The Deadly Sin

Backfire

A few hours later...

"So your not going to tell me what happened?" Reyna, Serenity, and Kaden were leaving the hospital. Lauryn's parents had finally made it after two hours to receive the news that changed their lives. Their daughter was killed. The doctors told them that they would have a report on the cause of her death in about two weeks.

They didn't say anything to Serenity or Reyna just left the hospital quickly. Both were upset to see their baby girl with scratches all on her face. She had bruises on her neck. It was clear to them that she was fighting somebody. They weren't going to let whoever killed their baby girl get away with it.

Lauryn's mother had thought about stopping to talk to the girls. She wanted some answers but after taking one look at Serenity who was not only wearing Lauryn's jacket, but had a black eye forming she worried that the girl had become jealous of her daughter.

Lauryn had told her mother everything. Reyna was always the same type of friend to her daughter, good and there when she could be. Serenity was also always there for her daughter, but she knew that the girl had changed over time.

Lauryn told her about how she mainly came over for money. She warned her daughter about Serenity and it made her sick to her stomach to see her there when she got the news that Lauryn was dead.

"Reyna not everything is about you." Serenity said with attitude.

"Serenity what happened to Lauryn? Why were you there? How did y'all end up fighting that guy? Do you understand now that I'm asking about our friend that's DEAD." Serenity stopped walking and turned to her friend.

"She was getting high you already know what the f**k happened!" Serenity stepped to her face yelling. Reyna had no clue, but Serenity blamed her. She felt so much guilt that she had to push the s**t off on someone else.

She went over to Lauryn's house to get her high. Once she would have been high she would have told her about how she could get Lauryn more drugs and take as much money that Lauryn was willing to give.

She planned to take the money to Cash. After that she knew he would want her. In his eyes he would see that she was getting money and that wasn't why she wanted him. Her plan was solid in her head. Serenity could feel the bags in the pockets of her jeans. They added to her guilt. She had really planned on turning out her friend instead of helping her with her problem.

She didn't think about what if Lauryn was already high. She didn't think she would have to threaten to fight her. When Reyna told her that Lauryn was getting high she didn't think it was this bad. The thought of leaving Lauryn's house with Lauryn's dead body NEVER was apart of the plan.

"Yo she's just trying to figure out what the f**k happened." Cash spoke. He could tell that Serenity was feeling guilty. He had been in that position before with some s**t that he wouldn't dare speak on now. What was done, was done. There was no reason to bring light to some old s**t. s**t that happened way before he had met his older brother Keon.

"It's none of your f*****g business." Serenity snapped at Cash not liking the fact that he took up for Reyna.

"It's all of our business at this point Serenity. We was all f*****g there! Her parents seen all of us and you know they'll send the cops to question us first. We were the last ones to see her alive. She was getting high don't explain s**t!" Reyna was over Serenity acting so nonchalant with their friends death. She felt like she lost a piece of her.

"Fine y'all want to f*****g know. I went over to her house to see if it was true. I thought you were just talking to talk so I went over to ask her about it. When I mentioned her smoking she told me to mind my f*****g business that she didn't want to be my friend anymore. I got mad and I pushed her. She attacked me."

Serenity had to take a dramatic pause so it seemed real. She began to shake her head, the tears that formed was real but not because her friend was dead. They were guilty tears.

"She beat my ass. She was so different. It was like talking to a whole nother person. I realized then that she must have been high. So it was true. The guy came down and pulled her off of me. He asked her about who I was since my shirt ripped open and he could see my boobs. She told him I wasn't her friend." Serenity wiped her tears aggressively.

Serenity knew she was wrong for making Isaac seem innocent, but she felt like if she let an ounce of the truth out she would end up telling on herself. She couldn't have Cash looking at her sideways. She knew he was already feeling some type of way but she could fix it if he wasn't so worried about Reyna's weak ass.

"She just attacked him for no reason. He smacked her to the ground and I jumped on his back because I wasn't going to let him just beat her up the way that he was. Then you guys showed up. That's what f*****g happened. Now can we go?" Serenity said wiping her tears even more.

Reyna had began to cry hating to hear the events that took her friend's life. She knew Serenity was lying but she wasn't sure on what parts.

Cash called bullshit on the whole story though. He could tell that Serenity was lying because it took her so long to tell them what happened. An innocent person usually spoke with no hesitation. It seemed like Serenity was making up a story to him. Like she was letting the lies flow together as best as she could.

He wanted to question her motives for real but felt bad for Reyna who was now bawling her eyes out.

He led the two crying women to his car. He let them get in while he took a call from Keon who was pissed off. He didn't understand what happened and why his brother was always in some s**t. For once Kaden was actually not the start or cause for the s**t going on. He just couldn't tell his brother that over the phone.

"What King?"

"Where the f**k is ya hard headed ass at?" Keon growled into the phone. He was more than pissed.

"I'm leaving the hospital. I gotta take Reyna to her car then I'll be on my way." He told his brother.

"Nigga you done did s**t in front of that girl?" He sighed. "Kaden you gotta be shitting me bruh. If she stop working for Tia then what?" He yelled.

"Man calm the f**k down. I'll tell you what's going on when I f*****g get there. It's not even what the f**k you thinking." Kaden wasn't about to listen to his brother blame him no more so he hung up the phone. He was irritated now. Quickly he slid into the driver side of his car.

