Grace

31

Michigan plopped down on the floor with Grace falling onto her thighs. She looked down at her friend and then another false alarm hit. Clutching Grace's hand, she rummaged around her purse for her phone. Before she could even reach it, Grace's hand was being ripped away from hers and then Dominic scooped his unconscious girlfriend up.

"Michigan, get the fuck on. You know you can't carry her and this don't have nothing to do with you anyway. Go 'head about your business."

"It has everything to do with me," Michigan argued unable to stand to her feet, "She's my friend and you're abusing her and expecting me to be OK with that. Nobody deserves to endure that type of pain. Grace has never done anything to hurt you therefore it's wrong of you to treat her like this.

Dominic retreated back to his apartment with Grace thrown over his shoulder. He gently kicked his door which opened wider. Closing and locking it, he groaned. He was sure that Michigan was going to give him problems as soon as she got up from that floor. If the last fights they had hadn't caught anyone's attention, this one would.

Dominic didn't mean to rough her up so badly but it just happened. Grace just got under his skin and made him act upon it. Deep down he knew Grace would never go behind his back. It was just that lately his insecurity and guilt had him thinking she was getting better treatment elsewhere. He was so selfish and controlling that he hated to even think of another man being anywhere near her.

But he knew he couldn't keep her away for long, but he knew he was going to try his damn best.

Rosie looked up at Jeremy as he walked in. "What's up? Food is in the kitchen. How did the meet up go?"

"All right. He said he want me to flip all this..." Jeremy sat the duffle bag onto the countertop. Once he unzipped it, the odor smacked her in the face like a ton of bricks. She knew that he was dealing with the finest drugs in all of Miami. Smiling, she attempted to touch it but he quickly swatted her hand away.

"Don't fucking touch it. This our income so if you want some, you got to pay as well. He told me the exact amount he needed for this so I can't be wasting no time."

Rosie rubbed her arm with a frown upon her face. She had spoken with her cousin about a week ago about putting Jeremy on. Jeremy needed a job because she didn't want him struggling nor did she want to spend her money on him. Although he was trying, he wasn't trying hard enough for her so she put a speed on things. Now, he was not rewarding her for the things she'd done?

"Pay? You must be kidding me." Rosie spat.

"I'm not, either you paying or get the hell on. I got money to make so I'll kick it with you later." He kissed Rosie's forehead then rushed out of her home. She, stunned, took a seat at the bar then pouted until it was time for her to go to work.

King unzipped his boots then kicked them off at the door. Valerie greeted him in the foyer with a quick kiss. "Hey, baby. I cooked dinner but Niecey called me and she wants to go out to catch up. I'm guessing you'll sit here until I get back?"

"Probably go check on the restaurant then come back home to get some rest. I'll see you later. Be careful and I love you."

"Love you, call me if you need anything." Valerie slid out of the door and then left King all alone to handle business.

He watched her, from the window, pull off then he turned to go to his office. He knew that a couple connects out of the city wanted to exchange. Valerie knew he was handling business in the drug trade still but she didn't comment much on it. If she did, it started an endless argument which almost ended in them signing the divorce papers. Now, he rarely bought it up or focused on it when she was home.

King knew with his small businesses and investing that he could be set for life yet after losing Quanndel, he had no one to leave his hard work to. Reggie was locked up and probably not coming home until he was wearing a Depend diaper and nearly crippled. Sighing heavily, King sat in his seat and then grabbed his business phone to get to work.

As he phoned a couple most wanted kingpins, Michigan was trying to decide whether she wanted to knock on Destinny's door or not. She didn't want to have her cousin possibly hurt but Grace's life was more important at the moment. If Dominic continued to beat her unconscious, she was going to lose her life then Michigan would feel worse.

Once she reached to knock, Camino stepped out with a smile which quickly fell. She eyed him then Destinny, who was following behind him dressed in a bodycon dress and stilettos. Michigan knew what was up as soon as she saw them. They were way too comfortable with one another, plus she didn't see Sharon anywhere in sight dressed to go on a date. It looked like they were very familiar with each other.

"What's up? Why you over this way?" Destinny asked while locking her door.

"Um, I, was seeing if Grace was home?" Michigan inquired appearing to be truly confused in which she was.

"Grace doesn't live here anymore..." Destinny replied before grabbing Camino's hand and then walking towards her car. Michigan watched them climb inside before she sighed in defeat. She walked to her mom's car while dialing Grace's phone to see if she had at least woken up. When she received no reply, she thought back to the uncle Grace mentioned.

It had to count for something. She knew it would be impossible to rest knowing that Grace was nearly lifeless. Vividly remembering the neighborhood Grace had described, she made her way to see if she could get some help from someone who actually cared. As she sped through traffic, her phone rang in the console.

"Hello?"

"Where the hell are you in my car? I have to be somewhere." her mother fussed.

"OK, well," Michigan started, "I came by Destinny's house to see if Grace was there and I ran into her and Camino... They were all hugged up on one another and I guess they were headed onto a date because he was G'd up." She was only attempting to take her mother's attention off of her whereabouts. If she wasn't, she wouldn't have opened her loose lips to cause more problems for Sharon and her current depression state.

As soon as Sharon heard the word from Michigan's mother about Camino, she reached into his old drawer for the gun he kept to protect them.

BLAOW!!!