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Torn by African books
Chapter 1
"Santana, let me in," Colbie smacked his lips standing outside
the front door. And this wasn't the first time, probably wouldn't
be the last. He stood there in the freezing cold blowing heat
into the palm of his hands. "You just gone make me stand out
here in the cold?"
"Nobody told you to come over here, Colbie, just go home," she
said behind the door, but in all actuality, she didn't want him to
go anywhere.
She would only be mad temporarily, and after that, they were
back to being best friends like before.
Every time Colbie does something dumb, he instantly regrets it.
He didn't think about hurting her, and it's never in his intent.
Their relationship was weird, and only they could understand it.
"Just give me two minutes, that's all I need," He breathed out,
speaking through the door, being loud, not caring that her
parents were asleep.
"Why couldn't you just text me? You can't keep popping up at
my crib like this," she blew air out as she unlocked the top lock,
cracking the door. Her insides blew up when she saw his face,
the cool breeze from outside giving her goosebumps.
"I needed to see you," he rubbed the nape of his neck. It was
mandatory, his day wouldn't be complete without Santana in
his presence. He feigned her time and energy, and without it, he
felt something was missing.

She had ignored him all day, didn't respond to a text message or
a phone call. She was sick of putting up with the silly shit that
he does.

"Well, you see me, what you need to talk about?" She peeked
her head through the tiny crack in the door, following his dreads
and how tightly twisted they were. He had gotten a haircut too,
she could tell by the way his edges were trimmed.
"You not gone let me in?" He furrowed his eyebrows, frustrated
by how she wasn't giving in to him anymore. Was she losing
feelings?

"You said two minutes," she whispered, gritting her teeth,

trying to keep anyone from waking up. But she was too late.
"Yo, what the fuck. I have work in the morning, what are y'all
doing?" Taylor's plumped lips moved tightly as she scooted
around the living room with her bunny slippers on. "Colbie,
what are you doing here?"

Taylor was Santana's older cousin; she'd been crashing at her

place while she worked on getting her apartment. Her parents
kicked her out for not going to college after high school, but it
was just something she had no interest in. Why waste all your
time being graded on something that has no real value?
"Hey Tay, I'm tryna speak to my girl," he looked over at her and
back at Santana. Her dark brown skin resembled pecans; it was
so fresh and smooth he'd do anything to feel her touch. He also
admired how he towered over her. He just wanted to pick her
up and keep her up and kiss all on her. She was shorter than the
average female and had hips to compliment.
"Thought I wasn't your girl," Santana turned her head facing
him.
"Look, I know I did some shit behind your back before, but that
wasn't the case. I told you I'm not worried 'bout nobody but
you," he looked into her eyes, and it wasn't awkward because
he meant every word.

Taylor just turned around, heading upstairs to go back to sleep

and knowing that this wasn't going to end anytime soon. It
wasn't any of her business, so she didn't mind it, she knew
they'd resolve their issues.
"You told Desiree we were just close yet you tell me something
different," she turned her nose up, crossing her arms and
getting mad all over again at the situation. "Evidently that's
what you want,"

"It wasn't even on no other shit. We close, and you told me you
ain't want nobody in our business, right?" He rubbed his arms,
trying to heat his body up. "Bro, let me in it's cold as a
snowman's dick out hea',"

Santana rolled her eyes to the back of her head as she pulled
the door open.

Colbie didn't step to the side or walk past her. He immediately

pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry," his hands rubbed her back.
She didn't hug him back too fast but slowly lifted her arms to
hold his back. Her ex-friend Desiree had been envious of their
relationship, trying to lure Colbie into her trap. Their friendship
was only because of mutual friends, but they got closer over
time.
Desiree was everything Santana wasn't, she was loud,
obnoxious, and tried so hard to make sure she was ahead of
everyone. But unfortunately for her, she was behind.

Only to bring others down to her level.

She convinced herself that she could take Colbie from Santana.
She wanted a relationship like theirs, so what better way than
to have it with him. But it didn't work like that; she wasn't
Santana.

He just thought maybe she wanted something else from him.

And that wasn't apart of her plan, but it was even better for her
she got to rub it in her face.
She was just a quick fuck, nothing more and nothing less.

Colbie was never the type of nigga to concern himself with sex.
He liked the way it made him feel nonetheless, but it wasn't
important. But when he wanted it, he'd get it no questions
asked.

Santana knew this and wasn't trying to get serious with him
because of it. He used women for their bodies to please
himself, and she didn't want to be just that. Though he would
never treat her that way, he thought highly of her.

But he was messing with somebody that she hated and that
was crossing the line. She wanted to erase him from her brain.

It was frustrating them both, they had feelings for each other,
but it was hard to express them. He wanted to be single and do
his thing in college while he's young. She wanted to focus on
school and doing hair; she was a busy teenager.

As much as they wanted that relationship, they weren't ready.

"Can I stay the night?" He sniffed her strawberry scented hair,
closing his eyes as he held onto her so tight.
The two made their way upstairs only to stay up, play music,
and talk about the situation at hand.
He made a stupid mistake and as a boy growing into a man, he
took note of that.

Sometimes pleasure isn't always a good thing.

"I missed you," he rested his head on her stomach as she played
in his dreads. They hadn't talked in weeks and this moment
made their world stop. It was like everything was paused, and
they got to enjoy this moment to themselves.

The warm temperature in the room, making Colbie defrost and

melt into Santana's body. Her hands fiddling inside his hair
helped him relax more.
"I missed you too, but you gotta stop doing me like this. I'm not
gonna keep being so forgiving just because we're friends," she
looked down at him, the blue rays from the TV hitting his brown
skin.

"I'm not gone hurt you," his lips vibrated against her skin,
making her stomach turn in one of the best ways.
"You said that the last time," she scoffed, just shaking her head,
hoping she didn't make a mistake letting him back in.

"Well, this time, I'll make sure there's no next time," he turned
his head facing her. "Gimme a kiss,"
"Hell no," her eyes widened, thinking about who he could've
been kissing if it wasn't her. "Dirty ass lips,"

"They belong to you,"

"If I can't have all of you, then I don't want bits and pieces. Give
me all of you or keep yo' distance," she informed him.

It was obvious they were one but they were only scared of
losing their bond. 'We all needed a strong foundation to build
your house' was the mindset they obtained.

He said nothing just stared at her lips as she spoke. The cherry
scented chapstick she wears still resided and he just wanted to
taste it. Their eyes met and it was only a matter of time before
he grabbed her chin and pulled her down to him.

It's like an explosion went off in their bodies but it wasn't

painful. It was pure bliss and kept their lips locked. Santana
never felt this way with no other guy. Any guy she talked to was
dull, keeping her bored or just didn't have her best interest at
heart.

Colbie was the same way, yet he had sex and still didn't feel
anything special. No sparks, butterflies, not even an electric
shock. It was just nothing but souls being bind together through
the intimate exchange.

He had hovered over Santana deepening their kiss, rubbing her

breasts and feeling her soft skin. He knew not to dare ask for
sex, he wanted her to be ready.
Santana being a virgin she wanted to make sure that moment
was special.

He pecked against her lips multiple times before moving beside

her, pulling her short sized body into his. Holding her gave him a
sense of security, knowing that she was in his arms made her
feel safe.
"I love you, Tanner," he kissed the side of her head as they laid
there peacefully.

"I love you too," she said closing her eyes and letting drowsiness
run its course.

That next morning the sound of Santana's alarm clock woke her
up out of her slumber. She looked over to see Colbie no longer
there holding her.

She went to turn the alarm off, unlocking her phone to

messages from her friends. She responded to their good
morning texts and remembered to unblock Colbie's number.
"Santana, you up?" She heard the deep voice of her father's
come up to the door. "Time for school,"

"I'm up," she groaned, waiting for this last year of school to be
over. She was so tired of this ongoing routine.
"Good, we gotta speed it up this morning. I need to get down to
the station," he fixed his holster and walked away from the
room, down to the kitchen to greet his wife.

"Good morning," he kissed her cheek as she stirred up the

scrambled eggs. "Is Santana up?" She looked over to him,
pressing her lips against his.

"She said she was, I bet she's still laying down on her phone
waiting until last minute to get ready,"

"Sounds like her," she shook her head and deeply sighed.
"You know she had that boy in here last night?" James raised his
eyebrow, trying to be cool about everything.

"I thought she wasn't talking to him. I guess they made up,"
Sapphire shrugged her shoulders.
Santana happened to be their only child and she was very open
to her parents. They all trusted each other and she told them
everything. When it came to boys her dad didn't want her
growing up too fast. He knew she'd be dating around this age
and he just didn't want her hurt.

"Colbie, what do you want I'm tryna get ready," Santana rushed
to get her shoes on as she answered the phone call.

"Just wanted to say good morning," he ran the shower water,

beginning to undress. "See you unblocked me,"
"Good morning," she sat on the bed and wiggled her foot into
her yellow Air Max 's.

"You put no energy into that, you wanna try again?"

"How else you want me to say good morning? I just got up let
me wake up all the way first," she rolled her eyes and grabbed
her book bag heading downstairs to her parents.

"Well, I'm finna get in the shower talk to you when you get
outta school, aight?"
"Okay," she said into the phone quickly hanging up not wanting
her parents questioning her. "Bye,"
Santana was a senior at Brentwood High School and Cyrus was
a freshman in college. It was just two years between them. Her
birthday in May and his in the end of July, they were a perfect
match.

A Gemini and a Leo had unique traits that made their

relationship more vivid. He was warm-hearted at the same time
he was arrogant. She was affectionate yet inconsistent. Their
positive traits only getting stronger and their weaknesses
making it hard for the two to get along at times. Though they
helped each other work on their weak traits.

"You ready?" James looked over to her.

"Do I have a choice?" She raised both eyebrows knowing he'd
say no but sometimes she liked to challenge her father. It was
humorous to her. "Cause I could use another hour of sleep,"
"Goodmorning ma," she walked over to her mother, hugging
her from behind and grabbing a sausage link, taking a bite from
it.
"You sneaky li-," She took off after Santana chasing her around
the house, and this is why she loved having younger parents.
"C'mon you gone make me late doing all that damn playing,"
James shook his head staring down at the clock.
"Okay, okay," Santana huffed trying to catch her breath.
Can you do my hair after school?" I need this shit done," Niecey
typed on her phone as she talked to me. I didn't see anything
wrong with her hair but I could tell she was tired of forcing her
thick hair into buns everyday. Her baby hairs laid perfectly still
on her brown skin, my friend was flawless.
Niecey and I were childhood besties. Blood couldn't make us
any closer. She was like a sister to me. We went from stealing
each other's crayons to being close as the crayons in the box.

I loved her, she always kept it real and never folded even when I
had my doubts.
"I gotta do a head but I can get you in right after. What you
want done?" I grabbed ice from my cup, crunching it down wit'
my teeth. I had a thing for eating it, had no taste but the
crunchiness of it was damn near addicting.

"Box braids, I bought hair yesterday I was gone have Tesha do it

but she's tripping," she took her eyes off her phone and looked
at me. "Thank you friend,"
"You welcome," I smiled at her watching Mr. Simmons walk into
the classroom.
"Good morning class," he walked into the front of his desk,
sitting on top of it and looking around for any missing faces.
A mocha colored face followed in behind him. He was tall and I
mean skyscraper tall. He had large hands and his dimples
showed as he smiled awkwardly.

"We have a new student, Ra'Shawn. You may sit wherever you'd
like," Mr. Simmons looked at him and he just nodded slouching
down into an empty desk.
"Y'all do that homework last night?" Tysen leaned in between
Niecey and I. "Please tell me one of you niggas did that shit,"

"Tysen getcho' shit together, you always slacking off," I rolled

my eyes, going through my folder for the papers.
"It's the perfect time to slack off, we finna graduate." He ranted
balling up some papers and getting up from the desk to throw it
away. "I just gotta get this D up in here and I'll be gucci,"

"They not gone let you graduate," Niecey put her phone down
and just shook her head. But they let anybody graduate at
Brentfield, all the potheads that came to school just to sleep
graduated. So Tysen got a chance.
I found the homework and sat it on Tysen's desk.
Mr. Simmons just put it on a movie today but of course we had
to write a review over it. Luckily for me, I've seen Freedom
Writers too many times so this nap was about to be crucial.

He switched the lights off, the smartboard showing a still

picture of the movie. I decided to rest my head on the desk,
making the brightness on my phone dim.
I just took a deep breath, I knew I was just gonna sleep the
whole class period. Colbie kept me up talking, most of it was
needed.
I'm glad we made up he really knew how to keep a smile on my
face. Even though he knew just how to piss me off.
"Psst. Santana," I heard Niecey whisper. "I know you ain't going
to sleep already. Get up I gotta tell you some,"

"Girl," I groaned having to force my eyes open, looking over at

her. "Wassup?"
She moved her desk over beside me, she had this really big
smile on her face. It seemed like whatever she had to tell me
was some good news.
"Sooo," she trailed off, blushing and closing her eyes. "Carlos
wants me to go out on a date with him," I watched her squeal
like a little school girl, he had her wrapped around his finger.
"Should I go?"
Unlike me and Colbie they knew exactly what they wanted. And
I was glad she found something to make her happy. She's had
her fair share of fuck niggas and I wouldn't allow her to get hurt
again, she didn't deserve it.

"Why wouldn't you go? I thought y'all liked each other?" I

cocked my head to the side, giving her a confused look.
"Girl," she twisted her lips and breathed out heavily. "I don't
know what it is, like one minute we cool and the next minute I
don't know. But I do like him,"

"You like him, let him take you out. If things don't go according
to plan, I'm yo' shoulder to cry on,"

"You right," She sighed, clicking her nails against each other. "I
don't know even know what I'ma wear,"
"Wear anything but them busted ass J's you got on," Tysen
chuckled putting the flash on her shoes, they were a little dirty
but you know niggas loved to exaggerate.

And we just ignored him, like always. He was a sneakerhead to

the max, he could tell you more about a shoe than he could tell
you about any of his classes.

Tysen was one of those Instagram niggas, he was bigheaded,

thought that he was this and that but social media can only get
you so far.

"You'll find something," I reassured her, placing my head on my

arms trying to keep my eyes peeled but it was only a matter of
time before I drifted off.
After a long and stressful day of school, I waited till I saw
daddy's SUV pull up to pick me up. My head was throbbing and
I was ready to get a nap in before Hazel came over to get her
head done.
"How was school kid?" Daddy relaxed in his seat, waiting for me
to get situated in the car.
"It was aight," I leaned against the door, looking over to him.
"How was work?"
"Shifts not over, gotta drop you off and get right back to it," he
yawned, taking a sip from his Yeti tumbler. "Oh and yo' mama
had to pick up a shift tonight so you and Taylor behave,"

"When do we not behave?" I squinted my eyes and looked at

him dumbfounded.
"Why was Colbie at the house last night?" He asked randomly. I
watched his eyebrow raise as my stomach dropped to my feet.
"Thought we talked about this,"
"Huh," was the only thing that could flow from my lips before
he got loud with me. You only had a certain amount of time to
answer him before he

"Huh? Why was that boy in the house? You didn't ask if he
could come over let alone stay the night,"
"He showed up to apologize, it was late Pops so he stayed for a
little bit until I fell asleep," I said trying to keep from making eye
contact with him.
Daddy was very intimidating he definitely had me spooked since
I could remember. When I was a kid and he yelled at me, I'd just
bust out crying.

But as I got older I got used to him shouting considering it all

came from the heart. He never did anything out of spite, but
there was a point in time where he made me so mad I just quit
talking to him.

So I was ready for him to yell and scream at me but turns out he
had nothing left to say. He just nodded his head and kept
driving, the car was full of silence. It was so quiet the sound of
my phone ringing made me jump.
'What do you want Colbie'
"Talk to me nice," I said pressing the phone up against my ear, a
slight grin forming on my face.

"Where you at?"

"On the way home, why wassup?"
"Can I come through?"
"Yeah but I gotta do hair," I informed him, he usually would just
sit there and watch. He was amazed at how magical my hands
were.

I'd been braiding since I was about six, used to always do my

Barbie dolls head for fun. The small heads made it so hard for
me to braid.

When Christmas came around Daddy bought one of those life

sized mannequin heads. He told me there was a gift within my
hands that not too many people had.
Practicing on my braiding and sewing skills. And I was just
starting to learn how to make lace wigs.

I still had that same head and no longer used it because the
heads I do now pay me. But I still needed to practice on my
craft, all these new braiding styles I had to make sure I could
keep up.
"That's straight. You ate anything? I'm finna hit up Zaxby's. I
guess you want them nasty ass honey mustard wings?" He
chuckled lightly.
"They ain't nasty, yo' taste buds just f—," I paused realizing
daddy was in the car. I tried to catch myself before the word
slipped out fully. "Messed up,"
"Can't be if I think you taste good,"

"Shut up," I pressed my lips together and felt my eyes roll to the
back of my head.
He just laughed, I heard keys jiggling in the background. "Aight,
I'm finna leave campus. I'ma call when I'm on the way to yo'
crib,"
"Okay, bet,"
Daddy dropped me off at the house and he didn't even say
anything as I got out of the car. I just shrugged it off whatever
attitude he got he was gonna lose it. He can't be mad at me
forever.
When I got into the house, Taylor was laid out on the couch
chewing on gummy worms. I was convinced she was addicted
to Keeping Up With The Kardashians cause that's all I've ever
seen her watch.
"Hey, Tay," I said as I closed the door behind me. I dropped my
backpack down and went straight to the refrigerator, grabbing a
Minute Maid lemonade.
"How was school?" Taylor said. Her eyes following me as I
walked over by the couch moving her feet so I could sit down.
"It was straight," I breathed out. "Just glad it's Friday. How was
work?"
"I got fired," she twisted her lips and sat up from the couch,
wrapping her bag of gummy worms up.
"What? Why? You been doing good there what happened?" I
scrunched my eyebrows.
"I was late by a minute and when I get there the bitch gone tell
me to go home," Taylor scoffed and just bringing it up seemed
to piss her off all over again. "I been there for five months,
never missed a day and one minute cost me my whole job,"

"They grimey as fuck," Was the first thing to come out my

mouth. "What you gone do?"
"Kanan got me a job working for him," she looked away from
me and back at the TV. "Finna make more than I been making,
get me a apartment, and get out of Unc crib,"

"Doing what? Cause you know Kana–,"

"I know and you can't tell yo' mama or daddy nothing," her eyes
met mine, and I would never snitch. But he's gone have her in
harms way but for now my lips were sealed.

So I might sing a tune if I have too. I pray he don't have her in

harms way.

"Just be careful, please," My eyes bulged out, this wasn't the

best idea but I can't tell nobody what to do. Plus we all gotta
make a living somehow I just hope she don't get in too deep
with that shit.
"I'ma be careful," she smacked her lips and threw her head back
as she finished the last of her drink.
"You better be, I'm finna go set my room up I gotta do hair
today," I forced myself body up from the couch. "When Colbie
come let him in,"
"Aight," she said before sprawling back out on the couch.
In my room there was so much space, yet daddy insisted on me
having my own salon in the house.
He set up the whole room with chairs, all the equipment I
needed and fixed it up for me. He even made a vanity mirror for
it. He was very supportive and happy I wasn't out here being
a fast ass girl.

Momma on the other hand wanted me to be a doctor, like her.

But I wanted to do something I actually liked for the rest of my
life.

My clients name was Brittani, I'd never done her hair before but
she said her friend recommended me.
I'd done Diamond's hair numerous times and she was one of my
regulars. So maybe she's just as cool as her friend.

I always started by turning my speaker on, music made things

move fast for me. I wasn't a 's baby but I stayed listening to the
music. It was real and I could tell the artists actually cared about
their craft rather than the money they barely made.

I lit a inscense and waved it around letting the aromatic stick fill
the room with a wild berry fragrance. This was all just a silly
thing I did to relax myself. Tense muscles while braiding would
only give me arthritis and that's the last thing I needed.
Brittani got here before Colbie and her boyfriend tagged along.
He looked familiar and I recognized him right away. He was new
to my school and we shared a class together.
My fingers were aching from all the braiding I had to do tonight.
I wasn't going to complain, I made a natural two hundred
dollars today, and I ain't have to answer to nobody. I wish my
momma understood that this is what I wanted to do with my
life. I do shit on my own time.

Me being her only child, she wanted me to go to college like she

did. I made the right grades, had perfect attendance, and I
stayed out of trouble. I'm months away from earning my high
school diploma, but that's not enough for her.
If daddy didn't have a say so, I'd be graduating and going to
Texas Southern University for the next four years. But we've
talked and agreed that what I do with my life after graduation is
my choice. And I wanted to go ahead and start cosmetology
school so I could get a beautician license and have my own
salon.

"You got all these cute ass clothes," Niecey gasped, running her
fingers through the outfits in my closet. I did her hair in some
thicker box braids like she asked, and they turned out to be
perfect. She had the top half in a ponytail while the rest fell
down her back.
I told her she could get dressed here before her date, and I
could tell she was happy about meeting up with Carlos. They'd
been crushing on each other since I could remember, and now
they're finally testing out the waters.

"Get dressed and get out my closet," I shook my head, and she
shut the door behind her.
"What we doing tonight?" Colbie licked his lips and ran his hand
up and down my back. His hands were smooth, and when he
rubbed on me, it made me relax.

"You not even supposed to be here," I laughed, swinging my

feet back and forth on the bed, turning to face him. Colbie just
wore a smug look on his face making me roll my eyes.

And even though both of our parents were very familiar with
each other, he still wasn't allowed over without permission. He
was apart of the family, but my parents noticed we were getting
closer than usual and tried to set up barriers. And that only
made me sneakier.
Colbie and I grew up together; I'd see him almost every day as a
kid. Me being the shy kid that I was, I wasn't interested in
making friends at the time. I just liked being in my own little
world and distanced myself from other kids. Momma and
daddy thought it was weird that I was six and still didn't have a
friend to my name, so they forced Dalan and Tasia's kid to play
with me when they came over.
He was everything I wasn't outgoing, revolting, and was a boy.
We had nothing in common, and I hated when he came to my
room; he would destroy everything I owned. One day I just
completely lost it and punched him for touching my things. He
got mad and hit me back, so we only really fought the whole
time until our parents found us crying and broke up the
altercation.
But after that day we finally got along, and I didn't have any
problems out of him. And that's when we got older, spent every
moment together. We also attended the same high school, and
most days, he'd pick me up and take me to school.
And one day after school, we studied and did the usual shit, but
he kissed me. It was unexpected, and I liked it, but it felt wrong.
It tainted our friendship in my honest opinion, and as much as I
wanted to go back to the friendly side of things, it was hard.
I wanted a relationship with him, but I knew what type of nigga
Colbie is. He wasn't ready for consignment; he worried more
about his pleasure and what satisfied him. And it's a good thing
I wasn't letting my feelings get in the way; I had to stop that
shit.
"We ain't gotta stay in the house. We can catch a movie or
sum," he bit down on his lip and kept his brown eyes locked on
mine. I was never one to stare, but his large pecan eyes were
hypnotizing. His hand still rubbing up and down my back, I
started to feel tingles up my spine.

I just felt my cheeks rise, and I turned around to face him fully,
my body lying beside him. His lips pressed against the skin on
my face. "What you tryna do?" He asked, pulling away from me
and chuckled.
"Let's ride around the city, and I don't feel like getting dressed.
I'm tired and hungry," I yawned, and his face scrunched up, his
fingers going over his nose, making me roll my eyes. "Don't
even do that. My breath do not stink,"
"Shit," he dragged and rocked his head side to side. "But you
just ate fat ass, that's all you do is eat,"
"And I wanna eat again, and I might get hungry after that nigga.
Mind yo' business," I rolled my eyes at him and tried to get up
from the bed, but he pulled me back down. His eyes looking at
my lips and back up at me as he pushed his soft lips onto mine.
He pulled away and gave me an alluring stare before kissing me
again.
They felt like clouds and his hands were so rough yet smooth
with me. I felt him pull me in closer, deepening our kiss and his
tongue poked in between making me pull away while laughing.
"Stop," I immediately thought about my friend who had been
out of the closet for some time now.

I turned toward her and her eyes were wide but she raised her
hands in defense. "I ain't see nothing," she smirked and
grabbed her backpack, putting her school clothes inside of it.
She wore a red Tommy Hilfiger crop top that showcased her
diamond belly button ring. Her skinny jeans had tiny rips in
them and her shoes just so happened to be some red and black
Air Jordan 's.
"Good," Colbie said pulling on my arm while his teeth bit down
on his lip. I just rolled my eyes at him, he didn't care who was
watching us. But I did.
"Shut up,"
As I got up to lead her downstairs and lock the door, Colbie's
hand gripped onto my ass making me swat his hand away. "Are
you excited?"
"A little nervous, do I look fine?" she twisted her lips looking
down at her outfit and back up at her. I didn't see anything
wrong with what she had on. "You know I don't dress up like
that and we just going mini-golfing,"
"Girl, you're fine stop overthinking. Text me after," I smiled at
her and waved her off.
Awe, they just grow up so fast. I thought to myself, treating
Niecey like she was my seed or something. But I've watched her
blossom into this amazing girl, she was my best friend and
finally going on a date with somebody that was interested in
pursuing her.
I made my way upstairs, overhearing Colbie on FaceTime with
somebody just making me roll my eyes. He was such a fucking
ho, like could you call your bitches after you leave? It irritated
me to the highest degree, I stood by the door listening to their
conversation.
"When you gone come over and do that thing I like?" I heard
him chuckle and I ain't ever rolled my eyes so hard, he was such
a nigga and I hated that.

"Mmm, I don't know," she giggled and I knew he was just

cheesing all in the phone, goofy-ass bitch. I couldn't stand him
sometimes. I had plenty of niggas on my line asking when they
could see me, but I chose to be around him, how stupid of me.

"You don't know?" He smacked his teeth. "I' ma pull up later on

since you can't make yo' mind up,"
"Boy, no, my mama nem gone be home. What you doing
tomorrow night?" I heard her ask, and I got tired of listening, so
I just walked back into my room.
"Really, Colbie? He's gone be wit' me tomorrow," I said and
heard the call end.

"Yo, what the fuck Tana," he tossed his phone and rose from the
bed.
"Yo, what the fuck Tana," I mocked him and sucked my teeth.
"Shut the fuck up and quit calling yo' bitches when you at my
house,"

"Man, whatever," he huffed out and tried to pull my waist

toward him.

"Don't touch me," I scoffed and pushed him away. "You can't
even go five minutes without being a hoe. You was kissing me
tryna make plans, then go and call some stankin' ass bitch. Go
be wit' her,"
"Quit being jealous," he chuckled, chucking a pillow at my head.
"It's cute though,"

"Nah, it's gone be cute when I start calling niggas around you.
See how you like that shit," I bent down to pick the pillow up
and hit him in the head with it. "Have some fucking respect for
me, can you do that?"
"Santana," he said blankly and tried grabbing me. "Come here,
the fuck,"
"No, let me go," I snatched his hand away and brushed past
him, sitting on the edge of my bed. "I don't even wanna go
anywhere so you can go lay up wit' ole girl you ain't getting back
in this bed,"

"Who ain't?" he raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I'm gone lay

here, witchu, you my nigga. You come before any other female.
Quit acting like that when I'm here with you. I love you; I don't
love them, other bitches. I know I got a weird way of showing it,
but I ain't ready to settle down. I thought we done went over
this? Why is it so hard for you to understand?"

"Because," I dragged the word and grew more agitated. "I don't
talk to other niggas, and I don't like other niggas, I only want
you. I cut off niggas and ignore niggas cause my feelings are
with you, and you come over here kiss up on me and tell me
you love me and some more shit just to do the same with some
funky bitch you want head from. It's not fair,"

He just stood against my dresser and dropped his head. His

hand rubbed against his chin, and he dropped it down to his
side. "Look, I'm young, and I do dumb shit all the time. You
want me to commit and hurt you even more? That's not my
intention; I don't wanna hurt you. I'd rather us stay friends, and
once I get rid of my childish ways then we could talk about
being more,"

"Yeah," I nodded my head and just shrugged my shoulders,

concluding that I should kill that thought of us ever being
anything more than friends. I get where he's coming from, but
at the same time, if you loved me like you say, you'd drop all
that shit for something real. "Just don't come over here doing
the shit you do. I don't want your lips or hands-on me anymore.
That shits dead,"

But I' ma play along with it. I' ma start texting these niggas back
and keeping him at arm's length. No more touching, kissing,
spending the night, all that shits dead. Since he can't seem to
keep his dick in his pants.

"You doing too much now," he squinted his eyes and shook his
head at me.