When he noticed that Serenity took the passenger seat again he found himself annoyed even more. Reyna was looking out of the window trying her hardest to not cry. He could see it all on her face that she wanted nothing more than to cry. "Where you live?" He asked Serenity.

"You know where." She said with a slight smirk on her face.

"I don't know your address." It was true he knew her neighborhood but not her address. She gave him the address and he started his car. He knew that street was full of niggas he didn't f**k with and he was in no mood to have to deal with no bullshit. His brother would kill him if he ended up in something else so he was going drop Serenity off around the corner or something.

When he got to Homewood he took his time riding around the neighborhood. He wasn't going to ride on Kelly. He knew that's where Khalil was always at, but he wanted him to know that his baby was out of the shop and he would ride around his hood whenever he wanted too.

Cash started to take over and he turned down Kelly knowing that he shouldn't but with street s**t, Kaden lost his common sense and did s**t for the fun of it. He crept down the street taking his time once again.

When he spotted Khalil's car, Serenity told him that her house was right across from where it was. Cash rolled down his window so that Khalil would see him. He noticed his brother, or this nigga who was claiming to be leaned up against his car. He was talking to a female who Cash could only see the back of.

Khalil noticed the ruby red car from the corner of his eye. He was pissed to know that this nigga Kaden was able to push his s**t again. When he sent Isaac and Nathan to handle him he didn't want nobody to come away from the scene. Even if that meant his own friends was killed by Kaden while taking him out of his way.

But here Kaden was creeping down the same street that he laid his head. He regretted the few times he let Keon bring Kaden to his crib. They worked side by side a few times so Khalil knew just how ruthless this nigga really was.

"She a real beauty huh?" Cash taunted his younger brother. He wanted him to try something with him and not send somebody else to do some s**t. He got out of his car and let Reyna out from the back seat. He had the child lock on from earlier when he rode his nephews to school.

"Almost as bad as my little shorty."

Khalil spoke back not about to let this nigga think he had some type of upper hand on him. Especially not in the streets that raised him. He grabbed Rachelle who had grew quiet when she noticed Cash driving down the street. He turned her around thinking that he would get some type of reaction out of Cash. The laughter that left his lips wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"Been there done that baby bro. Catch up." Cash told him as he placed his hand on the small of Reyna's back. Khalil couldn't lie, Reyna was a bad b***h. Badder than Rachelle. He had tried Reyna before when she was coming out of Tianna's daycare. She had told him she wasn't into hood niggas but the b***h must have lied. He sucked his teeth feeling played.

Serenity was nothing but annoyed with the situation in front of her. Reyna wasn't supposed to be who Cash used to make Khalil jealous. Reyna wasn't even cuter than her. Niggas went for Serenity way before they went for Reyna. But she didnt know that it was because they thought she was an easy f**k. If they thought they had a chance to f**k Reyna, Serenity wouldn't get as much hype.

Serenity stomped her way into her house. She would figure out a way to take Cash's attention off of Reyna's good girl ass. Cash needed him a b***h that was going to be down by his side. Serenity knew that it would only be a matter of time before Reyna pushed him away the same way she did her ex Brian. She remembered that Brian was coming into town soon and knew she needed to figure out how to get in contact with him.

Khalil watched Kaden help Reyna into the passenger seat of his car. He walked back out into the street stepping to his car. He got into the driver's seat and looked over to him. "I almost forgot baby bro, you should check up on ya man Isaac." He laughed as he put his car into drive and pulled away from Khalil.

That did nothing but raised Khalil's anger. Not only did Cash not give a f**k about him having Rachelle, but he was riding around in his car, and he made it clear that he had killed off the only nigga that Khalil considered as a real brother. Khalil looked over to the house that the girl in his passenger seat went into. He noticed her looking out of the window.

She held her finger up telling him to come to her. There was a seductive look on her face. Khalil was curious about what the girl could want from him. He looked over to Rachelle. It wasn't that she was ugly, she just wasnt of any use to him if Kaden didn't give a f**k about her. He looked at the girl who was in the window one more time. She had a crazy reputation around the hood. He shook his head no, there was no way he would be seen with a shorty like her. Rachelle was the move for now.

****

Keon watched all of the boys ran up to the house in front of him. Since his brother and Reyna got into some s**t he had to take them trick or treating. He didn't want to upset Tianna with Kaden's bullshit, so he lied. He didn't want to but he had too. He used the fact that Jeremiah was warming up to him as an excuse for her to let him go and take the kids trick or treating instead of his brother.

When he seen Kaden he was going to f**k him up. By now word had gotten back to Keon that Isaac, Khalil's best friend had been killed. He knew that Cash had something to do with it he just didn't know what the f**k the real story was. The news had come back to him in way too many different stories. Half didn't make no f*****g sense. And the other half didn't sound like some s**t Cash would do. So Keon had to wait for his brother to meet him.

He had been waiting for damn near three hours now. He was starting to get pissed off. His brother didn't take s**t serious, plus he told his ass not to do s**t until he had a sit down with Khalil. They were all brothers and their dad wanted all of his boys working together and not beefing with each other over a position.

Keon was so deep into his thoughts that he didn't notice two little girls had joined his boys trick or treating. "You look real distracted." Taylor's voice had brought Keon back to the fact that he was in the middle of a crowded ass street full of strangers. He looked down at her and she had a huge smile on her face.

