued to draw various things he would either see on TV or knew from memory. “Aye, make sure you don’t get none of that on the carpet. You hear me?” I called out to him, referring to the red marker he was decorating the blank sheet of copy paper with.

He looked up at me for only a second to nod in response before going back to his coloring. This fathering thing was a bit hard and a little too much at first since Simone usually did all of the work when we were together, but I think I’m actually getting the hang of things. Junior and I have a lot more fun than I thought we’d have and the only time I gave him over to my mother nowadays was if I needed to go out and do something that a four year old shouldn’t be around.

I still planned on getting Simone back and her living with me so we could be a family again but I knew things wouldn’t be the same as before. I murdered two of her little boyfriends so of course there’s going to be some tension there but at the same time, she needed to be taught that there’s no other nigga out there for her but me. She’s the only woman I’ve ever had the mind to even propose to so I wasn’t just going to let her go that easily. The world didn’t work that way.

After successfully chopping up the lines of the pure white cocaine that rested on my nightstand, I grabbed the already rolled one hundred dollar bill and leaned down to expertly snort the first line of the fine white powder.

My eyes instantly shut closed at the euphoric feeling that overwhelmed my brain as my fingers rubbed at my nose and I sniffled a few times to be sure that I inhaled all of the powder. There wasn’t a drug I loved more than the one that had my dopamines running rampant at that very moment.

Just as I opened my eyes and leaned back down to snort another line, Junior’s small voice rang through my ears. “Daddy, where’s mommy?” When I looked over at him, his large brown eyes were staring back at me with a glistening hope that this time, my answer would be different from all of the other times. It took a second for me to process what he had said, but when I did, I made sure to put the bill down and give him my full attention.

It was a question he asked almost every single day since he’d been with me and I couldn’t blame him because most of his time was spent with his mother, but it was becoming a little annoying. He made me feel like I wasn’t doing my job as a father for him to enjoy his time with me so he had to go and ask for Simone every day. It felt like I wasn’t good enough.

I sighed. “I already told you. She had to go away for a little bit but she’s coming back, so don’t worry. Mommy would never leave you.”

“So why she gone now? Don’t she love us?” He replied back in his broken English since he was still learning how to form complete sentences correctly.

I stumbled a bit on what to say in response. This was the first time he had ever asked me that question. All of the other times, he took what I said and just nodded or said okay. Of course, he’d have that little pouty look on his face and even cried sometimes but he still never questioned it until now.

Standing up from my spot on the bed, I made my way over to where he was set up and crouched down so that was now at eye level with him as he continued to stare at me with curious eyes, waiting for me to answer his questions. “Of course she loves us, especially you. She just needed some time to herself ‘cause a lot was going on in her life. And I know it feels like she’s been away forever but I promise when she finally gets to see you, she’ll be so happy that she’ll hug you for even longer. She might even cry.”

He instantly scrunched up his face. “Why she cry if she happy?” His facial expression caused me to chuckle a bit to myself because he looked just like Simone with those big round eyes whenever she was confused about something. Even the way his lip slightly curled upwards was the same.

“They’re called happy tears lil’ man. She’s gonna cry because she’ll be happy she finally gets to see you after missing you for so long.” I responded back to the best of my abilities since my high had already been kicking in. I comfortingly ran my hand down the side of his face, slightly caressing his cheek a bit with my thumb. He was the one person that I never wanted to see hurting and he was hurting because he couldn’t see his mom.

“Oh.” He nodded as he looked down at his tiny fidgeting fingers, seeming as if he wanted to ask more questions but didn’t.

A look of sympathy played on my features as I stared down at my only child with his lip poked out, immediately knowing that he was still sad about the whole situation. I grabbed another blank sheet of copy paper from underneath his other drawings and handed it to him. “Here, why don’t you draw mommy a picture of her so you can give it to her when you see her?”

An instant smile formed on his face as he nodded in agreement and took the paper from me, immediately getting to work on drawing the stick figure version of her. One thing he always loved to do since he was small was draw. I even had to get the walls in his bedroom lined with chalk wallpaper because I’d always come home and find little doodles all over the freshly white painted walls.

I gently rubbed my hand over his head a few times before standing up to head back over to my bed, continuing the process of what I had been doing before that little heart felt moment happened.

Of course, I wasn’t lying to him. I was hoping he’d be able to see Simone soon but the only way that would ever happen was if she agreed to come back to me and stay with us again. I knew that she would do anything for Junior, even if that meant moving back in with someone who had annihilated any other relationships she thought that she had. But she had to understand that I was only doing all of this for the betterment of our family; whether she liked the way that it happened or not.

Once I was comfortably situated in my bed once again, I picked up the rolled up bill and placed it to my nose, sniffing the second line of cocaine that sat on my nightstand. There were four thin lines in total, each one perfectly equal in size and width to each other.

I looked back over to see that Junior had already drew Simone and was now drawing a smaller stick person right next to her, holding her hand. I knew the picture was supposed to be of him and her but it kind of hurt that he didn’t think to draw me in there with our family. Had I really been that absent in his life that when he drew a family portrait, it didn’t include me?

“Where am I at?” I called out to him causing his little head to pop up as he halted his movements.

He quickly shook his head from side to side and grabbed another sheet that had been in the pile of pictures he already drew, holding it up for me. “No, this us.” Sure enough, there was a drawing of all three of us holding hands together under a sun and some clouds with huge smiles on our faces. He then placed the paper back down and pointed to the one that he was drawing now. “This just me and mommy.”

I nodded in content, a bit more satisfied that he really had included me in at least one of his pictures without me having to ask him to. It made me feel better as the only father figure in his life. I never had someone I could call a “dad” or “father” so the only thing I wanted for Junior was for him to have the perfect family. Although I knew deep down that our family was far from perfect, it didn’t hurt to at least make it seem like it was for him.

I smiled down at my son who had been too busy focusing on his coloring to notice, only wishing that I could have done better for him.

Just as I turned my head to lean down and snort another fine line, I heard loud banging coming from my front door causing me to let out an annoyed sigh as I placed the one hundred dollar bill back down on the flat surface of my nightstand and stood to my feet once again, grabbing the small pistol that I kept hidden underneath my mattress. I had been moving real reckless lately and I didn’t know who could be at my door wanting revenge and from the sounds of the knocking, that seemed like exactly what it was. I’d be damned if I let anything happen to Junior so I always kept protection near me just in case.

“Don’t get up from that spot.” I ordered my son sternly who in turn, had been paying no attention to me as he added extra details to his picture. I closed my room door and instantly took the safety off of my gun.

Stealthily tip-toeing towards my front door, I kept the pistol planted firmly in my hands as paranoia began to riddle my mind, making me think of all the possibilities on who could be at my door. Once I reached my destination, I lowered my head a bit to look through the peep hole and saw nobody there, just the darkness of the night that was slightly lit up due to my porch lights being on.

I quietly unlocked the door and reached for the handle of my doorknob, before swiftly swinging it open and immediately raising my gun ready to fire on anyone who was trying to catch me slipping.

The two police officers that were standing side by side instantly pulled their weapons with alarmed looks on their faces, both of them shouting loudly as they too held their guns up to me. “Put it down now!” I heard them both yell as they slightly backed away to keep distance between us.

My eyes widened once I realized that I had just pulled a gun on two cops, immediately dropping the gun from my hands as I held them up in surrender. I was not trying to be another statistic in the #BlackLivesMatter movement and I definitely wasn’t trying to go out by no pigs so I complied with what they asked.

Once the gun was out of my hands, one of the officers kicked it away from me and lowered his gun while the other kept his weapon trained on me just in case I tried something funny. The officer that holstered his gun quickly reached behind him and pulled out a pair of handcuffs as he grabbed my raised hands and turned me around, locking them tightly around my wrists. “Dominick Anderson, you’re under arrest for the attempted murder of Xavier Mitchell. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do…”

My brain instantly tuned him out as it began to finally register the officer’s words. Attempted murder? Meaning the nigga didn’t actually die? I couldn’t even believe the shit that was happening right now. Then my thoughts quickly shifted over to Junior who had still been sitting in my room thinking all was well.

I instantly started thrashing against the cop, trying to fight to get away from him and over to my son as both officers tried to restrain me. “Wait! My son is in there! I can’t leave him here by himself.” I quickly shouted causing the two to look at each other before one of them headed over to my bedroom to check on if what I was saying was true.

He came back out a couple minutes later with Junior holding his hand as he held up a small baggie, holding my stash of cocaine inside. “Well well well… what do we have here?”

I instantly closed my eyes and cursed myself in my head for forgetting about the narcotic that had been sitting out in the open before I had came out to answer the door.

Dom

We both snorted a fine line of the white powder simultaneously, laying back on the couch as the euphoric feeling began to kick in.

I tossed my head back, the feeling of ecstasy overwhelming my body as my eyes fluttered closed and I allowed myself to succumb to the high I was receiving. There wasn’t a better feeling in this world other than sex, and even that was a close call.

Feeling my phone buzz in my pocket, I quickly fished it out since I had been expecting a call from Arion any minute now but instantly rolled my eyes once I saw Katya’s name flash across the screen. Now that she had helped me win my case, I didn’t really feel the need to entertain her anymore. One, she was a married woman and brought that fact up every time we got together, and two, I had just gotten bored with her.

Of course, the sex with her was good but at the same time, sex is just sex. I could easily find another person with good sex and a personality so I wasn’t pressed over her.

“When that nigga gon’ call you?” My friend complained from the seat beside me, breaking me away from my thoughts as I looked over to see him staring at me with an unamused expression on his face.

I subconsciously checked my phone once again, but the only thing residing in my notifications was the missed call I had just received not even a minute ago. Shrugging in response, I prepared myself to snort another line as Ray just shook his head at me in annoyance. “I ain’t chasing down no grown ass man to see when he’s gonna call me. Be patient, he’s my nigga and all but he’s not to be fucked with.”

Silence took over the conversation soon after my reply and I took that as my cue to use the rolled up hundred dollar bill to inhale the next line of the pure white powder sitting on the table in front of me. The feeling that invaded my body was almost heavenly; like I was on a cloud higher than nine. It was like I could literally feel my pupils dilating.

“Alright nigga, slow down with that shit. We’re not gonna be able to do this job you want done if you’re too high to know what’s going on.” Ray spoke just as I felt the hundred dollar bill get snatched out of my hand causing me to glare at him with flared nostrils.

I knew he was right but one thing that I didn’t tolerate was disrespect; I don’t care who you thought you were. Snatching the blue-faced bill right back out of his hand, my icy stare remained on him for a few more seconds before my phone began vibrating loudly. I reluctantly broke eye contact with him and stuffed the Benjamin in the pocket of my jeans before quickly sliding my finger across my phone screen to answer the incoming call from Arion.

“Yo?” I answered as my eyes unwillingly became lower the longer I held them in place. It probably looked as if I was about to fall asleep when really, I was feeling better than ever.

Ever since I had came back from the rehabilitation center, the highs that usually hadn’t done enough for me before were the same ones that would now have me on my ass. That tolerance break shit was actually true and it made me want to do it more often if it weren’t for all of the horrible withdrawal symptoms that came along with it.

“Meet me at the spot.” Arion’s demanding voice came through the speakers of my phone before he hung up. I knew he couldn’t say too much more so that he wouldn’t be linked to what I was about to do and he also didn’t want to give away too many details since I already knew what and where the spot was.

Turning to Ray, I tapped him twice to get his attention before nodding over to the unmarked car that he had arrived in, signaling him that it was time to go. He quickly got up and cleaned off any trace of the cocaine we had been previously snorting from the table before we both began to make our way over to the vehicle.

Although I had been more fucked up, I had to drive due to Arion not trusting many people to know where his warehouse was located. He was very particular about who could and couldn’t know his whereabouts, especially after the situation with Tiarra.

The drive there was quick, taking no longer than twenty minutes before we pulled into the lot of the abandoned looking warehouse with all of the windows tightly boarded up and the grass out in front overgrown and unkempt. “You sure this the place?” Ray asked, his face scrunched up as he took in the sight of the building. There weren’t any cars but ours outside and all that could be heard was the sound of mother nature.

“Get out nigga.” I answered as I shut off the car and tossed him the keys before climbing out with him following suit after a bit of hesitation. I couldn’t lie and say that I wasn’t weirded out too since usually there might be a car or two parked maybe a block away, but this is where I was told to meet him so I continued my trek up to the front door of the structure.

Knocking in a specific rhythm, the door creaked open not even a second later and I did a quick glance back at my friend, informing him with my facial expression to just follow my lead. The both of us stepped inside and were greeted with a tall suited man with sunglasses on as if he was a part of the Men in Black. I wanted to ask him if he knew that he was inside but bickering with a seven foot dude wasn’t what I came here for and I had bigger things to handle today.

The male never uttered a word as he led us throughout the building, leaves and gravel that had been swept inside by the wind over the years crunching underneath our feet. We turned the corner and as we came up on the first door, the obvious bodyguard stepped aside as his eyes remained straight ahead of him instead of at us. “He’s in there.” His deep voice echoed through the vacant hallways, the first time I had heard him speak since we’ve been here.

Grabbing ahold of the rusted doorknob, I gave it a slight twist causing the heavy metal door to swing open, revealing Arion who sat at a desk inside of a room that looked like it was the only one that had been refurbished since this place had went out of business years ago. Ray and I stepped inside, the door instantly slamming shut behind us causing him to jump and look back to see that we had been closed into the room.

Arion’s face read expressionless as he glanced from me to Ray then back at me before a grin suddenly broke out on his face. “My nigga.” He finally spoke, standing from his seat to reach over and dap me up before averting his attention over to my plus one. “Who’s this?”

“Don’t worry, you can trust him. This is my boy Ray. He’s helping me with the little dilemma I’ve been telling you about.” I replied as Ray immediately reached out to shake Arion’s hand and after a bit of hesitation, Arion returned the gesture.

He sat back in his seat as one of his eyebrows raised in curiosity. “Yo baby moms?”

“Yea, after we went to court and everything, I had him follow her to find out where she was staying and can you guess who she was staying with?”

Arion let out a low chuckle and shook his head. “Another nigga?”

“Another fucking nigga.” I had barely allowed him to finish before I was answering my own question, beginning to seethe just talking about it. “I’m sick and tired of this bullshit. I go through all that shit to off the lil’ boyfriend she thought she had before and the first thing she does is go hop under another nigga? I’m starting to think these niggas aren’t the ones that’s the problem.”

Arion moved his head from side to side in amusement as he raised from his seat once again, but this time making his way over to a large cabinet like area and swinging open the door to reveal a large black duffel bag. “Maybe the problem was never the niggas to begin with.” He retorted after a few seconds of silence before turning back around to us and nodding over to the bag. “That’s gon’ have everything y'all need and I mean everything. And if y'all get caught—”

“I know, I know. I never heard of you.”

He gave me a slight nod before glaring at Ray who hadn’t said anything since we stepped into the warehouse. “That goes for you too lil’ nigga.” Arion added, his tone menacing and laced with suspicion at Ray’s silence.

“Oh! No—yea, I know. If we get caught, I don’t know shit. I’m not 69.” He replied quickly, referencing the rapper who had been getting the jokes all over Twitter for snitching so he could lessen his sentence.

Arion seemed satisfied with the answer, allowing us to head over to the duffel bag and take a look inside. Guns were the first items that had came into view once we pulled the zipper open, the various black metals shining against the lighting from inside of the room. Of course, he hooked us up with untraceable bullets which was an addition that I had to pay a pretty penny for but knew that it was worth the extra money put in.

Closing up the bag, I looked back at Arion with a satisfied smirk. “I appreciate this. Hopefully this will be the last time that I gotta do some shit like this.” I tossed the strap of the large black bag over my shoulder before dapping him up once again and exiting the building with Ray in tow.

***

Ray and I sat outside of the light bright nigga’s house where Simone had been staying ever since she left her last boyfriend’s place. She was smart not to stay there, I’ll give her that much because I checked the home a few times to be sure that she hadn’t moved back in and each time, I had came up empty.

It was hard to track someone who had cut off all communication with you so taking her to court was the only way that I could figure out her whereabouts for the last month and a half.

The lights were on in the house letting me know that there were people inside as we had waited for the perfect opening to execute my plan. All of this shit was going to end today, whether Simone liked it or not. I was officially done with the back and forth that we were doing; it was all becoming too tiring for me.

Ray tapped my arm causing me to break away from my thoughts and look over at him just as he pointed towards the house, his eyes never wavering from it. My eyes then followed suit and I noticed there had been two people hovering near the front door that was now open. I couldn’t see much but movement yet since it had been growing darker outside, but I was sure that the two figures were a male and a female.

They hugged for a little longer than one would normally hug someone before exchanging some inaudible words as the woman raised to her tip-toes to place a light kiss on the male’s cheek. She then began to walk towards a cab that was parked on the side of the road, tugging a large suitcase along with her as she neared closer to one of the street lights that had came on some time ago.

A smirk immediately played on my features as the lighting illuminated her face, allowing me to see exactly who now looked like she was leaving the home—and by herself too. This was almost too perfect. I turned back to Ray and gave him a slight nod as an answer to the questioning stare he was now giving me.

“Get ready.”

Bree

Placing a light peck on Xae’s cheek, he grabbed me gently by my neck and pulled me down to press his lips against mine as they moved in sync together. I loved that he never just settled for a kiss on the cheek; he wanted to feel my lips on his own.

I smirked into the kiss and placed a few more pecks on his lips before slowly pulling away, a look of admiration playing on my features just from seeing how handsome he was. His lips were soft and moist, his brown eyes were decorated with gorgeous eyelashes, and his freckles coated his face sexily. He was damn near perfect.

“I’ll be back baby.” I spoke as I pressed one last kiss to his lips before grabbing my phone and my purse off of the counter. “My cousin wants to meet for lunch to talk about her role in the wedding. Since it’s moved up, a lot of people weren’t able to clear their schedules for it in time.”

I turned back around to see him shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. “I don’t really care about having a huge wedding, I just want you to be my wife and have my baby already.”

A small smile graced my face as I approached him once more, wrapping my arms around his neck and sensually pressing my lips against his pair. “I love you. So much.”

“I love you too, baby.” He responded with a light pat to my ass. “Now, hurry up so that you can come back to me. I’m gonna be bored over here.”

I slightly rolled my eyes, knowing that the only reason he wanted me to hurry back was because Simone had left earlier so the house would be practically empty with me gone. I’m not sure why she left so suddenly but I wasn’t going to complain either. Xae and I finally had the house to ourselves again and we didn’t have to walk on eggshells to appease to anyone else.

Hiking my purse onto my shoulder, I waved goodbye to him before exiting out of the house and making my way over to our car. As I approached the window, I did a quick check on my appearance and fixed my hair up a bit. My attire was pretty basic; a simple black off-the-shoulder shirt tucked into some light washed high waisted jeans, compliment by some black sandals that showcased my freshly pedicured feet. My hair was down and framed my face perfectly.

After feeling satisfied with how I looked, I opened up the car door and hopped into the driver’s seat, immediately igniting the engine as I threw my seatbelt on. Being that my destination was only a short distance away, I decided not to hook my phone up to the aux and instead listened to whatever was on the radio.

It was beginning to get a bit darker outside, the sky flowing with pretty colors as the sun started to set. Once I arrived at the designated house, I grabbed my purse and shut off the car before using my phone to let that person know that I was there. I didn’t feel like standing outside and waiting, especially since it was getting dark.

The door swung open before I even got the chance to climb up the stairs to the front porch, revealing Antonio who had wore an expressionless face. He stepped aside and I took that as my cue to walk inside of his home, immediately making my way towards the living room since he had called me here to talk.

Once inside of the room, I reached over to give him a short hug which he quickly declined by pushing me back causing my eyebrows to instantly furrow in confusion at his sudden aggression since the last time we had seen each other. “What’s your problem?” I spat, getting a bit defensive from his use of force.

“Who’s baby are you carrying, Bree?” He retorted simply, his tone calm although I could tell that he was anything but.

I was a bit caught off guard by the question. “Wh-What?”

He smacked his lips, giving me a knowing look. “Don’t act fucking dumb, you heard me. Who’s baby are you carrying?” He repeated.

“Why the fuck are you coming at me like that when you were the one that told me to come—”

“I don’t give a fuck ‘bout none of that.” He quickly cut me off, not bothering to hear what I had to say which caused me to scrunch up my face. “All I wanna know is if that baby is mine or not 'cause it seems like Xae thinks it’s his and you’re not about to be having the both of us playing father to the same child. So I’m gonna ask you one more time, whose baby are you carrying.”

His tone was stern and serious making me sigh as I hung my head low, running my hands through my hair from all of the stress this whole pregnancy thing had been putting on me. “Look, I don’t know, okay? But I’m ninety percent sure that it’s yours. It’s the only thing that makes sense. I started getting all of the symptoms a couple of weeks after we first… you know.”

Antonio let out a low chuckle as he shook his head. “Do you hear yourself? You sound so fucking childish, you can’t even say that we had sex. We fucked. And you’re gonna sit here and tell me I’m the father to that baby then go and tell Xavier the same thing? Well, it’s either he’s the dad or I am. You can’t have it both ways, Bree. So I’m gonna need you to fucking find out.”

“It’s not my fault! I kept feeling sick and throwing up, he was bound to notice and be suspicious. I tried telling him that it was food poisoning at first but food poisoning doesn’t last an entire week, Antonio. I had to tell him something so I showed him the pregnancy test that I took. He just… found out.” I retorted, mumbling the last part of my rant in a barely audible tone as I began to fidget with my fingers underneath his gaze.

His glare was cold and I could practically feel the anger exuding off of him. I knew he cared about this baby but his reaction to me being pregnant was nothing compared to Xae’s. If Xae found out that the baby wasn’t really his, he’d be crushed. I don’t think I could do that to him or see the look on his face when he found out; that would break me.

“You keep saying it’s not your fault, but it is. It’s both of our faults and the longer you wait to tell him, the harder it’s gonna be. So, either you tell him or I will but I’m not going to stand there at this man’s wedding knowing what I know.” He folded his arms across his chest as if to signify how serious he was about what he had said.

My heartbeat quickened and I started to panic, pacing the floor as my hands stressfully ran through my bone straight hair. “How am I supposed to tell him something like that? That I had sex with his friend and got pregnant? What do you expect me to say?!”

“THE FUCKING TRUTH!” He raised his voice for the first time since I had been there, his face beginning to turn a red tint due to how angry he had become. “I’m tired of lying to this man to protect you!”

I scrunched up my face, my head pulling back quickly in defense. “Me?! You’re protecting yourself! You forgot that you’re a part of this too, not just me.” I screamed back as I roughly shoved my pointer finger into his chest. “And you need to stop hanging around him like you’re his friend when you know what went down between us. You’re making things worse.”

“Oh, so now this is all my fault because I started being friends with him? You were the one who was in a fucking relationship but came to my restaurant kissing up on me when y'all were having issues. Now that y'all are good, you’re trying to push that to the side like it never happened and move on with your life but newsflash: you can’t. One, we just fucked again last week and two, you may or may not be carrying my kid. If anything, you’re making things worse.” He retorted, more livid than I had ever seen anyone before.

Rolling my eyes in annoyance, I crossed my arms over my chest and turned away from him, my back now facing him. I heard him smack his lips once again from behind me then began hearing his heavy footsteps walking away from me causing me to quickly turn back around. “Where are you going?”

“I’m not about to talk to you if all you’re gonna do is act like a child. Just remember what I said. You can see yourself out.” One of his hands swung back and forth in his attempts to wave me off, but I quickly made my way over to him and pushed him from behind. His head swiftly swung to face me which caused his body to be pulled along with it. “The fuck is your problem?!”

“Don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you Antonio. You know, you used to act so sweet but now I see that, that was all it was. An act.” I gritted out, my head shaking in disappointment that I really fell for all the bullshit that he used to tell me before he got into my pants. It was like his personality took a whole 180° turn after that day.

I had never seen this side to him before. Hell, he made it seem like this side of him was nonexistent with the things we used to talk about. And like a dumb ass, I fell for it. He prayed on me and my vulnerability in my relationship because he knew there were problems between Xae and I. He strove off of that alone.

“Yo, Bree.” He let out a hasty breath, pinching the bridge of his nose with his first two fingers. “Get the fuck out my face because I swear—”

“You swear what?!” I quickly cut him off, just daring him to finish his attempt to threaten me.

Removing his hand from his face, he stared at me in disbelief for a few seconds before pushing past me and heading towards the front door, roughly swinging it open as he stood off to the side. “Get out. And decide what you wanna do because I’m done playing these back and forth games with you.”

I watched his body language, noticing that he was dead serious about kicking me out of his house. My feet stomped back over to the living room and I angrily snatched my purse up, making my way out of the house without so much as a glance his way.

If he wanted to be that way, then fine. Neither me nor my baby needs him or anything he had to offer. I was better off with Xae to begin with, I don’t know why I thought the grass would be greener on the other side of the fence.

“This baby is Xae’s whether you like it or not!” I called out to him, refusing to turn around and give him anymore attention.

“Yea, whatever.” I heard him mumble before the front door slammed shut and I quickly hopped into the car, not even bothering to put on a seatbelt or check anything before I pulled off.

The tires screeched as the car quickly reversed back into the street all too suddenly, consequently making me run into a fire hydrant that had been on the opposite sidewalk on the other side of the street.

All of the frustration had been building up inside of me and wrecking the car was the final straw for me as my hands roughly punched at the steering wheel. “FUCK!” I let out a blood-curdling scream as I thought about all of the possible ways I’d be able to explain what happened to our car to my fiancé.

“I am in so much fucking trouble…”

Xae

I should be happy.

I got a baby on the way and in a month, I’m getting married to the woman I’ve loved for nearly three years. So why am I feeling like a part of me is missing something?

I knew that she was going to have to some time but for some reason, I didn’t want her to leave. Especially to just pack up and move so suddenly like that after everything that’s happened lately. I’m not even sure if I’d be able to trust her alone by herself because I don’t want something to happen and I’m not there to help her like last time.

At the same time though, I do want her to learn how to be able to help herself. Through all of the talking we’ve done during our late night smoke sessions, I realized how dependent she was on other people and I fucked up by making myself another person that she wanted to depend on.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to have other people to depend on at certain moments when you need it but not all the time because people aren’t always reliable in that sense. Anyone could switch up in the blink of an eye and leave you without a thing to your name.

So I’m proud that she left to be out on her own for once, but I also didn’t want her to… I was so conflicted.

I scrolled through the various shows and movies on my Netflix account while simultaneously checking my phone for the text that Simone had told me she would give me once she was settled in at her hotel room. She had a job interview tomorrow morning at a warehouse across the street from the hotel and although warehouse jobs usually required heavy lifting and long hours, they paid good money. If she got the job, she’d be starting off at $13 an hour.

I also let her know that if she ever needed any help, not to hesitate and call me. I don’t want her to be dependent anymore but I don’t want her pride to be too high to ask for help when she really needed it either.

It still felt unreal that she was actually gone after over a month of living with Bree and I.

***Flashback***

Hearing shuffling coming from Simone’s bedroom, my heart immediately dropped as I hopped out of my bed and rushed out into the hallway, wasting no time in busting her door open only to see her packing up her clothes.

She was definitely startled by my outburst but I, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief once I saw that she was alright. That relief quickly turned into confusion, though, as I furrowed my eyebrows and hastily stepped further into the room. “What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving Xae.” My face instantly scrunched up at her words which caused her to let out a low sigh. “Bree made me realize that it’s not right to keep leeching off of you or anyone else for that matter. I’m just going to be on my own for a while—”

I immediately cut her off once I processed her words, growing angry that Bree had been so set on kicking this girl out in her time of need. I mean, I knew she felt that Simone had overstayed her welcome but damn; show some compassion at least. “So Bree’s the one that put you up to this? Simone, I told you that she’s just—”

“No.” She quickly shook her head and halted her packing to give me her full attention, stepping a bit closer to me so that we were now face-to-face. “She didn’t tell me that she wanted me to go but she made me realize that I needed to.”

There was a sudden silence in the conversation as my eyebrows came together in even more confusion. “What? Why…?”

“Because Xae, I’m sick of intruding on people’s lives and only making things worse for not only them, but myself too. I’m sick of having nothing to my name but the clothes on my back that ironically, I still didn’t buy myself. I’m sick of letting Dominick have control over me simply because I keep allowing him to. I’m just done… and I’m tired. I lost one child and I’ll be damned if I lose the other to him. If I give up now, Junior might turn into another Dom by just watching the shit he does. I’ve kept him sheltered from it but now that I’m not there, I just know that Dom isn’t filtering what he does in front of him. My baby has too much of a good heart to become lost to the streets like Dominick has. And I’d die before I ever let that happen. So I just… I have to go.”

She turned around to walk back over to her suitcase but stopped short once I swiftly grabbed her hand, pulling her back towards me. “But I can help you! I told you that, you don’t need to do this on your own.”

“That’s just it Xae. I can never do things for myself and look where that’s gotten me. I’m staying with a man I haven’t spoken to since high school and his fiancé. I can never see Junior again because I lost full custody for not having a stable income or place to call my home. I just feel so pathetic right now. But I’m not gonna try and take the easy way out this time.” She spoke with conviction, giving me a slight nod.

I still wanted to tell her that I’m always here and that she didn’t need to leave to find a job or look for a new place to live. She could still stay with me where I could watch over her and make sure that she’s ok. My mind was running a mile a minute with things I wanted to say to her but I just couldn’t form the words correctly.

The palm of her hand gently rested on my chin as she instantly brought my attention back down to her, as if she had sensed that my mind was elsewhere. I had been so in my head that I hadn’t even noticed the tears cascading from her eyes. Both of my hands trailed upwards to cup her face, wiping her tears away with the pad of my thumb but to no avail; fresh ones just kept falling back down. “Please don’t cry…”

“I’m not crying because I’m sad Xae.” She chuckled out through her tears, her hand gently caressing my cheek as she looked up at me through her watery eyes. “I’m crying because I’m happy. I’m so glad that I was able to find a friend in you again after all these years. If it weren’t for you, I’d probably be dead right now and I love you for that. You’re there for me regardless of what anyone says or thinks and I honestly really needed that at that time in my life.” She grabbed my hands from her face and held onto them tightly, a small smile playing on her features as she closed her eyes and brushed her cheek against the back of one of them. “But now, I need you to let me go.”

Those words stung and the fact that she had dropped my hands right after her statement hurt even more. I knew that things were beginning to get complicated but now, more than ever, it was hard to just let her leave like that. I couldn’t just let her go without knowing if I would be able to see her again. “Well… can you at least come to my wedding next month? It would really make me happy to be able to see you there.”

Her eyes raised to the ceiling as if she was thinking before she gave me a playfully knowing look. “Are you kidding? Of course I will.” The smile that formed on my face was so bright, I knew my cheeks would start hurting if it went on any longer than fifteen seconds.

Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around my torso and buried the side of her face into my chest, holding onto me tightly as my arms soon formed around her own body. “Thank you for everything. I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me Xavier.”

Her gaze then shifted back upwards so that she had a clear view of my face, a few tears of my own brandishing my skin. She leaned up and puckered her lips before planting a light kiss on my cheek and pulling away to finally get back to packing her clothes.

“Do you wanna help me? I know I don’t have much but I just—I wanna spend a little more time with you before I go, if that’s ok.”

I quickly wiped my tears and nodded, going over to the side of the bed where a small pile of her clothes were waiting to be folded and packed into her suitcase. I looked over at her busying herself with folding a long black jumpsuit.

“Simone?” Her gaze tore away from the article of clothing and over to me with a raised eyebrow. “I’m really proud of you.”

***Flashback ends***

There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she could do whatever she put her mind to. She was smart and determined and after all that she’s been through, hopefully had wonderful karma coming her way.

Checking the time on my phone, I furrowed my eyebrows once I realized that it was almost ten o'clock and decided to dial Bree’s number to see what was taking her so long. A part of me was actually concerned and the other part was just bored out of my mind, hating how silent the house had become without the both of them here.

The phone rang all the way through until her voicemail began to play through the speakers of my phone causing me to roll my eyes. “Yo, call me back when you get this message. I’m starting to get worried about you.” With that, I ended the call and went back to scrolling through the Netflix app on my TV, not being able to find anything that caught my eyes.

As I scrolled, I heard the front door unlock from my bedroom and realized that was probably the reason she hadn’t picked up the phone since she had already been in the neighborhood. “Next time, that ass better pick up my call!” I playfully called out to her, earning only silence in response causing me to furrow my eyebrows. “Bree?”

My eyes averted over towards my bedroom door and I moved to stand up to check on her until I saw two masked figures standing in the doorway. I froze in my spot for a couple of seconds before attempting to dart over to my dresser where I kept a gun that not even Bree knew about. She was too squeamish about those kinds of things and claimed she didn’t like violence, but I always wanted to be able to protect myself.

The two individuals swiftly moved towards me, yanking me away before I got the chance to grab my pistol and wrestled me until one of them held my arms behind my back in a tight grasp.

“Bitch ass nigga!” I heard the one in front of me scream before he sent a hard blow to my stomach, immediately knocking the wind out of me as I struggled to get out of the other male’s hold. The intruder in front of me began to send punch after punch to my face and abdomen, not stopping until I could see my own blood now dropping onto the floor in large puddles.

One of my eyes had became swollen during the beating and the guy behind me let go of my arms causing me to instantly hit the ground, beaten badly and feeling like I’d vomit my stomach out any second now. “What the hell are you doing?!” I heard one of them say causing me to look up at the two of them standing over my bruised body with my good eye.

“I want him to see the face of the nigga that’s ‘bout to kill him.” The intruder immediately snatched off his mask, revealing Dominick. The same person I had went to high school with all those years ago and the same person Simone had been running from for months. I wanted to strangle this nigga with my bare hands but after the beating he just gave me, I was too weak to even stand up. “You wanna fuck on my baby momma, you gon’ have to go through me. Yellow ass nigga.”

I slightly winced as my eyebrows furrowed. “But we never f—”

I was cut off by two gunshots going off and a burning sensation shooting throughout my body as the two men quickly ran out of my bedroom. Blood had now stained my floors as I struggled to drag myself over to my bed and grab my phone to call for help. My eyesight began to become blurry and my muscles weak as I reached for my phone, my fingers roughly sending it crashing to the floor.

Once it was in my grasp, I clicked the emergency call button which instantly dialed 911. The dispatcher could soon be heard on the line as I struggled to speak through the blood that I was starting to choke on. “He—Help.” I squeaked out lowly.

Xae

Surprisingly, it was extra quiet in the house today. Bree was knocked out clean because she had been extra tired lately due to having my seed growing inside of her.