"How? How is that doing too much, Colbie? If you wanna go out
and play these females, then do it, but you're not about to play
me right along with em. You can't have yo' cake and eat it too.
Shit might work like that with the other girls, but it's not sliding
by me,"
"Alright," he nodded his head and twisted his lips, deeply
sighing before moving away from the dresser. "I'm sorry, and no
more of that lovey-dovey shit aight? I'm gone chill out, and we
finna get you some to eat. You still hungry?"
"Nah," I said, getting up from the bed and got behind him,
pushing him out of my room and slamming the door in his face.
"Santana, foreal?" I heard his voice project through the door.
"Quit being childish all the damn time,"
My back was against the door and just tried to breathe. My
moods were all over the place, and when I don't get what I
want, I get upset. I wanted us to work out, and I probably
overreacted about everything, but it just hurts.
I'm gone bounce back, though; I don't hurt for long.
Okay, class," Mr. Simmons took a pause thinking that the class
would remain quiet but with all these rowdy seniors and
freshman he was not pleased. This class had to have been his
least favorite. We hardly listened and when a quiz or test came
around, everybody would fail.
They were too worried about the drama and it cost them their
grade in this class. But we seniors didn't care cause we didn't
need much to graduate, most of us didn't even need this class.
But I tried to pay attention, I wasn't easily distracted like
everybody else. My grades had to be good, my parents checked
my grades every week.

"Alright, new seating chart," he scoffed moving toward his desk

grabbing a clipboard and a sheet of printer paper. I just blew
out air knowing this was not gonna solve his problems.

"You do a seating chart every month and shit don't change. Just
leave it alone bruh, we gone talk to whoever we sit beside,"
Tysen shouted making the room grow silent for once. Mr.
Simmons turn his head and raise an eyebrow at Tysen.
"Your permanent seat can be outside my classroom," he scoffed
and Tysen just shrugged, Niecey just looked over to me making
me push my lips up. I did not like laughing in these types of
situations but it was too late.

I hated when she gave me a look, she could've just grazed her
attention onto me and I would've laughed. We were just goofy
as hell and it was in our nature, nothing against the teacher.

"Ain't nobody sitting outside, I might as well go home," he

smacked his lips and grabbed his bag already knowing he was
about to be sent to the office. He and Mr. Simmons had one of
those love-hate relationships. When they got along everything
was peaches and cream and he was actually one of the more
chill teachers.
Tysen being the token class clown, Simmons would laugh along
to his jokes but this wasn't the time. Even though he was just
being honest, he was already upset.
"Everybody, stand up, I'm making a new seating chart," he
paced back and forth through the front of the classroom. And of
course everybody groaned but what the fuck did they expect?
Nobody stays on task, our class is always disruptive and he can
never finish a lecture cause who cares about school anymore?
Everybody shuffled around to gather their belongings, some
putting stuff away and some were already on their way to the
front standing around the room.
Neicey and I stood in front of the active board, hoping he'd at
least sit me beside my best friend. I gazed around trying to
figure out where Tysen went, standing by a group of freshmen
girls.

Typical.
We just rolled our eyes and listened for Mr. Simmons to call out
our names. It got boring after a while he was just staring around
most of the time and this was taking up most of the period. He
was a good teacher though, loved his jobs and students. I kinda
wish I had him a different time cause it's been like this all year.
"Santana," he called my name pointing to a table in the far left
corner. This is the first time he put me in the back and I pray to
God he doesn't sit me next to some weirdo or somebody I can't
stand. Cause whew, these freshmen are annoying and there are
a few little girls in here that swear they grown.

I grabbed on my backpack strap and stepped to my new seat

and I knew I would like it, I could see everything and I could nap
every day. I did all my work and I knew the curriculum pretty
well dad and mama taught me a lot of black history coming up
as a child.
I was around six when they first introduced me to all the
hardcore facts. The Emmitt Till's and the Central Park story. And
the fact that shit like this happens yet goes unnoticed made me
sick to my stomach.

My mind wandered and I grabbed my backpack pulling out my

bag of Flamin Funyun's. Opening up the bag a lot of heads
turned and I didn't know why cause I don't share my food with
anybody in this class.

I don't share food, with anybody. Not even Niecey can get a chip
but she already knows this. My small hands dug into the bag,
popping a Funyun into my mouth, these chips were so good. I
didn't even care that they funked my breath up, I kept a pack of
gum on me.

"Niecey," he called her name sitting her down a seat across

from me. I can work with that and knowing us we'll be the
reason the class continues to be loud.
I smiled and her and she turned to me and rolled her eyes. "You
always eating,"
"And?" I smacked my lips, continuing to chew the chips in my
mouth.
She yawned and turned facing the front and rested her head on
her arms. I couldn't wait to do the same, he was gone be
assigning seats for the rest of the period.

The number of students standing got slimmer and slimmer, the

seat beside me was still empty and he put Tysen on the other
side of the room. He sat the new kid, Rashawn next to me and I
really didn't care anymore considering Neicey was nearby.
"Tomorrow, we'll discuss the Black Panther movement. And
I'ma need every last one of y'all on your best behavior cause
I've got to a point where I'm just gonna start writing you guys
up," he scoffed and went over to his desk, giving us the last few
minutes of class to do whatever.
"So let me tell you about Carlos," Niecey turned around and
smirked causing my eyebrows to raise. "This nigga takes me out,
we having a good time and everything. But I ain't heard from
him and it's irritating cause I was starting to really like him,"
And I would be irritated too, shit. He could have let her know if
something was up and if he wasn't feeling her that's all he had
to say.

But don't leave my girl hanging, took a lot for her to even go out
with him.
This new generation of boys are bums.

I didn't understand it. They all wanted things to go there way

and us females only want what's best for us.
"Have you tried texting him?" I asked rolling my bag of chips up
and slipping them into my bag. My tongue licked the residue off
my fingers, that's honestly the best part.

"I ain't the one missing, he posed to texted me when he got

home and didn't. He better be lucky I ain't pop up where he
stay. I'ma see him next period tho," she rolled her eyes picking
her backpack up and sliding it over her shoulder.
"Well he got some explaining to do," I smacked my lips and
rolled my neck. The bell rang making me jump out of my seat
and into somebodies chest.
"Watch where the fuck you going," he said smacking his lips and
nudging me off of him.

"You saw me getting up, you need to watch where the

fuck you going," I pulled my strap onto my shoulder and rolled
my eyes at him.
"Man whatever," he scoffed and brushed past me making me
irritable. I turned toward Niecey who was already laughing but I
was annoyed. And she kept laughing making me flip her off.
"That's why yo' lash hanging," she covered her mouth and I
raised an eyebrow.
"You lying," my voice grew more firm and she handed me her
phone, the camera already on. My damn lash was damn near
ripped off and I wanted to scream. I didn't have any glue so it
was in my best interest to just take them both off. "Bruh, these
my good lashes,"

I whined and stomped my feet like a dramatic toddler. I had a

lash addiction, wore them every day and when I didn't have
them on I felt naked. I ripped them off and rolled my eyes as I
walked out of the class and into the crowded hallway.
The funkiest part of the whole school. It smelled straight like
body odor and horny ass teenagers. Couples pressed up against
walls, lockers, and the staircase. Just swapping saliva and feeling
on each other like nobody could see them.
"How the fuck do they breathe?" Niecey turned her nose up as I
pulled my perfume from my backpack just spritzing the scent all
throughout the halls.
"Through they damn ears I guess, I hate it here. I need May to
hurry the hell up," I held my nose continuing to spray, putting
the lid back on and sliding it into the stretchy compartment and
weaving my way through these bodies.
"Yes, graduation me please, I'm finna get homeschooled I don't
even wanna be here anymore," Neicey groaned throwing her
head back.
"Aye, Neicey?" I heard Carlos say from behind us, pulling her
close to him.
"Why the fuck you ain't text me back Carlos. I'm not these
regular bitches quit so don't treat me like one," she spoke with
her hands and he just shut her up by kissing her. My eyes
widened and so did hers but I could tell she was enjoying it. So I
just let her be, walking to my next class.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I just rolled my eyes seeing
Colbie's name flashing.
"What?" I dragged the word out just looking down at him,
smiling.
"You still mad at me?"
"Fuck does it look like? Why you even calling me don't you have
class?" I looked up walking into my third period. Finding my seat
next to the door and holding my phone up as I looked at myself.
"Look like you ain't that mad. Since you answered the phone for
me," he licked his lips. "What you doing after school?"
"Homework probably, why?" I raised an eyebrow at him.
"I need you to help me with this paper,"
"I'll FaceTime you when I get home then," I put my eyes up at
all the other kids walking into class.
"Nah, I'm gone pull up I need all the help I can get," he
scratched his head.
"Don't just tell me what you gone do. And when yo' paper done
you can take yo' ass home,"
So, what's the argument over?" Santana crossed her legs on her
bed, fiddling with her black ink pen. She was working on her
Pre-Calculus homework while also helping Colbie. Just another
one of their old study sessions, this was their first time in
months helping each other out.
Santana was still upset with him, best friends or not what
Colbie did hurt her. He seemed to be all for her behind closed
doors, but he was really just for everybody. He liked keeping his
player image, getting into a relationship with any girl would ruin
that for him. And he wanted to wait until he grew out of his
phase to actually be with Santana, but she was long gone.

Studying was the most he'd be getting out of her.

"Uh, my argument is that black people are owed more than

three rights. We built this country," Colbie said jotting some
topics he wanted to add to his paper.
"Okay, what rights are we owed?" Santana challenged him,
hoping that would help spark some ideas. She had her own
thoughts but didn't want to give them away right away.
"We deserve to be treated equally, it's . Mothafuckas still treat
us like it's the 's. Did these niggas not get the memo?" he
scoffed, writing that down as one of his arguments. His parents
were activists for the black community, they didn't miss any
protests, and were very consistent in supporting black business.
It rubbed off on him considering it had been around him since a
child.

They went back and forth, she helped him out and let him start
on his paper while she worked on her homework for today. SZA
was playing at a low volume, giving Santana some piece of
mind. There was so much tension in the air, but she didn't feel
the need to speak on their last encounter. He knew how she felt
and the fact that he wouldn't address it bothered her. It was
disrespectful and even though they both agreed to just strictly
be friends, she was owed an apology.
"Why am I so easy to forget like that? It can't be that easy for
you to get like that. Oh, no she didn't. Ooh, yes I did," she sang
quietly to the mellow song. The song kind of reminded her of
their weird relationship.

She dreamed of being with Colbie for the rest of her life.
Although she was still young, she had her life planned out. And
her and Colbie was one thing she was sure about until he pulled
that childish ass stunt.
He was just scared of really breaking her heart, he hasn't done
real damage but niggas like him are the type you want to stay
away from. There were girls falling at their feet for him and he
loved that shit. It was dangerous for any female that wanted to
involve themselves with Colbie. He was too friendly for Santana
and she hated that.
She wanted a man that only had eyes for her, and would let
these other thirsty tricks know what was up. Colbie wasn't that
type and as much as she wanted him to be, she just had to
accept the harsh reality. They were better off as best friends.

There was a tap on her bedroom door, her mother sticking her
head in the room. She had just got off her long morning shift,
her baggy eyes and cup of coffee were all apart of her wardrobe
working in the hospital.
"Hey," she looked at Santana whose eyes were glued to her
Calculus notes. She raised her head up and smiled seeing her
mom in her door frame. "There's some food downstairs if you
guys are hungry. I'm going to bed and if you need anything call
your father,"
"Okay," Santana nodded and bit down on the end of her pen.
"Love you,"
"Love you too," her mom spoke dragging her words and left her
room and bedroom door opened. It irritated her but she just
got up to close it instead.

"Mmm," Colbie moaned watching Santana from behind. "Who

making you thick?"

"Colbie," she glared at him, walking back to her bed and

dropping down on her mattress. "Let's not, okay? I told you this
thing between me and you is a dead situation,"
"You right, my bad," he nodded and laid his body across the bed
as he started typing on his laptop. "But yo' ass is getting fat,"
He raised his hands up and defense, Santana just rolled her eyes
at him not even giving him a response. He wasn't owed one and
she was just trying to finish her damn homework. It was a ton
of assignments and she managed her time wisely so she wasn't
killing herself with school work.
"Aight, so I got my rough draft written," Colbie sighed, his
fingers were aching from all the typing he had to do. words
done and his work was nowhere near perfect. He had a
tendency to overthink and overdo his work, he needed
everything he touched to be perfect.

"Lemme read it," Santana squinted her eyes, grabbing his

laptop and started skimming through the words he typed out. It
was coming along in her eyes and she noticed some grammar
mistakes that could easily be fixed.
She nodded and passed it back to him, critiquing a few things
but for the most part his argument was valid. For a smart ass
guy, he sure had some dumb ways.
-

"Alright class," Mr. Simmons clasped his hands together. "Today,

I'm throwing y'all into groups. You get to choose one person in
history whose story changed the way black people are viewed
in today's society,"

He was good at picking the kids brain, and that was one thing
Santana liked. She was always up for a challenge and this being
one of her favorite classes she couldn't wait to start on the
project. She automatically glimpsed at Niecey, and she looked
back at her. They were always group partners so this should be
a breeze.

"Yeah, you guys aren't picking your partners. I made that

mistake the first few times with this class," He leaned against
the desk in front of the class, he looked around the room. There
was no method to his madness he just grouped people together
in their rows.

And he just so happened to put Santana and Ra'Shawn in a

group together. She wasn't too fond of him and he just was too
quiet but also very rude to her for no apparent reason.

She turned her desk around to face him, hoping he'd at least
participate for the sake of their grades. He just glared at her,
looking her up and down.

"Why you looking like that?" She raised an eyebrow opening up

the school's Chromebooks and getting ready to do research.
He didn't say anything and that frustrated her, she just blew out
air and rolled her eyes. "I'm not doing this project alone so I
suggest you kill that fucking attitude and help me,"
"Aye, Ion know who the fuck you take me fa' but you ain't finna
talk to me like you crazy," he spoke with a thick New Orleans
accent. He definitely wasn't from Texas and she peeped that
right away. "I'a help from a distance, just turn yo' luh desk
around and leave me the fuck alone,"

She looked around the room and let out a big scoff. This was not
a good idea for either one of them to be partnered up. She was
already an asshole and Ra'Shawn was just a bigger asshole.

"Mr. Simmons?" Santana said getting up from her seat and

walking up to his desk. "Is there any way I can do this project
solo? I work better by myself,"

"It's a group assignment for a reason Santana," he chuckled

moving side to side in his chair. "Just gonna have to do your
best,"
"Ugh," she groaned going back to her seat, looking at Ra'Shawn
who seemed to have kept his eyes glued onto her. "What?"
"None, gone start on the project," he waved her off and
slouched down in his seat, twirling his pencil in his hand. He
had no Chromebook, no paper out, not even a book to
reference from. Just by the look on his face it was easy to tell he
didn't care at all about this class.
"Whose story are we using?" Santana rolled her neck and
looked up at him from the laptop. This grade was detrimental to
her final grade for the semester, he may not care about his
grades but she took pride in making good grades.,
"Don't matta," he shrugged his shoulders.
"So I guess I'll just be doing this shit by myself," she mumbled to
herself and pressed her back against the chair.
"That's fine, less work for me to do," he chuckled raising up and
snatching the Chromebook from her desk. "Nah, I'ma help just
keep yo' smart ass remarks to yo' self."

"Yeah, no," she said snatching the Chromebook back and rolled
her eyes. "There's a whole cart up there go get you one,"
"I don't feel like it, and we partnas we can share," he smirked.
"No we can't. It'll take longer to finish the project," she deeply
sighed and looked over to Niecey who was laughing it up with
another girl in the class. Santana just sighed deeply, everybody
seemed to be content with their partners while she had to
suffer.
Ra'Shawn got up from his seat going to cart and grabbing one of
the last few Chromebooks and returned back to his seat. He ran
his hand across his face as he opened it up and started to
search for some uplifting stories.
"We can do the story of William and Ellen Craft," Santana
twisted her lips and looked down reading the article on the
couple that escaped slavery.
She explained the story to him and he just nodded, not really
caring about anything. The faster they finish the project, the
faster she can leave him alone. He hated being around people,
besides his girlfriend and he was getting tired of her.

He had no real issue with Santana it was just the way he came
up. He hardly had friends and the ones he did have turned fake
when he needed them most. He stopped giving people his time
cause time is a precious thing to waste.

"That sound fine," he agreed and looked up the story.

"Aye, Ellen a real bitch," he said to himself not bothering
anybody but it was loud and caught the attention of the class.

"Ain't nobody realer than Harriet Tubman," Tysen said from

across the room, he seemed to think his input was always
needed.

"Ain't nobody ask you, Tysen," Santana yelled back to him.

The class was almost over and the students started to wrap
things up. Mr. Simmons was giving the class two weeks to write
a report, create a powerpoint, and show a video relating to the
topic. It was a lot for the students but it was worth the points.
Lunchtime had rolled around and Santana pulled her lunchbox
out, getting all her food sat out so she could eat. She hardly
ever talked, just listened. And all they did was gossip and she
honestly didn't care about what freshmen were giving neck at
the games.

She was in her own little world and only ever talked to Niecey.
But Niecey was usually apart of the messy conversations so
Santana kinda just watched YouTube while eating.
"This seat empty?" she heard that strong and deep southern
accent come from behind her. He pressed his lips together.
Santana turned around and nodded her head putting her
attention back to her phone.
"Where you usually sit?" she looked over at him and popped a
slice of an orange in her mouth.
"Ova thea." he said referring to a circular table in the front of
the cafeteria, it was full and Santana noticed him sitting alone a
few times. He was a loner, for the most part, just kept to himself
and didn't bother for all the hype.
"Where you from?" a maple shaded girl rested her chin on the
palm of her hand.
"New Awlins," he said opening his grape PB&J sandwich and
tearing off the crust before eating it. The peanut butter was
sticking to the roof of his mouth so he was sucking it off making
smacking noises.

"Can you not smack in my ear?" Santana scoffed getting

squirmy from the sound, she hated when people smacked. But
it wasn't intentional on his behalf.
"Can you not be such a bitch?" He instantly regretted calling her
that word. He heard men call his mother one his whole life and
it was too late for him to take it back.

The table gasped and Santana just flared her nostrils. "Yo'
mama a bitch nigga," she grabbed her stuff and dismissed
herself from the table. She hated that word with a passion. She
thought she could at least tolerate the boy but now she didn't
even wanna be around him, at all.
He grabbed her wrist tight making her stop in her tracks. He
licked his lips and looked up at her, his dark eyes glowered at
her. He parted his lips getting the words ready but he didn't
know what to say, so he was just staring.
She snatched away from him and left the cafeteria, taking her
food to the library.
You know I don't do parties," I looked over at Niecey, sighing as
we made our way to Tysen's birthday bash.

"Well, you doing it tonight. We gone turn the fuck up!" She
turned back to me and smirked, I just took her word for it and
sighed sitting back in my seat.
Tysen was turning eighteen and what way to celebrate than to
throw the biggest party for our senior year. His parents rented
out a venue and him being 'Instagram famous' meant that this
part was not gonna be boring.
It was gonna be overcrowded and hot. I applied another coat of
lipgloss like the first three layers wasn't enough. I liked my lips
slipping in gloss, it was just the way it felt on my mouth.

At least my lips weren't crusty as hell.

"Hey, you a pussy-ass, dancing-ass, bitchin'-ass nigga. Fuck is
that? With your lil' prancing ass. You in love your romantic ass,"
Niecey rapped in the front seat, playing her music on the aux
while Carlos just shook his head and smiled at her.
"I'm the type ah bitch that'll damage that," I shouted, getting
crunk off the Queen Key song. I wasn't that type of girl by a long
shot, but she always seemed to take me out of my character.

I loved her.
My phone was out, my arm extended, and I snapped all types of
selfies. I had my hair cut into a shoulder-length bob, one of the
wigs I made finally came in handy.
My phone buzzed and the facial expression I had, faded. What
the fuck does this nigga want?

"Aye, where you at?" Colbie yelled, loud music blasting from
behind him. It was dark and I could only see him when the red
strobe lights flashed on him which was for a split second. "It's
getting packed in here, I'ma meet you out front aight?"
"I'm on the way," I said hanging up the phone and went back to
taking my selfies, posting a few onto my private story. I put my
eyes down, keeping my focus on my phone as we made our way
to the venue.
When we pulled up, the music was bumping. I could hear the
music from a block away, hoping the music wouldn't make me
too uncomfortable. I hated parties so much that whenever
there was one I'd just turn my phone off. They made me
anxious and watching other people turn up made me feel a way.

I could never enjoy them like everybody else, I wasn't much of

an outgoing girl and I hate having to yell over music just to have
a decent conversation. It looks fun on Snapchat and Twitter and
hopefully I break out of my shell tonight because lord knows
these midterms coming up were gonna stress a bitch out.

My feet trailed behind Neicey and Carlos, they were all cuddled
up. Must be nice, I always wanted something like that. They
were so comfortable with each other and enjoyed each other's
company. And Carlos wasn't the type of guy to play around, he
was very serious when it came to giving his time away.
I felt my dress start to ride up, these thongs all up in my ass
making me miserable. It made my booty move more but lord,
never again. I swear I'm never taking any advice on this type of
thing ever again. It may work for her but this shit felt like a
neverending wedgie.

Colbie was sitting at one of the benches outside, he wore his all-
black Sox snapback to the side. His dreads were twisted into
two-strands and I'd be lying if I said he didn't look good.
Strictly best-friends, Santana.
I wouldn't be surprised if he left the party with some random
girl. He was just as thirsty as the hoes. We made eye contact,
his tongue sitting on top of his bottom lip. "Well, you look
good," He complimented me and brushed himself off as he got
up from the seat.
"Thank you, Colbie," I said in a dead tone, not using any
expression or tone in my voice. He jerked his head back and
scoffed, fixing the hat on his head and wrapping his arm around
my shoulder. He smelled like some expensive cologne, it almost
had me swooning over him. That wasn't what he usually
smelled like, I could tell he was really trying tonight.
"What I do now?" he said into my ear as we walked into the
party, the DJ already had everybody jumping up and down and
the party wasn't supposed to start for another ten minutes. The
bass bouncing off the walls, making all the teens move to the
beat.
Colbie knew the song, just rapping in my ear and I just moved
his face away from me. Niecey left me with this nigga for the
night. I could hardly see, looking around to find my friend but
just shrugged it off. I could turn up with Colbie, but knowing
him he'd leave me too.

YNW Melly's voice got me moving, this was one of our favorite
songs. "What all do you want from me, AR's and them 's fuckin
'round wit' me you see, I'm hot I'm degrees,"

He raised my hand up as I swayed back and forth. He managed

to move behind me, my ass moving against him. I knew what I
was doing, winding my hips into him. We kept it up for the rest
of the song.
Gunna's lullaby type beat started and as of right now it was one
of my favorite songs. He was probably one of my favorite
rappers from this year, his beats were different and he brought
the bougie version of me.
I could twerk to this song, but this was one of the songs I
pointed and rapped to. I didn't know who I was pointing to but I
was foreal and a circle was forming. A bunch of niggas that
thought they knew how to dance bounced around. Me and
Colbie went to go see the hype.
He kept his arm on my shoulder and kept me close to him,
trying to play the protective best friend role. He annoyed me
sometimes, but let the roles reverse and he gone be ready to
leave. I hope he don't think I'ma be under him all night.
It was like a dance-off, Tysen's ass was hyping them both up.
But neither one of these boys could dance so it was funny and
entertaining. Everybody had they cameras out, flashes blinding
them as they gyrated inside the circle.

My eyes wandered unintentionally I felt someone looking at me

and I wasn't wrong. I don't know what Ra'Shawn was doing
here, I didn't think he knew anybody in town. Then I
remembered that he was at our lunch table on Friday so Tysen
probably invited him.
I instantly looked away, not even wanting to lock eyes with him.
He had me fucked up, we already didn't get along for whatever
reason. Then had the nerve to call me out of my name, he lucky
I just left cause I wanted to bat him in his shit.

I noticed his girlfriend was beside him, chewing gum while

watching the boys dance. She looked like she didn't even wanna
be here.
The dancing clowns got boring after a while, my attention span
was a bitch. I could barely focus on one thing without my mind
drifting to something else.

"I'm finna go see what they got at these tables," I said referring
to the table full of food. I'm honestly shocked I'm not obese, all
the food I consume in a day is unhealthy.

Like, I eat hot Funyuns for breakfast. Why is my waist so thin?

Tysen's mama really did her thing with catering, they had
everything over here. It was finger foods but I didn't care, I
would eat everything over here.
I grabbed a paper plate, looking around at all the food. I'm glad
there was some type of light in here cause I could barely see
with how dark it was on the dance floor. I scanned my options,
putting one of everything on my plate.
"Damn, all you do is eat huh?" his voice was so easy to point
out, it was thicker than butter but was as smooth as silk. It was
also deep, making my skin crawl. "Of course I'a find you by the
food,"
"It's all I know," I said, shrugging my shoulders forgetting this
was the same disrespectful ass nigga. "You following me or
sum?"
"Nah," he laughed looking down at me. He was as tall as a
beanstalk and if he wasn't such a dickhead I'd climb all on him.

Girl, we don't like this nigga.

"Okay, you obviously saw me come over here? And I don't like
you so I suggest you back up before I stab you with this fork," I
spoke with annoyance all in my voice, turning back to the table,
picking up a few pinwheels, my favorite finger food.

"Nah, I just came to apologize fa' yesterday. I ain' mean ta' call
you a bitch. So, I'm sorry fa' being disrespectful," he lifted his
head up and swung his arms back and forth. It was genuine not
one of those backhanded ass apologies. 'Sorry you took it the
wrong way' or 'Sorry you a bitch'

"I accept," I said pressing my lips together and placed my fork

on my lips.
"So, we good?" he said grabbing a plate and started to do the
same thing I was doing but was just talking about me eating all
the time, fine ass hypocrite.

"We good," I nodded, standing in front of the Doritos, throwing

them on my plate.
"Tana," Colbie said making his way back over to me. "I was
looking for you,"
"See you found me," I sighed and popped a Nacho cheese chip
in my mouth, the crunching sound making the loud music fade.
"Want some chips?"
"You actually sharing?" he raised an eyebrow, reaching for my
plate, grabbing a chip and I popped his hand.
"Don't put yo' dirty ass hands near my plate," I scolded him,
grabbing the chip he touched and handing it to him. "Here,"
"You got issues mama," he said shaking his head, him and
Ra'Shawn exchanging looks. They were around each other
before, he was at the house while I did his girlfriend's hair.
"I'a see you Monday," Ra'Shawn said licking his lips and nodding
his head at me as he carried his plate to an empty table. I
wasn't trying to be weird but I was staring at him.
"Hello," Colbie waved his hand in front of my face making me
jump, my food falling out of my hand.

"What? Damn you made me drop my shit," I scoffed, bending

over to pick everything up so I could throw it away.
"My bad," he said helping me, picking the rest up for me. "But I
was asking you something, you wasn't even paying me
attention. I'll make you another plate, I'm sorry,"
"It's okay," I breathed through my nose, tossing the old plate
into a trash can. "What you ask me?"
"Just wanted to know why you was staring at ole dude. You
feeling him?" he smirked, nudging my arm and I shook my head
fast, a little too fast for my liking.
"Nah, I don't even know him like that,"
Was I feeling him? Maybe a little but it would never work. He
got a girlfriend for one and I know we wouldn't be able to date
without bumping heads every five minutes.,
"Yeah, you do. Can tell by how you look at him," Colbie nodded
his head. "I ain't gone be jealous, cause I'm yo' future, he can be
for now,"
"Colbie, shut the hell up,"
"I'm deadass. I might not be what you want right now but when
the time's right I'ma be just what you need," he lifted my chin
with his index finger. "Believe that,"
There was a bunch of commotion as I fluttered my eyes open. I
was not in my bed, but this one was wider than mine. The black
and blue bedspread and seeing Colbie sitting in a chair with his
headset on as he played Call of Duty. I pushed my body up with
my hands; my body seemed not to have as much energy. Even
though I was awake, I still felt tired.
We didn't get here until like three something this morning, and I
wasn't aware of the time, but seeing Colbie in no shirt and a
pair of basketball shorts made me assume it was still early in
the day.
"Morning," I guess I was moving too much, he turned his head
for a split second and put his eyes back on the screen.
"Good morning," I said in a hoarse tone, I screamed all last
night. Glad I had a good time but I just had to lose my voice in
the process.
Colbie chuckled and I rolled my eyes knowing he was gonna find
the shit funny. I can't even say fuck you without sounding like
something died in my throat. I threw the covers off of me, I was
no longer in my tight fitted dress but a baggy ass t-shirt of
Colbie's.
I made his bed, grabbing my phone from his TV stand. He
moved my hips out the way so he could see his game but I did
not give two shits about that funky ass game, he sucked
anyways.
"Watch out," he smacked his lips and I moved with an attitude,
stepping aside and pulling my phone from the charger.
I was glad I had called and told my parents I was staying with
Colbie, or I would've woke up with numerous texts from daddy
telling me to bring my ass on home. I moved back to the bed,
sitting on the edge, crossing my legs and watching him play his
game.
"You want something to eat?" he turned toward me, dropping
his controller on the ground and I just nodded, not even
wanting to speak knowing it wouldn't bring my voice back.
"Come on,"
"Yo' mama nem know I'm here?" I talked in a gravelly tone,
rolling my eyes just hearing how bad my voice had gotten.
"Yeah, they know but they not here. Had some meeting to go to
in Dallas," he shrugged and licked his lips as he led me
downstairs to his kitchen. He opened the pantry, showing me all
the boxes of cereal he had. He wasn't a chef at all, so I'll be
damned if he got in front of a stove.
I pointed to the Cinnamon Toast Crunch and he handed them to
me. He grabbed Fruity Pebbles for himself and went to get
bowls for both of us. I sighed, listening to the cereal hit the
bottom of the bowl. I shook the box until my bowl was filled
halfway. I fixed the bag inside the box before closing it and
putting it back.