"Wassup Taylor." He spoke only to be nice. He was in no mood for more drama, Taylor always brought that. He looked around noticing the boys coming towards him.

"Dad we got big candy bars." KG said excitedly. This night was only getting better for the little guy. Jordyn was close to the school and picked up all of the boys for Keon so he wouldn't have to hear Tia's mouth earlier in the day. She had explained to her son and the little boys he considered as brothers that he would be moving in with them along with Keon.

Jordyn didn't know that Keon and Tianna didn't talk to them about Keon moving in and felt bad. But Keon wasn't worried once she told him that she spilled the beans. He was happy to see his boys all happy about the news. Even Jeremiah had a cheesy grin. Keon was able to give Jordyn money then and confirm that she was positive about letting KG live with him and Tianna.

Keon should have been on a high but with the beef between two of his brothers he wasn't feeling s**t but irritation. "Oh s**t what you get? " He leaned over looking into each boys bag grabbing mini Snickers bars out of each. "Consider this my payment for taking y'all trick or treating."

"You can have all my Snickers. I don't like those." Jeremiah said. Keon held his hand out so he could dap it. He pushed his fist against his with a smile.

"Good look. Now y'all did all these houses on this side. Y'all ready to cross?"

"Yup. Can they come with us?" Jax said pointing to Taylor's baby girls. He looked over to Taylor not really wanting to give Tianna any more ammo but he had the boys. He wouldn't dare disrespect her in front of them. She knew that right?

"Is it cool?" He asked her and she nodded her head yes. "Alright. Grab hands." He instructed the kids ignoring that Taylor was even there. He helped all the kids cross the street. As soon as they were all cross he watched Jax and KG, who were dressed like Gecko and Catboy from PJ Mask follow behind Jeremiah, who was dressed as Raphael the Ninja turtle.

Keon tried to get them all to get the same costume when they went to grab new ones at the last minute but Jeremiah didn't want the younger boys dressing like him. It worked out since the third member of the PJ mask was a girl. "You're good with kids." Taylor spoke from beside him.

"I've been a dad for six years. I should be good with them at this point."

"Wow your son is six? My daughter Laila is 6 too."

"Which one is she? They look the same age for real."

"She's wearing the lady bug costume. Her sister Lori is 5."

"Oh you had them back to back then." Keon jokes.

"Actually, Laila is adopted. I didn't think I would be able to have kids and I got tired of waiting. Found out I was pregnant with Lori a few months after she came home." Keon nodded his head. He looked at the little girl and couldn't believe that she was only adopted. She favored Taylor in the face.

"Laila look like you more than Lori do." He spoke. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out Tianna was FaceTiming him. For a second he hesitated to answer but he knew he wasn't doing s**t wrong. He tapped his screen hitting the green button.

"What's up baby?"

"I've never been in the house without you or the boys here." She said sitting her phone up on the counter. It was true Tianna never spent time in her home without somebody else there with her. When the boys left to go over Jordyn's house, Tia spent the night with Keon at his apartment or even at hotels. s**t one night she spent the night with Kaden just so she wasn't alone. She didn't like being home alone.

"Where Faith fake ass been at?" Keon knew not to talk about Aleya. He knew that she didn't stop by the daycare so that meant whatever Aleya said to Tianna really upset her. He knew that more than likely she had said something about him.

Tianna's friends had a love hate vibe for him. Except her best friend Faith. She always showed him love. Faith didn't stop pass but she had a job that she traveled for so she always got a pass. She really couldn't help it when she couldn't make it to s**t.

"Don't call my girl fake. You know she would be right here with me getting on your nerves if she was in town. I can't wait for this weekend, she's coming home. She said something about taking a break from traveling so hopefully she going to give going to give me a niece. All these damn boys around me."

"Hold on real quick baby." Keon said as he watched Jaxson talk to the man who opened his door for him. The kids were so excited that they weren't weren't coming back to Keon after every house. They would run down the steps or walkway and make they way to the next. Keon followed right behind them even while he was talking to Tianna. But this man, he seemed a little too into Jax costume. "Aye Jaxson."

"Yes?" He called. Keon motioned his head to the side to tell him to come to him.

"Sorry sir. I didn't mean any harm." The man said but Keon just grilled him. That made him feel like dude was trying to be funny. What reason would you have to send all the other kids on but keep one. Keon didn't play no s**t like that, he didn't care if he was on Facetime or not. He had a good eyes on what belonged to him. He looked over Jax before kneeling down in front of him.

"What he say to you?"

"He asked me who I was. He said his son wanted to be this but he couldn't find it. He just asked me where you was because he wanted to ask you." Keon felt bad. The man was still standing in his door. Keon stood to his feet walking over to the door. The man opened the door.

"My fault man, you know you gotta be careful with ya kids." Keon said to the man. He opened his door and stepped out. Keon could see little shoes all lined up by the door.

"Yeah I know. I ain't mean no harm, it's just my son was telling me about PJ mask. I ain't have no idea what the f**k that was then I seen ya little boys bags. I had to ask them which one they were but the other one was too busy trying to get to the next house."

"Yeah kids go crazy over PJ mask. I got this from this little shop that only open up around Halloween. I don't remember the exact address but it's in Penn Hills."