And Simone had been more on the quiet side ever since she came back home from the hospital. She didn’t want to speak that much which was understandable, but it had me a little worried about her. It’s like she hit rock bottom and all her previous strength and enthusiasm was now drained from her body. Anything would set her off right about now.

I had been cautiously checking on her throughout the day to make sure that she was ok and attempt to get her to eat something instead of being under the covers all day long, which I felt would only make things worse since she’d likely be more focused on all of the horrible things that had been happening lately.

I felt some type of way that I wasn’t able to tell what was going on with her. I’ve been too caught up in my own bullshit to give her the attention that I should have been giving.

She opened up to me but only partially, and it made me think that maybe she didn’t trust me like I thought she was starting to. There’s clearly so much about her that I still didn’t know and haven’t even touched the surface of. And that was the worst part of it all because I feel like I’ve opened up to her about so much. When Bree and I are going through things, Simone’s always right there trying to tell me how to fix it.

Her corny ass would always tell me to buy her some flowers or some of her favorite ice cream to make up, but I never did because honestly, I didn’t even think that was going to work. Bree and I have been through a lot together and if there’s one thing she is, it’s stubborn. Flowers and ice cream might butter her up, but it won’t fix things and that’s where my dilemma was.

I knew what the real cause of me and Bree’s problems were, I just don’t think that I want to admit it yet. Especially not after the other day.

Bree had calmed down since I told her what happened a few days ago, mainly because she knew how it felt to get so excited about a child only to lose them. The house had been at its calmest and quietest in a while.

I sighed aimlessly, with nothing to do but watch TV since Bree was asleep and Simone hadn’t been doing anything except laying down for the past few days. Plus, Antonio had been more busy than ever lately and of course, his business came first so I couldn’t really blame him.

Deciding that watching TV was my best bet, I grabbed the remote from the nightstand beside my bed and turned it on, beginning to flip through channels like I had no home training. Of course, nothing good had been on since it was a Sunday morning and most people were at church getting their praise on.

I decided to settle on the news since I hadn’t really sat and watched what was going on in the world lately. They were doing a story on some murder case that had took place a few days ago with the body just being found earlier this morning in some dumpster a hobo had been shopping in before he stumbled upon the mutilated body.

A couple of graphic pictures appeared on the screen to showcase how gruesome the murder was. “23-year-old Tiarra Wyatt was found dead this morning after being shot in the head twice, stabbed a total of 57 times, and brutally beaten until her face and body were unrecognizable. The woman was found in only a bra and underwear set and her head had been shaved.”

“Damn.” I mumbled out as I shook my head in disappointment at the brutality of the gruesome homicide. I swear, this world is falling apart day by day. They did that girl so dirty and for what? People just don’t respect the value of life nowadays.

“If you have any information, please call our hotline at…”

I tuned the reporter lady on the screen out once I began hearing loud sniffles coming from outside of my room. My room door had remained wide open since the day Simone and I came back from the hospital, just in case she called for me. I wanted to be sure that I heard her.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I turned down the volume on my TV and got up from the bed once I began hearing the sniffling more clearly. By now, I knew she was crying and all I wanted to do was wrap her in my arms and tell her that everything’s going to be alright; that things would get better. But she’d been through so much that I’m not even sure she would believe those words even if I did say them.

Even still, I made my way to her room and realized her door was closed so I decided to knock just to be respectful. Everything suddenly stilled and I could no longer hear her sniffling which caused me even more confusion so I knocked again.

And again, no answer.

I let out a breath I had been holding in and just swung the door open, looking around the room to see an empty but messy bed with Simone nowhere to be found. My heartbeat immediately quickened as I started to panic, looking in every corner and crevice in the room for her, even the closet. She hadn’t got up from her spot on the bed in days and although I should be happy that she finally got up, something was telling me that things were very wrong.

“Simone, where you at baby girl? Stop hiding from me.” I called out, attempting to lure her to me since I couldn’t find her inside of the room. But I only received silence which drove me even crazier.

I began flipping over covers and mattresses trying to find her before coming to the conclusion that she couldn’t have been in her room so I walked back into the hallway and started opening every possible door I could find.

As I opened the bathroom door, I had to double take at the scene in front of me. There was blood everywhere. Simone had about a two inch long vertical slit down her left wrist that was gushing blood as she held a razor up to her other wrist, jumping once she saw me.

“Yo, what the fuck you doing?!” I yelled, immediately reaching for the nearest towel and swiftly wrapping it around her gashed wrist and applying pressure on it by cuffing my large hand firmly around it as I grabbed the razor out of her hand and threw it away from her, cutting my own finger in the process. “Are you fucking crazy?!” I growled, growing heated by the second.

Simone was in trouble. She could barely stand up straight without me holding onto her and she couldn’t make out her words to form correct sentences. She was losing way too much blood.

Picking her up bridal style, I maneuvered one of my hands around her so that I could keep some pressure on the wound and stop her from losing as much blood. I quickly carried her out to my car and placed her in the passenger’s seat where her head immediately fell back against the headrest as she struggled to keep her eyes open. She gave me a weak smile and reached up to lightly brush my cheek with her hand, getting a bit of blood on me in the process. “I… I lo—”

“Shh, save your energy baby.” I told her as I closed her door and quickly jogged back into the house to grab my car keys, then headed back out without so much as locking the door behind me because I was in too much of a hurry. I knew I lived in a nice neighborhood so I wasn’t really worried anyway.

Once I got back in the car, I started it up and made her try to apply as much pressure as she could to her wound but when I grabbed her hands, I noticed how icy they were and wasted no time in speeding off towards the nearest hospital.

***

I had just finished eating some Chick-fil-A from one of the little restaurants inside of the hospital and threw away my trash. Bree had called a couple of hours ago because when she woke up, Simone and I were gone and there was blood on the floor that led all the way to the front door, which was also unlocked. She was worried about us so I explained to her the gist of what happened.

She felt bad for what had happened and thought that it was partly her fault for being so rude to Simone for no reason, but I assured her that Simone had way more issues that could have caused this than just Bree being a bitch.

I had been up here for almost six hours already and honestly, my nerves were racking. I couldn’t sit still for even a second before I’d catch my leg bouncing up and down or my fingers tapping against something. The last thing I wanted was for her to be taken away from me when I just got her back in my life. I wanted to know what she was going to tell me in the car before I cut her off and if she died…

I shook my head to break me away from my thoughts and instantly stood once I noticed her doctor walking towards me. “She’s stable. She lost a lot of blood but we were able to control it before it became too late. If you didn’t get here when you did, I’m not sure if she would have made it.”

My eyes fluttered closed and I let out a sigh of relief, happy that they were able to save her life. “Could I see her?” I asked with hopeful eyes and the doctor soon began leading the way to her hospital room.

He allowed me to go inside by myself so that Simone and I could talk privately, which was fine with me because now that all the worry was gone about if she was alive or not, I was pissed. What if I hadn’t heard her crying in there? I would have just found her lifeless body laying there and bleeding out later on during the day and there would be nothing I could do about it.

When I stepped inside the room, I closed the door behind me and silently made my way over to the side of the bed where the empty chairs were. Simone was awake, but didn’t acknowledge me as she stared out of the window without so much as a blink.

“How you feeling?” I asked just to break the ice before I decided to cuss her ass out for almost giving me a heart attack. But just like back at home, she gave me no answer. I sighed and buried my head in my hands. “So you just gon’ ignore me?” I asked again after a few seconds but she didn’t even flinch. Her eyes remained glued to the closed window, where all she had been looking at are the blinds. Her silence was beginning to make my blood boil. I haven’t done anything except try to help save her life countless times and I understand she’s hurt but she could just tell me she doesn’t want to talk instead of giving me the cold shoulder as if I had fucked her over. “Yo, what were you thinking doing that shit?”

She finally cut her eyes at me and glared as if she was ready to put a bullet hole in my head just to shut me up. “You have no right to tell me how I should feel. I’ve lost everybody. My boyfriend, my children… my sister.” She looked away from me once tears began to fall from her eyes freely but I cupped her chin in my hand and turned her back to face me. I wanted her to look at me when I talked to her.

“What do you mean you lost your sister?” The only time she really talked about her sister was when she told me about how she tried fucking both of Simone’s boyfriends. But that was the extent of my knowledge on the girl.

She closed her eyes in attempts to stop her crying but it only caused more tears to fall. “She—I was watching the news…”

Then it finally hit me. Around the time I heard Simone sniffling, I had also been watching the news story on that girl who was murdered. At the time, I hadn’t even paid much attention to the fact that she and Simone had the same last name. “Her name was Tiarra?” She nodded in response causing me to sigh. This girl just couldn’t catch a break. “Look, don’t ever pull the shit you pulled today again. If you ever feeling that way, you come to me.”

“I’m sorry…” She cried lowly as she hung her head low and Lord knows that I couldn’t even be mad at her anymore.

Ajanae

I awaited my informant inside of the empty and unkempt home.

My eyes had been seemingly darting around the room, attempting to memorize the area just in case something popped off during this meeting. It was called so suddenly and abruptly that I didn’t even get a chance to ask what it was about. I already knew it had to be information on Simone and her reasoning for trying to kill me that night. But I still wanted to be sure and safe.

Raising my hand up, I glanced down at the rose gold Michael Kors watch that sat pretty on my wrist and checked the time, realizing that I had been sitting here for ten minutes waiting on this nigga when he was the one that called the meeting in the first place. I let out a huff and rolled my eyes because I should have known to be on black people time.

Suddenly, I heard a door swing open causing me to crouch behind one of the couch’s that sat in the abandoned home. It was dark so I would have to wait for whoever it was to come into the room where the light from the moon reflected down through the windows. The dread head known as my informant and hit man stepped into the dusty room where I hid causing me to step out from behind the couch once I saw that it was actually just him.

“Damn, what chu think? I was tryna kill you a'sum? Then I wouldn’t get paid.” He spoke sarcastically once I came into his view.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance, not one to be joking around at a time like this. I wanted things to remain as professional as possible and I can’t do that when he’s laughing about how he’s only not killing me because I’m paying him. I should have known that anyone Dom associated with was absolute garbage. “Did you find the girl?” I asked, getting straight to the point.

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. The girl that tried to kill you is dead.”

My face instantly scrunched up at his revelation since the last time I checked, Simone Wyatt was still alive and breathing. “Are you sure? How do you know?” I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“She got taken out by somebody else.” He shrugged nonchalantly then suddenly cut his eyes at me. “I’m still getting paid though, right?”

Another eye roll effortlessly left my face, but I actually had to think about that one. That was a good question. “You get half since you only did half the work.”

He instantly smacked his lips. “Man c'mon, it’s not my fault. Clearly that bitch had more enemies than just you.” The dread head complained causing me to shrug.

“I paid you to find her and kill her. Sounds to me like all you did was find her, so I’m removing the portion I was supposed to be paying for you to kill her.” He honestly had me all the way fucked up if he thought that I was going to be paying him for a job that he didn’t even do. I wanted to watch her squirm but I couldn’t even do that now. “By the way… the girl who did it, what was her name?” I asked, purely out of curiosity.

He stayed silent for a few seconds with his arms folded, obviously still salty that he wouldn’t be getting the full amount of payment we had initially discussed. But hey, you got to be quicker than that. “Tiarra Wyatt.” He spoke after a few minutes of throwing his little temper tantrum.

My eyes immediately widened and my mouth fell ajar as I took in the information. A headache soon came onto me as my brain racked wildly from the revelation and that’s when it all came back to me.

***Flashback***

I stood frozen in fear near the side of my bed and short breaths escaped my lips as I stared back at the person who had been dressed in all black, pointing a gun straight at me. I had never been held at gun point before, nor did I ever plan to so I was completely petrified and couldn’t think of anything else to do.

“W-Who are you? Look, whatever you want you can have just—just be careful with that gun.” I spoke calmly and slowly, holding my hands out so that I would seem as less of a threat to whoever was behind the mask as possible. I wasn’t trying to lose my life tonight over some material objects that I could buy back at any time.

The smell of fear basically exuded off of me as I noticed my hands shaking unwillingly out in front of me. “Oh you don’t know who I am?” The familiar voice spoke, completely surprising me that it had been a female. “I’ll give you a hint. A few months ago, you and ya little friend thought y'all were so big and bad when y'all jumped me and made my nigga cut me off. Now it’s time I got a little payback.”

My face immediately straightened out from its confused expression and my hands dropped to my sides as the realization of who was now holding me at gun point came to me. Then something else she had said caught my attention. My so-called ‘little friend’ and I instantly became a little salty since the ending of Simone and I’s friendship was still fresh; it still hurt me. “We’re not friends anymore.” I gritted out through clenched teeth as I cut my eyes at her.

“Boohoo, I really don’t give a fuck. Now… any last words?” She spoke in a menacing tone as she toted the gun higher up at me and cocked it.

I couldn’t believe this girl was actually serious. She was the cause of all of the problems in her life, not me. So I had no clue why she was now breaking into my house and threatening me. I didn’t want to believe she would actually have the guts to kill someone but at the same time, I couldn’t take that chance of underestimating her when I had no way to defend myself against her.

I held my hands up in defense once again and backed up against the wall, attempting to protect myself in anyway I could and if that meant giving this girl an apology that I didn’t actually mean, then I would do just that. “Tiarra, please. You don’t have to do this. I’m sorry we—”

POW! POW! POW!

***Flashback ends***

“Tiarra did this?” I asked more so to myself as the dark skinned, dread headed man in front of me just stared back at me in confusion.

“You know the broad?” Snapping out of my trance, I shook my head and dismissed what I had said previously because I honestly didn’t feel like answering any questions that he didn’t need to know in the first place. He shrugged in response and began to make his way back towards the exit but not before turning back to look at me. “They’re holding a service later on today at the church down on Carter boulevard. Just thought you’d want to know…”

He continued his way out until I was left standing alone in the empty unkempt home once again.

***

I had put on my prettiest black dress this evening and my hair was in its usual curls as I stepped into the church my informant had directed me to earlier.

Trying my best to hold in my looks of disgust, I glanced around at all of the decorations and family members surrounding one another and crying on each other’s shoulders. But that’s not what disgusted me. No, what disgusted me was the million pictures of Tiarra that were set up largely all around the room. And we were just in the common area, I couldn’t imagine how the actual chapel looked.

One of the men who assisted with the funeral guided me to the book where I had to sign my name. I wouldn’t dare put my real name down on this book knowing Tiarra and I were far from friends or even acquaintances for that matter, so I used a pseudonym.

As soon as I finished signing, I immediately went into the chapel to take a seat in one of the pews. I hadn’t met any of her family members except for her mom that one time Simone and I went looking for Tiarra but I’m sure she didn’t even remember me. So I had nobody to stand outside and converse with.

The chapel was decorated nicely. Rows of burgundy colored pews took up majority of the space as golden floral decorations hung from the each side of them. There was an even bigger photo of Tiarra sitting directly behind the podium as her large silver casket resided in front of it, closed.

After finding out the news, I searched for any stories on what happened to her and how she died and stumbled upon a ton of news articles covering the story. It had clearly been a whole big thing. And with the way her murder was described in the reports, I completely understood why they were holding a closed casket service instead of the opposite. I wouldn’t want to see her mutilated ass either.

Just being here made me feel powerful. She tried to take me out, yet I was still alive and kicking. But here she was, about to be buried six feet under in a few more hours.

I wasn’t planning on staying the entire service, I just wanted to come so I could be sure that she was, in fact, gone like I’d hoped. A smirk threatened to form on my face as I watched various people walk up to the casket, crying and praying over it. Prayer wouldn’t be of any help to Tiarra now because we all knew exactly where she was going, and it wasn’t the golden gates.

Eventually, more people started stepping in to show their respects and take their seats so that the service could start. I drowned out most of what was being said about her because I knew that all of those positive things people were branding on her were complete lies. She was anything but a sweet and caring person as they described her. That’s just something people say at every funeral service to make the dead person’s life seem less shitty.

But let’s face it, Tiarra was a shitty person and obviously had a shitty life.

She was constantly jealous of her younger sister when she was supposed to be the one protecting Simone and guiding her. I feel like that’s part of the reason Simone’s so naïve now; nobody teaches her anything. I mean, how pathetic does your love life have to be to not only go after one, but two of your little sister’s boyfriends? Tiarra was clearly a bitter miserable bitch and I was enjoying every moment of the celebration of her death.

Speaking of, I did a quick sweep of the room in search of a face I hadn’t seen since I exploded on her for thinking that she was the one that was trying to murder me. I felt terrible for jumping to assumptions but Tiarra hadn’t even popped into my mind when I found out the description of the person who had done it.

Simone was the most plausible choice in my opinion because I played a role in Saint’s death after visiting her at his house countless times and having conversations with him as if I wasn’t scheming with Dom the entire time on the low. If I were her, I’d definitely want to kill me so that was the first person I suspected. An eye for an eye.

I had no idea that Tiarra would really be that salty that we pulled up and beat her ass all those months ago. You win some and you lose some sis, but to try and kill someone over a fight is something only a psycho would do. And I honestly believed that Tiarra didn’t have all of her marbles if you know what I mean.

I left mid-service while someone was speaking and received a few dirty looks from some of her family members for disrespectfully interrupting like that, but I could give two fucks about what they thought. Nobody wanted to stay at a funeral service with only fifteen people there.

Make that fourteen.

Simone

I couldn’t move my hands too much because I didn’t want to risk tearing my stitches while they’re still fresh. I’ve never had stitches before, but tearing them sounded like it probably hurts like hell and I wasn’t going for it.

There was a large white gauze wrapped around my wrist and of course, they had to put me on suicide watch but I assured them that I was fine because I hated hospitals and I couldn’t stand to be there any longer than I had to.

There had just been so much going on and then, when I found out that my sister died so brutally, I lost it. We might not have had the best relationship but that was still my family and blood and we had a lot of good memories as well as bad ones. I wasn’t even able to attend her funeral service because the doctors were afraid to let me go so early and decided to keep me overnight. I was pissed.

But I called my mom to talk to her for the first time in a while just to check up on her. She had told me that the service was beautiful and everyone had nothing but nice things to say about Tiarra. My mother sounded hurt and heart broken to say the least. Tiarra and I were all she had but now it’s just me and she almost lost me too. I decided not to tell her about my attempted suicide though because I just didn’t want to break her heart any further.

Since I’ve gotten back, I’d say Xavier probably checked on me every hour of the day and I kept trying to reassure him that he didn’t have to stay at home all day long just to monitor me but he had became too paranoid. I felt terrible for allowing him to see me like that and I felt even worse for doing it at his house.

I know he cares about me and doesn’t like to see me hurting so for him to walk in on me at a time like that probably broke his heart. He seemed so scared and frantic when he was taking me to the hospital. He probably thought that I was going to die and in the back of my mind, I was hoping I did.

He stayed at the hospital overnight with me and held me protectively all night while I slept on his chest. And for the first time in a long time, I actually felt safe.

Xae reminded me that I had to stay strong for Junior. He’d be completely heart broken if he found out that I was gone and never coming back. Junior was the definition of a momma’s boy. And Xae helped me to realize that everything that happened, happened for a reason. I don’t know what that reason was yet, but it still gave me a bit of hope for the future.

It was hell when we had to go back home because I knew that I’d probably never be able to lay in his arms like that again and I wanted to milk it for as long as I could. He had no complaints though because he knew that I needed it. I needed that closeness with someone and to be reminded that suicide wasn’t the only option for me. I still had somebody to live for.

A long exaggerated sigh left my lips as my stomach growled and I got up from the bed to head to the kitchen. I had to tiptoe because if Xae heard me, he’d try to get my ass to lay back down so he could get me something to eat but I had been laying down since yesterday and I desperately needed to move.

Once I got to the kitchen, I searched the fridge for some leftovers to warm up. I didn’t have the energy to cook something from scratch and I didn’t want to move my hands too much so microwaving something was the only option. The night before last, Xae had made spaghetti so I decided to fix myself a plate of that since I had enjoyed it at dinner that night.

Grabbing a plate from the cabinet, I uncovered the pot and began using a spoon to scoop some spaghetti onto it. I had to maneuver the pot in a way that made it easier since the noodles decided to keep falling off the spoon and I was starting to get a bit frustrated. “Bruh, get on the fucking plate.” I mumbled as some of the spaghetti slid back into the pot.

“Do you need some help?” I jumped once I heard a voice come from behind me and spun around to see Bree standing at the entrance of the kitchen with a small smile on her face.

I gave her a nervous grin in return and nodded. I was shocked that she even offered to help me considering any other time she had spoken to me, it hadn’t been the nicest interactions. She walked further into the kitchen and I stepped aside as she began effortlessly scooping spaghetti onto my plate. “Tell me when you want me to stop.”

Allowing her to fill up three-fourths of the plate with food, I let her know that was enough and she placed the cover back on the pot before setting it back into the refrigerator as I went to put my plate in the microwave. As I waited, Bree stood there as if she wanted to say something making things undoubtedly awkward but I continued to stay silent.

“Look Simone, I know I don’t always see eye to eye with you but… I’m glad you’re okay. You’re a close friend of Xae’s and I know he’d be hurt if you were to pass away.” She spoke as she fidgeted with her fingers and kept eye contact with me as best as possible. “I also wanted to say that I’m really sorry for your loss. I know how it feels to have the hopes of having a child just taken away from you so suddenly and I would never wish that on anyone, even my worst enemy.”

My eyes widened in surprise at her words as I stumbled a bit over my own thoughts. “O-Oh, you—thank you.” I replied sincerely as I let out a breath of relief. “I’m just a little surprised, I thought you hated me.”

“I don’t hate you, I just… Xae’s very fond of you and I’m not gonna lie, it gets me a little jealous sometimes.” She sighed as she leaned up against the counter. “He’s just so soft and caring with you and I know he cares about me too but it’s just not the same when he’s with me. Maybe it’s because you’re going through a lot right now that he’s like that, I don’t know. I just find myself getting so territorial.”

I nodded, understanding where she was coming from as I twirled a strand of hair around my pointer finger. “I get that. But I’m not that kind of person. I already know how it feels to be cheated on and I would never do that to another woman. He loves you Bree, you need to start trusting him.” I spoke, feeling my heart sinking with each word. It hurt but it was true, or else he wouldn’t be marrying her. “I’m sorry I’ve stayed longer than I was supposed to stay too. But now that I used the money Saint gave me for that lawyer that did absolutely nothing for me in that case, I really don’t know what else to do.”

“Simone… girl, you gotta stop acting like the victim all the time and actually do something to change your situation in a more positive way. I mean, you’ve been here for almost a month and haven’t done anything but get our house broken into by some girl and clean up around the place a bit. And while I do appreciate that extra help, you could be using that time to look for jobs.”

I had to stop myself from scrunching my face up and getting defensive because I knew that she wasn’t telling me this to try and make me feel bad. That didn’t stop it from making me feel some type of way though. “I have been looking but there’s nothing of interest to me.”

She gave me a dry chuckle and shook her head. “Sweetheart, when you’re in need of a source of income, you take anything you can get. Beggars can’t be choosers. You probably would have won that custody battle if you had a job and a place to stay but you’re not even trying because it doesn’t 'interest’ you? Come on now. You can’t just keep depending on everyone else around you to fix your problems for you. You have to depend on yourself.”

Although the words kind of stung, I knew that she was right. I’ve never had a job in my life and don’t know the first thing about searching for one and actually getting it, but I had to try if I wanted any chance of getting my son back. He needed an adult, not someone who was dependent on others as he depended on me.

It was hard to get out of that habit of not having to do much but nurture him; that had been my only job in life. But that was something that needed to change if I wanted my life to get any better.

“You’re right,” I sighed lowly as I shook my head, disappointed in myself for letting things go on this long without doing much to retaliate. “I didn’t want to admit it but… I don’t always make the best decisions and I think that’s what has gotten me into all the shit I’m in now. I’ve lost everything and instead of fighting back like I should, my first choice was to leave it all behind and take the easy way out.” I spoke, disgusted with myself.

Bree flashed me a genuine smile and grabbed my hand, giving it a slight squeeze for reassurance that she was here for me. “It’s not too late. You still have time to make things better for yourself.”

A grin grew on my face as well as I suddenly pulled her in for an embrace that I’m sure she hadn’t been expecting just by how she tensed up at first. As much as I hated to hear it, I needed someone to be real with me for once. “Thank you. I know you didn’t have to come speak to me or apologize, but I really appreciate it.” She wrapped her arms around me as well once she became more comfortable.

“Uh… what did I miss?” We both jumped and turned to Xae, who was staring at us with wide questioning eyes.

I giggled and pulled out of the hug with Bree as I threw my hand over my chest, feeling the rapid pace of my heartbeat. “I’m gonna need both of y'all to stop popping up on me like that. This is the second time in under an hour, I’m gonna have a heart attack.”

Bree went over to wrap her arms around him and plant a kiss on his lips as I turned to take my food out of the microwave. I had forgot about it while talking to her so it was just lukewarm now which caused me to place it back into the microwave for sixty more seconds.

When I turned back around, Xae’s eyes shifted from Bree’s to mine as he gave me a sympathetic look. “Are you ok?”

I responded with a bright smile. I didn’t want him or anyone else’s pity anymore. If I wanted things to change then I had to be the one to change them, and that’s exactly what I was planning to do. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” I replied as I gave him a look that told him to stop focusing on me and focus on the woman that was wrapped around his body right now.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion but he still averted his attention back over to his girlfriend and asked her about how her nausea has been lately. I didn’t want to seem nosy and in their conversation so I tuned them out and turned back around to grab my now steaming hot plate of spaghetti out of the microwave.

As soon as I got back to my room, I opened up and turned on the laptop Xae had allowed me to borrow, immediately searching and applying to any and every nearby job that I could find.

Tiarra

I woke up in pure darkness and no matter how hard my eyes attempted to adjust to the pitch black environment, I just couldn’t see anything. It was as if I had gone completely blind.

My mouth was dry like I’d been stuffing it with cotton and my lips were so chapped that they had started to crack and peel. There was a painful throbbing coming from the back of my head. The first thought I had was to move, immediately feeling the restraints around my wrists and ankles. I didn’t know where I was, but whoever did this clearly wasn’t trying to play any games with me.

I groaned at the same time that my stomach growled, the chilly atmosphere forming goosebumps all over my exposed half naked body. “Help…” My voice came out hoarse causing me to clear my throat. “HELP ME!” I was able to call a bit louder but the only response I got was the sound of my own voice echoing throughout the cold dark room.

My body was too weak and I was trying to save up as much energy as I could, in case I would need it later on. The pain coming from my head only grew more intense as I whimpered repetitively for someone to come and help me.

I couldn’t remember how or when I got here, but I knew that a Tylenol was definitely needed right about now. I’ve never had a headache so bad in my life.

The sound of the legs of my chair scratching against the hard floor made me realize that I wasn’t actually bolted down in one place. Immediately scooting further, I began moving around the black room and noted how large it was. I couldn’t have been in someone’s house. Maybe a basement? Or a warehouse? There was no source of light anywhere, not even a small window that a basement would normally have.

I almost fell over once the back of my chair hit something solid and was unable to move any further. Slowly turning so that my legs were now facing the object, I began kicking at it to find out if I had reached a wall or not, ultimately realizing how low it actually was. “What the fuck…?” I whispered to myself and decided to just feel around with my feet.

Being that I was half naked, shoes and socks were not included on my body so I started patting around that same area that I’d been previously kicking. The object was solid, but not exactly hard and it was low, but also long at the same time. It was covered in some type of cloth and I had to maneuver just to reach the top, using my toes in attempts to identify it the way my hands would.

A cold liquid instantly coated my foot causing me to quickly snatch it away from the unknown stationary object with a loud yelp. I immediately began to frantically scoot away and before I knew it, my chair had toppled over and fell to the ground causing me to hit the back of my head in the same area that had been aching. Groaning lowly, it took me a little while to come back to reality and regulate my breathing after getting the wind knocked out of me.

***Flashback***

I stared back at my reflection in the bathroom mirror of the hotel I’d been staying in for the week, fluffing my hair to my desired volume. Out of all the hotels I’ve stayed in so far, I would have to say that this one was definitely my favorite. Everything was lined with gold and room service came quicker than a fast food drive thru.

Having money was such an exuberant feeling and if this room was what a little two hundred dollars got me for the night, then I’d be living the life until I finally offed the bitch that decided to get a hit out on my head.

The hotel room was nice but it gets tiring having to bounce around from place to place all the time and constantly looking over your shoulder. Having to hide your face in shades and makeup every time you stepped foot outside. It was just way more than I expected it to be and now I see that living a life on edge is anything but fun.

I sighed, eyeing over my reflection one last time before shutting off the light and heading back into the bedroom. Raising my leg to climb into bed, I suddenly paused when I heard loud knocking on my room door causing me to instantly furrow my eyebrows, growing worried.

I cautiously stepped over to the door, standing on my tippy toes to glance into the peep hole and noticing a Hispanic man staring back at me; almost as if he knew that I was looking at him at that very moment. “Who is it?” I called out as my eyes remained trained on the stranger.

“Room service.”

Breathing out a small sigh of relief, my heartbeat seemed to slow back down to its normal rate once I realized that I was just being paranoid as always. I had almost forgot that I ordered myself a steak dinner from the gourmet kitchen downstairs.

My hands immediately wrapped around the doorknob and I swung the door open, revealing the man I had just been watching through the peephole who now wore a smile on his face as he pushed the cart with the covered platter on it inside. “Your food ma'am.” He spoke once he got to the main living area. “Where would you like me to put it?”

“My bedroom, thanks.” I flashed him a quick smile in attempts to be polite as he did as I requested and took my food into my room. Once he was finished, he grabbed the cart he was rolling around and walked out of my hotel room, bidding me a professional goodnight.

I locked my room door once he was gone and made my way back to the room, continuing what I was doing by climbing onto the bed before reaching for the remote to turn the TV on. Unlike the cheaper hotels, there were actually fairly decent channels programmed on this TV. I decided to settle for watching Chopped and grabbed the platter my food was on before lifting the top off and immediately digging in.

The steak was so tender and the mashed potatoes were so creamy; my mouth watered before each bite I took. Everything was still hot, but not too hot to where it burned my mouth. I finished in what had to be five to ten minutes. I had only eaten a waffle and some yogurt from the continental breakfast this morning so hungry didn’t even begin to describe how my stomach was feeling.

Once I was satisfyingly full, I laid back and continued to watch the show, laughing when people would fuck up and have to throw something together real quick so they would have something to present to the judges.

I had only gotten one episode in before my eyes began to get exceedingly heavy as I attempted to keep them open. I hadn’t been tired before I ate but since I had gotten full, I figured that I got the itis like any normal black person would and succumbed to the sleep that had suddenly washed over my body.

*** One of my eyes slowly opened up as I felt myself being moved around and the cold outside air sent chills to my body. It was dark outside and my vision was blurry so I couldn’t really see anything at first, but I knew there were two large figures that were carrying my still sleep-paralyzed body.

“She’s awake.” I heard a deep voice inform the other.

Then someone smacked their lips. “Then put her ass back to sleep.” Shuffling was all that could be heard afterward before a sharp pain shot through my skull and suddenly, I was out cold again.

***Flashback ends***

The memories all came flooding back to me causing my eyes to instantly widen. She had did it. She finally caught me and judging by the looks of things, she definitely wasn’t about to let me go.

Hearing the ominous squeak of a heavy metal door opening, my body tensed as I heard footsteps start to make their way closer and closer towards where I was. Suddenly, a light switch was flipped on and a blinding bright light immediately made me throw my head down like I was a vampire who had just been exposed to sunlight.

“Tiarra.” I heard a male voice call out to me from right in front of me. When I opened my eyes, I could see the person’s shoes as they stood right between my legs. Feeling a hand grip my chin, I snatched away causing an unbothered chuckle to escape the man’s lips as he suddenly gripped my face and turned it roughly so that I’d be forced to look at him. My eyes widened, but that only made his smirk grow more. “Tiarra, Tiarra, Tiarra…”

A buff man came from what seemed like the shadows and sat a chair down right in front of me, behind Arion, and backed away as Arion comfortably sat on the chair and stared at me with amusement in his eyes. “Did you honestly think I wouldn’t catch on to fifteen thousand dollars going missing from my house? I must have stupid written across my forehead.”

I wanted to say ‘well you allowed my inexperienced ass to rob you blind so,’ but I held my tongue as my eyes began to water. “Please. Don’t do this, I’m sorry. I’ll return what’s left of it and I can work to get the rest back or something?” By now, I was full blown sobbing as the same buff stranger from before returned to hand Arion a gun.

“I’ll make you a deal. How about that?” I quickly nodded in response, prepared to do anything to get myself out of this situation in one piece. “I like you, you were great with your mouth.” He spoke, dragging the tip of the gun along the perimeter of my plump lips.

If sucking dick was all I had to do to get myself out of this, I was about to gobble that shit down! Balls and all.

My voice came out fragile as I looked at him. “W-What do you want me to do?”

“I’ve made a few enemies because of you and your sticky hands. So now, I either have to make amends or go to war. And going to war isn’t an option.” His eyes grew cold as a smirk marked its territory on his face. “Here’s where you come in. The person that I got into it with is a man… and men love women.”

My eyebrows furrowed as I put two and two together. “So… you want me to be his personal sex slave or something? In exchange, y'all would be straight?”

He only gave me a nonchalant shrug in response. “That’s only if you’re willing to do it. So I gotta ask you, would you rather be a slave? Or dead?”

My heartbeat immediately began to quicken once I realized how slim my options were on making it out of here a free woman. Not belonging to any man nor dead. I dropped my head low as tears began cascading down until they splattered against my bare thigh. I knew what I had to do, but I had to take a second to come to term with it. Arion suddenly tapped me, letting me know that he doesn’t have all day and that I needed to make the decision before he did.

“I’ll do it!” I blurted out as I cried harder. “I’ll do it. Just please don’t hurt me.”

Arion stood up, seeming pleased with my answer as he nodded at one of his guards to come over and they automatically began untying my legs then my arms as my hands rubbed over the areas that were now dark and irritated. “Thank you.” I sighed in relief, a small weight being lifted off my chest.

He looked down at me as if he was just now noticing I was still sitting there and smiled, cupping my chin with his hand as he lifted my head up towards him. “Damn, you got some pretty ass lips too. Makes me kinda feel bad for what I’m about to do.” My eyebrows furrowed in confusion at his words.

“What do you me—”

POW! POW!

Antonio

I keep asking myself why I keep falling for this girl’s bullshit. Every time she comes around with that cute ass pouty face of hers, I get weak.

But it just doesn’t feel right hurting Xae in the process when he’s done nothing but show me how real of a person he was. I honestly couldn’t even imagine what him and Bree would have possibly been arguing and going through a rough patch about when I had first met her. He just seemed so laid back all the time.