Colbie poured milk into both of our bowls, slipping a spoon into
my cereal as he stood across from me. Nothing but crunching
and moaning, when we ate we did just that. I hated talking with
a mouth full anyway so it was easy to avoid.
"What's that niggas name you was staring at?" Colbie smirked
making my eyes go to the back of my head.

"Ra'Shawn?" I raised an eyebrow and he nodded, laughing

before filling his mouth with Fruity Pebbles. "Why you care so
much?"
"We still best friends Santana," he shrugged his shoulders.
"Wanted to know what typa nigga he was, don't need you
fuckin' wit dese lames"

"Nigga, you lame," I sighed, even though I had no real feelings

for Ra'Shawn, I thought he was cute but that was it. His attitude
seemed too nasty for me and I wasn't even gonna set myself up
like that.
Colbie was my best friend but I still felt uncomfortable telling
him about who I was crushing on. Only because of our feelings
for each other, it would throw everything off. He had my best
interest at heart and I respect him for telling me how it is
instead of getting with me and doing me dirty. He wanted me
happy and I wanted the same for him.

"I'm really that nigga," he laughed, his dreads getting all in his
face, he moved them out of his way. "I can show you better
than I can tell you,"

I just gave him a sure nod before slurping the cinnamon

flavored milk. They really needed to make it it's own milk, I'd
drink the fuck outta that shit. It tasted better than the cereal.

We went back to his room after washing our dishes, I laid down
on his bed as he went through his Netflix trying to find
something to watch. I rested my head on my arms, watching
him scroll through the movies and TV shows. I didn't really care
what he put it on, I was really about to go back to sleep.
He put it on Paid In Full, coming to lay down. He laid at the top,
his hairy ass legs beside me. I scrunched my face up and
scooted away from him, just to be childish.

I raised up, crossing my legs as the movie started. I did about

thirty different positions until I did what I felt was most
comfortable. I laid beside Colbie, snuggling up against him. His
hand rubbed up and down my arm, putting me back to sleep.

"Aight, so I'll do the presentation and you work on the paper?"

Ra'Shawn stared at me trying to figure out an easy way to do
our project.
"That'll work," I sighed typing in my student ID, going in to
check my grades before this semester was over. I was satisfied
for the most part, all A's and I wasn't failing in any of my other
classes so I was relieved, I'ma need it to stay like this for the rest
of the year.

"What you doing after school?" He said licking his lips and I
scrunched my eyebrows together.
"Don't you have a girlfriend?" I gave him a side-eye and he
threw his head back. My voice was somewhat back in tact, that
didn't stop Tysen from clowning me and Niecey of course
jumped to conclusions.

"That ain't got nun to do wit' our project," he chuckled and I

just shut my mouth quick, I always say what I'm thinking and
end up in awkward ass situations like this. "But yeah, I gotta girl.
Don't you got a boyfriend?"
"No," I rolled my eyes, everybody was booed up during cuddle
weather season. I was lonely as hell, being up under my best
friend.

"Who was the nigga following you around at the party the otha'
night?" He relaxed in his desk and I just scoffed.

"That's my best friend," I breathed out.

"Y'all seem close," he said putting his focus on the powerpoint,

his eyes were glued to the computer screen.
"Yeah, been friends since babies," I explained, he seemed
uninterested so I ain't respond back to him. Writing down my
rough draft for the paper and popped in my AirPods.
I turned the volume up to my music, I was in my own little
world. Young Thug rapped through my ears.
My hand started to cramp up so I took a break, scrolling
through my Instagram. I never liked anything, I was a true ghost
follower.
"Aye, how dis look?" Ra'Shawn turned his chromebook toward
me. He had fixed the background of the powerpoint and
touched it up.
I nodded and told him I liked it. He seemed content with it
himself, going back to working on it and I went back to being on
my phone.
"Aye, dis a group project," he tapped on my desk with his hand
making me roll my eyes.
"Okay? And we split it up, my shit always gone get done," I
scoffed, he got some nerve telling me something I already
know.
"Nah, put yo' phone up and type that paper,"
Santana brushed out her clients voluminous curls, the remy hair
was so smooth and fell down to her shoulders so effortlessly. It
was her last head for the day, she had plans tonight with her
father.
Every February th, James took his daughter out on a little dinner
date. It was a night where they talked and spent time bonding.
She used to feel left out when her parents left her home with
the babysitter on Valentine's Day.

So they had their own day and even though she was getting
older she wasn't embarrassed to go out with her old man. They
had an unbreakable bond, she was lucky to have the
relationship that she did with her father.

Not too many young girls her age got to experience it. A lot of
black homes with no fathers, causing families to crumble.
Women had no man to teach them the way a boy thinks so they
don't chose the wrong one.

Men had no real role model, they all looked up to the NBA
stars, rappers, and drug dealers for hope. It was all a set up to
keep them limited.
"How much I owe you?" The woman said digging through her
purse to pull out her wallet. "Any chance that you take cards? I
don't have any cash on me,"
"Yeah, I actually do," Santana went to one of her shorter
drawers, pulling out a card reader. She clipped it onto her
phone and set the app up. "And it's $,"
"Okay," the young girl nodded, crossing her legs all
sophisticated like and slipped Santana her card. "Add an extra $,
you did such a good ass job,"

Santana's eyes widened, nobodies ever paid more than the set
amount. And she was not turning that down, she felt her work
was worth more than what she charged to begin with. She had
the skills and had all these different techniques on how she did
hair.
She took her time and made sure every strand of her was
perfect.
"Thank you," Santana said, putting the money into her savings.
She had about , saved up so far, it was money she kept so she
could open her own shop.
She never touched that money, didn't even think about it
because that money was her future.
"You're welcome, I'll be calling you in two weeks. And I'll be
sure to tell my homegirls about you. You are a blessing, lord
knows I needed my head done tonight," She threw her purse
over her shoulder and followed Santana downstairs.
She never took walk-ins considering she's in school and her
parents hate having people running in and out of their house.
Santana made sure to tell them who was coming and when, so
they knew just incase anything happened to their babygirl.
It took her a minute to clean everything up. Hair was the worst
thing, vacuuming more than once to make sure there was none
on her floor. She got in the shower, using cold water to open up
her pores.

She hated when the water was hot, made her feel like she was
in hell, her skin just boiling.

Her body was cleaned, she oiled up her body and slipped on her
underwear. After her showers she looked herself in the mirror,
pointing out all the body parts that she loved.
She wasn't insecure at all, knew she was beautiful, and didn't
care how others viewed her.

Her clothes were already picked out, a PINK jumpsuit with her
short brown UGG boots. She looked in her closet, scanning to
see what wig she wanted to wear tonight.

Since it was just her and her father, she decided to go natural.
She pulled her hair out of it's bun, letting it fall to her shoulders.
Her hair was healthy, she always mixed up these different herbs
and oils to feed her scalp.
Her wide tooth comb, stretched her curls out and made her
thick hair more full.
After spraying her body with her favorite Bath and Body work
perfume; Forever Red.

She didn't focus too much on makeup, she just applied

her spider lashes and a few layers of clear lip gloss.
She didn't have to wait long, James entered the house with a
bouquet of four roses, a box of chocolates, and a small card he
had sealed in an envelope.
He tapped on her bedroom door, smiling at his daughter as he
walker toward her. Santana's heart lit up, making her happy to
see her dad for the first time today.

It was gonna be hard for her to find a man that loved her more
than her dad.
"Thank you," she pouted, smelling the flowers and sitting the
box of chocolates to the side. He handed her the card and
instructed that she opened itz
To my lovely daughter, you are my heart. I love you.
She opened the card, watching multiple hundred dollar bills fall
out. "That's money for a building, put it in your savings,"

He only ever advised her to do the smart thing. Even if she blew
the money on unnecessary things, it was her money now. But
she took the advice, she wanted her own salon before she
turned .
Every penny she got went towards her future.
"You ready to go?" He asked her.
"Yeah," she nodded, getting up from her bed and turning her
lights off before leaving the room. "Where we 'bout to eat at?"

"I had a few places in mind. Where did you want to eat?" He
turned facing her as he traveled down the steps. "Did you
wanna go back to Longhorns? I know you love their steak,"
"Yeah, Longhorn's is fine dad," she smiled, already tasting the A
sauce on her steak. She was her dad's daughter. The minute she
gave up formula was the day he had her eating everything.

The car ride was full of small talk. They discussed her grades
and he was proud of her.
He was disappointed that she didn't even give college another
thought. But this is her life and he wasn't gonna stand in the
way of her success.

It was a pretty lengthy ride, she left her phone at home. Their
last few dinners were short lived, she was more invested in her
phone than the communication with her father.
They made it to the restaurant, the hostess lead them to a small
booth. Santana's eyes scanned the menu but she already had
an idea of what she wanted to eat.
"Good Evening, I'm Ray. I'll be ya' server tonight," he said
making Santana turn her head. She smiled up at Ra'Shawn, she
would've never guessed he'd be working as a waiter. It was kind
of cute. "Can I get y'all some ta' drink?"

He noticed Santana but didn't speak, he wanted to but that

intense stare he was getting from James made him reconsider.
"I want a Texas Tea," he looked up from the menu and
Ra'Shawn just nodded as he scribbled on the notepad.
"Fa you?" He licked his lips as he looked Santana up and down.
She looked so pretty, he never really noticed how gorgeous she
was until now. He studied the beauty marks under her eyes like
the constellations.

"Can I get a Dr. Pepper?" She raised an eyebrow and twisted her
lips as she looked up at him.

"Y'all ready ta' order or we need ah minute?" He clicked his

pen, sharing looks with the both of them.
"Give us a minute," James nodded, checking the menu to figure
out what he was gonna get.
"I'll be back wit' y'all drinks," he said, walking away from the
table.
Ra'Shawn couldn't seem to keep his mind off Santana. He never
paid attention to her like that, he always assumed she tried
hard to get a guy's attention.
But the day she didn't care about her appearance, he found her
the most attractive.
"What are you staring at?" His girlfriend, turned her nose up.
She moved to Houston with him, just a few years older than
him and believed she couldn't be anywhere without her man.
He was still in school while she attended college here. It worked
out for them, while he stayed with his uncle she had her own
apartment.

They only ever saw each other at work and whenever he

decided to leave the house.

"Huh? Nothing, just thinking das all," he put his focus back on
what he came back here to do. He pulled one cup out, filling it
up with ice and letting the Coke product rise.
He was trying to stay out of trouble, moving to Houston with his
uncle for a second chance. He was still selling weed but kept it
disclosed cause it was nobody else's business.

But he was trying to get back on the right path. Next strike he'll
be in prison serving time, he wanted better for hisself.

Time went on and he checked on his other table's before going

back to Santana's table. He grabbed her dad's drink from the
bar and sat the drinks down, getting his pin and pad ready.
"We ready ta' order?" He bit down on his lip and Santana
turned toward him.
"I'll go 'head and order," she looked at her dad and he nodded.
"Can I get the ribeye steak, a loaded baked potato, and
macaroni as my other side,"

Ra'Shawn raised an eyebrow just thinking how someone so

small ate so much. He just wrote down her order not saying
much. James stated his order and Ra'Shawn went on his way to
put the food in.
"Y'all need anything else?" He reached for their menus, but
that's all they were getting for now. Santana was contemplating
on dessert but was waiting until after she ate.
He left them at the table and James was getting a call but
ignored it, putting his phone in the seat.
"What's up with you and Colbie? Do you like him, does he like
you?" He asked making her want to roll her eyes.
"Me and Colbie are just friends dad," she explained, moving her
straw to her mouth.
"Yeah, okay," he raised his hands up in defense. "I can see
there's something there but I'll back off."
"No, it's okay," she smiled and went on to explain their weird
ass relationship. "I did like him but I think we're better off as
friends. He got way too much going on right now,"
One, two, three, and to the fo'," James started rapping the
song.

"Snoop Doggy dog and Dr. Dre is at the do'," Santana went on
and they continued to rap along to the old 's joint.

It was one of their favorite songs, James used to play it so much

around the house Santana had it memorized at five.
They just ended their daddy-daughter day by heading to the
mall, where James spoiled her with new clothes and shoes. She
was working hard and doing her best in school so he felt like
rewarding her today.
All he wanted in return was for her to stay on the right path.
James pulled into a house that wasn't there's. Santana was
exhausted and looked at him with confusion, thinking they were
going home.

"This is our last stop," he said to her and she just let out a deep
sigh.
"It's been the last stop for the past hour daddy," she groaned,
slapping her head against the window.

"Your grandmother wants to see you," he told her, turning the

car off, and opened his door.
She barely got to see any of her dad's side of the family. Truth
was she didn't really like any of them. His youngest sister was
just nasty to her, didn't even want to look at her when Santana
did nothing wrong.

James was always too busy to bring her around his family to
begin with. He was always working and when he did bring her
around it was for holidays or funerals.
Santana gave herself the talk before getting out of the car. She
had to pump her own head up with confidence cause she knew
someone there would piss her off. She was old enough to speak
her mind now.

She followed behind her father, who had the key to the house.
He walked in and the lights were on. Utensils being scrapped
across plates could be heard in the dining room.
"Oh, my sweet baby James," his mother, Mary got up from
knitting, holding his face in her hands. She then pulled him into
a hug. "And you brought Santana? She has gotten so beautiful,"
"You look just like your mother," she smiled wide and Santana
nodded awkwardly, giving her a soft smile.
"Thank you,"
"Have y'all ate, I just finished cooking dinner," she said moving
back to her seat, grabbing her things to continue knitting.
"We ate mama, where's Sasha and Vanessa?" He asked pulling
up a seat next to her.
Santana rolled her eyes, she was ready to go home. She had
school in the morning and they'd been out all day. It wasn't that
she didn't want to be around her grandmother or her family in
general, she was just a teen who wanted things to go at her
pace.

"They should be home any minute, sent them out to get sugar
and them heffas never came back," she shook her head. "I'm
glad you two decided to stop by, it was really nice to see you
Santana,"
"It was nice seeing you too," she nodded.
"Well, we gotta get going ma. I love you and I'll come by in the
morning before work,"

"Okay." She kept her eyes down at the strings. "Santana, I'd love
to see you around more honey,"
"I'll try to come whenever dad does," she said, knowing that
was the only valid answer she could give her. James and his
family weren't really the closest but he had hisself to blame for
that.
Mary nodded her head slowly, they shared their goodbyes and
got outside to the chilly weather. Snowflakes could be seen,
falling from the sky.
"Whew, it's time to get home," James said unlocking his car
door, jumping in.
Santana got into the car, laying her head against the window as
they drove back home.
No music, just silence, Santana watched the windows get
attacked with flakes. She couldn't believe it was snowing, if it
kept going at this rate she wouldn't have to worry about school
tomorrow.
They pulled up to the house, a car parked on the side of the
house, made James a little curious. But Santana already knew
who's car it was and it made her irritable.

He pulled into the garage and Santana forced her tired body out
of the car. She opened the door, entering the living room. She
rolled her eyes so hard when she saw Colbie sitting on the
couch, talking to Santana's mother.
"Why is he here?" James looked to Sapphire and she just had
that 'don't look at me' aura as she looked back at him.
"Yeah, why are you here?" Santana raised an eyebrow, rubbing
her droopy eyes as she looked at him.
"I uh, I need to talk to you. You weren't answering the phone so
I had to come see if you was straight. But yo' mama told me you
were out witcha pops," he sighed, getting up from the couch.
"What do you need to talk to me about?" She looked up at him
as he towered over her. She was tired so whatever he had to say
he needed to say it now.
"Can we go upstairs? It's personal," he gritted his teeth, hoping
her parents didn't hear him. He didn't care but he knew James
was super protective over Santana. He didn't want to raise any
red flags but he wanted to get some things off his chest.
She breathed out and grabbed his hand, pulling him up to her
room.
"She's got school in the morning Colbie, keep her up and I'm
kicking your ass," James shouted as they went up the stairs.

"Will you shut up?" Sapphire shook her head, he sat down next
to her getting ready to tell his wife about the amazing day he
had with his daughter.

Santana shut her bedroom door and crossed her arms, waiting
on Colbie to say whatever it is he needed to say.
"So, what's up," she shrugged her shoulders and he just wiped
his face with his hands.
"I'm," he sighed and shook his head. Santana rolled her neck at
him, waiting for him to say more than that. She could tell he
had some weight on his shoulders. "Santana, I'm in love witchu.
I really hate that it took me this long but after thinking on the
shit. I wanna make us work and I haven't even gave anybody
else the time of day. I love the shit out of you and I wish I wasn't
so fucking stupid,"
"Really?" she scoffed and tried not to laugh. It hurt her
honestly, all the time and effort she put into him when he
wasn't interested. "I know why you're doing this, but no. You
need to stop this shit. I gave you so many chances and what'd
you do?"
"But I'm coming to you because my feelings are strong, I ain't
ever felt this way about anybody Santana," he tried to convince
her, and he was being brutally honest. The feelings he had for
her were hard to contain.

Day and night he had her on his mind. He may have done his
wrongs but he was just scared of hurting her.
"Colbie, you don't get it do you? I am not these other girls, you
can't come to me crying about your feelings when you never
heard me out," she started, it wasn't fair to her at all. "I looked
past your ways, I thought maybe he gone change. And you
never did, but when you see me eyeing somebody else you
wanna step in and try to take initiative,"

"Man, look," he sat down on the bed. "I am in love with you,"
"Well, I'm not in love with you anymore," she shook her head,
tears forming in her eyes. It hurt her to admit that, her feelings
were still there but she didn't have time to be hurt again.

He poked the inside of his jaw with his tongue, his heart just
shattered into a million tiny pieces. He only ever saw a future
with his best friend, they were inseparable, he spent most of his
life with her and he wanted it to stay that way.

"You foreal? Tana? You don't love me no more?" he asked,

making sure he heard her right.
"No," she let it slip out, she couldn't force herself to say
anything else. He was her best friend and of course, she loved
him but time and time again he hurt her. It wasn't safe, trusting
him with her heart. "I can't keep getting hurt by you anymore,"
"I'm not gone hurt you," he reached for her hand but she
moved her hand away. "Just give me a chance, please?"

"How many do you need?" she moved from him, closing her
closet door as she changed into her nightclothes.
"I just need one more, I promise I won't fuck it up. Santana,
please mama," he said getting up and standing by the door. "Let
me show you I'm foreal,"

"Why should I?" she shouted through the door, slipping into her
shorts and throwing a large black tee over them. "You didn't
deserve the first few chances I gave you,"
"You shouldn't if we being honest. I'll admit I been a shitty ass
nigga to you but I'm working on it. These feelings I have for you
are stronger than the gravity that keeps the earth intact. Look,
I'm not perfect but I'm not gone break your heart, you too good
of a girl to deserve that,"

She was fighting the air in her closet. It was hard, she gave him
multiple chances but this was something she always wanted.
And she wanted Ra'Shawn, that deep southern accent, his
smooth dark brown skin, his dimples, and she melted every
time she saw him. He hypnotized her without even trying.

He wasn't worried about Santana, just saw her as a cute face.

And there's more to her beneath the surface. Santana was an
amazing girl, smart, funny, she loved to eat, and she had a gift.
She was going to be something special with or without a man
by her side.
She was secure with being alone, never had a boyfriend
because to be honest she never needed one. Colbie seemed to
have that place already, they were everything to one another.
And she had her dad who set the bar pretty fucking high.
"Let me take you out," he laid his head against the door. "I need
to make things right, I'ma show you I'm not tryna play you. Just
go out wit' me Friday night, just us,"

She rested her head on the door as well, trying not to cry cause
she wants this relationship with him. And she has told herself
time and time again to let him go. It'd be in her best interest to
see what kind of tip he was on, but Santana was keeping her
guard up.

"I will," she started, Colbie's heart forming together as he

smiled. "I will think about it,"
"Well, that's better than a no," he said to himself.
Santana opened up her closet door, shutting it behind her as
she pulled her curls up into a ponytail. "Don't fuck this up, you
will lose me for good,"
"I'm not gone lose you," he put his finger underneath her chin.
"I love you,"
"Mhm," she brushed past him, tossing the comforter back
before inserting herself into the bed.
There was a knock on her bedroom, James peeked his head in
the door. "Colbie, there's finna be a snowstorm. I suggest you
head home,"
"I was just finna head out," he nodded looking at him and
James looked to Santana to make sure everything was okay. She
gave him a comforting smile before leaving her bedroom.
Colbie looked to her, kissing her cheek. "Have a good night
beautiful,"
"I don't know, one minute there's feelings for him but he'll do
something to fuck it up," Santana explained to Niecey. She was
feeling an abundance of emotions, she was angry that he
decided to confess his love after she had her eyes on someone
else.
"If you give him a chance, make it the last one. He is better off
being your friend in my eyes but at the same time you need to
try it out. He's hurt you before so who's to say he won't do it
again?" She shrugged her shoulders, only telling her what she
thought she needed to hear. Just how Santana wanted her
happy she just wanted the same for her.

Neicey felt like Colbie was only confessing to keep her from
finding someone that actually loved her. If he loved Santana he
would've never made her feel insecure or treated her like she
wasn't important. Whether they were dating or not, he planted
that seed in Santana's head.

"It'll definitely be the last chance but I'm not about to take him
serious right away. I'm just gonna watch how he moves cause
there's a pattern," she peeled her string cheese and bit it down
in sections.
Lunch time was Santana's favorite part of school. She ate all day
anyways but a whole period dedicated to food? She couldn't
wait to pull her lunch box out and flex on everybody that ate
the PBJ's and cold pizza.

Ra'Shawn carried his tray over to the table. He'd been sitting
with them, his seat kept on being table and he and Tysen were
becoming friends. He didn't call anybody his friend, he hated
being around different people but he needed something to do
other than work every night. His girlfriend just wanted to watch
his every move.

Her being older than him, she was very controlling. He liked it at
first but now, he's just bored with her. He wants to be in control
of every aspect of his life, including his relationship.
"Wassup, Ray," Niecey smirked at him, and nudged Santana.
He just nodded his head at her, covering his head with his
hoodie. He licked his lips looking at Santana. "Wassup Santana,"
"Hey," she gave him a small smile and turned away, putting her
eyes on the phone.
She felt weird, they barely talked during their class. They were
both finishing up the project so they kept their attention solely
on the presentation and essay. She was helping him actually
care about school, he usually just did the bare minimum.
But all because of her he was finally paying attention.

"You look good today," he scanned his eyes on her, sitting down.
It was hard for him to take his eyes off her now, seeing her at
his job made him more attracted to her.
Santana's head jerked back a bit, was he serious? Right now,
when she's going through all this with Colbie. She was gonna
wreck her brain trying to figure out what she was gonna do.

"Thanks," she breathed out, keeping her head down.

"Fasho," he nodded and Niecey just squealed, Ra'Shawn was
the finest thang walking at school. All the girls wanted a piece
of him, he was new and who didn't want something fresh.
Santana glared at her, her cheeks were heating up due to
embarrassment. He wasn't stupid but he didn't act on anything,
he was trying to approach her in a way that wasn't awkward.
They weren't really associated, just partners for a class project.
He wanted to change the narrative without coming on too
strong, he was afraid he'd scare her away. He had a girlfriend
but she ain't have to know shit, he wanted Santana in other
ways.

She was vulnerable and he liked that.

"Ra'Shawn, my friend here thinks you're cute," Niecey said

making Santana's eyes go wide.

"Are you fuckin' serious right now?" She gritted her teeth and
spoke in a whisper as she turned her head to her. She was being
messy as hell and Santana was ready to run off from the table.
"What? I'm all for you trying shit out with Colbie but you need a
backup plan so you don't get your heartbroken and he is cute.
You make it seem like I said you wanted to ride him or
something,"

Santana just wanted to hide, Niecey was giving her that extra
push but she didn't need that right now.
"Oh yeah?" He chuckled and flashed a brief smile. "I think she
cute too,"

"See, bitch he think you cute. Now I done did my part you do
the rest," she winked at her, Santana just rolled her eyes trying
not to rip her own head off. If it was all up to her, they wouldn't
ever form a relationship. "You'll end up thanking me, so you're
welcome in advance,"
"I don't like you," Santana laughed trying to cover up the fact
that she was screaming on the inside.
They all finished eating, Santana went to throw her trash away
and was met by Ra'Shawn who stood behind her. "What you
doing after school?" He asked her with the intent to get to
know her better.
"Homework and after that I don't know," she shrugged her
shoulders and he could tell she was still pure. She had
innocence in her, he could taste it.

"Can I see yo' phone?" he suggested, tossing his tray into the
trash bin. His hands went down in his jean pockets and she just
nodded. "Bet,"
She handed over her phone and he went to the phone app,
typing in his own number, and calling himself. "Now that I got
yo' number I'ma text you, maybe we can chill later,"
"Chill?" She raised an eyebrow, knowing that word was a cover-
up to just fuck and get something out of her.
"Ain't that what I said?" he shook his head. "If yo' little best
friend gone get jealous he can kick rocks. I just wanna get to
know you, ya feel me? You cute and you need a real nigga in yo'
life,"

"I don't need any nigga in my life let's just make that clear," she
spoke firmly but couldn't help to crack a smile. "But I'm down,
just don't be on no other shit,"

"If I wanted something from you I'd ask, I ain't gone waste my
time," he smirked and walked alongside her as they headed on
to their next class. "But I'a pick you up after school, sound
good?"
"My daddy usually picks me up so I gotta tell him," she twisted
her lips trying to conjure up a lie to tell her father. He wasn't
gonna let her go anywhere with somebody she didn't know.
"Aight, I'll text you," he pressed his lips together, smiling at her
with his brown eyes.
-
I had to tell daddy I was going home with Niecey, but Niecey
was going with Carlos while I left the school with Ra'Shawn. I
ain't ever lied to my parents but there's a first time for
everything.

Underneath his mean ass demeanor, Ra'Shawn was cool as hell.

He let me play my music and even though he didn't speak as
much I wasn't uncomfortable around him.
"You wanna grab sum ta' eat? I know yo' ass probably hungry,"
he chuckled and I just rolled my eyes, nodding at him.
"Yeah," I smiled, ready to fuck up some food.
"Where you wanna go?" He gripped the wheel and turned his
head toward me.
"Zaxby's," I closed my eyes, tasting the damn wings and chicken.
It was my favorite chain restaurant, they had the best
everything.
I gave him the correct instructions and we sat in the drive-thru
waiting on the line to move faster.
"So what you do all day besides do homework. You so
committed to school, you must be going to college?" he looked
at me and averted his eyes back to the cars in front of him,
pressing on the gas to move up in the line.
"I do hair, and nah college isn't apart of my plan I wanna have
my own beauty salon," I told him. "Wanna be my own boss,"
"You going the right direction. I like that you got actual goals,
you ain't out here wasting yo' life to prove some shit to yo'
parents." he leaned his head back and got irritated that the line
was taking so long. "You wanna go in?"
"We can," I laughed, watching him jump out of the long line and
pull into a parking space not too far away from us.
When he parked I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car.
He took the keys out of the ignition and did the same, keeping
his hands in his pocket as we walked to the entrance. He kept
the door open for me and let me walk in before him.
The inside was just as busy as the drive-thru, but we ain't have a
choice but to wait.
"I'm hungry as hell, that school food don't do shit but make me
hungrier. Might have you pack me a lunch or something. Yo' shit
be looking so good," he let out a soft chuckle.
"I would but I can barely do it for myself,"
My phone buzzed in my back pocket and the particular pattern
had me believing it was Colbie. I pulled my phone out and
declined his call, I wasn't trying to hear him cry right now.

"You need to take that? I got yo' order," he looked down at me.
"Nah, it isn't important," I shrugged and he nodded his head.
We got up to the cash register and ordered our food, the boy
gave us a number and we stood off to the side waiting on them
to call it out.
My phone vibrated again and I just went ahead and answered it
this time. He wasn't gone quit calling until I answered.
"What?" I said looking ahead, putting half of my face in the
camera.
"Why you so hostile? You must be around somebody," he shook
his head and stared down at his phone. "Call me when you get
home,"

"Okay," I nodded and before I ended the call he told me he

loved me. "Love you too, Colbie,"
I ended the call and messed around on my phone a little bit to
kill time.
"Y'all cute," Ra'Shawn chuckled.

