MAMA SAID

Death Becomes Her

A/N I was supposed post yesterday 🥴🥴

The timeline of this chapter is a bit confusing, so it starts off a week after the last chapter. Triggers are labeled. Happy reading and can y'all hoes vote 🤣🙄

Days past and before Beyoncé knew it, it was Monday. The day of the memorial service. Everyone had given Tina space since learning of the death. She didn't think they actually understood how much it hurt and hadn't said a word to anyone since then. The older woman walked around Beyoncé's house like a zombie for nearly a week because people were afraid of leaving her alone when Richard had work related events to attend. There was no life, no emotion, nothing. There was an empty shell of a woman behind those green eyes. She came downstairs reluctantly for meals and absentmindedly shoveled a little food into her mouth before saying that she was finished in a very monotone voice. Then she would drag herself towards the elevator and head upstairs to lay in the bed and cry endlessly into her pillows. Just when Tina thought she couldn't cry anymore, she would find something else that would remind her of exactly who she lost and it would all come back. She honestly didn't think that she had any more tears left, but she always found more.

An all white hand sewn couture dress that fit perfectly to her body was Beyoncé's choice of attire as she stood with her parents on the marble floors of one of Atlanta's biggest churches. The entire family had flown in the night before completely struck with grief. From somewhere, somber organ music played in a hushed tone to set the mood, but nobody needed the mood to be set. They were miserable enough as it was. Tina was just existing, though a bit of life came to her eyes as she saw her old friend Lilith in a cowl-necked white dress with matching white pearls, walk up to her and give her condolences. She spotted more of her friends and realized quite a few others had poured in. She recognized her uncle Hardy leaning against a pew. She glanced at her cousin Elise and her niece Dinah talking amongst each other. She also spotted her old neighbor from Houston sitting towards the back corner. If Tina wasn't so broken, she would've given the woman a real piece of her mind for coming; they never got along.

Tina felt a tug on her arm from Richard and she slowly started walking forward, focusing on the white tulips and the smell of incense that filled the place. The closer she got to the casket in the front, the harder it was for her to walk. Her breath was leaving her again, the tears were starting to fall, and she felt as though she would pass out. She couldn't take this, she wanted to crawl in with her. She wanted to just crawl into the casket and be buried with her. What no one understood was that the cold casket before them held more than just remains; it held Tina's heart.

Chloe sat down next to Halle, and beside Halle sat Beyoncé gripping black rosaries seemingly in prayer.

A moment later, Shawn joined them with Blue and Julez tagging along.

He was outwardly social, but inwardly he was in the dumps. The boy longed to hear that sweet voice calling him 'Shug' just one more time. He had grown tired of it as the years passed but now he wanted to hear her say it one more time. Julez watched as Kelly and Angela sobbed into each other's shoulders, but for the life of him could not produce tears of his own. Blue stared off aimlessly into the distance while Chloe's tears cascaded her face, this was too sad an occasion for her. Halle leaned against Bey the entire time listening as the preacher began his eulogy.

The organ music picked up. Kelly was utterly heartbroken. She felt the tears falling, more than any of the people she sat by; not Tina of course. From somewhere Angela handed her some tissues and Kelly dabbed her eyes. Her eye make-up was destroyed, but she couldn't care less.

The funeral was agony. The only thing that had gotten Tina this far was her husband's encouraging words. Beyoncé couldn't, she just couldn't. Her mind wanted to. She wanted to get up and tell everyone in the place how much love she had been shown over the years, how much she meant to her, and how heartbroken she was without her, but her body refused to move. She felt like she was going to throw up. Tears streamed down her cheeks as her hazel hues wouldn't leave the beautiful picture that sat next to the casket.

On and on the funeral went, and with each passing moment Tina could feel herself dying a little more. Chloe reached over and gently squeezed her hand. Having her family there to comfort her helped a little, but her mind was riddled with so many unanswered questions. Why was she gone? Why was she dead? Why had God taken the closest person to her? Why was she locked in a white casket with a bunch of white tulips on it? Why wasn't she there?

A few moments passed as the preacher said a few more words. Tina caught a glimpse of pall bearers moving toward the casket and jumped from her seat.

"I wanna bury her with something," Tina wiped her eyes and stared at the open casket.

The preacher nodded and Richard helped his wife move towards the casket. She bit her lip at the sight once more and let more tears fall. The woman reached into her sweater pocket and pulled out two things. One was a sleek piece of paper, one edge ripped. She had ripped it from her favorite poetry book. She folded it nicely and stuck it in the side of the coffin. The second thing was a heart shaped necklace with a picture of them both on the inside. She had one of her own that she would keep. She tucked the necklace next to the poem and sighed, feeling a bit of closure. She stepped away and the pallbearers moved in. They shut the upper part of the casket and a sea of sobs could be heard around the church as they saw the body disappear.

The drive to the burial site was decidedly quiet. Beyoncé had Blue on her hip with her other two on either side of her, listening as the choir sang 'Amazing Grace' almost too eloquently. The blonde watched as her mother wiped a tear from underneath her dark shades and tossed a white rose on top of the sleek white casket. Julez looked fixedly at the coffin, whispered something to himself and tossed his rose before tucking his hands into his white pants pockets and walking away. Kelly was next followed by Angela and a slew of other people. Shawn handed Chloe, Halle, and Blue their roses and walked with them to toss their flowers in. Bey was too enthralled with the choir and nearly forgot to put hers in. She scurried behind her family, looked down at the casket ready to be lowered and tossed the flower in.

"Heaven couldn't wait for you," she said before Shawn took her hand in his.

-

The Beyincé family gathered at Tina's cousin's house for the homegoing repast.

"Auntie Iris sure did know a lot of people," Angie said as she fixed herself a plate of food.

"Mmhm, and everybody loved her," Kelly said.

Bey scooped some greens onto the plate she was making for her husband, "Ernest made sure everybody knew him and auntie used to be a thing with that long speech he gave."

Solange laid on the couch with her broken leg propped up on some pillows as she held a warm towel to her ear, "I wish I could've been there to say goodbye," she said sadly.

The curly haired woman flew down to Atlanta alongside her family with all of the intentions of attending her aunt's funeral after her sudden passing, but with the fresh injuries from her car accident, she couldn't get out of the house that morning.

Their older cousin Dinah sat on the edge of the couch, careful not to bump Solange's leg. "It's alright Thu Thu, everybody understood."

No matter how many people reassured her that they weren't judging her for missing the funeral, Solange couldn't forgive herself. Her aunt Iris was the glue that held the family together. She was her mother's older sister and Solange hadn't lived a day not being able to just pick up the phone and dial her aunties number for sound advice. They were really close. Iris would swear up and down that Solange was her child instead of Tina's. Whenever Solo would get into any trouble she'd call Iris to protect her from one of her mother's famous beat downs.

"Yeah but I still wanted to be there," Solo said.

With Halle on her heels, Beyoncé handed her husband his plate and went to fix another for Blue. The thirteen year old hadn't left Bey's side since she came back from the temporary home. No matter what method Shawn and Bey used to wing the girl of her constant trailing, Halle remained a shadow act. What surprised Beyoncé the most was Chloe. Since they've been in Atlanta, she's been under her as well. Though nothing could hold a flame to Halle's consistent succeeding, Chloe found herself leaving a room whenever Bey would or leaning into her whenever she was introduced to a new family member. Luckily, Blue had no problem running through the front yard with the rest of the cousins around her age, so the blonde didn't look that much of a mother goose.

"Chlo go tell Blue it's time to come eat. Oh and take her to wash her hands please," Bey instructed.

With a nod, Chloe made her way to the front door and did as told. Halle stood there eyeballing the pans of food wishing she could eat some of it because it smelled scrumptious. She knew that none of the food would be vegan friendly at a southern repast, but Bey said they'd be leaving soon, and she had a pretty big brunch anyway. Angela and Kelly exited the kitchen to find a seat somewhere in the dining room and an older man most likely in his late seventies early eighties walked towards the pans of food.

"Hey JuJu," the man smiled.

Bey turned to see the warm inviting eyes of her uncle Jeffery and put the plate down that she had fixed. "Uncle Jeff heyyyy," she hugged the man who chuckled and patted her back.

The two pulled apart and Jeff's eyes went to Halle, "who we have here?"

Bey smiled, pulling Halle closer to her side, "this is my baby."

The man's eyes went wide as he put his hands on his hips in disbelief, "shut yo mouth! This Blue? I ain't seen ya since you was 'bout this little!"

Halle and Bey exchanged looks before they laughed. "Uncle Jeff, this is Halle." Just then, Chloe entered with an irritated Blue in tow.

"That's Blue right there and this is Chloe," Bey pointed.

Jeff looked at all of the children, "these all your girls JuJu?"

"Mmhm," Bey grabbed a plastic fork.

"I can tell cause these two look just like you," he pointed to Chloe and Blue. "This one must look like the daddy side," he chuckled.

"Yeah she does," Bey smiled as she grabbed the plate of food and prepared to head out.

She was tired of explaining their situation to each family member that came up to her with a million questions about the Bailey sisters. The younger family members had already known, but the old and feeble lived basically under rocks, so they hadn't seen any of the blogs or reports about the newest members of the Carter family.

"Well lemme make your aunt Bessie a plate for she get to hollering. You know that medicine the doctor got her on make her loopy. Nice Seeing you Blue," Jeffery waved at Halle. "Little Chloe," he smiled down at Blue, "and Halle," he waved at Chloe.

Bey escorted her three out of the kitchen. Of course Halle and Blue were the first to speak on the situation.

"I'm not Chloe," Blue said.

"Did that man have cataracts or something," Halle asked, evoking a laugh from the blonde.

"It's called old age baby," Bey looked at them both.

Solange's voice could be heard loud over everyone complaining about not being catered to. "I mean hellooo woman in pain over here! Julez I thought you said you was gonna be my servant until I get this cast off!" Julez was busy chopping it up with his teen aged cousins he hadn't seen in a while on the front porch, but he could still hear his mother's voice. It was true he had promised to work his fingers to the bone for his mom, but that had been said under crazy circumstances.

FLASHBACK

"Solange Knowles, thirty one year old female, car crash on interstate 405, in and out of consciousness upon arrival, right leg broken, possible broken ribs, minor head injury, right eardrum perforated, complaints of pain in upper left side of abdomen last time she was awake, but vitals are stable," the paramedic gave the doctors a rundown as he and his partner speedily wheeled the stretcher into the emergency room.

"Alright, you notify the family," the doctor asked as he put on a new set of latex gloves.

"Not yet," the paramedic said.

The doctor observed the injured woman hurriedly as she was wheeled into a room.

"Keep breathing," he willed.

Solange was now coming to, letting out pain-filled groans every few seconds.

"I know that it hurts just try to keep breathing."

There were two nurses, one paramedic and two doctors in the room now. They didn't flinch at the sudden ear piercing scream coming from Solange as she attempted to grip her stomach.

"She, uh, was screaming her head off the whole way here before she passed out again," the paramedic said.

All of the medical professionals surrounded the stretcher, preparing to move the patient. "Alright, on my count," the doctor voiced. "One, two, three," they assisted one another with lifting Solange and placing her onto the hospital bed. The nurses worked quickly with sticking an I.V bag into her arm and hooking the woman up to different monitors and machines.

"There we go, Thank you guys," the tall doctor said to his subordinates as a few exited.

He put a stethoscope in his ears and placed the rounded end to the groaning woman's chest, "Hey Solange were you driving the vehicle when it crashed," he spoke louder than normal due to her busted eardrum.

A nurse was at her right side taking her blood pressure as the doctor continued to search for any irregular heart palpitations. "I don't remember, ow!" She finally got out.

He shined a small light into her eyes. "Alright easy there, breathing sounds are normal," he announced to the room as he removed the neck brace from her. "Can you move your head for me?"

"My stomach hurts so much," Solange cried.

"Alright just touch your chin to your neck for me," he instructed.

Tears were clouding Solo's vision, "just make it stop hurting please!"

The nurse and doctor exchanged looks, "she's too distracted to clear the c spine," the doctor placed the neck brace back on. "Let's take care of her pain and then we'll reassess. Elise get a line in, get a four of morphine."

"No, no, no I hate needles. Can't you just give me pills? Aghhh," she screamed in pain.

The doctor gave her a solemn look, "they're gonna take a lot longer to work ma'am."

The pain nearly blinded her at this point, "fine, fine," she winced.

The nurse got to work setting up the morphine drip. "Once the pain subsides we'll do a chest x-ray AP and lateral x-rays on her abdomen and her leg."

"Doctor Moore," the nurse called.

"Yes, Elise?"

"Blood Pressure is decreasing," she raised an eyebrow.

"Aghhhh," Solange screamed as she squeezed her eyes shut and reached for her stomach again.

Doctor Moore ran his hands through his short brunette hair, "we need an ultrasound, stat!" Nurse Elise took scissors and cut Solange's shirt open. The woman appeared more pale than when she was initially whisked through the doors. Doctor Moore felt around her abdomen area as the nurse prepped the ultrasound machine. He noticed her stomach was hard to the touch and appeared swollen.

"Ready doctor," Elise announced and waited for him to move out of her way.

The morphine was working now and Solange was more calm than before. Her eyes closed and fluttered open every now and then as the nurse squirted a thick substance onto her stomach and moved the device around her left side. Doctor Moore examined the black and white screen with a squint. "Move a little bit higher," he instructed Elise. The doctor shook his head at what he saw.

"Alright Solange, looks like you have a ruptured spleen. What this means is there's internal bleeding in your abdomen. You need to have emergency surgery to remove the spleen and clear the blood. Do you understand," he asked.

Solo barely comprehended anything the man said, "can you call my family," she croaked.

"Will do ma'am," he turned over his shoulder, "can someone get me a full medical history on Miss Knowles please? We need someone to set this leg. She needs to be prepped for surgery ASAP!"

-

Shawn held Blue on his right side and gripped Chloe's hand tight with his left hand as they scrambled through the nearly vacant halls of the hospital. Beyoncé pulled Halle along as she frantically searched for anyone resembling her mother or her sister Kelly. They had been enjoying a day of relaxation with the family, watching movies and enjoying each other's company when Bey received the distraught call from Kelly telling her that Solange had been in a car accident. Lately her life seemed to be on a nonstop trip to a bottomless pit filled with hell-fire. The rising of the sun implied a new declaration of warfare, and to be honest she was tired of suiting up for battle. It wasn't long before Bey spotted her mother sitting in one of the waiting areas with her hands clasped in prayer. It was all hands on deck, a few of the OR surgeons were down giving consults and taking patients up for surgery. A warring gang had been brought in and some of them were completely unconscious, hanging by a thread, but other rival members were lucid and even though they had bullets in their chests and arms they were still provoking each other.

"Betchu bitches won't show yo faces in our hood again! I know cause I capped like six of y'all and if the rest want some tell'em come on!" one man screamed.

Blue clung to her father tighter and pushed her face into his shoulder. Richard was next to his wife sending his pleas up to the almighty as well. Bey and Halle stopped in front of a crying Julez and a sympathetic Kelly who tried her best to comfort the child.

"What did they say," Bey rushed out.

Kelly lifted her head, "we just got here not too long ago nobody has told us a thing! They called mama saying Thu Thu had to have emergency surgery so I guess that's where she is now."

Bey's grip around Halle unknowingly grew tighter. "Did they say what she's having surgery on?"

"No," Kelly sighed.

Shawn sat Blue in one of the chairs and the five year old felt inclined to stay quiet. She didn't know exactly what was going on just that something was wrong and it had to do with her aunty Solo. Bey didn't want to interrupt her parents' praying, so she just stood there as Halle's arms were wrapped around her middle. At this point Chloe still hadn't uttered a word to anyone but Shawn. She moved Blue from her seat and sat there herself before pulling the child into her lap.

"Do you wanna sit down," Shawn asked his wife who shook her head in response.

No one spoke after that except Kelly whispering encouraging words to Julez and murmurings from Richard and Tina's praying.

"How's your arm punto!" A tattooed bald man screamed as yet another gang member was wheeled into the ER.

"Shut up!" The officer assigned to him hissed.

Shawn wiped at his face, not wanting the kids around what was obviously a turf war. Any of these men could still be packing and he'd be damned if anything else happened to a member of his family.

"Family of Solange Knowles," Doctor Moore entered the waiting area with a clipboard.

Everyone stood and waited with bated breath for what he had to say.

"Is my baby alright," a teary eyed Tina asked.

The doctor glanced at the paperwork in his hand, "miss Knowles suffered from a broken leg, three broken ribs, she had a minor head injury which resulted in a concussion and a perforated eardrum, she was taken into surgery for a ruptured spleen that caused internal bleeding in the abdomen. We were able to successfully remove the spleen and any excess blood, other than that she's resting well and we expect a full but timely recovery."

The sigh of relief Tina let out could probably be heard over the chaos around the entire hospital, "Thank you Jesus!"

Kelly turned to Julez and smiled, "you hear that?"

A somber smile crossed his face as he wiped a tear away.

"Can we see her," Bey asked.

Doctor Moore nodded, "just a few at a time."

Tina, Julez, Kelly, and Beyoncé all filed into the sizable room. Immediately Tina went to her child's bedside. She didn't even look the same. She had scratches all over her face, a large bandage on her forehead, there were remnants of blood coming out of her ear, bruising just about everywhere, and her hair laid lifeless on the pillows as she slept. Bey listened to the constant beep of the machine tracking her sister's heart rate and matched it with the constant rise and fall of her chest. She hadn't moved from the doorway, too afraid to see her little sister up close and personal.

"Look at my baby," Tina cried as she pushed Solange's hair from her face.

Julez leisurely walked towards his mother's bed, heart racing a million times over with a mouth as dry as the Sahara desert. He leaned over to try and hug her but the doctor stopped him.

"Please be careful, she just left surgery and her body is sensitive right now. We don't want her to pop any stitches."

The boy nodded and settled on holding his mother's hand. Kelly stood beside Julez rubbing Solange's hair as if she was a pet of some sort and let out thick tears.

Tina eyed the doctor, "did they give you any information on what happened in the crash? What caused it?"

Doctor Moore sighed, "not much, apparently she wasn't the driver. A male about thirty five years old identified as a," he peered at his clipboard, "Anthony Oppong was said to be driving the vehicle. He was brought in about ten minutes after miss Knowles."