Things had suddenly gotten so complicated as soon as I saw Bree step through his front door that day we were all hanging out and initially, I was going to keep quiet because they seemed happy together. But after what happened the other day, the guilt has been eating at me.

I had been ignoring all of Xae’s invitations to link up and his attempts to reach out. It was easier for me to keep the whole situation in when Bree wasn’t talking to me, but now that I know she’s pregnant with my child and she had no problem allowing me inside of her again, I just couldn’t do it. There was no reason they should be engaged if my seed was growing in her stomach and she was still trying to mess with me. She might as well just be with me.

I’m not going to lie though, I’m not even sure if I’d be able to take her serious now that I see firsthand how easy it is for her to open up and be intimate with someone else while she was already taken. And she continued to play house with him as if she had no remorse for what we’ve been doing behind Xae’s back.

I, on the other hand, was being consumed with the guilt of how easily I caved into her. The first time I saw her walk into my restaurant, I just knew she was going to be trouble but it seems like my hardheaded ass threw all intuition out the window and trouble surely found me.

If it was me on the other side of things, I’d want my friend to tell me what was going on even if he was worried about ruining the friendship, as I am with Xae. Even if my friend didn’t want to come between my relationship, as I did with Xae. I wouldn’t want to walk around looking stupid, thinking my girl is loyal when she’s not and I didn’t want him to look dumb and played in the end either.

I had to tell him.

I had been pacing the hardwood floor in my living room for what seemed like hours, thinking things over and attempting to work up the courage to tell my friend that I’d basically been fucking and entertaining his fiancé. Can’t forget the part about unintentionally knocking her up either. Yea, this shit was definitely going to end in me getting a justified ass whooping. He was about to open up an entire barrel of whoop ass on me. Which was another thing I had been working up the courage for.

“Can you stop with the weird walking back and forth and just do something already? Either you’re going to tell him or you’re not but waiting around isn’t gonna do anything but prolong the inevitable.” Ajanae broke the silence in the room as she sat comfortably on my couch with her legs propped up.

I had to ask someone for advice and lord knows I couldn’t go to the rest of my family with this kind of information. They’d be so disappointed in me. They hold me up on such a high pedestal and I don’t think I’d be able to bare the disgusted looks on their faces if I actually did inform them of my dilemma. “I know… I just—I don’t even know how to word that kinda information without him getting upset.”

“How about 'hey, I fucked your ungrateful hoe ass fiancé and wanted to tell you because I know she’s not going to tell you herself’.” I cut my eyes at my cousin causing her to hold her hands up in defense. “I’m just saying, he’s going to get upset either way it goes. You had sex with someone he asked to marry him.”

I ran my hands over my face in frustration. “Can you stop saying it like that?!”

“Well it’s true. I’m not gonna sugar coat things just because you’re shook and about to get your ass beat for messing with someone’s girl. You should have thought about that before you tried to be 'friends’ with her.” She used to fingers to throw up air quotes as she spoke the last sentence. “What’s done in the dark is eventually gonna come to the light Ant. Would you rather him find out by you or some other way that’s gonna make him resent you for smiling in his face?”

I let out an exhausted sigh, knowing she was right. For her to be younger than me, she was giving me some solid and mature advice. It’d be wrong to keep this from him. “Alright, I’m gonna tell him.”

Nae smiled and clapped her hands in excitement. “Yay, make sure you record the fight!”

“How would I be able to record—you know what, I’m not even about to play with you today.” I shook my head before grabbing my car keys off of the coffee table and making my way to the front door as Nae called out for me to get some food before I come back. Her hungry ass was always asking for something, I can’t wait until she’s not crippled anymore.

Once I got into my car, I sat there for a couple minutes and allowed my breathing to get under control since it felt like I was about to have a panic attack. I kept telling myself that even though he’s definitely going to be mad, he’d appreciate my honesty.

The ride to the house was silent because I refused to play any music so that I’d be able to think about what exactly I wanted to say and how I was going to word it. I honestly wished I had never even approached her that day at my restaurant. Of course I was going to man up and take care of my responsibilities, but at the same time, I don’t think I’m ready for a whole kid.

Owning a business and a child both were far from cheap; I felt like I would either have to give up one or the other and I’m not sure if I’d be ready to give up everything I’ve worked so hard to build up since I was eighteen. Seven years later and my business is finally doing well, but then here comes another obstacle. Maybe I just wasn’t meant to own this restaurant like I wanted. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another.

My nerves got the best of me as Xavier’s house came into view and I continued to drive until I was parked right out front, staring at the door as if he was going to burst out with a shotgun at any given moment. Blowing out a breath, I hopped out of my car and made my way up towards the front door, knocking on it a couple of times before stepping back.

I heard some rustling coming from the inside as the door soon swung open, revealing the beautiful caramel woman I had learned whose name was Simone. She sported some black biker shorts that came right above her knee and an oversized plain grey t-shirt with her straightened natural hair hanging down. “Hey, uh, is Xae home?”

She nodded and stepped back to allow me inside before closing the door after me, walking ahead as she gestured for me to follow her. “You look beautiful, by the way. I like your hair straight, it’s always in a ponytail when I see you.” I complimented causing her to look back and give me a friendly smile before thanking me.

We stopped in front of one of the doors in a hallway and she knocked on it lightly. “Xae, Antonio is here to see you.” She called out, walking back down the hall and leaving me standing awkwardly in front of what I assumed was his bedroom door.

The door swung open and he came out, reaching his hand over to me to dap me up as I followed suit and slapped hands with him. He nodded towards the living room where we usually hung out and we began making our way back to the front. “Damn, I was beginning to think you died or some shit. Your phone off?”

“Nah, I just been busy with handling these health inspectors and shit lately.” I replied, partially telling the truth.

Once we got back to the living room, we both sat on opposite ends of the couch. “I gotta tell you something.” We both blurted out simultaneously causing us to chuckle and I told him he could go first since he’s probably not going to want to talk to me after I told him what I had to say.

His smile grew as he looked at me and rubbed his hands together. “I’m not gonna lie, I don’t have a lot of friends and we’ve become hella close since we met. You’re like me, only Mexican.” He joked causing me to let out a low laugh and flick him off. “Nah, for real though. Me and Bree decided to move up the wedding to next month and I want you to be my best man.”

I nearly choked on my spit at the fact that this girl was just at my house, taking my dick and had the nerve to want to move up their wedding. “Y-You want me to?”

“Yea, you’ve become like my best friend.” He replied sincerely, clapping a hand on my shoulder and shaking me a bit. “Don’t look so surprised. I wanted to marry her before she had the baby and—”

“Wait, she told you she was pregnant?! I thought she couldn’t have kids?” I quickly saved myself with the second question since the first one seemed too suspicious.

His smile grew even more as he shrugged and all I could feel was my blood boiling. She fucking lied to me. This girl was such a good actress, she came to my house all crying and sad talking about she’s pregnant with my kid only for her to turn around and tell Xae that it was his. Conniving ass bitch, I swear.

The excitement that he thought he was having a baby was written all over his face and it hurt me that all that happiness might just be for nothing. “What did you wanna tell me?” He asked, perking up like he was a female who was about to be told some sizzling hot tea.

“I, um,” I stuttered, not really knowing if I’d be able to bare ripping that excitement away from him in this moment. I was already nervous to begin with but now with the news he just told me, my mind was reeling. I wish I would have just told him what I wanted to first because now, I just couldn’t be that guy. “I was going to tell you that I’m kinda feeling Simone and like the way she carries herself. She’s bad as hell too… think you’d be able to set us up?”

He shifted uneasily in the chair at my words causing me to furrow my eyebrows in confusion and look at him expectantly as he let out a dry chuckle. “Ha, I don’t know about all that.”

“What? You tryna get at her or something?” I raised an eyebrow as a sly smirk formed on my face. I could always tell there was some type of chemistry between the two of them.

His face immediately straightened out and he shook his head. “Nah, I couldn’t do that to Bree. She’s dealt with all my bullshit and allowed Simone to stay here even though I know she didn’t want to. I can’t disrespect her like that.”

“Well, how do you know if she’s being faithful to you?” I asked, subtly dropping a hint that his oblivious ass, of course, didn’t catch.

He shrugged. “Just a chance you gotta take when you’re in a relationship.”

Simone

Bree and Xae had been acting more lovey dovey than usual lately and I can’t believe I’m saying this… but it kind of hurt seeing them like that. He’d always been polite about making sure I wasn’t uncomfortable but I guess something happened that changed his mind.

Ugh, what am I saying? I shouldn’t even be uncomfortable. They’re about to be married soon, it’s not like this is something new for them.

What I needed to be worried about is this baby and how I was going to at least try to get back on Dominick’s good side so I’d be able to see my son again. I knew firsthand how petty he was and as long as things stayed like this, I would never get to see Junior’s face again.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, I began massaging the stress out of my temples from just thinking about having to be in Dom’s presence again. I didn’t want anything to do with him at this point. He had made my life a living hell, had me living in constant fear, and killed the only person who actually loved me besides Junior. There was nothing else for me at this point. I know Xae says he cares, but he’s got other things to worry about now that he’s expecting and preparing to get married.

It’s funny because he was only three years older than I was, yet his life seemed so much more well put together. He had his own house, a car… a wife. I had nothing.

Since he told me the news, I had been avoiding him and after a few days, he caught the hint and stayed away out of respect for me not wanting to be around him. I just couldn’t keep allowing myself to get so close to him to where I depended on him. I’ve depended on a man before and I wasn’t trying to go through all that again. What scared me even more was that when he told me she was pregnant, I actually got sad. I shouldn’t be feeling sad when I’m expecting too.

These impossible feelings that I had developed for him were clouding my mind. It was almost laughable. As if we could actually be together. Both of our lives were way too complicated at this point to even consider one another. Which was why I had decided that I needed to move out.

I haven’t told him yet but I had been packing all my things away for the past day or two. The guest room I had been staying in for the past month looked uncomfortably empty and I was heartbroken because I really didn’t want to leave.

It might have been awkward being around another female who hated me 24/7 but just seeing Xae’s smile and hearing his laugh never failed to brighten my day for some reason. My depression was worsening because reality hit me that I just lost my son and the father of the baby growing inside me was laying six feet under all because of me. I had nothing to my name except what was left over from Saint’s savings after paying the fees for my lawyer and that wasn’t even enough to rent out a place. I didn’t want to be alone at a time like this but at the same time, I didn’t want to bring Xae down with me.

Whenever he’s trying to comfort me, I could just tell that he feels my pain. He empathizes with my feelings and I hate it because before me, his life was perfect. All of the arguments in his relationship are over me and all the drama that happens is my drama. Not his. And he shouldn’t be the one going through it when he didn’t even have a hand in creating these problems. He just had a big heart and I didn’t want that to be his downfall with me.

Everyone I love ends up either getting hurt or betraying me and I knew Xae would never do the latter. So, that just left him to get hurt. I’d rather get away from him and deal with things on my own than to see him hurting or worse because of me.

I swiftly wiped the tears that had been unwillingly flowing from my eyes and stood up from my bed, scooping the last of my things into one of my suitcases sitting in front of me and zipping it up. It felt surreal that I was leaving because Xae had always made me feel like this was my home too, which was why it was so easy to get comfortable here when I wasn’t supposed to.

When I turned back around, I noticed a large pool of thick dark red liquid stain the spot that I had previously been sitting at on the bed and in that very moment, a piercing pain shot through my stomach causing me to hunch over and fall to the ground. It felt like someone was trying to carve the intestines out of my stomach as I let out a loud blood curdling scream and held the area like that was going to make things feel better.

I laid in the fetal position as I heard the door burst open and someone quickly rushed to my side. I knew it was Xae just by the smell of his body wash that I had grown accustomed to this month. “Simone?! What’s wrong? You ok?”

I only shook my head in response, not even being able to say any words at the moment as my face scrunched up before another gut wrenching feeling pierced through my stomach. “Som—Something’s wrong.” My voice sounded hoarse as I gripped his arm tight with one of my hands and continued to hold my stomach with the other.

“I’m taking you to the hospital.” I heard him say as he picked me up bridal style and began carrying me out of the room. But I didn’t even make it out of the house before my body went limp and everything faded to black.

***

My eyes slowly fluttered open and a bright light hanging from above me immediately came into view. I could hear the sound of a heart monitor steadily beeping beside me, matching the pace of my heartbeat.

I groaned, feeling a little sore as I attempted to sit up but someone from beside me quickly got up and gently laid me back down. “The doctor said you should be laying down so you don’t put too much stress on your body right now. I’ll go get him.” Xae said with concern shining through his eyes before he made his way out of the hospital room.

I looked around at the plain white walls and the white with blue polka-dotted gown that I was now wearing. My only concern was what happened and if my son or daughter was alright. Anything other than that didn’t matter to me. I had been trying to put off this whole baby situation and act like I didn’t care but just the thought of losing him or her too caused my heart to sink.

Minutes later, the door opened up again and in walked Xae with a short Caucasian man in a lab coat strolling in behind him. The doctor gave me a small smile as he walked up to my bed and held out his hand for me to shake. “Good evening Ms. Wyatt, my name is Dr. Bronkowski.”

I ignored his hand and carefully sat up a bit more in my bed. “Is my baby okay?” I asked getting straight to the point, noticing the surprised wide eyed look that Xae gave me but my eyes stayed trained on the doctor, watching his body language.

He let out a small sigh and pulled out a stool from the corner of the room, sitting down as he opened up the manila folder that was in his hand and read over it for a minute. I noticed him frown as he closed the folder and my heart immediately dropped along with whatever hope I had left.

“Ms. Wyatt, were you aware that you have chlamydia?” He asked as if someone in their right mind would know they had an STD and not get treated for it on purpose.

“What?” Xae and I both let out simultaneously.

I grew heated as I realized exactly who could have gave me chlamydia. It wasn’t even a question. Which meant that I had to have given it to Saint when we had sex. I should have known that I was going to catch something while fucking around with dirty dick Dom. I should have gotten tested as soon as I left him but that had been the last thing on my mind at that point.

Dr. Bronkowski let out another sigh and gave me a sympathetic look once he noticed that I had no idea what he was talking about. “It can cause infertility in women if left untreated for a long period of time and that may also have been the cause of your miscarriage.”

Hot tears stung my eyes as I stared at him in disbelief. “…Miscarriage? So my baby is gone?”

He sadly nodded his head in response and I immediately turned away from him, not wanting him to see the tears that instantly cascaded down my face. “I’ve already prescribed you the medication that you need to take and you should be back to normal in no time.”

“Thanks doc, but I don’t think anything is going to be normal for me ever again.” I mumbled lowly as I continued to stare at the wall beside me, avoiding eye contact with him and Xae. The doctor dejectedly apologized for my loss and exited the room, leaving us in pure silence.

Tears steadily rolled down my face as I slowly laid back down and pulled the covers that had been around my body up and over my head in attempts to block everything else out.

“Simone…” I heard Xae cautiously call out to me but I didn’t even have the energy to respond at this point. I felt empty. I never knew how devastating losing a child that hadn’t even been born yet really was until now. “I’m so sorry Simone.” I sniffled and closed my eyes, feeling even worse for dragging Xae into something that had nothing to do with him again. He got quiet once he realized that I wasn’t going to reply. I just needed to process this by myself right now. After a minute or two, he sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were pregnant baby girl?”

I shook my head as if he could see me from under the thin white blanket that engulfed my entire body. “What does it matter anyway? My baby is gone… Both of my babies.” The last part was barely audible, but I knew he heard it by the way I heard him shuffling before I felt the small bed dip beside me.

He pulled the covers off of me and I stared at him for a couple of seconds before breaking down all over again. His arms immediately wrapped themselves around me and pulled me close so that my head now laid on his chest as my tears began to drench his shirt. “I’m a bad mother.” I cried as he held me tightly and gently combed through my hair with his fingers to try and comfort me.

“You’re not a bad mother baby. You didn’t have any control over this. You can’t possibly blame yourself.” He attempted to reassure me but hearing that only cut me deeper.

I shook my head. “You keep saying that but who else is there to blame? I should have been more serious about my baby. I should have made sure that I was in good health and now…” I got too choked up to even finish the sentence as I buried my head deeper into his chest.

My hand reluctantly trailed down to my belly, lightly rubbing over it as I thought about what he or she would have looked like. Would they have Saint’s eyes? My lips? Saint’s fat ass forehead? I guess now there’s no point in wondering because that was something I’ll never know.

Dom

Once I left the court room, a small smirk found its way to my face.

Like I had planned, I won the case against my trifling ass baby momma and I’d say that this was grounds for a celebration. Usually the mother of the child would end up being granted full custody, but I made her so used to being locked up in the house everyday with no one to depend on but me.

She’s never had the luxury of going out and finding friends, or searching for a job, or even being surrounded by family members because of the way I’ve held onto her her for years. She’s accustomed to living that isolated and secluded life and somehow, I knew that would still be the case although she hasn’t been staying with me. She wouldn’t know the first thing about being a real adult, except for the fact that she was a mother. And I knew that.

Her temper tantrum after she had found out that I’m the one that gained custody over our son only proved my point. She’s not a woman, she’s a scared little girl. And she always will be because she doesn’t know how to do things for herself.

The abrupt ringing coming from my phone broke me out of my thoughts as I dug into my pants pocket and pulled it out, looking at the caller I.D before holding it up to my ear once I answered. “Yea?”

“Yo, she got arrested.” His deep voice responded back to me as if I didn’t already know that.

She started breaking things in a whole court room, there was no way she was going to be let out of there with just a warning. They locked her ass up. I only let out a low chuckle, finding amusement in this entire situation. “Sucks to suck, don’t it?”

There was silence on the other end. “Well what do you want me to do now then?”

“I’ll bail her out. You just do what I asked you to do.” With that, I ended the call and asked Siri to lead me in the direction of the nearest bail bonds business. Conveniently, it was only a six minute drive from the courthouse so it wasn’t long before I was pulling up and entering the establishment.

The entire place smelled like a cinnamon and spice candle which immediately unsettled my stomach. I hated the smell of anything cinnamon, it damn near burned my nose hairs off. There was a slim, fragile looking older man sitting at one of the computers that were there when you first walk in. He hadn’t even looked up from what he was doing to address me, but I still took it upon myself to sit in the chair right in front of his desk. It was like he had just noticed that someone was even in his presence once I took a seat. All I could think about was why the hell they got this old man in here by himself?

“What can I help you with?” His voice fluctuated from high to low unwillingly as he peered at me through the square glasses sitting on his face.

It had been a couple hours since she had gotten arrested, so I knew she would have been processed through the system already. It usually takes them some time to process someone because they have to have their fingerprint, a mugshot, and other paperwork that has to be put into the system. I was sure that she had to be in there now. “Yes, I wanna post bail for someone. Simone Wyatt.” I continued by spelling out her whole name for him as he slowly typed on the old fashioned keyboard.

“Detained today?” He asked, earning a nod from me as I watched him move the mouse around, clicking on things I couldn’t see since the boxed computer had its back facing me. I could barely catch the reflection in his glasses so I just sat there and patiently waited. He asked me various other things such as her middle name, date of birth, and when he asked where she lived, I just gave him my address. “And you said you wanted to post her bail?”

Immediately rolling my eyes, I let out an annoyed huff due to having to repeat myself like I hadn’t literally just said that a few minutes ago. “Yea.”

“It looks like…” He scrunched up his face as he peered closer at the screen. “Someone already paid her bail. She’s been released.”

My eyebrows instantly furrowed at the news because I had no clue who would be close enough with her that they were willing to pay hundreds of dollars to keep her from rotting in a cell. I mumbled out a low ‘thank you’ before standing up and heading back to my car. I was hoping my connect did their job and witnessed her being released but since he didn’t know when, there’s no telling at this point.

All I could ask myself was who the hell posted that girl’s bail.

***

“Daddy!” Junior ran up to me and I instantly hunched down to catch him as I pulled him up into my arms, spinning him around a bit. His small arms wrapped around my neck as he cuddled close to me, his skin warm from being inside.

My mom rounded the corner rocking her usual bonnet and house slippers as she glared at me. I had already told her about the situation and where I was going when I dropped Junior off this morning so I knew that she was expecting the verdict without really wanting to ask me out loud. Setting my son back to his feet, he immediately scampered off towards the back where his own room resided since he’s over here half of the time anyway.

My mom never took her eyes off me as her hand found its way to her hip, propping itself up as she shifted her weight to that same leg. “So?”

“So…” I repeated causing her to give me a stern look. A low sigh escaped my lips. I honestly didn’t feel like explaining anything to anyone right now, all I wanted to do was take my boy home and celebrate my victory. She was making things way more complicated than it had to be. “I was granted full custody.”

I finally relented after a few seconds of silence, knowing that was what she wanted to hear. She slightly jumped in shock and a look of excitement presented itself on her face. “Are you serious?! Oh my goodness, I thought the worst. In those types of cases…” She trailed off, putting her hand over her mouth as tears began to form in her eyes.

She seemed more excited about this than I was.

Pulling me into a tight embrace, she rubbed my back and I instantly relaxed, a feeling of comfort taking over my body. My mom always made me feel some type of way; whether it was annoyed or happy, she was always helping me to remember that I still had this soft spot. I hated it. “I’m so proud of you. When you told me about all the things that she was doing, I couldn’t believe it. She never seemed like the type but you can never judge a book by its cover.”

Of course, she had to throw in some cliché ass quote. I chuckled and playfully mushed her causing her to look at me like I was crazy. “You always saying something corny. I knew I was gonna win, she’s a bad mother.”

My mom stayed silent, neither disagreeing nor agreeing as a look of discomfort made me furrow my eyebrows at her. “Dominick… even though I’m proud of you for proving to the court that you were a capable parent, don’t you think it’s a little harsh to take another woman’s child from her like that—”

“Ugh, ma, not this again. After all the things I’ve told you that she’s done, you’re still feeling sorry for her? She brought this on herself.”

I suddenly felt a soft hand grab my face and roughly turn my head so that my full attention was back on my mother. “Look, I know what she did was wrong but… as a mother, I know a bond between a mother and her child is unbreakable. I couldn’t even fathom having you being taken away from me in any way, God forbid.” She rested the hand that was previously gripping my face onto her chest. “All I’m saying is, maybe you should have at least allowed her visiting rights. Not seeing her child… it’ll take a toll on her like no other.”

I knew that she was right, she’s right about a lot of things but what she fails to realize is: I don’t care. None of this would be happening if she didn’t run off with some new nigga and my child like they were some big happy family. That nigga is dead and now, Simone’s dead inside. My mission was successfully completed.

“I know ma, maybe later we’ll be able to work something out but as of right now, I don’t feel that Junior is safe around her.” I responded calmly so that she’d get her little lecture over with faster. She nodded and pressed a light kiss on my cheek as she stepped away from me, heading to the back where Junior had been while we were talking.

A few minutes later, she came out with him following closely behind her all bundled up in his favorite jacket and his velcro shoes on. My mom handed off his bag which had been in her hand previously before crouching down to be face to face with him. “Alright, be a big boy and don’t give your daddy any trouble or you’ll have to answer to me. You hear?” He let out a laugh in response and nodded his head causing her to smile and pull him in for a hug. “I love you. Be good baby.”

After pulling out of the embrace, he made his way over to me and immediately sat his small hand in mine, letting me know that he was in his touchy feely mood. Sometimes he wanted to be independent and walk by himself, then there were other times where he just wanted to be in someone’s arms or holding someone’s hand. I didn’t mind it. I was beginning to know my son like the back of my hand and usually after spending some time with my mom, he became a big baby who wanted some attention and affection. “Alright bye momma. Say bye to grandma.” Junior looked back at my mom and waved before I allowed him to guide me outside and to my car.

After strapping him in, I hopped in the car and started it up making the engine roar to life. Before I pulled off, I glanced in the rear view mirror at Junior who had already been looking at me. “What? You gotta problem?” I joked causing him to giggle and throw his hand over his eyes in attempts to hide his face. “I can still see you, you know.” I chuckled and pulled off in the direction of my plug’s house.

With all the bullshit that has been going on, I just needed a quick fix right about now. And what better way to celebrate my winning case than by getting high off my ass? It was the perfect way to end today.

The vibrating sensation coming from my pocket immediately caused me to reach into it and pull my phone out, answering the call without bothering to see who it was. “What’s good?”

“I found out where she’s staying.” Those words instantly made me sit up in my seat, keeping quiet so that he could continue. “When she got released, her and some yellow light bright nigga hugged and she got in the car with him. I followed them and turns out, it’s his place that they went to. She lives with him.”

My blood boiled not even a second after hearing those words come from the other end of the line. I clenched my jaws as my hand subconsciously gripped the steering wheel harder than I anticipated. I literally just killed one wack ass mark not too long ago and now, she’s playing house with a whole new nigga? She had to be cheating on me when we were together because there’s no way she had this many guys to fall back on so quickly. And that fact only pushed my rage even further.

She’s going to make me fuck this whole city up behind her ass.

Arion

Noticing the familiar matte black SUV pull up beside me, I hopped out of my car as I toted the duffel bag full of money in my hand and got ready for the usual transaction I participated in once a month with my plug. 

People on the streets were always asking for something new and a lot of them only knew about certain guns by hearing it from movies and shit so those were the weapons that sold the fastest and I had to re-up every once in a while to continue being the best guns dealer in the city.

I always did my deals in person to ensure that the transaction was done right the way I wanted them to be done and also make sure I was never getting taken advantage of when it came to how much I owed and for which weapons. Niggas be quick to try and get over on you. And I wasn’t going for none of that when it came to my business.

After a few seconds, a familiar figure stepped out of the vehicle and made his way around to the back before opening up the trunk, revealing the two large black bags that were sitting on the inside. I made my way over, knowing the bags were going to be heavy since they held an excessive amount of metal inside of them.

As always, Mino stuck his hand out towards me and I followed suit as I respectfully shook his hand. “How’s business?” Mino asked, attempting to make small talk as he turned around and unzipped both bags to show me all of the weaponry that was inside.

“Going good, as you can see I had to buy a little extra because the Glock 19 is in popular demand.” I answered as I held my duffel bag out towards him and we both took the opportunity to make sure that everything we asked for was present and non-damaged.

Mino shook his head in response as he began counting off the money I owed. “People nowadays can’t handle the recoil of a real gun.”

I laughed lowly because this nigga always had something to say about the smaller guns being purchased instead of the 'real’ ones as he referred to it. I honestly didn’t mind what gun was being bought, as long as I was getting paid it was none of my business. Checking in one of the side pockets, I quickly glanced over the untraceable bullets and made sure that everything looked good before zipping the first bag back up and moving my attention to the second one.

I immediately halted once I felt the pressure of cold steel pressing against the back of my head, hearing a light click from behind me as Mino cocked it. “Now Arion… I wanna believe that you wouldn’t play with me like this, out of all people, but the shortage in your payment is telling me that you thought you could get over on me.”

My face instantly scrunched up in confusion. I was never short on money, everyone always knew that I was good for it. The first thought that came to me was that he was probably trying to get over on me. Say that I shorted him when I actually didn’t and then I would have to pay him some more money. Ain’t no way in hell I was going out like that.

With nostrils flared, I turned to face him causing him to raise an eyebrow as if mentally asking if I was really going to challenge him when I had a gun pointing straight in my face. I wasn’t looking to die, but respect is the only thing that’s worth anything in these streets other than money. “What I look like? Some bum ass broke nigga? There’s fifty thousand in that bag. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

“Check again.” He threw the bag at me causing me to glare at him and sit the bag down before going through each stack and counting everything up, being sure not to miss a single bill seeing as all of the bills in this bag were one hundred dollar bills.

My eyebrows furrowed once I counted the last stack of cash and I instantly dug through the bag to make sure that there were no other stacks between any folds or crevices. “The fuck…” I mumbled out more to myself as I turned to face him again, his gun never shifting from its trained position on me. “There’s fifteen grand missing from this bag.”

“Don’t you think I know that? Why do you think you gotta gun pointed at you right now?” Mino remarked in a 'duh’ tone as he pushed the barrel up against my cheek threateningly. “Now, am I gonna get the rest of my money? Or am I gonna have to pay someone to clean your blood off my shoes tonight?” His tone was cold and his glare was menacing as he stared me in the eyes expectantly.

My jaw clenched as I snatched my head away from the metal pressing against it. “You gon’ get ya money but ima need you to put that gun down.” I gritted out through clenched teeth. “Clearly there’s been a misunderstanding 'cause when I checked two days ago, the full fifty was there.”

“Well it’s not there now so what would you like me to do with that information?” He retorted, the annoyance in his voice evident as we both glared at each other’s eyes, basically fighting for dominance.

I smacked my teeth. “I just said you gon’ get your money. Just put the damn gun down.” Roughly shoving the gun away from me caused a shot to sound off loudly beside me and barely miss me, instantly alerting the both of us.

As soon as the first shot went off, the transaction unexpectedly went left as I heard another shot go off and ducked off behind my car, immediately pulling out my own gun. I shot back at him wildly, not caring that the both of our vehicles were getting sprayed up at the moment; just as long as I made it out of this alive.

Hearing a sudden shriek of pain, the bullets coming from his end stopped and instead, I heard the sound of a car door slam as tires screeched against the pavement and made a quick getaway. My eyes trailed over my own body, ensuring that the adrenaline coursing through my veins didn’t cause me to unknowingly take a bullet. I sighed in relief once I didn’t find any blood or holes on me and stood to my feet, noticing all of the bags now on the ground with some of its contents spilling out. Quickly making my trek over, I grabbed them and hustled them all into my backseat before hopping in the driver’s seat and speeding off before Mino surely sent some goons my way.

My mind racked as I sped through traffic wondering how and why the hell fifteen thousand dollars was missing from my bag. I hadn’t had anyone in that room in the last couple days and even if I did, there was no way in hell I would have shown them a duffel bag full of easily accessible money. That’s the quickest way to get robbed.

Hell, honestly I don’t even remember having anyone over. Except…

My tires loudly sounded like a banshee against the dark road as I made a sharp turn in the opposite direction of my home, where I had been headed to originally. I breathed heavily, my chest heaving up and down as my anger clouded all rational thinking. I was almost killed tonight and possibly made an unnecessary enemy now over some bullshit; someone had to pay.

Pulling up in the driveway, I hopped out without bothering to stop to turn off my car and made my way up to the front door, banging loudly on it once I reached it. “Ayo, Dom. Open up!” My tone came off more harsh than I intended and although I wasn’t exactly mad at him, I was definitely mad at the world right now and anyone could get it. I was too far gone.

After a couple seconds of silence, I banged my fist against the door again, this time earning the annoyed glare of a sleepy Dominick who had swung open the door not even a second later of me knocking. “Bruh, fuck you doing knocking like you the po po for? My son in here sleep.” He gestured towards his bedroom as if I’d be able to see his child resting peacefully through the walls or something.

“That girl that was here the other day, what’s her name?”

I had no time to beat around the bush because every second that passes is money she could be spending and I could be losing. Dom scrunched up his face for a quick second before waving me off. “I ain’t have no broad over here. You needa go to sleep, it’s two in the morning and you talking about some girl.” He was about to close the door in my face but I swiftly stuffed my foot in the way and pushed open the door before stepping through it and closing it behind me. “You know you left your… never mind.” He shook his head.

“Forget all that, it’s fucked up anyway.” I retorted, knowing that he was referring to my car that was still running. “The other day, I ran into some girl coming out of your crib. Fucked her and now some money is missing.” I summarized for him since I didn’t feel like explaining the situation in its entirety.

A smirk instantly formed on his face causing me to roll my eyes because I just knew this nigga had something to say. “You let a hoe rob you? Damn, you going out sad. How much?”

“Fifteen g’s.”

His face got a bit straighter, but the amusement never left his face as he chuckled and shook his head. “What she look like?”

I had to really think back on what the girl looked like because I had honestly only been viewing her ass that whole day anyway. “Uh, brown skin. Big lips—”

“I know damn well you ain’t let Tiarra bird ass rob you. You’ve officially been hoed.” He cut me off and instantly began cackling, but my face remained straight because I didn’t see anything remotely funny. “Fifteen g’s.” He repeated more to himself than to me.

“Where does this Tiarra chick stay?”

Dom shrugged causing me to narrow my eyes, thinking that he was trying to protect her since I had no idea what their relationship to each other was. It couldn’t have been that serious if she so easily fucked me though, I knew that much. “She got a hit out on her right now so she moving from place to place as far as I know. I can’t help you with her whereabouts potna.” He spoke as he clapped his hand on my shoulder, obviously sensing my irritation. “Lesson learned though, don’t give random broads the luxury of going back to your house. You got too much expensive shit to lose. Me, on the other hand, would only miss my TV.”

I waved him off, not trying to hear anyone lecture me right about now. Without another word, I nodded towards him as a way of saying goodbye and walked out of his house.

My only priority in this very moment was finding this girl and my money and making her realize why messing with someone else’s cash flow is always a bad idea. “Her last name Wyatt by the way.” I heard Dom call out before hearing his front door slam closed not even a second later. I was going to find her regardless but that extra piece of information would definitely save me a lot of time and he knew that.

Swiftly pulling my phone from the back pocket of my dark washed jeans, I dialed up one of my friends who was always down for some reckless shit whenever it was presented. He would probably kill people for free in all honesty, but making money for doing something you love is ten times better. After a few rings, I heard his deep groggy voice mumble through the speakers of my phone, letting me know that I had just woken him up but that was the last thing I cared about. “Yo?”

“Yea, I got a job for you.”

Bree

My eyes shot open as if I wasn’t just sound asleep and I swiftly jumped out of the bed, scurrying to the bathroom so I wouldn’t cause any unwanted messes in our bedroom.

The contents of my empty stomach immediately spewed into the toilet bowl, getting on the seat a bit due to how wildly it came out. My breathing became unsteady as I attempted to keep down the vomit that was threatening to come up again, leaning against the cabinet in the bathroom with low eyes.

Ok, I knew that morning sickness came with the territory of pregnancy, but waking me up out of my sleep to throw up? You’ve got to be kidding me.

I gently rubbed small circles onto my stomach with my hands, inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth as I closed my eyes to concentrate more on my breathing. “What’s going on?” Jumping from the sound of his deep voice unexpectedly booming throughout the bathroom, my eyes shot open to see Xae standing over me and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Baby! I thought you were sleep.” I replied, keeping my seat on the ground because I was still a little nauseous and didn’t want to get up too quickly.

He shrugged in response. “How can I with all this blegh!” He mimicked me vomiting, his hand acting as the pretend throw up causing me to giggle a bit and shake my head. “Seriously though, what’s wrong with you? This is the fourth day you’ve thrown up. I don’t think eating bad food lasts that long, it should have passed through your system already.”

