The Deadly Sin

Reyna leaned against the kitchen counter in front of her feeling herself grow tired. She had been over her manager Tianna's house all day helping her to prepare for the grand opening of her daycare. Reyna was ready to go hours ago but Tianna was a perfectionist. She had to have every last detail done to her liking. For Reyna, it was a pain in the ass but as she looked around the kitchen she couldn't help but smile. The cookies they baked were all in equal-sized circles with icing that read 'Welcome Pumpkins'. Halloween wasn't an ideal day to start a daycare in Reyna's mind but Tianna knew she would make a killing. A lot of places closed their doors on holidays but Tianna wanted to help single mothers who showed up to her children's school complaining about not having a baby sitter. She would get paid decent money, but money wasn't a problem in her life. The kitchen she was standing in at the moment was proof of that. Her kitchen was almost like something you saw in a catalog. The color scheme was black, brown and red. Her stainless steel furniture in the kitchen all looked brand new but she had them for years. Tia just updated her cabinets with a pretty cherry oakwood. She had gotten rid of her light marble counters and replaced them with a black one that looked good against the wood. Besides, the cookies sat cupcakes. On some were little graveyards that Reyna had put a lot of effort into. She couldn't believe that she was able to perfect the little tombstone but patted herself on the back for the creation. Her mother would be proud to see just how creative her baby turned out to be. Reyna pushed thoughts of her mom out of her head and focused on the table of deserts. The other cupcakes had little marshmallow ghosts on them. Tianna worked on those. Reyna would have helped but she couldn't stop eating the marshmallows. She thought Tianna would get annoyed with her but she had a lot of patience. The whole time the two had worked Tianna's sons, Jaxson and Jeremiah had been in and out of the kitchen. They each snuck a cupcake, a cookie or maybe two. Reyna wouldn't tell Tianna because she had helped them to sneak the treats just so that she could get one herself. There still seemed to be a lot of work to do as Reyna looked over the counter still full of supplies. "What else are you going to make?" Reyna groaned as she watched Tianna pour brownie mix into a bowl. "Cheesecake brownies." She grinned. "But these are for me, not the daycare." She cracked an egg into the batter. "The only thing left for us to do is the candy buckets. Aleya is grabbing the cake tomorrow and bringing it down." Reyna looked at the orange, purple and green pumpkins stacked in the bags on the counter. A knock on the door made both ladies turn their heads. Tianna didn't say anything about expecting anybody because she wasn't. She put the bowl in her hands down. "Add some oil into that bowl for me and start mixing." She instructed Reyna before stepping to the back door that was in her kitchen. There were only a number of people allowed to use this door. Usually, it was one of her hubby, Keon's friends. She couldn't stand his quote on quote uncle Niko and prayed it was anybody but him. When she opened the door a huge smile appeared on her face. "Aleya what are you doing here?" "I decided to come help out. I brought all of the stuff you told me too for the buckets but I don't have time to have to redo all these damn buckets if they don't fit your standards." Aleya looked over her friend noticing her slight glow. She wanted to ask her if she was pregnant so bad but knew that the question would open up a can of worms if she did. She held onto the two bags in her hands tighter as Tianna opened the door wider for her to enter. She could smell cookies and cupcakes. She knew her best friend threw down in the kitchen and was hoping she could sneak one or maybe even two of whatever she had baked. When the women stepped into the kitchen Reyna got a different vibe. She knew that Aleya couldn't stand her. She wasn't sure why the older lady gave her the looks that she did but she always ignored them. Tianna was her boss and Reyna didn't plan on losing her job over some woman she didn't even know for real. "Oh, I didn't know you had company," Aleya spoke to Tianna. Tia looked at her friend with a warning glare. She wasn't in the mood for her friend to belittle the girl. She had just spent damn near four hours helping her. She wasn't even sure what Aleya's problem was when it came to Reyna. She had always warned her about watching the company she kept around her man Keon but Tianna just wasn't worried. Keon had been claiming that they were married for two years now. Of course, she wanted a real ring, but she wasn't pushing the issue. She knew that Keon was still knee-deep in street s**t and was okay with the status of wifey for now. But once Keon was out of the streets Tia expected a big rock for all the s**t she had put up with just for Keon. Truthfully she worried that by the time Keon said goodbye to the streets there wouldn't be a Tia and Keon. Aleya knew she had a lot going on at the moment with her hubby. She also knew Tia didn't like a lot of drama but lately, she seemed to be a magnet for just that, DRAMA. Instead of stressing about that she put her attention back in her kitchen. Tianna took the time to admire both of the women standing in her kitchen. Reyna was a few shades lighter than Tia. While Aleya was darker than both girls with pretty smooth milk chocolate skin. It was hard to tell if either of the women wore weave or if the long curly hair belonged to them. Tianna knew that some days they went natural and others they added a bundle or two for more length to hair that fell at their shoulders. Tianna herself loved short haircuts. At the moment her short hair was layered to perfection. She was growing it out though so she could get a sew-in. She was ready for something different and tired of having her natural hair sweat out after her late-night sessions with Keon. All three women were built differently. Tianna was tall and slim standing at 5'8. Keon always told her that she had just enough ass and titties for her frame. Reyna, on the other hand, was shorter than Tianna standing at 5'3 and the girl was stacked. Her butt wasn't too