Tina shook her head, "I knew that boy wasn't no good."

Beyoncé and Kelendria exchanged looks. Julez was too busy focusing on his mother to hear a word the adults were saying. He could've lost her today.

"Why won't she wake up," Julez asked.

"She's heavily sedated. She'll wake up on her own in no time," the doctor assured him.

Bey could no longer look at her sister like that. She turned on her heels and dashed out of the door running straight into her husband's arms. Shawn rubbed his wife's back as she cried. Richard quickly darted off towards Solange's room to take Bey's place.

"What happened baby? Is Solange okay?"

"I couldn't look at her like that," she croaked. "She just looked so helpless just laying there."

Blue, Chloe, and Halle stared at the couple worried sick. "Is titi Solo gonna be okay," Blue asked.

Chloe couldn't come up with an answer because she knew just as much as they did. Halle sat there with a blank look on her face, so the kindergartner's question went unanswered. Shawn ushered his wife to a seat and took the one immediately beside her.

"Doctor said her boyfriend was the one driving," she lamented.

Chloe and Halle exchanged looks.

"Who is this nigga," Shawn asked.

He had never met this supposed boyfriend of hers and he was a bit over protective of Solange; she was his little sister after all no matter how much they fought.

"Anthony, Anthony Oppong, the family met him the other day," Bey put her face into her hands.

"Fuck!" Shawn yelled and stood causing Bey and her girls to flinch and recoil.

He pulled out his cell but before he dialed a number he looked at his confused wife, "you sure that's his name?"

Chloe moved down a seat with Blue and Halle stood scurrying over to a corner.

"Yes, what's wrong?" Bey asked, suddenly alarmed.

The chaos going on around the hospital was the only thing keeping them from being recognized at this point, and Bey turned the other cheek when a woman looked her way. Shawn scrolled threw a text thread hurriedly and clicked on a photo he sent to one of his guys, "this him?"

Bey eyeballed the photo for two seconds and nodded. Shawn's blood ran cold and Chloe noticed the way his jaw clenched in anger.

"You met this man? Was he around the girls?" He grumbled and drew his fingers together into a fist.

"Yes?" Bey said.

Shawn paced the floor and Halle ran over to Bey once his long strides past her. A baby cried somewhere in the distance.

"Y'all had this nigga aro–

He exclaimed a bit too loud, making some people look over at them. Chloe tried to make herself invisible by staring at the floor while Blue looked dead on at her father. She hadn't seen this side of him before.

"Shhh Shawn calm down, you're scaring the kids! What are you going on about?" Beyoncé tried her hand at comforting Halle by rubbing her back.

Shawn was quiet for a moment, "I can't believe this shit man," he mumbled and stormed off down the hall pressing his phone to his ear.

Chloe moved seats again so that she was closer to her guardian. Bey stared at her husband's retreating form wondering why he would leave her by herself with three kids in a place like this.

"What's wrong with daddy," Blue asked as she reached for her mother. Beyoncé took Blue from Chloe and pressed the child's head into her chest. "He just worried about Solo." She looked around at all of the sick and injured people and pulled her hair into a topknot. The blonde removed her oversized sweater leaving her in a thin camisole and asked Chloe for her hoodie. The two traded garments. Bey pulled the hood tight around her face and prayed her husband would return soon.

PRESENT

As Tina rested in one of the rooms upstairs, everyone else sat around the house reminiscing and telling stories of their aunty Iris. Julez and Blue were out front with their cousins and Chloe was at the card table with Shawn as he tried his hand at teaching her how to play spades.

"Look at JuJu," Dinah laughed as she pulled out a childhood photo of Bey with her aunt Iris.

Bey grabbed the photo and mulled it over, "I'm all gummy," she chuckled at her toothless smile.

Halle sat cuddled in her mother's lap as she smiled at the photo, "you look like Blue here."

Dinah smiled at the girl sitting with her cousin. She had noticed how Halle followed Bey around everywhere she went and wondered what was the deal with it. "Honey you didn't wanna go outside with the rest of the kids," Dinah asked.

Halle shook her head and leaned into Bey's shoulder. Beyoncé chuckled and rubbed her back and Angela smacked her lips, "girl if Bey ain't throwing a ball around out there that child ain't going nowhere."

"This her shadow you ain't know? When Bey don't answer my calls, I call this one and tell her to put her mama on the phone cause I know she right up under her," Solange said as she attempted to adjust herself on the couch.

Dinah chuckled, "man I miss when Keke was like that. Now she in those irritating teen years where I gotta bribe her just to spend time with me. You know last week she refused to talk to me after I took her phone and had her brother be her lil spokesperson."

Kelly shook her head, "what you do?"

"Nothing girl, that was the most peaceful week I done had in awhile. Sheeeiit I might start taking it twice a month just to not hear her complaining about something me or her daddy 'did wrong' or asking me to buy her something," Dinah took a sip from the potent drink she mixed up awhile back.

"I'm glad Titan still a baby," Kelly said.

Dinah took another sip of her drink, "still mad you didn't bring him up here with his cute self."

"Would've been too much. He good with his daddy," Kelly said.

An hour later, Halle was still listening as the women told stories about Iris when someone entered the house holding Blue.

"Look mommy, it's grandpa," she said loudly.

Shawn stopped shuffling the cards in his hands and peered at the older man now in the center of the room. Chloe craned her neck to see what he was looking at and recognized Matthew instantly. Bey had never spoken to her about her father, but the way the woman was looking at him, Chloe could guess that they weren't on good terms. They made eye contact long enough for Chloe to see shock, sadness, and a bit of anger fly across Bey's face. The woman looked down and away from his gaze when the room became suddenly quiet. Solange laid on the couch completely floored not able to form thoughts or words until she heard her uncle Jeffery yell.

"Matt man we ain't seen ya around in years!"

Matthew walked towards his youngest daughter slowly. He had heard about her accident and had called her phone a thousand times to no avail, but Kelly let him know that she was well and good. As he got closer he could see the scratches on Solange's face and the bruises over her body. Her skin looked washed out and it was obvious she'd been crying today.

"Hey Thu Thu how you feeling," he asked as he set Blue down on her own two feet.

"Daddy what are you doing here? You know mama and Richard are here. They right upstairs," Solo said somberly.

Matthew nodded, "I was in town and I heard about Iris. I just wanted to come pay my respects is all. I know how close y'all were." He turned to Bey and his bonus daughter Kelly, "hi."

"Hi," Bey all but whispered.

Kelly simply raised her brows and waved as Angela pursed her lips and took a sip from her drink.

Matthew and Bey stared at each other for a while; it was the first time they had really seen each other in over a year.

"Stooop," Halle whined and swatted Blue's hand away after the five year old flicked her ear repeatedly.

"Stooop," Blue mocked her.

Matthew's attention turned to Halle then back to his daughter, "you gonna introduce us?"

Shawn watched his wife's every move from across the room as he dished out another hand of cards to Chloe and two of Beyoncé's cousins. Bey sighed and peered down at Halle, "Halle this is Matthew my father. Matthew this is Halle..."

"Her daughter," Solange cut in.

Angela and Kelly waited on his reaction, but the man had already seen the girls on the blogs and on the news for their little encounter at the studio.

"Nice to meet you," Matthew said.

All day Halle had been practicing personal space with the help of her mom, but since this was Bey's father did she hug him? Shake his hand? She didn't know, so she locked eyes with Bey who gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"Likewise," Halle stuck her hand out for the man to shake.

The blonde stood forcing Halle to stand as well. "Chloe," she waved the girl over. Chloe was so over meeting all of these people. Beyoncé had an enormous family and they all seemed to get along pretty well, but her social meter had worn out a long time back. If she was honest, it was never really there. The girl peeled herself from her seat and meandered towards her foster mom with a sullen look across her face.

"This is Chloe, Chloe, meet my father, Matthew," Bey pulled the girl closer to her.

Chloe reached her hand out for the man to shake, "nice to meet you," she said robotically.

Matthew smiled, "you as well. Bey, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Halle go wait with Shawn for me please," Bey said.

With a pout, Halle made her way to her foster dad, peeping over his shoulders at his cards. Chloe reclaimed her seat and the game continued. Solange and Kelly eyed Bey and Matthew as they headed to the porch.

"So what did you wanna talk about," Bey folded her arms looking at the boys playing flag football.

Matthew stared ahead as well, "you know my management company is doing pretty well now."

Bey was already rethinking her decision to come out to talk to her father. She let out a sarcastic chuckle, "I heard."

Matthew tucked his hands into his pocket, "heard through the grapevine Chloe and Halle were looking to hire a manager, figured I'd pitch myself before the Paranas start applying."

The blonde should've been slighted, but was discordantly surprised he'd even consider working with the girls after his termination as her manager.

"Thanks for the offer but I didn't wanna go with family. It just complicates things," she finally made eye contact with the man. "I mean look what it did to our relationship, we don't even talk anymore and let's not mention all the money you stole from me."

He nodded tightly as if the topic of conversation was rude and uninteresting. "And I apologize for that Bey. I was honestly just trying to get my business off of the ground and I made stupid mistakes while doing it. All of that stuff is behind me."

Bey sat with the words for a moment wondering if what her father said was true. If she could believe that his thieving days were over. Suddenly Halle pushed the screen door open.

"Mommy can I watch tv upstairs," she blurted out.

"Go ask Shawn," she stated.

Halle's shoulders slumped, "he's just gonna say no."

Bey shrugged her shoulders, "that's called a punishment. Which you're still on lil bit. We're about to leave in a few anyway. Give me like ten minutes okay?"

Halle nodded sadly and went back into the house.

"She calls you mommy," Matthew raised a brow.

"Yes she does," Bey sized the man up waiting for him to come out of left field with his words. When he didn't say anything she relaxed a bit, "we're adopting both of them pretty soon anyway. It's not so far fetched."

Matthew scrunched his face up, "you don't think you're getting a little ahead of yourself with this whole adoption thing? What does your mother have to say about it?"

Beyoncé sat into her hip, "hmm what did the woman with one adopted child have to say to her daughter about adopting children? What do you think she had to say? It's not your place to say if I'm over my head or not. You haven't spoken to me in a year. You don't know the first thing about my life."

"You're right," he stated casually. "Just think about the management gig."

Bey chuckled, "I won't because I know first hand how you manage and I'm not looking for anyone who would treat those girls how I was treated; like a machine instead of a human being."

Matthew folded his arms, "you know I'm the most qualified to get their careers to reach amazing heights."

"You want me of all people to hire you to look after my girls in my absence when you couldn't even look after your own properly? You practically slaved Kelly and I out for years until eventually we grew tired of your ways and let you go. You made us feel guilty for taking even one day off. You were bad tempered, you ruled with an iron-fist and was filled with greed, and I don't want them around any of that." Bey kept her voice low so no one would hear but her father.

The man appeared almost hurt by this revelation as he nodded his head, "I would like to keep in contact with Blue; she deserves a grandfather."

Bey did little to stifle her eye roll, "she has a grandfather, his name's Richard."

Matthew took a deep breath and looked down at his daughter, "come on Bey." His mouth went to an exaggerated frown.

Beyoncé's eyes were adrift, a mix of annoyance and anger, "I have the same number," she sighed. "Just dial it if you want to talk to her."

After it seemed that their conversation was over, Matthew headed back inside to say his goodbyes and locked eyes with Richard upon entry. Bey was right behind him but stopped when Richard motioned for her to come his way. "What's he doing here? This is the last thing your mom needs right now."

"Don't worry he was just leaving," she assured him.

Richard watched as Matthew wished Solange a speedy recovery and hugged Blue and Kelly goodbye. The man gave Bey a lasting look. Richard locked his jaw and squared his shoulders following the man's every move until he was out of the home.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Shawn voiced loudly as he and Chloe slapped five from across the card table. "Pay up, pay up," he told the men who looked glum like they had bet their homes and lost.

Chloe laughed as each of them reached into their wallets and upped a hundred dollars, slamming it on the table. "Damn I swore I had a good hand that time," one guy said.

"Double or nothing," the next guy said.

Shawn counted the bills from previous rounds and handed Chloe all of it. "You sure about that? I mean your track record ain't so clean," he motioned towards Chloe shuffling more than six hundred dollars in her hand.

"Hold on," Chloe raised a brow, counting the money slower. "Awe that's right, that's right, I thought somebody was trynna short me. I was finna say...but it's all here."

Shawn laughed loudly as he cut the cards for his cousin in law to shuffle.

"Wha–

Chloe looked over her shoulder after someone had snatched her money from her hands. Bey shook her head as she handed the money back to her cousin Beau. "Don't be teaching my baby how to gamble," she looked at everyone at the table.

"You seen her hands? If anything she should be teaching us how to gamble. Woulda bet me out my socks and shoes if you ain't come over," Beau laughed.

"Come on Chloe we gotta go," Bey said.

Chloe sighed and stood.

"That's aight, next time we goin all in and I ain't playing fair," Beau pointed back and forth between Shawn and Chloe.

"Stay up," Shawn dapped the two men up.

Bey said her goodbyes and told her immediate family that she'd see them back at her Atlanta based home so they could fly back to LA together in the morning. Shawn drove one of his custom BMWs as Bey held his hand the entire time. Halle and Blue were cutting up in the backseat going back and forth with each other.

"Stop touching me," Halle rolled her eyes.

Blue leaned over from her booster seat and pointed her finger close to the side of Halle's face almost touching but not quite. "I'm not touching you."

Chloe rolled her eyes and stared out of the window wondering why the roads looked so familiar to her. Where were they going?

Halle smacked her lips and attempted to ignore the child, but Shawn drove over a pothole causing Blue's finger to dig into her cheek. "Oww Maaaaa can you tell Blue to keep her hands to herself?!"

"It was a accident," Blue folded her arms.

Chloe adjusted her seatbelt and wished she had her phone with her so she could drown out the bickering with her headphones. Shawn checked the rear view mirror, "Lefty behave yourself."

"Yeah," Halle quipped as she rubbed her jaw.

Blue stuck her tongue out and gave her attention to her ipad. Bored out of her mind, Halle peeked at the child's screen. "Oooooh daddy, Halle looking at my iPad when she's on a punishment!"

Halle sneered and discreetly presented her fist to the child. Chloe had had enough, "Halle sit back and find some business. Blue, relax!"

Shawn and Bey exchanged looks and bit the inside of their cheeks to hide their laughs. Who knew Chloe could pull rank? Within thirty minutes, they had arrived at their destination. Even though the drive had been a tad lengthy, Chloe's mind had been occupied with their "surprise" as Bey called it, so time had slipped by. Chloe's breath hitched in her throat as she took in her surroundings. Bey turned in her seat to see the girl's reactions. If she was being truthful to herself, the reaction she feared the most from them was sadness. Halle's eyes widened in amazement and Chloe reached for her door handle.

"What do you think," the blonde asked.

The girls couldn't help but to get emotional. "Thank you for bringing us here," Halle said.

"Mommy where are we," Blue asked confused.

"My first home," Chloe said absentmindedly as she got out of the car.

This was a privilege they only had the chance to indulge in probably once every few months on the rare occasion that both Tasha and Mike were busy at the same time. When the oldest Bailey was eleven she had googled the directions back to the home and snuck her and her sister to just gaze at the property. It was beautiful. The brick walk up that led to the enormous wrap around porch always captivated the girls. The person in charge of the property did well with the upkeep. The bushes were trimmed, the lawn was perfectly mowed, and Chloe could see clear as day the huge peach tree in the back yard had ripe fruit on it.

Shawn helped Blue out of the car and they all ogled the property for a few moments.

"Let's go," Shawn said and headed towards the front door.

"What do you mean," Chloe asked.

The man looked over his shoulder and jingled some keys. That's when Chloe noted the 'sold' sign to the far left. "You bought it?"

Bey stepped forward and threw her arm over the teen's shoulder. "So you two can always remember where you started. I bought my childhood home as well years ago."

"So we going in," Shawn asked.

He knew that this could possibly stir up some difficult memories for the both of them, but his wife insisted that they purchase the property despite what he said. Halle took Bey's hand pulling her along the walkway excitedly, "I never thought that I'd get to go in!"

Shawn waited with Chloe as Blue complained that her mother was leaving them. He didn't want to force her to go inside. Things had to be on her time or she'd freak out. Slowly, Chloe began walking to the door and Shawn followed closely behind. He handed the keys to the fifteen year old and waited for her to make a move. Still in deep thought, Chloe had opened the front door and let herself into the familiarity of her childhood home. It still smelt the same, like flowers and clean floors with a hint of lavender. She walked aimlessly towards the family room shocked that nothing seemed to change.

"They sold the house as is with all of the original furnishings," Shawn put Blue down.

Halle ran and plopped down on the sofa with a huge smile on her face. She had forgotten what it looked like on the inside, but now that she was in the house she couldn't help but to remember every second she spent with her family. Chloe ran her hand along the oak wood table that her father swore up and down he hand crafted himself, but they all knew he had never taken up shop or woodworking and had purchased it from Target.

Halle hopped from the couch and went to Bey, "you wanna see my room?!"

Bey chuckled and followed behind her as she was pulled up the stairs and down the hall to a medium sized room decorated with lavender and white furnishings. The canopy bed was twin sized with drawers at the bottom.

"Look this is where mama used to measure my height every year," she pointed to a wall with small lines written on it indicating different ages and measurements.

The smiles wiped from the blonde's face when she realized the tics had stopped at age eight. Apparently she was only a little taller than Blue at that age.

"You wanna measure yourself again," Bey asked.

Halle's eyes went wide, "yeah."

The woman took out her phone and opened the measuring app. Halle stood against the wall with her neck held straight and her heels touching the walls.

"You cheating take the ponytail out," Bey said.

Halle removed the ponytail and shook her hair into place, "what does it say?"

Bey grabbed a pencil from the desk and held Halle's head still as she made a mark on the wall.

Halle-13y.o 5'ft

The girl smacked her lips, "you must've measured wrong. I feel like I grew at least an inch."

"Yeah no," Bey walked around the room looking at the girl's childhood drawings of her family.

She didn't know how to explain it, but the room was so...Halle. She could tell that the girl played a strong part in the decorating process. There were vinyl records of all types of jazz singers, a salt lamp, and a reading nook off in the corner.

Blue waltzed into the room and immediately went for the dolls, "can I have this one?"