Looking away from him with uncertain eyes, I let out a shaky sigh as I slowly stood up and stepped around him, heading over to our closet. I dug into one of my shoe boxes and pulled out the positive pregnancy test that I kept as a reminder because sometimes I wake up wondering if it’s all real. My hope in having children had depleted a long time ago and I just couldn’t believe that I was actually pregnant, despite what all the doctors that I went to see had told me. It was a one in a million chance and I guess I was that one.

Once I grabbed ahold of the stick, I held it behind my back and walked back out to our bedroom where Xae was staring at me confused from the edge of our bed. My heart was beating out of my chest as I watched his eyes trail down to my arms, immediately noticing that I was hiding something and then back up to my face with raised eyebrows.

I decided not to say anything and just stepped closer to him until we were only a couple of inches apart, reluctantly pulling the test from behind my back and placing it in his hands. His eyebrows instantly furrowed as he looked down at the small stick, looking at the result for what seemed like an eternity which only made my nerves act up even more as anxiety welled up inside of my chest. I had no idea how he was going to react to this new information and I didn’t want him to be mad at me for hiding it from him. But with the way I was throwing up, it was obvious that I wasn’t sick just because of something I had ate.

His head slowly came up and we began staring at each other in silence before I cracked a nervous smile to break the awkward tension that was evident in the air. “You’re pregnant?” He asked after what seemed like forever and I couldn’t exactly pinpoint which emotion resided in his tone. It sounded like he was asking a casual question when in reality, it was life changing.

I nodded hesitantly. “Yes…”

Looking back down at the test result that remained in his hand, I began to feel a bit hurt at his lack of emotion. We had been talking about wanting kids for forever but now that I was actually showing him that I was indeed pregnant, he had nothing to say? “Xae?” My voice was shaky as I slowly reached out to touch his shoulder.

Suddenly, I felt myself being lifted off of my feet and spun around as Xae held me tight in his arms causing me to get a bit nauseous from all the circles we were going in. I giggled. “Baby, you’re gonna make me throw up again.” With that, he quickly set me back to my feet but still kept me in his arms as he smiled down at me with the widest grin I had ever seen him wear.

“You’re having my baby?” He asked excitedly.

Although the question was a simple one, a pang of heartbreak shot through my chest at how happy he was. I just couldn’t take seeing that smile disappear from his face only to replace itself with hurt. So I nodded. “We’re having a baby.” I replied with a smile. He pulled away from me and sat back on the bed, burying his head in his hands causing the grin on my face to quickly disappear as I sat down beside him. “Xae? What’s wrong?”

When he looked up at me, there were tears streaming from his eyes and dropping onto the basketball shorts he was wearing. My chest ached seeing him cry because he didn’t do it often and I hated seeing him hurt. “But I thought this was impossible. H-How—”

“I don’t know but… I’m happy that the doctors were wrong about me. It might only be one but we can finally have the child we’ve always wanted.” I gently rubbed his back in attempts to comfort him as he gave me a smile through his tears and leaned in to press his soft lips into mine.

The kiss was filled with so much love and passion, sweeping me off my feet as my eyes fluttered closed and I pulled his body closer to mine. I had forgot about anything else in that very moment and just focused on us and our happiness.

Once he pulled away, we were both out of breath as my eyes popped back open and found him grinning at me like he just got the best news of his life. “You know what this means right?”

My eyebrows came together in confusion at his question and I shook my head. “No, what?”

“You’re not having my baby without being my wife too. I want to make sure our child is in the best possible living environment and we’re already planning our wedding.” He began rambling causing me to become even more baffled.

“Well yea, but we didn’t plan to have it until next year because of how booked the venue was…”

He nodded as if it was clear what he was trying to say and I responded by raising one of my brows, telling him to continue because I still didn’t understand what he was getting at. “Let’s move the wedding up.”

“What? But the venue—”

“Fuck the venue.” He quickly interrupted as he stood up from the bed and got down on his knees in front of me, holding both of my hands in his. “Marry me Bree. And in nine months, have my baby. I don’t care if you only have one kid, I’m gonna love him or her like… like… ugh, I can’t even put into words how much I’m gonna love our baby. But I can’t wait to finally be a family.”

My eyes instantly watered as his words touched my heart, making me fall deeper in love with this man than I ever knew I could. “When do you want to move it up to?” I asked as I frantically wiped my eyes but it was no use because the tears continued falling anyway.

“Next month?” He said as more of a question than an answer and my mouth fell ajar.

“But where are we gonna find a venue on such short notice?”

He stood to his feet, pulling me up with him as his hands remained tightly intertwined with mine. “We don’t need some big ass wedding to be happy. Let’s just get married so I can finally call you my wife and baby momma.”

A playful smile instantly formed on my face as I hit him in his bare chest because he knew how much I hated that label. “You better fucking not, Xae. I swear.” I didn’t get to say anything else before his lips were massaging with mine once again.

This time, his strong arms wrapped around my waist and held me like I was the most precious thing he ever had in his arms. I melted into his embrace immediately, allowing his lips to take control of how they moved against mine as he stepped forward causing the back of my knees to hit the edge of the bed and we both fell onto the soft mattress, him on top of me. He never pulled his lips from mine even with all of the moving around we were doing.

At this moment, I couldn’t believe that I was so nervous to tell him about the situation. There was a new spark that I had never felt between us now that the secret was out and I couldn’t complain about it at all.

He pulled away and stared down at me as his eyes darted all over my facial features making me blush and look away. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“What? I can’t look at the woman who’s about to be my wife and have my baby?”

I snuggled up more comfortably underneath him and gazed into his dark brown eyes that were filled with love. “You’re really excited about this, aren’t you?” He looked at me like I was crazy for even asking him that question.

“You know what, I ain’t even finna entertain you because you already know the answer to that.” He retorted, playfully mushing my head as he leaned up from on top of me and laid beside me instead, eyeing my flat stomach. “It’s funny because I knew something was up but I didn’t wanna just jump to conclusions. Especially since the topic was so sensitive for the both of us… Damn, I really can’t believe this.” He let out a giddy chuckle.

“Believe what?” Both mine and Xavier’s head snapped in the direction of our bedroom door where Simone was standing in the frame, holding some money in her hand causing me to instantly roll my eyes. This bitch was always interrupting a moment. “I know it’s not enough to pay you back for bailing me out but it’s all I got left.” She added as she held it out towards my fiancé.

I raised an eyebrow at Xae, fully expecting him to refuse taking her money since that was just the type of person he was. He didn’t do things to get something back, if he did something for you it was out of the kindness of his heart. Instead of addressing what she came here for, he excitedly stood up and walked over to her. “Guess what?”

“What?” She giggled at his reaction as she furrowed her eyebrows.

He took a glance back at me with a grin then turned back around to face her. “Bree’s pregnant! The doctors were wrong.”

“O-Oh.” Her smile suddenly fell but she quickly plastered it back on before Xae could notice causing me to smirk. “Congratulations.” She then addressed me as Xae looked back and gave me a knowing look but instead of being a bitch like I normally would, I thanked her. I already knew I had won and had nothing to worry about when it came to her and my man. At least not after what I just told him. Simone held the money out to him, looking everywhere but his face. “Here.”

“You know damn well I’m not gon’ take that so I don’t even know why you came in here trying.” He retorted, but she only shoved the money into his chest and turned around to head back to her room I’m guessing since I heard a door close soon afterwards. Xae turned around to me, looking completely baffled as he held the money in the same area he had received it in. “What’s wrong with her? What I say?”

Xae

I knew today was going to be a hard time for Simone since I could tell how much her nerves were racking and how fidgety she was. Any parent would feel the same way if they were in her shoes.

She kept pacing back and forth in the living room and although she doesn’t have to be there until this afternoon, she’s been dressed and ready for court since earlier this morning. Not only was she stressed about this custody battle, but also the death threats she had received from her ex-best friend a few nights ago. I’m not going to lie, I’m still confused about the whole situation and why Antonio was there with the girl who popped up but I didn’t want to add more stress on to Simone’s situation by bringing it up.

I was getting ready myself so that I could go with her as a support system more than anything else. If I didn’t go, she’d have nobody else and would have to face this alone. That’s the last thing I wanted to happen.

My dress shoes were sitting out beside my bed as I began buttoning up the white shirt I was wearing, deciding not to tuck it in since I’m not the one that actually has to look presentable. I still didn’t want to show up to court with her looking like I was about to go hoop or something though.

Bree had been sitting on her side of the bed, purposely ignoring me because I had decided to go without her once she told me that she didn’t want to come. My spoiled fiancé wanted me to stay at home with her because ‘Simone’s a grown ass woman’ but still, something in me wouldn’t allow her to go through all of this without me there right by her side. I just wished I could make Bree understand that, instead all she sees is me showing another woman the attention that I could be showing her. But it’s not even like that.

Simone has already told me that she feels nothing for me and that Bree has nothing to worry about when it comes to us, and I believe her because she hasn’t tried anything or done anything to make me think otherwise. That’s just my future wife’s insecurities getting the best of her.

Once I was finished getting ready, I looked over my appearance in the bathroom mirror and actually liked this formal casual look that I was rocking today. A single gold chain hung on my neck, complimenting the soft white cotton button-down shirt that I was wearing nicely. Black jeans rested slightly below my hips and the outfit would be complete once I threw on my all white dress shoes. I was going to have to find more reasons to dress like this.

Stepping back into the bedroom, I caught Bree glaring at me as she looked over my attire as well before rolling her eyes and looking away. I then made my way over to her side of the bed, taking a seat at the edge. “So you’re really gonna act like this ‘cause I’m going to court with her?”

“Why does she even need you to be there with her? All you’re going to be doing is sitting there and watching everything. There’s no point in you going.” She retorted with an attitude obviously evident by her tone as she crossed her arms over her chest.

I sighed in frustration because she kept asking the same thing and I kept giving her the same answer. “She doesn’t need me to go with her, but I offered because she’s going through a lot already and on top of that, there’s a risk that her only child might be taken away from her. How would you feel? Wouldn’t you want someone to be there with you for support?”

“Yes but I’m sure she has something called a family. Why is it that she wants MY fiancé to be the one to go with her out of everyone she could have asked?”

“Bree,” I let out sternly so that she could tell I was serious, “You’re talking mad crazy right now for no reason. She’s not close with her family, why do you think she’s here living with us?”

She instantly shrugged with another roll of her eyes. “I don’t know, maybe because she’s a fucking leech.” She mumbled in a voice that was barely audible but due to me sitting so close to her, I heard every word and instantly stood up from my spot, growing heated that she could really be so selfish towards a girl that did absolutely nothing to her.

“Yo, what’s your problem Bree? That girl has been nothing but nice to you and you stay acting like a bitch.” Her eyes instantly widened at my choice of words but I was nowhere near done with my rant. Her attitude was beginning to piss me off to the fullest. “What reason do you even have for not liking her? Can you even answer that? No, because you have no reason other than she’s a beautiful girl who you feel threatened by when neither one of us ever gave you a reason to feel that way.”

Bree looked away from me as I spoke, staring out of the window until I was finished and remained quiet. “She needs to go…”

“What?” I asked to make sure that I heard her correctly.

“SHE NEEDS TO GO! SHE NEEDS TO LEAVE!” She screamed in response as she turned to face me with her eyes already streaming with hot tears. “We never used to have these problems until she came along and now, all of a sudden, everything is about Simone Simone Simone. I’m sick of it! I couldn’t even fully meet your cousin because she was too busy up that girl’s ass! Well I’m done. Her stay here has been long overdue already, she said two weeks and it’s going on three. I don’t see no progress with her finding somewhere else to stay and I seem to be the only one who minds.”

Sighing in frustration, I ran my hands over my face and looked at my girlfriend. “Bree look—”

“NO!” She immediately interrupted me, not wanting to hear any excuses that I was attempting to come up with as she stood from her spot on the bed and inched closer to me, poking me in the chest hard with her index finger. “You need to stop being so weak when it comes to sob stories. I can’t hold my fucking tongue no more. What happened the other night wasn’t enough of a red flag for you?! Someone barged into our house uninvited because of her and the drama she attracts. Who else is gonna pop up looking for her one day, huh? And we’re the ones that are going to have to deal with it in the long run because this is our house. She can leave any time she pleases while we’re stuck to clean up the mess she’s created. I’m not doing it Xae, I’m sorry. You need to tell her to leave.”

Scrunching up my face, I took a few seconds to process everything she said and make sure that I didn’t just say anything out of anger since she was really pushing me to a whole 'nother level. I closed any space that was between us by stepping closer to her, leaning down so that we were slightly face to face as I spoke in an eerily calm tone. “I don’t give a fuck. I’m not ‘bout to kick her out at a time where she needs me the most and you’re not ‘bout to fuck up someone else’s life because of your jealousy so you can miss me with that.”

She stared at me with disbelief in her eyes as they began to water causing her to quickly look away and step around me, storming off towards our shared closet. A couple of minutes later, she came out fully dressed and grabbed her phone before attempting to walk past me as I grabbed her by her wrist and pulled her back. “Where you going Bree?” I asked, exhausted with this argument already as she snatched her arm out of my grip.

“Why the fuck does it matter? You got your little puta to please so don’t worry about me. You clearly got enough to worry about.” With that, she continued her trek out of the bedroom and out of the house, making sure to slam the door shut in the process.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, I laid back on the bed and threw my forearm over my eyes, giving me the mental space I needed to think about what I was going to do about this whole Bree hating Simone situation. I knew for a fact that even if she did move out, I would still want her around at least as a friend but I can’t do that if Bree has an attitude every time she lays eyes on the girl. The whole thing is just frustrating because I can’t understand why.

“I’m sorry…” I heard a light voice call out causing me to remove my forearm from covering my eyes and sit up on my elbows, averting my attention over to Simone who was standing awkwardly in the doorway. “I didn’t mean to be a burden on you guys and I wasn’t supposed to get comfortable here but I did. This is all my fault.” She shook her head as she began to look down at her pretty pedicured feet.

Standing to my feet, I made my way over to her and lifted her head to face me with two of my fingers, immediately noticing the tears staining her face and wiping them with the pad of my thumb. “You’re not a burden, alright? I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that. Bree’s just… she’s intimidated by you and takes it out on you when you’re not really the problem at all. You ain’t ask for none of this so stop beating yourself up. Please, for me?”

She closed her eyes and nodded slowly, beginning to calm down by hearing my uplifting words. Her arms wrapped themselves around my torso as she pressed the side of her face up against my chest, hugging me tightly. “Thank you. For everything you’re doing for me even with all the problems I’ve caused. I could never repay you for this.”

“Not true.” I retorted, a smirk forming on my face causing a small smile to make its way on hers as she looked up at me with confused eyes. “You can repay me by winning this custody battle today. I wanna meet the little one you’ve been telling me so much about.”

Her smile grew wider at the thought as our arms remained around each other in the hugging position we were previously in, a bit farther apart to be able to look at each other. “I already know he would love you.”

“How you know that?” I asked in amusement as I raised one of my brows playfully.

“Because I l—” She quickly cut herself off, hesitating for a bit before clearing her throat and pulling away from my embrace. “Because I just know he will. I know my baby.” She stated and gave me a reassuring smile.

I smiled back but in the back of my mind, I was still wondering what exactly she was going to say at first. I didn’t want to press it if she didn’t feel comfortable enough to say it but at the same time, I really did want to know. “What were you going to say at first?” She shook her head causing the long low ponytail that her hair was in to follow her movements. “Nothing, I got confused and almost forgot who I was talking to.” She giggled lightly, attempting to ease her way out of answering the question. “Are you ready? I wanna get there a little early just in case. And thank you for coming with me… I don’t know if I’d be able to do this alone.”

“Good thing you don’t ever have to worry about being alone anymore then ‘cause ima always be here for you.”

I admired the smile that instantly formed on her face as she looked at me. “I know you are.”

Tiarra

I quickly glanced over my shoulder to make sure that no one was watching me as I sipped from the cup of coffee that was seriously needed right about now.

The café was small and family owned. I made sure to visit more places like those instead of commercial franchise places so that I’d have less of a risk of being spotted by whoever was following me or anyone else who knew about what I had done. Also, there were rarely ever any cameras in these types of places.

The dark liquid was warm as it went down my throat and I sighed in relief as that warmth filled my body, taking my stress away more and more with each sip. I hadn’t gotten much sleep since I found out I was being hunted because I knew that I needed to be alert at all times; especially when I least expected it. There was no place that I could go where I was safe.

Well, maybe one…

Sliding out of the booth that I was sitting in, I quickly glanced around to make sure I hadn’t attracted anyone’s attention and went to go throw my nearly empty cup away before exiting the establishment. Cars sped past as my shoes clicked along the sidewalk, observing my surroundings carefully as I made my way to the bus stop. I wasn’t able to rent the car that I wanted yet so, for now, I had to settle for nasty ass public transportation. There was always at least one weird person on every bus or train.

My eyes darted to various different places as I walked, looking out for anything suspicious that it might catch. A few people glanced at me as they walked by but once they disappeared, I figured it was because I had been staring at them first. My paranoia was getting the best of me at this point, I couldn’t be too sure of anything and it had my brain reeling.

I didn’t want to die anytime soon and I definitely refused to go out without a fight. If that bitch wants war, then she’s got it.

Once I finally made it to the stop, I sat on the bench and waited anxiously for the next bus to arrive. Multiple people walked past as I waited and I sized each one of them up as they did. I would probably fight someone if I caught them looking at me the way I was doing everyone around me. But most people weren’t even paying me any attention, they could care less.

I suspiciously eyed a male dressed in all black who had came and sat next to me on the other end of the bench. He reached into his pocket and I winced as he pulled out… a fucking cigarette. I let out a silent sigh of relief but still watched his movements from my peripheral vision so that I wouldn’t be full out staring at him.

“Hey,” I heard him call out to me causing my head to swiftly snap in his direction. My throat began to get dry as his eyes felt like they were peering into my soul, a small smirk present on his face. Swallowing hard on the nonexistent saliva I had in my mouth, I raised my eyebrows in a way that acknowledged him causing him to lean over to me as I leaned back a bit. “You got a light? I must have dropped mine.”

I slowly shook my head no and he cursed to himself before pulling the cigarette that was dangling from his lips and putting it back in its designated box. “Well thanks anyway.” He mumbled as the bus finally pulled up and we both got on.

We went our separate ways to our seats and I kept staring at him but he hadn’t even wasted another glance at me since our encounter. He got off on the next stop causing yet another sigh of relief to escape my lips as I relaxed a bit in my seat. For a second there, I thought he was the one.

I calmed down for a little while until I got off at my stop and walked down the street with the hood from my jacket covering my head. It stayed facing downward as I made my way into his neighborhood; the only safe place I could think of at this moment. He would definitely know what to do about my situation.

Once I arrived at his place, I went around to the back and made sure there was no one around before beginning to pick his lock the way I watched multiple people do it on YouTube. You could honestly learn just about anything on that website, it was crazy. After a few minutes of messing around with the bolts, I heard a click and lightly pushed the door open. I stepped through the door frame and closed it back after me, being sure to lock it in the process.

Tiptoeing my way throughout the familiar house, I started making my way upstairs and heard the faint sound of a shower running the closer I got to his bedroom. Everything looked just about the same; the only thing that seemed any different was the fact that he changed his sheets. I kicked off my shoes and climbed atop the silky black sheets before laying back and smiling at the feeling of the soft fabric hugging my body. I wonder how it would feel to fuck on these sheets.

My body relaxed against the foam mattress as the sleep I had been depriving myself of finally started catching up to me causing me to slowly doze off with a small smile on my face.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I heard his stern voice yell out after what seemed like only a second of me sleeping. I instantly jumped up and averted my attention over to Dominick as he stood with a towel wrapped around his waist, water trickling down his chest as it glistened against the light in his bedroom. “Tiarra, on my momma bruh, if you don’t answer me in five seconds…”

He pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance as he began counting down causing me to jump up from my spot on the soft bed and make my way over to him. “Wait! Look, I just needed a safe place to come to. I feel too paranoid anywhere else.”

“That sounds like a you problem, T.”

Rolling my eyes at his nonchalant answer, I reached out and smacked him in the chest making him mug me as he rubbed the wet area I had hit. “Don’t be like that Dom, you of all people know that I need help. Someone’s after me!” I spoke frantically but he only responded by staring at me with a blank expression.

“That’s your fault for being stupid. I ain’t got time for this shit Tiarra, I got somewhere to be and I don’t even know how yo bird ass got in here.” He retorted as he shook his head and stepped around me, gathering clothes from out of his closet and dresser.

My eyebrows furrowed as I watched him walk around as if he didn’t care about me causing my eyes to water a bit but I was too much of a bad bitch to allow any nigga to see me cry so I quickly wiped my eyes. Rushing over to him, I got down on my knees in front of him and clasped my hands together as if I was about to pray. “Please! Please Dominick, I need to stay here.” I begged frantically as I reached for his towel and pulled at it. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

He quickly stopped me and slapped my hands away, glaring at me in anger and annoyance. “Man, I just said I got somewhere to be. You needa go before I be the one to off yo ass.”

I stared at him in disbelief that he really wasn’t trying to provide a safe environment for me. Like why even tell me in the first place if you’re not going to continue helping out? Totally pissed off, I stood up and pushed past him to grab my things before storming out of his house. I should have known he would have been no fucking help and what makes it worse is that now I came all the way down here for nothing. He’s acting like what he had to do would be affected by me staying there, he’s just being a dick.

Anger exuded itself from my body with each step I took, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to form in my eyes as I walked. He was the only one I knew that I would be able to turn to and now what am I supposed to do?

As I exited down the driveway, I roughly bumped into a solid figure causing me to stumble back off balance before feeling strong arms wrap around to catch me. I looked up at the light skinned hazel-eyed male who had saved me from falling with wide eyes. “Woah.” He chuckled as he helped me to stand upright. “Seems like you’re in a hurry ma, you gotta watch where you walking. What if I ain’t have fast reflexes?”

“Well my head would probably have busted open on the concrete but…” He began busting out laughing and although I was dead serious, I laughed along with him so that the situation wouldn’t be awkward. As I eyed over the stranger’s facial features, I immediately realized that I would definitely sit on his face. His demeanor radiated power and wealth while everything else about him seemed well put together. His hairline was sharp with a tattoo right above one of his eyebrows, instantly making me wetter. “What’s your name?”

“Arion.”

***

He slept peacefully underneath his sheets as we both laid there nude from what had just took place not even half an hour before. I couldn’t lie, the dick was mesmerizing and he gave it to me rough just the way I liked it. He made sure to use a condom claiming that he didn’t know me from a can of paint but I didn’t mind because I wasn’t trying to get pregnant by some random hood nigga who probably wouldn’t even take care of his child like he’s supposed to anyway.

Beginning to get bored just sitting there and watching him sleep, I stood up and decided to give myself a tour around the huge mansion he called a house. I dressed myself in the clothes I was wearing before I came and stepped out of his bedroom in curiosity. There were so many doors that I couldn’t even keep track of them and every one of the rooms were nicely decorated with neutral colors.

I opened up one of the doors downstairs and my mouth instantly fell ajar as I glanced around at all of the different types of guns that rested throughout the room. There were so many that there were no empty spaces on any of the walls or counters they sat on. Immediately I thought that just one of these could be used as protection against anyone attempting to come after me. I didn’t know how to shoot or even handle a gun for that matter so I picked up the smallest one I could find and tucked it into my hoodie as I continued to look around the room.

How could one guy have so many weapons of destruction and why? He must have been hated by a lot of people.

I began opening up cabinets to see if there were also guns in there, but instead there was a huge duffel bag. Being the curious person that I was, I opened up the bag and nearly fainted at all the stacks of cash sitting right there in front of me, practically begging to be spent on some shoes.

Glancing behind me to ensure that the coast was still clear, I smiled brightly as I began shoving some of the money into my hoodie as well. I hadn’t took no more than fifty thousand, I didn’t want to be greedy. There was so much more money in here that I doubted anyone would notice and from the looks of it, I needed it more than he did.

Once I had got enough, I left out of the room before I was tempted to take some more and quickly gathered the rest of my belongings to leave. A smile resided on my face as I ran out the house, happily cheering myself on in my head at the easy come up I had just stumbled upon.

“I’M RICH!!”

Simone

I pulled my collar away from my neck as if that was going to make the suffocating feeling I had been struggling with go away.

My heart was nearly beating out of my chest as I sat in the passenger seat with my mind racing a million miles a minute and Xae drove, giving me the peace and quiet that I needed right now. I looked over my appearance in the mirror of the visor for the third time, making sure that I was looking presentable enough.

“Relax, you look good.” My attention averted over to Xae who had chuckled in attempts to lighten the mood. I gave him an uneasy smile and let out a frustrated sigh as my nerves caused me to shiver a bit.

He reached over and grabbed one of my hands, interlocking our fingers causing me to instantly squeeze his hand tighter as I blew out another breath. Just the feeling of his calloused hand in mine helped me to calm down a bit as his thumb lightly brushed over my knuckles every now and again. I knew that I was going to have to eventually, but I honestly didn’t want to let go anytime soon. “Thank you, I just can’t sit still.” I replied, coincidentally shifting in my seat as I did.

“You got nothing to worry about. From what you’ve told me, you’re a good mother. You’re just having a rough time right now 'cause of the nigga you had the baby with.” I felt him tense up a bit as he spoke but decided not to say anything about it. I could tell that we were both a little on edge from our own personal issues.

Remaining silent for a few seconds, I looked over at him with fear evident in my eyes. “But what if—”

“Don’t even say it.” He quickly interrupted me before I could even finish my sentence and gave me a stern glare before turning his attention back to the road. “Don’t even jinx it like that. Think positive thoughts and you’ll receive positive energy.”

A smile soon grew on my face because he always knew what to do and say to make me feel ten times better. Even when we were little kids and complete strangers, he’s just always been there for me and genuinely cared about my well-being. I wanted to be there for him the same way he’s always been there for me, but as of now, I feel like all I’ve done for him is help him graduate high school and come between his relationship with his distrustful girlfriend. I knew the reason that they were having problems was because he didn’t want to let me down or give up on me the way countless other people in my life have done. It made my heart warm to know he felt that way but it also made me feel bad for causing so much drama in his life.

Once we finally got to the court building, he parked the car in the nearest space he could find and we both hopped out. As we walked, he laced our fingers with each other again causing me to glance over at him as he gave me a reassuring nod to let me know that I got this. We emptied our pockets of anything in them and proceeded through the metal detector one at a time before heading upstairs to the designated room that the dreadful custody battle was being held in.

We were a bit early so when we entered the courtroom, we were told to remain seated as he sat in one of the empty rows and I sat up front at a table where my attorney had been already sitting. I hired her because I honestly knew nothing about court and laws that would help me win this battle, unfortunately utilizing all of the money that Saint had saved up for me. She was expensive but I heard she was good and I didn’t want to take my chances with someone else.

Hearing the courtroom door open behind me, I instantly shivered from the cold feeling that suddenly presented an eerie burst of shock throughout my body. At that moment, I knew exactly who had came through the door. I immediately snapped my head in the direction of the door and there he was, already catching my eyes as he wore a smug smirk on his face. My eyes rolled as I turned my attention over to Xae who looked at me with a small smile, but I just turned around in my seat because I didn’t want Dom to know that I had came here with him.

I already know how he gets when there’s a new man in my life, regardless of if they’re just my friend or not and I was not about to risk Xae getting hurt from just a simple smile.

The trial began soon after Dom’s arrival, starting by everyone rising as the judge walked in and then being seated. My nerves were beginning to kick back in as my leg rapidly bounced up and down. The judge had Dom stand and state his purpose of the trial while I remained looking straight ahead, barely being able to focus. “I’m fighting for sole custody over my son, Dominick James Anderson Jr. His mother took him and moved out of my house some months ago.”

“And what’s the issue with that?” The judge asked as I looked between the both of them, awaiting the answer to his question.

“Well first, I had no clue where either of them were for those months that she was gone and she had blocked me on everything so I couldn’t contact her. Second, she doesn’t even have a job your honor, she can’t possibly provide for him the way he needs it. Plus, I have no clue where she lives as of now. It could be a shelter for all I know and I’d rather my child be with the parent who is able to fully support him in a stable environment. Somewhere that I know he’ll be safe.” Dom responded causing me instantly roll my eyes because I was the only one who knew that this wasn’t about Junior at all. This has always been about me and him.

Judge Connor nodded his head in understanding as I began to sweat because I couldn’t deny that I wasn’t working and now that I used all of the money Saint had saved up for me, I didn’t have a means to support him. But I knew for a fact that he would be safer with me regardless of those unfortunate aspects. “And what would you prefer to be the visitation terms between you two?” The judge asked, pointing between the both of us.

“I ask for no visitation rights for his mother, Simone Alessia Wyatt.”

My head instantly snapped in his direction once I heard those final words. He couldn’t possibly be serious, he wouldn’t try to take my son away from me like this. I subtly pinched my forearm to be sure that this was really happening to me but I just wasn’t waking up from this nightmare. The judge then looked to me with raised eyebrows. “And what is your response to these accusations Ms. Wyatt?”

My emotions immediately took over as I jumped to my feet. “I might not have a job but I don’t live in a shelter. He can’t do this! He didn’t even care about looking for Junior while we were gone, all he wants to do is make my life miserable.” Tears began to form in my eyes because I knew my argument wasn’t very compelling at all. Then suddenly, a vital piece of information that I had received about him popped up in my mind. “And he’s a crackhead! He does cocaine around our son when he has him and leaves him with his mother half of the time so that he can continue doing anything he wants.”

Everyone in the courtroom then turned their attention to Dom once the news about his drug use had been let out, but his demeanor remained calm and I immediately felt sick to my stomach at how nonchalant he was acting as he shook his head. Judge Conner called over an officer and whispered something in his ear before the officer walked over to Dominick and escorted him out of one of the doors.

“I’m calling a short break for the drug testing of Dominick Anderson.” He hit his gavel against the podium as people began standing up and conversing with others.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I went over some more topics with my attorney and she told me that I was sure to win custody if Dom had really been doing drugs because it counts as child endangerment and a form of negligence. I stood up and went over to sit with Xae as he immediately wrapped me in a warm embrace.

“It’s gonna be ok baby girl. I knew things were fucked up between you and your baby daddy but damn. This is some shit you see in movies or something.” He spoke and I mushed him away from me playfully.

The sad thing is, he didn’t even know the half. “I just hope it’s enough to finally end this.”

After around thirty minutes, Dom and the officer entered the courtroom again, the cop going back up to the judge and telling him something in his ear with a slight shrug. Suddenly, I didn’t have a good feeling about this. Judge Connor started the trial back up as he looked over the paper that held Dom’s drug test results.

“Well Ms. Wyatt, it seems that Mr. Anderson’s test results came back clean as a whistle.” He raised a confused eyebrow at me. “Is there a reason that you made these accusations today?”

Before I could get a chance to speak, Dom’s voice had boomed throughout the courtroom. “I could answer that. She will say anything about me to keep me from my son, your honor, and I’m honestly tired of her running away to God knows where with whoever she wants and not letting me see him.” He stated causing murmurs to echo from various people throughout the room.

“That’s not true. A… close friend of mine informed me that he was high while my son was in the room watching TV.” I added in attempts to defend myself.

“Well Ms. Wyatt, these results are telling me something different so again, why should I allow you to have full custody for this young child when you have no job, no home, and no basic means of supporting him at all?”

Tears immediately began clouding my vision as I hung my head low, not knowing how to answer him. “Because… that’s my baby. I need my baby.” I spoke breathlessly as my crying couldn’t be stopped. I couldn’t even lift my head because they weight of the world seemed to be holding it down.

“I’m sorry but that answer just isn’t good enough. I’m ruling in favor of Dominick Anderson for sole custody of four year old Dominick Anderson Jr.” The banging of his gavel sounded through the courtroom once again. “Adjourned.”

I immediately froze in my spot as I stared at the ground with wide eyes. My baby was gone just like that and I couldn’t do anything about it.

Feeling someone shaking me from the side to break me out of my trance, I continued to stand petrified as I glanced over at Dom who had been walking out of the courtroom and once he caught my eyes, he smirked knowing he had won. My blood instantly began to boil as I stared at the smug look on his face.

“I FUCKING HATE YOU!” I screamed loudly, catching the attention of the few people who were still inside and throwing the nearest chair at him, not being able to reach him so I picked up another one. As I was about to toss that one, I felt huge arms snake around my torso causing me to drop it and immediately start kicking instead. “LET ME FUCKING GO! YOU FUCKING EVIL SON OF A BITCH, I SWEAR TO GOD I’LL FUCKING KI—” My feet flailed wildly as I yelled, kicking over the table I had been sitting at causing one of the legs to break in the process of falling.

The officer who had been holding my arms down then began dragging me out of one of the doors as I continued to scream and kick my legs, not caring how it seemed to anyone because they will never know the pain I was feeling right now. Once he successfully pulled me out of the courtroom, he slapped handcuffs on me and continued to take me into custody for the damage I had just caused.

Dom

It felt good to finally be out of that place even though the stay wasn’t really as bad as I thought it was going to be. There were some nights where I wanted to rip every strand of hair from my head one by one, but then there were other nights where I was glad that I was doing this.

My mom decided to pick me up from the rehab center with Junior riding along in the back with his booster seat. He was excited to see me after going so long without his dad and it made my heart thaw out a little bit to watch how excited he was that I was back.

That was a couple of days ago, though, and Junior was back at my mom’s place because I had a date tonight. If you would even be able to call it a date.

I’m meeting up with Katya, the thick booty receptionist and building tour guide from the rehab center, and she’s coming over to my crib so I knew that Junior couldn’t be here with the way things were sure to end up by the end of the night—hell, maybe earlier than that. Half of the time, we couldn’t keep our hands off of each other which made things significantly harder when we were still in the rehabilitation center.

***Flashback***

I had just came from getting lunch and had some free time to spare but I didn’t really fuck with a lot of people in the center. I just stayed to myself for the most part. It was easier to just observe the people here than befriend them when I knew we probably wouldn’t keep in touch outside of this building anyway.

My sleep schedule hasn’t been the best lately due to me getting cold sweats throughout the night, so I was more tired than I could fathom at this point and all I wanted to do was lay down. Exhaustively dragging my feet along the hard white-tiled floor, I began making my way towards my room even though my next class started in about an hour and a half. And I’m pretty sure my nap will probably last longer than that.

As I was walking, a familiar fat ass wiggled its way into my view causing me to halt in my tracks and start heading her way instead. Each time I’d try to get at her, she’d find a new way to reject me but I’m the type of nigga that likes a challenge so that didn’t bother me at all. “Hey.”