"Alright cool, cool. Thanks man. I'll have to tell my sons' mom about it." He grabbed a handful of candy from the bowl he was holding and put it into Jaxson bag.

"Thank you!" Jaxson smiled before running off. He was ready to catch up with his big brothers. Plus he was going to brag that he got more candy from the man. Keon thanked the man before walking to catch up with Taylor who stayed with his boys. He was happy that somebody was there while he handled the situation.

"Babe." Keon almost forgot that she was on FaceTime. She had the phone in her hand now. She listened to the whole conversation between Keon and the man. She felt happy to have a man who watched after her kids the way he would do KG.

"I'm here big daddy." She smirked and he laughed.

"Show me something." He said biting his lip. Tianna looked at the camera as if he was crazy.

"Shut up Keon."

"I'm serious as hell bae. You want a girl around you know we can work on that." He licked his lips before smirking.

"You want more kids?" Tianna almost choked on her drink. Between the two of them she thought three kids was enough. It had been five whole years since she had a baby. She wasn't trying to go back down that road of having a newborn baby. But she feared she didn't have a choice now.

"I want a baby girl." Taylor didn't see that Keon was on FaceTime still and since Tianna was at a loss loss for words she responded.

"Girls are something else." Tianna knew the voice and her blood began to boil. In her eyes Keon lied to her so he could get out of the daycare to be with this b***h. On top of that he had her f*****g kids with him.

"Who is that?" Tianna pretended to not know just to see if Keon would tell her.

"Taylor." He spoke looking at Tianna. He could see it all in her face that she was upset.

"I didn't know y'all was getting the kids together. Well don't let me hold you. I'll see you later baby." Tianna hung up before Keon could get a word out.

"Did I just get you in trouble?" Taylor asked looking at Keon. Even she noticed how Tianna switched from sweet to sour like sour patch kidskids. Taylor kind of liked that Tia got upset about her being around. She figured that the confident woman actually seen her as some type of competition with her own man.

"Don't worry about it." Keon let out a deep breath waiting for the text to start. He knew she wasn't going to just let the s**t go that quick. But he was wrong. Tianna didn't text him at all. He had taken taken the kids down another street and there was still no text from Tianna. When he was about to text her his brother's car pulled in front of him.

When Kaden seen Taylor beside his brother he shook his head. Even if he didn't get why his brother tripped over Tia he would NEVER encourage him to cheat on her. That just wasn't his brother and he learned that four years ago. He tried in the beginning of their relationship to be a bad influence but that only hurt his brother.

Kaden watched his brother say something to Taylor. She walked forward while Keon stepped in front of his car. He knew what was up, his brother was about to act like his dad. He got out of his car not even shutting it off because his brother's car was brother was right across the street. He knew the kids were probably finishing up with trick or treating.

"Took you long enough to get here." Keon mugged his brother.

"I made sure that Reyna got home." Kaden ran his hand over his hair. He leaned against his car and looked at his brother just waiting for him to say something.

"Did you kill Isaac?" It didn't surprise Kaden that Keon knew already. s**t for all he knew Khalil probably called and told him his self thinking that would help his case. Nothing would help Khalil more than Kaden putting a bullet through his thick skull.

But after seeing Khalil try to get under his skin, Kaden planned on showing Khalil why that was the worst decision he could make. Along with sending two niggas who couldn't do something as simple as killing him.

"Yeah." Keon walked to Kaden and gripped him up by his shirt.

"I f*****g told you to wait. You gotta stop being a hot head and just wait some f*****g times man." Keon was upset because this was just another thing to keep him from passing the throne over. Kaden's temper sucked and it showed when he pushed Keon's arms off his shirt.

Keon shook his head. He hated how much his brother acted like their father. He knew that would be the death of his brother or maybe even himself himself. He felt like he was going through Deja Vu every time he dealt with his brother and street s**t.

"I was f*****g helping Reyna and her friends. I didn't kill the nigga because of the s**t with Khalil."

"What do youWhat do you mean? What type of s**t is her friends getting into?" Keon asked his brother watching the kids running towards them.

"She asked me to go inside of her friend's friend's house to check on her. Said something about being scared because it was the one that was getting high. We go into the girls house and she getting choked choked by Isaac while their other friend is on his back trying her hardest to fight dude off her friend."

Kaden watched as his brother's demeanor changed. His shoulders became less tense. "My fault. But you didn't have to f*****g kill him Kaden."

"You would have just let dude walk away?" Keon didn't get to answer his brother because Jax ran over to him wrapping his arms around him. Kaden didn't need him to answer either way. He knew his brother wouldn't just let Isaac go.

"I told you I would beat you Keon." 

He stuck his tongue out at KG.

"You cheated Jax." He pushed him off of his dad. Jax folded his arms and looked to the older Keon. His little lip poked out and begin to tremble. Keon didn't like when Jax used the fact that he was the youngest to his advantage. He also didn't like for the boys to fight each other.

"You better not start that crying shit."

"But he pushed me Keon." Tears started to fall and he sighed. He looked down at KG who knew he was in trouble because he stepped back from his dad.

"KG." He called his son. KG walked over to Jax and held his hands out.

"You know I'm sorry little bro." Kaden laughed as he watched the boys interact.

"That's how we would have been when we were kids." He joked.

"Naw that's you and Khalil." Keon joked back making Kaden stop laughing. He laughed even harder. 