big but noticeable. Her titties we're in the C cup range and with her flat stomach, she attracted a lot of attention. Reyna had Aleya beat in height but you could barely tell. Aleya's 5'2 height wasn't noticed unless she was barefoot. Aleya loved heels and wore them every chance she got making her at least 5'6. She had both Tianna and Reyna beat in the ass department. Her thick thighs only added on to the curves of Aleya. She was a real curvy thing and she loved that about herself. It was usually what drew attention to herself as well as her titties that were a decent size as well placing her in a C cup. If Tianna could get Aleya and Reyna to like each other, she would have a dream team of bad bitches around her. Reyna wasn't one of Tianna's friends, but she took a liking to the young girl. She reminded her of herself at the age of 23. She wanted Aleya to remember that they were young once, but she didn't care about that. It wasn't as if Reyna shared her personal life with Aleya. She had told Tianna a few stories about herself. She even asked her for advice for one of her friends. Tia couldn't believe she kept one of her friends around. The girl seemed like a whole mess but at the same time, Tianna knew a lot of people that thought the same thing about Aleya. She was a bit much at times with her smart mouth that didn't have much of a filter. Aleya always had an opinion on people even without her barely knowing them. Tianna couldn't stand that about her friend. It was the only messy trait that she felt her friend had, more than anything she felt like Aley was misunderstood. Aleya didn't care enough to explain herself to anyone either. Tianna didn't want there to be any problems, so she knew exactly what to do about her current situation. "Hey, Reyna since Aleya is here you can go. I know you wanted to go out tonight with your friends." Tianna had to break the awkward silence between the ladies. She just wasn't in the mood to have her friend acting so damn petty and over nothing. "You sure? Six hands are better than four." Reyna spoke as she finished emptying one of the boxes that held different types of chips in them. "Yeah girl, you've done enough. I'll see you tomorrow around 11." Tianna assured her as she mixed her different ingredients together to make cheesecake. "Alright. Call me if you need help getting all of this stuff over to the daycare." Reyna hugged Tianna before looking at Aleya. You could tell she was debating on if she should hug her or not. "It was nice seeing you again." Was the words she used to replace the hug. Aleya didn't even respond. Tianna waited until the girl had been gone for a good five minutes before getting on her friend who was snacking on a cookie. "Why do you gotta treat that girl like that?" She rolled her eyes thinking of how many times Tianna had this conversation with her friend over the summer. She had only hired Reyna three months ago and Aleya started with her s**t on that same day. She was thankful the girl didn't quit on her yet, especially since she didn't open for this damn long. She was waiting on a good day, and still paid Reyna as if they worked five days out of seven. She really didn't want to lose the girl as an employee. "I don't get why you like that little young girl. You know she only stays around because of Keon and his brother." "Ley." A deep sigh left from Tianna's lips. "The girl met Keon once and she wasn't worried about him when she did. She kept her focus on the furniture we were putting together. She wasn't like the other young girls I thought about hiring asking him all types of questions. Even Keon likes the girl. She minds her business and works hard." "Of course Keon like her." Aleya tried to mumble to herself but Tia heard the shade her friend threw. Aleya always had something bad to say about Keon. Tianna turned around to face her seeing an ugly expression on her face. Tia immediately felt like she should have sent Aleya back home instead of Reyna. At least she wasn't talking s**t and complaining the whole time. "You got something you want to say about Keon?" Tianna hated when people made any type of bad comments on Keon. They had been together for five years now and he wasn't going anywhere. She knew it and anybody who was going to be around her would get used to it or keep it moving. "Just watch his ass around that young girl. You know he likes em young and dumb." Aleya knew she had f****d up when she looked into the eyes of her friend. She wasn't trying to offend Tianna she just didn't want her getting attached to Reyna. There was something about the girl that had rubbed her the wrong way. She wasn't sure what but she always went with her gut feeling about someone. "You know what Aleya, I'll pick up my own cake. You can keep ya negative ass away from my shit." Aleya watched Tianna shove the pan of cheesecake and brownies into the oven. She slammed the door shut before walking over to her purse that was sitting on the bar. She reached into it pulling out her wallet. "Here. Thanks for grabbing those extra supplies." Tianna slapped three hundred dollar bills in front of her. "You don't have to do that. I wasn't even talking about you." Aleya said. "Girl we both know what the f**k you were referring to just leave. I'm not in the mood for your complaints and s**t about nothing." Aleya wasn't going to kiss Tianna's ass. She rolled her eyes grabbing her keys from where she sat them and made her way to the back door. She didn't even grab the money that her friend placed in front of her. The two argued all the time, but that was just them. They would always fight and make up. Aleya was in the wrong and knew that she had to learn to let some s**t go sometimes. If her best friend really trusted this Reyna girl she would too, until she felt like the girl was moving funny. It only took one thing for Aleya to not like somebody. Since she didn't have a real reason in the eyes of Tianna she would wait. Sooner than later she knew that Reyna would pull some reckless s**t. She hoped it was reckless enough for Tia to cut her off completely. **** "Damn nigga you take all day doing nothing," Keon complained to his brother as he slid into the passenger seat of his own midnight blue G Wagon. Anybody who knew Kaden knew that he was never on time for NOTHING. Keon knew that his little brother was probably joyriding in his s**t with some little b***h. He had warned his brother time and time again about it. The last thing Keon needed was one of his wifey's little friends to see some b***h in the passenger seat of his truck. He looked over at his younger brother who shared the same caramel tone. He had way more tattoos than Keon. The nigga was bold enough to get his head tatted. Keon loved ink but not that f*****g much. Kaden was an artistic ass nigga, or at least he would have been if they didn't end up in the streets together. When he first met his little brother he was going to kill him. