Sincere

Chapter 26

"Stop cryin' Sincere.", AJ took a seat next to me, pulling me into his arms as I continued to cry into his chest. He held me closely, resting his chin above my head as I released all the hurt that set heavily on my chest. This was officially my breaking point.

"AJ, how could he?", I asked, as he looked down at me cry into his chest, allowing a breath to escape his mouth.

"Growin' up, Dre was always known for doin' stupid shit. He got in trouble all the time, but that was because he got it out the mud. Auntie Gina raised him the best she could, but he was always a hot head. His temper got him into a lot of shit, and I'm not even usin' this as an excuse because he had no reason to pull a gun out on you. What I am sayin' is, sometimes he can't help the shit he does. I don't know if he told you, but growin' up, around like the age of sixteen, them cracka's diagnosed him with schizophrenia. His mom never wanted to label him as someone with it and she got him treatment for it, along with counselin', but sometimes I can still see the shit in him. He's made a big progression since being diagnosed with it, but the shit didn't really kick in until after the accident.", he said, continuing to hold me in a comforting manner. This was the first time AJ has ever really opened up to me, but he was always there to defend me when it came down to Dre.

"What accident?", I asked, wiping my eyes as I began to calm down a little. He let out another sigh as he looked down into my eyes, leaving me curious as to what he's talking about.

"I have a little sister, her name's Amiyah. She was best-friends with Dre and Bre's sister, I'yanna. Yanna and Miyah were absolutely inseparable. Yanna was Dre's sister on his dad's side, and although him and his father never got along, Dre always made sure Yanna was straight. She was only a couple years younger than us, so of course, they had a really good bond. There was nothin' Dre wouldn't do for Yanna. Around the time Dre decided he wanted to be part of the drug game, he started gettin' a lot of hate from niggas who names we couldn't even pronounce, ya' feel me? He could move a lot of weight in little time and he was fuckin' up they cash flow.", he paused and took a deep breath, before continuing with the story. "Yanna and Miyah were walkin' home from school one day because they didn't want to catch the bus. Instead of calling me or Dre, they decided to walk after we told them to stay clear of being out on the streets alone. All I can remember Miyah telling me was a car pulled up, and started letting off shots. Yanna didn't make it off the scene alive. She was shot three times, twice in the arm and once in the head. Miyah got hit in the leg, but she survived. It was like every since that day, Dre hasn't been the same."

I listened to AJ tell me the unfortunate turn of events and my heart could only hurt for him as I thought about how his brain couldn't wrap around his emotions. Half the time, he doesn't know what he's doing, but that's still no excuse for him to ever pull out a gun and place it to my head. What if he would've really flipped out and actually pulled the trigger? God forbid it ever comes to that point.

"I can look in my nigga eyes and see that he really does love you Sincere. He loves you more than he loves his damn self. It's hard for him to express his emotions and even harder for him to accept them, so of course, he's struggling with all of that right now. I'm not askin' you to stay with him, nor am I asking you to be a dumb ass for his bullshit apologies, but what you need to do is focus on you and tryin' to keep a stable environment for the baby. You make my nigga happy and I see another side of him when y'all are on even ground. Whatever it is y'all going through, y'all gonna' get through it, regardless of if it's together or separate.", AJ looked down into my eyes as he gave me an assuring look, causing me to nod my head in understanding.

"I never think I'd be sitting here hearing it from you.", I giggled slightly, giving him a small smile.

"I like you Sincere, you're a real down to Earth shorty with a good heart. You're like family to me and when you're hurtin', it kinda' fuck with my mental a lil' bit.", he admitted, refraining from the eye contact.