"Y'all two are killing me man." He shook his head. "Dad's birthday is next week on the 7th. You think you can stop beefing for one day so we can go see him?"

"You don't gotta worry about me." Kaden pulled his ringing phone out. He laughed when he seen Rachelle's name. Keon noticed her name and his brother's reaction.

"You not f*****g with her no more?"

"That's Khalil's b***h now." Kaden ignored her call and quickly blocked her number. The last thing she was about to do was blow him up after he just caught her with his quote on quote brother.

"Damn I ain't think shorty got down like that." Keon laughed. You couldn't trust nobody. Rachelle seemed like a real cool girl but now he was guessing she was just looking for a come up like the next b***h.

"It is what it is. You taking ya ass home right?" Kaden asked. He had given Rachelle too much credit. He thought she was better than that but clearly he was wrong. If it wasn't his older brother than a b***h would more than likely go for his quote on quote younger one. That's just what Kaden would expect from now on.

He had noticed Taylor standing off to the side with her girls. He was trying to keep his brother talking so the b***h would get the picture and bounce but she wasn't moving.

Kaden couldn't stand Taylor and she always was just popping up as if she had eyes on Keon or something.

"Yeah." Keon's mood changed and Kaden peeped it. He looked back at Taylor and then his brother and shook his head. Keon looked back not even knowing that Taylor was still there. "Damn my bad I didn't know you were still here."

"I just wanted to apologize." She said. Keon looked down at the boys talking to her daughters. He looked over to his brother.

"I'll be right back."

"Two minutes nigga." Kaden got out of his car to go and sit with his nephews while his brother stepped to Taylor to talk to her.

"You don't have to apologize."

"I just feel like I should. I kind of just invaded on you and your kids. My daughters said they knew them from school. I didn't even know they were with you." She lied straight through her teeth.

Taylor's daughters didn't say nothing about Keon's boys. They didn't know them and if Keon was paying closer attention the girls wasn't even getting candy. They were just excited to be able to walk around again. They had already did the streets that Keon was taking the boys down. Taylor wanted to be around Keon it was as simple as that.

"It's cool Taylor. You always getting me in trouble for real." Keon laughed because it was true. He knew from the look on Taylor's face he shouldn't have let her know that. Tianna thought that he had something going on with her because her friends always just happened to catch something. Whether it be Faith, or one of Faith's many cousins somebody was running s**t back to Tianna.

"I don't mean too." She said in a cute little whiny voice. Keon looked down at Taylor and how the gold necklaces she was wearing fell between her breasts. He licked his lips and Taylor smirked. "I think you like getting in trouble for me." She stepped closer to him and Keon stepped back.

He was a man he would look, but he wouldn't touch. Especially not with the boys behind him. "You bugging ma. I ain't out here like that and I know you know that. Enjoy the rest of ya night though Taylor." Keon turned around and walked to where his brother and the kids were. He was already in enough s**t at home, and now that Taylor knew he was positive that wasn't the end of her advances.

****

Tianna couldn't stay at home. If she did she would sit around thinking and letting her mind wonder and it wasn't going in a pretty direction. She wasn't sure where she would go at first, the last time this happened she did something stupid and now that she was sitting outside of the apartment of her employee she was regretting it. She went to turn away but the door opened.

"Tianna?" She sighed and turned around to see Reyna not looking like herself at all. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail she was wearing a sports bra with leggings and her eyes were bloodshot red. Tianna could have went to Aleya's but she didn't want to hear an I told you so because Aleya had spoke on the fact that she had to watch her man around women.

She always made it clear to Tia that even though she was able to fool most people about her relationship with Keon, she couldn't fool her. She had seen too much and Tia had told her too much for her to be team Keon.

"I'm sorry Reyna. I just." She paused and felt her eyes watering.

"Need a friend?" Reyna asked. She was hoping that was the right answer to finish her sentence because she could use a friend herself. Tianna nodded her head and Reyna stepped to the side to let her in. Tianna had never been inside of Reyna's apartment and she found herself impressed.

By the door was two different hallways. She could clearly see that the left was her bedroom and to the right was the living room. She took off the black ugg boots she had quickly slipped on to her feet to get out of the house. When her feet met Reyna's brown carpet she couldn't believe how soft it was. She walked through the little hallway seeing different pictures of Reyna and her family.

In her living room was a tan wrap around couch. There was dark brown, red, white and tan pillows all over the couch. A beautiful wooden table was sitting in the middle of her floor, with a glass top. On top of the table was a brown glass vase full of white roses. Every brown in the room matched the carpet to a T. There was glass mirrors on the wall in the shape of leaves.

Tianna really liked how homey the apartment felt. It was warm and it smelled of apple cinnamon. She took a seat on the couch noticing the bottle of wine and glass that was damn near full. Reyna stepped into her kitchen that you could see from the couch.

Tianna watched her grab a wine glass. "I can't drink." Tianna spoke causing Reyna to turn around.

"I have bottles of water, tea, pop and a lot of snacks." She offered to replace the wine.

"I'll take a tea, is it flavored?"

"I have Lipton Green tea and peach."

"Peach please." She nodded her head and made her way to the fridge. She grabbed Tianna's drink of choice before making her way into the living room to sit back in her spot on the couch. She handed the drink to her boss and realized that this was the first time they were around each other in a way that wasn't professional. "I know it's unprofessional for me to be here, I just." Tianna sighed.