"You can have whichever ones you like," Halle beamed.

Chloe was in her former room. She stood there in the middle. Rooted to the spot, unable to move, unable to utter any sound. Her body and mind frozen for what seemed like an hour, trying to process where exactly she was.

A tsunami hit.

She allowed herself a moment of vulnerability as fond memories came flooding back. She could almost feel her parents' presence there with her. Her mother's warm smile and her father's smooth voice seemed to bounce from the walls and suddenly she felt guilty for how bad she had treated him for almost a year after her mother's passing. She would shut him out when he would try to talk to her. Sometimes she would scream at him if he attempted to do his job as a father and force her into therapy after a long bout of mutism. He tried his hardest for a long time until he slipped into manic depression himself and could no longer be there for his children how he used to. With her mind still reeling from her stupidity, she walked towards the lava lamp on her nightstand and let out a pitiful laugh at how many arguments she had with Halle over it.

"Knock knock," Beyoncé called from the ajar door.

Chloe held a pillow in her lap as she sat on the bed. Bey entered looking around at the light blue monochromatic theme to the room. She noted the beanbag chair in the corner of the room and thought about the one Halle had back in LA. There were posters of Destiny's child, B2K, and a slew of other performers taped along the wall.

Bey laughed and approached the posters, "we were so young here."

The burning from her cheeks caused Chloe to turn around. She had forgotten the posters were even there. It was like she had opened a time capsule and nostalgia had taken over.

"You gone put some posters of me in your room when we get home," Bey joked.

"Please," Chloe said with a smile, "it was a faze."

Bey took a pillow and threw it in the girl's face playfully as she flopped on the bed. "This is a beautiful room. You were a bit of a nerd though." The blonde pointed to the large leggo displays sitting on the desk and the many science books on the bookshelf.

"Was? I still am," Chloe got up and picked up her finished spaceship.

Building leggos in her room was the only time she ever felt at peace after her mom died. She would spend hours finding the right pieces and separating them into piles like she had a bad case of ocd. Anytime Halle would try to help, she'd shoo her away because building leggos was her thing, plus Halle talked too much during the process.

"You kind of are, but it's cute," Bey said as Chloe laid next to her on the bed. "Let me see," she reached for the spaceship. Chloe pulled her masterpiece away, "gently," she said causing Bey to wave her off and grab the toy from her.

"You did this all by yourself," she turned it around, examining it from all angles.

"Yup," Chloe rested her head on Bey's stomach, watching as the woman analyzed the intricate build.

The teen thought about how different their week had started out.

FLASHBACK (Earlier that week)

The clock finally read 1:22 am when Beyoncé was finally back in the bed. She wasn't in the room she shared with her husband because she knew he had an early call time at the office and didn't want to wake him with her on and off sobbing. Her and Shawn had briefly talked about her aunt's passing and how she felt about it, but all she wanted was to lay up and sulk. Bey rolled onto her other side, her mind still going a hundred miles an hour, keeping her from falling asleep. She had visited her sister in the hospital that day and watching Solange sleep gave her comfort, but the news of her aunt kept running through her mind. She huffed thinking back to her mother and how she had reacted to the news with unadulterated anguish; pure pain. It still hurt even thinking about it, her heart broke whenever her thoughts did wander to that morning and Bey began to sob for her mother. There was a knock at the door and the woman wiped her tears away with the back of her hands before whoever it was could enter.

With sympathetic eyes, Chloe walked in and closed the door behind her.

"I woke you," Bey sniffed.

Chloe simply nodded and crawled onto the bed. Bey followed the girl's movements shocked that she would even come that close to her. Ever since the night at Kelly's, Chloe distanced herself from the blonde. After a long silence where the both of them had been occupied with their own thoughts, the girl pushed Beyoncé's hair from her face. "It's okay," she whispered. She looked up at the weary woman with dark chocolate brown eyes, a friendly face and a comforting smile. The woman was only quiet a fraction of a second before her lower lip started to quiver followed by a complete meltdown of sobs and tears, falling into Chloe's lap and sobbing loudly.

Chloe was so stunned by her unexpected reaction that she forgot to comfort her for a moment. Only when the sobbing continued did she stroke Bey's hair and wrapped her other arm around her middle. Bey turned her head around that was still in Chloe's lap, facing her now. A look of total distress on her face. As soon as she looked up with her big watery eyes which were full of worry, Chloe saw her reflection.

"Aunty Iris is gone, Solo is still in the hospital, and my mama going through it by herself because she won't let anyone in," Bey said in a small voice, a fresh stream of tears falling from her eyes.

Chloe brushed her hair softly and made shushing noises in order to try and calm her down although her own heart was racing and her mind was buzzing. They sat like that for a while. Eventually Bey's cries turned into sniffles, but Chloe still stroked the woman's hair.

"It'll be okay. You just need to sleep," she said.

Chloe had watched the woman take care of her business along with setting up managerial interviews for her and Halle all while dealing with her family issues. She had pulled them out of school for the week since there was so much going on, so they completed their assignments online. Bey claimed it was for them to get adjusted back home, but Chloe had a feeling the woman didn't want them out of her sight for a while because it gave her too much anxiety.

The two laid down facing each other and Chloe snuggled closer to the woman and watched her slowly drift off to sleep before closing her own eyes.

PRESENT

Everyone was downstairs in the living room. Shawn had found some photo albums and brought them out just in case the girls wanted to take them home. Halle grabbed one and opened it, flipping through the photo's of her family.

"Look mommy, here's mama," she smiled and turned the book around so Bey could take a look.

Beyoncé stared lovingly at the photo, "she's beautiful lil bit. Chloe I think you take after her a lot."

"Lemme see," Shawn said looking back and forth between the picture and the girl, "yeah that's all you right there especially the smile."

Chloe gave a coy smile. She'd heard that a lot. Blue played with the dolls Halle had gifted her, looking up occasionally as the conversations went on. Halle turned another page, "here's daddy."

Bey raised a brow, "he was handsome," she said and looked to her husband knowing he would be giving her the eye. She laughed once they locked eyes.

Halle kept flipping and stumbled on even more photo's. Her parents looked so happy and excited like they didn't have a care in the world. She smiled at the memories. Chloe regarded her hands as the photos went on. It was too painful to look at them, but she knew she needed nothing more than to feel close to them. Halle reached for another photo album. There were a lot of photos of their early childhood.

"Aweee look at y'all," Bey cooed with tears in her eyes.

She took the album from Halle and began to flip the pages herself, "look at the babieees with their big cheeks!"

"I wanna see," Blue ran over and sat in front of her mom, "that's you?" She pointed to younger Chloe.

The teen leaned in to see which one she was talking about, "Mmhm."

"You were so cute," she giggled.

Shawn smiled at the sight of all of the content faces around the room. This was a great decision purchasing the house. It gave the girls a sense of closure. Beyoncé continued flipping looking at the girls doing silly poses. There were photos of family trips and an always smiley Chloe and a sometimes pouty Halle. She got lost in the photos of their past when she eventually stumbled upon a particular photo that left her stunned. She peeled back the plastic and removed the picture from the book squinting to make sure she was seeing correctly.

"Is that you and Chloe," Halle asked, confused.

The blonde and the fifteen year old glanced at one another. Chloe's brow was raised as she moved from the couch to the floor next to Beyoncé.

"Looks like it, but how?" She flipped the photo around and read what it said on the back.

'Chloe 4y.o the fighting temptations (baby Lily) and Beyoncé Knowles (adult Lily)'

Beyoncé swallowed hard and turned to Chloe, "you were in the fighting temptations?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. If I was, I can't remember it."

Bey handed the photo to her husband, "this is wiiild," he held his fist up to his mouth in disbelief.

"It's weird," Halle said, "is there any pictures of us together," she looked at Bey who shook her head.

The woman took the moment as a sign from God that she was doing the right thing. Shawn handed her the photo back and Bey placed it inside the book carefully. A comfortable silence fell over them.

"Me and Shawn wanted to ask you two something," Bey eyed her husband knowingly.

She looked over to where Chloe was still sitting, running her hands nervously over her legs. This didn't sound like it was gonna be too good. Her heart thumped dangerously in her throat.

"What is it," Halle asked, searching the photo album for any potential photos with her and the blonde.

Bey took another look at her husband and back towards the girls. She reached for Chloe's hands staring directly into her eyes, "you know Shawn and I love you right?"

Instinctively Chloe gulped and peered to her sister who had eyes on them already. She reluctantly nodded. Blue and Halle came a little closer.

"We love you two so much," she began to get teary eyed again.

"Me too?" Blue bounced on her bottom.

Shawn and Bey chuckled, "of course baby so so so much," she caressed her daughter's cheek and turned to face Halle now.

"We were wondering..."

Chloe sat there silently, wanting to catch every word even though she was a nervous wreck.

"How would you feel if we adopted you?"

The words hit Chloe like daggers in her chest. Before she could answer, Halle had thrown her arms around the woman squeezing her tight. Shawn bowed his head and scratched behind his ear nervously after looking up at the oldest girl's reluctance. Halle's reaction seemed answer enough for Bey as they pulled away from their embrace. Chloe was still unable to answer and wished for Shawn to look away from her so she could clear her head for rational thoughts.

As if he had heard her silent prayers, he finally looked away. His head bowed, but not before she noticed the utter sad look in his eyes, which tugged at her heartstrings. Everyone sat there for a moment, awkwardly and not knowing what to do.

"Are you serious," Halle looked between Shawn and Bey excitedly.

"Of course," Shawn said.

"You two don't have to answer right away, just think on it," Bey jumped in.

Blue played around with the dolls, "what's adopt?"

Bey lifted her child into her lap, "you know how grandma Tina told you that titi Kelly has a different mommy and daddy, but she's her daughter too?"

Blue nodded.

"It's the same thing," Bey toyed with her daughter's hair.

"Can I be excused," Chloe asked.

Sadly, Bey nodded. Chloe took the stairs two at a time, walked towards her old bedroom without being fully aware of what she was doing, and sat down on the bed, staring into space. She could feel someone sitting down next to her and knew it was her sister.

"Isn't it great Chloe! After all these years we're gonna be adopted! No more social workers, group homes or temporary placements!" Halle raved.

She stood and started pacing the floor, "this is the best news I've heard probably my entire life! This is–

Halle paused in front of her sister after noticing the wistful expression on her face. "What's wrong? Aren't you excited! We're getting adopted!!"

"I don't want to replace our parents," she said, her voice croaking and full of emotion. Hearing Chloe being so emotional caused Halle to break down out of the blue as she was no longer able to hold back her tears.

Chloe let her tears run freely and laid down onto the bed, curling up into a ball, hugging her legs towards her chest. Her body shook as the tears made themselves known.

"Chloe," Halle sighed lovingly and moved towards her, lying down on the bed with her.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but that's what it feels like. Like we're betraying them or something," Chloe unwrapped her arms from around her legs that were still pressed against her chest.

"We're not replacing them," Halle sat up.

Chloe followed her movements like a mirror. A strained silence fell over them as the oldest struggled with her feelings and Halle watched her pained expression.

"You know, weeks back I had this dream. It was of mama; our birth mother. She came to visit me and it felt so real like I could feel her skin when she grabbed my hand. It freaked me out, but you know what she told me," Halle asked.

"What," Chloe played with the comforter.

"She grabbed my hand and told me that it was okay for me to want a mother there physically and she was fine with me looking at Bey as a mom. She also said that she'd been watching over us. I think mama would want this for us," Halle finished with a smile.

Chloe considered her sister's words for a minute, "you think so?"

Halle nodded, "can you see yourself being in the system until you age out?"

"No," Chloe looked offended.

"Neither can I, and I have five more years before that happens," Halle crossed her legs.

"Could you see yourself living with anyone else besides Bey and Shawn?"

Chloe shook her head, "not at this point, no."

Halle paused for a minute staring at her sister, "do you love Shawn and Bey?" She asked suddenly, looking Chloe straight in the eye.

That was too complicated a question to answer with a simple yes or no. Did she care for them? Of course, she cared for a lot of people, but did she love them? Chloe racked her brain. She wasn't expecting that question, but then it hit her full force.

"I love Bey," she admitted aloud for the first time.

She couldn't quite place her feelings for Shawn just yet but she knew she cared for the man. Like if something happened to him she would be distraught. She trusted him. She felt safe around him, but she couldn't honestly say she loved him.

"I still have some reservations about Shawn," Chloe decided.

"Same," Halle admitted. "But I'm sure with time that'll go away."

Chloe nodded, "for sure."

Halle smiled, "then it's settled! We're officially about to be Carters!"

Chloe sat at the edge of the bed now, "would you really change your last name?"

"Yeah, I'll just have it added on so I'll be Halle Bailey-Carter. You know, your name would sound so cute Chloe Bailey-Carter; Chloe Carter for appearances," Halle poked her sister's side, making her laugh.

-

Chloe and Halle descended the steps hand in hand. The room was quiet except for Shawn talking on the phone in the corner of the room while Bey played with Blue.

"Imma call you back," Shawn said before ending his call after noticing the girls enter.

The nerves that had bubbled to the surface when Chloe walked in subsided when she saw Bey looking smug on the couch as the two approached her.

"Bey," Chloe started.

The woman stirred but stayed silent, the anticipation getting to her as she heard the nervousness in Chloe's voice the moment she started speaking. She glanced sideways at the girl who finally looked up and stared at her with tear brimmed eyes. Shawn moved closer to the couch to hear what was being said.

"I–
She choked letting out a rattled breath before continuing. "I love you," she said, looking into the woman's eyes causing a rippling cry to come from Bey unexpectedly as she covered her mouth.

"And I uhm... I would love it if," Chloe's voice broke, tears brimmed in her eyes again and she swallowed hard to keep her tears at bay, unable to speak the next words. Words that reminded her of the aching pain in her heart she never thought would ever leave her.

"I would love it if you and Shawn adopted us," she finally said.

"Oh baby, come here." Bey said, wrapping her arms around her daughter who started sobbing the moment she relaxed into her arms.

Chloe held tight onto Bey like she had done so many times. She sobbed like she had never before, letting out all the hurt, sadness and frustrations from the past five years in the woman's safe embrace. They sat there for a while, Bey cradling her like she had done Blue when she was a baby. A silence fell between the two, a new deeper connection forming between them as Bey wiped away her tears. Chloe pulled away and went to Shawn giving him a tight hug. Halle quickly replaced Chloe in Bey's arms until it was her turn to squeeze Shawn tightly.

They decided to take all three girls out to dinner considering Chloe and Halle hadn't eaten since before the funeral service. Conversations flowed easily between everyone, even Chloe was unusually upbeat as good food and joy was passed around the table. When it was time for them to leave, the girls were eager to get some to-go plates deeming the restaurant as their favorite vegan spot in the A.

NEXT DAY (TUESDAY)

Making sure everyone left the house on time was frustrating for Shawn. Bey was busy helping Solange get dressed, so he was left with ensuring all of the children were lined up by the door at nine on the dot. Waking Chloe pushed him about fifteen minutes back from his schedule. Shawn had always been a punctual person and the jet was set to leave at ten am. He successfully whipped up a quick breakfast for everyone in the house, going out of his way to accommodate a complaining Julez and a whining Blue. Shawn packed four bags; Blue, Halle, Julez, and his own because he knew the three would take all day getting their belongings together. Once he set the bags by the door, he went to the refrigerator making sure he didn't leave anything inside that would spoil while they were away.

"I can't find my shoes," Halle slid into the kitchen with just her socks on.

"They by the door," Shawn said.

Kelly, Tina, and Richard waltzed in just as the girl ran off. "Thank you for cooking breakfast," Tina smiled as she said a quick grace.

Shawn noted how she seemed better than yesterday, refreshed even. He took the rest of the bacon from the pan and placed it on their plates.

"No problem ma T you know I throws down on the regular," he sipped on a cup of orange juice.

Richard's ears perked when he suddenly heard Julez' voice from the front room, it was becoming a bit louder and he didn't like what he was hearing. "Shut up, witcho ugly self. You always got something to say!"

"Please Julez, don't make me go there with you," Halle said with a soft voice and a devious smirk playing on her face.

Tina stood from her seat and made her way to the living room. "Aight nah, it's too early for y'all to be going at it. Nah both of y'all find somewhere and sat down. I don't wanna hear one more tit for tat from y'all at least until we touch down in LA and if I have to repeat myself y'all gone get to know my back hand real good. I make myself clear?"

Halle's lip quivered as she nodded and took a seat. Tina raised a brow at Julez.

"Yes ma'am," he said quickly, taking a seat as well.

Chloe had caught the tail end of what Tina said. She didn't think much of it knowing how much Julez and Halle argued. Somebody had to get them together and it definitely wasn't their parents since the two never took Solange and Bey seriously. Shawn tended to stay out of kids' business unless it got a little too rowdy. Julez waited until his grandmother left the living room to mutter something under his breath.

"Told you one day mama Tina was gonna gather y'all," Chloe sat her bag by the door.

"That wasn't even me, that was Julez. I didn't even do nothing," Halle sniffed.

Julez laughed at the crying girl and played a game mindlessly on his brand new phone.

Ten minutes later, Solange hopped down the stairs with her eldest sister by her side holding her crutches for her. The two decided to skip out on breakfast because they were running behind schedule as is. The entire family piled into two separate trucks and was whisked away to the clearport. Bey spotted the cameras immediately as she hoisted Blue on her hip and made her way onto the jet. Kelly held Halle's hand and shielded her own face from the flashes. She was so glad she'd decided to leave her son in LA with his father. Tina didn't bother hiding her face or ducking her head from the paps. If they wanted a picture, then oh well it is what it was. Chloe walked alongside Julez because Shawn wanted to assist Solange to the stairs. Solo rolled her eyes when he suggested it because let's be real they always found something to fight about. She didn't expect him to be so forgiving after the news she dropped on him earlier in the week.

The jet took flight and everyone was chilling, but Solange laid in the back sulking until Bey came to talk to her.

"Need some more pain meds," the blonde asked.

Solo shifted a bit, "I'm not taking those no more they addictive. These people ain't about to have me out here pill popping."

Bey chuckled and noticed the far away look in her sister's eyes. "You know what happened wasn't your fault right?"

Solange sighed, "I'm such an idiot. How could I not see who he really was? The signs were all there and I just looked passed them."