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he didn't have enough bullets in his gun. Keon couldn't just let Kaden go so he made him get in his truck. If it wasn't for his nigga Niko he would have never learned that Kaden was a Gilberto just like him. He knew his dad had kids floating all around the city. Keon wasn't worried about the similar features that they shared at that moment, he wasn't a big fan of his fathers. But now as he stared at his brother he could see it. They had the same shaped eyes, their nose was the same and women always complimented them on their smiles. Keon stood at 6'4 while his younger brother was 6'1 the same height as their pops. He wondered if his dad would be happy to see that the two had formed a bond. Keon and Kaden couldn't be separated by anything or no one and the feeling was mutual for Kaden. He loved his older brother even though he acted like he was his dad at times. Kaden knew he needed somebody to look over him. Kaden was known as Cash around their hood. He was a hot-headed ass nigga and didn't give a f**k about how nobody felt about him. Cash felt like he was untouchable and Keon warned him about that attitude, time and time again. He couldn't stand that his brother didn't believe in consequences and never thought about his actions. It reminded him of his father a lot. One day something was going to change that for his brother, but now he had to deal with the hard-headed ass man beside him. Keon couldn't help but wonder if Niko was right when he told him that Kaden wouldn't grow until he took over their family business. "Kaden, who you have in my truck?" Keon looked over to his brother. He watched his face scrunch all up because he hated the fact that his brother wouldn't join the movement and call him Cash. In Keon's eyes, street s**t stayed right there, in the streets. Keon had run them long enough to know that the s**t would get old for Cash but he wasn't as deep as Keon. "Nobody damn. Chill out bro you blowing my shit." Kaden tried to turn up the music but Keon wasn't in the mood for it. The time on the dashboard on his truck read 10:24 pm and he was pissed. He was supposed to be home and he knew that Tia was probably tripping. His phone had died hours ago and he didn't have his charger on him since he had left it in his truck with his brother. Kaden was only supposed to go grab some food but his ass had gone to f**k with one of his little trifling ass hoes. Keon could smell the perfume all throughout his truck. "You ain't going get enough until one of the little bitches end up pregnant or set ya ass up," Keon said. "Let me see ya phone so I can call Tianna." "Oh yeah, she called me earlier looking for you and shit." Keon mugged his brother as he took the phone from his hands. Kaden knew that when it came to Tianna he wanted to hear that news first. She was his baby and the first woman to stick around for so long. He didn't want anything to come in between what they were building especially not his little brother's reckless attitude. Keon quickly dialed her number listening to repetitive ringing sound. Tianna answered the phone after three of them. "Did you find your brother?" "I'm sorry bae my phone died and I didn't have my charger." Keon begins to explain right away. He knew that Tianna was upset and that was the last thing he needed after the day he had. All he was trying to do was lay under her but if she wasn't feeling him it wouldn't happen. She would send him right to his apartment. Keon hated staying at his apartment. The four-bedroom house that Tianna lived in felt like home for Keon. Coming home to her and her two sons was a routine he was getting used to. Jaxson loved Keon and always wanted to be with him. Jeremiah her oldest was still a little skeptical about Keon being with his mom. Jeremiah seemed to like Kaden which made no sense to Keon. At the same time, Keon understood so he didn't try to force anything with him. He would come around whenever he was ready. Keon was shocked about how long it took Tia to introduce him to her kids. She took everything slow with him. Two years into their relationship she finally let him meet her two boys. He knew that meant something to her so he stepped up in ways that her baby's father wasn't. In Keon's eyes after three years of still being around her and the boys, they all belonged to him. Even with Jeremiah still growing used to him, that was still his son. Being told to go to his own place was always a real hurt piece to Keon. He wanted to move in with Tianna and when he got to her place he was going to talk to her about it. "You always got some type of excuse King." Keon sighed. He hated when Tianna used his street name and she knew that. She was more upset than he expected. "I told you before you left that you weren't going to be back and what did your lying ass say? I'm not even going to be out all day bae." She mocked his voice. He smirked to keep from laughing at her. "I got caught up bae, I'm on my way now." He looked over to his brother and gave him the finger. Kaden was shaking his head listening to his brother plead with a b***h to be able to go to a house he was paying the rent at. He didn't understand his brother when it came to Tianna. He would admit that Tianna was cool. She was definitely a bad b***h. She had her s**t together owned her car, house, and different businesses. But at the same time with the type of money King was touching Kaden knew there was an even better b***h out there who wouldn't fight his brother on simple s**t like letting the man you call your husband move in. He knew his brother wasn't perfect and had some s**t with him. But he felt that Tianna