"You don't have to explain. I honestly could use someone to talk to." Reyna sighed feeling herself get upset again. She picked up her glass of wine. It was taking everything in her to not bust out crying.

"What's going on?" Tianna cracked open her tea.

"My best friend was killed today." Reyna took a huge gulp of the wine. That didn't have the effect she wanted it too. As soon as she was finished drinking the red wine tears poured out of her eyes. She wiped them away but more came to replace the ones she wiped away.

"Oh my goodness. Reyna, I'm so sorry to hear that. Do you need some time off?" Tianna felt so bad for the young girl. She leaned over and pulled her to her so she could comfort her. Tia could never imagine losing Faith or even Aleya.

"Please." Reyna had responded once she pulled away from Tianna. "I know you just opened." Tianna had to cut the girl off.

"Look Reyna, I know we've only known each other for three months but I like you. Usually it takes me a while to decide if I like someone but your not like most young girls I've met. I look at you like a little sister and anything I can do to help you I will." She placed her hand on the young girls knee rubbing it.

"Thank you so much Tianna. I look at you like an older sister as well. You've been so supportive in these last three months." She gave her a weak smile but Tianna knew she meant the words. She was just going through something that was hard. "Are you pregnant?" Tianna looked over to Reyna.

She hadn't said the words out loud but she knew she was. When Keon brought up working on a baby she thought that maybe he picked up on her mood swings and different eating habits. But then again it had been almost seven years since he had dealt with a pregnant woman. Being pregnant with another baby wasn't a problem, in a way.

"I think so. I haven't taken a test yet but I can feel the changes." She looked over to Reyna. Reyna wasn't sure if she should congratulate Tianna because she could see that something was bothering her.

"Is that why you came over? I have some test in my bathroom if you need one." Tianna looked over to Reyna with her eyebrow raised. She wanted to know if her employee was expecting herself. She knew that she had an ex boyfriend that came around here and there but that was it.

"It's not what you think. Remember I told you about Serenity."

"Oh yeah, I'll take a test." Tianna stood to her feet. Reyna instructed her that her bathroom was down the hall. It was the first door on the left side. Tianna's feet stopped when Reyna explained that the test would tell her just how far along she was.

"Is everything okay?" Tianna's chest tightened up. She had been holding on to this secret for months now. She couldn't take holding on to it any longer. She had to tell somebody because if she didn't know she would later when she got home just to hurt Keon.

"The baby might not be Keon's. " She turned to face Reyna. She expected for her to scrunch up her face and start to judge her but Reyna didn't budge. She patted the seat next to her so Tianna could sit back down.

"Whenever your ready to take it we'll get through it together."

"I feel so crazy right now. I can't even tell my best friend Aleya this. She would be so happy to have some dirt on me. My friend Faith travels all the time so she's usually sleeping when I can talk or I'm sleeping when she can talk." She sighed. "Here you are being all nice. Not even asking who it could be."

"Don't get me wrong." Reyna took a sip of her wine before sitting it down on the coaster on the table. "I want to know, but I always find it best to let people tell you things when their ready. It helps me to see the type of person that they are." Tianna nodded her head liking how this girl thought.

"You know Niko that was at the daycare today." Reyna shook her head yes hoping her boss didn't sleep with him. She could see how close he was to Keon and feared that her boss may have ended something that seemed good. "I had s*x with him a few months ago." Tianna palmed her face.

"I knew that I shouldn't have but I did it anyways. As soon as we finished I regretted every minute of it. Keon was supposed to drop the boys off and then come back to my house but he didn't. We got into this big fight because I found out that he had stayed over his baby mother's house. He wouldn't tell me what happened between them or why he stayed.

Niko had came over to pick something up for him. I answered the door in a T shirt knowing I was wrong. You don't have to do much to catch the attention of Niko and I knew that. It took two beers and a little complaining about how Keon wouldn't answer his phone and I felt lonely." She sighed. "Keon is going to leave me."

"You don't know that for sure Tianna. He might be able to forgive you." Reyna knew she sounded stupid but she thought that Tia probably wanted to hear that it would be okay.

"No I do know that's the thing. I did it on purpose. I was trying to hurt Keon because after two years of him being completely faithful to me I thought that he went back to being on his bullshit. His relationships only last for six months to a year. And the last one was with Jordyn, his son's mom. They broke up because she f****d Niko." It was like the situation was just now registering to Tianna.

Tears poured out of her eyes as the reality hit her. When Keon found out about the night where Tianna laid down with Niko in the same bed they were about to share, he would indeed leave her. She knew it didn't matter how many times he had cheated on her in the past. He would only care about the present and be gone.

It hurt Tianna even more because Jeremiah had finally gotten used to having Keon around. Even with him saying he loved her kids she knew there was no type of guarantee that he would still be around for them when he left her. Her heart was hurting for herself, for her boys, and the baby she was pregnant with.

If Niko was the father she had no idea how he would handle the situation. She seen him deal with her kids but that was only on a few occasions. The boys seemed to be okay with him but they were the only kids she ever seen around Niko. He was older in age but that didn't stop Tianna from f*****g with him, he was a fine older man. To her surprise he put it down with a lot of experience. It wasn't like Niko wasn't having s*x because he was getting older.