FLASHBACK (HOSPITAL)

Shawn still hadn't come back though twenty minutes had gone by. Halle watched as the emergency room got increasingly crowded while Beyoncé held her head low and slightly rocked back and forth with Blue in her arms attempting to lull the child to sleep. She had missed her nap time due to the tumultuous afternoon they were having. The smell of vomit, blood and distress filled the air causing Chloe to cover her nose. The seat next to her was occupied by an ailing Chinese man who had been given a barf bag until he was able to be seen. Ugh! Chloe thought as the man once again hunched over the side of the chair and spilled his insides into the plastic. She tried her hand at counting how many people were in the same section of the waiting room as she was, but they were all bustling about so she kept losing her count. Then she attempted to distract herself by trying to guess what everyone was in the waiting room for those who didn't have visible ailments. She came up with a decent list, one ending with her inexpertly diagnosing one woman with irritable bowel syndrome judging off how many times she got up and went to the bathroom since she'd been there. Chloe's leg tapped nonstop hearing the man next to her groan in pain.

"I need to use the bathroom," she announced.

Well not really, but anything to get her away from patient zero. She didn't know what he had and that bothered her to no end. Beyoncé huffed knowing she didn't want either of her girls walking the halls by themselves, but she also didn't want to risk getting noticed by moving from her semi secluded spot.

"Go head, don't be too long," Bey said.

"I wanna go too," Halle attempted to stand.

"Uh uh, wait until Shawn come back and I'll take you," Bey shifted Blue so she was now laying across her lap.

Halle huffed and folded her arms as Chloe walked away and Bey raised her brow in warning. Seconds passed before two large unloading looking muscular men entered the waiting room alongside a teenage girl who appeared grief-stricken. Halle's eyes grew wide and a loose smile showed on her face.

"Lovie!" Halle called maybe a bit too loudly as she stood and waved the girl over.

Lovie didn't need to turn around to see who it was that called her. She quickly pulled herself together and managed a quick smile, masking her true feelings about being there.

"Hey," she chuckled nervously. "I'm right here by the way, no need to shout." She joked but her stomach was in knots.

She received the call about her father well over an hour ago, but toggled back and forth with coming to the hospital or leaving Anthony to the likes of the staff. Beyoncé eyed the two daunting men standing behind the girl and unconsciously grabbed Halle's arm sitting her in her seat once more.

"Mommy this is my friend, Lovie. Anthony's her dad," Halle explained.

Oh she knew exactly who Lovie was. A drug dealing kid who sold for her good for nothing father. She didn't want her girls around anyone like this Lovie character. Beyoncé sized the teen up and it was then that Lovie even realized who was sitting next to Halle. With the hood pulled tight around her face, it was initially hard to tell who occupied the seat. She peered over shoulder to two of her father's men who insisted on tailing her to the hospital to find out if there was foul play involved or if it was simply a car accident as reported.

"You can go, I have it from here. I'll keep you updated," Lovie told the men.

One guy known as 'Stacks' surveyed the waiting room, "nah it's too many opps in here right now. We waiting with you."

"I said I'll keep you updated," Lovie said through clenched teeth eyeing the men who were double her height and size.

Stacks looked at her exasperatedly noticing how serious she was, "pshh man Aight make sure you call me lil sis," he nodded towards his right hand man before stalking off down the hall.

Lovie took in a breath, flattened a wrinkle in her shirt, and plastered a faux smile across her face before turning back around to meet the curious eyes of Beyoncé. "Hi, nice to meet you," she stuck her hand out for Bey to shake, which she did ever so slightly.

"Is your dad alright," Halle asked, sparing everyone from any further awkward introductions.

"I don't know. All they said was he was in a car accident with Solange. How's she doing," Lovie wondered, touching Halle's arm in comfort and offering some much-needed sympathy.

Halle looked to her mom who nodded her permission to tell the girl about Solange, "she's gonna be fine."

"How did this happen," Lovie pondered, her arms folded as if protecting herself from some unseen danger while Beyoncé stared daggers at her. She noticed after a moment and took a few steps away from her friend since it seemed her mother was on the prowl.

Halle shrugged, "your dad was driving."

A pang of guilt hit Lovie smack dab in the gut. It seemed wherever her father went trouble wasn't too far behind. "I am so sorry," she said earnestly to the woman still eyeing her down. More often than not, she found herself apologizing to people her father had done wrong whether it was to people from his own team that he had physically harmed after failing to follow orders or rival gangs like the Latin Kings whom he had stolen from. Bey offered a half smile and a nod but nothing further. After a few moments in silence, Chloe returned from the bathroom spotting Lovie immediately.

"Hey," she pulled the girl in for a tight hug which caught Bey by surprise.

She didn't think that Chloe outwardly showed any affection to people outside of the household. The woman watched curiously at the interaction.

"Hey Chlo sorry about your aunty. Yara, Beans, and Yasmin should be here any minute. I have something to tell all of you," Lovie sighed.

Chloe nodded and rubbed Lovie's back.

"Family of Anthony Oppong," a red headed freckled face female doctor entered the waiting room.

Reluctantly, Lovie raised her hand and both Halle and Chloe stood beside her as the doctor began to speak. "Do you have an adult with you?"

"No it's just me," Lovie stated.

The doctor nodded and referred to the clipboard in her hand. She sighed before speaking again, "unfortunately, it's not looking too good for him. He suffered from an aneurysm while being transported over to the hospital."

She paused to allow the girl to take in the words and then continued, "he was placed into a medically induced coma to allow his brain to rest and possibly decrease the swelling. He's unable to breathe on his own, so he's been placed on a ventilator until further notice."

Lovie stared blankly ahead, "okay," she stated flatly.

The doctor raised a brow, "do you have other family you could call for him? Your mother? Are you his next of kin?"

Chloe helped steady Lovie when her knees buckled at the last question, "um um yeah sure I'll call someone," Lovie nodded and took out her phone.

"Would you like to see him," the doctor asked.

"No," she tried typing in the contact name but her hands were shaking too badly.

With that, the doctor nodded and left. Bey watched as the girl fumbled with her phone until Chloe grabbed it from her. "Who are you trying to call," she asked.

"My mom," Lovie's voice broke and it was then Bey saw a scared little girl instead of just the drug dealing hoodlum she saw a few moments ago.

Chloe searched Lovie's contacts for 'mom', clicked on the call button and placed the phone back into the girl's hands. She listened as it rang until going to voicemail. Fuck! Not now, at least answer today of all days, Lovie thought. She recalled the number only to be sent straight to voicemail this time. Lovie smacked her lips and opened her messages. She texted her mother letting her know the state her father was in and that she needed to get to LA fast. Halle didn't know what to say to her friend in a situation like this. Hearing dispiriting news about a parent was devastating. She knew that, but what does one say to possibly comfort? Halle decided that there was nothing anyone could say that would help the current situation, so she opted on simply being present for her friend. Halle took Lovie's hand and escorted her to the seat she previously occupied next to Beyoncé. Lovie seemed hesitant at first, but when she looked at the woman and could no longer see any disdain in her eyes she relaxed a bit. Chloe didn't want to reclaim her seat next to the vomiting man, so she stood with her arms folded.

Yasmin, Beans, and Yara arrived a short time later, all with confused yet sodden expressions. Chloe spotted them before they spotted her. She waved them over to where Lovie still sat with her head in her hands, and leaned back against the wall with a sigh as if already exhausted by just the prospect of the conversation.

"Hey Bey," Yara waved with a nervous smile.

She didn't understand why the woman was there with her daughter. All Lovie said was to meet her at the hospital. She had to tell them something.

"Hey Yara how's your parents," Bey smiled genuinely,

"They're good," Yara nodded and turned her attention to her sulking friend. "Lovie, is everything okay?"

Yasmin and Beans couldn't speak. They were doing their best not to freak out in the middle of the hospital and especially in the presence of the queen Bey.

Lovie stood and nodded. She motioned for her friends to follow her and Chloe and Halle looked to Bey for permission.

"Don't go too far. Stay where I can see you," Bey stated seriously.

There was too much going on in this hospital and too much going on in the blonde's brain. The last thing she needed was for one of them to get lost and disappear in this huge building.

"Okay," Halle said.

The group of six walked until they were in a close to quiet corner. "So what's up? Who's in the hospital," Beans asked.

"My dad," Lovie stated.

"And Solange," Halle added.

Yasmin and Beans exchanged looks, Yara silently implored Lovie to get on with it already. 

"They were in a car accident," Lovie rushed out.

Yara clasped her hands over her mouth, "but they're okay?"

Halle nodded, "well Solange is expected to have a full recovery but Anthony is in a coma."

Yasmin hurried to hug her friend, "I'm sorry."

Lovie shook her head. "This isn't about my dad. Well, not about him being in the hospital," she explained carefully.

"So then what's up?" Beans asked.

Lovie looked away, trying to ignore Chloe's pointed gaze, hoping to put off this dreaded conversation for just a moment longer.

"You know how you thought my plug was some random guy from the south side?" She started, her heart pounding furiously against her chest.

"Mhmm?" Yasmin folded her arms.

Yara frowned in concern. Lovie shook her head. Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth, thick with the words she couldn't bring herself to say. She opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out.

"Lovie you can tell us anything," Halle urged softly, reaching out to rest a comforting hand on Lovie's forearm. The teen heard the concern and compassion in her friend's voice and she hated that she was going to have to destroy the tiny girl's faith in her.

"Well that was a lie. My dad, he's— he's a kingpin. He has runners and shooters all over this city and I'm- well I was one of them. He was my plug," she finally managed to croak out.

Yasmin tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean? How?"

Lovie shrugged, "I never wanted to sell drugs. It's disgusting to me. My dad started claiming my mother had spoiled me and that I had no sense of the cost of living, so he made me sell them."

Yara squinted her eyes. "So when you said you were getting threatened by your plug, you really meant–

"My dad," Lovie nodded.

"Friend," Yasmin lamented.

"Damn your own daddy had you out here like that," Beans asked.

"Beans!" Halle scolded sharply.

"Beans, be quiet," Yara chided a little more gently. "And try to show some tact."

Chloe stayed quiet the entire time sensing that there was more to be divulged.

"I'm just saying that shit is crazy, she a whole girl. Niggas usually don't want they daughters no where near the drug life and this motherfucker forcing her into it."

"Beans!" Yara cut in again, exasperated. "Can you just let Lovie talk? Please?"

The boy sighed, sticking his hands into his pockets, "sorry go ahead."

Lovie peered towards her feet, "I knew the guys who attacked you two in the studio."

"The collective gasps from the group sent a chill up Lovie's spine.

"What!" Yasmin almost yelled.

"It was my father who called the hit on Jay that day. When Yasmin showed me the video I knew it at first glance," she continued.

Halle stepped away from Lovie. Chloe looked at the girl like she was out of her mind.

"Why didn't you say anything," Yara asked.

"Because...because I was scared all of you would be looking at me the way you're looking at me right now; like you're disgusted and want nothing to do with me," she choked, trying to hold back tears.

"You know I hate liars," Yasmin seethed.

"I know," Lovie pleaded with her eyes.

"So why didn't you just come out and say it in the first place? That's real suspect! Like you had something to do with it because we were all on the phone that day. You knew they were in the studio with their dad. You probably told your father and he sent the people out there!"

"I would never! I don't even like my dad. Why would I help him do anything? I'm simply one of the many dealers he has under him! I was never that high up to even know his next move! I never cared to know," Lovie fumed.

Beans eyed the girl like she was the dirt at the bottom of his shoes, "how we supposed to know that? From what we hearing all you ever did was lie? And to think about it, you were selling on the streets that day which you never do. What was that some way you could get an alibi? You needed people to see you out and about?"

"They could've died," Yasmin shouted, incensed. "They are supposed to be your friends and you just sat there keke-ing in their faces knowing what you know? How are we supposed to trust you after this? This is huge!"

"I know! I know! There is no excuse. I'm a monster," Lovie cried, watching her nightmare come to fruition.

They were all turning their backs on her.

Chloe still looked hopelessly lost and Lovie's heart ached for the sensitive girl.

"Why did you even tell us? You could've just kept this to yourself at this point," Beans asked, his anger tapering off.

"It was torturing me," Lovie shrugged. "After finding out my father was dating Solange I couldn't take it. It was the last straw. It bothered me that I didn't know what he was up to."

"Yeah, yeah," Yasmin waved her off. "I don't think I can be here right now."

"Yas please," Lovie rasped out.

Yasmin pulled her keys from her purse, unmoved by the girl's pleading. "I'm sorry. I can't look at you right now."

"I'm gonna go too," Yara said quietly. "Chloe, Halle, text me updates on Solo's condition. Lovie I'm gonna keep hope your dad pulls through."

Beans had already been waiting by the exit.

"We're on punishment so our phones were taken but I'll try and email you," Halle called after Yara who nodded and sped up her steps to catch up with Yasmin.

Lovie knew they'd turn away from her but watching her friends walk away from her hurt. It felt like someone stole the air from her lungs and she couldn't catch her breath.

"Guys," she turned to the sisters.

"Save it," Halle cut her off.

Betrayed. That's how Chloe decided she felt at the moment. Did Lovie set them up? Had she been the one to give out their location? It would all make sense. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out just how the guys knew exactly what studio number they were in and the logical explanation was that somebody had to tell, but Lovie didn't even know where they were specifically just that they were in a studio.

"I didn't know my dad would do that," she followed after them as they walked towards Beyoncé.

Chloe didn't know what to believe and Halle automatically assumed the worst. That Lovie had in fact set them up. The oldest didn't know why but tears were welling in her eyes as she once again stood beside the blonde and stared straight ahead.

Before Bey could ask what was wrong with her, her family entered the waiting room.

"Thu Thu wanna talk to you," Kelly smiled.

Bey's eyes bulged, "she's awake?!"

"Yeah and louder than normal due to that busted eardrum of hers," Richard said.

Beyoncé stood and handed a sleeping Blue to her mother. "I'll walk with you," Richard offered.

"Where's Shawn," Tina asked.

"He stepped out."

"And just left y'all out here without security? Imma tear that boy up," Tina shook her head as Richard led Bey to Solange's room.

He left her right in front of the door and told he'd be right there if she needed him, but she couldn't bring herself to enter. She talked up the courage for a moment and pushed the door open anxiously, entering with a steadily rising heartbeat. Besides the day Julez was born, she'd never seen her baby sister in a hospital bed, definitely not all bruised and banged up. Solange was faced towards the window, but when she heard Bey enter, she turned. Her eyes immediately lit up when she caught sight of her sister. For a moment, all Bey could do was smile; smile because she knew that in that moment things were a little bit okay, smile because she could breathe better, smile because they were together.

"Hey." she rasped, tears transforming her usually honey smooth voice into a barely audible whisper.

"Hey." Solange smiled weakly as her sister made her way over to the bed, leaning down to stroke her cheek.

"You scared us," Bey said sadly.

"I'm sorry." Solange whispered.

"Not your fault, I'm just happy you're okay," Bey's eyed roamed Solange's face taking in every cut, the huge bandage on her forehead and the busted lip.

"Thu Thu," she lamented as sorrow filled her.

"I look that bad?" Solange quipped, eliciting a smile from Bey. Solo was still on some sedatives for the pain and it made her more lighthearted than she should have been under the circumstances.

"You look beautiful." The blonde beamed.

"Solo I hate to bring it up, but do you know how the crash happened?" Bey asked carefully. Solo nodded much to Bey's relief. "What happened?" She asked, a little quieter for fear of upsetting her sister.

"I don't know." Solo replied, falsely. Beyoncé sighed.

"You don't remember?" She wondered.

"No, I remember." Solo closed her eyes as if having a flashback. "That's the problem...I just didn't know what was going on..." her voice quavered.

"You don't have to relive it if you don't want to." Bey urged, trying to keep Solo from getting too worked up.

"Somebody shot up the car," Solange blurted out.

"What!" Bey pulled a chair up to her sister's bedside.

Solo nodded, trying not to move too much, "I met up with Anthony to call things quits and to confront him about his double life and he finally admitted to it. Then out of the blue, a guy stood in front of the car and was like 'Ace, Hov sends his condolences' and started shooting."

"Hov?" Bey's face contorted into anger.

"That's the same thing I was thinking but then I remembered when the girls was in the studio. That's the same name one of the dudes used right before he ended the live so I put two and two together. Anthony and Ace are the same person and he's the one who set Shawn up. I don't know how I got in the middle of any of this but here I am. I'm sorry Bey. I didn't know," Solo cried.

"Maybe the drugs they have you on are making you delusional. You saying Shawn had somebody shoot at y'all?!"

Solo shook her head, "I'm saying he probably didn't know I was supposed to be there because the meet up was last minute and he don't even know we dated."

"Well he does now," Bey shook her head and thought about her husband's anger from earlier and everything all made sense.

Solange let out a huff, "this is all so messed up."

Bey grabbed her sister's hand, "you just focus on getting better. None of that other stuff matters."

There was a tiny knock on the door followed by a short nurse sporting a sweet smile, "looks like visiting hours are over for this one. She needs her rest."

Bey nodded and stood but not before leaning over to place a quick kiss to her sister's forehead.

"Ugh," Solo scrunched her face up but did nothing to wipe away at the spot like she usually did.

"I love you Thu Thu please try and get some rest," Bey made her way to the door.

"I can't believe y'all about to leave me up here. Bring me some food tomorrow cuz these people stay trynna feed me jello. Tell mama to make it," she called after her sister.

PRESENT

"Solo he did all he could to hide who he really was. It wasn't your fault," Bey snuggled closer to her sister on the bed.

Solange sniffed and wiped at her face, "I feel torn knowing that he...died just like that. Then another side of me is saying he deserved it."

"It's okay to feel that way," Bey said.

The two sisters laid with each other for a while until Kelly joined them sliding on the other side of Solange.

"Y'all so irritating," Solange said loudly, making Kelly wince.

"Dang when they say your ear gonna be back to normal? I'm tired of being yelled at."

Bey chuckled because she had kind of gotten used to it. "Probably another week and a half," Solange said.

"Mm, when you all healed up we gotta go out because these past couple weeks been something," Kelly got under the covers.

"Ain't it," Bey agreed.

"Imma have a lil celebration and invite hella people," Solange gazed at the ceiling imagining herself out of her cast with a clear face and sound mind.

"Ooh can I plan it," Kelly asked excitedly.