knew that. After five years of being with Keon, she knew how he moved. She had asked him to change and for the most part, his brother had but it still didn't seem like enough for Tianna. "King you're really full of s**t. You knew I was trying to decorate all of this s**t. Now I'm sitting here stuffing candy buckets all by myself because you couldn't keep your word. All you had to say was you didn't want to help me." "Ti quit it. You know I'll help you with anything. What happened to that girl Reyna? I thought she was helping you." "I sent her home when Aleya got here." "So you being dramatic?" Keon asked. She wasn't doing anything alone if Aleya was there. He knew that her best friend wouldn't let her do all the work she had set out for herself alone. Even if they were upset with each other the two always had each other's backs. "I sent her ass home too. You know what just forget about it, Keon." She hung up the phone making Kaden's phone light up the dark car. Keon closed his eyes and passed the phone over to his brother. He knew there was no point to call Tianna back because she wasn't going to answer. Keon plugged his phone up to his car charger so it could turn back on. Keon watched as Kaden drove towards Tia's home. He sighed knowing that she was on some bullshit while he was missing the feeling of her laying up under him. Keon knew once he got to her home she would still be preparing for the daycare. He didn't mind helping her with that he just didn't want to argue with her when they did. "Let me guess, I'm taking you to ya spot?" Kaden said making Keon suck his teeth. "Let's hit the south, I need a drink," Keon said pushing his seatback. He knew that he shouldn't be heading to the Southside but he didn't have the energy to argue with Tianna. He would just have to sleep alone tonight. Kaden watched his brother carefully. Stress was evident on his face. He knew his brother was dealing with a lot of s**t and felt bad that he had gone to f**k with some female instead of just going to get food like he said he would. He knew that Tianna kept his brother on his toes when she wasn't bitching. "Why you ain't just tell her that I had ya truck?" He asked his brother wondering why he didn't tell the truth. "She would have thought it was an excuse either way." He responded to him. "Want me to talk to her so you can go home?" "Naw. It's cool. I'll see her tomorrow when she opens the daycare. Let's just get these drinks so I can relax." Kaden took that as his cue to turn the music up. I Know What's Real by A Boogie played through the car's speakers. Kaden sang along to the song while speeding through traffic. He was annoyed because earlier in the day traffic was just as bad. "Bro why the f**k is so many people out tonight?" Kaden asked his brother when they finally made it to the Southside. The music wasn't loud enough for them to not be able to talk to each other but Keon's attention was on his phone. He had texted his son's mother and she had yet to respond to him. It wasn't like Jordyn to not text him back. Especially when he was asking about their son and not her. "It's Halloween you know bitches love dressing up," Keon responded to him laughing. He placed his seat upright watching the scene in front of the club his brother had chosen. There were females dressed in their favorite costume choices that you saw every year. There was a group of females wearing police uniforms, nurses, animals, and of course bitches wearing lingerie. "Damn I forgot all about that shit." Kaden laughed. "These bitches out here looking cold." He joked with his brother. Kaden was wearing a pair of black Balmain biker jeans with a black t-shirt. One of the local designers in the hood hooked up his favorite varsity jacket, changing the sleeves from black to be covered with roses. While he was watching females wear damn near nothing. Shit, even his brother Keon had enough sense to throw on a grey Nike hoodie over his white t-shirt. He wore that with a pair of black joggers. His feet were laced with the same Jordans as Kaden's feet, the Wolf Grey Retro 12. They usually ended up wearing the same shoes without even planning it. They blamed the reason for both brothers being in love with sneakers. Kaden parked the truck in the first open spot he could find. Usually, his brother fussed about how far back he parked but tonight he was quiet. He knew that he was probably bugging about Tianna being upset with him. He was going to help his brother relax and take some stress off his shoulders. "Let's go get some Henny in ya system." Kaden joked turning the car off. He knew his brother acted a fool off of Henny. It was one of the only times you could tell that the two were brothers. When Keon was sober he was level headed and paranoid as f**k in Kaden's opinion. It was time his brother loosen up for the night. They both got out of the car. Kaden passed Keon's keys over to him. There was no way he was about to get stuck with the designated driver spot tonight. Just like his brother he was trying to get f****d up and relax. He knew he couldn't pop a pill in front of his brother so he would have to settle for liquor. They got to the front of the building and skipped past the line. Kaden looked through it debating on if he would have a victim for tonight. He didn't see anything he liked so he assumed his night would end with him knocked the f**k out on Tianna's couch. He wasn't stupid and knew that his brother planned on ending up at Tia's house tonight one way or another. "King and Cash." Taylor, the chick who owned the club smiled as she watched the two brothers step to her bouncers. She knew that with the two of them in her club tonight she would make some nice money. They always bought a VIP section and females stayed longer to try to get their attention. Keon and Kaden Gilberto was them niggas. Shit, there were even a few nights where Cash bought damn near all of her liquor. Taylor was just happy that with all of the rumors and stories she heard, nothing ever happened in her club with these two brothers. They had caused two clubs around her own to be shut down. "Wassup Taylor," King spoke first giving her a side hug. Taylor hated that King was taken. Cash was cute, but King was fine to her. She had heard of how he had changed up his rep of a single