"Shut up,"
"Nah foreal, I had a best friend like that," he gulped and nodded
his head. "She passed away but I miss her crazy ass everyday.
She was my best friend and I had a big ass crush on her, she
ain't know it though. Thought I was doing her a favor by hiding
it from her,"
"Damn, I'm sorry to hear that," I frowned. Losing a friend is a
scary loss to encounter, they go so young and it's crazy cause
you wonder if you're next. It's hard to process someone so close
to you leaving like that. I don't know what I'd do if Neicey or
Colbie died, I'd probably go crazy.
"Nah, it's straight. I ain't make the shit sad or nun just be happy
you got somebody that cares for you," he shrugged his
shoulders.
"What's up wit' y'all? You like him or sum?" Ra'Shawn put the
straw to his firm lips, sipping on his lemonade as he kept his
eyes on Santana.
He was stuck on her ambiance, her brown skin glowed in the
artificial light. He could tell there was some feelings there with
Colbie, and he was in a relationship so he just wanted to work
on their friendship. Hazel was getting too overbearing, telling
him when and where to go like he was her child.

She followed him all the way to Texas, willingly. She was
obsessive thinking that he'd cheat and find another girl while he
was out of state. He loved her but he was getting to the point
where he didn't want to be bothered by her or any female for
that matter.

He never had time to clear his head, his mama wasn't around to
keep his head on straight. It's like he was running around like a
chicken with his head cut off and he just needed some peace of
mind.
Everything either aggravated him or just killed his entire vibe.
He was never a friendly guy, didn't care too much for fake love.
The niggas that he used to hang around switched up. What was
the point in even making new friends?

Santana twirled the end of her straw around watching the ice
move in circles. "Can we talk about something else? I ain't agree
to hang witchu to talk about him,"
He smirked and leaned back into his seat in the booth. "So what
you wanna talk about?"
"What made you move to Texas?" She raised an eyebrow, she
thought she had him figured out based on his attitude and the
way he presented himself.
"Next question," he threw his napkin down and broke the gaze
that they both shared. He wasn't ready to share any of that with
her but when the time comes he may let her in. He had trust
issues and didn't like to open up about his past, he was trying to
get away from that.

"Okay, what was New Awlins like?" she laughed, imitating his
deep accent making him smack his lips as he leaned in closer to
the table.
"It's home," he shrugged, he didn't know what else to say to
her. It was his home and he missed it every day, calling his
mama every chance he got to check on things.
"I bet you miss it," she pushed her lips together and dipped her
crinkle cut fries in her Zax sauce.

"I do, foreal. Miss my mama's cooking, my uncle just eat out all
the fucking time. I need ah meal, ah nigga be starving fareal,"
he chuckled shaking his head, reminiscing on the big ole pots of
Gumbo his mom would make.

"I would invite you to my house for dinner but my parents can't
even cook. You know how to cook?" She raised an eyebrow and
sighed, her stomach getting tight from consuming so much
food.

"Only thing I know how to do is fry chicken," he let out a laugh

and licked his lips, he looked down at Santana's they were
covered in a mixture.
"We should do a little dinner, I'll bring my friends and you can
bring your girlfriend," Santana suggested. "You can fry the
chicken and I can do the sides. And, I can have my mama fix her
bomb ass chess pie,"
"Aye, don't play wit' me," he looked down and smiled, he was
down he didn't mind her friends and as long as she was there
he'd be straight. It was just gone take Hazel some convincing, he
could hear her now.
"I'm serious,"
"Fat ass,"
"Don't gas me," she winked grabbing all her trash and throwing
it onto her tray, as she picked them up Ra'Shawn placed his
hand on top of hers. Her heart pumping more blood from his
smooth touch.
"I got it," he licked his lips and bit down on them as he looked at
her with his alluring eyes.

He scooted out of the booth, grabbing both of the platters and

dumping out the trash into the bin that sat behind Santana's
seat. Once he finished putting the trays up, he stood by
Santana. "You ready to go?"
She twisted her lips and pulled her cup closer. "Yeah,"
They got all their things together and Ra'Shawn held the doors
open to make sure he kept his eyes on her at all times. Santana
let out a deep yawn, her eyes were getting droopy, and when
she got home she couldn't wait to hit the sack. School and this
nice meal had her feeling wearied.
"I had a good time witchu," Ra'Shawn said unlocking his car
doors, watching his lights flash before opening his door, getting
into his side, and cranking up the vehicle. Santana was only a
few steps behind him.
"Yeah, you not so bad after all," she clutched onto her hands
and looking over at him briefly. She was getting tired of her
phone ringing, she could never catch a break, and to her
surprise, she was having a nice time with Ra'Shawn.
She was ready to cuss Colbie out if he was calling her but it
wasn't him this time. She answered the call in a rush.
"Hey, daddy," she said looking outside, the sun slowly fading
away as the moon got brighter in the sky.
"Where you at?" He asked, stepping into the house after his
long shift of work. He was one of the relaxed cops just to make
his job easier. He worked a lot in the hood, trying to keep all the
younger kids out of trouble. He felt they needed some type of
role model besides the thugs, robbers, and killers.

"Out with Niecey dad, I to--." She was cut off by him, he was
upset that she would even lie to him.
"So you with Niecey? Put her on the phone," he raised an
eyebrow and took the phone off his ear and pressed the
FaceTime icon on the screen.

Santana was stuck trying to figure out what the fuck she was
about to do. She declined the call and put it back to her ear,
"I'm on the way home,"
"So where you at and who you with? Niecey is at home so you
must be out doing something you ain't got no business doing,
But we'll talk when you get here, don't appreciate you lying to
me Santana,"

She threw her head back against the headrest, the first time she
ever lied to her daddy and she couldn't even get away with it. It
wasn't like her but she knew if her parents found out she left
school with a complete stranger it would've been a no.
They didn't want her around anybody they haven't met and she
just wanted to do something different for once. Ra'Shawn was a
breath of fresh air, he was something new in her life and she
was ready to experience it. Whether they become good friends
or not she enjoyed his company and he enjoyed hers.
Her father declined the call, he slapped his phone against the
kitchen counter. It frustrated him, why would she lie and if she
wasn't with Colbie who the hell else could she be around? A
million questions flooded through his mind and he didn't mind
killing somebody about his daughter.

He was gonna take both of the girls out to the movies after they
finished doing whatever they claimed to be up to. Santana
wasn't answering her phone, she kept it on do not disturb so
she could give Ra'Shawn her undivided attention. So it resorted
to him calling Niecey's mother, who hadn't seen Santana while
Niecey was in her room upset about Carlos canceling their
plans.

"You good?" Ra'Shawn glanced at her, she was slouched down

in her seat and her cheery facial expression had disappeared.
"Yeah, just take me home," she breathed out, ready to get her
head talked off for the rest of the night. She had no reason to lie
now but she knew he was gonna interrogate her the minute she
walked through that front door.
He didn't say anything and he knew she wasn't okay, he could
see the look on her face she was upset. It wasn't Niecey or
anybody's fault, she had no business lying in the first place. It
was just something she thought she mastered as a kid but today
it backfired on her.
The entire ride was silent, Santana was in her thoughts. It was a
lot going through her head she was coming up with all types of
excuses to tell her dad. When they pulled up to her house,
Ra'Shawn leaned down and examined her house. It was a large
house for three people, a two story brick home, and nothing
but open land surrounding the house.

James was waiting for Santana to pull up, he didn't need to look
outside to know that she was with a boy.
"I'a see you at school tomorrow," he twisted his lips and
glanced at her. "I ain't mean ta' get you in trouble,"
Santana didn't say anything back, getting out of his car, and
taking slow strides to the front door. She prepped herself before
she walked in hoping he didn't punish her for a little white lie.
She stuck her key into the hole, twisting the knob to find that it
was already unlocked.

She kept her head low, trying to avoid eye contact with her
father who was standing behind the kitchen island. "So where
were you Santana, and don't lie to me cause I talked to Niecey
and she told me everything,"
"Oh my God," she said under her breath, she was mad that her
friend ratted her out like that.

"Nah, don't get mad at her. She didn't have a damn choice and
you don't either. What the hell were you thinking? You don't
even know this boy," his nostrils flared out and he shook his
head at her.

"It won't happen again," she said in a monotoned voice,

continuing to keep her head down as she talked to her father.
She knew he was mad and when James was mad there wasn't
anything she could do to change that.
"Damn straight, you know better. We supposed to be better
than this. Your mother and I ain't bring you up, I don't know
who the fuck you got this lying shit from,"
"Why are you cussing?" she grew irritated, James wasn't one to
use profanity during a teaching moment but hearing she was
running around with some boy had his skin crawling. He
could've took advantage of her or anything.
"Cause I'm pissed off, you really pissed me off Santana. So don't
think about going to anymore parties, can't hang out with
Colbie or Niecey, and I want your phone,"

"Okay, you doing too much. I'm supposed to be going out with
Colbie this weekend," she whined.
"You wasn't thinking about Colbie, you was out with some other
dude. So, like I said cancel all your hair appointments to, you
are on punishment,"

"You being extra for no reason," she scoffed, walking up to her

room not even trying to hear another word he had to say.
"Don't tempt me Santana," he glared at her, clenching his jaw
and pushed his hands against the island in front of him.
She stormed up to her room and slammed the door behind
him. He could've let her off easier than that, she thought. It
wasn't that big of a deal in her eyes, he was just blowing this all
out of proportion to her.

"Where's your phone?" he opened her bedroom door. "Hand it

over,"
"You not getting it," she said into her pillow.
"Aight, make sure you make them phone bill payments every
month," he crossed his arms as he watched Santana lay out on
her bed. "And who was the boy?"
"Why does it matter?"
"It does matter cause I'm your father and I need to know who
the hell the boy is. Anything could've happened to you, would it
not matter then?"
Santana's eyes bolted open, her parents arguing always seemed
to startle her. It wasn't calm and debatable they were always at
each other's throats. Sapphire wasn't a huge fan of the way
James handled the situation but he was upset and felt that he
had every right to be hard on her.

It seemed like they were too nice and she would just walk over
them when she felt like it. But Santana barely got into trouble,
she did everything she was supposed to do. Who knew a sneaky
lie would be blown out of proportion.

She blew out a whiff of air from her nostrils and her head sunk
into the pillow. Her phone was on the nightstand, buzzing.
Cyrus, she thought to herself but when she picked up the phone
and looked at it she was wrong.

"Hello?" She groaned, turning her lamp on and putting half of

her face in the camera.
"You aight? I texted you when I got home, you ain't text back so
I figured yo' pops took yo' phone away," Ra'Shawn said putting
his eyes off the screen.
"I was sleep,"
"Awe, my fault. Just wanted to let you know our project is due
tomorrow, had to make sure you finished the paper," he said,
but he knew she knew. He just wanted to see her face and hear
her smooth voice.

"I already finished it," she laid back and looked for her earbuds
so she could block out all the fussing coming from outside her
bedroom door.
"Awe," he nodded his head slowly. He was bad with sparking
conversations, it wasn't that he ain't have game but she made
him nervous. He felt like he couldn't express himself to her
based off the assumptions he had made.

Santana was not at all stuck up or a spoiled brat, maybe a

sprinkle of spoiled but it didn't show. He was awkward, tossing
up a stress ball in the air and catching it in his right hand as he
looked at the phone.
"You just call to sit on the phone?" She raised an eyebrow, he
chuckled and shook his head.
"Really juss bored, my uncle having ah lil' get togetha' so I'm in
the room chilling." He slouched down on his headboard.
"Okay, so where yo girl at? Call her," Santana laughed, knowing
she didn't even want him to do that.
"We not on good terms right nie,"
"Mind if I ask why?" She raised an eyebrow wanting to be nosy,
she was ready to swing into his arms and keep him from
wasting his time on her. Ra'Shawn was just a fantasy to her, she
knew he wasn't all that interested in her, he looked at her like a
friend. Probably just an acquaintance considering this is the first
time they've interacted outside of school.
"I'on know she so damn controllin'. Then she expect me to
follow her around like I'ma damn kid or sum, I'ma grown ass
man," he shook his head thinking on his relationship. He loved
her but some things he wasn't gonna allow. He was loyal and
did his part as her boyfriend, what more did she want from him.

Respect and loyalty? She got that with no questions asked. But
his attention was on other things and that's something she just
failed to realize. A relationship to her was just about being up
under your partner, never giving each other time to breathe.
She was suffocating him and Santana was just the breath of
fresh air that he needed.
"She need to go back to Louisiana, take care of her fuckin' son,"
he mumbled the last part but Santana had ears like a bat.

"Why she come?" Santana swallowed, hoping she wasn't asking

too many questions. But hell, he called her so might as well get
all the scoop on who and what she was getting involved in.
"I was gone break up with her. I don't do long distance, I need
ta' be able to see and feel you. She tagged along cause breaking
up wasn't an option in her eyes."

"Well, if you love her I suggest you let her know wassup. Tell her
to give you your space to chill, you don't need her breathing
down your back /. She's your girlfriend, not yo' mama," Santana
suggested, she felt she gave good advice sometimes and she
wished she listen to herself when she needed some guidance.

"I'ma try," he huffed, not even wanting to do that. If there was a

way he could just end the relationship without hurting
anybodies feelings he would. He was gonna take the advice and
if he don't see changed behavior than it's over for the
relationship. "Bring me some food tomorrow,"
"Uhn uh," Santana raised an eyebrow and scoffed at him, she
shared food with no one, and that's something he was gone
learn sooner than later. "My food is for me, better go to the
store before class,"

"Aight," he smirked, knowing exactly what he was gonna get in

the morning. "Hollup, I'ma call you back my brotha calling me,"

She just nodded and ended the call before he got the chance to
decline on her. She didn't like the sound of the FaceTime
ending, she always had to hang up first. Santana spent her night
studying and working on some unfinished wig.

Whether James liked it or not, she wasn't cancelling any of the

appointments. It was her source of income until she got her
salon started up, it was funding her future and he wasn't about
to block any of her blessings just off the strength of him being
mad.

There was a small tap on her bedroom door. She looked up

from her computer "Come in,"
"Hey," her dad said in a sigh. "Look, I was upset earlier and I
coulda went about things differently. I love you and I ain't gone
ground you but let this be a warning. If you wanna do
something just ask, my only concern is your safety,"
"And?" Sapphire moved her head out, standing beside him, she
had coached him through the whole little speech. She didn't like
him threatening her, she made a mistake and she shouldn't be
punished for being a child.

"I ain't saying that," he spoke sternly, giving her the side eye.

"Yes you are,"

"Yo' mama will discipline you from now on since I don't have a
say so," he held his head down like a child, murmuring instead
of actually speaking out to her. He was the only male in the
house and since his punishments were too harsh, Sapphire
decided to take manners into her hands until Santana is grown.

Grown meaning out of their house with her own space and her
own vehicle. She wasn't grown until she stopped depending on
them for those two things.
"No, what he meant to say was it'll be a mutual agreement
instead of him doing whatever without letting me know," she
looked over to him, he was just being a big baby about
everything only because he felt bad for lashing out on Santana.
"We love you and I got your text earlier, feel free to invite your
friends over tomorrow,"
"Nah, it's okay," she kept her eyes locked onto the computer
screen, reading over her essay to make sure it was worth the
grade she was aiming toward. "We can do it another time,"
"Too late, I already started working on the pie. You don't have
to invite everybody, just a few friends like Niecey and whoever
this mysterious boy is," her mama wiggled her eyebrows, James
glared at her, he didn't like the idea of her growing up. He didn't
really get to have the talk with her, the birds and the bees was
for her mother. He just wanted to give her a males perspective
at her age.
"Okay," Santana dragged out the word and looked up, waiting
for them to leave her room.
"There's pizza downstairs when you get hungry, love you,"
"Love you too," she faked a smile and watched her mom leave
the door frame, James just rested against it.
"What dad?" she said in an irritable tone, wondering why he
was just standing around looking all intimidating.
He rubbed his hands against his pants and came to sit down at
the edge of her bed. "Just wanna tell you how much I love you. I
don't want you out here just running around with anybody. We
don't know him or what he's trying to do. Boys are boys, they
don't care about your feelings at all baby. I'm telling you cause I
was this way once,"
"They're real sneaky, try to butter you up and make you like
them just to get whatever it is they want from you. I don't
wanna witness you heartbroken cause it'll break mine, seeing
you cry over a nothing ass nigga who didn't even see what he
had in front of him. You are the prize baby girl, do not settle for
less than what you are. Let somebody give you the world,"

It was raw and uncut, no practicing to make sure mom

approved. It'd been weighing on his chest ever since he caught
on to her and Colbie's mindless relationship. He didn't want her
knocked up, living from pay check to pay check to protect a
child. He didn't want anybody taking advantage of her and he
most certainly didn't want her coming home crying because a
guy didn't take the proper care to protect her heart.
"I love you, I'll let you get back to what you're doing," he said
getting up from the bed and heading out of the room.
"Daddy, wait," she said throwing the covers off her body and
she ran to him, hugging onto his wide torso. "I love you too,"
He patted her back and squeezed onto her ever so tight.
"You always gone be daddy's little girl, I gotta protect you,"
Thank you for inviting me over for dinner," Niecey smiled,
mixing a bowl of chocolate cake batter. It was like a
Friendsgiving although Thanksgiving was months ago.
"Yeah, it was very nice of you," Ra'Shawn's girlfriend, Niada
nodded her head and flashed a bright smile as she seasoned
the chicken. She still had the same weave in her head, I installed
it a few weeks ago and it still looked good on her but it was time
to take it out.

Everybody was in the kitchen if you weren't cooking, you

weren't eating. I was making mac and cheese, I didn't trust
anybody else to make it. Tysen was just buttering the Hawaiian
rolls so he could toss them in the oven, he wasn't really used to
cooking.
Carlos brought drinks and was helping Niecey with the cake, he
was trying to tell her how to do things but of course, she wasn't
phased by him. She was stubborn and hated when people tried
to tell her what to do and my girl knows what she's doing.

I was waiting on Colbie to get here, he had got caught up in a

long line at Walmart, so he'd be late getting here. The Kaash
Paige in the background eased my nerves up a bit, music was
always a form of therapy for me. The right songs could change
my mood for the better.

"Y'all got it smelling good in here," Daddy walked into the

kitchen with his hand on his stomach, pulling the scent into his
wide nostrils. "Can't wait to get a plate,"

He walked into the room with his strong scented cologne

sprayed onto every inch of his body. If it wasn't for his stocky
body type and his height, most people would not be
intimidated by this man.
"No, you ain't put in on this, man," I rolled my neck and
impersonated Chris Tucker. I gave him nothing but sass, he
knew it was all in good fun
He'd been really relaxed lately, I think him and mama arguing
helped him get out his frustrations instead of taking them out
on me.
"Um, may I ask where you think you're going?" I said eyeing his
crisp outfit, he wore an all-white button I know he'll get dirty
the minute he stepped out the house, his church shoes, and
black slacks.
"That's alright," he chuckled. "Me and ya' moms going out to
dinner,"
"Oh, you are?" I tilted my head and nodded, giving him a smug
look. "Well, y'all have fun and don't be out too late,"

'"Baby we are grown," Mama walked in putting her purse over

her shoulder, she was in a long-sleeve dress that had a slit down
the chest, showing off a small amount of cleavage. "We won't
come home at all tonight,"

"You ready," Daddy said biting his bottom lip and smirking down
at her. I loved how in love they were with each other after all
these years. It was cringy to me when I was younger but
knowing how good it is to have somebody by your side like that,
made me feign for a relationship just like theirs.
They were my goals, I aspired to find someone that could find
time for me. Even with working so much and taking care of me
they still made time for each other, did things like this, and
never got tired of it.
"Where is Colbie?" Mama asked, pushing her perfectly arched
brows together. "Thought he was coming,"
"I'm here," he sighed, panting like a dog as he opened the door
to the house. I guess somebody forgot to lock the door back
and he forgot to knock.

"Hey baby, how are you?" Mama pulled him into a side hug.
She loved Colbie with her whole heart, at times I felt like she
loved him more than I did. He would just pop up to chill with
her and she wouldn't mind.
"Good, I see you all dressed up? Y'all must be stepping out
tonight huh?" He smiled and looked over at me.
"Yes, we don't wanna embarrass Santana while her little friends
are here," she said in a loud whisper, making me roll my eyes.
"You're doing that now," I spoke in a monotoned voice and
glared at her, daddy just sat there smiling.
"Alright, come on baby. Let's get outta here, concert starts in an
hour," he said tapping mama's backside, pulling her closer to
him.
"Okay, bye kids. And don't burn my damn house down please?"
she turned toward us and I just shook my head at her.
"We won't ma," I assured her, waving at her.
"Okay, love you," she gleamed and I replied back at a low
volume. "What'd you say?"
"I said I love you too, now go," I gritted my teeth making my
words sounded like a mumble.
I took a deep breath, watching them exit the house, and put my
attention back to cooking.
"I brought some pies and stuff, you know I don't cook," Colbie
chuckled, putting his bags down on the counter and pressed his
elbows down beside me.
"That's fine? Did you get Chess pie?" I raised an eyebrow and he
nodded as he chuckled.
"How could I forget? It's yo favorite Tana,"

"Just making sure. Glad you know me," I said pouring the
cheese sauce I made on top of the macaroni noodles. After
watching recipe videos on YouTube I seemed to have this down
pact. I was officially a chef if this turns out perfect.

"Girl, duh," he smacked his lips. "I got you something, it's in my
car. I'll let you get done cooking and shit. I thought the food was
gone be done before I got here,"
"Nope," I said popping the p and digging a small amount of the
unfinished mac and cheese to him, holding it to his mouth so he
could test taste it for me.
He raised an eyebrow. "What'd you put in it?"
"Boy, if you don't try it," I rolled my eyes and pushed it closer to
him, his mouth widened and he gazed in my eyes as he cleaned
off the spoon, a soft moan vibrating against his throat.
"I gotta make sure I marry you," he smirked, which formed into
a wide smile.

"If you actually got the balls to do it," Niecey stepped into the
conversation, which made my eyes grow wide. "You all talk,"

"Nini, you always talking down on me. You must not want yo
bestie happy," he turned toward her, pressing his back against
the countertop.

"You make her happy? Colbie, please," she rolled her eyes and I
just kept eliminated myself from it, hoping things didn't escalate
between the two.
"Did I do something to you?" he folded his arms and stood up
with straight posture. "Ion think what me and Santana got going
on got anything to do with you,"

"That's my friend and I don't like how you been doing her lately.
You can't even be her boyfriend, what makes you think
marrying her is an option?" She said pushing the cake into the
preheated oven.

Colbie's eyebrows were pulled down and he just looked over to

me and back at her, scoffing loudly. "I'm not finna speak on
what me and Santana got going on. You ain't have to put me on
blast like that either Ni, thought we was better than that,"

"Niecey, drop it," Carlos said, snatching her up, knowing she
was about to say something to piss Colbie off. She wasn't the
biggest fan of us being a couple, simply because she knew what
type of nigga he was.
There was an awkward silence and it kind of made me
uncomfortable, knowing this dinner wasn't supposed to be a
damn circle of mess. I knew they would bump heads eventually
but right now is not the time to be airing out what me and
Colbie had going on.
I love my girl to death but I wouldn't put her stuff out like that
and I know she didn't mean any harm by it, I'll have to check
her about it after the dinner.

"Ra'Shawn, Niada, how's the chicken?" I turned my back to see

the two of them, standing there in silence.
"It's straight, we almost done. I gotta run out for a minute but
I'a be back," He looked at me and I just nodded. "Can you watch
these last few?"

"Yeah, of course," I shrugged my shoulders.

"Preciate it," he said, grabbing onto Niada arm and pushing her
toward the door and I just put my attention elsewhere.
"Fuck going on with them?" Tysen scratched his dreads, new
growth was really starting to show. That was the thing about
being a hairdresser, I noticed every little detail about a person's
head.

"Mind yo' business," Carlos slapped the back of his neck.

I would've never guessed in a million years that these two were
twins. I figured Carlos was older but they the same age, of
course they were fraternal considering they had their own
looks.

"Don't slap my fuckin' neck, ugly ass nigga," Tysen jumped at

him, putting his rolls in the oven beside the cake.

"Can we go outside? Got some I wanna show you," Colbie said,

my eyes averted to him instantly.
"Yeah," I pushed my lips together.
He moved to the door and I followed behind him. I saw
Ra'Shawn's car still parked on the side of my house, it was
rocking back and forth making my eyes widen.

They could've moved somewhere else for that. Luckily enough

for me his windows were tinted.
"You mad at me or sum?" He licked his lips and wore a straight
expression on his face. "Whatever I did was in the past. I ain't
that nigga no more, I promise I'm not on that childish shit,"
"Why would I be mad?" I twisted my lips around, fiddling with
my hands.
"Just seem like youn need me in your life no more and the way
Niecey was talking making it seem like you going to her, now I'm
the bad guy," he breathed out deeply. "I apologized, what you
want me to do?"

"I forgave you Colbie, she just ain't got to that point yet. She
wants you to do better by me, you know how she gets,"
"She better chill the fuck out, get in real quick," he said opening
the door for me.
"Damn, you coulda sprayed it smells like weed in here," I said
plugging my nose as I sat down.
"My fault," he said before shutting the door and getting in on
his side.
"Aight, so look," he sighed, pulling a bag from the backseat. It
was from Kay Jewelers and I just squinted my eyes.
"What is this?"
"Open it, goofy," he smacked his lips.
I pulled out the white tissue paper and pulled out the square
black box with the logo embroidered into it.
"This what took so long," he said as I removed the top and
looked down at the rose gold necklace. It was in the shape of a
heart and I just tied my brows together.
He pulled open the heart, revealing a picture of us when we
were kids. The day I lost both of my front teeth, mama took a
picture of me and Colbie.

"Where did you find this?" I poked my lip out, looking at our
younger selves. It never crossed our minds we'd be in this
complicated ass situation right now.
"Saw it in mama's photo album. I needed a picture for a project
but when I saw that I had to get a locket made. I got one too,"
he said pulling a silver necklace from out his shirt, opening it up
and showing me.
"Well, I love it," I smiled at him, pulling him into a hug. He
rubbed on my back and when we pulled away our eyes locked.
He used his thumb and index finger to pull me closer. I watched
his tongue glide on his bottom lip, those brown eyes didn't
move from mine.
I didn't realize I was even moving in, my body moved on its
own. Our lips pushed up against each other, he pecked my lips
three times.
He bit on his lip and smiled, "so you gone be my girl or what?"
Colbie," Santana sighed deeply. "What happened to you
wanting to wait?"
"What's the point in waiting if you what I want? I know I did you
foul, leaving you to be with another female, not returning your
calls, and that shit wit' Desiree was foul. I really ain't a dirty
nigga and I'ma show you, if you let me," he moved his head so
he could get a good view on her.

Santana was more than just a pretty face, she was the love of
his life. He saw a future with her and didn't wanna live in this
world without her. He was just a teenager figuring out what he
wanted out of life and it took him a while to come to his senses.
He stopped entertaining other females and just focused on his
school work. He was studying law, it was only right for him to a
lawyer considering he knew how crooked the system was
against blacks.

Santana took a deep breath, this was hard for her because she
felt like she couldn't trust him with her heart. "I don't want this
if you not putting your all into it. My time is too precious to be
wasted, Colbie,"
"Okay and so is mine, the fuck? I had hoes but I cut them off
they will never reach yo' status, you got my heart. It's just me
and you," he bit down on his bottom lip hoping Santana was
willing to give him a chance to finally redeem himself.
Their relationship was just as complicated as an Algebra
equation. Santana kept him on his toes, just by doing the bare
minimum.

"I--," she shook her head and rubbed her forehead. "I want this
so bad but I'm scared,"
"Of what? That I'ma hurt you? If that's what you think my
intentions are with you then I guess you don't know me,"

"I know you better than anybody but you only giving me fuck
nigga vibes," Santana threw her head back and stared out the
window, looking at her house knowing it was time to get back
before the twins and Niecey burned the house down.
"I mean, foreal Santana. I keep saying I'm sorry and as much
good I try to do, I'm still that same nigga in yo' eyes," he
scoffed.
She just sat there in silence, taking in everything he was saying
and Colbie was right. She felt that he was never gonna change
but the only way to know for sure is by giving him a chance.
"Okay, stay the night with me," she said tilting her head as she
drew her eyes onto him.

"Yo' mama nem ain't gone care?" he raised an eyebrow, not

trying to get either one of them in trouble.
"They not gone be home,"
"Shit, aight. I'll grab some clothes after we eat," he smiled over
to Santana, hoping that tonight would be the night he changed
the way she felt about him.
The feelings for Colbie were still there, she felt the typical
fireworks, but nothing more. There was a feeling Ra'Shawn gave
her; it may have had something to do with how aggressive he
was.
"Santana," Colbie said her name, he loved saying her name.
Everything about her just seemed so perfect to him. He fell for
her more and more every day. It got to the point where he
didn't even want head or pussy from another girl.
He'd rather be laid up with his favorite girl rather than being
around a female he had no interest in. The main issue for them
was sex, considering Santana was a virgin, she couldn't satisfy
Colbie in those ways.
He didn't want to date her and go out and fuck whomever, so
he stayed single and got all his sexual desires out, so he didn't
ruin his relationship with Santana.

"Come on; we gotta get back in. I'm starving," Santana breathed
out, pulling the handle and pushing the door open. Colbie did
the same and chased her, wrapping his arm around her
shoulder. "Love you,"
"I love you too, Colbie," she smiled up at him.