Solo shrugged her shoulders, "as long as there's lots of alcohol it's all good."

"Move over, y'all got me all on the edge," Bey complained.

"You taking up more than half the bed already," Solange quipped.

"Don't get mad cuz I'm thick and y'all itty bitties. I can't help that," Bey nudged Solange over making sure she didn't touch her leg.

"Girl, I got ass now. You see it! Get into iiiit," Kelly stood, flaunting the new curves she got after having her child.

"Ion see n–

"Shh," Solange said. "Y'all hear that?"

Bey tilted her head towards the door, "hear what?"

"Exactly, them kids quiet as kept...finally. You would swear we had a bunch of kids Blue's age running around here," she sighed.

Kelly flopped on the bed again, "girl Shawn not playing with them. When Julez and Halle started they lil tit for tat, he straight up said 'aye chill out. That's dead.  Don't nobody wanna hear all that.' And mama already got on them before we left the house told'em they was gone get to know her back hand real good if she had to repeat herself."

"Who she say that to," Bey asked.

"Halle and Julez."

Bey shook her head at her mother's antics. "Julez do be messing with my baby though."

Solo smacked her lips, "oh honey Halle lil self is a handful and you know it. They start with each other."

Kelly laughed, "it mostly be Julez if we being honest."

"Y'all not about to tag team my baby. He just be bored," Solange shrugged her shoulders.

The three sisters joined the rest of their family once it was time to land. Finally landing on solid ground, Chloe rolled her neck in a circle trying to get a kink out. She knew sleeping the way she did on the plane was a bad idea but she just couldn't help herself. Kelly, Richard, and Tina got into one car headed for Kelly's place while everyone else piled into a company truck heading for the Carter's.

-

Hours later, Shawn had been in Blue's room going over her homework with her when the sound of blaring music interrupted them from the next room.

"I'll be back Lefty. Work on your sight words okay," he stood heading out the door towards Halle's room.

He knocked but figured his light raps couldn't be heard over the pounding music, so he entered. He paused seeing Julez, Halle, and Chloe dancing wildly in front of the boy's camera.

Shawn could tell they were on Snapchat. The man had yet to be noticed by the trio and took it upon himself to storm towards Halle's wireless speaker, putting the music to a stop.

"Uncle Jay we was in the middle of a snap," Julez complained.

"That's the problem," Jay looked at the girls, "y'all are on punishment for skipping school and smoking remember?"

"That was Julez!" Halle blurted out.

"That ain't what I seen cause both of y'all was," he did a little jig imitating their dance moves sarcastically, making all three laugh.

"And don't post those videos nowhere Julez. You got Halle's entire room exposed in it. Nobody need to see the inside of our house. Next time you wanna make a video go outside," Jay stated and headed towards the door again. "Oh and I know both of y'all have homework that's due tonight because your teachers emailed Bey so after I'm done helping Blue I'll show y'all which ones to get started on."

"Okay," they said in unison just before Shawn closed the door.

Julez scrolled through his saved videos and plopped on Halle's bed, "y'all stay getting treated. Do y'all ever get tired of that?"

Chloe and Halle joined him on the bed, "at least Shawn's nice about it." Halle said.

Julez turned up his lip, "I guess."

There was a beat in the room while Julez posted some videos to his story, "how does it feel getting adopted?"

Chloe shrugged her shoulders, "it hasn't happened yet so I don't know."

The boy locked his phone, "like how does it feel getting a new family? Is it weird?"

Knitting her eyebrows and then turning towards Halle, "it was weird when we first got here but now I'm used to everybody so it feels kind of...normal," Chloe said.

"I was excited from the first day we came here. It didn't feel weird. The only time it did was when I met you and I was like ugh what the hell is that," Halle smirked waiting for Julez to come for her neck while Chloe laughed.

"And I'm about to tell Jay you in here cussin," he pretended to get up but stopped when Halle yanked his shirt.

"Uh oh," Chloe raised a brow when they passed licks back and forth.

After their brief scuffle, Julez looked down at his phone as it popped up with a new text message. It was Matteo asking him to give both Chloe and Halle his number. He must've watched my story, Julez thought. Looking up at the older cousins in front of him he quickly responded with a 'they don't want you'.

"Look," he turned his screen around so they could see.

"Who is Matteo," Halle asked.

With another incoming picture text messages of himself, Matteo replied that they just didn't know him yet and Julez laughed.

"My friend, he sent a picture too."

"Let me see," Halle squinted her eyes as he showed the girls the photo.

He watched as they laughed; cackled at the mere thought of themselves wanting Matteo.

"He look like the little boy from Up," Halle decided.

"He doooess," Chloe clapped her hands as she laughed.

"Don't be giving our numbers out to your lil seventh grade friends," Halle told him.

"Halle you're like five months older than me. You just so happen to skip a few grades remember? My friends are the same age as you," Julez typed hurriedly.

"But if they hanging with you I just know they're immature," she shrugged.

Julez' mouth dropped at her statement, "you the last person to talk about immature you're like a seven year old in the head."

"I-

"Hey hey hey alright, let's not have this debate again. I will actually pay both of you not to have this conversation."

They both held their palms out and looked at Chloe pointedly. She reached into her pocket and presented them with nothing. 🤌🏾

Julez smack his lips and turned on his side, "y'all low key act just like Jay, well y'all daddy I should say," he muttered.

"Shawn isn't our daddy," Halle quipped.

Sitting himself up, Julez scratched his head, "he will be...why don't you call him dad but you call my aunty mommy?"

Halle shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. We haven't had a mom since we were eight and ten. We had a daddy who wasn't so nice though," her voice harsh and laced with bitterness.

"Correction you had a daddy who wasn't so nice," Chloe cut in and Halle rolled her eyes.

Julez thought for a moment before saying, "maybe you could think of another name like Matteo calls his dad papa but he's Hispanic so maybe for yall it could just be pops."

Knitting her eyebrows Chloe got off the bed, "seems like a lot. Imma call him his name."

"Popssss, pop-sss," Halle played with the word like she was sounding it out to spell. "Doesn't roll off the tongue too well. I like Shawn."

Julez shook his head, "disrespectful."

Chloe left out of the room under the guise of finishing her homework before dinner, but Halle suspected the topic of conversation had made her uncomfortable so she removed herself leaving Julez and Halle alone.

"I'm bored," Halle declared as she stood in the middle of her room finally feeling the weight of her punishment.

Julez peered from his phone with a smirk, "they said you can't leave the house. They never said you couldn't leave your room."

Halle fixed her hair into a ponytail, "what are you talking about?"

The boy gestured widely with his arms, "you live in a fortress, find something to get into. Have you ever even been to the second or third wing?"

Crossing her arms over her chest Halle eyed Julez up and down before shaking her head, "second a few times never the third."

"Let's go," he hopped from the bed.

"You just trying to get me in trouble," she said.

Julez blank faced her, "you on punishment for two months, what else could they do to you?"

Halle blinked, "a lot of things, I don't know."

"Come on with your scary self. How you smoking weed and scared to walk through your own house?"

-

Beyoncé sat in her home office for the last hour. After making a few phone calls to her assistants and making more appointments to see potential managers, she could finally make the call she had been putting off for a week now before taking a nap. With the way things have been lately, she couldn't imagine the last time she actually had a full night's rest. Letting out a breath, she slowly dialed Vivian Ward's personal cell. What if she doesn't pick up?

"Hello, Vivian Ward speaking."

Bey cleared her throat. She couldn't understand why she was so nervous but hey whatever. "Hey Vivian this is Mrs Carter."

"Hey how are the girls doing," she asked.

Bey tapped her pen repeatedly, "they're fine. I was actually calling to ask you something."

"Shoot," Vivian said.

"How long does it take to adopt through foster care," Bey asked.

"There's no specific time frame. Why, were you interested in adopting Chloe and Halle?" Bey could hear the smile on the woman's face.

"Yes actually."

This was the highlight of Vivian's day. All she ever wanted was for the children assigned to her to be placed in adequate homes and shown the love they deserved and eventually adopted out of the system. Every time someone expressed their interest she was elated especially with the older kids. It was a rarity.

"That's amazing! Well first I have to ask if your husband will be adopting as well."

"Of course!"

"Well you two basically already have most of the steps completed considering you're already fostering them and home studies have already been done. If I get started on the paperwork this week I'd say in reality in about three weeks the adoption could be done," Bey could hear Vivian shuffling around.

Suddenly Beyoncé began to feel anxious, "that's fast."

"I know," the woman giggled, "we have so many kids in foster care that when someone wants to adopt, everyone over here is eager to assist in any way. I'm gonna fax you over some papers. Were the girls interested in having their last names changed because that's additional paperwork."

The thought crossed Bey's mind but she hadn't spoken with Chloe and Halle just yet, "we haven't talked about that part yet...um send it over just in case."

"Doing it now," Vivian said just as Bey received an alert from her fax machine. "Now, the faster I get the papers back, the faster the process could get started. If you need me to talk you through them or have any questions please call me back. No scratch outs on any of the documents or the judge won't accept it."

Beyoncé ogled the thick packets of papers, "this is a lot."

"I know, but do you think you could have it done by Thursday? If it gets in on Friday the process would be prolonged. The questions on there are basically repetitive, basically they want to make sure you're adopting the correct child and no mistakes with social security numbers were made."

The singer thumbed through the pages and sighed, "yeah I can have it to you by then."

"Great, talk to you in two days," Vivian said and hung up the phone.

Bey sat with the papers thinking back to the first time she laid eyes on Chloe and Halle in person. She remembered how scared Chloe had been and how Halle couldn't stop herself from talking even for a second. The blonde chuckled at the recollection of Halle calling her 'Miss' and a blanket seemed to cover her heart knowing that she elevated so quickly to 'mommy'. This time a single happy tear rolled down her cheek feeling grateful that God had placed them in her life. She was about to be a mother of three and that thought not only scared her, but it brought on an immense amount of joy. So much so that she couldn't begin to explain it to the average ear.

-

Halle and Julez snuck off to the second wing of the house where only the staff visited to clean twice a day. They were racing through the elongated hallways, sliding to a stop in their socks. The troublesome duo made their way to the third wing and Julez pushed the heavy double doors open. Unlike the second wing, the third had a grandiose den that was clearly for entertaining hundreds of guests.

"Woooow," Halle gawked at the ceiling which was painted in an olden nineteenth century realism, but everyone was of color.

As they walked deeper into the home, Julez led them to a room dedicated to the Carter's awards and accolades. The walls were covered in platinum plaques, and sparkling golden Grammys sat on individual platforms along with all types of trophies. Julez went to pick up a Grammy.

"Don't touch that," Halle warned.

"I touch these all the time," he lifted one from its platform and Halle flinched as if red beams would somehow appear.

The boy walked over to Halle and placed the award in her hand, "whoa it's heavy," she chuckled and adjusted it. "I wanna thank the judges for picking me. My parents who I love. I love you Houston," Halle said in a deep voice mimicking Beyoncé's acceptance speech from when she was younger.

Julez laughed and held his hand out for the Grammy, being extra careful as to not drop it before he placed it back on its platform.

"Come on let's go to the trampoline," he suggested.

"We have a trampoline!" Halle got excited.

"Technically it's mine for when I come over but I guess."

-

Julez spent at least twenty minutes attempting to teach Halle how to do a backflip while jumping before she actually had it down pact.

"I need some water," Halle complained as she sat on the buoyant surface.

Julez continued to jump looking passed the large grassy property all the way onto the far right where a man made pond was.

"You can go inside. I'm about to go to the pond," he bounced on his bottom and scooted out.

Halle shielded her eyes to look beyond the guest house, "you're about to go all the way out there? That's too far."

"No it ain't, look watch this!"

-

"Uh Uh," Halle said as she stood in front of a golf cart. "Neither one of us knows how to drive."

"Speak for yourself," He sat in the driver's seat.

Halle placed her hand on her hip, "You don't even have a license."

"It's a golf cart are you dumb?"

Halle rolled her eyes and sat next to Julez, "I guarantee if you kill us your mom and my mom will bring us back and kill us again so keep it cute."

The boy started the engine after Halle secured herself. He smirked and slammed on the gas making Halle's neck jerk. "Stop playing!" It was an electric golf cart so the fastest it could go was twenty five miles per hour, but they were going downhill which made them go faster. Julez had full control over the cart considering he had been sneaking and driving them as far back as he could remember. He died laughing at his cousin's dramatic screams like he could possibly push the slow moving four wheeler to dangerous speeds. In no time, he parked at the edge of the pond and got out.

"This is beautiful," Halle was amazed by the small things in life.

The two skipped rocks lazily before she suggested they went back in the house before someone caught her outside.

"You wanna drive back?" Julez asked.

"Uh no?" She said as she hopped on the cart.

Five minutes later and they were pulling up to the main house. Halle immediately spotted Bey on the patio talking to someone on the phone. Julez tried to avoid his aunt knowing what type of trouble he'd be in, but it was already too late. Bey stared at the two hooligan children with a nasty glare as she stomped their way.

"Julez, Halle!" she yelled from across the way.

She moved like a cheetah on the prowl and was face to face with them in nearly two seconds flat. She snatched her nephew from the driver's seat by his shirt. "What are you doing? You know you not supposed to touch this. And right after your mama accident," she raised her voice causing Halle to almost shrink in size.

"This not even a car, aunty. It goes like ten miles per hour," he argued.

"I don't care if it went two," Bey held the children's shirts with her pointer finger and thumb like they were getting ready to percolate and escorted them into the house.

"What's going on," Solange asked from the couch.

Bey let go of Julez' shirt, "he was out there whipping a golf cart like he playing gta."

Solange sighed, she really lacked the energy for any of her son's mishaps this week. She was still in a lot of pain and had switched to plain ole Ibuprofen instead of the oxycodone she was prescribed and it did nothing for her.

"Phone," Solange said simply. "Two weeks, gone upstairs."

The boy handed his mother the phone and stomped off muttering things under his breath.

"Go find Shawn and get started on that paper like you was supposed to be doing." Bey told Halle.

She waited until the girl was on the elevator and took the photo album that they'd brought from Atlanta and placed it on the coffee table. She wanted to transfer a few photos to some frames, "they always doing something. Why they can't just sit down sometimes?" She asked, opening the book.

"Girl when you find out, tell me," Solange covered her face with her left arm. "You called Vivian yet?"

"Yeah, she sent me the papers and want them by Thursday," Bey flipped the pages looking for a specific photo she'd grown fond of.

Solo raised her head, "Thursday? That's so soon. You scared?"

"No," Bey removed the picture.

"Let me see," Solange said.

The blonde stood, handing over the picture.

"She looks so happy in this picture," Solange stated with a smile, as she took in the sight of toddler Halle lying on a bed in pj's, the picture zoomed into a close up shot of her laughing, her head tilted back into the bedding beneath her.

"She does," Beyoncé replied with a smile. "Oh wait, look!"

The blonde flipped through the pages until she landed on the picture with her and four year old Chloe.

"What the hell! What was she, at one of your meet and greets?" Solange asked.

"Apparently she was in the fighting temptations."

"That is crazy! Almost like it was meant to be." Solange gawked at the picture longer than necessary, "why she actually look like your baby though?"

Bey took the picture back from her sister and studied it, "she kinda does."

"It's the matching outfits for me," Solo laughed and then paused. "Wow you really about to be a mama of three girls just like your mama."

"I can't believe it either," Bey admitted. "But I'm happy."

"That's good."

-

After Chloe returned to her room, it occurred to her just how bored she was. She couldn't watch tv to keep her mind buzzing. She didn't even have a phone to distract herself with. She wasn't ever the type to bury her head in technology. Her new Facebook feed was dry and Twitter was just a way for people to unnecessarily voice their opinions of others in one hundred and forty characters or less. Being tagged in photos on Instagram frightened her and actually posting a photo of herself, that anyone in the world could see, sent a chill up her spine. But, even for her, not having a phone left her feeling weirdly disconnected, like there was another world going on that she was no longer privy to.

There was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she said loud enough for them to hear.

Shawn entered with a bubbly Blue at his side, "You gotta get started on your homework."

Chloe pulled herself from her bed and followed Shawn down to the second floor and into the study.

For their punishment, either Shawn or Bey had to monitor their screen time, making sure they were only using their laptops for academic purposes.

Halle had already been in the study humming her life away as she tapped at her keyboard when Chloe entered. She flicked through some notes with a huff, her fingers raking through her hair as she tried desperately to come up with a good opening line for her paper.

Sitting at the desk with a new screen up on her laptop, Chloe wondered how she could be wording things. She wondered if she were to just start typing away making no sense what-so-ever. If eventually the words would just start to flow out and she'd be able to just edit it out later. But as she let her fingers graze the keyboard nothing came out. Just a few words that didn't make any sense at all. Her mind was still on the conversation with Julez. It wasn't until he said that Shawn would be her dad that it truly sunk into her. She looked up at the man childishly playing hand games with his young daughter just to keep her entertained while he was on tech patrol. Shawn was an amazing father. Why was she so nervous?

Looking down at her fingers as she grazed the keyboards once again, Chloe started to type. First sentence and then the second and soon she came out with five wordy paragraphs that actually made sense to her before ensuring that it was saved and closing out of her documents.

"Huuuuuuh," Halle complained when she saw her sister had finished before her.

"Tough assignment?" Shawn asked as he walked and stood over Halle's shoulder to see what she was struggling with.

Halle turned to him with a frown on her face and nodded. He took his time reading over what she had. "It's a good start, but how about you bring this line up some and present this argument in the third paragraph. That way it'll flow better."

The girl followed his instructions and not before long found the inspiration to complete her last two paragraphs.

"Thanks," she fist bumped him as she stood.

"You know I know a lil sumn sumn," he popped his collar.

-
NEXT DAY (WEDNESDAY )

Getting ready for school the next morning had been hard for all four kids after spending the previous week learning from home. Closing her eyes, Chloe took in a deep breath. She wondered what it would be like seeing her friends after the irksome conversation at the hospital. She wondered what it would be like if she laid eyes on Alana casually strutting the halls like she did. Never would she have thought the girl would try what she did. She didn't even get those vibes from her at all, but then again she thought back to that time in the locker room and how the girl caressed her face. Initially she brushed it off as some sort of intimidation tactic, but was she trying to make a pass at her back then? Chloe shuddered at the thought. She opened her eyes as Francis asked if she wanted more orange juice to drink. But she declined seeing as it was a long drive from their house to Lexington and her nerves were getting the best of her. Blue, Julez, and Halle talked animatedly while Shawn and Bey were discussing pick up plans in between their mushy breakfast flirting that Chloe couldn't stand to listen to. Solange was still asleep and declined breakfast all together since she wouldn't be participating in any exercise for a while.