man to a family one. That made her want him even more. Taylor had two kids just like Tianna but had no hope of finding a good man. She had her own little situation going on but she doubted that he compared to King. Taylor always found herself thinking about how King would treat her compared to her little boo. He was a cool guy, but he just wasn't what she was looking for. If Tianna ever slipped up she wouldn't mind taking a good man. "Nothing much. Happy to see you here tonight." Taylor flirted. "Oh yeah?" King smirked at her. "I see you dressed all up for me." He joked around tugging on one of her curls. Taylor's 5'5 thick frame was covered in black tights that you could see-thru. She had on red boy shorts under that read goodies on the butt. No one could see them with the red cape that was tied around her neck. She was going for Red Riding Hood this year. Her hair had two buns at the top with the curls in the back all out. Her daughter had added the two red ribbons to her buns to give her mom some spice. So she said. King appreciated seeing her light skin peek through the leggings, he even liked seeing her fat cat covered in the red underwear. He bit his lip. Kaden noticed his brother's attention was on the wrong thing and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Don't get this girl f****d up by Tia." He whispered to his brother. Keon looked back at his brother and laughed. It was a good thing that his brother was behind him. If not he probably would have taken Taylor up on letting her take him home one day. "You still plan on sleeping there tonight right?" Kaden asked. King gave Taylor one last look over before following behind his brother into the club. They walked up the steps to be met with loud music. Tonight Keon would be reckless because he knew after tomorrow he would be settling down for good. **** Reyna stood in the mirror with her best friends, Serenity, and Lauryn beside her. She recorded a video on Snapchat singing along to Future's song Real Sisters while they fixed their hair and added lipgloss to their lips. The Halloween bash they ended up at was lit. Reyna wasn't expecting to have so much fun. She was happy she let Serenity talk her into coming out for once. Unfortunately, her fun would be cut short in the next hour. She still had to get up at nine and be out of her door by ten in the morning to make it to the daycare by eleven. She didn't live far from the daycare but she had a few drinks. She wanted to make sure she had a good breakfast and enough water to be ready to take care of other people's kids. She didn't have kids but if she did she wouldn't be comfortable leaving them with someone who was hungover. Finally, Reyna would get a chance to work with children something she knew she would enjoy! Her first option when it came to working with kids was being a pediatric nurse, but she couldn't stomach the thought of giving a child a shot or drawing blood from their little fingers. She always hated getting her finger pinched when she was a child going to the doctors. She settled for her second choice to work at a daycare. "I can't believe we really didn't dress up this year." Serenity said as she shoved her lip gloss back into her clutch. She put her lips together to spread the gloss on to her top lip. Serenity looked over at herself in the mirror messing with her curls. Nothing was wrong with them, her friends just wasn't ready to leave the bathroom yet. "I know, I wasn't expecting to be at Tianna's house so late," Reyna responds while typing a caption on her Snapchat video. Halloween bash with no costumes but we still killing bitches. #MyBestfriendsBetterThanYours Serenity had the perfect little number for tonight. It was Halloween and you could always count on the ballers being out tonight. Women got in free tonight at the Devil and Doll's Halloween bash. There was even a competition for the sexiest costume. Serenity knew she would have won if she got to be the devil she wanted too. She wouldn't admit it to her friends but she wanted to catch the eye of a baller tonight. But not just any baller. Cash had been around her way earlier in the day and told her he would look out for her. She adjusted the straps on her black one piece. Since the three friends didn't dress up, they did match each other. Each of them wearing one-pieces with blue jean shirts tied around their waist. Reyna wore white, Serenity had on black, and Lauryn, of course, was wearing pink her favorite color. Each lady wore some nude colored heels that had different looks but the same color nude. Taylor the owner had joked around calling them some backup dancers going to practice. Serenity hated the joke. She didn't want to blend in at all tonight. She was trying to stand out. She had been trying to catch Cash's attention for a while now. When she first found out that Keon had a brother, a fine brother who was single she was on it. Cash just always seemed to have his attention on some street s**t. She didn't know much about the types of females he liked. Lauryn ran with the joke when the bartender asked them who they were supposed to be. His ass had looked at Lauryn as if she was crazy. She didn't care though the grown-ass man was wearing a full pirate's outfit, eye patch and all. If anybody was crazy it was him in her eyes. Of all the things he could dress up as and he chose a pirate. It wasn't even a sexy pirate. His thick wool jacket made her skin crawl. It was brown and looked as if it was older than both of them. She didn't even want to drink her drink in fear that a piece of hair probably fell off of the jacket and into her glass. "s**t I don't mind. We still taking Jax and Miah trick or treating right?" Lauryn asked Reyna. Lauryn didn't care much for Halloween. Even when they were kids she never got excited about dressing up and going trick or treating like other kids did. She made Halloween easy on her parents always offering to stay home and pass out candy. She liked scary movies, popcorn, and sleepovers with her friends better. "Yes, ma'am. I'm going to wear my genie costume tomorrow for the kids." She said with a huge smile. Serenity just watched her friends talk about kids. She never planned on having kids. Her stretched anal area was evidence of that. She would let a man handle his business there but