He pressed his lips against her cheek, making them warm up at

the tingling sensation.
"I'm gone do right by you, you gone see," he said, keeping his
eyes ahead.
The two of them entered the house, Ra'Shawn and Niada
seemed to find themselves back in the house. He just watched
Santana walk into the room, getting upset at how close she and
Colbie were. Although he had a girlfriend, he wanted Santana in
away.

He wasn't even giving his girl the time of day, and Niada knew
this. She wanted to be good enough for him, but the light was
being shed, and she tried her hardest to avoid it.

He looked at Santana in awe and just looked at her. There were

no feelings involved in their relationship anymore because he
wasn't even interested in her. He was working up the courage to
let her know it was time for her to get the hell on.
But now it seemed as if he was too late, Colbie was in the
picture and not as the best friend anymore. He knew it was
more to their friendship, but he didn't like to assume.
The food was ready, and everybody was beginning to fix their
plates. Santana heard the front door swing open, watching her
cousin, Taylor, all bruised up. She just walked toward her room.
She didn't speak or make eye contact with anyone.

It was all just another day on the job for her. She should've
known better than to trust a pimp with her life. It's been days
since Santana had seen her older cousin, and seeing her like this
was heartbreaking.
Once everybody sat down and prayed over the food, they all
began to eat.
"Um, I' ma be right back," Santana said, trying to eat, but she
had no appetite right now. She knew something wasn't right.
She walked at a swift pace, going toward Taylor's room, who
seemed to shut and lock the bedroom door already. Santana
knocked twice, but there was no response.
"Taylor, I just wanna talk. It doesn't have to be right now, and
we all cooked if you hungry." She said, and on the other side,
Taylor wanted to say something, but she was in too much pain
to even say anything.
Santana frowned as she made her way back to the table; all of
her close friends seemed to be getting along.
"How long you two been together?" Carlos asked Rashawn. The
two of them seemed to clique up instantly.
"Uh, 'bout a year," Rashawn shrugged his shoulders and took a
sip from his cup.
"It's been two years," Niada corrected him and rolled her eyes,
how embarrassing.
"Damn, youn know when you got witcho girl," Tysen tried to
hold in his life, but him being the nigga he was, he couldn't keep
it for long. "Yikes,"

"No, he just doesn't care," Niada shook her head and wore a
smug look on her face.
Rashawn knew it was going to piss her off; he wanted her out of
his life for good. She needed to be chasing her child and not
somebody else's child. How could he love somebody that
doesn't take care of their responsibilities? It was unnatural, and
he was giving her a reason to get back to being a MOTHER.

"Wow," Santana said, thinking aloud and just twisted her lips.
"It seems like I'm the only mothafucka not booed up. I shoulda
invited one of my little freshmen," Tysen groaned, throwing his
head back and sighing deeply.

"No, I'm glad you didn't," Santana rolled her eyes, Tysen loved
his freshmen girls cause they were so easy to manipulate. He
knew no girl his age was going to put up with all the bullshit he
did. He was worse than Colbie when it came to girls.
"Thank y'all for coming foreal, we need to do this again,"
Santana smiled and took a bite out of the chicken, the taste
buds on her tongue danced. It was seasoned and crispy.
The night was full of laughs, mostly Tysen was cracking his jokes
cause they all seemed to be having side conversations with
their partners. After eating, everyone got full and helped clean
before heading home.
The minute they left the house, Santana got into the shower
and threw on her bedclothes, and before she made it to her
room, she went to see if Taylor's door was unlocked.
"Tay, you up?" She knocked and dropped her hand down to her
side, sighing and hoping tomorrow she'd be in the mood to at
least fake a conversation.
"You not gone, come lay down?" Colbie said, resting his hand
behind his head, relaxing in Santana's bed as she dragged her
feet into the room. "What's wrong?"
"I'm okay," she sighed, crawling onto the bed and snuggling up
against him. "I'm just worried about Taylor,"
He kissed her cheek and pulled her closer into his body. "It's
gone be good Tana,"
She yawned into his chest and put her body underneath the
covers and balled herself up into a fetal position.
"You going to sleep on me?" Colbie spoke in a surprised tone.
"No, I'm just resting my eyes," she assured him and turned the
opposite way. "Can you hold me?"
He said nothing and moved in close to her, holding her thick
body near and kissing her shoulder. "Goodnight, Santana," he
chuckled, knowing it was time for him to sleep right along with
her.
"Night." she moved her waist into his crotch area.
He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling himself grow against her
butt. He tried to take deep breaths without making it too
noticeable for Santana, but of course, she knew what she was
doing.
"Tana?" Colbie started, hoping she'd reply to him, but she
didn't. She was so exhausted that in the blink of an eye, she was
in a deep sleep. "Fuck,"
"So you don't want me anymore?" Niada turned to face
Rashawn.

He was flicking his lighter as he looked at her with no emotions

expressed on his face.
"Ain't that what I just said?" He placed a pre-rolled blunt
between his thick lips. He sparked the blunt and inhaled the
smoke. "This shit ain't it no more, we ain't meant.

"You're a fucking child, It's starting to show. You don't even kiss
me anymore but be quick to get a nut outta me, fuck you," she
raged, her heart slowly breaking as she looked him in the eyes.
"I'm worth more than the shit you put me through,"

"Didn't nobody tell you to bring yo' fuck ass ta Texas. You
brought this on yoself, I don't give a fuck what you do." His
voice was full of ignorance, he didn't even feel bad for breaking
the relationship off. It was finally time for him to focus on the
reason he moved to Texas in the first place.
"So that's it?" She shrugged her shoulders, snatching her jacket
off his bed.
"Yeah, bye. Fuck out my house, matta fact I'll walk you out," he
pushed himself off the bed and moved toward the door. He
showed no type of emotions or remorse in his face. Niada
figured he was just upset about something but he was really
over their relationship.

The flame that kept the two together was blown out, there was
nothing keeping them together.
Rashawn showed her to the door looking her up and down.
Niada's head was down, she felt sick to her stomach. She was
still infatuated with him, hoping he'd change his mind in the
long run. There weren't too many guys that would put up with
her insecurities but he was getting tired of it.

He was only putting up with them because he expected her to

be woman enough to change her childish ways.
"You gone be calling me and begging me to come back. And by
that time I'ma have me a real man that loves me and p—,"
He slammed the door in her face and locked it while shaking his
head. That was one problem solved the rest still felt impossible.
He trailed to his uncle's room and peeked in to make sure he
wasn't around. He kept a case of alcohol in the room, it was
used for parties and get together's but Rashawn always found
himself taking a few sips of Vodka from time to time.
He pulled the bottle off the shelf and spun the top off. He threw
his head back as the liquid substance burned inside his mouth.
It was his way of getting by, drinking was something he picked
up from watching his mother.
A few sips weren't enough, he continued to down the body until
he was satisfied. He noticed how empty the bottle was and
went into the kitchen to fill it back up with water. His Uncle
Reggie wasn't really a Bacardi man but he knew when his things
were tampered with. Hopefully, he didn't notice this small
thing.

He placed the bottle back on the shelf and went to go lay down
on his bed. He was finally single and the only thing on his mind
now was Santana. He went through his call log and stopped
scrolling when he saw her name.
His phone began to ring, hoping she'd answer his call cause
right now he could use her kind words. It was something about
Santana, she was just a ray of sunshine in his dark clouds.
"Hey, Santana," he smiled not knowing that she wasn't the one
holding the phone. She told Colbie to answer, he was taken
aback by the sound of another niggas voice.

"Aye, who is this?" Colbie scrunched his eyebrows together.

"Rashawn, tell ha to call me I need help wit' this assignment,"
he lied, he didn't even have anything to work on but the less
Colbie knows the better for both of them.
He really just wanted to hear her voice but hearing Colbie
talked just irritated him even more.
He could clearly see there was something between the two of
them. It wasn't like him to be a home wrecker and he wasn't a
messy guy but he felt like he could do her better than Colbie.

"Aight," Colbie nodded and hung up the phone and sat her
phone back down on the charger.
"Who was it?" Santana groaned against her pillow and kept her
eyes shut.
"Rashawn, said he needed help with an assignment," Colbie fell
onto the bed and fixed himself, Santana just admired his
handsome face. And his dreads were all up in his face, she was
ready to twist them up whenever he was ready.

"Oh," she sighed and forced herself up from the bed.

"Where you going?" Colbie bit down on his lip, watching
Santana walk toward her bathroom.
He kept his eyes on her behind, the spandex shorts showing off
every curve she had carved into her body.
"To pee," she shut the bathroom door and handled her
business.
Colbie relaxed in the bed, noticing it was around in the
morning. She'd been sleeping for a few hours and something
just seemed to keep him up. He just spent time up thinking, he
wanted to be a better man.

His ways were getting old, even for him, and he enjoyed having
multiple girls whenever. But there was no greater feeling than
being with the one girl he actually had love for.
He listened to the toilet flush and the sink began to run,
Santana sang her ABC's as she washed her hands. After all these
years she made sure she washed her hands for the right
amount of time.

After finishing up in the bathroom, she crawled onto her bed

and fell down into Colbie's chest and he just held onto her. He
rubbed her bare arm and gazed at her.
"I wanna do it," she bit down on the corner of her lip, a small
smirk creeping up on her face.

"Do it? What you mean?" He asked, the first thing that came to
his mind was sex of course but he knew Santana wasn't ready
for that just yet, and he wanted her first time to be special.

"I wanna try us out, if it don't work we go back to being friends

and if things do work out then that's perfect," she smiled
against his chest.

And that made him happy, knowing she was willing to give him
a chance.
"You sure?"
"Yeah," she nodded her head with anticipation.
Colbie couldn't come up with a word or words to say. He was
finally getting to prove to Santana that he wasn't a dog.
He pressed his lips up against hers, grabbing her face and
pulling her close.

It got heated, Santana leaned in and inserted her tongue into

Colbie's mouth making his eyes open. She was moving at a
faster pace than he was used to, she was just in a good mood.
She had a dream about the two of them living happily ever
after, no kids just them.

The only thing that could be heard was moaning coming from
Santana. Colbie's hands began to travel all over her body. He
moved his fingers in a circular motion against her shorts.

She moaned and arched her back, rubbing her hand against his
member feeling it grow in his hand. Her fingers slipped into his
briefs, feeling on Colbie making his head go back.
"Tana, don't," he warned her. "You not ready,"
He chuckled lightly knowing he'd leave her in pain, and he
wanted to respect her parent's house and they never knew
when the two of them were coming home.

"You right," she huffed, she wasn't even big on sex and as much
as she craved it right now wasn't the time for either one of
them.
She had to make sure Colbie was the one she wanted to give it
up to anyways. He had a lot to prove and she was really going
out on a limb, letting him in so quick.
But it seemed to be the only way she can rid these feelings for
him. The second he fucks up it's a wrap for both relationships,
their friendship was on the line.
"We gone get there and when we do it's gone be perfect. I ain't
gone pressure you about it just let me know when you ready,"
he said pulling her toward him, pecking her lips and pulling her
into his chest.

"How many girls you fucked?" She asked bluntly and since it
was the two of them there was no reason for him to lie.
"Huh?" He had to take a minute to process the question.
"Huh hell, how many girls you slept with?" she smacked her lips
and pegged his chest lightly.
"Like," he moved his head side to side, going back and thinking
on his old affairs, one night stands, and relationships. He knew
his way around a female. "Five,"

"Five?" She spoke in a surprised tone.

"Why you say it like that?" He scrunched his slim face up.
"Just, I don't know," she shook her head, dismissing the topic.
"I'm clean, I always strap up I ain't out here burning or nun," he
assured her, and he always protected himself and the way he
did things he had to go down to the clinic to make sure he was
in tact.
"Well good," she sighed deeply.
"Aye? Santana, you sleep?" Taylor's groggily voice started. "I'm
about to step out for the night, can you lock the door?"

Santana breathed out and got up from the bed, leaving Colbie
there.
"Where's your key? And why won't you talk to me? What's
going on with you, mama and daddy been worried sick about
you," Santana spoke in a loud whisper, treating her older cousin
like her younger cousin.
"I lost it and I told you not to worry about me. I'm fine
Santana," she assured her although she could look in her eyes
and see that she wasn't fine at all.
In fact, Taylor was torn into pieces.
She was being pimped out, spending nights in brothels instead
of her bed. Her pimp had her thinking she'd be bagging cocaine
but he knew he'd make more money if she sold her body.

He's threatened her and even abused her, things were not
looking good for her. The money she earned didn't even go to
her, it went straight to Kanan.
He was a dirty man, keeping Taylor and a few other girls silent.
"You're lying and I'm telling daddy you in trouble," Santana
started, knowing it'd get her to talk.
And James was a police officer, it wouldn't take much to get him
involved and take Kanan down.
"You can't tell him nothing, please. Promise me you won't say
nun Santana," Taylor's eyes began to get glossy. "I'll explain
everything just, just don't tell Uncle J."
"If you gone explain, explain now," Santana said crossing her
arms. "I have time,"
"Not tonight, first thing in the morning," Taylor said before
walking out the front door. "I love you,"
The class was silent, pencils tapping, and the sound of Santana's
chair squeaking were the only things to be heard. She had a
tendency to bounce her leg when she was nervous, this was the
biggest test of the semester.

Mr. Simmons created a questioned test and a writing portion

that she was already dreading. She blew out a big bubble of air,
hoping the answers would just magically come to her. It wasn't
that she didn't study, he wrote the questions in the most
confusing way.

"Santana," Rashawn's voice whispered behind her, causing her

to look forward.
She knew the minute she spoke, attention would be on her. She
was not good at whispering so it was just best to ignore him.
She reread her question, making sure she circled the right letter
before moving on to the next one.
"Santana," Rashawn continued, he just needed her to his pencil
from under her. He was moving it between his fingers and it
flew out of his hand, "I ain't tryna cheat off you, I just need my
pencil,"
She sighed deeply and bent over to grab his lead pencil, he
leaned over her shoulder and circled as many answers he could
before she faced him.

"Here," she rolled her eyes and dropped the pencil on his desk.
"Why that nigga answer yo' phone the other night?" He raised
an eyebrow and gave her a warm smirk.

"Excuse me?" She was now facing him completely, her whole
body was turned toward Rashawn.
"Santana, Rashawn? You two finished with your tests?" Mr.
Simmons tilted his head out of his book and looked at the
students.
"No sir," Santana turned back to the front and gave him a slight
smile. "Sorry, won't happen again,"
Mr. Simmons was gonna make an example out of these two just
to show the whole class he was done being the nice guy. The
students were always taken advantage of his kindness.

"Bring your tests up," he placed his book down and sat upright
in his chair.
"But, I was just giving him his pencil. And I'm not even done,
you not getting it until I finish," Santana retorted, not knowing it
was making her situation worse.

"You two chose to continue talking so in that case, you are both
finished with your tests so pass them up." he stood up and put
his hands in his front pockets, dragging himself over to their
seats.
"Doing the fuckin' most right nie," Rashawn threw the packet at
Mr. Simmons and slouched down in his seat.

"Maybe next time you'll keep your pencil in your hand," he

glared down at him and Rashawn just looked away from him,
clenching his jaws tight.

"Can I just retake it? I have an A in here, I can't go any lower

than that." Santana began to beg, knowing her grades were
very important not only to her but to her parents.
"No," he said firmly making her smack her lips and grab her
things from the ground. "Where you think you going Ms.
Silver?"
"I'm going to call my daddy, I ain't do nothing wrong," she
huffed, standing up and moving toward the classroom door.

"You leave this room, I'm writing you up," he proposed and at
this point, he was writing both of them up for disrupting the
class.
"Write me up, I don't give a fuck. Be ready to talk to my daddy
when he gets here," she said grabbing her phone from her back
pocket.
Rashawn got a kick out of it, and started chuckling. She was
even cuter when she was mad, her nose crinkling up and her
brown face growing red.
"San, I'm at work," James sat in his police car, looking around
the area for a man who had just robbed the liquor store. "Aren't
you in class?"
"No, Mr. Simmons took my test up when I wasn't even finished
because somebody needed me to pick they pencil up. I wasn't
even talking, then he said he was gone write me up," she paced
back and forth, amplifying her voice due to anger building up
inside her.
"I'll come up there first thing in the morning, I got work to do.
Just give him my number cause none of that sounds right." He
shook his head.
"I wanna go home, he done pissed me off for the day," she
rolled her eyes and James just shook his head.
"I can't come to get you so call your mom or Colbie. You don't
need to be skipping but I'll let it slide this one time. I love you
and I'll see you when I get home,"

"Love you too dad," she said into the phone, she heard the class
door open and looked up at Rashawn.
"Hey," he breathed out.
Santana just rolled her eyes, irritated. "Hi,"
"What's wit' da attitude ma?" he mugged her and she just took
her eyes from him. "That la' test don't mean shit. Get outcho
feelings,"

"Shut up," she shook her head and a smile appeared on her
face, just what he wanted to see.
"Fuck you just standing out here fa' anyways? Look, I'm finna
go home you want me to drop you off?" He licked his lips and
move his head back just to get a good look at her.
"I was talking to my daddy," she said.
Rashawn just nodded his head and stuffed his hands in his
jacket pockets. "You a daddy's girl huh?"

"Yeah,"
"So, you need ah ride? I'on mind taking you home," he grabbed
on his backpack straps and pressed his lips together.
"I'd appreciate it," she nodded and smiled up at him.
"Make sure you let ya' pops know, don't need you in no more
trouble," he chuckled and he began to lead the way. He usually
left school after this class period, taking the door underneath
the staircase to do so.
"Texting him now," she unlocked her phone and typed a
message to her father, sliding her phone into her back pocket.
Rashawn grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the back door,
pressing her back against the wall before placing his lips onto
hers. She pushed him off immediately and scrunched her face
at him.

She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and just stared up at him,
disgusted.
"What the fuck, Rashawn," She yelled and he threw his head
back, he lost hisself for a moment and didn't even realize what
he had done.
"I'm sorry," he shook his head and closed his eyes thinking that
would make the awkward situation any better.
He didn't say anything and neither did Santana, she just
followed him to the car and held onto her backpack as they
made it to his car.

The beginning of the ride was silent, she figured he was taking
her home immediately but he had some errands to run.
She watched him stop in a neighborhood, he was supplying
weeds to the people around. She squinted her eyes at him and
was a little disappointed, wondering why he was even selling
drugs in the first place.

Everybody around here just looked dirty and they were all
feigning for whatever Rashawn was supplying. He wanted to
stop but the money gave him a thrill some things just couldn't
fulfill.
She ignored him and put her face in her phone, Colbie and her
were messaging back and forth. She made sure to tell him what
had happened at school.

Her phone buzzed in her hand and she rolled her eyes. Right
now was not the time for a conversation considering she was in
the car with him.
She declined and texted him back telling her to just meet at her
house.
She sat her phone down and her eyes wandered off. While
Rashawn was chopping it up with a local pothead, Santana
noticed something.
There was a black SUV that had pulled up across the street. It
almost looked like an abandoned building they were beside.
A heavyweight man got out of the car, he was short, and wore a
black t-shirt and wore an abundance of chains. His hair was in a
low buzz cut and his pants sagged showing off his boxers.
He dragged his legs into the building and Santana just couldn't
seem to take her eyes off him. Something about this man just
didn't seem right to her.
It was almost eerie, something was going on inside that
building. Not sure what or who was inside but it was fishy
business to her.
"Hey, what's over there?" She continued to look, tapping on the
glass.
"What?" Rashawn waved the guy off and put his focus on what
she was pointing at. "I don't know, why?"
"Nothing," she said shook the thought out of her head, maybe
she was just overthinking, or so she thought.
"Lemme get you home," he put the car in drive and pulled out
and made his way to Santana's estate.
"Get off me," Taylor squirmed in Tremaine's grip.
"Shut up, bitch," he grabbed her arm tight, squeezing on her
bones as he pushed her toward the door. "Need you to make
me some money tonight,"
She wanted out of this, she was set up by a guy that was
supposed to be her friend. He just used her to make his boss
more money.
Taylor was tough and she was smart, working up some sort of
plan to get out of this man's sex ring.
She was lured toward a truck, where he tossed her inside the
trunk. Her arms were already tied behind her back so she
couldn't get out of this.
Tremaine got into his truck, speeding off and drove downtown
taking her to his place so he could use her first.
"Something just didn't feel right," Santana shook her head,
pacing back and forth as she explained to Colbie.
"I'm not sure Tana, that building hasn't been used for a long ass
time. What you wanna drive out there or sum?" He raised an
eyebrow.
"I mean, I don't know. Everything just seems off to me now that
I know Taylor's in trouble," she flopped down on her Queen
sized bed, her eyes just gravitated toward the ceiling.
"She tell you what's going on?" He laid down beside her and
faced her.
"No, I'm ready to tell daddy. Cause he be on some C.S.I shit
when it comes to investigating maybe he can figure out what's
going on,"
"Do you see anything?" Colbie grunted, trying to hold me up
with his hands.
I kind of convinced him to take me back to that abandoned
building. Something just didn't feel right and by the looks of it
some shit was going on.

I watched a man pull a younger girl up the stairs, she was tied
up like a hog. There was a black scarf covering her eyes and he
just threw her down to the floor.

There were other men and women present, passing blunts,

snorting cocaine, and drinking a bottle of D'usse.
My eyes widened as I watched the man pull out a knife and the
only air I let out was a gasp.

"What, what you see?" Colbie smacked his lips and I felt his
arms begin to tremble.
"Put me down, we gotta go," I said continuing to peek over the
tall wooden fence.
He did as I asked, moving the few dreads out of his face and
pulling me near him.
"Cmon, we'll talk in the car," he hold onto my waist as we took a
stroll up the street where he parked.
I rested my head on him and felt my heart began to pump out
of my chest. I knew something was up and it's not like I was
superwoman or some shit. I didn't have the power to stop
anything that I saw but I had to tell somebody what the fuck
was going on.
"Aye," a deep raunchy voice shouted. It made me jump and
Colbie turned to face whoever was speaking.

"Wassup?" He stepped in front of me, but of course me being

short I had to peek around him.
"Nah, shorty inna back. I ain't got shit to say to you potna," the
light skin guy chuckled and pulled smoke from a cigarette. It
looked like it was almost out.

"You ain't got shit to say to her either then," Colbie scoffed and
kept his eyes on the dude.
"You tell that bitch to keep her ass from round here." He
pointed the cigarette at Colbie.
He just smacked his lips and looked back at me. "Go to the car,"
"What? No," I scrunch my face up, I was too scared to even go
back to the car.
And there was no telling what was gonna happen to Colbie, this
guy wasn't intimidating but he seemed to be apart of the shit
that was taking place inside the building.
"Take yo ass to the car," his voice raised and as much as I didn't
want to leave his side, I listened.

He tossed me the keys and I didn't walk, my scary ass ran to the
car. I unlocked the doors and got in on the drivers side and
cranked the car up.

I wasn't the greatest driver, have yet to take my driver's test. I

decided to pull on down to where we were at. All I saw was
Colbie attacking the same dude. I rolled the window down and
ushered for him to bring his ass on.

He wasn't even listening, I believe his adrenaline was pumping

with testosterone.
I sighed deeply before leaving the car and rushing to push him
off the guy. "What the fuck is wrong with you,"
He just glared over to that area, I don't know what was said or
happened but it happened quick.
He began to mumble an awful amount of words, a couple of
bitches escaped his lips. I just looked at him dumbfounded
wondering where all this fucking anger was coming from.
It's almost like went off in his mind that made him react a
certain way. I didn't want either one of us to retaliate cause I
wasn't tryna be in that room with all that weird shit going on.
"You good?" Colbie asked and I just nodded my head as he
pulled off.
"Are you good?" I raised my eyebrow and rested my hand on
top of his.
"I'm straight," he moved his nose up, an indicator for me to
know he was lying. But I wasn't gonna bug him about it he
wasn't in his right mind. "I gotta get you back home, it's getting
late,"
"I ain't tryna go home. Can I stay with you tonight?" I leaned
onto him and put my eyes on the streetlights.
"You got school in the morning and yo dad ain't going for none
of that," he laughed.
"I know," I breathed out. "But can we sit outside the house until
I get sleepy? I know I'ma have trouble sleeping."
"Yeah," he nodded and gripped onto the wheel.
We made a stop at Subway and got us some food. I always
ordered the steak and cheese sub on italian herbs and cheese.

Colbie ordered one of the wraps and I was unfamiliar with it but
after watching the girl make it, I needed a bite or two.
"So, what did you see in there?" Colbie asked holding the wrap
in his hands.
"It was like a kick back at first glance. Drugs, alcohol, and some
regular shit at first. Then one of the guys came up some steps
with a girl she was blindfolded and tied up. He threw her to the
floor and was holding a knife up to her neck. I made eye contact
with him and that was it," I explained, my heart beating out of
my chest as I relieved that moment again in my head.
"What the girl look like?" He raised an eyebrow, sitting his wrap
down and drinking lemonade out of his cup.
"She was about my complexion, taller, full lips, and her hair was
curly. She was in a bra and panties. That's all I remember," I
shrugged my shoulders, slouching down in my seat.
"Hmm," he hummed, spinning his cup in a clockwise motion. "I
got a theory, you prolly don't wanna hear that shit though,"
"I mean, you brought it up."

"Well, what if Taylor apart of this shit. Coming home late, the
bruises, and all that shit. Maybe that's why you felt some type
of way about that building. Ain't no telling how many girls they
got down there," he suggested, keeping his eyes on me to
watch how I was gonna react.

I was confused myself but his theory was making some sense. I
don't know if she was one of the girls being used or maybe she
was running it. Whatever was going on had my mind racing.
And there's no telling how many females were in that
basement. They may have tens to twenty girls down there and
no one know. Everyone thought the building was abandoned.
But the inside looked like something totally different. It gave me
casino or nightclub vibes, everything was red and black.
I figured I'd try and call Taylor's number. She never came home
and daddy and mama weren't concerned at all, but nothing but
red flags were being raised. I was fearing for her life because
Kane was evil and the stuff that he did to everyday people was
just pitiful.
But I didn't see him there, or any of his so called homeboys. I
was trying to make sense of all this but I don't think right now is
really the time. I opened up my sub and took small bites.
Usually I ate like a pig but my stomach was a little uneasy.
"You sure you straight? You don't seem okay," Colbie wrapped
his food back up and shoved it in a bag.

"Just hope she's okay, wherever she is. I could see the pain in
her eyes, not being around her is really making me feel some
typa way. I wanna talk to daddy but she told me not to say
anything," I explained, tossing my sub down.

"Well, way I see it somethings gone have to give. She prolly not
gone confess, and with whatever amount of information you
got maybe you can tell James and see what he knows. If you
don't wanna spill everything just ask small ass questions to put
yo' pieces together. I wanna help in any way I can,"
"Thanks, I'll talk to him." I placed my food into my bag. "I'm
ready to go home,"
"Aight," he nodded scrapping up all the trash and throwing it
away. "Cmon Tana,"
He held his hand out and I placed mine on top of it. His hands
were warm and smooth, he always took good care of himself
unlike other boys.
I was pulled into his chest, he wrapped his arms around me and
kissed the top of my head. "It's gonna be okay, aight?"
I was silent but I nodded to let him know I was listening.
"Food got you sleepy don't it?" He laughed, leading the both of
our bodies outside of the restaurant.

"Yeah," I yawned got on my side of the car, getting in and

strapping in. I rested my head against the window and felt my
eyes become heavy.
The car ride was smooth and I couldn't fall asleep cause my
mind was going crazy. It was theory after theory, all this shit was
a mystery.
I knew it wasn't my place to crack the case on any of this shit.
But if there was just something I could do, I'd do it.
The car came to a halt and I blinked my eyes open, noticing we
were in front of my house. I wanted to sit in the car and talk but
the food and silent car ride were enough to make me drowsy.
I'm sure after my shower I was gonna wide awake.

Colbie turned the car off and led me to the front door. I stuck
my key inside the door and before I twisted the knob he
caressed my back which made me face him.
Our lips sent electromagnetic waves through our nerves. Our
heads went in opposite directions and our mouths moved in
sync.

He pecked my lip multiple times before letting me go. "I love

you, goodnight baby,"

Butterflies.
"I love you too," I smiled up at him, my bottom lip was tucked in
between my teeth. "Let me know when you make it home,"
"I got you," he gave me one last hug before letting me go.
His eyes stayed on me for a short period of time and I couldn't
keep from staring. Colbie was always the love of my life.
Even when we were kids I had a little kid crush on him. I used to
draw pictures of us together. Draw a heart saying Santana +
Colbie, daydream about him, and just thinking about all the
endless possibilities.

At that age I thought it was impossible but now that we've

grown and with the hormones raging in us at and years old we
were a little curious.

That same curiosity had me sprung, all I ever wanted was for
my best-friend to love me the same way I loved him.
"I'm home," I shouted into the living room, daddy was laid back
on the couch watching football, as usual.
"How was your night babygirl?" He kept his eyes on the TV.
Nothing could distract daddy from basketball.