After breakfast, Shawn would be driving Julez to school since it was on the way to his office. The girls would be with Bey as per usual. The man kissed his wife goodbye, and reached forward for his briefcase. He had a long day ahead of him. Pushing paperwork; going to meetings and just making sure that things were a float. Waiting for Bey's driver had become ritualistic at this point. Halle made a comment about how Terrell was never late and Bey assured that it was most likely traffic. The woman busied herself lathering Blue's face with Shea butter as the child complained.

"Let me see your face lil bit," Bey said.

Halle turned and the woman began covering Halle's face with the thick substance as well. Once Bey turned to Chloe, she chuckled and backed away.

"I don't need any."

"Then why your face ashy," Bey gently grabbed Chloe's chin massaging the Shea butter in.

Not before long, they were in the truck heading for Lexington and Chloe's stomach was in knots. After driving for thirty minutes, she found herself irritable. She wanted out of that car and she wanted out now. As Bey's phone started to ring she looked down at the caller ID and let out a frustrated breath. She really didn't want to be talking to anyone from work right now. They would see her pretty soon and this driver drove in the wrong lane when the traffic flowed on the right.

"Yoncé," the blonde greeted over the phone. Rolling her eyes Beyoncé looked at her watch, "I'm in traffic. Should be there soon though." She pressed her lips into a thin line and smacked her head "I forgot about that" she grumbled. "What about this weekend?"

Blue and Halle played hand games until it was time to get out. They all exchanged quick goodbyes and the sister duo was off to their side of the school. Walking through the school halls felt almost unfamiliar to Chloe. It felt like years since she had last stepped onto school grounds and she never thought this time around would be so hard. Halle on the other hand was elated to be somewhere besides the house for a change.

"There they go," Halle pointed to their friends who stood in front of Yasmin's locker as the girl touched up her makeup.

"Finally, I thought we was gonna have to send a note to y'all by carrier pigeon to check on you two," Yasmin smiled and pulled them into hugs.

"Hey Yas," Chloe felt less nervous now that she was in the presence of her friends. She went to Yara and hugged her as well.

"Where my hug," Beans held his arms out with a boyish smile on his face.

Chloe rolled her eyes playfully and tapped his shoulder, "this is real life Beans, not your dreams."

"Well as you can see your presence was missed around here," Yara looked between the sisters.

Halle was busy fixing the strings to the black lace up Balmain boots she decided to wear on a whim as opposed to her usual shiny school shoes. "Naw y'all forgot about us."

After applying more gloss to her lips, Yasmin smiled and turned to close her locker behind her, "how can I forget about my favorite lil sis?"

"Don't let ZaZa hear you say that," Beans cut in.

"That's one seven year old I will never mess with again," Yara rubbed her arm remembering the pain filled punches ZaZa dealt her after Yara made a sly comment about her artistic skills.

A few minutes passed of Beans rambling on about his amazing weekend which he'd been talking about since Monday, but Chloe and Halle hadn't heard the story so it was news again. Then finally the bell rang and the boy stopped talking and Yara signaled Chloe to go to class with her.

"We should take the long way today," Yasmin suggested to Halle who shrugged her response.

"So what'd you do with your week of absence," Yara asked as they made their way down the hall.

"Nothing much, Bey wouldn't let us out of her sight. We went to Atlanta for like a day, but that was for a funeral," Chloe said as she turned a corner.

Beans raised his brows, "who passed?"

"Bey's aunty. I have to go to my locker," Chloe announced.

Everyone agreed that they had more than enough time and traveled like a school of snapper fish towards Chloe's locker. The girl's heart started to race and she couldn't manage to breathe right, surprised to see Alana already there leaning against Chloe's locker with her arms crossed against her chest. Yara gave her a weird look, a mixture of suspicion and curiosity at the same time.

"Just say the word, friend," Yasmin said as they got a little closer.

Chloe's cheeks flushed as she approached her locker with her gaze to the floor.

"That was a nice stunt you pulled. Running home to your mommy and being scary enough to send that pathetic little social worker to our house to retrieve the rest of your cheap belongings? Who's the bitch now," Alana leaned to the locker next to Chloe's and watched her take out her stuff and put what she didn't need inside.

"Still you...bitch," Halle looked her up and down.

Alana could sense Chloe getting a bit nervous at her watching her and she could see the red tint creeping on her cheeks.

"Any day now Chlo," Yasmin tapped her foot incessantly.

"She ain't about shit y'all...chill," Beans said.

Chloe slammed her locker and whipped her head around to the older girl, "you need to back off before the whole school finds out what team you really play for. I'm sure your daddy wouldn't like the news either."

Alana's eyes narrowed to slits, "you're gonna regret that," she grumbled and stalked away.

Chloe looked up and locked eyes with Lovie. The girl's breath hitched as she was suddenly met with fiery auburn embers. Unlike her, Chloe didn't look surprised to see her, just weary, but her eyes quickly hardened in Lovie's direction. Ashamed, Lovie looked away and turned to head to her class. She didn't know how she would get through the remaining months of school at this rate. She wanted to ask Chloe what was the interaction with Alana about—if everything was okay, if she was bothering her again, if she needed help setting her straight—but she knew she couldn't. She had to give her friends space so they'd forgive her down the road.

The group headed down the hall again. Chloe held her books close to her chest as she watched her feet glide through the halls.

"What were you talking about back there," Yasmin finally asked what everyone else was thinking.

The thought to keep Alana's secret crossed her mind, but for what? She owed the girl no loyalty and frankly she couldn't care less if the secret got out or not. It wasn't hers to keep. "Ooh...girl, Alana's a lesbian. Her and Kennedy were dating but Kennedy broke up with her last week. Oh and she tried to kiss me when I was at her house."

Everyone halted at once. "Bitch the teaaaaaa is hot! She tried to kiss you?! Ugh what the fuck? Did you smack her?" Yasmin looked disgusted.

"No," Chloe admitted.

Halle was beyond shocked and she couldn't even form words at the moment, not just because of Alana's sexuality being exposed that actually made sense, but she tried to kiss her sister!? The girl's eyes were bulged from her skull, "why didn't you tell me? Is that why we had to leave that night?"

Chloe looked over at her sister and nodded, "partially."

They started walking again, "do you think that's why she's been bothering you? Because she likes you?" Yara asked.

"I hope not," Beans added.

"I just think she's a miserable bitch," Chloe stared ahead.

Everyone in the group eyed each other, shocked by Chloe's language. Beans, Yara, and Chloe said their goodbyes to Yasmin and Halle and walked into their class. Kids were talking and throwing paper balls since the teacher wasn't there yet. Yara sat at her desk next to Chloe and took out her spiral notebook for that class. Beans passed words with a few guys from the football team that he was cool with. Another five minutes passed and an unfamiliar teacher entered the class introducing himself as the substitute evoking a sea of hoops and hollers from the class. The sub agreed to simply be a babysitter for the next forty minutes if the class could be civil and not get too rowdy. As everyone talked loudly and recorded videos on their phones, Chloe used two pencils to make beats on her desk while Beans freestyled poorly.

"Okay we in this bitch, all bored and shit.
Our teacher didn't come, so we in here looking dumb. My girl Chloe got me, with the beats–she looking happy. They say I'm so nice, my waves right, and that's on no cappin!"

Yara and Chloe cackled loudly, "ayyee I like that," Chloe mused with a glowing smile.

"You know who to call if you need a feature on that album," he rubbed his hands together and raised his brows.

"She wants her records to sell, not flop," Yara joked.

-

When the bell finally rang to go to the next class, Lovie quickly grabbed her stuff and made her way out of the classroom with her head facing down avoiding eye contact with anybody. People have been blowing her phone up all week asking to buy from her, but she sent them over to BJ much to their dismay. For the students of Lexington, buying from Lovie was convenient. She never missed a day of school, and she always had something on her. Most of them were bummed out that she no longer sold, but congratulated her on moving forward. Suddenly, she bumped into someone making her hands release the grasp she had on her books sending them falling to the floor. Lovie sighed and didn't bother looking up. She quickly kneeled down to pick up her belongings and realized the person whom she bumped into was helping her pick up her books as well, but she still didn't look up to face them.

Once she gathered all of her things, she stood up and kept her head down staring at the floor waiting for the person to just walk away but they didn't. Lovie got angry inside thinking they probably bumped her on purpose, but no one at that school had the balls, so she shut her eyes and exhaled.

"Hey, are you alright?" Lovie heard the person genuinely ask. She looked up slowly and locked eyes with Yara not being able to read her expression.

Too taken aback that the girl had spoken to her, Lovie nodded, letting her know she was okay and gave her a small soft smile, but her hands were getting sweaty and her heart was racing realizing she just bumped into the person she last expected to. Chloe and Beans stared her down from beside Yara who smiled back and handed Lovie the rest of her books that she helped gather from the floor. She slowly reached for them and could feel the heat from Chloe watching her.

"I didn't mean to bump into you that hard. Beans pushed me," Yara explained awkwardly.

Lovie gripped her binder attempting to hide her shaky hands, nodded, and walked past them still avoiding eye contact. A part of her wished she didn't lay eyes on her friends again (if she could still call them that) but another part was elated that Yara had bumped into her because it caused her to actually speak to her and though the words were minuscule and meaningless they meant the world. Lovie peered over her shoulder behind her and saw that the three teens were staring her way. She felt bad for not saying anything to Yara but not only was she really anxious and nervous, she also had to get to her next class which was on the opposite side of the school.

-

Lovie entered her classroom and immediately spotted Yasmin sitting in the back standing out because of her behavior. Yasmin was sitting on top of her desk instead of the chair, throwing paper balls with some random kid trying to make it in the trash can. At first glance people assumed Yasmin was a bad person just because she carried herself like she had it all together much like the rest of the people in her friend group, but in reality she was just a popular girl so people found her either cool or intimidating and Lovie could finally see why people were intimidated by her friend. Halle was sitting in her seat with her book bag on the floor while digging inside in search of her report on the importance of recycling. After like a minute, she found it and handed it to Yasmin to read over. Lovie let out an exaggerated sigh knowing her seat was in the middle of the two.

"Alright good morning guys. Miss Wilkins please find a seat," Mr Finnerty sipped from his tumbler as he entered his class.

Everyone stopped talking and turned to him.

"Sorry Mr F," Yasmin said half heartedly as she skimmed through Halle's paper.

He continued to talk and started writing something on the board. Yasmin didn't spare Lovie half a glance as she put her bottom in her seat. Uncharacteristically, Lovie hadn't been at school for the last three days and even last week after the hospital incident, Yasmin hadn't spoken to her.

"Did you cite all of your sources," she asked Halle.

"Yeah, they're right here," the girl pulled out another piece of paper.

Lovie rolled her eyes at the two girls talking over her face. Wordlessly, Yasmin held her arm out attempting to pass the paper to the younger girl making sure it nearly touched Lovie's nose. She snatched the paper from her best friend's hands and sent a bone shaking evil glare Yasmin's way before handing the paper to Halle.

"Don't try me," Yasmin whispered.

Lovie peered up making sure the teacher wasn't looking, "don't try me," she sniped.

They've had their fair share of arguments but much like Lovie and Yara, the love was always there and nobody dared to lay hands on each other. The respect they had for one another ran too deep.

"Girl ain't nobody worried about you," Yasmin waved her off.

"Then act like it, play with your mama not me," Lovie whispered suddenly becoming angry.

Halle watched the interaction between friends well, really the breakdown between friends and her heart ached. She couldn't help but to feel like this was somehow her fault. Like they were arguing over her. Mr Finnerty finished writing the lesson plan down and turned to face his class.

"Oh miss Oppong, I wasn't expecting you back this early," he said, noticing Lovie in the back.

Lovie offered the man a fake smile and leaned her head onto her fist. She watched as the man searched his bag and pulled out a card. The entire class followed the teacher's moves until he kneeled in front of Lovie's desk sliding the card towards her.

"This is from the sophomore staff, my deepest condolences to you and your family. If you need to be excused from classes for the rest of the week we all understand and all you need to do is let us know. You're one of our star students and we want to do everything we can to ensure your grades continue to excel during your time of need. Losing a parent is never easy."

Lovie nodded stoically, "I'm fine."

Mr Finnerty nodded and went to the front of the class to begin his lesson. The rest of the class was a blur. Lovie thought she couldn't breathe and she had never probably been more anxious than she was at the moment. She wanted the class to end just as much as she wanted it to go on forever. It hadn't hit her until now because she was too busy avoiding the truth of her father's death. But now she couldn't even concentrate in class. Her hands were sweaty and she kept glancing up at the clock by the door hoping that time would speed up then glancing up again hoping it would slow down. She felt cornered with Yasmin and Halle's sorrow filled eyes on her. She wanted to tell them to keep the same energy they had at the beginning of class, but that wouldn't have been fair. They didn't know of her father's passing so they couldn't act accordingly. Well, Yasmin definitely didn't know, but she wasn't sure if Halle knew due to their family's entanglement.

"The homework for ton—" The teacher was abruptly cut off by the bell ringing and it was now time for lunch.

Lovie rushed out the classroom making her way near the gym.

"Friend!" Yasmin called after her.

The girl looked at Yasmin with wide eyes, surprised to see she had followed her and was still trying to make conversation with her, but she didn't feel like talking about her father. Even when he was alive he was a sore subject. Lovie decided to skip lunch and instead slinked off to the gym to get a workout in. Her friends might not hate her, but they wanted nothing to do with her, and she wasn't so sure where she stood in their lives, but she'd rather not find out in a crowded cafeteria in front of half the sophomore student body. She was too much of a coward to face the consequences of her actions—to see the pain she caused written so clearly on everyone's faces. Besides, it wasn't like she had much of an appetite these days anyway. She snagged a power bar and a bottle of water from the vending machine in the girls' locker room and forced down her snack before signing into the weight room, hoping to quiet her mind by exhausting her body.

As her wrapped fists hit the heavy bag in the center of the room, she thought about what Yasmin said—that she probably set Chloe and Halle up. Once she thought more on the matter it seemed a logical hypothesis if Yasmin left out Lovie's crippling loyalty to the people she cared for. She squeezed her eyes shut and hit the bag harder—images of her father's terrifying last moments flashed in her mind as her fists slammed into the canvass. She punched till her hands throbbed and her body slumped tiredly against the bag. She'd be better, she had to.

FLASHBACK (LAST WEEK WEDNESDAY)

Ace.

The name struck Lovie's mind like a bullet. It rang like a deafening bell. It made it hard for her to swallow. This was the first day since her father's accident that she had actually agreed on entering his room. She sat there for hours on end unspeaking, just staring, listening to the constant beep of his heart monitor. He looked horrible like he had been in a full out brawl. She wondered, with sudden shock, why his name made her feel like she was being punched in the gut? Why did it make her shake? What was happening to her, she didn't understand.

"I don't feel sorry for you," her voice was hoarse from hours of silence. "This is probably just karma making its rounds." She ogled her shaking hands and pressed them in between her thighs. "Daddy I miss you," she choked out.

With the screech of the hospital chair against the cold tile floor, she stood this time as tears ran down her cheeks, "you gotta wake up. If you don't, who's gonna run your businesses? Those hoodlums will run everything you worked so hard for into the ground within a month, watch."

Lovie listened closer to the different sounds the machines were making and wiped at her face, "if you leave then who would be there for me? Where would I go? Mom's not answering my calls. I don't know what to do." She paused to push back her emotions before continuing. "I bet Cassius would want to be here with you. With all of that energy he has I bet you'd wake up in no time just to shut him up." She kept her eyes on his blanket covered lap for a long time. Lovie gave her father a forlorn smile but he wasn't awake to look up and see it.

"Wake up!" She snapped irately, becoming angry at him for putting her through this. "Look me in the eye." She shook her head stubbornly. "Please," She begged.

Again she wiped at her face and straightened her posture. A small smirk fought its way onto her mouth, "There's money to be made." She laughed through her tears, "isn't that how you used to wake me up?"

She hesitated again before speaking, choosing her words carefully. "Of course you won't wake up. You're too selfish to do that."

"Dad can you please wake up? Do this one thing for me please?" She whispered, reaching out across the bed and taking his hand in hers. Her words seemed to fill the room making it feel as if she wasn't alone and she wished she could go back in time and change all of their mistakes. Never fight. Never let inconsequential issues come between them. Never let the cord between them stretch so far and so thin that by the time it was severed, neither of them even felt it.

She buried her face in his shoulder, careful not to mess with any cords, her sobs built up louder and louder, and her chest shook violently. "I don't understand," She choked out. "I don't understand. I told you something bad was gonna happen! I felt it! I promise, I won't move until you wake up. I'll be right here, okay?"

She was starting to think she needed to be the one in the hospital, maybe in the psychiatric unit the way she was carrying on.

She felt new, foreign hands on her skin and she jerked her body away, trying to contain herself to no avail. "Don't fucking touch me," She spat, pushing closer to her father.

The doctor didn't register her words, instead her hands reached for Lovie again, "we can't have you on any of your father's tubes or cords. It could harm him."

She was torn, knowing that listening to the doctor was in her best interest but she couldn't help the way her heart shattered apart, looking at her father on a ventilator. She wanted to apologize for causing such a scene but she wanted more to claw apart the doctor that was trying to pull her away from the last person she had. She began to wipe the tears off her cheeks, ignoring the salty after taste from the ones that slipped into her mouth.

"I'm sorry," she stood at her full height looking up at the doctor.

The doctor, whose name Lovie never managed to catch, touched her back, sensitively. "It's alright, how about you go down to the food court and get something from there. You've been in here for hours. You need a break," she suggested.

Lovie nodded and the doctor escorted her out of the door. She let her, submitting complete control to her, happily allowing the woman to take the reins. This was a nightmare that she didn't know how to guide herself through. She hated how all the weight rested on her shoulders, but it was just one more thing that she had no power to fix. The female doctor smiled kindly at her. Her eyes were full of sympathy, which the teen noted. Lovie wished her mother had been the one looking at her with such kindness. Instead she was left alone; facing tragedy alone yet again.