never in her kitty. She refused to be a baby mama. In her neighborhood that's all a female was. Never got the ring, the house, or the fat car. Just a baby. "I don't get why you worked with Tianna this long." Serenity spoke her opinion. Especially since during the ride over to the club, Reyna spent most of the ride complaining about some older b***h named Aleya. Serenity had heard about the woman before but it was never anything good. She was some single miserable old b***h who was always f*****g on someone else's nigga. Just hearing about the woman made Serenity realize she had to get her s**t together. She didn't want to be a baby mama and she also didn't want to end up old, lonely and miserable. That just wasn't a good combination. "I like working with her. She had a vision and brought it to life. She motivates me to do s**t. Honestly, I look at her as a big sister. Besides, she gave me some good advice to give to your ass when you got caught up this summer." Serenity's head shot up. Who did Reyna think she was to run her business to somebody like Tianna. Tianna got out of the hood, but she still came back. She was always around with her friends Aleya and Faith. They thought they were better than everybody but in reality, Tianna wouldn't be s**t if she didn't have Keon's money, at least that's what Serenity thought. She had no clue that Tianna bossed up way before Keon came along. She owned businesses around her hood that was why she was always there. Tianna kept her personal business, personal. Nobody would know she owned the daycare because she knew bitches wouldn't want to give her credit. She let Keon use his social media to claim that he and his wife were opening the place. Marketing with Keon only made Tianna's s**t pop more. She didn't complain about the females coming out just for him. Again she had everyone thinking Keon on lock. She would always let them think that until one of them could prove otherwise. While Serenity, on the other hand, was trying to figure out how to lock down his brother. The last thing she needed was for him to find out that she was out here aborting baby's when she did get caught up. It was only two times but she just couldn't do it. She even borrowed the money from both of her friends. Who was quietly waiting for her to pay them back. Lauryn watched as Serenity grilled Reyna but didn't say anything. She didn't understand her friend. In middle school, they were thick as thieves. They did everything together. They had dressed alike, performed in talent shows. They always had sleepovers and told each other every last detail about what was going on with them. Now she questioned if Serenity considered the two of them as her friends anymore. Especially herself, the only time Serenity spent time with her alone was when she we wanted some money. Lauryn felt bad for her friend even though Reyna told her not too. They all had the same opportunities in school but Serenity was caught up on a get rich quick scheme that she made in high school. She started wearing less clothes all to catch the eye of some baller. They were now 23 years old, Serenity would be 24 by the end of the year and still she was on that scheming s**t. It sucked because now she schemed on any and everybody. Lauryn had bought the outfit and shoes that Serenity was wearing tonight. She complained the whole time they shopped but Lauryn didn't mind because she was happy to be around her friend. She wanted to fill her in on what was going on in her life and even some tea she had on their other friend. Reyna had been telling them she wasn't feeling anyone but had some type of fling with her brother Lance while she was away in college. But the more Serenity complained the less comfortable Lauryn felt around her or with telling her anything. All Serenity cared about was money and niggas. Lauryn wondered when Serenity became just like the chicks they always used to talk about. Both Lauryn and Reyna went away to school. They all made a vow to come back to the streets they knew and grew up in once they finished. They kept their promise, only to find out that Serenity had lied. She never left for school like she said she would. She stayed in the hood trying to catch a baller's eye. Serenity learned the hard way that not all attention is good attention. She had found her a baller, one whose hands worked just as good as his lips and d**k. When Lauryn found out about the situation she told her older brother Lance. He handled the situation without any questions. The two siblings shared an unbreakable bond. Lauryn wanted Serenity to learn a lesson but she didn't think that she did. Even after Reyna and herself gave the girl an earful of s**t to think about. Of the three friends, Reyna had gone through the most s**t catching the eye of not just any ole baller but THE BALLER. Reyna shared every detail good and bad thinking that would help her friend get over her idea of being a thug's wife but it didn't. It went in one ear and out the other. "Can we get back out there?" Serenity asked the two girls. She didn't know why she even asked Reyna about Tianna. It was pointless to talk to her about quitting the job. "Yeah, I'm ready," Reyna said grabbing her clutch. "I'll be out. Just give me a minute." Lauryn told her friends. They nodded their heads as they made their way to the door. Lauryn knew she only had about two minutes before the girls came back looking for her. She rushed into a stall and pulled out the mirror she was carrying in her purse. She quickly looked for the little bag of cocaine that was hidden away in her crossbody purse. She found it trapped under her lip gloss and pulled it out. She poured all of the powder on the mirror quickly taking a bill and card from her wallet. She used the card to form two lines. She quickly rolled the dollar bill and snorted one of the lines. Immediately her head fell back to enjoy the rush she felt as the drugs entered her system. The thought of the second line excited her she quickly made sure the bill was rolled tightly so she could snort her second line. When all of the drugs were gone from the mirror she took it to her mouth licking it clean with no shame. Cocaine was the best drug she had ever experienced. She took some toilet paper and wiped the mirror quickly. She could feel her high