I could tell him I was pregnant and he'd continue to be glued to

the screen.
"It was a night, a good one. I had a good time, Colbie's so
sweet," I swung around and I could just her daddy gagging.
"Can't believe you two are actually dating. I woulda never seen
that coming," he shook his head and swung his legs around and
turned the screen off. "I'm going to bed, did you lock the door?"
I went to go do so and didn't wait any longer before bringing it
up. "Have you talked to Taylor at all? I'm kinda worried about
her,"
He stopped in his tracks and turned around to face me. "Yeah,
she texted me a few hours ago. She told me she found a new
apartment. She's been working a lot of hours and getting her
stuff together. I'm really proud of that girl, tryna do better for
herself,"
"Daddy, uh," Santana deeply sighed, her heart began to beat
out her chest. "I gotta tell you something,"

James was all ears and went to sit down on the couch, giving
her his undivided attention. "Well come on, get comfortable,"
She dragged her body over to the cream sofa. Her head was
drooped down and she was piecing the right words together
before they left her mouth.
"Well, Taylor's in trouble. I don't know who or what she done
got herself into but she's been to the house. Multiple times,
bruised up and some more stuff," she shook her head, picking
at her nails and looking away from her father's eyes.
"There's this building off of Preston and something about it just
felt wrong to me. I was skeptical about it and it didn't sit right
with me,"
"So you and Colbie went to go check it out huh? Yeah, I know all
about it. Some officers saw you two. We been trying to check
that building out for months. A lot of sex trafficking speculations
but we're not sure," he sat up straight and rested his elbows on
his knees, running his fingers through his head.
"If Taylor is tied to this, there's not much I can do babygirl. I
won't know for sure until we have enough evidence to get a
warrant," he shook his head, he wanted to help but his hands
were tied.
He was just a cop, not a detective but he knew some people. He
just needed to find a way to get inside and get some proof
before asking for a search warrant. And he was sure he'd have
enough evidence to get the guys locked up.
"Daddy, I saw something. There was this girl he brought to the
room. She was tied up and the guy pulled out a knife but before
I could see anything else he caught me looking," she confessed,
hoping that was enough information.
James just couldn't believe anything he was hearing. It was just
a lot of different subjects flooding his mind.
Taylor, his only niece was in trouble. His daughter was on the
wrong side of town doing something that could've had her
killed, and he was wondering what he could've done.
"I'm gonna go to bed, I gotta try and wrap my head around all
this. I love you," he forced himself up from the couch and kissed
Santana's cheek.
She was upset, she expected her father's reaction to be
different. But she knew his job was to protect the household so
she figured he was upset.
Santana just sat in the living room and took a deep breath. Her
eyes stared off into space and she just couldn't seem to find
peace.
Just knowing she had everything easy, her cousin was
somewhere suffering. It was pulling strings on her heart.
Taylor was still in the trunk of this man's truck. It seemed like
they were riding for what felt like hours. She was continuing to
whine and screech out to annoy him but he turned his music to
a louder volume.
He was snorting cocaine with his index finger, amping him up
for this party they were about to attend.
Taylor was an escort, not by choice if you were wondering. She
was tricked by a guy who was supposed to be her friend. He'd
been preying on her for the longest but he finally lured her in
and has been passing her around with other gang members.

He has now sold her to the highest bidder, who was gonna ruin
her mind body and soul. This was not what she signed up for
but some things you just can't get out of.
Her hands were tied, symbolically and physically. She had a
blindfold over her eyes but was trying her hardest to find a way
to removed it.

She wiggled her eyebrows hoping it would lift the fold. It only
itched her nose and the frustration began to build.
Taylor let out the most lung filled scream. Nobody could hear
her but that was the only way to let her frustration out. She laid
her head against the carpet and slowly but surely she got the
blindfold from her eyes.
There was no difference in her sight, everything was dark but
she noticed the lights being flashed from cars on the highway,
They were leaving Houston and traveling to California. He was
on his way to the airport where he already bought their plane
tickets.
Taylor used the lights to help her see what was around her.
There was a rifle, more ropes, tape, and a lighter.
She raised up and began to look at all the cars, hoping they
could see her. A few drivers noticed and began to blow their
horns, not knowing Tremaine had the music volume blasting.
He didn't know people were honking but it became a chain
reaction. Cars behind him began to press their horns.
Taylor bounced around until she was close to the lighter. She
was smacking it around and it just didn't seem to fit in her
grasp.
She was afraid of him seeing her rise up from her previous
position. She laid back down and continued to grab at the
lighter until she finally had it in her hands.
A sudden thud was felt, she felt the impact the most from
where she was sitting. She gripped lighter and tried to flick it
until a spark formed.
It was burning the rope and she was feeling that tight grip
loosen up a bit. Her wrists were feeling heat and flames but she
kept her eyes closed, taking the pain like a solider.

Until the car was hit once more from behind. Causing the flame
to burn her forearm. She winced and tried to spark the lighter
again to burn the knots off her wrists. The rope was so thick
there was no telling how much longer it was gonna take before
she turned loose.
It was a good thing for her that Tremaine was out of his mind.
He wasn't feeling anything but the cocaine taking over his brain.
Taylor wiggled her wrists hoping that the tears would help get
the ropes off her. She took the heels of her feet and began to
tap the glass with them.
She slammed her feet against the glass waiting for it to shatter
but it didn't. She didn't give up though, wiggling her wrists and
kicking the glass window.
The woman in the car behind them was more than willing to
help get her out of this man's trunk. Taylor watched as the
woman exited her car and even though she was backing up
traffic she was saving a life.

And that meant more to her.

She grabbed her briefcase and rushed toward the glass. She
motioned for Taylor to move her feet and she did just that. The
woman took her case and smashed it into the trunk until the
glass shattered into the smallest pieces.
Tremaine was so focused on the road and getting high, he didn't
notice she successfully left his car.

The lady helped lift and pull her toward the woman's Honda
Civic. Taylor was twitching and scared as a whole.
"Thank you," she gasped and shivered until she made it into the
car.
"You're so welcome. I took a picture so hopefully that fucker
gets what he deserves. I'm so glad you're okay," The Eurocentric
woman explained, turning up the heat in the car for Taylor who
was half naked.
The lady worked her way into the fast lane and sped on to her
home.
She reached in the back, pulling out a blanket for Taylor to cover
her body with. Taylor noticed a child in a carseat sat behind her.
"I'm Marlene," the woman said and Taylor just nodded her
head.
"Marlene, thank you for saving me," a shed fell from her eyes,
her voice as hoarse as a crow.
Santana was still in the living room. She just couldn't seem to
keep her mind off the chain of events that took place.
It was just hard for her to sleep. She got comfortable on the
couch, coddling up in fetal position until she heard a tap at the
door.
It made her jump and she was just gonna pretend to be sleep
until they went away. But they weren't stopping, she got up
slow, and tip toed on over to the front door and checked the
peephole.
"Shit," she cussed under her breath and shook her head before
opening the door. "It is late, what are you doing here?"
"I wanted ta' apologize. I did some shit that was not only
disrespectful but it wasn't in my characta. I don't know what
came ova me," Rashawn stood before her. He was having a
guilty conscious about kissing her out of the blue.
He was developing these feelings for her and they deemed to
be unreal.

"It's okay but you have to go. It's late and I—we have school in
the morning," she gritted her teeth as she spoke in a low tone.
Her loud mouth seemed to always wake up the entire
household.
"Just five minutes. I promise it won't take that long just hea' me
out," he pushed his hand down against the air and shook his
head. "I got these feelings for you man. I don't know where
they came from or how but I like you, a lot.."

"Ion know man. When I first laid eyes on you I wasn't sure
foreal. You seemed real stuck up. I figured you was a snotty
nosed and ain't have nun going for herself," he started, knowing
it would offend Santana but he was just keeping it real with her.
"But I was wrong,"
"You more than meets tha' eye mama. I keep this wall up when
it come ta' people but you, you made it easy. It was ah breeze
to get along witchu and they say first impressions are
everything and ours wasn't too good. It took me actually getting
to know you to know that you was everything. Gorgeous, smart
as hell, and probably one of the realest muhfucka I done met,"
he looked off and a smile grew onto his face.
Santana was so sucked into his words that she didn't even
realize how she was feeling should be the opposite. She knew
and he knew that none of this was right.
She was with Colbie, seeing how things would work out for the
two of them. She fantasized about Rashawn before but that was
all it was, fantasy.
"Rashawn," she dragged out and stepped ouside, shutting the
door behind her. "I'm with Colbie, I thought you knew that,"
"Well, I was sure about you. I woulda never had you out here
looking stupid. That nigga claim he loved you so much but had
you out here sad and I coulda did you so much better. That
nigga ain't what you need, you need a me in yo life. But aye,
whenever you done wit' the squares you know where I'm at,"
Rashawn scoffed and looked down at Santana.
There wasn't a word in the dictionary she could say to make
him feel a way. Santana now had a place in his heart, the kiss
was random, but those feelings flushed in like a tsunami.
Everything hit him all at once and rejection hit him like a tidal
wave. He was used to getting any girl he wanted but this one,
this was a girl he saw himself with.
Just how Santana daydreamed about Colbie, she had somebody
feeling that way about her.
"Goodnight Santana," he stepped down from her porch and
made his way to his car.
Santana just rolled her eyes and went into her house, shutting,
and locking the door. She turned all the lights off downstairs
and marched up to her room to shower and get ready for bed.
Everything was just beginning to stress her out. If it wasn't this
school shit, it was Taylor, and if it wasn't Taylor, it just so
happened to be this mess of love she had herself in.
Two boys that she liked were on a mission to steal her heart.
Colbie won but this heist just didn't seem to be over until
everybody was happy.
The two of those boys were in it for their own personal gain.
And the only person's happiness Santana was worried about,
was her own.
Let the love games begin.
He's taking me out tonight, I was thinking we could all double
date." Niecey shrugged her shoulders.
"If he taking you out there's no need for me and Colbie to go.
Where y'all going?" Santana wrote down the bell ringer into her
notes, staring at the active board.
"Girl, Longhorns," she smirked, that was symbolic to the golden
ticket for them.

"Oooh," she pursed her lips and smirked at Niecey. "Get it in

then suh,"
"Betta' know it. How is Colbie," she spoke in an annoyed tone,
just the thought of him made her irritated.
She was holding a grudge against him for messing around with a
girl Santana didn't like.

"Colbie, is Colbie," Santana laughed. "We're doing good though,

things are smooth right now,"
She smiled down at her paper, reminiscing about her boyfriend.
Just being able to say the word boyfriend was surreal to her.
They were in the honeymoon phase of their relationship. She
was convinced that nothing could go wrong.

"Just the calm before the storm," Niecey preached. "Believe

me, I know,"

Santana was just oblivious to it. Simply ignoring that

considering her and Colbie were already best friends.
The classroom door swung open, the room was starting to feel
a bit out of place. And that was only because Rashawn was late
to class, it was beginning to become an everyday thing for him.

He was beginning to not care about the school thing and he was
getting more involved in the streets, selling more than weed
now.

It had been a month after his visit to Santana's house. Their

conversations were limited now and she would be the one
initiating the conversation.
"Mr. Locke you are late," Mr. Simmons didn't even need to look
away from his computer screen. "It's the third time this week,"
"Okay nigga? You and everybody seen me walk innis muhfucka
late. Ain't gotta announce it," Rashawn mugged him and made
his way behind Santana. "Lucky I even showed up,"

The class grew silent and Mr. Simmons swallowed his pride for a
second. He was just gonna write him a tardy slip and send it up
to the office when class ended.
"Okay, can anybody tell me who Marcus Garvey is?" Simmons
moved from the computer and stood before the classroom.
"Garvey was a pan africanist who believed that blacks would
never be treated equally in America," Santana spoke out before
anyone else. "He also started a movement for us to move back
to Africa,"
"And we ain't listen, now look at us," Rashawn scoffed.
"You wanna elaborate?" Mr. Simmons crossed his arms and was
interested in listening to what the kid had to say.
"I mean what you want me to say? Look around, police killing
us, we killing us, and don't nobody give a fuck about us. Black
lives only matter when it's benefiting the white man," he
shrugged his shoulders and was expressing these feelings he
had for so long.
He kept all his thoughts to himself, just thinking about
everything going on in the world. It hurt him to know that being
a black man meant you had to work one thousand times harder
to make it in America, let alone this world.

"All lives matter," a younger girl, who seemed to have a very

strong opinion. "You can't blame your problems on anybody
everyone gets mistreated,"

"Aye, white privilege, wit' all do respect this ain't nun for you to
speak about. Ain't nobody had it as hard as black people. We
done been beat on, our women was raped, kids taken away
from they mamas." Rashawn shook his head, he wasn't trying
to be disrespectful. Some people just didn't know any better is
how he saw it.

"Not to mention all of our black men and women wrongfully

convicted and all of these miscarriages of justice. We can't even
get a cop in jail for killing one of our people," Santana added.
"And what about the white men and women? You guys think
because your ancestors were slaves that you can get special
treatment? And those cops were doing their jobs," The girl,
Cydni continued to fuel the fire to majority of the students in
the class.

"See, the whole world is blinded by an image they created for

themselves. Marcus Garvey was one of the only black leaders
that had our best interest at heart. Martin Luther King had us
thinking equality was possible but nah, not in this America,"
Rashawn didn't bother looking at the girl, but turned toward
her to say. "Lucky enough for you, you will never know what it
feels like to be black,"
Before things got heated, the topic was changed within a
matter of minutes. Mr. Simmons wasn't about to let the class
turn into a riot everyone was entitled to their own opinions.

"Since we all have different views I'ma set up a debate I'm not
sure when but I'll set up some questions and we'll go from
there. It will be a class discussion on Black Lives Matter
movement," Mr. Simmons announced and proceeded to pull up
notes for today's assignment.

Santana flipped through her notebook and recirded the notes

from the board. The discussion had to do a lot with Marcus
garvey and his teachings. He was pro-black and Cydni didn't like
that.

She was only taking this class because she was new and didn't
really have much of a choice. It wasn't at all in her best interest
because her family could care less about those of color.

Marcus Garvey was not gonna be a easy study for her.

"That is a grown man, honey," Niecey looked back at Rashawn.
"You shoulda hopped on that,"

"He had a girlfriend," Santana talked low but it grabbed his

attention, he minded his own though. "And if he such a grown
man why don't you hop on it?"

"Cause I already got me a grown man. You still fuckin' wit' boys
Santana, Colbie may be older but he has the mind of a child,"

"You not finna keep disrespecting him either. He ain't done shit
to you Niecey," Santana spoke in a defensive tone.
"But he hurt you, that's all I'm looking at. You risking y'all
friendship, knowing what the outcome is gone be. Y'all are
better off best friends and me being your friend I gotta keep it
real witchu." She shrugged not caring how Santana viewed her
argument, she said what she had to say.

"We discussed that and if you were my friend you'd respect my

relationship. I don't bring up Carlos in a negative way, stop
doubting Colbie. He makes me happy and we were never
together when that shit went down so can you drop it?"
Santana gazed at her with warm eyes.

"Okay, fine." She raised her hands up in defense. "I'll drop it but
the minute that nigga start doing you foul, I'm pulling up. I'm
talking bout his house, his job, his classes, he be lucky if he
don't see me at Wal-mart,"

"Won't be no need, stay in your lane and I'll stay in mine,"

Santana declared and Niecey just began to nod.

"Don't mind me if I swerve though,"

"Nah. No swerving, I got this. Let me enjoy my first relationship,
you almost worst than daddy," she blew out eagerly.
James wasn't a true supporter of the relationship but he
learned that wasn't his place. He has taught her enough about
boys and how good they could be when it came to lying.
But James didn't know women were even better. They always
seemed to take the game and reverse it on their opponent. It
was a good thing Santana didn't have a reason to lie to Colbie.

"Can't believe you dragging me into this," Santana rolled her

eyes in the mirror, pulling her skirt down as she looked into the
mirror.
"You look fine, now come on we got those boys waiting on us,"
Niecey ushered Santana from the bathroom and into the dining
area where Colbie and Carlos across from each other.
They never really had much in common. Colbie was more of an
outgoing type of guy and Carlos didn't really care too much
about conversating with anybody but Niecey. They balanced
each other out very well.
"Did you miss me?" She pressed her lips on his cheek and he
just smirked.
"You know I did." He snarked and kissed her back. "You know
what you want to eat?"
Santana rested her head on Colbie, he grabbed her waist and
pulled her in closer. He could smell her A Thousand Wishes
perfume and it was his favorite scent she wore.

And she only wore it for him.

A tall figure stood before them and Santana was a bit irritated
that she had Rashawn as a waiter for the second time. But it
wasn't his fault they continued to seat in his section.

He wasn't even trying to come in for his shift today. But to keep
from getting locked up he had to work at this job. His ex moved
back home and decided to do what was best for not only her
but her son as well.

He had his pen and paper ready jotting down the names as he
got ready to write their drinks down.
Square.

Carlos.

Big Mouth.

San.
He didn't even greet them properly, he chopped it up with
Carlos but that was it. He wrote down their drink and meal
orders. He was ready to go and had more than two hours left to
his shift.
"I'a have it out," he quipped and tapped his pen against the pad
as he walked off, checking on other tables.
"What's up his ass today?" Niecey rolled her eyes.
"Probably a bad day, it's Friday. I mean look around it's busy as
hell bae," Carlos explained.
Santana was invested in her phone, answering back to clients
who had scheduled appointments for tomorrow. It was kind of
annoying Colbie but he knew she had to make her money some
typa way.
"Yo' head been in the phone since we got here Tana. Everything
aight?" He asked in a concerned tone and she just shook her
head.
"I'm sorry," she frowned and locked her phone, placing it down
on the table. "I'm still a little worried about Taylor, I haven't
heard anything from her,"
"She talk to yo' dad at all?" He rubbed on her arm, he didn't
want her stressing about anything right now but talking about it
was her way of coping.
It was like Taylor had went missing. Her face was plastered all
over the news now, right along with ten other girls. Nobody in
town had seen her and it was because she didn't want to be
found.
She had stayed with the woman that saved her life until she
could come up with a name to use for a new ID. She was
changing her identity, she didn't want anything traced back to
Taylor Silver.

She was now Milan Jones. She needed something no one could
trace back to her. And with these guys after her, most certainly
Tremaine she had to stay gone for a long time.
After a wait, the food arrived to the table. Rashawn placed the
plates to the correct person and made sure everything was okay
before going to the back.
"Um," Santana got up, feeling the food on her plate wasn't even
hot. "Hey,"
He was already so far gone but she got up and ended up behind
him. "Rashawn, my food's cold. Is there any way I can get it
remade? I'm not gone eat this shit,"
"Then don't eat it," he stared at her blankly.

"Or you could just do your fucking job and get my meal remade,
matter fact I don't even want the damn food." She scoffed,
shoving the plate into his chest. "Take it,"
It wasn't in her intention but bits and pieces of the food made a
mess on his black collared shirt. He had to watch his words he
wanted to call her out of her name so bad but his mind
wouldn't let him.
"I'm so sorry," Santana apologized with angst, she was eager to
find a napkin to wipe the cheese from his chest.
She pulled the clean handkerchief from his pocket square and
licked it, rubbing it along his chest. "Shouldn't even be helping
you," she scoffed and continued to wipe til' the area.
"I never asked you to do a damn thing for me. Better watch out
for yo' boyfriend get in his feelings." He smirked knowing if
Santana didn't want him she wouldn't be doing all this.

She was just confused and thought she was sure about being
with Colbie.
"Your attitude, you need to fix it," she rolled her eyes, dropping
her hand down to the side.
They were ducked off, in the hallway where the bathrooms
were. As Santana began to pick up the mess she created,
Rashawn proceeded to help.
"Thanks," she murmured and he didn't say anything. "I said
thanks, so fucking rude,"
"And I heard you. Just stop talking to me, we don't have
anything to talk about and you know that," he looked up with
her and spoke in a firm tone.
Colbie's hands rested on my waist as we danced to Wale. The
party was crowded and all the couples seemed to be getting
their recognition for the night.
All the freak hoes got on their knees and the niggas had
majority of the songs to get hype too.
Our first dance together, he was very firm with his grips. He
pushed me in closer and rested his neck on on my shoulder,
pecking the open skin.
I felt a rush, well a flood in my underwear. His lips bounced onto
my skin making my body turn inside out. His lips were strong
and when he began to suck on my neck I nearly lost it.

This would most definitely be seen in the morning, I knew that

for a fact.

Niecey found a party, she was a wild animal on the weekends.

She was more conservative on a school night.
The party was packed, a local artist was performing and he
brought the whole city out.
It was only twelve, things were only marinating and settling
inside the club. Everybody was drinking and smoking as if it was
saving them from something. But after the liquor marinates and
the high settles, this club will be turned upside down.
"You staying wit' me tonight," he said into my ear making my
body vibrate against his. I just blushed knowing I wasn't trying
to go home in the first place.

It would be good to finally spend some one on one time with

Colbie. Dating has been cool but we hardly get time alone
anymore. With me doing hair and him being in school our
relationship continued to feel more like a friendship.

I was happy with him, I was myself around Colbie. He was

always my best friend but now it feels like we are more of a
team than anything.
We worked together to keep our relationship strong and having
him by my side felt like a refreshment.
He understood me and that's what I admired. He took time out
to study my actions and expressions. People nowadays wanna
be right about everything but sometimes it's not about being
right all the time.
The next song that played had the crowd a bit rowdy. The party
was just an escape for us we weren't really look to turn up but
to spend some time together.
He was not letting me go, he kept me in front of him. His hands
ran up and down my sides, amplifying the feeling I had before.
I tried to hold my composure, I wanted to do and say a whole
lot of things to him. His hands were just charging up my
romantic side.
It was something I never got to experience once, this being the
first time.
I was a trophy to him, something that was worth earning. It
took a lot for the both of us but we made it. I feel like
everybody isn't always given a fair chance.

My feelings for him developed way before he kissed me. I never

brought it to his attention so that was me being a coward. He
just chose to be ignorant, trying to find a feeling only I could
give him from other females.
Luckily for us we grew out of those childish phases. He was
writing me actual letters and delivering them to school right
along with small things like flowers or even some lunch.
He always came through for me.
My hands traveled up to his face, pulling his lips down closer to
me. I loved kissing him it was some form of intimacy I loved
when it came to him.
The way he refused to let me explore kind of made me want it
more. He wasn't aggressive but assertive and I liked that about
him.

Our lips twined, working magic on our hearts as they beat out
our chests. His hand crept up to my throat, pressing around my
pressure points making me gasp for air.

He pecked his lips against mine until we both were satisfied. He

then hugged onto me tighter and it just felt like a cloak of
protection when he was around.
I begged Colbie to leave the party, it wasn't the type of mood
either of us were going for. We wanted lovey dovey and we
were getting the complete opposite.
"I'm finna find Niecey. Tell her we leaving," I shouted over the
music and turned to face him.
He nodded and followed behind me. Our hands collided and I
led him toward the bar.
Neither one of them could drink but Neicey did not like
standing up at parties. She had a bad temper and if anybody
bumped her wrong she was ready to fight.

I got a clearview of her, she was sitting on Carlos' lap as they sat
in one of the lounge areas in the corner of the club.
Before I even approached the area there were gunshots fired,
making me roll my eyes. Colbie grabbed me and swept me off
my feet.

"I was tryna tell her bye," I rolled my eyes as he packed me out
of the club.

"Better text her that shit, not finna have me shot up cause you
wanna talk," he chuckled placing my feet onto the pavement.

He gripped my hand and we dashed toward his car. I was

panting like a dog, I was not active in any shape or form.
Colbie unlocked his car doors and we watched the crowd begin
to run out of the club in screams and we could still hear the
sounds of the gun going off. I just prayed that my bestfriend and
her boyfriend made it out of there safe.

I got in on my side and got ready for Colbie to pull off. He was
typing in some things in his phone and music began to play.

"Want some to eat before we get to the crib? And call yo mama
let her know you staying wit' me," He rubbed his hand against
mine and I pulled my phone from my purse.
I dialed mama's number and waited for her to answer but it
went straight to voicemail.
I didn't really want to call daddy, he didn't really like me and
Colbie together. So knowing I'ma be staying the night with him,
I doubt he'll let me.
"Daddy," I heard the ringing stop.
"Wassup princess?" He pressed the phone up to his ear, I heard
water running in the background
"Is it okay if I stay with Colbie tonight? I'll be home in the
morning," I gritted my teeth hoping for something positive to
leave his mouth.
"Um," he hummed and I just felt that he was gonna rain on my
parade. "You talked to your mama?"
"She didn't answer the phone," I answered honestly.
"Y'all," he paused and took a deep breath. "You two be careful
and don't do anything stupid Santana,"

"You didn't raise a stupid daughter, and we'll be careful. Thank

you, I love you," I smiled into the phone, my heart began to
flutter.
"You right about that. Let me know when you're on the way in
the morning. Me and your mother have to work, you got your
key?"
"Yeah, I got it," I looked through my purse.
"Okay, love you. And if y'all plan on yanno, wear protection
please. That's all I ask," he said in a painful tone.

"Daddy," I exclaimed and he just chuckled on the other end.

"We gone have to have a talk, you finally have a boyfriend and
these things happen. I was your age before Santana,"
"Yeah, I know," I sighed and the vibe for the rest of the
conversation was awkward.
"I love you, text me when you get to Colbie's."
"I love you too and I will,"
When we finally made it to Colbie's he let me get a shower in.
He had some of my clothes from previous sleepovers. I stayed
here during the summer more than I stayed home.
He showered in another bathroom and he walked into the room
in a pair of basketball shorts. His towel sat on his head as he
dried his dreads.
"You need a retwist," I placed my phone in front of me. I sat on
his bed with my legs twisted.
"Yeah, I know. You gone do it?" He sat on his side of the bed
and rubbed lotion into his skin.
"Yup," I moved behind him and placed my head on his shoulder.
"Not tonight though, I'm exhausted. Shower sucked all the
energy outta me,"
I fell back onto the bed and let out a large whiff of air.
"I'm tryna suck all the energy outchu," I heard him chuckle, but
knowing Colbie he wasn't playing. "You gone let me?"
He turned around with a smirk on his face.
"What?" I smacked my lips and rolled my eyes at him.
"I wanna make you feel good," he shrugged his shoulders. "You
know I ain't gone force nun' on you mama,"
"Just ain't ever had that before," I bit down on my bottom lip, a
little nervous but I wanted to feel good, whatever the hell that
meant.
"Cause you ain't ready for this," he chuckled, he was so cocky I
just laughed right along with him.
"Who ain't?" I raised an eyebrow.
"You, goofy," he stashed his lotion and towel away.
I watched him walk toward the light switch, flipping it off. The
bright room was now dark and the only bright thing on was the
T.V.
The red N appearing on the screen, we probably weren't even
gonna watch anything. Netflix was always just background noise
and Colbie couldn't go to sleep unless he had something on.

"What you wanna watch? You seen uh, The Get Down?" He
asked scrolling through the movies and T.V shows.
"Yes, bae we watched it along time ago," I pressed my lip out.
"Come lay down,"
"I'm bout to," he said putting it on something completely
random before laying down beside me.
He grabbed me and pulled me closer to him. "I love you girl,"
I smirked and pressed my lips on his smooth skin. "I love you
too,"
He caressed my back and moved his hand down, grasping my
ass firmly.
Our lips locked immediately, I knew this wasn't gonna be the
end of anything just the beginning.
His lips massaged onto mine, he sucked on my tongue and
rubbed his fingers against my vagina through my shorts. He
removed his lips and placed them on my neck, licking and
kissing the open space.

"Let me make you feel good bae," He began to slide down

between my legs.
His hands were everywhere, he gripped my breasts, my sides,
and the brim of my shorts.
I didn't put any underwear on, knowing something was gonna
happen tonight.