Tianna had to pull herself together. She could hear her phone vibrating in her purse. She pulled it out to see Boo Bear. It was a nickname that she had given to Keon years ago and still didn't change it in her phone. The only thing that changed was the Emojis next to it. She ignored his call, knowing that he was probably at her house.

"I gotta go the boys are back home from trick or treating." Tianna said standing to her feet.

"You sure you want to face him this upset Tianna?"

"It's okay. I've been holding on to this secret for this long. I can go another night." She tried to assure herself. Reyna didn't believe her but she couldn't force Tia to stay at her place. She walked her to the door and locked it after she left. She said a silent prayer for her boss, for herself to get through losing Lauryn, and even for Serenity who had been acting weird. She needed her friend now and hoped that whatever was going on with Serenity wasn't as bad as what Lauryn was facing by herself.

****

Kaden watched his brother pace the living room floor of Tianna's house. He was driving him crazy because he wouldn't sit still. He tried calling Tianna five times and she didn't answer not one of the calls. Kaden knew then that they had been arguing about something. He knew that something was more than likely, Taylor. Kaden didn't trust s**t about Taylor. She had a sneaky vibe.

Nothing she said seemed to be true.

Kaden was confused at the same time on why his brother would keep entertaining Taylor knowing Tia didn't like it. Sometimes he felt like his brother was looking for a reason or way to f**k up with Tia. Or maybe Tia had done something that he didn't know about. He wasn't always with the couple. Keon didn't always share what was going on with them either.

When Keon heard the front door being messed with he quickly went to open it. Kaden followed behind his brother to make sure it wasn't nothing crazy. Keon snatched the door open making Tianna stumble inside.

"You didn't have to open MY door like that." She rolled her eyes as she balanced herself. She bent over to take off her UGGs and as soon as she was upright Keon was on her. He was checking all over her for hickeys or anything that could tell him that she went out and cheated on him.

Usually he trusted Tianna but she had been so full of doubt lately. He wondered if maybe she was f*****g somebody else and trying to find a way out of their relationship. Kaden watched his brother like he was a mad man all over Tia. He had to step in. He pushed his brother back because he could see that Tia was a little scared.

"Mind your f*****g business Kaden. This is between me and mines." Keon told him.

"Nigga chill the f**k out. You scaring her." Kaden pointed to Tia who was stuck in her spot.

"She wouldn't be scared if she wasn't out doing nothing." Keon said letting his fist clench. "Where the f**k was you at?"

"Of course you try to flip s**t. YOU the only motherfucker in the wrong here. You was all out with Taylor and MY f*****g KIDS." Tianna pointed at him as she began to walk towards him.

"HOW MANY TIMES I GOTTA TELL YOU I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT THAT b***h. IM RIGHT f*****g HERE. IM ALWAYS WHERE YOU WANT ME TO f*****g BE. MY SON IS HERE NOT OVER WITH THAT BITCH."

"Don't raise your f*****g voice at me Keon. You wouldn't have to keep telling me s**t about the b***h if she didn't keep popping up. Y'all just happened to be in the same place trick or treating?"

"Yes." Keon didn't yell this time but he was still hyped up. The word was still loud. He didn't know that he had caught the attention of the boys. All three had met in the hallway to hear what they usually never heard. Their mom and dad, the man they considered a dad was arguing. All of the boys went to the top of the steps to listen closely.

"A b***h who don't live NO WHERE NEAR US just happened to be in the neighborhood right beside ours Keon?" Keon bit his lip. He looked in the wrong for some s**t he really had no control over. He didn't invite Taylor to bring her daughter's trick or treating around where they stayed.

"Tia I didn't invite her. She walked up on me talking about her daughters knew the boys and asked if they could tag along." He wiped his hand down his face. Even he didn't believe the s**t coming from his mouth, it sounded f*****g crazy with Tianna adding on her own comments.

Kaden leaned against the wall. He couldn't even try to help his brother. He knew if he said something it would just be like adding gasoline to an already lit fire.

"How the f**k would her daughters know my sons?"

"School." Keon said causing Tianna to bust out into laughter. She couldn't believe how stupid Keon was over this b***h. It made her upset. She was going to regret what she was about to say but she had to make him hurt. She wanted him to hurt the same way that she was.

"I just said the b***h don't live nowhere near us. How would our kids be in school with hers?" Tianna threw her hands in the air. "You clearly want to be spending time with that b***h so go be with her."

"Tianna I'm not going no where. I'm where I want to be."

"No Keon. It's clear that b***h got ya attention so go be with her." Tianna walked to her door and opened it. Keon walked over to her and slammed the door shut scaring the boys. They had never seen their mom or Keon this upset with each other. Keon towered over Tianna and the boys couldn't see her.

Jeremiah watched Keon's hand raise up and panicked. The little boy quickly jumped up from the step he was on. "Noooooo. Don't hit my mommy." He yelled running down the steps to get to Tianna. Keon's hand fell to his side quickly as he watched Jeremiah run down the steps upset. He pushed Keon back and even though it didn't do much he stepped back respecting the fact that Jeremiah didn't want him close to Tianna.

"Jeremiah I would never hit your mother. Ever." Jeremiah just stared at Keon as he stood in front of his mother. He wouldn't dare let Keon get close to her. The other boys came walking down the steps and Keon felt crazy inside. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You just gonna sit there and let them think I put my hands on you or something?" He looked at Tia who didn't say anything.