taking over and loved the feeling. Lauryn was in control of this new habit she picked up while away in college, or so she thought. She only copped when she came to the club every weekend. It would never leave the club with her. Well, that's what she told herself to feel like she wasn't going to become addicted to cocaine. Lauryn hated to admit how much she craved for the drug. At times she even thought about buying it when she saw a local pusher around her way. She knew that word would travel fast and was thankful that for now nobody but her white boy connect knew. She quickly shoved the mirror back in her purse and threw the little empty bag in the toilet flushing it. She rushed out of the stall just in time for Serenity to catch her. "Girl, is you coming or not?" She asked her. "Yeah just let me wash my hands." She told her. Serenity didn't even notice the powder residue on her nose because she was too worried about getting back to the party. Reyna was sitting on the other side of the bathroom with her eyes down on her phone. She was texting her ex, Brian. He had been texting asking to see her since the day it was announced all over ESPN that he was coming back home. "What you guarding the bathroom?" She heard a deep voice ask her. She looked up from her phone to meet eyes with Keon. She had only met him once before but she could tell by the look on his face that he remembered her. If she was being honest with herself, Keon seemed more familiar to her than he should. She just didn't worry much about it since he was her boss's husband. Keon leaned against a wall and pushed his hands into his pockets. "No waiting for my friends." She told him and he nodded his head. "You gonna make it tomorrow? It's kind of late." Reyna wasn't sure if he was trying to suggest that she go home or not, but she could handle herself she was a big girl and only had two drinks. She would be fine plus she didn't really think it was any of Keon's business. She was honestly surprised to see him out in the club. "Yeah. Don't worry I know how important this is for Tianna." "My fault, I'm not trying to come off like I'm trying to tell you what to do or nothing like that. I just know Tia looks at you as a little sister." He said clearing up his intentions. "Are you going to make it? You look like you can barely stand." Reyna didn't like seeing Keon so f****d up. She felt like it was sloppy of him to be this drunk. He was a big guy and everybody knew him. She felt a little worried that someone would try something. She realized she couldn't say it wasn't his business that she was out since she was now worried about how he was moving. "I'm good. Cash ass around here somewhere." He said but to Reyna, he made no sense. Reyna nodded her head watching him walk into the bathroom. She quickly dialed Tianna's number. To her surprise, Tianna answered after only two rings and sounded like she was awake. "Hey Reyna, everything okay?" "I don't think so. Keon is here at this club that I'm at and he's pissy drunk. He can barely stand. I wanted to let you know that I was going to bring him home. There's a lot of guys here watching his every move." Reyna looked around noticing how guys seemed to be waiting to see if Keon would make it out of the bathroom. It made her feel like she actually guarding the bathroom now. "So that's where his stupid ass went instead of." Tianna sighed. She couldn't vent to her employee. Not without knowing if Reyna felt that she was like a sister to her as well. "Thank you, Reyna. I'm going to call his brother to make sure he helps you out." "Okay. Well, he just stepped out of the bathroom so we'll be there soon." The women hung up the phone and Keon looked at Reyna funny. "Who the f**k was that? Why you telling motherfuckers what I'm doing and s**t?" He asked her he didn't like hearing her tell someone about what he was doing. It almost made him paranoid. "Tianna is expecting us. I'm going to drive you home, your really drunk." She stepped closer to him because she still felt eyes on them. "A lot of guys are watching you." He turned his head to look and sure enough, there were niggas eyeing him like a hawk. He didn't like the s**t and knew that he was definitely too drunk. "Alright. We gonna leave through the back though. Follow me." Serenity and Lauryn exited the bathroom. Reyna instructed the girls to follow her. Serenity didn't understand why they were following behind King but hoped that meant Cash was close by. Lauryn felt nervous like something was wrong. Being high didn't make the feeling no better. They walked into the VIP section where Kaden was standing on a couch with a bottle full of Henny leaning over the railing. He was pouring it into the mouths of the bitches below him. Kaden found how thirsty they were to be unattractive and he wanted them to leave him alone. They didn't get that picture and thought he was simply showing how much money he had to waste since he was pouring a bottle out in the club. "We out," Keon spoke to his brother. Kaden was glad to leave, for some reason the club was boring to him tonight. Probably because he couldn't tell the bad bitches who were on they s**t apart from the basic ones who had gone all out for the costume they were wearing but didn't have no furniture in the crib. Kaden noticed the women behind his brother. He shook his head. Keon had been talking about Tia all night, and someway somehow he managed to forget about her in a short 5-minute bathroom trip. Serenity didn't like the fact that Cash had looked her over but his eyes landed on Reyna. He was damn near burning a hole in the side of her face while she was too busy responding to a text from Brian's ass. He must have not known it was her in the dim-lit club. She quickly followed behind Keon passing up Reyna so she could be the first female that Cash saw when they got out of the club. He was hers, he just didn't know it yet. Everybody stepped out of the back doors and the fresh air did Keon no justice. He realized he was way over his limit of liquor. His keys flew in the air and Reyna caught them confused. "You driving. I'm sleeping." He told her as he made his way over to his G Wagon. His brother following suit. "Follow us," Reyna said to Serenity and Lauryn. Serenity had a mug on her face and for what? Reyna had no clue and