There's been a lot of sexual tension between us and I was ready

for whatever.
He kissing on the inside of my thighs and pulled my shorts to
the side. My lady garden staring at him, he looked at her and bit
his lip.
She was beginning to throb and nothing had taken place yet.
He started by kissing her, his tongue slowly seeping inside for a
taste. I didn't know what to do, I arched my back the minute his
finger inserted inside me.
"You wet as fuh ma," he shook his head and smirked at me.
I continued to moan, his tongue flapped against the pearl inside
embedded in me. He was twisting his fingers inside me causing
me to scream out.
"Stop moving," he said in a forceful tone, putting his focus back
on pleasing
"Can't help it," I moaned and threw my head back.
"Turn your ass around," he stepped back and I rolled onto my
stomach. "Finna fuck you up,"
"Colbie," she moaned against his tongue. He was brushing it
against her lotus flower. His two fingers pulling in and out of her
making her back continue to arch. "Right there,"
He hummed against her area and all that was heard from his
lips was smacking.
He pushed her head down into the bed, letting his tongue do all
the work. Santana was beginning to reach her climax. He had
her mumbling things she didn't even understand.
He pumped his fingers in and out of her making the creamy
substance flow onto his hands. Santana hollered out in bliss, he
was really making her feel good.
Colbie kissed down Santana's spine and whispered into her ear.
"You ready?"
"Ready for what?" She scrunched her eyebrows and then a light
bulb went off in her head. "Oh, uh, can we start off slow? And
do you have a condom?"
"We don't have to, I just wanted to know. We can end it here,"
he proposed and Santana sighed before dropping her head
down in the pillow.
"No, I want to," she convinced herself and turned her neck to
face him.
"Oh yeah?" He licked his lips and bent down to kiss her lips.
He pecked against her lips more than once. He had to move
away from awhile, searching for a condom in his nightstand
drawer. He removed his shorts and Santana was afraid to look
back.
"Wait," she pushed her hand up against him before he moved
any closer. "Can you play some music?"
"Santana," he threw his head back and chuckled. "Aight, what
you wanna hear? Some Jacquees? Ah no, we finna listen to
Chris Brown. Alllll night, we gone do it all night,"
"No the fuck we not. Not finna have me in pain," she scoffed
and turned facing the T.V as he put it on YouTube and clicked on
a R&B playlist.
He smirked and he wanted to keep the lights on to admire her
body. But he felt it'd be an easier experience for her with the
lights off.
He flipped the switch and braced himself. He never had sex, he
liked to fuck. Which is very different when it comes to showing
a woman's body.
And with her being a virgin it was very hard to approach her. He
took a deep breath and slid the tip of himself against Santana's
slit. She pressed her eyes together and he slowly pushed
himself inside.
He was already feeling pressure, she was warmer than he
expected. "Mmm," he hummed and closed his eyes before
pushing in more.
"You straight?" He raised an eyebrow before making a simple
thrust move.
"Sss," Santana hissed due to how much pressure he applied, it
was mixed feelings but the pain seemed to override. "Yeah,"
"You sure?" He leaned down toward her.
"Mhm," she groaned, the pain was beginning to feel better to
her. Due to her already being soaking wet, the pain wasn't as
bad.
"You feel good mama, this pussy mine ain't it?" He leaned down
against her back and his thrusts began to speed up.
Her moans grew louder and he wasn't all the way in. He was in
Santana's face, pressing his lips towards her continuing to push
his way further.
"Co-Colbie," she stuttered and rolled her eyes to the back of her
head. "Go harder,"
"You getting brave mama. You sure?" He trailed kisses across
her cheek and down her back.
"Yeah," she bit down on her lip.
"Mhm," she nodded, enjoying the feeling she was experiencing.
She was gonna take him up on that all night offer. She didn't
want this to end.
"Turn around," he slapped her leg and she turned around,
facing him.
"I can't believe we actually doing this," Santana said covering
her face in embarrassment.
He removed her hands and smiled. "Nah, I wanna see the look
on yo' face. Yo' beautiful ass face," he ran his hand alongside
her cheek.
"I love you," she smiled up at him and pulled his face down,
kissing him softly.
He took his chance, placing himself in the perfect position. He
was trying to reach her ribs if he could, he wanted this to be a
life changing experience for her.
"Uh," she cried out, clutching his back as he stroked with power.
He was stabbing parts of her body she could never feel. "Fuck,"
"Shit, your pussy so good. You gone make me cum bae," he
groaned, sucking and biting on her neck.
Her fingers were trying to claw his back, he was getting deep
into her soul.
The two of them had fell into a state of euphoria, this being her
first time and you could say it was his first making love.
His pumps went from fast to strong to slow and sloppily. She
was still enjoying it, her moans were loud and very firm. Her
head was sunk into the pillow.
Colbie bent down and cuffed his hand, slapping it onto
Santana's throat.
She was getting wet all over again, his hand over her throat was
her favorite choker. He knew not to cut her airways but for her
it was the same effect.
The two of them went on to have a very wild experience. Colbie
made several trips to the kitchen so he could try some of his
craziest fantasies.
He liked this and Santana enjoyed her first time. He listened to
her and loved her body like no other. Their hearts were racing
as they laid in the bed with all their clothes removed.
"That. Was." Santana breathed out like a dog, hoping her
energy would catch back up to her.
"Fuck, baby you don't even know. We gotta go again," he shook
his head, already flooding his mind with all types of different
positions he could try.
"Man, Rashawn," Tysen shook his head, getting the backwood
filled with weed. "It's fuck these bitches. Get you a lil side piece
and stack yo' bread. The hoes always gon come,"
"Already knowing. Santana fucking wit' that," he took a long
pause. "Man, that nigga don't know what to do wit' her. She
gone walk over him," Rashawn blew smoke from his backwood.
"You act like you know what to do. Can't none of you niggas
handle that girl," Tysen argued.
"Got me fucked up, I'ma have that ass in check real fast. She
know wassup wit' me. I'm done tryna fuck wit' ha' tho. I'm coo'
off it, I'ma respect her square ass relationship,"
"Square? You just be saying shit bruh," Tysen cracked up and
started rolling his wood up. "Ayo, I don't even blame you foo'.
She gone come around, that nigga Colbie always somewhere
fucking up,"
"Too bad I ain't gon' have nun' for ha' ass, gone have to look
elsewhere. Girl had me pulling up and shit. I don't pull up or
nun of the shit I did for her. She happy doe, so she can have that
shit,"
"You act like you had a choice. That nigga was in the picture
before any of this shit. Shit, I knew it was gon happen. You had
a girlfriend too nigga so can you really be mad?" Tysen pursed
his lips up and chuckled.
"Ain't nobody tripping onnat girl. I need me a little hood thang
anyways, somebody das gone buss when it's time,"
"Good luck," Tysen snorted. "Gon be looking in all the wrong
places and end up with a crackhead,"
"You stay talking shit. You can't een pull no bitches, stay fucking
wit them gullible ass girls," Rashawn shook his head.
Him and Tysen had gotten real closer over the past few months.
He could actually say he had a friend in Texas. All his real friends
back in Louisiana were on a different wave, he wasn't fucking
with it.
"You's a muhfuckin hater. I pull all the hoes thank you. Least I
ain't sprung," He scoffed. "And them freshmen listen, senior
girls hard headed. They ain't tryna put up wit' my bullshit,"
"Quit playing wit' muhfuckas," Rashawn lit his backwood up
again.
The morning came in no time, Santana was all on top of Colbie.
He had his hand resting on her lower back. The both of them
were exhausted she was afraid to move.
There was so much pressure between her legs and her body as
a whole was sore. He had took his time on her.
"Morning," Colbie mumbled, the sun getting in his face.
"Mmmm," Santana hummed and tried to move from his chest
but it caused her too much pain. "Colbie, I'm soreee,"
"I know," he chuckled. "Mean I did my thang,"
She rolled her eyes and tried to move her body parts around,
everything was sore.
"I hate you," she scolded him.
"Love you, had that ass pinned up against the wall ain't know
what to do," he smirked and rubbed her back.
"Shut up," she turned her head away from him, blushing.
"Uh huh," he pulled her chin toward him and pressed those
plump lips against her. "You gone have to get up bae,"
"Mm mm," she pouted.
"Dick was posed to make you act right, you still stubborn as
hell,"
Colbie licked his lips and grabbed his keys from the nightstand.
"Yo' daddy outside?"
"Yeah," Santana rolled her eyes and pulled her backpack onto
both shoulders.
She planned on staying longer but her father had called, telling
her he had something he wanted to do this morning.
"I had a good time witchu," Colbie pulled her in close for a hug.
His hands slipped down to her ass, it was still sore from the
previous night.
"I did too," she whined, not wanting to leave. "What you doing
tonight?"
"I'ma be witchu bae," he pulled her closer and kissed her head.
"We can go out on a date or something,"
"We went on one last night. I kinda wanna stay in tonight, be
lazy, watch some Netflix," She mumbled against his chest and
looked up at him.
He already had his eyes on her and somehow couldn't take
them off. "Netflix huh? You know I'm down. Really don't want
you leaving me,"
"I'll see you tonight," she moved away and pressed her lips
against his.
Her father was parked outside, messing with the radio. He was
very skeptical when it came to Santana dating.
But he thought now was the perfect time to explain the birds
and bees, right after she lost her virginity.
Colbie lead her downstairs. He filled her face with kisses and all
Santana could do was blush.
"Love you, text me aight?" He said before kissing her lips.
"I will, love you too," she pecked his lips before exiting the
house.
Colbie left the door open, feeling a little upset wishing she
coulda stayed longer. He trailed upstairs and got on his PS
playing a game of K.
"I thought you had to work daddy," Santana groaned getting
into her father's car.
She scrunched her face up as her thighs began to ache. There
was a small groan but she played it off by pulling her backpack
off.
"Called off, this woman contacted me about a building." He
gave her a slight smile and put the car in drive.
She just rested her head against the window, still sleepy.
"We going there now?" She groaned making herself
comfortable in the seat.
"Nah, gotta stop at momma's and then we'll be on our way." He
gripped the steering wheel and looked over to his daughter.
"Tired? What'd y'all do last night?"
"Just stayed up talking and watched some movies," Santana
said almost too quick.
"Did he wear a condom?" Her father chuckled and Santana's
face went completely blank.
"Dad," she whined and he just shrugged his shoulders.
"I saw the way you came out that house. Let me tell you that
there are consequences to having sex. Probably don't wanna
hear this right now but if he's gonna be your boyfriend, he
needs to be the only one you're having sex with," he informed
her knowing it was uncomfortable but that's what she got for
having intercourse.
It's not a comfortable thing to talk about but once you do it, it's
necessary. And luckily for Santana she had parents that loved
her and wanted her to be careful.
"Okay," she dragged out and kept her eyes off of her father.
"You done?"
"Yeah that's all," he kept his eyes on the road, his heart slowly
breaking knowing that his little girl was now a woman.
He kept his cool and turned the radio up trying to make the car
ride less awkward.
Santana pulled her phone out and quickly messaged Colbie. He
knew she probably wasn't too happy about her dad knowing
but he couldn't help but to laugh.
The car ride to Santana's grandmother's wasn't long at all.
There were many other cars parked in and around the driveway.
"Can I stay in the car?" Santana raised an eyebrow and just
looked at the cars, knowing her evil ass aunt was probably
inside.
"No, come on we'll be quick," he motioned for her to get out of
the car.
"If we gone be quick I could ju—,"
"Just come on," he glared at her.
"Fine," she flared her nostrils and opened her door with
attitude and shutting it soft.
As they walked toward the door, Santana looked up at her dad.
"CanColbieSpendTheNight Please?"
"Can who what?" He was taken aback by how fast the words
left her mouth.
"Can Colbie stay the night, please?" She held her hands
together and James just took the time out to think.
"Ask your mama, you know what I'ma say," he clicked his
tongue.
It's not that he didn't like Colbie, he just wasn't really cut out for
his daughter. But it wasn't gonna be him to break the two up.
He saw that his daughter was happy and that's all that mattered
to him.
Sapphire on the otherhand was very excited, she knew there
would come a time when the two would start to date. Her
daughter finally had a boyfriend and she was behind them %.
The house was full of unfamiliar faces. Most of them were her
cousins who she never even met. Her aunts altogether had ten
kids, and that's ten cousins she knew nothing about.
It was strange how separated she was from her dad's side of the
family.
There was a bunch of distinct chatter beforehand but the
minute James walked in, complete silence.
"You son of a bi—,"
"Sky, you better not use that word in my house," James' mother
held her hand out. "We not here to point fingers at nobody,"
"She was in his care," Sky cried, her eyes continuing to water.
"What the fuck is going on?" James held his hands out as he
looked around the room,. Everyone's faces were just sad and he
wasn't sure what was happening.
"Taylor's gone James," Mary looked down and she couldn't
believe it herself.
"What you mean she's gone?" James raised an eyebrow, he
then looked down at Santana who's eyes were already full of
tears.
"No," she said under her breath and found her way outside of
the house. Her heart felt like someone picked it up and
slammed it against the concrete.
James just kept his hands over his head, not knowing he was
being called over here to find out such bad news.
He couldn't believe it and there wasn't anything he could've
done. But now he wanted to take down that brothel, putting
himself at risk.
"What happened?" James asked waiting for an answer.
"They found her body on the side of the road last night," Mary
spoke softly and she wasn't as upset because she actually knew
what was going on.
"Wow," was all James could say.
"She was in your fucking care, you shoulda watched her. Now
my baby is gone because of you," Sky, her mother began to try
and tear James down.
"No you should've been a fucking mother to her. You the one
kicked her out I just took her in just like I did Santana.
Everything is always about you Skylar, it's always about you til
some shit gone bad. You a real sorry fucking excuse for a
mother." He snapped and shook his head.
He backed out of the house and his blood pressure was at an all
time high.
Santana kept her phone against her chest as she sobbed,
listening to her voicemail.
Hey. It's Taylor, sorry I couldn't make it to the phone. I'm
probably busy doing nothing but I'll try to get back to you.
Tears fell down her cheek and she was so frustrated with
everything. Things were just gonna keep going downhill for her
it seemed.
She didn't even want to go to see the building. Her mood
drastically changed when her dad got into the car.
"You alright babygirl?" James shook his head and Santana just
nodded, holding back her tears. "We can just go home. I'll
reschedule that meeting and you can invite Colbie,"
She didn't respond just kind of sat there in silence trying to
make sense of everything. This week was gonna be a tough one
and instead of inviting just Colbie, she invited Niecey as well.
"I'm so sorry." Niecey pulled her into a hug as Santana opened
her front door. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," she wiped her eyes and sniffled.
She followed her up to the bedroom, where Colbie laid out on
the bed waiting for Santana.
She climbed on top of him and just cuddled up into him.
"Now, I didn't come over here to third wheel," she announced,
tossing her purse in one of Santana's chairs.
"Girl, shut up. She ain't call you ova' here for nothing," Colbie
chuckled and rubbed on Santana's back.
"Wasn't talking to you fuck face," Niecey rolled her eyes at him.
"Getcho friend Tana, she got too much fucking time on her
hands,"
"Both of y'all can take yo' asses home. Didn't call you over here
for you to talk shit, needed to be surrounded by my favorite
people and y'all hate each other," Santana raised her head and
the both of them stayed silent.
"I'm sorry bae," Colbie kissed her forehead. "I love you,"
"I love you too," she kept her eyes ahead, trying to find her a
movie that would make her laugh.
Niecey got a phone call and couldn't help but to be loud and
had to step out.
"Just gone go head and say I ain't going nowhere. I'ma stay here
for as long as you let me. No matter what the fuck happens,
I'ma be by yo side," Colbie expressed his feelings to her and he
also wanted to comfort his girlfriend.
"I feel the same way Colbie," she hugged onto his waist. "I love
you so much,"
"I love you more," he kissed her cheek.
"Sorry that was my mans." Niecey walked into the room and
sighed. "Rashawn and Carlos are on their way here, if that's
okay with you,"
"I guess," Santana just rolled her eyes. "Next time ask please,"
After a long evening of grieving the loss of her cousin, Santana's
friends suggested she go out for a good time. They felt as if she
needed a pick me up.
Why not take a trip to Dave and Busters. Everyone had
someone to bring so it worked out perfectly and no one was left
out.

Rashawn continued to wait outside for his date, Mariah. He'd

been following her Instagram since he moved to Texas. They've
been talking back and forth trying to get to know one another.

Oddly enough they attended the same school. They never

crossed paths but after tonight he hoped he got the chance to
see her more.
He kept his eyes down on his phone. There were some
important text messages he received but ignored them. He
wasn't really trying to keep working for Kane. They bumped
heads a lot and Kane was too messy with the work he had.
Rashawn had street and book smarts. He was always ten steps
ahead, Kane was ten steps behind. He knew he could do better
than this but it was the only way he made his money.
His checks and tip money together wasn't enough to support
his lifestyle. The boy was greedy when it came to money. Not
growing up with it took a toll on him.

Now he lived the fast life, he wanted things his way right then
and there. Rashawn was not a fan of waiting on anything or
anybody.

If he wanted something he would get it by all means.

She responded back letting him know she had pulled into the
lot. A small smirk appeared on his face, he hasn't had fun since
the move. His girlfriend sucked all his energy, his uncle was
always on his ass, and most of the time he was working.

If it wasn't for his parole officer making sure he had a job and
went to school, there's no telling where he'd be.
He responded back to Kane as he waited. There was just a
bunch of secret codes they used. It took him awhile to
understand the hidden messages within each text message.
The chicken emoji was always referred to as cash/money.

was their secret number for any type of emergency. A break in

or someone in their circle was ratting. Kane had texted him
multiple times with those two codes.
Rashawn let him know he was busy and he was going to call him
later tonight.
Kane didn't like that, he was pissed off. No one ever shut him
down but he knew Rashawn was not a regular ass nigga.
Rashawn was not an employee, he didn't work for anybody. So
when he said he wasn't doing anything, he wasn't doing it.
Mariah parked her car and took many deep breaths before
meeting Rashawn. He was fine and so many girls wanted him it
was crazy. He only had eyes for one girl. But considering she
wasn't interested he wasn't going to chase her.
She fixed her eyelashes and applied a thick coat of lip gloss. She
smiled in her rearview mirror and grabbed her purse from the
passengar seat.
Rashawn's eyes were glued to her. Mariah's coffee bean skin
glistened in the beaming sun. Her full lips covered in gloss and
her curls bouncing as she strutted toward him.
Her Instagram didn't serve justice for her. She was way more
beautiful in person, Rashawn was starstruck for the first time in
his life.
She clutched onto her purse and smiled when she noticed
Rashawn. Her hand waved to him, she was trying to cover up
the fact that she was jumping up and down on the inside.
He licked his lips seductively and nodded his head.
"Wassup," he smirked at her and held onto her waist, pulling
her into a strong hug. "You look good,"
She smiled against his chest, breathing in his Gucci cologne.
"Thank you. You look good too,"
"We ain't talking 'bout me though." He chuckled, gripping onto
her hand as they pulled away. "You been here before?"

The two of them walked into the building. "No, I don't go out
like that foreal."
"Me either. Rather stay in the house. Too much shit going on in
the world for me," he breathed out and went to the counter to
pay for everything.
"Right," she shook her head.
They got in a few games and got to know one another before
meeting up with the rest of the crew.
Colbie and Santana just kind of observed everything while they
were there. She didn't mind to come out but she wasn't in the
mood to do much. Colbie was right beside her to make sure she
had everything she needed.
Tysen and his date, Carlos, and Niecey had started a bowling
game.
Santana just rested her head on Colbie's shoulder.
"Aye y'all. This Mariah," Rashawn howled making sure his date
got the proper introduction.
She smiled and looked around waving to everybody. She'd seen
a few of them around the school but never spoke to any of
them.
"Hi," she waved and followed Rashawn to a seat.
"Damn y'all started the game without me?" He smacked his lips
and pulled his buzzing phone from his pockets
Kane.
He blew out air and let Mariah know he had to step
aside for a brief moment.
"Talk," he answered the call and Kane's face scrunched up.

"Nigga you answer to me, not the other way around. Where the
hell you at?" He pushed a cigarette into his mouth as he drove.
His hands were barely on the wheel yet he managed to drive
with no issue.

"Told you I was out. I'll call you wh—,"

"This ain't how this works Ray." Kane spoke firm, he wanted to
make sure Rashawn not only heard but felt what he had to say.
"Bring yo' ass to warehouse before or that's yo' ass,"
"Man, whatever," Rashawn ended the call. "Get off my phone
wit' that shit,"

He was not in the mood anymore for games and laughter. But
he asked this girl to come out so he had to find a way to change
his mood.
He walked back into the building and moved toward the
bathroom.
First thing he did was turn his phone off. He examined himself
and made sure nothing was out of place.
Every time he entered the bathroom, even if it was to look at
himself he had to wash his hands. He ran the water and
pumped the soap.
After drying his hands off, he kept his head down. He
accidentally ran into a female who was attempting to enter the
bathroom.
"My fault," he looked up and saw Santana. "We just gon' keep
bumping into each other?"

"I guess so," she scoffed and looked up at him.

"You aight?" He raised a very concerned eyebrow. He took a
good look at her and she seemed a bit frustrated.
It was only due to a small encounter with Colbie. Just a petty
argument that she initiated, she just needed a minute.

"I'm fine," She shrugged her shoulders but he knew she wasn't.
"Excuse me,"
She brushed past him and walked into the girls restroom. Her
face was just puffy due to her crying majority of the day.
Rashawn walked back to the bowling area. He sat down next to
Mariah, resting his long arm behind her.
"Sorry," he shook his head. "Ain't gon be no mo' interruptions,"
"I hope not," she said jokingly. "But is everything okay?"
"It's coo' ma. They still playing the same game?" He looked over
to her and examined her gorgeous face.
"Yeah, it's almost over though if you still wanted to play," she
gave him a soft smile.
"Nah, I got some we can do," he nodded.

"Yeah? What's that?" She asked and gleamed at him.

She was attracted to Rashawn the minute they made eye
contact. Her body still filled with butterflies, he was giving all
the right vibes.
Not only was he attractive but he was attentive and that's
something she never experienced. Men were constantly
concerned about themselves.
Maybe Rashawn was different.
"We gone play three rounds of skee -ball and if I win, you gone
let me take you out on a real date?" He asked, waiting on a
verbal consent from her.
"Yeah," she pushed her lips together and nodded up at him.
"And if I win, you can take me out on a real date,"
"Ah," he licked his lips and rubbed his hands together. "We ain't
even did none foreal. You gone let me take you out just like
that?"
"Well, I just like your vibe. You not like the other niggas I done
dealt wit,"
"I'll never be like them niggas either," he added. "I keep
everything G, no lies, no secrets. I fuck witchu so I'ma keep
fucking witchu,"

She didn't even know what to say. There was no need, Rashawn
helped her up so they could get in some rounds of skee-ball.
"You cheating," he smacked his lips at her and chuckled. "It's
aight though, I still won,"
She was, going up the ramp to drop the ball inside the point
hole.
She just laughed hoping her antic put him in a better mood. She
could tell he wasn't in the right headspace but he worked
through it.
"How you win?" She moved toward him with an eyebrow
raised.
"Cause win or lose, I get to see you again. Matter fact, where
you be at? I never see you in the halls,"
"I have dual credit classes so I'm really only there for half a day."
She informed him picking up another ball.
"You plan on going to college?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm gonna study Psychology," she gazed up at him.

"Foreal? You done picked a school yet?"

"No. I'm stuck between two of them. I wanna stay here so I can
be close to my family but there's this school in California. The
program is amazing and I have a scholarship so I'd be fine."
"You don't wanna leave ya' family. I understand foreal, I left my
family in New Awlins so I know how it feels," he started, trying
his best to give her some advice. "You gotta do what's best for
you tho' mama. Yo' family ain't always gone be around, take
that scholarship and get the best education. And whatever you
do is gonna be the right choice,"

"Thanks, I needed that," she twisted her lips and began to swing
around. She was in a vulnerable state and tended to move
when she got nervous.
"Cmere," he pulled her in for a hug. "You gone figure it out,"
"I know, thanks Ray," she averted her gaze up at him.
Rashawn rubbed his hand against her lower back and watched
her lips. They were moisturized and he couldn't wait to taste
them.
"I wanna kiss you," he bit on his bottom lip. Sometimes he
didn't think before speaking but this worked out for him.
"Kiss me then," she pushed up against him.
He moved her in closer to him, clutching onto her back with one
hand, and raising her chin with his free hand. He pecked her lips
once, not wanting to get too intimate. But he found himself
against her lips again and for a longer period of time.
There was just a sudden calmness between the two. The kiss
was great and most people experience fireworks but these two
just had a moment of bliss.
It felt right.
"So you just not gone say nun to me?" Colbie looked over to
Santana who just keep a mug on her face. "What's the
problem?"
"I'm just ready to go home," she said, her day had been long
and she was tired from their long night out with friends.
Colbie just sat there in silence, he knew what he wanted to say
would piss her off. She had this weird attitude all day and didn't
know where it came from. But she started to take things out on
her boyfriend.

She was blaming herself about Taylor's death, weeks later after
she got the news.

Colbie was trying to tell her it wasn't anything she could do. It
was just this back and forth banter that was leading them
nowhere.
"I watched her leave that night," Santana shook her head and
pushed her tongue against the inside of her mouth. "She never
came back, if only I coulda just,"
"Santana," Colbie looked over to her and frowned. "Baby, you
tried to save her. She walked out that door knowing the risks
and I know you don't wanna hear that right now but,"
He sighed deeply and went to reach for her hand. He sat his soft
palm on her skin, rubbing it with his thumb. He knew she was in
a tough spot and if he could take away all her pain he would be
more than willing to do so.
The engine and heat from his car were the only things making a
sound.
"It's gone be hard but I'm here Tana. I done been by yoself this
long ain't no reason for me to leave now," He turned to her as
he gripped the steering wheel and swerved into another lane.

Santana just watched throughout the window. All the life in the
air and we all just take it for granted, she thought to herself. Her
eyes wandered, taking in everything for what it was but how
could she ever move on? She didn't even get to say bye.
Does anybody ever get the chance to say bye to a loved one
before they pass? That last encouter is the only thing you can
remember and sometimes it eats you up cause you didn't get
the chance to tell them how much you love them.
You forget to cherish a person's life when they're here. But you
show up and show out at funerals. A society where you aren't
important until your back is against a coffin.
A society where women are being degraded and abused for a
little extra cash. Taylor was worth more than that and as she
spent her life in someone else's identity she was starting to
discover what worth meant.

Milan Jones had flew to New Orleans to live her new life. The
woman she was staying with was a lawyer and worked with her
to get her identity changed.
Taylor swapped lives with a deceased woman who didn't really
do much. She was an herbalist and had some weird obsession
with cats. That was the only amount of knowledge she had. She
spent her whole plane ride figuring out who the woman was.
She had access to all her assets, her house, and anything else
under her name. There was just one thing keeping her from it
and that was her PIN.
She had no family and from her records she didn't leave the
house as much. The woman went off the grid and no one was
really sure where she ended up. She wasn't marked dead but
people assumed, there were rumors that the weird witch lady
had finally died.
People believed her house was haunted and stayed very far
away from her. Marlene did pull some strings so Milan would
have access to this woman's home. It was admirable, the
lengths this woman went to save a complete stranger.

She had made it to the address, Ferris Alley. It was a three story
building, the house was huge and being in it alone kind of put a
bit of fear in her heart. The roofs were long and the black trim
around the white exterior gave her that haunted feeling.
She was ready to make her way to a shop for some sage to
cleanse it all the way out.
Milan breathed out and took her steps forward to the house.
The wooden staircase cried as she stepped on it. There was this
earthy scent she was picking up, the air smelled like fresh rain
but there wasn't a drop of it on the ground.

She patted her backside for the keys and felt them, pulling the
large key out from her pocket. The key was about the size of a
treasure chest key, maybe even bigger than that.
She felt like she was about to enter some portal that was just
gonna turn her whole life upside down. As she stuck the key in
there was this strange feeling she had inside her. She shook the
feeling and twisted the key until the door opened.
She was shocked to see there was still furniture inside the
house. Everything inside was antique, there were ancient
African figures all around, plants that seemed to still have some
life to them.
This was a house you wanted to leave alone. She'd seen so
many horror movies and now she was living in one. Her body
was getting cold and the way everything just seemed so perfect
was off to her.

Did this woman die inside the house? Was she not only an
herbalist? There was more to this woman than creating natural
medicines. Milan wanted to find out but she didn't need
anything crazy going on.
She did a tour around the house and opened a squeaky door.
This door led to something unspeakable, something that almost
made her pass out. Her vision started at the floor, a large red
pentagram on the ground and as she looked up, a woman
holding her hands onto a crystal ball.

She wore a long black and blue dress and a turban on top of her
head. "I was expecting you,"
On the other side of the world, Santana was getting closer and
closer to her bed. She could just taste the cotton sheets and
couldn't wait to sleep all this stress away.
As they got to the neighborhood, Santana got this feeling in the
pit of her stomach. She felt sick and her body was warming up
like she was about to just vomit everywhere.

She took small deep breaths and paced herself because they
were finally in front of her house.
The car came to a halt and the two of them were going their
separate ways. She opened her door and Colbie grabbed her
waist and pulled her into a tight hug.
"I'ma call you when I get home," he said before placing a peck
on her cheek.
"I love you baby," he pressed his lips together.
"Love you too," she said before stepping out of the car.

As she moved toward the house all she could hear was
commotion and just a bunch of nonsense. There was also an
unfamiliar voice, shouting and it was just something she didn't
want to be apart of.
She just wanted to get to her room as quick as possible. When
she stuck her key in and opened the door, the loud volume
voices grew quiet.
"Hey Santana," A brown skinned woman who was about her
height and wore a pixie style haircut greeted her.
"Hi?" She looked around to see her parents, their faces were
not happy either.
Sapphire and James had some more bad news to break to her.

"What's going on?" She stepped closer to them after closing the
door.
Her heart was already racing due to all the yelling taking place.
Then all of a sudden things were getting quiet.
"We need to talk to you," he sighed and looked in her eyes, his
dark brown eyes were filled with sorrow and so much emotion
he didn't want to look her way.
"Daddy, can this wait? I'm tired and I'm already not feeling too
good," she suggested and slapped her hand down to her side.
"Yeah, can this wait?" Sapphire looked at him with pleading
eyes. Her gaze automatically drew to Sky, she just rolled her
eyes with so much disgust. Just knowing their daughter wasn't
ready for the bomb they were about to drop on her.