"Maybe it's just best that you go Keon." He looked at the boys who was watching his every move. 

"This is f*****g crazy." He laughed. "I try my hardest to teach them to do the right thing and you got them all looking at me crazy. I didn't do s**t wrong. You can ask them, we trick or treated for damn near an hour and a half before she popped up. The whole time I wasn't on my phone or nothing to be able to text and invite her Tianna." Keon looked at her wanting her to believe him but she didn't.

"You know I would NEVER have our kids around some other b***h that I was messing with." He shook his head seeing Tianna wasn't budging. All of the boys had stood in front of her, even his own son. "I'm sorry that y'all seen me get that upset. I will NEVER put my hands on y'all mom EVER. I love her and I just wanted her to know that I don't plan on going no where no time soon. I know y'all are upset with me right now so I'm going to stay over uncle Kaden's house."

"But you told us you were moving in." 

Jeremiah spoke up. He didn't want Keon by his mom but he didn't want him to leave either. Jeremiah never seen Keon get that upset but he believed him when he said he wouldn't hit his mom.

Keon didn't know what to say to Jeremiah. "You told us when you make a mistake your not supposed to run from it." Keon couldn't believe that Jeremiah had paid so much attention to him and the different s**t he would tell the boys. He looked back at Tianna who was now crying.

Keon looked to Kaden who placed his arms behind his back. He didn't feel it would be right for him to offer Tianna comfort for his brothers f**k up with Taylor. He warned him the other night about the girl and now they were here.

He did tell the boys those words but he felt like the situation was a little too out of hand. Everybody needed to get some sleep and he wouldn't be able to if he slept in the same house as Tianna because he wanted to talk, he wanted her to believe him and nothing he said would make her believe him.

"I'm still moving in Jeremiah, just not tonight. I don't think your mom wants me here tonight." Keon sighs. Jeremiah looked back at his mom. His eyes were pleading for her to not let Keon leave the house. She knew she was wrong for not telling the kids that Keon wasn't going to hit her. She didn't want him to go either. Really she wanted to forget about how the day went from good to bad.

"Mommy can he stay? He can sleep in my room. I have a bunk bed mom." Jeremiah reminded her. Tianna felt bad, Keon was a good man to her and she f****d it all up. With Jeremiah looking up at her with hope in his eyes she felt herself break down. She had f****d up so bad.

"Tianna stop crying." Keon didn't want to step to her because he wasn't sure how Jax or KG was feeling.

"I f****d up." She cried more. Keon sighed not liking to see her cry.

"It's okay Tia. We can just talk in the morning."

"No I f****d up Keon." She looked into his eyes and he felt it. She did go out and cheat on him. He closed his eyes. "I'm pregnant." His eyes shot opened and Kaden stepped over to his brother slyly. He had put two and two together and he could see rage take over his brother's face.

"Y'all go back to bed." Kaden told the boys. "I got everything here. Y'all need to get some sleep for school tomorrow." All of the boys looked between Tia who was crying and Keon who looked upset. They understood what it meant to be pregnant but they didn't get why Keon wasn't happy. They liked the idea of another baby. Jeremiah loved the idea. The odds would finally be evened out for him.

"Go." Kaden spoke again. All of the boys took turns saying good night, hugging and kissing the adults before they went up the steps. As soon as they was up the steps Keon stepped closer to Tianna.

"Let me make sure I heard you correctly. You BEEN went out and f****d some other nigga and now your ass is pregnant?" He asked her. She looked at him with fear in her eyes.

"Keon baby I'm so sorry." She whispered trying to grab his hands. He pulled away from her.

"Don't f*****g touch me. It's taking everything in me right now to not disrespect you so don't touch me."

"It's not a guarantee that it's his baby Keon." He almost didn't understand what Tia had said since she was so upset.

"My name is King to you. Who was it?" He folded his arms. Tianna looked into his eyes. She couldn't say it. She wanted to hurt him, but she only wanted to send him home. She knew he hated that. Now she was regretting the whole scene that took place.

"Baby." She said it softly and Keon laughed.

"f**k all that, is it one of my niggas?" He asked her not trying to sit around and hear no sweet talk from her. She nodded her head yes and he looked back at his brother.

"Kaden?"

"Nigga what? Ain't nobody f**k Tianna." Kaden was pissed his brother would even ask. Keon gave Kaden a look to let him know he heard what he said but he didnt give a f**k. Kaden shook his head while Keon looked at Tianna again.

"Terry?" Keon had an idea of who it was but he didnt want to hear that once again this nigga had betrayed him and slid into p***y that he knew Keon was crazy about. Especially not with Tianna. This was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Jordyn was cool and they had good times but she didn't make him feel how Tianna did.

"No."

"Say his name." Keon said feeling his anger grow. He knew who it was.

"I can't."

"You can let him f**k you but you can't say his name now? You probably about to have his baby and s**t but can't say his name? What you need help?" He stepped closer to her. "NIKO." He yelled into her face.

"Keon I'm sorry." She cried but he didn't hear that. He didn't hear her crying and begging him not to leave her. He didn't hear the boys crying on the steps not wanting him to go. All he heard was Niko. Once again the nigga who was supposed to be his uncle, who should have had his back stuck his d**k in p***y that belonged to Keon.