The receptionist turned to face me once she’d heard the sound of my voice before immediately rolling her eyes in annoyance. “What do you want now? I keep telling you I’m working.”

“Ain’t your job to accommodate to me? Miss…” I trailed off with expectant eyes, awaiting her answer.

“Mrs.” She quickly corrected me with pride laced in her voice. “Katya Freeman.”

My eyebrow instantly raised at the revelation that she was in fact married causing my eyes to swiftly avert to her left hand and, sure enough, she was hitched. I hadn’t noticed the ring on her finger before but now that I did, it was hard not to see it. “Katya… I like that. Ain’t your job to accommodate to me, Katya?”

She glanced at me up and down with an expression that was unreadable as she folded her arms across her chest. “Thank you. And no, my job is to check people in, show them around, and make sure that everything is the way they should be throughout the day.”

“Well, uh, actually I gotta problem that I could use your help fixing.” My tongue quickly swiped over my plump lips as I dug my hands deep into my pockets.

“Don’t tell me this is a trick Dominick because I swear—”

Stopping her by holding up my hand, I honestly didn’t feel like hearing all that right now. It had already been a week since I got here and haven’t delved into some pussy yet. Part of the reason was because I was trying to focus on what I was supposed to do to actually rehabilitate myself, and the other part was because the bitches here are looney. My first day in the center and one random had asked if she could suck my dick for some heroin like I’m not in the same damn program she’s in. “The problem is in my room.”

Katya glared at me suspiciously but said nothing as she began to follow me towards my designated room. I could hear the way her scrubs would rustle against each other each time she took another step due to her thighs being so thick. Even with the loose scrubs on, you could tell she has a nice little body on her.

Once we got to my room, she stepped further inside to inspect it as I shut the door behind us causing her to look back at me with confusion in her eyes. “What’s the problem?”

“The problem is that you’ve been playing hard to get but stealing glances at me the whole time I been here.” I retorted, stepping forward a bit as she took a step back and her back instantly hit the nearest wall due to the rooms being so small. “So wassup?”

She looked up at me but remained silent as we both held eye contact, too stubborn to look away from each other. I couldn’t really read her facial expression, although she didn’t seem angry or upset that I had put her in this position when she has a whole husband. Suddenly, a seductive smirk invaded her face as her brown eyes lowered a bit and she wrapped her arms around my neck. “I was wondering when you were gonna take the hint.”

She wasted no time in hungrily pressing her soft lips against mine as I immediately lifted her up by her thick thighs and her legs wrapped around my torso. We quickly undressed each other due to the risk of being caught and I roughly threw her down onto my bed. Lust was evident in her eyes as she spread her legs for me, revealing her glistening center that was already ready for me to be inside her.

“Wait.” Katya stopped suddenly and I rolled my eyes thinking that she was having a change of heart, but instead reached into one of the pockets in her scrubs and pulled out a condom with a sly grin causing me to do the same at the fact that this girl was ready.

I rolled the condom over my rock hard member with determination and soon after, slid into her moist warmth as my head fell back in ecstasy. For me, it had been a while since I had some pussy so the feeling of her soft insides was damn near amazing right about now. “Fuck.” She moaned out, gripping one of her breasts in her hands as I stood in between her legs, stroking into her deeply.

The glistening rock on her finger only made me want to fuck her that much better and show her something that her nigga most likely wasn’t, considering she was fucking some random guy at her job right now. My hand roamed up her smooth dark skin before my fingers started fondling with her nipples causing her to let out another moan of pleasure.

“Ooh, fuck daddy. Just like that.”

***Flashback ends***

Hearing a knock on my front door, I broke away from my thoughts and stood up, adjusting my clothes before heading to go answer it. Although I already knew who it was, I always looked out the peep hole just to be safe. I unlocked and swung the door open, revealing the short and voluptuous Katya who instantly wore a smile on her face at the sight of me.

Stepping aside to allow her to come in, I shut and locked the door after her before turning around to see her looking like a little kid in a new place. Shy and observing everything. “It’s nice in here.” She spoke as she turned back to face me, realizing that I had been staring at her. “What?” She giggled.

“Nothing,” I shook my head slightly, “I made us something to eat. You ain’t a vegetarian, right?”

“No, I love meat.” She winked at me causing me to finally catch on to what she was getting at and chuckle deeply. I knew her ass was a freak.

My hand reached to grab a hold of hers as I began to guide her into the kitchen where the mouth watering smell of food instantly hit us in the face. “So what excuse did you have to give your husband?” I wasn’t generally interested in what she had going on with her old man back at home, but I wanted a reason to laugh.

“I told him that one of my friends needed someone to help her pick out wedding dresses with. Which is technically true, just not happening today.”

My brow rose in amusement. “What’s gon’ happen when that day actually comes then?” I asked, earning a shrug from her in response.

“I guess we’ll find out once we cross that bridge, won’t we?”

***

Sweat trickled down my tattoo covered chest as she let out a long final moan once I pulled out of her. I’m not going to lie, this woman’s voice was so sexy when she was getting fucked right. Her husband is a lucky man to be able to have that any time he wants. I instantly stood up and headed to the bathroom to go dispose of the nut filled condom I was wearing, cleaning myself off with a damp washcloth afterwards.

Deciding to be nice since she’s new to my house, I dampened another clean rag with soap and warm water before bringing it out to her for her to wipe herself. Her juices were literally everywhere so I knew she needed it much more than I did. “Here.” I handed her the cloth once I got back into the room.

Katya stood up and headed to the bathroom as I took that opportunity to pull the dirty sheets from my bed and go find some clean ones. I had to wait until the mattress was dry to even put the new ones on but if I didn’t bring them out now, I’d eventually forget to change them out at all.

“You have a son?” My head snapped in the direction of her voice, taking me off guard as she stood nude looking at one of the picture frames of me and Junior on my dresser. He was the spitting image of me when I was little, he just had Simone’s pretty caramel complexion and little dimples that neither one of us knew where they came from.

I nodded in response, walking over to the spot she was standing in and looking at the photo myself. It was me and him on his second Halloween and he was upset because it was cold and I was holding his candy for him. He has always wanted to try and do things by himself but he was barely bigger than the bucket that was holding the candy. “Yea, his name is Dominick.”

“Oh, he’s a junior?” She followed up on what I said with another question causing me to nod again. “Where is he?” She asked and began looking around as if he would be here with the way she was screaming my name not too long ago.

“He’s at my mom’s house while I handle some business for a couple days. I’m tryna get sole custody over him ‘cause his mom decided she was gonna leave for months without letting me know where she took him or letting me see him. I knew she ain’t have enough money to buy a place or rent a hotel so I was just sitting there worried and wondering what was going on. And can you guess where she was the entire time?”

She looked at me with sympathetic eyes as she shook her head. “No, where?”

“Up under some fucking nigga she had just met. I couldn’t believe she put my son in that kind of situation where anything could have happened to either one of them.” I spat in a disgusted tone, shaking my head at just the thought of them playing house like they were a family.

“Wow… I really can’t believe that and you’re doing the right thing by fighting for him. It sounds like you’re really the only one who can provide for him like he needs.” Silence took over the conversation for a few seconds before her eyes instantly lit up and a wide smile grew on her face. “Hey, I have this friend who’s an appraised lawyer. She wins almost all her cases, I could probably get her to represent you for cheaper. It’s not right that you have to go through all of this because your baby moms wants to mess with other guys.”

A smirk instantly threatened to form on my face. “You would do that for me?”

Bree

For some reason, I couldn’t stop crying throughout the day and I couldn’t figure out if it was because of how hurt I was when I found out about Antonio and that bitch or the fact that my life was spiraling out of control so quickly.

Maybe a little bit of both if I was being completely honest with myself.

Things were getting more and more complicated somehow; especially with discovering that Xavier and Antonio are friends. How they know each other out of everybody they could have possibly met that day at McDonald’s was beyond me. And now that I was pregnant and didn’t know which one of them could be the father, I had to be really careful with the decisions that I made from now on.

I couldn’t give up my baby because it was a miracle that I was even having one in the first place; although the process isn’t all that glorious but I still already loved him or her like no other.

My eyes were puffy and red while my nose couldn’t stop running as I laid down on top of the bed sheets, gently rubbing my flat tummy. Even though my situation wasn’t ideal, I was excited to be able to experience something that I thought I’d never be able to do at all. I had already started setting up future doctors appointments and researching things that I would need to know throughout the pregnancy.

Suddenly, my phone began violently buzzing on the nightstand beside our bed as I let out a low huff and reached over to grab it. Once it was in my hands, I stared at the caller ID with furrowed eyebrows since it was an unknown number and I never really got calls from those. I was too scared to answer so I just clicked my lock button to stop my phone from sounding off and placed it back in the spot it was in previously as I got back comfortable in the bed, letting my eyelids slowly lower until they were completely closed.

That only lasted for about a second until my phone started ringing again causing me to throw a small temper tantrum before reaching for it again, this time answering it with an attitude purely laced in my voice. “What?” I asked sitting up, allowing my back to lean up against the headboard.

“Bree?” I heard a male’s voice on the other line making me immediately scrunch up my face.

“Who’s this?”

The line got quiet for a few seconds and I was just about to hang up the phone until I heard the same voice speak again. “Damn, so you don’t know my voice now?”

Just as his accent sparked realization in my mind, I heard him chuckle sarcastically. “Antonio? Why are you calling from a blocked number?”

“Maybe 'cause someone fucking blocked me for no reason and I needed to get in contact with you. You can’t just drop that bomb on me then just leave, we need to talk.” He spoke sternly causing me to clench my legs together since the demanding tone in his voice was sending shivers down my spine.

But I knew I couldn’t give into him like that, not when I’m trying to do better for me, Xae, and my baby. “Talk about what? I’m sure you did enough ‘talking’ with Serina so I don’t even understand why you felt the need to call my phone.” I emphasized her name as I rolled my eyes at the fact that I was really sitting here talking to this man after he called me on a blocked number. “You know what? I don’t even know why I’m entertaining you right now. Have a nice life Antonio.”

Pulling the phone away from my ear, my finger hovered over the red end button as I heard him scream out loud enough for me to hear. “WAIT!” I contemplated on just ending the call right then and there but sighed in annoyance as I held it back up to my ear and told him to talk because he only had a minute to say what he needed to say before I actually did it. “Just come over and talk to me about this. You can leave right after, I don’t really care but we need to talk about what you told me.”

I could practically hear the pleading in his voice as he spoke and couldn’t help but to feel bad because I knew he was right. I couldn’t just tell him that I’m pregnant by him then stop talking to him forever; there would have been no point of me telling him in the first place if that was the case. My mind was reeling as the line grew silent while he awaited for my answer and I reluctantly let out a defeated sigh. “Fine. But I’m not sure how because Xae has the car right now and went to go see his mom.”

“I can uber you, it don’t matter. I just need some peace of mind.” With that, we got off the call and there was no need to send him my address since he already knew where I lived. All I had to do was wait for my ride to pull up.

After about twenty-five minutes and a silent car ride later, I was arriving back at Antonio’s place with my nerves going wild all over the place. I was so nervous that my hands were shaking but I still thanked my driver and hopped out of the car, making my way up the driveway and to the front door. I didn’t even get to knock before it swung open, revealing the tall handsome man that I had came to see. Under his eyes were dark and noticeably drooping causing me to frown because it looked like he hadn’t gotten any sleep since I told him the big news.

He stepped aside allowing me to go inside of his house, immediately looking around since I had never actually been in here before. The decorations and furniture were simple but still complemented each other well without overdoing it. I stood there as he walked in front of me, gesturing me to follow him as he made his way into what looked like the living room.

We both plopped down on the couch as far away from each other as possible, awkwardly sitting as we glanced at one other and waited for someone to speak. “You wanted to talk?” I asked, deciding to break the ice.

“Xae told me you were sick and throwing up, but he thinks it’s because of something you ate. I didn’t think nothing about what you told me until he said that 'cause all I could think was 'why would she tell me and not him’?” He looked me dead into my brown eyes with the straightest face I’ve ever seen on him. “So are you really pregnant?”

I nodded slowly. “…Yes.” My voice came out barely above a whisper as I began fidgeting with my fingers out of anxiousness.

“And is that baby mine?”

Becoming silent for a few moments, I looked back up at him from the view of my fingers to find him still staring at me with that same serious expression. “I think so. The timing of my symptoms and everything… I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter because it’s not like it changes anything.”

Antonio then let out an obnoxious sigh as he ran both of his hands over his face in frustration. “The fuck you mean? This changes everything Bree. YOU are having MY baby and got a whole fiancé who I just so happen to have become friends with. We need to—”

“We?” I quickly interrupted him as I chuckled bitterly. “There is no ‘we’ in this Antonio. I can clearly see who you would rather be dealing with because when I tried talking to you, you were trying to get rid of me to go fuck some bitch. So you don’t have nothing to say to me about us.” My arms swiftly folded across my chest as I finally broke our eye contact, feeling myself getting heated at just the memory of that hoe answering his door for him, butt ass naked and dressed in only his t-shirt.

“What you wanted me to do? You got a whole man and disappeared off the face of the earth. Come to find out, you just blocked me. I’m just supposed to wait for you while you go out and be happy with some other nigga that’s not me? Even he said that I should drop you because all you were doing was using me for a rebound.”

My eyes instantly widened as my head snapped in his direction with the quickness, the rest of what he said falling on deaf ears. “You told him about us?”

“Relax. He don’t know it’s you.” He retorted as he rolled his eyes. “Matter of fact, I ain’t even know it was you at that point in time so even if I did snitch on you, it wouldn’t have been my fault. How was I supposed to know he was the guy you were seeing?”

I simply shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now because you’re fucking with some new bitch anyway so why am I even here having this conversation?”

“I’m not fucking dating her.” He gritted out through clenched teeth and I could tell that I was starting to get under his skin.

I, on the other hand, didn’t want to hear that bullshit because I’m not dumb. Nobody would feel that comfortable to open someone’s door if they weren’t a thing or at least close. My eyes narrowed as I kept my arms crossed and glared at him. “Did you have sex with her?”

“What?”

“You know you heard me, don’t play dumb because I already know. I just wanna hear you say it.”

Antonio hesitated, letting an exasperated sigh escape his lips as he nodded slowly. “Yea, we fucked but—”

I didn’t even give him the opportunity to finish his sentence before I immediately stood up and gathered my things, beginning to storm out of his house until I felt a hand lock around my wrist and pull me back. “Get the fuck off of me Antonio. I told you that I’m pregnant and your next choice is to go and fuck some next bitch?! Go fuck yourself pendejo.” Attempting to walk away again, he kept his grip on my wrist and tugged me back to the same spot causing me to huff in annoyance that he wasn’t letting me go.

“Look, we had sex before you told me. After you dropped the fucking bomb on me and left, I told her to leave because I needed to think. If you would stop running away from me for just two seconds and let me speak.” His stern voice made another appearance as my legs unwillingly clamped together making me roll my eyes at the way my body was acting towards him all of a sudden.

Looking away from him, I crossed my arms over my chest again and began tapping my foot, just wanting to leave because I couldn’t get the image of them out of my mind. I felt his fingers grip my chin gently as he turned my face towards his so that I would have no choice but to look him in his eyes. “I’m sorry, aight? But if that baby is really mine… then no matter what, I’m gonna find a way to be in its life and support you.”

My eyes bounced around admiring all of his handsome facial features as his words instantly serenaded me and I could no longer find myself being mad him. The fact that he was still willing to be in my baby’s life even after everything I’ve done to him in this situation just made my respect and appreciation for him grow stronger.

My lips soon found his without even trying as our mouths began to move in sync with each other, snaking my arms around his neck as his arms made their way around my waist before pulling my body closer to his. Just the feeling of his soft lips sending kisses to mine caused my center to pool with warmth and wanting as he gripped my legs and lifted them, immediately wrapping themselves around his torso as he pushed me up against the nearest wall.

I could feel his want for me poking through his basketball shorts while he nearly ripped my leggings off of me, never allowing his mouth to leave mine. I turned my focus to roughly making out with him, enjoying the feeling that washed over me whenever we would kiss as my tongue eagerly invaded his mouth.

Letting out a low moan into our kiss at the feeling of his hard member slowly penetrating me, my nails immediately clawed into his broad shoulders as he began stroking into my warmth, our skin connecting each and every time. “Mm.” He grunted lowly as my nails dug deep into his skin the deeper he went inside of me.

This is the second time we’ve came together like this and this time was even better than the first because this time, we were making love.

Ajanae

I was able to be released from the hospital a few days ago but unfortunately, I was still on bed rest so Antonio came to keep me company and bring me food every once in a while.

I couldn’t be more thankful than in this moment for my cousin living so close to me.

He was dealing with a lot of his own drama and still had to run his restaurant so I didn’t expect him to come every single day but he still managed to make enough time to come and see me each week; something the rest of my family still haven’t done. I mean, yea, I saw a few of them when I went bowling with Ant and his fine friend, but nobody came to see me when I was laying in that hospital and… it hurt. That nobody even cared that much except my cousin. Not even my sister came and she stayed on social media so I know she knew about what happened.

Although, I couldn’t really blame her since she has to have a ride if she wants to go somewhere and I doubt anyone else would have took her. Still though, she could have tagged along with Antonio on one of the days where he came by to visit or something. It’s just always an excuse with my family and that’s exactly why I don’t really fuck with them now.

“ANT!! I’M HUNGRY!” I yelled out loudly from my spot on my bed, attempting to get his attention from whatever he was watching in the living room. It was almost seven in the evening and I hadn’t ate since this morning when I got up and popped some waffles in the toaster. It’s still a little sore when I move sometimes and I couldn’t move around too quickly, but I was starting to feel much better than I did at first.

Hearing his footsteps drag throughout my hallway, my eyes averted to my bedroom door as he soon came into view and leaned up against the door frame, giving me an unamused look. “What do yo greedy ass want now? I’m tired.”

“Hey, nobody told you to go three rounds with some broad right before you came over here.” I retorted, playfully throwing my hands up in defense as I raised both my eyebrows. “You know how I am about food.”

He waved me off before coming further into my bedroom and sitting on the edge of the bed, laying back as he let out a long exaggerated sigh. “It wasn’t three rounds, it was two for your information. And what do you wanna eat? Ole hungry hungry hippo lookin’ ass.”

Smacking my lips in offense, I grabbed a pillow from the side of me and threw it at him, instantly wincing once I felt a stinging pain from moving too fast shoot throughout my body causing him to laugh. He got on my last damn nerve, I swear. “I want wings.” I stated proudly once I got myself under control and the pain had subsided a bit.

He rolled his eyes and got even more comfortable as he laid back causing me to grow frustrated because he wasn’t listening to me. My stomach was real deal trying to eat itself and here he was playing games. I was about to scold him when my phone began going off on the bed causing me to have to search for it since I didn’t know exactly where I last left it, soon finding it underneath the covers.

“Hello?” I answered without checking to see who was calling me in the first place. It’s not like I wouldn’t find out eventually anyway.

“I got the information you wanted.” The familiar voice stated straight to the point making me sit up a bit more in the bed as Antonio looked at me and mouthed asking who I was talking to but I ignored him.

***Flashback***

I absolutely hated having to reach over so much just to be able to grab my phone off of the stand it was usually kept on. I could damn near feel where the holes were residing in my body as my heart pace monitor began to speed up a bit from my evident struggling.

Once I finally reached my device, I answered the vibrating phone a little out of breath from all the hard work I had just done. “Hello?”

“D told me you needed information on what happened to you.” An unknown voice spoke from the other end of the phone causing my eyebrows to furrow then instantly raise once the realization hit me.

I’m not going to lie, I was kind of surprised Dom found someone who knew something about what had happened this fast but the sooner I know who it is, the sooner I could exact my revenge on the pussy who did this to me. What kind of dumb ass inexperienced person shoots someone three times and still can’t kill them? Whoever it was definitely deserved what was soon coming to them. “Yea, I do and I’m willing to pay for any info you give me.” I spoke in a tone that meant business although I was actually a bit nervous deep down.

“Alright, well I got a description of the person that did this to you. It’s a female. Brown skin and dark hair but the rest of her body was covered in black clothing. Seemed happy when she left your crib.”

Scrunching up my face, my mind raced as I tried to piece together his description with who would possibly want to cause any harm to me and then, it suddenly clicked in my brain. I knew exactly who he was describing and I knew the exact reason why she would try to get revenge but little does she know, she’s not the only one who enjoys seeking vengeance. “Ok, thanks. I’m gonna give you a name and I want you to get back to me on this person’s current location. And call me with any information you can.”

“Aight, cool. What’s the name?”

***Flashback ends***

A smirk instantly played across my face at the sound of him having the location I wanted to know about. I know I hired him to be the one to kill her but in all honesty, I wanted to do it myself since she took it upon herself to try it herself too. “Great, send it to me and check your account when you’re done.”

With that, I hung up the phone and scrolled to another app to transfer the money I owed to my connect’s account. Dom showed me how to do it without it being traced back to me and without him being able to hack and steal my money if he tried also. Dominick, even with all of his flaws, has been a lifesaver to me throughout this entire situation and without him, I wouldn’t even be on step one of finding out who did this to me. But now I knew exactly who did it and I was about to go pay her a little visit.

Maneuvering off of my bed, I made my way over to my closet with Antonio’s nosy ass following closely behind me. “Who was that you was talking to? And why the fuck were you being all cryptic like you in some spy movie or some shit?” He laughed out but I was dead set on what I was trying to do and once he realized that, his smile soon fell. “What’s wrong? Where you going?” He watched as I began putting on shoes since I already had on black sweatpants and threw on a simple hoodie that I didn’t mind messing up if I had to.

“Just out to handle some business, that’s all.” I retorted with a nonchalant shrug as I stepped around him and made my way back into my bedroom to grab my phone before stuffing it into my pocket.

Antonio grabbed my arm causing me to jump due to the slight pain I felt as he pulled me back to face him. “You scaring me with all this bullshit. First you get a weird call, then you going out to ‘handle business’ when you haven’t even left the house much since you been here? Nah, I’m not going for it.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed in annoyance because he stayed treating me like I was some child who didn’t know what they were doing. He was only four years older than me for crying out loud. “Antonio, don’t worry about me. I just need to go see someone.”

“Well if it’s nothing, let me drive you there then. You’re damn near crippled right now and for some reason, I feel like I need to be there just in case.” I shook my head at his response, knowing he wasn’t going to let up unless I agreed to let him drive me to where I was going.

I didn’t really want him getting involved or knowing about what I was trying to do because I don’t want my business out there like that, but there was literally no point in trying to change his mind so I told him that he could take me if he stayed in the car which he happily obliged to.

We left soon afterwards and I copy and pasted the address my connect had sent me into my GPS, allowing the monotone woman’s voice to tell us what direction we needed to go in to get to our destination. The ride was quiet as low music played and I could feel Antonio glance at me suspiciously every now and again. I probably looked nervous as hell; I couldn’t stay still and I was livid to the point where my leg wouldn’t stop rapidly bouncing up and down.

“Your destination is on the left.” I finally heard my GPS inform me after what seemed like forever as Antonio pulled up to a one story house that I had never seen before.

Looking over to my cousin, I noticed his face was scrunched up as he stared at the house causing me to look at him confused. Before I could speak, he turned his attention to me with the same expression on his face. “How do you know where Xae lives?”

“Where Xae lives? I’m not here for him.” Now, I was more bewildered than ever as I quickly hopped out of the passenger side of Antonio’s car and made my way up to the front door, loudly knocking on it to ensure that my presence was known.

After several seconds, the door swung open revealing Ant’s friend as we both looked at each other with furrowed eyebrows since he was the last person I expected to see here, although my cousin had just told me that this was his place. My attention then averted to a familiar figure in the background, mindlessly walking into the next room as my mind instantly went out the window at the sight of her.

I barged inside the house, leaving Xae confused as I made my way over to Simone and roughly shoved her with all of my strength causing her to fall to the ground, caught completely off guard by my actions. “So you just thought you were gonna try to kill me and I wasn’t going to find out?! Bitch, you’re fucking dead!” I yelled out as I felt hands grab me from behind but I didn’t even bother to see who was trying to hold me back because I had tunnel vision and I already knew exactly who it was.

Simone stood up from her spot on the ground and angrily rushed toward me causing Xae to come out of nowhere and hold her back as well. “Woah woah, what the fuck is going on here?” He yelled out but neither one of us was focused on anything else but each other.

“The fuck are you talking about? I didn’t do shit to you, dumb ass broad! How did you even know where I was?” She asked causing me to chuckle at the fact that this bitch was really sitting here lying to me when I already knew the truth.

I tried stepping around Antonio but he quickly caught me and held me farther away from her as Xae did the same but holding her back instead. “And you still fucking lying? Give it up! Someone saw you leaving my house all happy and shit because you thought you killed me.” My blood boiled as a glint of realization sparked inside of me, narrowing my already small eyes at her. “That’s why you asked if I knew who did this to me? To cover up your fucking tracks?!” The fact that she could really come visit me in the hospital after nearly putting me six feet under created a new kind of hatred for her. One I had never felt for anyone else before.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!” She screamed in response as Antonio began dragging me out of the door once he realized that neither one of us were backing down from this argument anytime soon.

I know what I did to her was wrong but I never in a million years expected her to try and murder me in my own fucking home that we had spent countless nights together in. Holding onto the door frame trying my best not to be fully pulled out of the house by my stronger older cousin, I glared at her with cold eyes as I realized I wasn’t strong enough to hold on for much longer before he would successfully drag me out of the home.

***2 weeks later***

Tiarra

The news was filled with the so-called “home invasion” that was done on the “nice innocent young lady” named Ajanae Patterson. I had covered my tracks so I wasn’t really worried about the cops but the amount of coverage they were doing on this girl was real life blowing me.

It had been over two weeks since I tried to kill her ass and they were just still milking the hell out of this story. It’s definitely not present as much as it was when it first happened but they still talked about it from time to time. At least once a day asking if anyone had any information or had seen anything to call in and let them know.

But I was too good to get caught and I doubt there were any witnesses because if there was, they would have some information about it already. I had learned too much stuff from watching those reality crime shows to get caught up making some dumb and careless mistake.

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the remote and shut off the TV before turning to my phone for entertainment instead. I realized I had a text from Dominick and instantly scrunched up my face considering he hasn’t returned any of my texts and calls since that day I had to go to the hospital. He was smart to avoid me though because each time, I was only calling to cuss his ass out for doing some shit like that to me as if I’m a weak bitch.

From: Bitch 🖕🏽

call me as soon as u see this 💯 important

Of course I hesitated at first because I didn’t know if what he wanted to talk about was important for me or important for him. If it’s for him then he can surely kiss my ass because I won’t be doing any more favors to someone as ungrateful as he is. I’ve always been there for him when he needed something done, when him and Simone would be in a bad place, even when I didn’t need to be.

I decided to see what he wanted though just for the hell of it. The phone rang several times and I was about to hang up until I heard his voice come through on the other end. “Yo?”

“What’s so important that you decided to text me after ignoring me for a whole month?” I crossed my unoccupied arm over my chest as if he could see me, instantly earning an annoyed sigh from his end but I’m the one who should be annoyed with all this back and forth he’s always doing with me.

“Don’t start with the bullshit Tiarra or I’ll leave yo ass in the dark to fend for yourself.” He retorted causing me to instantly furrow my eyebrows since I had honestly no idea what he was talking about.

I swear it was just like Dom to be calling someone on some cryptic bullshit, trying to be mysterious and whatnot. Like can we get to the point already? “What are you talking about ‘fend for myself’? Since when have I not been able to take care of me, myself and I?”

“Since yo dumb ass decided you wanted to try and go kill somebody, but failed like an idiot.”

My body immediately straightened out as his words processed through my mind because I hadn’t told anyone about what I had done. There wasn’t anyone I could really tell but still. If Dom knows about it, who else knows? “H-How did you—”

“Don’t ask me no dumb ass question like that, Tiarra. You know I got eyes and ears everywhere, regardless of if the police ever find yo ass or not.” The line got silent as I attempted to process what he was saying but couldn’t because I was still stuck on the fact that someone else besides him had to know that I was the one who tried to kill that Nae bitch too. And I have no idea who it could have been.

My heart instantly began to pound as I soon felt a headache coming on. “Well why did you even look into who shot that bitch in the first place? It has nothing to do with you.”

“You know I’m not the type to give out information like that and you’re lucky I even fuck with you on some type of level 'cause I wouldn’t have even told yo slow ass at all.” He spoke, letting a sarcastic chuckle escape from his lips soon afterwards. “If you wanted to do the job, you could have at least done it right.”

Immediately rolling my eyes, I scoffed because I had actually thought I’d done a good job of covering up my tracks. Hell, it’s been over two weeks and the police still have no clue that what happened to her was an attempted homicide. “I did do it right. Tell all your nosy ass connects to mind their fucking business, how about that?”

“They do mind their business but it’s not their fault that one, you let off three loud ass shots in a neighborhood at night so you most likely woke mad people up. And two, yo dumb ass ain’t wear nothing to cover your face.”

My face instantly scrunched up because I know for certain that I had worn a ski mask that night. “I had a whole ski mask on so who’s capping to you?”

“Well somebody saw what you looked like clear as day and they also saw what car you tried to sneak into afterwards so it is what it is.”

Then what he was saying finally hit me. I took off my mask so that I would be the last face Nae would see before she died and after I shot her, I immediately ran before someone was able to call the cops. I had completely forgot to put my mask back over my head. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I buried my head in my hands wondering why nobody had turned me in yet and if they were even planning to in the first place.

I cannot go to jail and orange is definitely not my color. My freedom was now in jeopardy and I needed to find out who his connect was so that I could put an end to them as well. “Well… why does anyone else care about what happened to her? Are they related to her or something?” I asked, attempting to subtly get some information out of him since I knew straight out asking wasn’t going to work.

“Nah nah, don’t worry 'bout all that right now. Worry 'bout you. I’m only telling you all this 'cause as of now, you have someone tailing you.”

My eyes widened and he didn’t even get to finish his sentence before I dropped my phone and frantically hopped up from my spot on the bed, running to my closet. Grabbing one of the large suitcases from the corner of the small room, I threw it open on the ground and began piling clothes inside of it, not caring if they were getting messed up or wrinkled. I just knew I needed to get out of this house and get the fuck out of dodge.

My blood began to boil at the realization sinking in that this bitch really hired someone to follow me around and kill me whenever the chance would permit. What kind of looney ass female does something like that?

I struggled to zip up my suitcase because of how full and overcrowded it had become as I looked over my now half empty closet to make sure I wasn’t forgetting any of the clothes I had actually enjoyed wearing. Running back into my bedroom, I started gathering hygiene necessities such as deodorant, lotions, perfumes, and my make up bag before stuffing it all into one of the empty pockets in my bag. I damn near looked like a crazy person running back and forth to gather everything I thought I would need to keep up with how I live.

I grabbed my phone which was now locked due to Dom most likely hanging up when he realized that I wasn’t responding anymore, going to my private tabs and searching up some names of hotels near me. I didn’t want to pick anything too close but I also didn’t want to go too far right now since I was most likely going to switch from whatever hotel I would be staying at to a new one in a week, tops.

When there’s someone after you, you can’t get comfortable in one place for too long because that always runs a risk of them finding you there easily. I had to leave a confusing trail if I was going to make it out of this alive.

And one thing I was going to make sure to do was finish the job that I started. No one is going to continue looking for me once they stop getting paid however much she’s paying them.

I dragged my now heavily full suitcase out to my car and immediately remembered him saying that whoever witnessed what happened saw what car I went into. A low huff escaped from my lips because I knew I was probably going to have to rent a car too. This whole situation was taking too much money out of my pockets already. Once I threw the bag into the backseat, I quickly hopped in the driver’s side and started up my car before following my GPS to the hotel I had decided on while I was in my room.

I kept finding myself looking into my rear view mirrors as I drove to make sure that no one was following me. When I finally arrived to the hotel, I made sure to throw my sunglasses on just in case as I made my way inside. It seemed like everywhere I looked, there was someone that had glanced at me or looked too suspiciously casual.

On the way here, I stopped at an ATM and took out some cash so that I wouldn’t have to use my card and be easier to trace. That’s one of the biggest mistakes people make on those crime shows that air on TV all the time. They leave a paper trail like some dumb asses.

I texted Dom to thank him for telling me even though I don’t fuck with him right now because I know he didn’t have to let me know that the bitch is trying to put a hit out on my head, but he still did. This makes me question how Dom really feels about me; he says he could care less but then goes and does stuff that shows me otherwise. He clearly cared about saving my life and so he clearly cares about me.

It made me smile just knowing that the man who claimed to be so nonchalant went out of his way to let me know something that would ultimately save my life. And I knew I had to thank him somehow but right now, I’m not taking the chance of bringing anyone over to where I’m staying. That bitch is still his ex-girlfriend and I learned a long time ago that you can’t trust nobody, not even your family.

I’m the walking epitome of someone that shouldn’t be trusted so why would I make that same mistake with someone else? Contrary to popular belief, I’m far from a dumb bitch. Conceited? Yes. Rude? Maybe a little bit. But dumb is one thing that I definitely am not.

Once I checked in and received my room key, I looked around one last time to make sure that I wasn’t being watched or followed before dragging my heavy suitcase along with me up to my room. I remained alert the entire time and didn’t let my guard down until I was safe inside of my room.

The first thing I did once I was in my hotel room was crash down on the bed and let out a long exasperated sigh. These next few weeks trying to finish the job were going to be hell; not only because I had to come up with another plan to kill the bitch again, but also because I had someone I didn’t know watching my every move to see what I’m up to and strike me when I least expect it.

Well, jokes on them because I’m always prepared.

Xae

Bree groaned lightly as her head hovered over the toilet bowl lazily. She kept having to remind herself that she couldn’t just lay her head down on the seat since everyone’s bare ass be on it but I could tell she wanted to rest her head somewhere.

I tried to comfort her by rubbing circles on her back gently with my hand but she only responded by groaning once again, this time a bit louder than before. I winced and backed up a bit because I thought she was going to throw up and I was not trying to have that shit splash back up on me.

But she only weakly lifted her head and reached for some toilet paper, wiping her mouth and nose soon afterwards. “Do you feel any better after throwing up?”

“A little bit, I’m not as nauseous anymore.” I reached out to her and she smiled before grabbing my hand as I helped her stand to her feet. She was fine once she got her foot foundation.

The first thing she went to do was brush her teeth because she hated everything about vomiting; the taste, the feeling, everything. “I must have ate something bad. What did we eat for dinner last night?” She asked, turning to me with her toothbrush in her mouth.

“We had chipotle, you never got sick off that before.”

She shrugged slightly before turning back around to spit the toothpaste out of her mouth. “Must have been a bad batch or something. I did get something other than my usual.”