"It can't and I'm not leaving until this matter is taken care of, so
James?" Sky focused on her brother and he just shook his head
slowly.
He bent down and found a seat on the sofa and motioned for
Santana to come sit beside him.
"Do we really have to do this right now?" Sapphire crossed her
arms. "The girl has had enough bad news for today, I really
don't think this is helping anybody,"
"I got it baby," James looked up to her and pressed his lips
together tight.
"Santana," James sighed. "I've loved you from the minute you
came into this world and I wouldn't change anything. I have
watched you grow into a woman, an intelligent, beautiful, and
kind young lady. My love for you is the only thing keeping me
grounded. Now I know things are tough right now and there's
some things me and your mother kept from you,"
"We were trying to protect you," Sapphire's voice croaked as a
tear rolled down her cheek.
"Protect me from what?" Santana asked dumbfounded, she was
still confused and nothing made sense to her.
"When you were born, your mother, this woman right here
signed your life over to us. We are not your birth parents but at
the end of the day we raised you and the only reason we're
bringing this to your attention is because she now wants you
back in her custody," James explained and it pained him to even
say that.

He thought this one family secret was the one he'd take to the
grave.
"What?" Santana scrunched her eyebrows. "You wait after
years? I'm not going into your custody you obviously didn't
want me. And why would y'all keep this from me? No secrets,
no lies, you remember that daddy? And you decided to keep
the biggest secret of all away from me,"

She scoffed and pushed herself off the bed and stomped off to
her room. And before she knew it she threw up all over the
hallway's wooden floor.
"Oh baby," Sky ran up the stairs to try and comfort her.

"Don't. Touch. Me," Santana scolded her and scoffed heavily.

Sapphire's eyes looked over to James, she felt defeated. She
had ovarian cysts at a young age and couldn't have kids, her
having Santana was more than a blessing. She had the chance
to become a mother and it was stripped away from her now.
She gathered all the cleaning supplies and slipped on her gloves
to do what she does best and that's take care of her daughter.
She went upstairs and began to clean things up and gagged
during the process.
Sky trailed toward James who just sat on the couch with his
eyes on the wall. "You did a good thing,"

"Leave." He commanded, speaking in such a firm tone. "Can't

believe you'd wait this long and you're not beating that case, I'll
tell you that now. So you better get a good fucking lawyer cause
you not taking my baby away from me,"
"We'll see about that," she snarked and got up, grabbing her
keys and purse and rushing out of the house. And she slammed
the door behind her.
As Sapphire began to mop and Santana started up her shower,
James approached his wife. "I'm sorry,"
"You don't owe me an apology," she shrugged her shoulders
and held onto the mopstick. "That girl in there needs a sincere
apology, from both of us. I shouldn't have agreed on keeping it
a secret,"
"I don't need your apology. You weren't sorry, y'all sat there
everyday and lied to my face. My own blood didn't want me
and y'all wait until my senior year to tell me? Miss me, save
your apology for the next kid you take in," She slammed her
door and dropped down onto her floor and wept.
Her heart was torn into pieces and it hurt her to the core.
Everything was too perfect in her eyes, she figured she got
blessed with great parents.
But now everything started to make sense.
"So, the Black Lives Matter movement. Any thoughts?" Mr.
Simmons slapped a red ball back and forth in his hands.
I stayed up all night studying for tests I didn't feel the need to
prepare for a debate, that was worth my grade.
My heads been everywhere not to mention I found out a little
family secret and Taylor isn't even dead. I was thinking long and
hard about everything. It all made sense to me though.

Conversations with my parents were hard, I wasn't really mad at

them but when I get frustrated I just wanna be left alone. I get
irritated so fast I don't pay attention to the shit that comes out
my mouth.

"Can I answer?" Cydni raised her hand and Simmons chucked

the ball at her.

I already know she had some crooked prejudice shit to say.

"I feel like the Black Lives Matter movement is unnecessary. No
other group of people are crying out for help, blacks just want
attention so bad," she shrugged her shoulders and a fire already
ignited inside me.

"You better watch yo' fuckin' mouth, disrepsecting the people

that build this fucking country let alone the whole country. This
supposed to be a debate bitch," I snapped and Mr. Simmons
head jolted towards me.

"Santana, calm down," he looked at me with soft eyes.

"What? I cussed, she just disrespected your people and you
gone tell me to calm down?" I scoffed, he was slowly turning
into an uncle Tom. "But whatever, Cydni you better watch how
you speak on black people foreal,"
"Well, I'm not done," she wiggled her head side to side trying to
tease me, but it's straight I had something for her ass. "The
Black Lives Matter group was funded by white people. You guys
would rather spend money on Jordan's and weave, all these
material things but can't fund a business or a program without
the white man's money. Y'all don't care about yourselves so
why should we?"
"Cydni, keep it respectful. This isn't what the debate should be
about, respect your classmates you attend an all black school. Is
that the message you wanna put out? That you hate blacks?
You don't care about other races?" Mr. Simmons leaned against
his desk. His arms were folded and with the way his eyes grew
wide, I knew he felt a way about what she was saying.
And so was everyone else. And as a group of black kids in one
room, nobody jumped her. Now imagine if the roles were
reversed.
We ain't ever been violent towards white people, even when
they act like this. Something in me just wishes our ancestors
retaliated but we gone win in the end.
We been down for so long I can't wait for the come up, we
deserve it more than anybody.
"Aye, can I say some Mr. Simmons?" Ray's deep voice spoke
from behind me.
"Go ahead," he said tossing the ball to him, making me flench
and duck my head.
I heard the ball bounce off Rashawn's hands as he caught it.
"Yo', Cydni why you in this class? You hate us so much but
taking a damn class about the history, with a bunch of black
people. Stay running yo' mouth like one of these girls in here
won't drag you after class. And nah I ain't even finna keep being
ignorant cause I ain't gone give you that much power over me.
Yo' people have killed our kids, raped our kids, raped pregnant
women, and fucked up a generation of people's minds. You
need to sit this one out, this debate and for muhfuckas like you,
you need to be mad at yo' people cause black people ain't done
shit to you."
Mr. Simmons was the only teacher in the county that let us
cuss, like we were grown, he shouldn't but he cuss too.
He just looked over to Cydni and shook his head while Ray let
her have it. I wasn't even gone keep going back and forth with
her and with the way I been feeling, I'd hurt that girl.
"You speaking off assumptions and stereotypes and I'm just
giving you the facts. Sorry your people so insecure and selfish,"
he shook his head and threw the ball back to Simmons.
Niecey wasn't at school today so I ain't have my friend to talk
to. She was skipping with Carlos, it's been like that the past
week.
I wanted to pull my phone out and text Colbie but I would fail
for having my phone out. I just pressed my hand up against my
cheek, getting lost in my thoughts.
It felt like the longest walk to the cafeteria since she had
nobody to talk to. She's been in her head for these past few
days, stuck and confused behind the bomb her parents just
dropped and the loss of her cousin. She got upset with them
and instantly regretted the way she handled it.

Santana felt she should have been taking her anger out on her
birth mother rather than the individuals that raised her. It
wasn't her fault yet deep down inside, she felt a lot of anxiety
and heartache.

"You good?" She heard a voice from behind.

Rashawn was trying to catch up with her, she seemed to have a
lot of pep in her step.
"I'm fine," she breathed from her nose and tried to hold back
her tears.
"I know that's a lie," he pressed his lips together and continued
to look down at her. He was reading her body language and for
the first time he's seen Santana with a low spirit. He wanted to
be a friend to her cause he could tell right now, she needed
that.
"Well, I'm not," she shook her head, her nostrils burning as
water began to flood her eyelids. "I'm not fine, and I wanna be
but what's the point in trying,"
They continued walking to the cafeteria. Santana wiping her
eyes before a tear could fall and Rashawn couldn't take his eyes
off her.
"How 'bout we sit together, I know your friend ain't here and I'll
keep you company and if you want, you can tell me what's
going on. I just ain't ever seen you down before,"
Santana didn't really have much to say, she just continued
counting her steps until she got to a table she felt comfortable
sitting at.
"You not gone eat?" Rashawn raised an eyebrow. "Now you
really tripping"
"Just not hungry," Santana shrugged her shoulders and
removed her backpack as she sat down.
Rashawn felt it in himself it wasn't worth saying anything back
to that. When he's in a bad mood he doesn't even like to be
bothered so he values Santana putting up with him even in the
slightest.
"I just found out I was adopted, I went off on my parents when
they didn't even deserve it. My world has just been flipped
upside down. It was just a shock to me, I didn't know how to
react," Santana took a deep sigh, she wasn't really the type to
open up but she felt comfortable talking to Rashawn. She felt
he wasn't gonna judge anything she said.
"Oh," he gritted his teeth. "Your reaction isn't out of the
ordinary. I guess they didn't think you would ever find out. I
can't tell you how to feel though, nobody can"
"If it makes you feel any better, from what I can see they're
good to you. And you got blessed with them cause maybe your
biological family wasn't shit. You could've been stuck with two
miserable mothafuckas' like me," He attempted to comfort
Santana with his words.

Santana agreed in her head. It isn't an everyday thing, finding

out that the people you thought were your parents weren't but
it made it all better because like Rashawn said, she was
fortunate to have two individuals that actually wanted children.
"What you doing after school?" Rashawn asked. "I'm sure you
don't wanna spend the rest of your day in yo' feelings,"
"Don't have anything planned, I'll probably take a nap," Santana
shrugged and took a deep sigh.
"That's lame," Rashawn chuckled and leaned into the table and
made eye contact with Santana. "Hang out with me for the day,
we can watch a movie and get food. Something ta' lift yo' spirits
up,"
"You know I got a boyfriend right?" Santana shook her head. "I
can just do that with him,"
"See, with me it'll be better though," Rashawn pressed his lips
together and kept his gaze on Santana, she had no choice but to
look away.
"You play all day," Santana rolled her eyes.
"I wasn't playing, I was deadass,"
"I bet,"
The two of them just sat there in an awkward silence. Santana
pulled out her phone to no notifications. It was a very gray day
for her, just a lot of tension but nothing to show for it. She
hasn't had a day like this in so long, she felt she was falling into
a sadness she couldn't rid herself of.

"You need a ride home atleast?" Rashawn raised an eyebrow,

trying to find a way to get her all to himself.
"It wouldn't hurt, I'd appreciate it actually," She nodded,
looking down at her phone screen. She could see her reflection
and the stains the tears left on her skin.
"I gotchu',"

The school bell rang, the two of them getting up from their
seats and heading to their next class.

"I'll see you after school," Rashawn said briefly to Santana

before cutting out into the crowd of students.
As she was walking down to her next class she saw a hurdle
forming. It wasn't really her scene but she wasn't getting too
good of a feeling. The voices of her peers grew loud, they were
chanting and making noise that was uncomforting to Santana's
spirit.
"What the fuck," She squinted her eyes and as she grew closer
she could see some girls fighting. It wasn't looking too good
either.
She couldn't make out any faces and none of these girls loked
familiar. She just turned away and assumed a teacher was on
their way to stop the violence.
This wasn't a one on one fight. There were multiple girls
jumping in to fight a girl with no fight left in her. Apart of
Santana just wanted to mind her business but she couldn't bare
to see this girl be ripped apart by some girls bigger than her.
Not one soul stepped in to separate them, it was getting too
intense for Santana.

She charged toward them and pushed her way through the
crowd and pushed the girls off of one another. "Y'all break this
shit up and fight one on one,"

"Who died and made you God?" One girl with a blonde weave
scrunched up her nose. "You obviously in the wrong fight
babygirl, I suggest you back up,"

"Nah, I'm good. Y'all was just finna sit here and beat this girl up
until what? She passes out? Or dies from a damn concussion?
This ain't it and y'all look dumb as fuck jumping her," Santana
rolled her eyes and looked down to the girl who was covered in
drips of blood.
Santana stuck her hand out to the girl while the kids
surrounding them 'booed' her breaking up the fight. She didn't
care though, she knew in her heart she was doing the right
thing.
"You weird," Another girl spoke scrunching up her nose and
sucking her teeth.

"Come on, I'll help you get cleaned up," Santana pulled the girl
up and walked with her to the bathroom. "What's your name?"
"I'm Paige, and thank you, I don't even know what I did for
them to do me like that," She pressed her hand up against her
bleeding nose. "I literally just moved here a few weeks ago and
they been picking on me since I got here, the moment I try to
take up for myself they fucking jumped me,"

"Nah, that ain't cool. You ain't deserve that," Santana took a
deep sigh and lead Paige to the bathroom.
Paige took her time cleaning herself up. She hated to even look
herself in the mirror. "And they ripped my fucking hair like I just
got this shit done,"
Santana looked at the girls' hair and could she her once tightly
knotted braids were gonna fall out. She knew her head had to
be hurting, it was too much happening all at once for her to
even be okay.

"I do hair, I could style a wig or redo your braids for you,"
Santana offered, it made her feel good to do something good
for another individual and the way this girls' day is going she
knew she was doing the right thing.
"Really? I can't even deny that offer cause my hair looks like
shit," She shook her head and patted her face with a paper
towel. "I really appreciate you,"
"Of course, do you have a ride home?" Santana raised her
eyebrow.
"Yeah, I drive"
"Oh okay," Santana nodded and made sure the girl was all goof
to go so she could walk her to her next class. "Do you see those
girls again? They in anymore of your classes,"

"Thankfully, no," Paige blew out and couldn't help but stare at
herself in the mirror.
The two of them walked out together and as they headed to
their next classes, they exchanged phone numbers as well.
"I'm gonna be down the hall for the rest of the day so you
should be able to find me." Santana said, letting Paige go into
her class.
The bell rang and Santana wasn't even near her next class but
she didn't care.
After school, Paige and Santana headed out to the parking lot.
Rashawn was already in his car, waiting for Santana so he could
leave the school premise.
"This your car?" Santana raised an eyebrow, impressed at how
nice the girls' car looked. She wasn't too familiar with the
different car models but she just knew it looked good and that's
all that mattered.
"Yeah," She said looking down, her eyes furrowing together as
she noticed her tires have gone flat. "Can't be serious,"
She looked up at the sky, and just shook her head. She put her
hand on her head and stood there in frustration. It just wasn't a
good day for her and she couldn't even try to be optimistic
about the situation because it seemed to only get worse for her.
Santana felt her phone buzzing in her back pocket and she
grabbed it to see Rashawn calling.

"Hello?" She answered.

"You almost to the car? I'm ready to go," He rubbed his hair and
looked out the windshield.
"Do you mind taking me to the hair store and I got a friend that
needs a ride too, she can come to my house I gotta do her hair,"
"You messing up the plans mama, I thought it was gone be me
and you?" Rashawn joked and shook his head. "Yeah, that's
fine,"

"Thank you," she smiled into the phone and hung up. "Come
on, you can ride with me,"
The two of them made their way to where Rashawn was
parked.

Santana knocked on the passenger side window to get his

attention. He unlocked the door for them so they could get in.
"Hey, how you doing," Paige spoke as she got into the car.
"Thank you for dropping me off, my car got a flat,"
"It's coo," He said keeping it short.
"So where we going first, Santana?"
"So where are you from?" Santana asked while crossing her
fingers against Paige's scalp.

"New York," she responded, picking at her nails. She had so

much bottled inside and didn't want to say too much or it'd
leave her in a puddle of her own tears.

All she could think about is what she had to leave behind, it was
a mess and a blur at the same time. She had gone through so
many rough patches and has yet to catch a break.

"I always wanted to go to New York," Santana smiled, hoping

she could be so notorious that people from all over the world
would be booking her.

"You from Georgia?" Paige raised an eyebrow, trying to

reciprocate the question to Santana.
"Born and raised," Santana smiled.
"Colbie's here!" Sapphire yelled from downstairs making
Santana sigh deeply.
She assumed he'd be coming over a bit later in the day but he
came as soon as he got the chance. He had picked up some
flowers for Santana and wanted to see if she wanted to go out
on a trip with him this weekend.
Santana finished up the braid she was on, ensuring that
everything looked symmetric before heading downstairs.
Colbie made his presence known within the house, stepping
onto the wooden floors. He held a large vase with a bouquet of
flowers in his hand. He had taken up most of his time asking the
florists questions about them.
He looked up to catch Santana blushing, she was a hopeless
romantic so flowers from her man, made her insides overly
stimulated.
"What are these for?" Santana asked, pouting her lip.
"You," he wore a genuine smile on his face, pleased to see her
reaction. "I was out and saw a cart, it made me think of you,"
"Thank you, baby," She put her nose to them, breathing in the
floral scents. She found comfort in the smell but knew it was
time to finish up her work. She placed her vase on her dresser.

"I booked a cabin trip for us this weekend" Colbie spoke

pressing his hands into the bed as he sat down.
"A trip sounds nice, I'm excited" Santana raised an eyebrow, as
she parted Paige's hair.
She flicked gel onto the roots before gripping it to create a fresh
braid into her tender scalp.
"I am too, I know you need this" he pressed his lips together
and he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her. He paid
attention to her focus, how dedicated she was to her passions
ignited a passion within him.

"How did you have time to plan all this?" She smirked, keeping
her eyes locked on the braid she was finishing.
She was happy to know that she had someone that was willing
to go the extra mile for her. She didn't have to sit there and tell
him what she wanted and Colbie knew her well enough to know
she needed a break from everything she was going through.
"I already talked to your parents about it and we leave in the
morning, if you want to head out tonight we can. But it's
whatever you want my love,"
"You're the best Colbie" She sighed deeply, waiting for the day
she graduates so she can travel for longer periods of time. A
weekend just wasn't enough for her but she knew that it was
going to be a good time either way.
"The trip ain't even the best part, I got a lot planned out for us
so get ready," he smiled and couldn't contain his excitement
because he wanted to make things official between the two of
them, the right way.
Santana didn't respond, she tuned out everything around her so
she could finish the rest of her hair. She never really gets burnt
out easily so she figured a break would be meaningless, even if
her fingers start to cramp up.
"Have you ate?" Colbie raised an eyebrow.
"No, which is weird cause you know I'm always eating. But after
the news that I've been getting it been hard to eat anything,"
She sighed, continuing to finish up this last braid in Paige's
head.
"How many braids you got left? We can go get some food after
or go get groceries," Colbie laid back on Santana's bed, scrolling
through his phone. "You gotta eat mama,"
"I know," she poked her lip out. "We can go out, I'm not in the
mood to cook anything,"
"I didn't say you had to cook, I can make something,"
After finishing Paige's head, she packed her a bonnet, edge
control, and a edge brush. She placed her business card, along
with everything else in a bag and handed it over to her.
"Thank you," Paige smiled, looking into herself on her phone. "It
looks way better and I'll make sure to wrap it up tonight. I'm
happy you gave me some extra goodies, I'll make sure to use
everything,"
"Of course, do you have a ride home?" Santana asked as she
cleaned up all the hair from the floor.
"Yeah, my mom is outside actually," she nodded.
"I'll help you find your way out then," Santana took a deep
breath, she was so exhausted from doing hair she was ready to
pass out.
She trailed the way back downstairs for Paige. She waved to her
mom and smiled out the door, making sure her new friend got
to the car safely.
After locking the front door she stomped upstairs, her feet
getting too heavy for her to carry.
"Colbie," she groaned, walking into her room and falling onto
her bed.
"Tired aintcha," he chuckled. "You wanna take a nap?"
"Yeah, I'm so drained. Today was just a lot," she blew out,
scooting closer to him.
"Comere," he looked over to her, pulling her close to him. He
ran his hand up and down her back, placing a kiss on her
forehead.
Santana just yawned and rubbed her eyes, "I missed you all day.
I wish we still went to school together,"
"I know right, we really had the best days. Did you wanna talk
about your day?" he looked down at her.
"I mean, we had a debate today in one of my electives about
the BLM movement, and one of the girls just had to play devil's
advocate. She was honestly just being disrespectful the entire
time, I think that's what drained me the most. And the girl who
was just here, Paige got in a fight and these girls just pulled her
hair out,"
"Wait, what?" Colbie's eyes grew wide. "That's wild,"
"Right?" Santana raised an eyebrow. "It was bad, I had to
intervene cause it was getting bad and everyone else was just
watching,"
"I mean, that but shorty was dissing black lives matter in a black
ass school is wild to me. I'm surprised she wasn't the one
getting beat up," he shook his head. "Somebody gone get her
ass,"
"If Niecey was there she probably would've got her right,"
Santana snuggled onto Colbie's chest.
"Anyways," Colbie sighed. "What you wanna eat tonight,"
"I don't even know," Santana said throwing her leg over Colbie's
waist.
"You gone be in my skin next," Colbie laughed, realizing Santana
inching closer and closer to him.
"I just wanna lay on you," she laughed.
He scooted himself over and placed her body on to of his.
Santana rested her head on his chest and just breathed in his
cologne. "You smell so good,"

"Thank you baby," he smiled and looked over to her, the two of
them locking eyes.
Santana looked at his lips, leaning in to kiss him. Their lips
touched for what felt like the first time. It was something
different about this kiss. It's as if the two of them were finally
coming to terms about what they wanted out of this
relationship.
"I love you," Santana pulled away but that made Colbie pull her
in closer.
"I love you more," he said pressing his lips all against her face
and down her neck. "You're the best thing that's happened to
me,"
"I think we should just make tacos, quick and easy," Santana
shrugged, scanning through all the meat in the grocery store.
"Whatever you want babygirl. Did you want steak tacos or
chicken?" Colbie said resting his arms on the handle of the
shopping cart.
"Hmm," Santana pondered. "Birria tacos sound like the move, I
can't lie,"
"You said quick and easy," Colbie chuckled, taking a deep sigh.
"And I don't know if I can actually pull that off. We can find a
restaurant that makes them if you want em' that bad,"
"Maybe another time, we're already at the grocery store. I'm
fine with steak tacos, what about you?" Santana twisted her
lips, grabbing a pack of Ribeye Steaks.
"Steak gone do it every time," he spoke firmly, knowing exactly
what he wanted. "I can't fuck with chicken tacos, just don't hit
the same,"

"As long as it's cooked right, I don't care," Santana smiled.

They walked all around the store until every item they needed
for tonight's meal was in the cart. As they got closer to the
register, Santana walked off to grab a bag of Takis and a water
for herself.
"Didn't think I'd see you here," she heard a chuckle from beside
her.
"I know you ain't stalking me," Santana shook her head already
knowing who it was. It was the cologne that gave it away before
he even said a word.
"Stalking? We're in a grocery store, niggas can't even go get
food for the house no more," Rashawn sucked his teeth and
shook his head.
"Nah, you can't. Especially when I'm here," she laughed.
"Ain't nobody worried about you," he looked down at her, the
two of them making eye contact. "Maybe a little bit,"
"No need in worrying about me, I'm good love,"
"You could be great but you settling," Rashawn smirked,
keeping his eyes on Santana.

"Why not just flirt with people that are single like you?" Santana
rolled her eyes. "You'd probably have more luck,"
"Honestly," he took a deep breath. "It's not as exciting,"
Santana just squinted her eyes at him and moved her attention
towards finding Colbie. When she had spotted him, she had
noticed he was talking to a tall blonde girl.
"And he already fucking up, snow bunnies are bad for
business," Rashawn gritted his teeth.
Santana walked away, not even trying to entertain Rashawn's
antics. She didn't want to assume anything.
As she walked over to the self checkout, the two of them were
still talking.
"Hey baby," Colbie smiled looking over at Santana as she
approached the scanner with her stuff, swiping the barcode
against it.
"Hey," she breathed out. "Who is this?"
"Awe, this is Lauren. We got a couple classes together. Lauren,
this is my girlfriend Santana" He explained, but Santana felt he
wasn't giving her everything. She felt there was more but also
didn't think it'd be a good idea to let her feelings get involved.
She knew better than anyone that she could overthink a
situation.

"It's nice to meet you, he talks about you all the time," she
smiled at Santana but it wasn't reciprocated.
All the time? Why is he even talking about me to another girl?

"Oh yeah?" Santana looked at them both. "Good to know,"

"I should probably get going but Colbie feel free to let me know
when you're free for our project," she waved and walked away.
"What project do y'all have to do?" Santana said finishing up
the process with the groceries.
"Here's my card," he said handing it over to her. "And it's a
group project for our Philosophy class,"
"Oh okay," Santana nodded her head, not giving it any more
thought. "I'm ready to eat these tacos,"
"Who you telling,"
They made their way out of the store, walking toward Colbie's
car. Santana was ready to just lay down and spend the rest of
her night watching 'You'. She had been hearing about it and
wanted to see what the hype was about.

After getting the groceries in the car, they made their way to
Santana's house. She leaned her head against the window.
Her phone started ringing and she just took a deep sigh.
Looking down at her phone she saw it was Niecey calling.
"Hello?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Where you at?"
"On the way home, why? Everything okay?" Santana feeling a
turn in her stomach.
"I just need someone to talk to. I think I fucked up Santana,"
Niecey placed her long acrylic nail in between her teeth.
"Okay, I'm getting scared. What's going on?" Santana raised up.
"I've been missing school because I've been sick. But I just left
the doctor, they ran some tests, and I'm pregnant," Niecey felt
her heart fall into the soles of her feet. "What am I gonna do
with a baby? I'm only ,"

Santana took a minute to process what she just heard. A part of

her was excited for her friend but knowing Niecey wasn't
feeling that way, she knew she had to just be there for her
friend.
"What are you thinking about? Have you talked to Carlos?"
"He took me but I didn't tell him about the pregnancy yet,
should I?" Niecey just felt her stomach tie up in knots. "I'm
scared,"
"It's nothing I've ever experienced so I'm not sure how I can
comfort you right now but I'm here to support whatever
decision you make. And I think the best thing to do is talk about
it with him. It's only right and plus you never know how he may
feel about it. It's your body at the end of the day but he
deserves to know,"
"Okay, I will," Niecey felt herself about to cry. "Thank you, I
knew I made the right choice calling you. I don't know what I'd
do without you,"
"Of course, I'm here for you! Let me know how things go with
Carlos. I'm sure you'll feel a whole lot better afterwards,"
You okay? You ain't touch your food and you wanted tacos bae,"
Colbie sighed before taking a sip of water.

"I'm fine, just not hungry right now," Santana shrugged, her
mind all over the place ever since they left the grocery store.
Was she overthinking or is there really more to the connection
he had with Lauren, this girl she's never heard about?
+
'How does she know about me but I know nothing about her, I
just feel he's hiding something from me' she thought to herself
but then shrugged it off, feeling a bit paranoid in her thinking.
"You're not hungry? That don't even sound right. You sure?" He
furrowed his brows, he wasn't used to her being so quiet
around him. He was beginning to question himself, wondering if
he said or did something that rubbed her the wrong way. "Did I
do something?"
"I just felt weird seeing you with that girl. I don't know why it's
bothering me so much. Maybe I don't trust you around women,
I know that sounds immature but-"
"No, you feel that way because I've put you in so many
positions to question my loyalty and now it's hard to trust me. I
understand, and I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable."
Colbie acknowledged, placing his hand over hers. "Now I gotta
do everything in my power to make sure you trust me, I don't
care how long it takes,"
"I want to trust you," She looked down at the wood floors and
let out a deep breath. "But I don't know if I can,"
"What can I do, Santana?" He furrowed his eyebrows, he felt
like he knew where this was going but didn't want things to
escalate.
"I don't know, Colbie. You didn't do anything wrong, I guess I
got triggered. Like all that shit you put me through is just
coming back to me and honestly, I feel stupid. Like what if you
do slip up? Do I walk away now or?" She slowly moved her hand
away and ran her hands through her hair. "I don't want this to
go sour, I love what we have but is it worth you throwing it
away when you feel like it?"
"I'm sorry, Santana. I'll give you my phone, I'll do anything to
make you feel safe and secure. I hate I got you feeling like this,
mama," he spoke hoping his words were somewhat comforting.
"Let me see your phone then," she snapped back, holding her
hand out.
With no hesitation, he proceeded to give her his phone. She
tapped his screen, seeing a photo of them on his lock screen. It
made her heart flutter, but she knew that was only the bare
minimum. There's plenty of niggas with their girl as their
lockscreen and still somehow find themselves in someone else's
dms. She just wanted to make sure he wasn't being
performative, she felt checking his phone could either confirm
or deny the feelings she was having.
"Password?"
"Our anniversary," he declared.

He felt he didn't have anything to hide, he had remained

faithful to her throughout this relationship and didn't plan on
sabotaging this relationship.
After typing in the date that they started dating, she scrolled
through every social app in hopes that nothing would come up.
She went through photos, messages, and by the looks of it he
has been faithful since they've been together. She was relieved.
"Now let me see yo' phone," He chuckled, taking his phone
back. "I'm just playing,"
"I mean, its only fair," She laughed along with him, unlocking
her phone for him to see.
He was only joking but he went through her Instagram, posting
a photo of them together with a caption, 'this a forever thing'.
He wasn't really looking for anything because he didn't feel the
need to. He went to her photo album just so he can look at all
the photos of her he never seen, sending them to his phone.
As he browsed through, there was a notification from
Instagram.
@shawnlocke replied to your story: little do you know
"The fuck is this nigga talking about," Colbie scoffed, showing
Santana the message.
"Hell if I know," She pressed her lips together.

.......THE END OF PUBLISHED CHAPTERS......

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