wasn't about to entertain her friends bullshit. She wasn't worried about Keon or his brother. She passed her keys to Lauryn who handed them over to Serenity. "I don't get my license on me." She quickly lied but Reyna didn't pay it any attention. She just shook her head and turned to follow where Keon and his brother that she didn't even know of until today had walked. She assumed he was Cash, the person Keon referenced to when she thought he was making no sense. Keon was already in the back seat of the truck halfway to sleep. Kaden was in the passenger seat on his phone. Reyna quickly slid into the driver's side of the truck. This would be her first time driving something so high up. She looked at the truck looking where she should put the key. Kaden leaned over letting his finger push the button to start the truck up. "Thank you." Reyna felt her cheeks flush red. "A nigga just wants to get to Tianna's." His response threw Reyna off. He didn't seem to be getting smart but she didn't know him. She decided to not focus on what he said but instead the road. She pulled the truck out of the space and waited for a few seconds. When she noticed Serenity pull her car behind the truck she began to drive again. The car was silent as Reyna made her way back to Tianna's house for the second time tonight. "How long ya friend been getting high?" Reyna looked over to Kaden for a moment. She figured he was on the phone. Her eyes had to be playing tricks on her because he was looking at her. "What?" She had to hear the question again. Even though she had heard him just fine the first time. "How long ya friend been getting high?" He repeated the question looking at her with a face that told Reyna he knew she had heard the question the first time and didn't like that he had to repeat himself. "Neither of my friends get high." She stated as if it was a fact. She didn't know anything about drugs other than weed. She knew neither Lauryn or Serenity smoked weed. They all tried it together but none of them really liked how it made them feel. But that was back at 14 when they thought they were grown. "Oh, you don't know." He laughed. "Shorty in the pink is high as a kite. Even King's drunk ass could tell you that." Rey looked in the rearview mirror. She figured that Keon was sleeping so he wouldn't respond. "Yeah, shorty high off something," Keon spoke scaring her. "Like pills?" Reyna asked. She could understand a pill habit because in college they were so damn easy to get access to. Her roommate had always made offers to get her some if she ever got curious enough to try them out. Reyna couldn't imagine Lauryn being curious about drugs. She barely liked trying new things. She was a good girl out of the three friends. Anything else she would fear. "You so naive." Kaden laughed at the girl. "You ain't never seen nobody high off of." "Shut up Cash," Keon warned his brother. It wasn't their business to air shorty out for whatever she was on. He wasn't even sure, he had noticed the chick but didn't take the time to be all in her s**t to know anything other than the fact that she was high. At the same time, he and Kaden had been around enough fiends to spot one even if they kept their s**t lowkey like Reyna's friend. The car ride was full of silence again but this time it was an awkward silence. Reyna wished that Keon wouldn't have told his brother to shut up. She wanted to know what her friend had been using. Pills clearly weren't the answer so that meant a hard drug. Reyna checked the rearview mirror a few times wishing that Keon would fall asleep so that she could get an answer to her question. She sighed as she turned to park the truck in Tianna's driveway. She knew she wouldn't get her answer. Tianna opened the door to her home quickly making her way to the truck. Annoyed was only one of the words to explain what she was feeling. She snatched the back door open knowing that when Keon got too drunk he had to sleep it off. "You trying to get yourself killed now?" She let her hand smash into his head causing it to jerk. He grabbed her hand before she could do it again. "Chill out." He warned her. She knew that warning was for her own protection. Keon didn't like for nobody to put his hands on him. It took him back to a dark place, one of his demons that he ran away from. Woman or man, nobody should touch him in a way that made him feel like he had to protect himself because he would. "Why didn't you bring your stupid ass home?" She yelled in his face as he sat up. He swung his legs out of the door but sat still. Laying down was a bad idea. He was even more drunk than when he was at the club. He felt like he was going to puke. "You hung up on me." He told her. "I didn't say don't come home. I said forget the argument. Forget that you offered to help me. You asked me to stop telling you to go to your place. Did you not?" She folded her arms under her chest. She wanted to place her hands on him again. Keon closed his eyes. "I'm not about to argue with you out here with extra ears and shit." He told her calmly. Tianna's anger only built up more. "You're full of s**t King." Tianna looked over to Reyna. "I'm sorry he ruined your night. Let me pay you for bringing him home." "No, it's fine. I was leaving the club soon anyways to get ready for tomorrow. Have you finished with the buckets?" "No. Aleya left soon after you." Reyna looked at Tianna seeing how stressed out she looked. "Let me and my friends help you." She got out of the truck and made her way to the car. Tianna wasn't going to protest. There were 60 more baskets that she needed. She knew that a lot of mothers had to work tomorrow regardless of it being Halloween and they had more than one child. She wanted the kids to get baskets that were full as if they had really gone trick or treating.  This was another reason Tianna ignored all the s**t Aleya talked about. Keon had been out doing whatever it was he left to do and Reyna stepped in even though she didn't have to. Cash was sitting on the passenger side of the truck and that only pissed Tia off more. Where the f**k was his ass at when his brother walked to the bathroom stumbling and s**t? She rolled her eyes knowing that the question was pointless. Kaden would be the death of Keon because he loved the reckless side of his brother.