She still didn't know all the details of the accident-as they'd so carefully labeled it. There were still major gaps in the story, like why were there bullet holes in the body of her father's car? Why was Solange's car parked in front of her dad's club till this day? Lovie figured they must've been driving away from an active shooter and thus caused an accident, but she hadn't spoken those words to anyone.

As the doctor instructed her how to get to the cafeteria, Lovie passed by a line full of people attempting to sign in to see their loved ones.

-

"What's your name sir," an aged Caucasian reception asked as she adjusted her glasses to the tip of her nose.

"Shawn Carter."

"May I see your identification?"

Shawn reached into his wallet and removed his driver's license, handing it over to the woman.

"And who are you here to see," she typed his information into the system.

"Solange Knowles," he said quietly.

The woman nodded and handed his I.d back, "Miss Knowles sure does get a lot of visitors."

Shawn smiled, "she's well loved."

The receptionist handed him a visitors sticker and instructed him on how to get to the woman's room. He muttered a chaste thank you and proceeded down the hall going the opposite way he was told to go. He wasn't there to visit Solange. He had loose ends that needed to be tied up and as the business man he was, he wanted to carry this one out by himself.

No more than ten minutes after Lovie left her father's bedside, did Shawn appear in Anthony's doorway. He lingered there for a good thirty seconds before sauntering in like he belonged.

Look at you now nigga, he thought to himself taking in Ace's vegetable-like state.

He just looked down at the man, the irony not lost on him that the last time the two men were in each other's presence was at a card game that Ace was losing at. This nigga stay taking L's Shawn chuckled to himself. The man inched closer to Anthony's bedside and bent so he was in whispering distance.

"I told you I would have the last laugh."

Nobody and Shawn meant that by definition; no person, not anyone messed with his family. Anthony sent not only one but two people he loved to the hospital and toyed with Solange's feelings for what? Because he was upset he wasn't making as much money since Shawn and his people came to town? The man didn't know how to cut his losses and that would be the death of him.

Shawn vowed to make it quick, not to ease Anthony's suffering, but because they were in a public place. He traced the cord to the man's ventilator and unplugged it from the wall. Immediately Anthony's heart monitor began to spike. Shawn peered over his shoulder making sure no one was coming and plugged the ventilator back into the wall. Slowly but surely the monitor regained a steady pace. Again, Shawn removed the plug from the wall and watched as Anthony's body started to convulse drastically. He knew that the oxygen had been stopped long enough that if Anthony survived he would most likely be brain dead, so he plugged the machine in again and stepped out of the room right before the medical staff rushed in.

It was like there was almost no one around and it seemed like time was moving in rapid succession everywhere except for the red headed doctor and her patient. Anthony's prognosis was definite with fits of this severity.

It was death.

But there she was like the little engine that could trying her best just to keep the man alive long enough for his daughter to say goodbye. Everyone else in the hospital was running around making hard decisions, bandaging, treating, consoling, and helping people left and right but she stuck with that man as his health descended.

Mortality; life, these things were so friable, fleeting, and cruel. No man would ever be present for his own death but that didn't mean that he couldn't watch death glide to his front door, sit next to him, and then cradle him until his final breath.

"Dr. They need the ventilator in room 214," a nurse stated.

Just then, she locked eyes with her patient's daughter at the door seemingly stuck with a cup of coffee in her hand. Lovie looked on as her father's body continued to shake and move violently. When the doctor's eyes met hers, she could see the anguish brimming; threatening the tears to overflow from the girl. She was adamant about not stopping as she pushed a sedative into her patient's IV to possibly calm the fits. Anthony's body successfully stopped moving, but the monitor went flat seconds later. Lovie's coffee crashed to the floor spilling over her open toed shoes, but she didn't flinch one bit. She stood in the doorway watching the passing. Her father's bed was shaking, the room was shaking, the entire hospital was shaking as the lights and pale walls and papery sheets all hit Lovie at once. There was a nurse there holding her upright trying desperately to get the girl to move. No child should see this. In that moment, Lovie realized she was shaking, not the room. The doctor glanced at the clock and called the time of death.

She removed the ventilator and a nurse quickly wheeled it past Lovie down the hall to give to the next patient in need.

"I'm sorry," the doctor looked at the young girl.

Life as a doctor was like this. She had brought one life in maybe forty minutes ago and moments later watched as another slipped away.

The teen felt like someone had knocked the wind out of her. Something moved in her peripheral and she turned to see Jay staring at her like the reaper who had brought death to her door. The man quietly slipped away onto an elevator and Lovie understood that her father had to go. It was only a matter of time before his actions caught up with him. She couldn't hear anything the doctor was saying to her only the thudding of her own heart as the doors closed to the elevator giving a visual of the fleeting thoughts going through her head.

And just like that, her hearing all came back to her and she heard a loud, animistic scream. No, screeching would be a better word. It was guttural, it was cacophonous, it was painful.

And it was entirely her.

She attempted to open her eyes, to still her body, to stop screaming but it felt like her body was no longer hers, like she was being possessed. She felt someone else's hands hold her down, and then another set too and another. Six hands all trying to contain a hundred and twelve pound girl. She was hyperventilating and her chest was on fire and she felt like imminent death was upon her. She saw the needle to sedate her, hovering above her now, getting closer and closer as the six hands all tried to hold her still, when suddenly her body cooperated with her mind and she went still.

Lovie nodded.

It's done. She decided.

He's gone.

-

PRESENT

Chloe and Yara were singing Chris Brown's 'Kiss Kiss' through the halls while Beans broke out into a dance. They quickly caught up with Halle and Yasmin on their way to the lunch room.

"Did You know Lovie's dad died," Yasmin asked them.

The singing and dancing stopped and Yara's mouth dropped, "no way how'd you find out?"

"Mr F. said it last period. I mean I didn't know he died but it would explain the way Solange has been acting," Halle said.

Yara gulped down her spit and a sickening feeling soon followed. Despite what Lovie had done, she was one of her closest friends and something huge like the death of a parent should be met with helping hands and sorrowful eyes not the side eyes and upturned noises she received from Chloe and Beans earlier.

"No wonder why she's just now coming to school. I feel horrible. We have to talk to her later on," Yara decided.

"I feel like shit now," Beans held his head low.

Yasmin was on the phone ordering flowers to be delivered to Lovie's doorstep the moment she was home. The group of five made their way down to the cafeteria and was met with hundreds of eyes looking at them fixedly.

"Okay do we all have something on our faces oorr," Yara asked stiffly.

Yasmin cocked her head to the side and Chloe turned to a group of girls sitting at the table nearest her. They all looked at her with a sad smile and she couldn't tell if it was guilt or pity in their expressions. Maybe a little of both. There seemed to be something brewing beneath the exterior. Even in her current anxiety-filled state, Chloe could see that. They all were looking at her puzzled. Halle noted how they all held papers in their hands.

"What y'all looking at," Beans asked the lacrosse team.

One blonde boy looked down at a piece of paper in his hand and back over to Chloe. "Huh," he appeared nervous.

"What's that," Beans pointed to the paper.

"Hmm," he pretended he couldn't hear.

Yara took a step forward unknowingly crunching paper under her foot. Slowly, she bent down to pick it up, her eyes skimming for point five seconds before she crumbled it up and tossed it into the trash can.

"Come on Chloe," she grabbed her friend's hand attempting to take her out of the hostile environment, but Chloe yanked her hand away.

Halle snatched the paper from the guy playing dumb in front of them and read it herself as tears ran down her face. Chloe tried to look over her sister's shoulders, but Halle held the paper close to her chest. "No!" She said, her lip quivering.

"Let me read this," Yasmin took it upon herself to take a piece of paper from a random student who didn't dare protest. Yasmin's reputation preceded her. "Oh. My. God!" Yasmin peered towards Chloe who had successfully pried the paper from her sister's hands. With knitted brows, Chloe began to read.

June, 26

I'm scared. He came in to get me again last night. He keeps saying that I'm his daughter and he makes me call him dad, but I don't think any dad would do those things to his daughter. He makes me do stuff to him too, like mouth stuff. I'm too scared to say no so I do it, but he's nice to me during those times so I guess there's a plus to everything right? I'm not supposed to tell anyone what he does or Mike well (dad) will get real mad and take it out on me. Besides, no one would believe me anyway, so I guess I'll tell you from now on.
-Chloe B. 12 y.o

Yara looked at her friend for a full minute, unable to comprehend why anyone would release something like that. Yasmin watched the entire spectacle play out before clearing her throat. "Chloe," She sighed, looking at her somberly, "we should leave."

Chloe ignored her friend and with shaky hands she snatched another piece of paper from someone else.

Aug, 01

I think I lost my virginity today. I'm not sure. All I know is that it hurt so bad down there when he was finished with me. He said I was getting too old to still be doing the things we did when I was twelve and he was tired of it. He made me tell him that I loved him the entire time and I think that broke me more than the pain he inflicted on my body. I decided today that I hated him. I hate dad (Mike) just in case he finds this. I know it's not good to hate, but I can't help it. After he took his penis out of me for the last time this morning I just wanted to die. You're supposed to hate anyone who makes you feel that way right?
-Chloe B. 14y.o

"I'm so sorry, Chlo," Halle finally whispered through her tears.

I can't breathe, she wanted to say. I can't breathe, I want to but I can't and please, oh God, please!

White.

-
⚠️⚠️TRIGGERING CONTENT ⚠️⚠️

FLASHBACK

"Wake up he's gonna come back!" A familiar voice commanded, though her volume was no more than a whisper.

The small girl next to her shook violently, but Chloe couldn't look at her, the feeling of pure terror, worse than any fear she'd ever felt before and yet, somehow still so recognizable, paralyzed her. She could only stare straight ahead, her vision slightly blurred, like she was looking through glasses with a prescription she didn't need. She wasn't seeing anything clearly. Her ears felt like they were plugged, like she was on a plane that was about to land.

There was a loud, terrorizing buzzing in the background and it took her an incredibly slow second to realize it was a voice, bellowing only a few feet away.

There was something blocking them, something shielding them, something that was preventing whoever was ranting from seeing Chloe and the ever present doppelgänger huddled together. She realized that the only reason she could feel the phantom girl next to her shaking was because they were pressed up against each other, grasping hands and hooking arms and digging their nails into each other and hanging on for dear life. There was a sense of familiarity to the room that surrounded them but she was far too scared to register where she was completely, almost as if her brain had been damaged or had partially evaporated.

Suddenly, the man that had been speaking, seemingly into a cell phone because Chloe hadn't heard anyone respond, cut himself off. Filling its place was his loud voice again, a screeching, harrowing tone but Chloe couldn't hear a thing. She had gone all but deaf. Her brain had shut down.

The man entered the room door and Chloe realized she had been laying on the King sized bed he shared with his wife. She squeezed her eyes shut so tightly, so fiercely, as if she could literally wish herself away, like she was Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.

"Lay back," she heard the man growl, in a tone so familiar it twisted her stomach painfully, forcing her to bite her cheek to keep herself from gagging.

"Please," she begged, her tone completely and entirely hopeless, as his hands gripped her forearms.

She shut her eyes as she felt him lean closer, towering over her, suddenly feeling her stomach drop as she registered all he could do to her in that position. Every limb, every muscle, every vertebrae in her body was quivering now, just like the girl next to her. She didn't say a word as he kissed the side of her neck then her jaw line then the shell of her ear. She glued her eyes shut, her natural, uncontrollable reaction to forced trauma, unintentionally allowing herself to be caught off-guard as he pulled back and swung, landing a harsh smack to her face for thinking instead of just doing what he said. She couldn't feel anything, she couldn't feel her body, she couldn't feel the girl hanging onto her, she couldn't feel the bed dip underneath her as Mike sat down or the arms holding her still or anything and just when she thought she was going to explode, fly into a million pieces, an eerie silence filled the air as the man entered her for the first time and instantly the girl huddled next to her, the one she'd barely paid any attention to, screamed.

She screamed louder than Chloe ever heard before in her entire life, even through all the traumatic experiences she'd been put through. She'd never heard the scream of someone who was literally having the life ripped out of them.

The man began to move back and forth, there was more screaming, more wailing, and Chloe felt warm blood leak onto her legs, soaking through the sheets and it was all she could feel.

"Shut up!" he ordered, his voice rising to try to muffle hers.

The girl's screams didn't lessen even slightly as the man paused. She knew he wasn't done, not by a long shot. They didn't lessen as he continued to assault and Chloe continued to bleed.

"I told you," he murmured, his voice as lethal as his actions, "to shut the fuck up."

Chloe realized that she had been the one screaming. Her loud, tortured scream erupted into the air, deafening anyone within thirty yards. Even in her wholly petrified mind, she wondered, why no one outside these four walls could hear her? Why not a single soul came to see what was wrong? Why was no one calling nine-one-one?

When he was done, they didn't move, both stunned to their exact spot, neither Chloe or the ghoul girl even breathed. But through the moment of silence, the girl sniffled and Chloe caressed her cheek to comfort her as the man got dressed. There were more loud cries, more screaming, more wailing and choking and thrashing and banging and retching as Chloe realized what happened and it all was too much to handle, too much to process and she wanted so badly to close her eyes, to forget everything she just went through but she couldn't. Her eyelids were stapled open, and she watched with vicious intent as the man approached her again only to land a soft kiss to her forehead and tell her he loved her too.

Mike's face clarified and his features registered in Chloe's mind for the first time it seemed, and yet, she didn't recognize the man. Or was it that she recognized him fully for who or rather what he was?

A defiler.

A violator.

A rapist.

She wanted so badly to watch him die.

-

BACK IN THE LUNCHROOM

The girl was uncharacteristically calm, as she once again reached for another paper. With boiling blood, she read more.

Sep, 17

I think I might be pregnant. I don't have any money to buy a test, but if I am I'll end it all. Me and this demon child would be gone for good. Then all would be well. I'd be in peace. I wouldn't have to suffer any more of these beatings and late night visits. It's like he wants to kill me sometimes the way he bears down on me with so much force. He has to know that one day he could hit me upside the head a little too hard and I wouldn't wake up anymore. I'll save him the trouble though if it turns out that I'm pregnant. I'll just take a lot of pills and just float away.
-Chloe B. 14 y.o

A beat of silence surrounded the room as no one knew what to say in response to what was happening. A wave of familiarity swept over Chloe and she couldn't even tell if it was positive or negative emotions.

Halle looked at her sister at a loss for words. "Chloe," she spoke her name like a question.

Chloe chuckled humorlessly. She nodded slowly, processing and accepting the situation. It made her gut ache, like a harsh kick in the stomach. She took a deep breath, stretching the muscles in her knotted up gut and was completely silent for a minute, her gaze falling down and then back up.

She was embarrassed. She was embarrassed by her own words, embarrassed by the flashbacks and the scenes they caused, embarrassed by her own helplessness, no matter how much she fought for control. She was embarrassed that she was now a public commodity

"I'm finna kill her," she bit out just before she took off running full speed to where she knew Alana would be; thirsty for blood.

Somehow Halle knew this was coming. She ran behind her sister followed by Beans, Yasmin, and a struggling Yara who all pleaded for the girl to stop. The only one in running distance of Chloe was Halle and that was because she spent years running alongside her sister so she was used to the breakneck speed.

Somewhere along the way, she'd begun to accept the labels she slapped onto herself; someone apart from the brilliant, smiling beauty she personified in public. Words like loose cannon, violent, bulldozer, crazy, traumatized, all became descriptions for her.

Somewhere along the way, Chloe started seeing herself as someone else.

(Please play ⬇️)

She pulled the heavy door open as she entered the locker room, instantly looking around for the taller brunette. It didn't take long to spot her standing in the corner talking to her friends with a wide smile on her face. In a split second, Chloe crossed the locker room floor and grabbed Alana by the shoulder turning her around to face her.

"What th—

The bone cracking sound from the hard hitting blow Chloe sent to the girl's face made Halle's throat go suddenly dry. Beans stuck his head in the door watching as Chloe peeled her book bag from her shoulders and threw it to the ground before taking a hold of Alana's hair and pounding her head into a nearby locker. Blood gushed from the girl's nose. Chloe's hands were shaking with rage, and her heart was racing. With a loud, angry groan, she swung, punching her fist into Alana's face once more. The pathetic attempt at defending herself almost made Chloe laugh out loud. Yara watched anxiously as Halle stood frozen in place, her teeth worrying at the corner of her mouth, while she clearly processed what she was looking at.

Yasmin pushed Beans' head out of the door, "stand outside and make sure no one comes in. If you see a staff member, holler!"

Beans nodded and manned his post. Back in the locker room, Chloe had Alana's arms pinned with one hand as she swung at her face time and time again. Yara failed miserably at attempting to break up the fight.

"You guys," she called out, even bending down to see if there was a way to untangle the two.

Chloe continued to send blow after blow into the girl's face as she straddled her. Several onlookers recorded the brutal scene on their phones.

"Don't break shit up Yara, she deserves it," Yasmin folded her arms watching with a smile as Chloe went for broke beating the girl until there was more bloodshed.

"Y'all see this shit!" She yelled at the onlookers. "This is what you get when you fuck with any one of us. Let this be an example," Yasmin stood close by circling the two scrapping girls.

Chloe felt herself growing weaker and she was quickly running out of energy, but the fire inside of her was like an inferno and she couldn't stop. She tripped over her own book bag, losing her balance for a moment which caused Alana to get the upper hand. Halle thought about all the times she was forced to watch her sister get beat relentlessly. How many times Chloe withstood hours of brutalization so she wouldn't have to. Her blood pumped three times as fast and Halle ran towards the fight pulling Alana from her sister by her hair before Yasmin could jump in. The thirteen year old seemed to grow two inches, and her eyes flashed dangerously as she punched Alana square in the face. Just as Alana was gearing up to swing back, Chloe finally got her bearings and kicked the girl in the stomach.

"Guys!" Yara stressed. This fight was way too brutal for her liking.

Outside of the locker room, Beans could practically feel a migraine coming on as he listened to the quarrelling right behind the door. It sounded like a fight club. Footsteps could be heard coming down the hall and the boy turned to warn the girls but stopped after realizing who it was. Lovie raised her brows at the noise coming from the locker room, "What's going on in there?"