“Yea, you right.” I agreed, nodding in realization. “Just don’t get whatever you got no more.”

She let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Trust me, I won’t. It has me sicker than a dog.”

I began nervously scratching the back of my head because I just knew that she was about to be pissed off by what I was about to tell her. “So, I had told Ant I was going to go chill with him and meet some of his fam. We supposed to go bowling.”

“Ok, and why are you telling me this?” She replied dismissively as she began to lay down and get comfortable in the bed.

“Because I know how you are with Simone but she’s gonna have to come check on you every now and then, and you can’t be acting an ass. It’s just gonna be for a couple hours so play nice, please.”

She shrugged nonchalantly and buried herself underneath the covers like a burrito. “Xae, I don’t know why you’re worried. I can walk, I’m fine. I don’t need a supervisor like I’m some five year old in daycare. Go have fun with your friend…” She paused to sit up a little bit so that she could see me better. “Why do you hang out with him anyway?”

“Girl, you know I don’t have a lot of friends. McDonald’s mixed up our order one day and we just immediately sparked up a conversation. He cool, what you got against him?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t have anything against him baby, it was just a question. I don’t care who you hang out with just… hurry and come back to me.” I replied by making my way over to her and leaning down to press my lips against her soft ones, allowing my tongue to invade her mouth for a quick second before pulling away as she glared at me with lust in her beautiful dark brown eyes. “Like I said, hurry back.”

“I will.” Giving her one last peck, I grabbed my keys and went to go say goodbye to Simone before heading out of the house.

I didn’t know where the bowling alley was by heart so I already had it programmed into my GPS to save me the time. My feet carried me to my car and started it up once I was inside, driving off in the direction the Siri lady was telling me to go. I cracked my window, allowing some breeze to roll off my face as I cruised down the roads and highways.

I’m not really that good at bowling but I agreed to go because it seemed like something big for Antonio. He’s basically met my family but I haven’t met any of his so he figured he’d invite me to a function they have every once in a while when everyone is free to spend a few hours out with their family. That seemed like a nice little tradition to have, where everyone gets together throughout the year just to have fun. Many families don’t do things like that; at least I know mine doesn’t.

I would have stayed with Bree to take care of her while she wasn’t feeling well, but I couldn’t turn him down. Especially when I had already agreed almost a week in advance. It would be fucked up to cancel on him last minute, plus, I’m already more than sure he’s told some of his family members about his plus one and it would look bad on my part if I didn’t show up after he told them that I said I was. So, I was between a rock and a hard place here.

Before I knew it, I pulled into the parking lot of the bowling alley and searched around to find a space, ultimately having to go to the back to find an empty spot. Damn, it’s packed for it to be the middle of the day. Once my car was parked, I hopped out and made my way back around the building to go through the entrance of the establishment.

Multi-colored lights immediately came into view along with one side of the building being an entire arcade full of different types of games. Music was blaring but the sound of young adults and children playing the arcade games kind of drowned it out a bit if you were on that side. I reached into my pocket to grab my phone and text him, letting him know that I was here since it felt awkward just standing around looking lost. As I awaited his text, I just busied myself on my phone so I wouldn’t have to look like I was a kid who just lost his mom in a supermarket.

I felt taps on my shoulder causing me to turn around, instantly dapping my friend up as I noticed some of the people that were behind him. “What’s good bruh? Alright so, this is my aunt Clemencia and my uncle Julio, my cousins Ajanae and Naija,” he spoke as he pointed at two girls, one with her arm in a sling and the other typing away on her phone not paying any attention, “and mi madre Rosa.” The short woman he pointed to then pulled me in for a back breaking hug as she mumbled some things excitedly in Spanish before saying it was nice to meet me. “Family, this is Xavier but he likes being called Xae.”

“It’s nice to meet you all.” I added as I smiled and waved at everyone.

Everyone waved back except for his cousin whose face was still buried in her phone but it didn’t really bothered me. She looked like a teenager in high school and I was that same way around my family when I was a kid. I really wanted to be out and experiencing doing my own thing but my mom literally dragged me to any family functions we had, since we didn’t have many to attend in the first place. I was mad when I was younger but once I got older, I didn’t mind it as much. You never know how long people will stay on this earth and family is all you have.

“Oo, I like your tattoos.” His aunt flaunted her hispanic accent as she simultaneously felt the muscles in my arms causing me to look to Antonio for help. He responded by holding his hands up in defense and laughing.

“Mami, cálmase. You’re scaring this poor man, he doesn’t want you.” The girl with short hair and her arm in a sling inserted herself into the situation.

Her mother scoffed and pulled her hands away from me only to place them on her own hips. “Callate nena, cuidate tu negocio.”

“Do you want her?” The girl then asked me as she pointed to her mom.

I had no idea what to say in this very moment as I looked between both of the women while they looked at me expectantly. “Uh…”

“Alright, y'all stop scaring my friend off and let’s go bowl. I don’t wanna hear no more of this foolishness.” Antonio spoke sternly but anyone could tell that he was being playful when he said it.

We all started heading off towards the counter where we could pay for the lane we’d be playing in and get our bowling shoes. I felt a slight nudge to my side causing me look at the person who had started walking alongside me. “Hey, sorry about my mom. She thinks she can pull anything that moves and I keep tryna tell her that she’s not in her prime no more.”

“Aw, don’t tell her that. You gon’ kill her confidence.” I chuckled out.

“Psh,” she rolled her eyes playfully, “I wish. Maybe then you wouldn’t have been hit on.”

I looked back at his aunt who then began to smile at me causing me to quickly turn back around and act like I wasn’t just looking at her. “Uh, isn’t that her husband?” I asked, referring to the man that lazily strolled beside her and didn’t really say much.

“If you could even call it that. They’re only together because they have kids. They do what they want.” The girl seemed irritated by this fact and I didn’t wanna pry, so I remained quiet. She sighed. “Anyway, I’m Ajanae.”

“Xae. What happened to your arm if you don’t mind me asking?”

She gave me a slight smile. “Oh no, you can ask me anything Xae. But unfortunately, I got shot.”

I nearly tripped over myself at her revelation as I glanced at her with a surprised look on my face. “You got what?” I would have thought she sprained it playing a sport or something but getting shot? Sheesh, who did she piss off?

“It’s not that big of a deal, I’m good.” She replied dismissively and I honestly couldn’t blame her. I probably wouldn’t want to talk about the situation all the time either and I’m sure she gets a lot of questions as it is. She looked up at me and eyed over my facial features for a quick second before turning elsewhere. “So, Xae. Do you have a girlfriend?”

“A fiancé to be exact, so be like ya thirsty ass momma and get gone.” Antonio answered for me out of nowhere as he threw his arm around my shoulder to pull me away from his family. “Sorry that every woman in my family hits on anything with legs.”

I let out a low laugh as I shook my head. “Nah, it’s all good. I don’t mind it. Although, if Bree was here and saw all that, she’d need fries to go with her salt.” He laughed along with me and shrugged slightly.

“Eh, she can’t be mad at you. At least you weren’t flirting back. You coulda been one of those types of niggas.”

I instantly shook my head. “Nah, my baby girl lying in bed sick and throwing up. I wouldn’t be out here flirting with no other chick while she’s waiting for me back at home.”

“Throwing up?” He raised a curious eyebrow. “You think she’s pregnant?”

Shaking my head once again, that hurt feeling that came over me whenever I talked about this situation hit me almost automatically. “Nah man, Bree can’t have kids. She ordered some new shit from Chipotle yesterday and she’s thinking that’s probably what’s got her feeling sick. I keep telling her stop tryna be different, she don’t wanna listen.”

“Damn, well I’m sorry about that… You never know though.”

I shrugged, not really wanting to talk about it anymore. “Yea, but it doesn’t matter. Me and her talked about it and we’re content with adopting when the time comes and we both want kids.”

“Sounds like y'all have y'all whole life planned out together already.” He replied causing a small smile to grace my face as I nodded in agreement.

“We really do.”

Simone

I fought a smile as Xae helped me fold the last of my clothes that I had took today to wash. There wasn’t a lot that I brought with me, so I had to wash more often than they did but he always helped me out.

I’ve stayed longer than I’d hoped to. I tried asking my mom but she didn’t have enough room for me there. After both of her kids moved out, she saw no reason to have a house with multiple bedrooms when she was only going to use one.

I didn’t mind staying here though. Other than the obvious glares from Bree, it was a nice environment to be in. But I know that I can’t stay here forever and I feel as if I’m overstepping my boundaries by staying here longer than intended anyway. I had been looking for some cheap hotels in the area that were still at least a little decent but anytime I’m searching for them, Xae tells me he’s in no rush to kick me out. He was being so sweet to me when he really didn’t have to be and that alone warmed my heart.

We would have these smoke sessions whenever stress was getting too much to bare; with him doing all this wedding planning and me dealing with my situation with my obsessive ass baby daddy, it was easy to open up to each other since neither one of us had no spot to judge. We would talk for hours at a time even after we had already smoked the blunt down to nothing but a small roach.

It was nice being able to just talk to someone sometimes. I feel like I’ve just been holding so much in and handling everything myself, but it was cool getting advice from someone on the outside looking in. Just talking with him alone, I almost forgot that I was running from someone and not just hanging out and having fun. Once the realization sets in that this isn’t really my life, though, is when all those happy feelings come crashing right back down again. I’m only taking bits of pieces of his happy life and intruding on his personal relationship with Bree by taking up so much of his time that should be going to the planning of their wedding.

They’ve made really good progress but I feel as though they’d be done by now if it weren’t for me being here so long. Things like what he’s doing now by helping me fold my clothes, is what’s taking away from the time they could be spending with each other instead. And what makes things worse is I think Bree sees that too, which is only adding onto her unreasonable hatred for me. These past two weeks, I’ve been trying to get on her good side by helping around the house but nothing I do ever seems to be good enough. The more impressed and appreciative Xae gets by me doing those things, the more annoyed she seems to get.

“You got one more load after this right?” He asked as he folded the last one of my leggings. I had so many leggings that it was ridiculous and you would probably catch me in one four out of seven days of the week. Maybe five on a good week.

I nodded in response to his question, tucking some loose strands of hair behind my ear. “Yea, but you don’t have to help me with that though, it’s a small load. I can handle it.”

“Honestly, I really don’t have nothing else to do right now, so helping you is keeping me company at the same time.” Chuckling at his revelation, I shook my head and grabbed my clothes carefully before walking them to the guest room where I laid them down in my suitcase. I hadn’t unpacked during my stay here because I knew it was only temporary and I didn’t want to get comfortable knowing that.

Xae also grabbed the remainder of my clothes that was left and followed suit, setting them into my bag neatly so nothing came undone. “Thank you. I know you don’t have to help me since I’m the one staying at your house… but you don’t treat me like I’m some sort of burden to be here and I really appreciate that.”

“That’s because you’re not a burden Simone and I don’t know why you think you would ever be one either. This house has been more spotless in the two weeks you’ve been here than it has since we unpacked all of our stuff. You’re always doing something to help out around the house and it’s not like I don’t be seeing you looking for different places to stay.” He shrugged, not really knowing what else to say since he had been previously rambling.

My mouth stayed shut too as I enjoyed the silence for a quick second before rushing towards him and wrapping my arms around his torso with my eyes shut tight to try and hold back my tears as his cologne invaded my nostrils. His arms immediately wrapped around me, providing comfort and safety to anyone in them. I couldn’t stop thinking about all he’s done for me up until this point even after countless times of me being a bitch and purposely going ghost on him and avoiding him for literally no reason. He’s been right there all along.

Once I realized we had been hugging for a bit too long, I reluctantly pulled out of the embrace and chuckled to hide my embarrassment as I used my thumbs to wipe some stray tears that fell from my eyes. “I’m sorry. I just—I almost forgot how it feels to have someone be so nice to you and not have ulterior motives in mind.”

“Well, how do you know I don’t have ulterior motives?” He asked with a playfully raised eyebrow causing a smile to creep it’s way onto my face. I kept trying to fight it but looking at his handsome sharp features made it no better.

***Flashback***

Me and C'yara were playing truth or dare like teenagers at a slumber party and it was cool to have this kind of worry-less fun in my life again. I was learning so much about her; some things I wanted to know, and some things I definitely didn’t.

“Ok, truth or dare, Sim.”

I instantly cringed at the nickname with Dominick’s evil eyes whenever he’d call me that after beating me immediately coming into mind. It took a second but I gave her a smile instead. I was trying to do better with my life and let go of the toxic parts of me Dom had created, that means I can’t go flashing on everybody that calls me a common nickname for my name. It’s not like they meant the same thing by it as he did. I needed to let my hurt go and being here was helping me progress so much more with it. “Truth.”

“Ok,” she placed her fingers on her chin as if she was thinking hard on what she wanted to ask me until a glint of mischief flashed in her eyes and a smirk formed on her face, “Do you like my cousin?”

When I tell you I almost choked on my damn spit. “W-What? Why would you even ask me that? He’s engaged.”

“Ok, yea all that is true but that also wasn’t my question. I asked if you liked him.”

My mouth got a little dry as my eyes darted around the room, trying to think of what to say in response. “I mean, yea I like him, he’s a good friend of mine.”

“Girl.” She gave me a look that somehow made me hear the smacking of teeth, even though she hadn’t physically done it. Her looks were that telling; it was kind of a talent. “You know it wouldn’t be tea if I was asking you if you liked him as a friend. He’s a soft ass sweet ass nigga, everyone’s going to like him as a friend.” She then threw her hands up at her last statement.

“I don’t know… sometimes I look at him and—he’s been protecting me literally since I was a child and it’s so crazy that we keep running into each other.” Finally after nervously rambling, I settled with. “I don’t wanna say.”

C'yara instantly giggled and started lightly poking me causing me to squirm a little bit on the bed. “Come on, don’t be a pussy Simone. Just say you like Xae, so we can get on with our game.” She taunted playfully as her fingers continued to tickle my sides causing me to bust out laughing.

“OKAY OKAY… yes.” I barely whispered the last part but you know she heard it anyway as she immediately began jumping up and down and clapping her hands.

“I KNEW IT! Oh my gosh, this is so crazy! He likes you too and—”

She was about to ramble but I quickly stopped her since me liking another woman’s fiancé on a deeper level than friendship was nothing to be proud about in my opinion. “What? No he doesn’t. He loves Bree.”

She stopped to look at me and it honestly looked like she was about to say something sarcastic but instead, she just shook her head. “You really must not see the way that he looks at you. Anyway, it’s your turn.”

***Flashback ends***

Memories of that night with C'yara and how I felt so disgusted with myself for admitting to wanting someone I couldn’t have came flooding back into my mind as my smile soon dropped. Xae’s instantly did the same as he furrowed his eyebrows, looking at me with that concerning look that gets me weak every time. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing… I just remembered… that I have to go pick up my mail. It’s been a week since the last time.” I quickly spurt out as an excuse but at the same time, it was true.

All my mail was still going to Saint’s house because I learned that it was already paid off. I think his grandparents had owned it previously and the sad part is, that’s the very place he… I quickly shook those haunting thoughts out of my mind and came back to reality. “You want me to drive you? I—”

“NO! No… It’s only fifteen minutes away and I’m only getting mail.” I stated sternly causing him to chuckle and throw his hands up in defense.

Giving him a nervous smile, I rushed out of my designated room and grabbed the keys to Saint’s car that I had been using since he passed. I left without another word to anyone and made my way over to my deceased lover’s house.

Each week when I saw his house, I would just stare at it for a few minutes reminiscing on all the memories me, Saint, and Junior had in that very building. I was at my happiest there and nobody could tell me the love Saint had for Junior and I wasn’t real. He treated my son like his own child and provided for him when I couldn’t financially. He literally saved up thousands of dollars for me in this very situation I’m in now; without him.

I didn’t know I was crying until I felt the hot tears drop from my jawline and onto my jeans, sinking into the absorbent fabric. I needed to get away from here. Quickly getting out of the car, I made my way over to the mailbox and scooped out the many letters Saint had still been receiving and some of my mail as well.

Once I got back in the car, I began sorting through the envelopes, separating my mail from his as one in particular instantly caught my eyes. It was addressed to me and was from the county Dom lives in’s court office. I immediately opened it up, not knowing what I did to piss him off this time and pulled out a letter that had a full page of writing on it so I decided to skim through it.

Ajanae

My body ached badly as my medicine began to wear off once again. I swear this shit doesn’t even last long enough to help so what’s the point?

I could practically feel the huge bags that had formed under my eyes from the lack of sleep I was getting.

All I really watched was the news nowadays and the story on what happened to me was nowhere near ‘old news’ as some would call it. I honestly had expected them to stop doing stories on me by now, but I guess the fact that I was shot three times and still managed to pull through after laying on the floor unconscious for an hour or two afterwards was something that some people would call a miracle. Hell, I know I should be dead but getting reminded of it everyday just makes everything more… real.

One thing I’m not believing, though, is the police saying that what happened was some sort of home invasion. That’s got to be bullshit right? No one is just going to break into someone’s house with the sole purpose to rob and then shoot them three times. Maybe once, but three just seemed like too much for it to be some random person like they say it is.

I tried not to let it get to me most of the time but if we’re being honest, it really has taken a toll on me. My body’s always tired and they stay coming in my room to change my bandages so I wouldn’t get an infection. And that’s nice and all, but when I’m trying to sleep I want peace and quiet.

I couldn’t wait to get out of here and find out who did this to me. I’ve had a lot of time to think since the situation happened and I’m not just going to forgive and forget or turn the other cheek. This person tried to kill me and I’ll only feel safe when I have killed them first.

I’m all over the news so I know damn well whoever did it is aware that I’m still up and kicking. What if they come back to finish the job? I can’t take that chance with my life. And I won’t.

Leaning over slightly, I struggled to reach for my phone on the stand a couple of feet from my hospital bed without hurting myself in the process. It still hurt when I moved around too much because the areas where the bullets pierced my skin were now sore and sensitive to touch; even the feeling of the gauze covering the wounds.

It took a little while to maneuver myself in a position to where at least one of my fingers could reach my phone as I skillfully glided it closer to me across the surface of the stand. Once I finally had it in my hands, I unlocked in and went to my contacts, beginning to scroll down until I reached the letter ’D’.

He was the only person I knew that I could call for something like this and I knew he could hook me up with a connect or something since he owes me a favor for what I did for him. On the fourth ring, he answered the phone sounding out of breath and irritated. “What, man? You interrupting my yoga class.”

“…Um, what?”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it,” he answered back quickly, “what do you want?”

I looked at the door out of habit to ensure there were no doctors or nurses coming into the room before settling back down with a sigh. “I can’t talk about this here on the phone. Come visit me in the hospital?”

“You in the hospital?”

I immediately rolled my eyes beyond compare. You can tell this nigga doesn’t watch the news no way. “Yes, now come see me. I have something important to discuss with you.”

“Yea, that’s nice and all but I’m in rehab right now. I’m not really available to come and do a pop up on you.” This asshole of a man that I love so much replied to me. I don’t know why he was playing me right now. When he needed me, I was always there for him whether we were together or not and now he can’t even come see me while I’m laying in the fucking hospital.

“Dominick, so what? You’re acting like you’re in jail or something, they can’t stop you from leaving and I’m not asking you to sit by my bedside and watch me fall asleep or some shit. I need a favor and you owe me one.” I snapped, officially tired and done with letting Dom walk all over me all the time.

The other end of the line was silent for a little while before I heard him sigh obnoxiously into the phone. “Fine bruh, text me the hospital name and room number. And you gon’ have to wait until my yoga class is done.”

“I thought that was what you said.” With that, he hung up on me causing me to laugh at his goofy ass as I went to my messages to send him the information he needed.

I can say that at this point, I have a love-hate relationship with Dom because he doesn’t know how to act ninety percent of the time and the other ten percent is how he makes you fall in love with him. That charming side was something every woman had to look out for.

***

I heard a knock on my door about an hour later causing me to roll my eyes because they know I can’t just get up all willy nilly to go open it. “Come in.” I shouted loud enough for whoever was on the other side of the door to hear without it messing with the hole in my stomach.

Dominick soon walked through the door looking way better than he did when I last saw him. I guess his… yoga classes are working out for him. He held a single tulip in his hand and I instantly smiled that he remembered it was my favorite flower after all of these years. He handed me the vibrant flower before leaning down to place a light kiss on my forehead. “What’s good?”

“Ok, now you ruined it. How you gonna come in here doing all this sweet shit then hit me with a ‘what’s good’ like, why must you be such a nigga?”

He playfully rolled his eyes at my little rant and thunked me in the forehead causing me to glare at him while rubbing the area that was now stinging. “What happened to you Ajanae?”

“Damn, you really don’t know?” My mouth began to get dry every time I had to explain this to someone which is why I would have been happier if he just would have watched the damn news. I swallowed hard. “Well, I don’t remember much from that night but the police are saying it was home invasion robbery gone wrong.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “So what’s the problem then?”

“That’s bullshit. Whoever did it was trying to kill me, they shot me three times! All in the abdomen or upper body area. I need help finding out who it is. I know if anybody can find this person, it’s you.”

I didn’t even get to finish my sentence before he let out a frustrated sigh and began pacing the room. “Why? What you gon’ do if you find them? Kill ‘em? You not ‘bout that life Nae Nae.”

“Yes I am and I will.” I gritted my teeth at him, seriousness sketched all across my face. “They might not stop until I’m dead and I don’t know what they have against me but I’m not taking the chance.” My face softened out a bit as I looked him in his eyes, mine piercing his with pleading looks. “You wouldn’t want them to come back for me, would you?”

He ran a hand slowly over his entire face. “Nah, shawty. I wouldn’t. Look, I’ll get somebody to see if they can handle that and give you a call later. Be easy until then, I can’t stay long ‘cause my ride waiting outside to take me back to rehab.” He spoke all in one breath as he headed to the door.

“I’m glad you’re taking care of yourself Dom. It hurt me seeing you like that.” I called out to him but as expected, only got a nod in response. It didn’t upset me though because I knew that he wasn’t the type to discuss his feelings or anything remotely related to it.

As he walked out of my hospital room, I noticed my cousin walk in as he looked Dom up and down out of habit to see who he was. Dom didn’t pay no attention to him but it wasn’t really a look to get angry over either. My cousin walked over to the side of my bed and sat down on the edge of it causing me to smile at him. I was glad to see him because so far, he was the only family member that heard what happened and actually came to see me. I’m not really close with them but damn, I almost died for crying out loud and I don’t even get ONE visit?

“Hola prima, how you feeling?”

I tossed my head back, pretending to be in agony. “Ugh, like shit. My ass is starting to get flat from sitting in this damn bed for so long. I’m gonna have to do so many squats when I get out of here.”

He let out a low laugh and shook his head. “Yo, can you ever be serious?”

“Why would I do that? The world is shitty enough as it is.” My mood instantly shifted with that last sentence as I folded my arms across my chest and looked out of the window instead of at him.

He stood up and my heart dropped at the thought of him leaving and not visiting no more because I was acting an ass for no reason but instead, he leaned down to wrap me in an embrace. “I know you’re hurting ‘cause ma and them haven’t come to visit you. It’s not intentional, I promise. Give them time, everyone’s busy.”

I pulled away from him, tears already cascading down my face as I started to get hot. “That’s no excuse. You own an entire restaurant and this is your third time coming to see me. They’ll make time for who they want to make time for and it’s clearly not for me.”

“Ajanae.”

“Antonio.”

We both stared at each other with looks in our eyes that said neither one of us was backing down from this. I wouldn’t expect him to know what I’m talking about, the whole family just loves him. He probably sees them more in a month than I see them in a year and it’s not fair.

He finally broke away from our little staring contest and let out an exasperated sigh, letting me know that he didn’t want to argue about this right now. Not when I’m in this position. “Look, if I get everybody to come this weekend, will you be happy?”

“No, because I don’t want everyone coming to visit me because you told them to. I want them to visit me because they want to. And right now with the way I’m feeling, you’re going to be the only person I communicate with when I get out of this hospital. I thought they at least loved me enough to…” I stopped myself, trailing off as I looked at him. I could tell he didn’t want to go there and much as I loved shitting on my family’s name, I didn’t want to go there either. “Never mind, sorry.”

Antonio shook his head, letting out a chuckle before he gave me another hug but this time, quicker than before. “It’s ok little cuz, you know I love you.” He comforted me, pecking my cheek lightly. “Alright well, I gotta go. I’m hanging with my friend Xae today and I was supposed to be there with snacks like ten minutes ago.”

“Snacks? What are y'all, about to Netflix and chill or some shit?” I teased with a raised eyebrow, regretting it as soon as I said it once he mushed me and I realized I couldn’t really do anything back since he was already heading out of the door by the time my reflexes kicked in.

“I’m gonna get you Ant!!”

Antonio

Sending him a quick text to let him know that I was here, I only waited a few seconds before the door swung open revealing a small light skinned girl about five foot three tall staring up at me like I had four heads. “Who you?”

“Antonio. Who… you?” My eyes furrowed a bit in confusion because I had honestly never seen this girl before. My first thought was that this had to be Xae’s girlfriend if she was opening his door.

Without responding to me, she turned around and screamed. “XAE, COME GETCHA FRIEND!!” She then turned to me and looked skeptical as she eyed me causing my eyes to dart around everywhere but on her.

“C'yara, why the hell you answering my door being rude to the only friend I have? What kinda family are you?” I heard his voice call out before I saw him step out from the dark hallway and make his way over to me, instantly dapping me up once we got within arms reach of each other. “What’s good Ant? Come in. Sorry about my cousin, sometimes she don’t got no damn sense. Just a waste of space.”

“WHAT YOU SAY?!” I suddenly heard her yell out from the living room, finally realizing that she had disappeared from the door in the first place.

He playfully rolled his eyes without replying to her causing her to mumble a quick 'yea, that’s what I thought’ as Xae stepped to the side to let me in. It was warm inside but as soon as I stepped through the door, I saw two women sitting on his couch wrapped up in a blanket as they watched TV. One being the cousin I had just met and the other being a beautiful chinky looking girl. Their eyes didn’t even avert from the screen as my tall frame came into view.

I turned to Xae, trying not to be too loud when I asked, “So, is that your girlfriend?” I was referring to the caramel looking girl with smooth looking skin and the face of an angel. If this was really his girlfriend, I applaud him for bagging such a fine ass woman. Not saying he couldn’t, just giving him his props is all.

“No, my fiancé left to go to the pharmacy like twenty minutes ago. She should be back home shortly.” He spoke as he looked at the watch on his wrist, I’m assuming to make sure the time he told me was accurate.

I instantly let out a chuckle and shook my head. “Why do I never see you with your girl? I done been over here I don’t know how many times but she always MIA.”

He shrugged as he made his way to the empty couch in the living room adjacent to the one the girls were sitting on and I soon followed, not wanting to be the only one standing up. “She’s really a busy bee, she always gotta be doing something or getting something done.”

“Can y'all please shut up? Me and Simone are trying to watch a movie.” I heard his cousin remark before seeing a pillow smack Xae right in the face causing me to bust out laughing.

He smacked his lips and threw it back, missing the girl he was supposed to intentionally hit and hitting Simone in the shoulder instead. “Hey, I didn’t do anything. Why I gotta be caught in y'all crossfire?”

“Oh nah, you sitting over with the enemy right now so you’ve already chose your side. Ain’t that right?” Xae replied to Simone and looked over at me causing me to widen my eyes a bit.

So he’s just going to drag me into it too? “That’s right.” I played along as I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at her pretty features. I couldn’t lie and say I wasn’t mesmerized by how beautiful she was, and I’m definitely trying to get them digits before I leave here today. It’s a must.

“Oh yea? That sounds like fighting words.” With that, she picked up the same pillow and threw it at us, ultimately starting an all out pillow fight battle.

The fight was fair game with each pair getting over on the other a few times. Of course, our aim was a bit better than theirs but they still put up a good fight. By the time we had calmed down, we were all out of breath and heaving as we watched each other to make sure no one was trying to do a sneak attack.

“We won.” C'yara claimed once she finally caught her breath and her heart rate had returned back to normal.

“You crazy?” Xae instantly sat up making the Nick Young meme face at her. “We won that, ain’t no way.”

She waved him off, standing to her feet as she grabbed the blanket that was around her and Simone before looking down at the female. “Come on, let’s finish our movie in Xae’s room since he wanna be a dickhead.”

“Why my room? There’s a TV in the guest room.”

“Yours is bigger.” She shrugged nonchalantly as she stuck her tongue out at him in a teasing manner and began walking down the hallway to whatever room she was talking about. Simone stood up soon afterwards and flashed a small smile Xae’s way before heading to the back as well.

I had never been that far into the house because whenever we chill, we were usually in the living room or on the patio smoking since Xae’s girl doesn’t want the smell in the house. He rolled his eyes at his cousin and began to pick up the mess we made. “You know what? I just realized they dipped so they wouldn’t have to help us clean up.”

“Us? I’m a guest here.”

“Guest my ass, you been here more than three times so getcha ass up and clean.” He scolded jokingly.

I pretended to throw a small tantrum as I huffed in response. “Yes mom.” We both laughed and started to set the living room up back how it was before anyone stepped foot in it, plopping down on the couch once we were done.

I’m not even going to lie, I wasn’t really feeling his cousin’s vibe at first because of the way she came off but after all this, I knew she was just as goofy as her cousin and probably only acts that way towards new people she’s skeptical of.

Hearing the front door begin to unlock from the outside, both Xae and I’s eyes averted over to the door as it soon opened up, revealing… Bree?

I tried not to look too surprised to see her but the way my eyebrows furrowed when I saw her was almost automatic and the look that flashed across her face for a split second told me that she was taken just as off guard as I am. For one, I haven’t talked to this girl since we fucked in my restaurant because she decided to block a nigga. And two, how the hell did she have a key to Xae’s house? Why and how does he have all these women living with him like it’s nothing? He needs to teach me his secret.

Xae stood up from the couch, making his way over to her and pressing his lips against hers as his hands rested around her waist. “Hey baby, I want you to meet my friend.” He then grabbed her hand and guided her over to where I was sitting, still stunned at the scene that was playing out in front of me. THIS was the fiancé he was talking about? She never told me he proposed, just that she had a boyfriend.

As she stepped closer to me, she gave me a stern look that screamed 'please don’t’ as she held her hand out for me to shake. “Hi, I’m Bree. What’s your name?” I looked down at her hand in disbelief that she was really trying to play me now that shit has hit the fan.

My mouth open and closed once I caught a glimpse of Xae who looked happy that his friend and the girl he’s been talking about for so long are finally meeting. “Antonio.” I replied as I shook her hand. “I was starting to think Xae was making up this fiancé of his. Every time I’ve been over here, I never saw you.”

“You’ve been over here before?” She broke out of her own character for a second, her voice laced with confusion before she cleared her throat. “Oh, so you’re the friend that my baby’s been hanging out with so much? It’s nice to finally meet you.”

My jaw clenched at the way she was flaunting him around in my face talking about her 'baby’ but she wasn’t saying that shit when she was calling me daddy and wanting to yell my name out. “Nice to finally meet you too. Congratulations on the engagement by the way.”

“Thank you.” She smiled as if I was really some stranger complimenting her new found marriage and all I could think was wow. This girl was such a good actor that it was scary. It makes me question how much of her I actually know or if it all was some fake persona to make me fall for her. That whole innocent demeanor she always had with me was now gone as she looked at me as if she had no clue who I was.

She turned to Xae, the plastic bag in her hand rustling as she moved. “I’m gonna go lay down bae, I’m tired.”

“Can’t. Simone and C'yara are in our room watching a movie because me and Antonio were being loud.”

Bree made a face as if she was annoyed but a pout instantly replaced it. “Tell them to go in the guest room. I wanna take a nap.” She whined causing him to put his hands up in defense.

“I ain’t telling C'yara that she has to leave. You can do it if you think it’s a good idea though.” He replied sarcastically causing her to roll her eyes and let out an obvious sigh of frustration because she clearly wasn’t trying to do that either. It must have really not been a good idea to disturb her in the middle of her watching something.

“Fine, I’m gonna go get something to eat and hopefully by the time I come back, their movie will be done.” She subtly narrowed her eyes at me and looked back at Xae before he could notice she had glared at me.

He furrowed his eyebrows, pulling her body close to his as he buried his face in her neck. “Why you gon’ leave when you just got here?”

Because she’s in a living room with two niggas she’s been fucking and entertaining. “Because I’m hungry anyway and I don’t wanna be the fifth wheel. Your cousin seems to like Simone more than she likes me and you have company. I’m just gonna go to the deli right up the street and get a sub or something. I’ll eat in to give them some more time.” She spurred out as she gave Xae a quick peck on the lips and began making her way back towards the front door. “You want anything from there? I can get something to go before I leave. I don’t feel like cooking tonight.”

“Nah, that’s ok. I’ll see if Simone or C'yara wants to help me make something.” His response seemed to make her a little uneasy at the mention of another female cooking with him but instead of saying something, she smiled at the both of us and waved goodbye before leaving.

I’m kind of glad they had that long ass conversation because I honestly had nothing to say at this moment. I was still surprised that she was his fiancé although I masked it well enough for Xae not to think anything weird was going on.

A part of me wanted to tell him what was really going on but that was none of my business and I didn’t want to be responsible for ruining a relationship that seemed to be going well. Even though she would tell me about how much she felt neglected and unwanted by her boyfriend, that was not the vibe that I was getting from them right about now.

And in that very moment, I realized that I needed to leave that girl alone for good.

Bree

My stomach started to groan as I rubbed over it, a wave of nausea instantly hitting me. I hated when I got so hungry to the point where it felt like my stomach was eating itself.

I was in my bed buried underneath the warm covers and I really didn’t feel like getting up to get something to eat. I really wasn’t looking forward to that wind of cold air that hits you as soon as you throw the covers back but Xae had went to go see his niece so I had no one else here willing to help me. And I’ll be damned if I ask Simone for help.

She just walks around here helping out like she’s a little ball of joy when really, she should have been looking for a new place to stay the day she moved into our house. Xavier is too lenient with her, as if I didn’t know the reason why. He probably wants to milk out her stay here as much as he could but I’m not going for it. They said two weeks so that’s all the time she has. Anything that happens after that isn’t my problem.

The loud gurgling of my stomach broke me away from my thoughts causing me to roll my eyes and sigh because I knew that I had to get up. I savored the warmth that I was surrounded in one more time before pulling off the covers and sitting up, stretching slightly.

As soon as my feet touched the floor beneath me, they were running to the bathroom where I quickly bent down and emptied out all of the contents that were still hanging around in my stomach. It wasn’t a lot since I haven’t ate in a few hours so eventually, my vomit was just my stomach bile and although there was already nothing in my stomach, I just couldn’t stop it from coming up.

