In the middle of it all

A Lie

Tamika: Kyle, Neesa, Asad and Izzy now know about us

Xavier: You told them all?

Tamika: I told Aneesa

Xavier: And she told the others

Tamika: Yeah
Tamika: What are you doing now ? You can come over and stay the night...

Xavier: You wanna sleep with me ?

Tamika: You're so dirty

Xavier: I'll come to you don't worry
Xavier: I'm checking out the crib then I'm on my way

Tamika: Okay see you then

"Xavier?" He turned off his phone and looked behind him.

"Jessie. What are you doing here ?"

"This is my crib. I wanna see how it's doing. Why are you here ?"

"Same thing as you." He replied with a grin. She chuckled slightly and they began walking around the place.

"Can I ask you about something?"

"Go ahead."

"I know about Asad and Aneesa's past and everyone else's but how come no one talks about Isabel ? What happened to her parents ? Is she also an orphan? "

"Baby Iz's mother used to be part of our gang."

"No way. What was her name ?"

" Lela Gomes. I was never able to meet her but people say that she was the sweetest woman..."

"Did she..." He paused before continuing. "pass away ?"

"We don't really know..." she confessed. "Izzy believes she did...I mean, it is easier than to say that your mom left you and, is living a good life without you."

"What about her father ?"

"He left her. One day he appeared out of nowhere looking for his daughter. Him and Izzy got acquainted and managed to get along pretty well despite what he did to her mother.He then asked her to come live with him. A few days later, they both left for some place and Izzy came back alone. I don't know what happened there but she told us that he had eventually abandoned her."

"So he might still be alive..." comments Xavier.

"I don't know, Xav..." responds JJ.

He raises an eyebrow. "Are you lying to me ?"

"What ? Why would you think that ?"

"The others told me something else but things didn't add up. I'm still new so I think that they were trying to protect me from something." His voice became more shaky. "I hate it... It's like.. They don't think I'm strong enough to handle things."

"Xavier..." His words reminded her of her past self. It reminded her of how Draco, the person who promised  to tell her everything, still hid things from her to "protect " her. Or how Evelyn, her closest friend, hid her troubles from her. Her heart ached as she was witnessing someone else being treated weaker than what they are. No one should feel this way, she thought.

"And they call me white boy as if it were a bad thing. As if it was something that should weaken me... I also can be as strong as them !" sobbed Xavier.

"I'm sorry , Xavier. You're right, you too should know what happened. If Izzy told them, you have every right to know too." She admitted. "After coming back to the crib alone, she came to me and told me what had happened. She confronted her father and as he got near her and begged for forgiveness, she shot him in the head."

"Where'd she get the gun to do such a thing ?"

"Diego. That's the only person I can think of."

"Diego ?"

"Blu. He was also part of the Silvers back in the day."

"What happened to him ? Did she kill him as well ?"

"Oh gracious, no ! She would never do such a thing. He's been hospitalized since the gang massacre." She explained.

"What's the gang massacre?"

"You're not aware of that either ?" He shook his head.

"Should I have been ?"

She sighed and sat down on a nearby chair. He followed. "It's the worst collision between the Silvers and the Rox. Their previous leader, Sniper, wanted to seal a unification deal with our previous leader."

"Draco."

"Denzel." She said at the same time. " Yeah."

"So Sniper was willing to make peace with y'all but he refused ?" The tone in his voice had changed into a more serious one.

"He accepted and we all went."

"What went wrong ?"

"Sniper never wanted peace. He wanted us gone. Especially our first leader,Ace."

"He's the one who killed all of you ? He must've been very powerful."

"He killed some of us and Ace. But Skylar killed him."

"She's dead isn't she ?"

"Yeah... Sniper's son,Jax, killed her."

He lowered his head. "She had it coming." He mumbled.

"What'd you say ?"

"She went for his father, it's only natural for him to act that way." He said in a firm tone.

"It's natural ?" Her face went blank as she paused. "That kid murdered Denzel too !He did nothing wrong."

"You wouldn't understand." His jaw clenched. "I lost my father so I feel for Jax."

"I lost my parents, I do understand but killing isn't the solution."

Calm regained Xavier before sorrow clouded his features. "It's such a shame what happened." With teary eyes, Xavier tightly hugged Jessie. "Thank you... Thank you for trusting me. You don't know how important that is to me."

Jessie chuckles softly. "The crib..." she says, changing the subject. "It's almost done, right ?"

"Yeah..." he said,letting her go. "I think we should go, it's getting late." he added. They walked out of the place and Xavier drove her home before getting back to the mansion.