My body immediately began to feel weak, going limp as I leaned against the toilet seat trying to calm down my breathing and swallow hard so I wouldn’t throw up anymore. After a few minutes of not having anymore of those outbursts, I grabbed some toilet paper to wipe my mouth and nose before reaching up to flush the toilet.

The first thing I did when I trudged out of the bathroom was brush my teeth. The bitter taste of my stomach acid was still haunting me so I made sure to use mouth wash right after. Once I was done with everything, I glanced at myself in the mirror and my reflection was staring back at me although I was expecting it to look something different.

There were bags under my eyes, I had lost color in my face, and my stomach felt like it was floating from being so empty right about now. I guess it was time.

One of the main reasons that I went to the pharmacy earlier was because I felt like I might have needed a pregnancy test but when I came home and actually starting thinking about it, I realized how dumb that idea was. I’ve visited multiple doctors and they all told me the same thing: I will never be able to have a child. It’s just something that could never happen.

I was in denial about it at first and didn’t want to believe they were right, which is why I went to more than one doctor. And I’m so appreciative that Xae was there with me every step of the way. I don’t know if I would have been able to handle the reality of my condition if it weren’t for him being there for me. We were both nervous and when the news finally came, we were both hurting bad. But we comforted each other and were able to get through that tough time loving each other more than ever before.

With the way I’ve been feeling lately though, it wouldn’t hurt to just take the chance since I already bought the test. I already knew what the result was going to be but at least it was one thing I’ll be absolutely sure about so I could proceed to make a doctors appointment to find out what was actually going on with me.

Making my way to the nightstand on my side of the bed, I reached into one of the drawers and pulled out the rectangular box before heading back into the bathroom. I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t nervous, but I was more so anxious about being disappointed than the chance I could be pregnant. I already knew that it was a one in a million chance of that ever happening but seeing the negative result was still going to make it more of a reality for me.

I tore open the box, following the directions on the side of it step-by-step as I set my timer and peed on the absorbent area of the stick. Two minutes. That wasn’t so bad.

But I still found myself glancing over at the timer every ten seconds to see how much longer I had to wait before the result would be clear. Time seemed to be moving so slow now that I wanted it to speed up and my heart rate increased with each second that gradually ticked by. The two minutes that I already thought wouldn’t be so bad were the longest two minutes of my entire life.

I watched the clock tick down all the way to zero as my alarm immediately went off on my phone, letting me know that the dreadful couple of minutes I had to wait was over. Clicking off the timer, I instantly reached for the pregnancy test waiting idly by right next to me.

My eyes went back and forth between my result and the image on the box that showed which lines meant what. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach and I buried my face in my hands, allowing fresh tears to fall as I soon started laughing hysterically.

If Xae was here, he would think that I was absolutely insane for crying and laughing simultaneously but I was just so happy that I couldn’t help it. My emotions were everywhere as I, once again, looked at the positive pregnancy test that I held in my hand. I immediately began laughing again as tears continued to trickle down my face.

I was pregnant!

My initial thought was that I needed to tell Xae the wonderful news right now at this very second but as I picked up my phone and scrolled down my recent contacts list, another thought dawned on me and my face quickly went from smiling to straight.

“Fuck, just like that.” I groaned out once I felt him deepen his strokes and pick up his pace a bit. My body was on literal fire right now, the sound of our skins colliding with each other repeatedly sounding through the storage room.

He let out a husky grunt as he raised one of my legs atop his shoulders, forcing him to slip all the way inside of me with each stroke. My light moans turned to muffled screaming as the pleasure overwhelmed me. I could feel myself contracting around him. “Mm, daddy I’m about to— unghhh.”

With a smirk, he continued to thrust into me without missing a beat and my second orgasm was already drenching the length of his shaft. My eyes rolled to the back of my head at the way he was fucking me so good. I don’t know how but I continued to take this good dick for at least half an hour more, cumming a total of five times. At this point, I didn’t think I had anything else left in me.

“Fuck, I’m ‘bout to nut.” He grunted in my ear.

I swiped my tongue across my lips with a smirk. “Cum in me daddy.” I knew I had already told him that I couldn’t have kids but still, I felt the need to remind him so he doesn’t think I’m trying to trap him. “I won’t get pregnant.”

He responded with a long groan as I felt his warm thick liquid fill me up then soon afterwards, begin to slowly ooze down his length. We were both out of breath and covered in sweat.

The memory of Antonio and I that day repeatedly played in my mind like a broken record. I knew in that moment that Antonio was the one that I needed to make sure to tell although I didn’t really want to see him because of how awkward things were earlier.

Me and Xae haven’t really been all touchy-feely lately because of all of the wedding planning—which is almost complete by the way—and I just couldn’t fuck Antonio and then go lay with Xae. I couldn’t do that to him, he deserves better than that so I had been making up excuses whenever he would touch me in ways he knew would make me want him. There was only one time that I wasn’t strong enough to keep saying no and that was about a week ago when me and Xae fucked literally until the sun rose again. But a week isn’t long enough for me to be having symptoms already, is it? I mean I know all pregnancy is different but seven days isn’t that long.

***

The uber driver pulled up to the side of his house and I thanked her before exiting the car and walking up the small driveway that led straight to his front door. My heart was nearly beating out of my chest as I reached up to knock on the door a couple times, fidgeting with my fingers once my arms dropped back down to my side.

To say I was nervous was an understatement. As much as I thought I had worked up the courage to come here and tell him, I honestly just had hoped that he wasn’t home at all and that I would just have to try and tell him another day.

I cursed to myself once I heard the door begin to unlock causing me to let out a shaky breath and keep my eyes straight ahead so I wouldn’t seem as anxious as I felt. The door swung open and my face instantly scrunched up at the female standing in front of me dressed in one of Antonio’s large shirts. My eyes narrowed as I recognized her as the worker who was being rude to me when I was trying to tell Antonio that we couldn’t talk anymore. Her name was something that started with an ‘S’.

Sally… Sandy… Shady… Salmonella… Serina! That was the one.

She glared at me expectantly with a smug look on her face but I decided to ignore it since what I was about to tell the guy she was so jealous over would have her in tears. “Is Antonio home?” I attempted to look into the house from around her but she was a few inches taller than me and only had the door cracked.

“What does it matter to you? He doesn’t want you, he wants me. So save yourself the embarrassment and go home.”

I immediately closed my eyes and counted to ten before I said something to snap and got to fighting. I wasn’t trying to lose my baby before I even got a chance to bond with him or her. “Look, I really don’t care about that. I just need to talk to him about something important. Anything y'all do after that is your business.” I lied.

I was hurt that Antonio already had some other girl at his house obviously fucking her by the way she was dressed. And the fact that she felt comfortable enough to open the door tells me that this has probably been going on and I just never knew. That must be why she was so salty when I asked about him, he was probably fucking her too.

“Well—” She was about to respond back with a snarky comment until Antonio came up from behind her, not even noticing me there at first. “Aye, what I tell you 'bout opening up the door here like you own the place…” His voice trailed off as he caught a glimpse of me and I was just hoping that neither one of them could tell how badly I was trying to stop the tears from running down my face.

I can’t believe he would really fuck and have a personal relationship with someone who was working for him. Each time I went over to the restaurant, she was probably watching me and laughing about me to her fugly ass friends. “Serina, go back to my room.” He demanded without taking his eyes off of me.

She smirked at me and turned around, throwing her arms around him and sucking his bottom lip into her mouth before letting it pop back into place. “I’ll see you there baby.” I instantly rolled my eyes at the fact that she was really trying to make me jealous.

As soon as she was out of view, I was going off. “What the fuck is wrong with you Antonio? You really got that bitch in your bed?!”

“Why does it matter to you who I have in my bed? You gotta whole fiancé. Remember that. So don’t come over here acting like I owe you anything.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, not even wanting to hear the bullshit he was trying to say. “We got engaged after me and you stopped talking. I came up to the restaurant to tell you that we can’t speak anymore and that BITCH in your room right now… did she even tell you I stopped by?”

“No, and I really don’t care. You wanna act like you don’t know me? Have that same energy all the time 'cause as far as I’m concerned, I don’t know you.” He shrugged nonchalantly in response, about to close the door until I stopped it with my foot and pushed it back open.

“That’s not fair! What did you expect me to do? Say 'oh, I’ve already met him before’? That was going to make him question how we know each other. And don’t act like you didn’t know I had a boyfriend because you did and you still pursued me so I’m not all to blame.”

He chuckled coolly and looked at me with a blank expression. “What part don’t you get about I don’t know you anymore? I got tired of waiting around for you. My friend—your fiancé—made me realize that I ain’t deserve the back and forth you got going on so whatever you have to say to me, I don’t really care.”

Simone

Stepping into the hospital building, no doubt, brought back some memories that I’ve been wanting to forget.

The smell was now nauseating and the cold air blasting through the air vents made goosebumps arise all over my skin. I’ve never really liked hospitals beforehand but after what happened to Saint, I couldn’t stand to be here any longer than I absolutely had to.

And although I didn’t absolutely have to do what I was doing now, I felt like I needed to. Ever since I’ve left Dom, things have just become more and more hectic for me and it makes me wonder ‘what if I would have stayed’ or even ‘would this all be over if I just cut my losses and go back now’? These questions were constantly reeling in my head and I’ll never have the answer to them.

Because I didn’t stay and there’s no way in hell I would ever go back to him unless it was to see my son which I doubt he’d even let me do knowing how petty he is.

It’s like he’s turned everyone against me and anyone who wasn’t turned, got removed from the picture altogether. And every night I stay at Xae’s, I wonder if he would have to suffer the same fate because of me. I don’t think I could take anyone else in my life getting hurt. It’ll be too much for me.

If you would have told me when Dom and I first got together that I’d be in the situation I’m in right now, I probably wouldn’t have even believed you. He was so sweet and caring back then… or maybe that was all just a facade to reel me in right where he wanted me.

“Ma’am? Who are you looking for?” The woman calling from the reception desk in front of me broke me away from my thoughts causing my eyes to quickly dart to her.

“Oh, um, looking for Ajanae Patterson.”

The lady’s eyes slowly made their way up from her computer until they reached my face, her eyebrows furrowed in fascination. “Isn’t that the name of that girl that got shot during a home invasion on the news?” I instantly rolled my eyes at her unprofessionalism. She needed to just shut the fuck up and tell me where the room is.

“Can I just get her room number please?” I retorted back with a forced smile causing her to give me a look that showed her annoyance at me not wanting to gossip with her about Nae—or should I say, Ajanae.

She looked back down at her screen and typed a few things in on her keyboard before spurting out “room 304” without so much as a glance my way. Rolling my eyes, I began making my way to the room she instructed me to, stopping at the door once I finally reached it.

Why are you even doing this Simone? This girl clearly doesn’t give a fuck about you or your feelings; she’s the reason the man you’re in love with is now laying six feet under. You don’t owe her the slightest bit of loyalty.

I had been telling myself that the entire ride here but I still couldn’t bring myself to turn around and go back to the comfort of Xae’s home. I just had so much love for this girl and I really thought I had a friend for a minute there. Jokes on me though because nobody’s my friend in this world.

Closing my eyes, I let out a low frustrated sigh and grabbed onto the doorknob, twisting it as the door slowly creaked open. Nae’s eyes were already fixated on me by the time I entered the room and they instantly began to get glossy causing me to look away from her and find a seat to sit in.

There weren’t many options so I decided on the one in the corner not too far from her bed but not too close to where she could reach out and touch me either. The silence between the two of us was deafening to say the least and I don’t think either of us knew exactly what to say in this moment.

So I started with, “The news channel said you’re lucky to be alive.”

“Don’t remind me,” she replied with the playful roll of her eyes as she shook her head, “the news is one of the only good channels on this TV besides like cartoon network and I gotta say, being famous doesn’t feel as good as I thought it was gonna be.”

I let out a light chuckle because she was still the same sarcastic ass bitch she’s always been, even with three bullet holes currently residing in her body waiting to heal. It seemed to lighten the mood too, that is, until my face straightened back out and I cleared my throat. For some reason, it felt like I was betraying Saint by even cracking a smile her way and I just couldn’t get his look of disappointment out of my head.

“That’s because your fame came with three bullets… Do you know who did this to you?” In most cases with home invasions, the victim doesn’t know the perpetrator because it’s mainly a robbery type deal but you never know really. It could be Dominick attempting to tie up loose ends and make sure there’s no one alive to possibly rat him out to the feds. That would be my guess honestly.

She immediately began to fidget with her fingers with her attention now on her hands as she shook her head in response. “Doc said I hit my head twice when I flew back into the wall from the force of the bullets then again when I hit the floor. Things are pretty cloudy from that night; I’ve been trying to remember but every time I do, I get a really bad migraine. Police can’t even get any information out of me because of it.”

I nodded, not really sure of what I should say next because I wasn’t really expecting her to have lost her memory from that night. There’s not much I could say to something like that. “Damn well, I’m glad you didn’t… I’m glad you didn’t die.” That entire sentence came out way worse than I thought it would but I’m assuming she gets the point I was trying to make since she flashed me a small smile in return.

“Thank you and thanks for visiting me. I know you didn’t have to and probably didn’t want to but it means a lot to me that you did.”

Nodding once again, my leg began to rapidly bounce up and down as the room got silent just as it was when I first stepped in. Without anything else to say to her, I stood up and began to make my way out of the room.

“Simone.” She called out to me before I could reach out to grab the doorknob causing me to halt my steps and turn back around before walking towards the middle of the room, deciding to stand this time around. “I know I’ve already said this before but I just wanted to stress to you how sorry I am for what I’ve done… and I just thought you should know that I went by Dom’s to try to get Junior back from him for you and he was—” She swallowed what seemed to be a deep lump in her throat. “When I went over there, he was high off his ass on cocaine.”

My blood instantly began to boil at her revelation. So not only did this psychotic ass nigga kidnap MY son from me but he’s surrounding him with drugs. What if Junior accidentally gets into it one day not knowing what it is? His little body can’t take that. My entire being unwillingly quivered with pure anger and Nae could sense it too.

“This is your fault.” I mumbled lowly and almost inaudibly if she wasn’t watching me so hard to witness my reaction.

“What?”

I glanced up, looking her straight in the eye. “THIS IS YOUR FAULT! If you had never even came in my life, Junior would still be with me and Saint would still be alive. You ruined everything.”

“Simone, please, I’m sorry—” She looked at me with pleading eyes but I interrupted her bullshit ass apology by holding my hand up.

“No! I will never forgive you for what you did to me and if I didn’t still have so much love for you, I probably would have finished what that burglar started.” Pure venom was laced into each and every word I spoke causing hot tears to instantly stream down her face as she just looked at me. But I couldn’t let anyone get me out of my element so I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before popping them back open once I felt calm enough. “But I wouldn’t wish what happened to you on anyone and I’m sorry you have to go through this.”

She sniffled and wiped her eyes, tears forming in my own brown orbs as I tried strenuously to hold them back. I didn’t want to waste anymore tears over this girl and it pissed me off knowing that I was so close to giving in. “I swear if I would have known—he manipulated and used me and right now, I just wish I could take everything back—”

“Just stop.” I interrupted again but this time in a much calmer tone than the one before. “He could have killed my unborn baby during that drive by and now, my child is going to have to grow up without a father. And there’s nothing you or anyone else can do to change that.” I began to rub my stomach which I always did out of habit when talking about the little Saint that was growing inside of me.

The conversation soon faded to complete silence once I had fully got out what I wanted to say. And she couldn’t even say anything back because she knew I was one hundred percent right, nothing is going to change with just one measly sorry and if she was really sorry, she wouldn’t have smiled in my face for months knowing what she was doing behind my back. I let this girl in my home and around my family—because we were most definitely a family—and it’s like she spit all over it. All for a nigga who only gives a shit about himself.

“Anyway, I hope you get better soon and don’t expect to see me again.” With that, I walked out of the hospital without so much as a glance back at her. That part of my life is over and done with, I just needed to find a way to cope and move on. Which is easier said than done.

Honestly, I felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders by seeing Nae today and now I knew that I needed to try harder to get my son back before something bad happens to him at the hands of Dom. I want to believe that he wouldn’t hurt our son but his actions lately have just constantly been proving me wrong and on top of that, he’s a crackhead? Hell nah.

There were so many things running through my mind. Did he start when I left him or has he been doing it since we were together? And if he did, how did I even go so long without knowing? I claimed I loved this man and he claimed he loved me but there was so much he was hiding from me that I was never aware of. And it’s wrecking my nerves that he has my baby and I have no idea what could be happening to him. Dom doesn’t have me to take his anger out on anymore and I just pray that he never gets angry enough to… I welled up with tears just thinking about the possibility of Dom beating Junior like he used to do me.

I quickly shook the thoughts out of my head, wiping my eyes as I made my way back home. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t.

C’yara

My knuckles hit his door a couple of times as I waited for him to come to the door. I was hoping that he was home since I decided to surprise him and didn’t actually tell him that I was coming down here for the week.

It had been a while since I came down to visit and by a while, I mean a few years so I was pretty excited to finally meet the girl my baby cousin is supposed to be marrying soon. He was way too private with his relationship; I couldn’t even get the gossip on him from my granny and she knows everything about everybody in our family. It’s kind of scary actually.

I heard shuffling coming from behind the door but nobody had came to answer it yet causing me to let out an annoyed huff and knock again, this time a bit harder than before. Soon after, the door swung open revealing a small light skinned hispanic looking female. She looked more than surprised to see another girl at her door. “Can I help you?”

“I’m here to see Xae.”

Furrowing her eyebrows, she looked me up and down in response before calling for Xavier without another question. Couldn’t be me because if another female shows up to my door asking for my nigga; I’m asking how she knows him, where they met, how long they’ve known each other. All that good shit. I could have just as easily been a side hoe trying her right in her face.

Luckily, nobody wants Xae ugly ass so she’s fine for now. Just to see if I could test her again, I stepped through the door causing her to slightly jump back as it flung open. I instantly scrunched up my face when she just closed the door instead of checking me, as she should. “Oh no honey, you need to speak up. You can’t just be letting any old bitch think it’s ok to step through your door like she owns the place.”

“…What?”

Just then, Xae appeared from the hallway behind her as she turned to face him with her arms crossed over her chest and all her weight to one side. “Xavier, who is this?” It was just then that it finally seemed like he saw me before swiftly moving around his girlfriend and pulling me into a tight embrace.

“CeCe!! What you doing here? I thought you lived in Florida now?”

I nodded as his girlfriend looked from him to me repeatedly, a confused expression on her face. “I do, I actually came down here to visit you baby cousin and meet who you’re finally settling down for.” I averted my eyes from Xae to Bree with a smile as I held my hand out for her to shake. “I’m C'yara, Xae’s cousin on our mom’s side.”

She awkwardly shook my hand, seemingly getting more into it once she realized that I’m only her boyfriend’s family member, not some random hoe. First impressions are everything to me and my first impression of his girlfriend was that she was too weak to handle my cousin. He’s a person that speaks his mind and I can bet she’s the one to cry if he’s spitting some facts at her. I would have been more impressed if she checked me for stepping through that door unannounced.

“Bree. It’s nice to meet you. Sorry if I came off rude back there, I just didn’t know who you were.”

I let out a light laugh, casually waving her off in a playful manner. “Oh honey, you weren’t rude about nothing. You were actually a lot nicer than I expected you to be.”

“Thanks…?” She responded, confusion laced in her voice since she didn’t know how to take the comment. “Do you want anything to eat? I was supposed to cook dinner tonight anyway.”

“Sure, why not? It was a long drive up here.”

She disappeared into the kitchen with a slight nod causing me to immediately turn to Xae with my eyebrows raised. I didn’t know how I felt about the girl but my vibe was all the way off. I’m a nice person, so I won’t just scrunch up my face at someone but something about her movements and mannerisms rubbed me the wrong way.

“What?” He asked once he realized that I was glaring at him.

I nodded my head towards the kitchen. “That’s the girl you’re about to marry soon?” A small smile instantly formed on his face at the mention of it before he nodded his head.

“Yea, that’s Bree.”

The conversation got silent for a few seconds as I took that in. I’m the type of person who only wants the best for her family and right now, my intuition was kicking in. “I don’t know Xae… she seems iffy to me.” That caused him to immediately roll his eyes with a chuckle.

“You said that about all my girlfriends.” He forced a blank expression onto his face.

“And wasn’t all them hoes iffy?! Where they at now?” I whisper yelled as he waved me off and stepped around me to go sit on the couch.

Deciding that this wasn’t the way that I wanted to greet my favorite cousin after not seeing him in years, I sat down beside him and playfully smacked the back of his head. “So when’s this wedding? Do I get to be your best man?”

“Girl bye,” he laughed out, “you know damn well you can’t be no best man.”

I let out a laugh along with him before flipping my long twenty two inch weave behind my back for the millionth time today. “If I wasn’t so cute, I’d wear a tux.”

Xae suddenly stuck his finger halfway down his throat, pretending to gag and throw up at my comment causing me to smack him in the back of the head again but this time so he could feel it. “Aye now, don’t make me have to beat yo ass in here. Bree hasn’t seen that side of me yet.”

“Oh yea, well what you got? You ain’t doing nothing but talking.” We then pretended to throw hits at each other; getting over on each other with different moves and soft punches.

“Aight aight, you win.” He laughed, out of breath as I stopped to catch my breath as well. By the time we were finished, pillows were thrown off the couch and even one of the cushions was missing due to it being used as a shield from the flying throw pillows. We had made a mess of the living room just like when we were kids again.

I wiped a small sweat bead from my brow. “Whew, I’m getting too old to be playing with yo ass all the time.”

“Ok C-Y-ara.” He spoke in the same taunting manner he did when we were children causing me to pick up a pillow from the floor and roughly throw it at him.

He swiftly dodged out of the way of my attack, laughing loudly as he did. “What? Nobody told you to have a basic ass name and spell it weird as shit.”

Without saying a word, I lunged at him like a lion on their prey as he quickly duck and covered.

***

We were eating the chicken, rice, and beans Bree had made for dinner. Her nice ass even helped us clean up the living room after slaving in that kitchen to feed three mouths. Seems like Xae’s got a good one—a little bit of a scaredy cat—but good nonetheless.

You could tell she was hispanic by the way she cooked things too but I didn’t mind because I like switching things up from time to time. Plus, I need to stop eating out so much so a home cooked meal is exactly what I needed right now.

“So Bree, how’d you and my baby cousin meet?” I spoke just to break the silence that was currently washing over the table.

“Can you stop calling me a baby? I’m twenty four years old.”

I responded with a sly smirk. “As long as you’re younger than me, you’ll always be a baby.” He playfully rolled his eyes before turning his attention to Bree since she never answered the question that I asked.

“Well I guess you can say we met off instagram but our first date was at this restaurant so that’s where I would say we really met since that was in person.”

Replying with a nod, I stuffed some of the rice and bits of chicken into my mouth followed by the beans. “You remember how mad my mom used to be when I told her I met somebody off the internet. ‘Nuh uh, you shouldn’t be doing that C'yara. That’s dangerous, you need to meet people the old fashion way’.” I mocked how my mother talked causing me and Xae to both start cracking up, the memories of those times instantly filling our minds with happiness. He always used to laugh when my mom would yell at me and I would be so mad.

Bree got up to go put her finished plate into the sink and just as she did, a knock sounded off on the door. Don’t tell me there’s another family member trying to do a pop up on Xae because that would be so bogus. “I’ll get it.” Bree’s voice rang throughout the room as she stepped around the table to open up the door, a beautiful caramel toned woman stepping inside soon afterwards.

“Sorry I’m late, I was visiting someone at the hospital.” She spoke aloud as she removed the light sweater she wore revealing a short sleeved v-neck underneath. I couldn’t help but to notice Xae’s face light up with a smile as she came into his view, my eyes glancing between the both of them as they held eye contact with each other for a couple of seconds.

Before anyone could say anything in response, Bree turned to my cousin. “Xae, I’m going in the room ok? Don’t be out too long.” She waved everyone goodnight before doing exactly as she said she was going to do causing my attention to avert back to this mystery girl.

“Xae, who’s this?” I asked with a smile, never taking my eyes from her. Not in an intimidating way although some people might take it that way. I just couldn’t help but admire her features. She wore a clear glossed smile on her face and her body was built nicely and naturally.

Before Xae could answer, she introduced herself for me. “I’m Simone. Just an old high school friend of Xae’s crashing for a bit, that’s all.”

I immediately turned to my cousin with my eyebrows furrowed. “You got another girl living here with you and your fiancé?”

“Yea, just for a couple weeks.”

Letting out a light laugh, I hung my head low as I began to shake it side to side. “Bree crazy as hell.”

My prayers go out to Bree because this chick living with them was too bad to just be a friend. I know my cousin and I know what he likes. And I know that I liked the fact that she didn’t want Xae to answer for her, she took the initiative to introduce herself although we all know Xae’s nice ass was going to do it anyway.

“I’m C'yara, I’m his older cousin. You said you knew him from high school?”

She nodded in response, about to say something before Xae inserted his peanut head ass into the conversation. “Hell yea, if it wasn’t for this girl, I wouldn’t have graduated when I was supposed to. This my lil mama.” He explained as he threw his arm around her shoulders, roughly pulling her into him a few times causing her to giggle and playfully push him away.

I narrowed my eyes at Xae, a smile barely peeping through on my lips. “You not slick Xae.” He quickly held up his hands in defense.

“I don’t know what you’re talking ‘bout.”

My eyes went from him to her then back to him with a knowing look on my face causing him to immediately shake his head no before pointing to the engagement ring on his finger with a ‘duh’ look on his face. Simone seemed to notice the silent stare down we were having as she turned around to Xae with her eyebrows pushed together in confusion.

“Who’s up for some drunk uno?” I quickly changed the subject just to save my cousin’s ass, pulling a bottle of liquor out of my bag with a smirk.

Dom

I kissed my mom and Junior goodbye as I made my way out of her house. I was lucky that she was free to babysit since her boyfriend was out of town for business; I definitely took advantage of that.

She usually doesn’t mind taking care and watching Junior because he’s honestly a good kid, but ever since her new nigga came around she’s been too “busy” to watch him. That’s another reason I don’t like her having this little boyfriend of hers, besides the obvious of him looking like he’s half her damn age. I can’t believe that my mom really turned into a cougar.

Shaking those thoughts out of my head, I glanced over at my mom and son as they stared at me from the front door with smiles on their faces. Junior’s smile being present more so because he had an ice cream cone in his small hands. “I’m so proud of you for taking the initiative to do this Dominick. I only wish your father would have had the willpower to—”

“Stop,” I immediately felt the need to interrupt her because I already knew where the conversation was going and I wasn’t going for it. “Let’s not talk ‘bout dad today. Or any other day for that matter.”

She gave me a pointed look as she leaned her body against the door frame while hiking Junior back up on her hip since he had been slipping down slowly. “I’m just saying, I’m proud of you… I wish I could have been a better mother so you wouldn’t have felt the need to turn to that but I’m trying. I really am.” Tears began to form in the brims of her eyes as her voice cracked a bit causing Junior to wrap his unoccupied arm around her in a hug while the other continued to feed him his ice cream.

One thing about my mom was that she liked to get all mushy and in her feelings about every little thing, so Junior was used to seeing her get emotional by now and one thing that always cheered her up was his hugs. He picked up on that quickly since he didn’t like seeing anyone sad.

“Ma, you weren’t a bad mother. Shit just happens in life and neither one of us can stop that. I made my own decisions and now, I’m just trying to do better for DJ. He needs me to be the father I never grew up with and I can’t let him down.” I retorted calmly.

By now, my mom was bawling out fresh tears like she hadn’t been able to cry all her life. I didn’t know one person could really have so many tears to shed. “I’m so happy you realized that before it became too late to come back from.” After giving me a rather long side hug, she backed up and looked down at my son who was now almost done with his frozen treat and had melted vanilla ice cream everywhere. “Say bye to your daddy.”

“Bye daddy!” He yelled out to me as he waved wildly causing me to chuckle and do the same before walking down the short driveway to my friend, Arion’s, car that was already parked and waiting for me.

I decided to leave my car with ma dukes in case she needed to go somewhere or drive Junior to day care while I was away. It just made things easier for them and my car wouldn’t be doing nothing but sitting in the parking lot, collecting dust if it was with me anyway. Arion had no problem in giving me a ride because I had did him a lot of favors back in the day and let’s just say, he owed me one.

Arion was in the gun business, but there was nothing even remotely legal about his line of work. He was the plug to go to when you needed to get strapped up in a hurry, without having to wait for some background check to be processed. He was also the one to come to if you needed bullets that were untraceable, but you needed to have the big bucks to be able to afford that type of coverage. Arion wasn’t the one to play about his money and it was one thing nobody ever fucked with him on. Hell, I wouldn’t even want to get involved with that type of shit.

“Damn, so yo ass really going, huh? Never thought I’d see the day.” Arion chuckled as he shook his head, remaining focused on the road which ultimately broke me out of my thoughts.

I responded with a slight nonchalant shrug, not wanting to make this a whole big thing like everyone else who knew about it was trying to do. My mom talking about how she’s so proud, now this nigga saying he never thought he would see the day. They were making this out to be more than what it was and it was honestly kind of annoying.

I knew exactly what I was doing and I didn’t need to be reminded of it every damn second of the day. I never understood why people felt the need to remind you what you’re doing as if you don’t already know. “It’s not that big a deal. You know how shit be and my kid and shit.”

“Oh yea, how is the little rugrat? He growing up in his dad footsteps?”

I playfully scoffed, knowing that my boy was the exact opposite of me in every way. “Hell nah, he just like his damn momma. All nice all the time and shit. He always wanna share and make people feel better.”

Arion then shrugged at me in the same way I did to him. “Aye, that’s not a bad thing though. I don’t know nobody that wants they kid to grow up in the street life. Just take that as a blessing for now bruh, ‘cause you never know what could happen when he hits puberty.” He added as he let out an obnoxious laugh. “You already know that’s the time where every lil boy wanna be a hood nigga ‘cause that’s what be getting the girl’s pussy wet.”

“Aight aight nigga, you talking ‘bout lil kids right now and we grown ass men. I don’t want those pictures in my head.” Shaking my head in amusement, I sighed inaudibly because I was going to miss being able to do this type of shit while I was in there for however long I needed to be. One thing I don’t like is being confined to one place for long periods of time and that was basically what I was about to try and force myself to do. “Yea, I’m really doing this shit.” I spoke, finally answering his question as I started to watch all of the buildings and trees pass by from the window.

The rest of the car ride was pretty much silent since Arion could tell I didn’t want to talk too much about it and also the fact that neither one of us were ever much of a talker either. I didn’t mind the peace and quiet though honestly because I wasn’t sure how much more of it I would be getting over the next few weeks.

After several more minutes of music filled silence, the car was placed in park causing my eyes to immediately avert up to the large letters that read Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation Center. My whole mood changed once I read those words. I knew that I didn’t want to be here and from my body language alone, anyone with seeing eyes could tell that I didn’t want to be here; but I knew that I needed to be here and that was all that mattered.

Arion looked at me expectantly causing a frustrated sigh to escape from my lips as I opened up the car door to exit his car. He always had somewhere to be so I already knew he had to have took the time out of his schedule to come and drop me off since I called and asked him last minute. As soon as I was walking through the door, he was speeding off in the direction we came here in.

I looked around and took notice to all of the picture frames with happy smiling people who had supposedly 'overcome’ their addiction and instantly, this place made me nauseous. All this happiness and joy was not good for a nigga like me; I was clearly going to be leaving out of here with the attitude of Spongebob Squarepants according to all the pictures hanging up.

Shaking my head for the millionth time in under an hour, I stepped up to the desk and was told to sign forms stating that the company isn’t responsible for any physical harm I might cause myself during the treatment and blah blah blah. Just a bunch of fucking waste of trees, it would have been easier for me to just do all this shit online beforehand. The woman at the front desk said something about me being in 24-hour care but I didn’t catch most of what she said because her obvious cleavage had been distracting me.

“Sir?” She broke me away from the negative thoughts that were beginning to cloud my mind before grabbing a clipboard and getting up to stand in front of me. “Follow me.” When she turned around, I almost fainted.

Damn right, I’ll let this girl care for me 24/7 any time she wanted to. Her ass was so fat that she had a slight wobble when she walked due to the rest of her body being a much smaller frame. I didn’t want to seem disrespectful, but I just couldn’t keep my eyes off and I think she knew exactly what she was doing too.

She stopped at what looked like a cafeteria and turned to me. “This is where you can get your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Don’t let what you hear fool you though, our meals do not taste like bland hospital food. We make sure to treat the people in our programs like actual people and not animals hoarded together in one place.” I noticed her check something off on her clipboard as she continued to walk to an area that looked a bit like a recreational center, with separate rooms and equipment for exercise.

“Don’t expect to sleep in though because that’s not part of our program. We find that starting the day earlier leads to increased happiness with the people in our programs even later on throughout the day. There will be classes held in this area throughout the day and you can find out what times each one starts right over there.” She then pointed to a board that looked like one of those floor-plan maps you see at the mall. “You could take yoga and meditation in the mornings, then more intermediate classes like body conditioning or jogging later on in the afternoon. Just something else that would be a more healthy habit than the one you have now. You’re required to take at least two classes a day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon.”

She continued to tell me about how the usual days at the center go down and the things I would need to do to start things off right here. I, on the other hand, continued to let my eyes make love to her ass, almost getting caught a few times so I had to play it off.

One thing I can say I wasn’t looking forward to was the weekly group therapy sessions. I hated talking about my feelings or shit that’s going on with me in front of other people, especially people I don’t know. I can handle one person since I knew that person would be a professional, but an entire group of niggas with the same problems that I got? It sounded like something out of a corny ass romance movie where the girl falls in love with the guy she met while they were both trying to get better in rehab.

Boring. Give me something to mix some shit up with.

Once we got to the end of the tour, she showed me to my room that looked more like a hotel suite if anything else. “This will be your room. Make sure to lock it whenever you leave because although the people here are trying to better themselves, it doesn’t mean everyone is fully there yet. But you already signed an agreement saying that we’re not responsible for any stolen or misplaced items so the choice is really up to you.”

The thick woman was about to walk away until I gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her back in front of me. “So, how often do I get to see you?” I looked down at her with lustful eyes. She let out a laugh in response to my question, but I couldn’t tell whether it was a flirty one or a sarcastic one.

“Sir, I only work the desk and do the tours. You’ll be seeing me when you leave. Have a nice day, now.” She gave me a dismissive pat on the shoulder before turning to continue her trek back to her work station causing me to roll my eyes in annoyance.

Dom

Junior cheered happily and moved around so much that I fucked up one of the bunny ears while tying his shoes. He couldn’t sit still because of how excited he was to go trick-or-treating and honestly, it tugged at my heart strings to see him so happy.

“Sit still or you gon’ be walking around with one shoe.” I instructed, followed by a chuckle as he finally sat still enough for me to slide his shoe over his foot and tie his laces. “You needa learn how to tie these guys yourself lil man.”

He shrugged as if I asked a question. “My bunny ears get too big when I do it.” Shaking my head in amusement, I grabbed his hands and helped him stand to his feet as he immediately ran to go get his bucket for candy.

He was on Iron Man right now because of the new Avengers movie that just came out which was surprising to me because he always loved the Hulk. Me and Simone would get him hulk cakes and everything for his birthday. Don’t even make me get into how he would ‘hulk smash’ his cake every single year. I started to make him clean up the mess he made with us because that icing would be literally everywhere.

Coming back with his empty bucket shaped like a jack-o-lantern, I grabbed him a jacket just in case he got cold and my keys before guiding him out of the door with my hand in his small one. While I walked, he skipped to keep up with me and we headed in the direction towards one of the first houses with their porch lights on.

Like the big boy he claimed he is, he stopped me from knocking on the door just so he could do it himself and the door soon swung open revealing and elderly lady whose dreads had reached the back of her knees. She smelled like hair care products and her smile was as genuine as they come.

“TRICK OR TREAT!!” Junior yelled out excitedly causing me to chuckle and shake my head. He’s going to wake up the entire neighborhood screaming like that.

The lady’s smile grew even more. “Well what do we have here? A superhero?” She reached to her side and pulled out a handful of candy before dumping it into Junior’s bucket as he eyed the sweets. “Thank you for your service baby.”

Once he thanked her, we began to walk away and he started to skip once again while chanting, “I got some candy, I got some candy. I got some candy, hey hey hey hey.” I couldn’t help but to laugh at his shenanigans.

“You watch the Little Rascals way too much kid.” I spoke in amusement as we continued onto the next house where the lawn was covered in spooky Halloween decorations such as spiders and ghosts and witches.

Junior decided he wanted to go around the lawn and shake all of the decoration’s hands saying hi to each one. Most kids would be scared of seeing creepy things tower over them but my boy a g.

Once he was done introducing himself to inanimate objects, we hopped up the steps and he knocked on the door with anticipation. This time, a younger woman answered the door who looked to be around my age and I’m not even going to lie, shorty was bad as hell. Junior yelled out trick or treat again causing her to smile and reach into a bowl that she already had in her hand when she opened the door.

She bent down and threw some candy in his bucket, her eyes drifting up towards me lustfully as she made a show out of giving Junior some candy. Licking over my lips as my eyes roamed her body, I grabbed Junior’s hand and turned to walk away before she suddenly stopped us. “What, I can’t get your number?” Just hearing the question made me smack my lips and turn back around.

“Come on now, you see me with my son and you tryna get at me. He don’t needa hear all that shit.” Junior was stuck looking between the both of us, confused on what was going on but I could tell that he wanted to go get more candy. I shook my head. “Learn some respect.”

We made our way onto the next house as I applauded myself internally on how I handled that situation because lord knows, I wanted to bend her over right there. But seeing Junior this happy was something that was way more important to me than some pussy and trick-or-treating with him was my top priority right now.

We continued that process without any incidents for a couple more hours before he started to shiver too much and I decided to take him back home. He didn’t want to go back at first but his bucket was too full to fit anymore candy in it anyway and I didn’t want him getting sick from being out here for too long.

Once we got back, he quickly threw off his shoes and costume before running to hop up on my bed where I had sat his bucket. This lil nigga going to dump every single piece of candy he got out on my bed causing a couple of them to fall on the floor and behind the bed.

Shaking my head, I grabbed his costume off of the floor and put it in the dirty clothes hamper before trying my best to find all of the pieces of candy that fell. By that time, he had a pile of empty wrappers on my pillow as his mouth was full with various chewy candy causing his cheeks to look like a chipmunks.

I couldn’t help but to bust out laughing because he looked like he was struggling trying to chew them all at the same time. “Come on now DJ, you gon’ get my pillow all sticky. Slow down.” I swiped all of the wrappers into my hand and went to go throw it away, coming back only to find another pile of empty wrappers in the same spot as he smiled at me with those huge cheeks threatening to burst open.

“This is gon’ be a long night.”

Simone

It’s Halloween night and we were both sitting in the house bored as hell while Bree went to go visit her family for the day. Xae said something about seeing all of her baby cousins and whatnot but I’m so bored that I wasn’t even listening.

I let out a long exaggerated sigh as I stuffed another one of the sugar cookies Xae had bought earlier into my mouth. There had been a couple knocks on the door with happy trick-or-treaters behind it, but it wasn’t enough to pull me out of this extreme boredom that I was in. We were watching Hocus Pocus for the second time today due to it playing almost every other hour on halloween.

Xae sat on one side of the couch while I laid across the other side, my legs not being long enough to actually reach him. “Is this what you do every halloween?” I asked as I looked at him with raised eyebrows causing him to chuckle and shake his head.

“Nah, I usually take my lil niece out but her pops just got outta jail so they’re spending some father-daughter time together I guess. He said I take up too much of the attention when I’m around her but it ain’t my fault she fuck with me more.” He shrugged playfully as a low giggle escaped my lips.

“Don’t tell me you out here tryna steal your brother’s daughter…” My sentence trailed off for a bit as I thought about what he told me about Bree not being able to give birth to children. “Do you want a little girl?”

He didn’t even have to answer my question because the smile on his face already told it all. “More than anything if you want me to be honest. I’m just worried ‘bout how life would turn out for her and all the things that I know she’s gonna have to go through. I don’t wanna have to see my baby girl go through heartbreak, sexual harassment, or something even worse God forbid.” Suddenly, instead of happiness in his eyes, I saw complete hopelessness. “But I guess that doesn’t even matter since the woman I’m marrying can’t have kids, huh?”

Things got silent for a few seconds and I felt sadness wash over me, even though it’s not even me who’s actually going through it. I don’t want to say I feel sorry for him but I do feel really bad. He’s proven to me time and time again that he’s a trustworthy person who cares about me even through all the times when I tried to push him away. I couldn’t just let him stay miserable like this; I want to cheer him up somehow.

Swiftly sitting up on my knees to face him, I placed my hand underneath his chin and gently turned his head to face me before pulling away once I realized he wasn’t going to look away from me. “You know what we should do?” I asked happily.

Another grin began to form on his face when he noticed how excited I was about the idea that just popped into my head. “What?”

“Go trick-or-treating.”

He waved me off. “Girl, we too old. Ain’t nobody gon’ give us no candy.”

I smacked my lips while playfully rolling my eyes at his response. “Well what’s the age limit on having fun, huh? Who says we can’t channel our inner kid and live our best life?”

And with that, it didn’t take much longer to convince him that we should go out instead of locking ourselves in the house and waiting for Bree to come back from being with her folks. I excitedly followed him to the bathroom in his bedroom, watching as he searched around for something.

“Whatcha looking for?” He responded about a minute later by finally pulling out the medium sized bag he was looking for and dumping all of its contents out onto the counter, revealing it to be a make-up bag. My face immediately scrunched up. “You sure Bree’s gonna be ok with us using her make-up for last minute halloween costumes?”

“This her old bag, she barely use the shit in here anymore.” He replied as he grabbed one of the eye shadow palettes before handing it over to me. “This one has black in it. You better make me a good zombie.”

By the time I was finished with both of our make-up, we looked like two bootleg ass zombie apocalypse friends with red lipstick as blood stained all over our face. He gave me one of his old shirts to tear up a bit and wear to complete the look as he did the same with another t-shirt that he didn’t really care about.

We didn’t look half bad if I do say so myself.

We left his house with plastic bags acting as our candy buckets and made our way to the first house of the night. Xae was dragging behind me, feeling embarrassed that I actually convinced him to dress up and go out doing something we both hadn’t done since childhood. But I was still excited as I knocked on his neighbor’s door with it swinging open no less than ten seconds afterwards.

“Hel…lo.” The older woman who answered the door with a bowl of candy looked excited to give her goods to trick-or-treaters until she saw the two big ass kids that stood in front of her. It seemed like she couldn’t do anything but just take in our appearance in confusion for a few seconds before I broke the awkward silence.

“Trick or treat.” I said with a smile causing her to quickly shake herself out of her trance, reaching into her bowl and pulling out a handful of candy for me.

Looking back at Xae who seemed like he was going to die of embarrassment at this very second, I nudged him forward with my elbow causing him to playfully roll his eyes before stepping up and mumbling a low ‘trick or treat’ to the woman, making her give him some candy as well. Once we both got our treats and walked back onto the sidewalk, I couldn’t hold in my laughter any longer.

I began to literally cry laughing with Xae chiming in and doing the same not too long after me. “Did you see her face when she saw us?” He said through struggled breaths as we both continued to cackle at the fact that we were really doing this childish shit together with Wal-Mart bags to hold our candy.

“Yo, I’m surprised she didn’t tell us to fuck off. She looked like she wanted to.” I chuckled out as I held my stomach, attempting to catch my breath. “You ready for this next house Zombie Xae?” Halting our laughter, we both simultaneously glanced forward to the next house in front of us before slowly turning back to look at each other with mischievous smirks plastered on our faces.

Bree

Surprisingly, I woke up before Xae did this morning but I figured he must of been tired because he stayed up finishing with buying all of the decorations we had agreed on.

I tried to stay up with him, I really did, but my little body just couldn’t take another all nighter. My baby is definitely a trooper.

Slowly getting out of bed, being careful not to make too many movements so that I didn’t wake him from his sleep, I went into the bathroom to wash my face and rub the sleep out of my eyes. While I was doing my morning routine, my stomach started to growl and I soon remembered that I went to bed without eating dinner last night because of how tired I was. Sleep had really hit me like a brick wall.

I quietly made my way out of our bedroom and headed straight for the kitchen, passing Xae’s little friend who was also sitting up on the couch watching TV lowly in the living room. Opening up the refrigerator without a word, I pulled out the milk because I decided to make something quick like cereal so that I wouldn’t pass out from starvation on this kitchen floor.

“Good morning.” I heard a light voice call out from behind me causing me to turn around, coming face to face with Simone who was standing at the edge of the entrance to the kitchen.

Not knowing what to say in response, I settled for a slight nod without making eye contact before turning back around to grab a bowl from the cabinet and the Frosted Flakes out of the pantry. As I was moving around, I could see her still standing in the same spot from my peripheral vision and honestly, it was a little annoying… and creepy. We already greeted each other so why is she just standing there staring at me?

“See something you like?” I raised a brow as I began to pour my cereal into the bowl, all while still avoiding any eye contact with her.

Hearing her sigh, I finally turned to face her expectantly with a hand on my hip. “Look, I just feel like you should know that I am nothing to worry about when it comes to you and Xae. I’m in no way trying to come in between your relationship and there’s literally nothing going on between us but him trying to help me out. I don’t know if he told you but I was in an abusive relationship for four years and no matter where I go, he finds me and makes my life hell.”

“So you decide to come here so that he could make our life hell too?”

She immediately shook her head. “No, that’s why I’m not trying to stay here long. I just needed to keep moving, I couldn’t sleep in a house knowing that my ex knew where I was and could come at any time. He’s unpredictable but… no one knows Xae and I know each other so I’m sure everything will be fine once I leave.”

I mentally rolled my eyes but at the same time, I kind of felt bad for her. I’ve never been in an abusive relationship so I can’t even begin to imagine how that would feel. I’m just annoyed that her stay here can possibly cause problems for me and Xae that I really don’t want. Not even just her ex finding out where she is but the emotional connection I know Xavier has with her for some odd reason.

I let out a frustrated sigh as I turned back around so that my back was now to her, no longer being able to look her in her face when I spoke to her. I’m not going to lie, she is beautiful and I see why Xae has whatever he has with her but he’s still MY fiancé and I hate having to live with the woman we used to argue about and almost broke up about.

“I’m not mad at you ok? I don’t hate you or anything… I just don’t like how Xae is with you. He cares about you so much without even thinking twice about it and I’m not even sure you see that.” I expressed honestly.

Silence took over the conversation for a few seconds as neither of us knew what to say to each other. “He just seems like a good guy, I figured he’d do this for anyone that needed his help.”

“Yea, maybe you’re right but he hasn’t had reoccurring dreams about other people…” I responded with a slight unintentional attitude laced in my voice.

“Wait, what?” She stepped closer to me so that we were now standing side by side, leaning against the counter. “What do you mean reoccurring dreams?”

I sighed before turning to face her again with my arms crossed over my chest. “I used to wake up to him calling out your name in his sleep. Sometimes he sounded frantic and other times, he sounded… he sounded happy.”

The surprised look on her face immediately let me know that Xae never told her about the dreams he had been having about her. It was like she wanted to respond back to me but had no idea how to even start it off or what to say for that matter.

“Look, it doesn’t matter.” I dismissed the topic quickly, grabbing the jug of milk and pouring some into my bowl of cereal. “He stopped having those dreams a long time ago and we’re happy again. He proposed to me so I know that I have nothing to worry about but as a woman, I expect you to know where I’m coming from when I say that I’m not comfortable with you staying here… at least not for long. I’m not evil though, I would never throw you out on the streets to fend for yourself. Just make sure you find a place to stay quickly so me and Xae can get back to our lives.”

And with that, I grabbed my bowl and took it to the dining room table, leaving her to stand there just looking at me sullenly as I left. I wasn’t really trying to hurt her feelings but I’m also not trying to keep quiet about how I feel regarding this whole situation.

As I ate, I noticed her walk back to the living room to sit on the couch, neither one of us daring to make eye contact with each other. Honestly, I don’t mind things being like this between me and her because the sooner she leaves, the sooner me and Xae can get back to us. This relationship doesn’t need three people in it.

Plus, I miss having my alone time with him. He’s been careful not to try any freaky shit with me so that Simone doesn’t feel uncomfortable hearing us have sex and whatnot. That’s what made her stay here even more aggravating, I couldn’t even get any act right for the next couple of weeks because of her.

Breaking away from my thoughts before I get upset all over again, I quietly ate my cereal and she quietly watched the news since there’s never much on TV in the morning. Once I was finished eating, I washed my bowl and spoon then went back to the room to check if Xae had woken up by now.

He was surprisingly still knocked out so I headed to the closet and stripped out of my pajamas, grabbing a simple outfit from off the hangers. A plain black tee and some jean shorts with my all black Fenty Puma creepers. I wasn’t planning on going anywhere special, I just really needed to speak with someone.

Making my way back into the bedroom, I silently grabbed the car keys off of the nightstand and made my way out of the room, being sure to close the door after me. I grabbed my purse off of the counter which had my phone in it and stopped once I got to the front door, turning to Simone. “If Xae wakes up before I get back, just tell him I went out for a minute and I’ll be back soon.”

She nodded in response causing me to turn back around and leave out of the front door without another word. I made my way to the car, unlocking it using the keypad before hopping in and starting it up making it rev to life.

Immediately turning in the direction of the now familiar Mexican restaurant, it took me a little while to get there since I wasn’t in a rush and was basically just cruising today. Honestly, I’m glad because that gave me enough time to think about what I was going to say when I saw him.

I knew I had to end whatever kind of situation we have going on before I regret it. Every time I look at Xae, I feel guilty because I’ve never cheated on anyone before and he’s such a good man. I don’t want to hurt him.

If there was ever a choice between Xae and anyone else, I would always choose Xae which is why I’ve made the decision to formally and officially cut Antonio off. I mean, of course I blocked him on everything but it’s not right to just ghost somebody, especially after what went down between us. I feel like I owe it to him to be honest with him about how I’m feeling about our situation.

I can’t lie and say I don’t like him because I do and if I wasn’t with Xae, maybe we could have explored something more and saw where that took us but that’s not the case. I thought I had my feelings under control with him and that just venting to him would be alright but clearly, I was wrong and I’d rather end it now than have problems popping up out of nowhere later on in the future.

I’m hoping that he won’t feel some type of way about my decision but what we had going on wasn’t really anything serious anyway. Sure we talked a few times and had sex but we never really discussed the seriousness of our relationship. Therefore, I’m assuming that it wasn’t serious at all. Plus, he knew from the get go that I had a man so technically, he doesn’t even have the right to be upset because he’s the one that wanted to continue this “friendship.”

Once I finally arrived to the restaurant, I shut off the car and made my way inside of the building, the scent of food immediately invading my nostrils making me hungry all over again.

Ignoring my greediness, I confidently walked up to the front counter as a couple of the workers noticed me from seeing me around talking to Antonio all of the time. One girl in particular walked up to the desk and I glanced at her name tag, reading Serina.

“Antonio is out today.” She immediately blurted out as if she already knew what I was coming up here for and it made me kind of embarrassed that I was really that predictable.

I ignored the slight attitude she gave me and flashed her a small smile. “Oh, do you know when he’s gonna be back? I have to talk to him about something important.”

“Nope, he took the day off and he’s kinda the boss here so he comes back when he wants to. Sorry.” Her tone was as sarcastic as they come and I honestly wanted to smack the smirk that was starting to form right off of her face but I was always taught to kill them with kindness.

I nodded in response before taking a glance around, noticing the small line that was beginning to build behind me causing me to hurry up with what I needed to say. “Well, when he gets back, can you just tell him that I stopped by and that I need to talk to him?”

“Sure, what’s your name again?” She asked with a noticeable uninterested expression on her face as she folded her arms over her chest. I don’t know what this girl’s problem is but jealousy is a really ugly look on her. She doesn’t even know how dumb she looks being salty with me because I’m talking to her boss. I can sense that little green monster anywhere.

“Bree.”

Her eyes roamed down my body to check me and then back up to my face before she nodded. “Ok Bree,” she mocked, “I’ll let him know you stopped by.” Giving me a fake smile, she turned back around and began to laugh with a couple of other girls that were watching the whole time as I made my way back out of the restaurant, rolling my eyes in the process.

These bitches wack as fuck.

Xae

An honest habit I had when first waking up was to immediately attempt to get all of the crust out of the corners of my eyes. They be mad uncomfortable just sitting there all hard.

No homo.

I sat up in the bed immediately feeling the side beneath me was cold, indicating that Bree was already awake so I decided to get up myself and start on my hygiene routine; brushing my teeth, washing my face, all that jazz.

Once I was finished with everything, I went to the closet to throw on some joggers and a tank top before stepping back into my bedroom as my nose was instantly invaded with the smell of pancakes being made. I smiled to myself because I already knew Bree was probably making breakfast for us and honestly, a nigga was hungry so I wasn’t complaining at all.

Grabbing my phone, I checked my notifications as I began to walk out of the room and noticed that I had a snapchat from Antonio. It had been a couple of days since we met and neither of us took the initiative to start a conversation with each other so it was surprising to say the least but I decided to check it anyway as I stopped in my tracks since multitasking isn’t my cup of tea whatsoever.

Ant 🐜: what’s good nyigguh? u tryna chill today?

I let out a low laugh and typed out a quick reply, letting him know that I was down before continuing my trek to the kitchen. Surprisingly unsurprising, Bree was nowhere to be found as I watched with furrowed eyebrows as Simone moved back and forth between the stove and the refrigerator, grabbing the eggs and bacon from the bottom drawer before getting to work on cooking those up too. She already had a small stack of pancakes sitting on a single plate but she was still continuing to make a little more.

She turned around to reach for some more plates in the cabinet, immediately halting in her tracks once she spotted me watching her. “Oh! I’m sorry for going through your kitchen like this but I just wanted to do something nice as a thank you for you letting me stay here.” A nervous smile began to creep it’s way onto her face causing me to chuckle.

“Relax Simone, I’m not mad. I guess I just wasn’t expecting you to be the one cooking… where’s Bree?”

I began to look around in search for her as Simone went back to flip a pancake over and scramble the eggs so they wouldn’t burn while we were talking. “I don’t know, she left like half an hour ago but we’re not really close for me to ask her where she’s going so.”

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I ran my hands over my face as I shook my head. “She could have at least let me know she was leaving with the car.” I mumbled out in a low tone but Simone still caught onto what I said, replying with a shrug.

“Hey, this is none of my business. I’m not trying to overstep my boundaries or anything. One thing I will say though, she was in a hurry to leave.” With that, she turned back around and continued to focus on her cooking until everything was finished.

Without any words being spoken, I walked up beside her and began helping her dress our plates, making sure my stack of pancakes was extra high causing her to smile at me before dumping half of the scrambled eggs and four pieces of bacon on my plate. “Thanks baby girl, I appreciate this for real.”

“It’s the least I can do.” She responded as she did the same for her plate and grabbed both of our meals, taking them to the table.

I took that as an opportunity to pour the both of us a glass of orange juice before taking that to the table as well. Immediately starting to dig in, I closed my eyes as the fluffy pancakes melted against my taste buds. I could tell she hadn’t just only used the pancake mix straight out the box because I tasted a flavor that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. “Mm, this is the softest pancake I’ve ever ate yo. And what is that extra ingredient I’m tasting, I’m tryna figure it out but I needa hint or something.”

She shook her head as she continued to stuff her face, a smirk playing on her features. “A magician never reveals her secret, act like you know Xavier.”

“You know you can call me Xae right? You don’t have to be all formal with me… we’re friends.”

Getting a bit quiet once I said that, her face held a pensive expression as she sipped some of her juice. “Can I ask you a question Xae?”

“Yea, of course. Shoot.”

“Do you—” she hesitated a bit before clearing her throat, “Did you really have dreams about me?”

I let out a low sigh as I set my fork down on my plate. “Bree told you that, didn’t she?”

She nodded slowly as if she didn’t want to snitch on Bree but she also didn’t want to lie to me. “Yea… it looked like it hurt her to even talk about it. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“I ain’t wanna creep you out or some shit. We hadn’t seen each other in years then suddenly you pop up and I start having dreams ‘bout you that I can’t even explain. I haven’t really had one in a few weeks but still. It’s kinda weird, right?”

Instantly breaking her attention away from me, she looked down at her fidgeting fingers with a slight shake of her head. “…No.”

“No?” I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering if she was serious because I know if someone from high school told me they were having random dreams about me, I’d be looking at them funny as hell.

“I’ve had dreams about you too…”

***

Pulling up to the apartment building, I turned off my car and hopped out before heading up the stairs. Bree had came back not too long after me and Simone finished eating and washing the dishes together. Wherever she went, I guess she wasn’t very happy about the outcome because she went straight to the room to lay down without saying anything.

I didn’t mind it much since I was about to leave anyway but it did make me wonder what happened while she was out. I’d just have to ask her about that later though, right now I got two blunts waiting on me and I wasn’t going to waste any more of their time.

Once I got to the apartment number he texted to me, I knocked on the door a few times and waited no longer than ten seconds before the door was swung open, revealing Antonio in a whole ass Nike sweatsuit.

We dapped each other up as I stepped inside the already smoked out apartment once he moved over. “My nigga, you ain’t hot in all that? I thought hoes don’t get cold.” I said causing us to both laugh; him a little harder than me since he’s already high I’m assuming.

“Shieeet, yes the fuck we do. I be freezing.”

Walking over to the thermostat, I shook my head once I realized this nigga had the air blasting and it was 67 degrees inside. “Nigga, this why you cold. You got the air blowing out snow and shit.” I chuckled out as I reached to turn it off then went to sit on the couch next to him just as he was lighting up a blunt. “So what’s been up with you, g?”

He shrugged in response before taking another pull from the blunt then passing it to me. “Man, I’m just in a complicated ass situation right now and really I’m tryna avoid the girl I was fucking with ‘cause I learned the hard way that she ain’t no good.”

“True say,” I nodded as I inhaled the relaxing smoke from the blunt, “what ole girl do?”

“She’s just confusing as fuck. One minute she wanna fuck with me and pushing all up on me, then the next she ghosting and blocking me on shit. It’s just getting old man. I’m really fucking with her but she just got too much baggage.” He spoke as he shook his head, grabbing the blunt from me once I passed it back to him. “On top of all that, I already know she’s probably gonna be unfaithful even if I did fuck with her because she messing with me while she got a lil situationship going on with another dude. She claims she’s not happy anymore but stay going back and forth.”

I shook my head because these females really are something, I tell you. “My nigga, it sounds like that broad wanna have her cake and eat it too. She using you as a rebound whenever her and her nigga ain’t right and that ain’t it. Any female like that doesn’t deserve you bro, she dead ass playing you. Don’t let her fuck with your mind like that ‘cause honestly, people only gon’ do what you allow them to do to you. And that’s facts.”

He looked over at me with a smirk as he exhaled some of the smoke he was holding in. “Look at you ole wise ass nigga giving me words of wisdom and whatnot. Sound like my dad.” With that, we both busted out laughing, the effects from our high clearly already hitting us like we were punching bags.

“Shut up fool, I know what I’m talking about. How you think me and my girl been together for so long? It’s about to be three whole years for real.”

He nodded and slapped hands with me again before passing me the blunt as well. “That’s what’s up though. I respect that because there’s not a lot of people that know how to be in a relationship nowadays. They’ll get with somebody only to do some fuck shit they could have just done while they were single. I like seeing couples that actually work.”

“Sap ass.” I mumbled loud enough for him to hear me before acting like I was so focused on the blunt while he glared at me.

“Yea, whatever nigga. I’m planning on leaving that girl alone though. I’m tired of playing these games.”

Taking another pull, I exhaled and gave the blunt back to him. “Why you even get yourself into that situation by fucking with her knowing she gotta nigga on the side?”

“At first, me and her just talked from time to time. No touching or kissing or none of that, I was respecting what she had going on. Then one day she randomly came to my job wylin’ tryna get some dick so I may or may not have piped her down in the storage room.”

I couldn’t even contain my laughter at this point because this nigga really has problems. He done got himself in some mess he doesn’t even know how to get out of. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t even know what to do if I was in his shoes either so I can’t even roast his ass like I really desperately want to right about now.

“In the storage closet though? Hell nah.” I nearly snorted as he soon joined in on my laughter and we both started cracking up, me sliding off the couch and to the floor just to show how dramatically I was dying laughing. “Y'all got issues, I can’t even give you any advice for that one. Was the pussy good at least?”

He didn’t answer but the face he made told it all: the pussy was good enough to want to go through the issues he’s going through now. I began to shake my head like a disappointed father as I grabbed the blunt from him. “So you mean to tell me that if she came here right now tryna fuck on some shit, you would STILL risk it for that pussy?” I had to ask since he literally just said he was going to stop messing with her.

“Shit probably.”

And with that, we started cracking up all over again.

Tiarra

Gunshots continued to sound off as I ran out of the house for dear life, trying my best not to drop the clothes that I was using to cover up my nude private areas.

“AND DON’T COME BACK HERE YOU DIRTY ASS HOE!” She screamed to the top of her lungs once I got too far for her to shoot at.

As soon as I heard the front door slam shut, I stopped running and hunched over, attempting to catch my breath. I really have to stop dealing with married men because half of the time, their wives be fucking insane.

It’s all good though because I already got what I wanted. Although, I’m kind of mad that I had to leave my fuzzy slides in the house. Those were my favorite but I’d rather leave them there than have a bullet hole in my body for trying to grab them off of the floor. That bitch’s aim was pure trash; she couldn’t hit me not one time.

I quickly began to throw on my clothes, hearing a couple of cars honk at me as they passed by and got a view of my bare ass causing me to smirk. I already knew that I was looking good. Once I was fully dressed, I looked down at the gun in my hand that was previously wrapped in my hoodie. Tucking it in the side of my sweats, I began to make my way back home with a devious grin playing on my features.

My plan was falling right into place and it was all just too easy.

These bitches really thought that I was going to take what they did to me lightly and not retaliate? Nah, I’m not going out like that so I got something for both they asses and I’ve been laying so low that they won’t even see it coming.

They basically ruined my perfect life all for some nigga who ain’t even alive to see it now. My only regret is not getting any dick before he was lit up because by the sounds of it, he was better than good in bed. I just wanted to know if the nigga I was having wet dreams about was really blessed like I thought he was. I’ve stopped using his pictures to get me off though because it’s kind of weird masturbating to a photo of a dead guy.

I saw my house come up a few houses down causing me to break away from my thoughts and begin to speed walk there since the police be patrolling around my neighborhood a lot. It’s not like much even happens in this neighborhood, the cops just need to get them some business.

Once I finally got inside, I locked the door and made my way to my room before heading to my closet. There was a shoe box in the corner that I had to keep track of all the things I was going to need for my plan to successfully go through without any problems. One being a ski mask and the kind of leather gloves you see in movies. I made sure to buy them with cash so it couldn’t be traced back to me; being around Dom so much had taught me a few things.

I smiled as I removed the gun from inside of my sweats and placed it along with the other things in the box. Tonight was the perfect night to execute part one of my plan since I had nothing to do and I’m pretty sure ole dude is going to be looking for his gun after a while.

The married man I had been having sex with for a while, Jahlil, was an army veteran and carried a firearm around with him just in case. I had seen him put it away a few times when I would come over so I knew exactly where to look while he was too busy trying to calm down his wife from trying to fight me. I wasn’t planning to get caught at first but then I realized that it was the perfect distraction to get what I needed to get quickly. I don’t know how or where shorty got another gun from but clearly, they stay strapped in their relationship. So, they won’t miss this one measly gun.

Plus, there was no way to actually prove that I was the one who took it. He’s dropped me off a few times but I doubt he remembers where I live, I always went to him.

***Flashback***

I circled the room as Jahlil went to go put up his firearm underneath one of the towels in his bathroom closet.

My attention soon turned away from him and to the picture frame on his dresser of him and his wife when they first got married, I’m assuming by their wedding attire. She was cute, I guess I can give her that but she wasn’t me and that’s why her man was hitting me up every time she left the house. These girls really need to get their men in line because I’ve slept with so many men whose girlfriends would swear up and down that their niggas were loyal and only had eyes for them.

Ha. That’s funny.

And Jahlil’s wife was another one. She was always bragging on social media about how perfect her relationship was but little did she know that he would be deep inside me every other week. But she seems like the type to still stay with a nigga if he ever got caught up. Like she needed him or something to be able to be happy.

Well I say do what you want and make your damn self happy because that’s the only person that’s never going to let you down. All the rest of these people are clowns thinking they’re good people when really, they only care about themselves. And that’s exactly why I only care about MY self.

“You want something to eat or drink Chanel?” I heard a deep voice call from behind me causing me to put down the picture frame and turn to him with a smirk. Of course, I told him my middle name instead of my first in case something ever happens or his wife decides to go through his phone one day.

Beginning to seductively step closer to him, I snaked my arms around his neck as his hands immediately rested on my hips. “Now you know that’s not what I came here for, Jay.” With that, his smirk mirrored mine as he lifted me by my thighs causing my legs to wrap around his torso before he roughly threw me on the bed. I looked up at him with lust in my eyes as my legs automatically spread themselves wider for him to get a good look.

“Come and get this pussy daddy.”

***Flashback ends***

By the time nightfall rolled around, I was anxious and ready to do what needed to be done a long time ago. There was never a time where I didn’t think about this day and the joy that’ll come from finally exacting my revenge on the bitches that thought it was cool to team up against me and make my life a living hell.

They’ll soon find out that, that’s the worst decision they ever made.

Going back into my closet, I reached for the shoe box containing my items and brought it out to my room, placing it on the bed and opening it up. I had already been dressed in the black sweatpants and black hoodie that I was originally planning to wear tonight so I didn’t bother to change clothes.

The gloves were the first to go on so that I could wipe my fingerprints off of the gun. I made sure to thoroughly wipe the handle with alcohol so that if I sweated from my hands, 99.9% of my DNA would hopefully be wiped off. Once that was done, I stuffed it into my hoodie and zipped it up before grabbing the ski mask and putting on my sneakers. I got some cheap Wal-Mart shoes that I could throw away and burn after all of this was over.

As ready as I’ll ever be, I made my way outside to my car and got in, wasting no time in heading over to where she stayed. It took me a little while to come up on this information but when I tell you Dom has informants everywhere; that shit really ain’t no joke. It took him no longer than 24 hours to be brought an address in which he gave to me letting me know that if I get caught, I better not even squeak out his name. But that was perfectly fine since I didn’t plan on getting caught.

It took probably twenty five minutes to finally reach the house as I parked three houses down from the one in the address. Close enough for me to make a quick escape but far enough for my car not to be recognized on the street cameras. Once I pulled the key out of the ignition, I threw my ski mask over my head and adjusted it so that none of my hair was sticking out of it before pulling my hoodie over it afterward.

I hopped out the car and counted down the house numbers as I walked past. “2435… 2433… and 2431.” A smile forced its way on my face as I approached the house, walking around to the back to check if any back doors were unlocked.

Unfortunately for me, the bitch was smart so I had to go to plan B. I grabbed one of my old credit cards and hassled with the door for about five minutes before it finally popped open, which I was thankful for because I was starting to get frustrated.

Tip toeing my way inside, I unlocked the door and closed it behind me so that I’ll have an easy way out before creeping around the house, looking for any signs of her. I quietly pulled the gun out from inside my hoodie and took the safety off as I made my way closer to a bedroom where I heard a TV blasting.

When I got to the door, I heard some moving around coming from the room indicating that whoever was inside was definitely awake. That only made me grin more because I always thought that it’s weak to shoot someone while they’re asleep. And I’m far from a weak bitch.

I slowly grabbed for the doorknob, being sure to not make any loud noses before swiftly throwing the door open and pointing my gun at her as she immediately got up from the bed at the sight of me. She glanced from me to the barrel of the gun that was pointed at her then back at me with panicked breaths leaving her body.

“W-Who are you? Look, whatever you want you can have just— just be careful with that gun.”

I honestly didn’t like how I could see the fear in her eyes but she couldn’t see the evil smirk on my face. “Oh, you don’t know who I am? I’ll give you a hint. A few months ago, you and ya little friend thought that y'all were so big and bad when y'all jumped me and made my nigga cut me off. Now it’s time I got a little payback.” I spoke with venom laced in every single word that came out of my mouth.

A moment of realization soon hit her once she figured out who I was causing me to grin even more as her face hardened. “We’re not friends anymore.” I could tell that she was kind of hurt by that revelation but do you think I cared about her feelings after all of the shit that she did to me and put me through? I didn’t have any sympathy for either one of them hoes to be completely honest.

“Boohoo, I really don’t give a fuck. Now… any last words?” I aimed the gun higher as I cocked it, my finger anxiously hovering over the trigger. I would have just pulled the trigger by now but I wanted to watch her beg for a life that she’s not going to have in a few minutes.

She held her hands up in defense, attempting to back up as much as she could before her back hit the wall behind her. “Tiarra, please. You don’t have to do this. I’m sorry we—”