"They fighting," Beans said simply.

"Who?"

"Chloe and—

He didn't have to finish his sentence before Lovie pulled her hair into a ponytail and pushed her way into the door. She could see Halle stomping Alana as Chloe and Yasmin were both on top of Kennedy who had tripped Chloe in an attempt to get her off of her ex-girlfriend. Yara was the first to notice Lovie entering the room. When Alana grabbed Halle's foot causing her to fall flat on her back with a thud, Lovie took that as her in.

"You ain't get enough of me last time? You must really like getting your ass beat," She dragged the girl by her hair and stood her to her feet.

She never fought someone while they were down. Yara was busy blocking different camera angles with her hands so no one could post videos of her friends online. Another one of Alana's blonde bimbo friends snagged Lovie by the shoulders just as she wrapped her hands around Alana's neck and Halle quickly took action pulling the girl down to her height by her hair with all her might and decking her in the face. Any punches sent her way she couldn't feel, plus she tussled with adults for a good three years straight so this was nothing.

"No no no not another one," Yara rushed to break Halle and the girl up with Chloe and Yasmin still riddling Kennedy with punches and kicks and Lovie and Alana on the other side fighting like hyenas.

"Stop," Yara attempted to pull the girls apart, but the blonde missed Halle, sending a powerful blow to Yara's jaw.

It took her a moment to get her bearings. "Bitch," Yara stood and kicked the girl in the stomach repeatedly as Halle caught her breath.

"Teacher coming!!" Beans' voice came from the door, causing Yasmin to stand up.

Halle had already taken a seat on the bench. Yara got one last kick in before she called it quits, and Lovie took the liberty to spit on the pathetic senior who was groaning in pain on the floor. Chloe paused with her fist in the air, about to strike Kennedy for the umpteenth time. Her chest rose and fell as she tried to catch her breath, and had it not been for the shake of her sisters head, she probably would have gone right back to what she was doing before. It was the look of fear that made her stop though, and her arm suddenly felt heavy as it dropped to her side. She looked to Lovie noticing her for the first time then down to Alana groaning and smothered in her own blood.

"I'm hungry," Halle said thinking about how she missed out on lunch.

"I could use a snack," Chloe admitted with a laugh.

Meanwhile Bean's heart was racing because he had one job and that was to be the lookout. The person coming his way just so happened to be Mrs Clemens the butch gym teacher. He knew that she would head directly into the locker room, so he had to think quickly. The boy placed a hand over his stomach and made a show of walking unsteadily to the teacher ensuring she wasn't anywhere near the locker room door.

"Mr Du Pont are you okay?" She asked.

Beans covered his mouth and swayed dramatically to the side and Mrs Clemens followed his movements to attempt to catch him if he fell. He swayed to the right, like one of those blow up displays outside of car lots, making the woman do the same before he "passed out" in the middle of the floor.

"Bernard!" Mrs Clemens shook the boy. "Bernard," she called again.

Back in the locker room, Lovie and Yasmin stood in front of the door blocking anyone from leaving out.

"Nobody's going anywhere until every video is deleted off of your phones! You get that," Lovie sneered at the crowd of girls one by one.

Yasmin folded her arms, "is she talking to herself?! Damn she asked did y'all get that or are y'all retarded?"

Everyone looked around at each other murmuring incoherently.

"Ponytail," Lovie pointed to a brace faced girl with a high cheerleader ponytail in her hair, "you're up first."

Shaky and anxious, the girl approached Lovie and placed her phone into her waiting hand.

"You," Yasmin motioned towards the only other black girl in the locker room who wasn't in her friend group.

"You not touching my phone," she sassed.

Lovie was busy making sure not one trace of evidence was left in the girl's phone. She didn't even look up to see who was talking.

"Sierra Donnelly, Junior, here on scholarship, hails from south central, transferred in like two years ago. It'll be a shame if that scholarship was somehow compromised wouldn't it?"

Sierra rolled her eyes and handed her phone to Yasmin. Halle, Chloe, and Yara watched as their friends went through every last phone in the locker room deleting video footage of the knock out drag down brawl that just took place. Their adversaries were looking them up and down harshly.

"Kennedy, Blonde number two, it's in your best interest if you pretend this whole thing didn't happen if anyone asks," Lovie suggested.

The girls rolled their eyes and sat into their hips.

The five friends fixed themselves in the mirror, Yasmin touched up her makeup, Yara made sure her curls were in place, and Lovie accentuated her winged eyeliner. Chloe and Halle looked at their faces and noticed slight bruising.

"Mommy is gonna freak!" Halle exclaimed.

Chloe rolled her eyes thinking of the trouble she'd be in if Beyoncé found out what just happened.

"Just go to class like normal," Lovie instructed.

There was a stretch of silence, one that probably lasted no more than a minute but it felt like an eternity to Chloe standing there wired until the bell dismissed the students, releasing them like caged animals. Finally Yara awkwardly cleared her throat. "I'm so sorry Chloe."

Chloe didn't offer anything up. She wondered if this would ever go away. If she'd ever feel completely detached from what her foster parents did concerning her. She had wished for it a million times, wished for indifference, wished for blissful oblivion. But she'd realized long ago that no matter what, she'd probably never be completely removed. The girl shut her eyes and took a deep breath. She had to realize, from a logical standpoint, that the topics were still fresh. It hadn't even been a year since the last time she was violated. But the irrational part of her, the part buried deep inside, the part that screamed so loud that she could hear her ears ring, told her to suck it up, that she was being over dramatic and stagy.

She swallowed that part of herself down.

Chloe's attention was called outside the door as she heard a loud cough, bordering on a choke and she recognized Beans even in a sound so disgruntled. Lovie raised a brow and they all gathered their items and headed out of the door. Halle instantly felt a chuckle escape, knowing right away why he'd made the strange noise. There were now two teachers hovering over him as he was splayed theatrically on the floor even as students bypassed him.

"Ahem," Yasmin cleared her throat causing the boy to open one eye.

He caught a glimpse of his friends and hopped up like it was nothing, startling Mrs Clemens. "Narcolepsy," he called over his shoulder and huddled close to the group as they proceeded down the hall.

"What the fuck happened in there? It sounded like somebody was about to die," Beans asked.

Without a word, Yasmin pulled out her phone and handed it to Beans. There was only one copy of the fight left and she was in possession of it. As the video played, the boy's mouth was agape.

"Who knew both of y'all had hands like that," he eyed the duo. "Who the hell taught y'all how to fight?"

Yara whipped her head around, "not now Beans please," she rubbed her temples.

The group split up and headed to their rightful classes. As always, Chloe, Yara, and Beans were in one while Lovie, Yas, and Halle were in another.

Chloe was so preoccupied by her thoughts about her business being leaked that she nearly forgot to take her seat. She had been standing at the front of the class as everyone eyeballed her until Yara stood and escorted her to her seat. They were about fifteen minutes into class when the voice of the Dean of students blasted through the loudspeakers.

"We need the following students to report to the principal's office immediately: Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey, Yasmin Wilkins, Lovie Oppong, and Yara Shahidi, please report to the principal's office at this time."

Chloe's stomach dropped as she locked eyes with Yara who appeared equally spooked. Silently, Yara collected her items and stood to collect Chloe's as well since she hadn't bothered to move. Beans shrunk down in his seat fearing that all of his friends would be expelled. The students looked on as Yara hooked her arm in Chloe's and headed out of the classroom. Two seconds later, she received a call from Lovie.

"I have a plan."

Yara listened intently even letting out a couple of chuckles as Lovie spoke.

"Got it."

-

Beans reached into his pocket discreetly checking his messages underneath the table.

"May I use the restroom please," he raised his hand.

The teacher nodded towards the door and the boy immediately took off towards Lovie's locker. He struggled with inputting her combination, so used to his own code but managed to open it. He followed Lovie's careful instructions until his hand landed on a small baggie filled with pills and a few lsd strips, the ones that melted on the tongue. He snickered to himself as he whizzed through the empty hallway until he reached Alana's locker. He didn't know how Lovie had her combination and didn't care to know. The boy expertly turned the dial entering the combination wondering why she had the old school lock on her locker like an idiot. Without a second thought, he threw the bag inside and headed back to class.

-

"Okay Beans is back in class," Yasmin announced as they waited in the hall to be called into the office.

She had been tracking the boy's every move on her laptop through the school's cameras. After working in the front office for volunteer hours for a week freshman year, Yasmin had full access because the school never updated their information and wasn't so tech savvy to have a firewall up on their site to block out third parties. It was amateur hour for sure. The girl busied herself deleting the footage of Beans and replacing it with a duplicate video of an empty hallway with a different time slot. She wasn't a student at Lexington for her good looks and charm. She was a tech wiz after all.

While Yasmin worked expeditiously, Chloe let out a huff of air as she bit down on her bottom lip anxiously. Her foot tapped rapidly as she impatiently looked up at the clock, the ticking was already starting to get to her and she had only sat there for ten minutes. She picked at her fingernails as she waited for her name to be called, her stomach churning at the thought of what she was about to do. Again she sighed and allowed her friend to soothe her. "I'm sorry. I just hate this." Yara said. "I can't believe Alana would stoop that low."

"I can," Halle said softly, staring ahead pointedly. Yara gulped at the ferocity she saw in her tiny friend's eyes.

"Are you sure you got it?" Lovie asked when Yas announced she was finished.

"Positive," the girl replied confidently, turning her screen to reveal an empty hall. "It's like he was never there."

"You sure? You checked for glitches and stuff," Chloe asked as her eyes scanned the laptop frantically.

"I give you my personal guarantee," Yasmin assured her with a smile.

Chloe swallowed hard, her throat dry as dilated pupils flickered around the room. The lights suddenly seemed glaringly bright against the white walls and that annoying ticking clock seemed to grow louder. She squeezed her hands into fists before rubbing her palms roughly along her stocking covered thighs, feeling the sticky sweat brush from the skin of her hands. She felt clammy and her heart was racing, her breathing laboured and she was desperately trying to keep in control, but everything was overwhelming her senses. She could hear every noise; the receptionist's fingers rapidly flying across the keyboard as she typed up an email, the scuffle of another student's shoe as they ran their foot back and forth across the cheap, epoxy flooring, the ringing of a bell as it signaled the start of a new class.

Everyone looked up when the large door opened revealing the dean, "Chloe, Halle, Lovie, and Yasmin, please follow me, Miss Shahidi, you can wait out here for the time being." Yara nodded as her friends stood.

"You remember the plan right," Lovie whispered to Halle who nodded.

Chloe felt her blood run cold as she stood. Halle put her weight down on Lovie's shoulder, wincing dramatically as Lovie "helped" her into the room. Alana, Kennedy, and the other blonde girl was sitting there looking like they had just lost a fight with the king of the jungle. The vice principal and principal were there as well. Lovie assisted Halle in taking a seat as Alana rolled her swollen eyes at the show they were putting on.

"Well we're here under very alarming circumstances," the principal started. "Miss Harding are you sure you don't want any medical attention before we get started here," he winced at the nasty bloodied bruises cluttering the girl's face.

"I already saw the school nurse," she sneered, holding an ice pack to her head.

The room fell silent except for a loud snicker from Yasmin.

"Do you want to tell us how you sustained these...um... these injuries," the man adjusted himself in his seat.

"Sure, these mammalian beasts attacked me!"

Chloe's leg began to tap and she pictured herself hopping over the table to continue the onslaught of blows to the girl's face. Halle groaned loudly in pain to the side of her getting the attention of the female vp, "are you alright sweetie?"

Halle wiped a tear as she nodded and looked down, sticking to the plan.

"Miss Harding could you give us a recount of the events without the name calling please," the dean asked.

"I'll see if I could manage," Alana said, earning chuckles from both of her friends, and calculating sneers from Lovie and Yas.

"I was in the locker room when," the girl began telling the story play by play from the moment Chloe punched her to the moment Lovie spit in her face.

The entire time Yas texted Beans letting him know what was going on.

"Miss Wilkins do you mind?" The principal asked.

"Sorry, my mom's worried," she said with a sheepish smile.

He nodded and turned his attention to Chloe, "Miss Bailey do you have anything to say?"

"Agh!" Halle doubled over in her seat, "why'd you have to hit me that hard!" she cried loudly as she gripped her side. "Can you call my mom please? I wanna go home!"

With a raised brow, the vp stood and exited to call the parents of all of the students involved. Meanwhile Chloe was made to tell her side since the events started out with her.

"My friends and I wanted to work out together since we were basically free because we had lunch. We went inside the locker room to change and that's when we saw Alana. Well she saw us because she came over and started calling me names. She even said...nigger," Chloe paused to gauge the reactions of the adults who gasped.

"She's lying!" Alana yelled.

"Miss Harding you had your turn," the Dean scolded.

He was a black man in his early thirties and knew all too well how some of the students at Lexington were racist pompous fascist.

"So she was in my face yelling nigger nigger nigger, and I asked her politely to stop because...that word hurts people," she once again looked at the dean.

The principal loosened his tie and blew out a breath as Chloe continued.

"Alana has been bullying me since I transferred into this school. She accused me of getting in by affirmative action even though my gpa and test scores are probably higher than hers. Again I asked her to leave me alone because she was scaring me and that's when it happened. She hit me," Chloe lied with ease.

She lied so well she almost believed herself. "I hit her back only after she hit me twice because I'm not a fighter, but a person could only take so much. I got on the floor and covered my face and she was still beating me up. I guess that's when my scared, sweet little thirteen year old sister tried to help because before I knew it, Alana had her on the ground. It was like she was possessed or something. I didn't know what to do so that's when Alana and I began to really fight."

"Mommmyy-y-y," Halle wailed dramatically to further prove her sister's story.

The dean nodded, "where does Yasmin and Lovie come in?"

Chloe looked at her friends, "I thought they were here because they witnessed everything."

Kennedy let out a scoff.

"Miss Oppong, your record here at Lexington is squeaky clean not so much as a single demerit. I'm actually shocked that you're here, Miss Wilkins not so much. Please tell me you had nothing to do with this fight," the dean said.

Lovie clenched her non-existent pearls, "Does it look like Yas and I were in a fight not twenty minutes ago? I would never! I'm just here to make sure the hate crime committed against my friend ends in some justice. I wasn't in the locker room when it first started because I had already been in the gym working out but when I walked in, hearing those awful slurs being used as Alana brutally attacked young sweet Halle here and Chloe, I knew I couldn't just stand by so Yasmin and I broke it up together."

The principal looked at Kennedy and the other girl who's name nobody bothered to ever catch, "Is this true?"

Kennedy knew she couldn't go down for a hate crime. She saw the looks the dean and the principal were giving Alana as Chloe spoke and knew they believed her considering Alana's history with bullying. Lovie folded her arms and squinted, daring Kennedy to say something else happened other than what Chloe said.

"Alana hit first, and called them the n word," Kennedy lied.

The principal placed his hand underneath his chin, "then how'd you sustain that busted lip?"

The blonde's hand went to her mouth, "it must've happened when we were all trying to break up the fight. Alana was out of control."

The brunette couldn't believe her ears, "you bitch!"

"Miss Harding! Language!" The principal stated.

"But she's lying Mr Larson, ask Yara, she was there," Alana screeched.

The dean left the room briefly and entered with Yara in tow wanting to hear what she had to say. "Have a seat Miss Shahidi."

Yara wore a blank face, looking at no one as she carried her book bag as if it was a briefcase. She noted how real Halle's cries sounded and sat at the end of the long table next to Yasmin. Everyone else was silent.

"Did you hear any name calling while you were in the locker room," the man asked.

Yara nodded her head appearing as though she was getting ready to defend someone who had been put on trial for capital murder.

"What was said and by who?"

Yara turned her lip up and leaned forward. She eyed Chloe then Alana, "nigger from Alana." She said as if she had been running her lines in the hallway.

Yasmin did all she could to keep herself from laughing too loudly which caused Halle to lean her head on the table to hide her own laughter.

The dean began to write something down.

"While we're here," Yara buttoned her blazer and continued. "Earlier today these were released by Alana using the school's printer, might I add." She reached inside of her book bag pulling out about fifty pages of Chloe's journal.

Chloe opened her mouth to speak, to tell Yara to put the pages away but nothing came out. Her eyes remained downcast, her expression disturbed and uneasy.

"Very graphic and extremely personal journal logins from Chloe here. Due to the strict anti harassment and bullying statutes here at our wonderful school held up and carried out by fine staff members like you two I believe this is grounds for expulsion," Yara folded her arms.

Chloe still kept her eyes downcast, taking short, choppy breaths as the dean reached over to grab the papers. She didn't want anyone else reading excerpts of her life. This was the most ultimate invasion of privacy.

"Oh," was all the dean could let out when he read over an uncomfortably detailed entry. He shivered instantly feeling disgusted.

He wasn't alone as the principal picked up a page. They gaped at Alana, their eyes narrowing, like she was an imbecile. They couldn't be any more different and yet, their expressions were mirrors of each other.

Seeing their reactions, Alana struggled to find a way out. "There's no proof of me doing it. Any one of you could've done that!"

"Accusation," Yara held up one finger, "except this school has cameras everywhere. I'm pretty sure if they run them back, they could see you spreading the papers all over the lunchroom. You know, I don't know what brought her to do this. I think it has something to do with the drugs she takes...while in school."

"What?! This dumb bitch is lying!"Alana yelled.

"Badgering the witness," Yara pushed her glasses higher on her face.

Although they weren't prescription, they added to her role as witness number three and she was living.

The principal scrunched up his face, "Come again?"

"Yes," Yara cleared her throat, sitting up a little straighter, "I said, I think it has something to do with the drugs she takes. While...in school." She said a bit louder, reaching into her bag for the student handbook.

"In section six line ten it states here in black and white, students in district 129 found to have consumed any amount, in possession or control of selling or delivering any controlled substance while on or off school property during any school sponsored activity that district 129 is involved in, shall be subject to disciplinary action. The disciplinary action could result in a suspension up to ten days and the student will be removed from campus immediately. The local police will also be contacted and the student will be immediately recommended to the Board of Education for expulsion. Now what are we gonna do about this," she placed her elbows on the table and clasped her hands together.

Yasmin was having the time of her life by herself attempting to hide her laughs while Lovie sat straight with a smirk playing at the ends of her mouth. Halle's "cries" turned into poorly concealed laughter.

"This is ridiculous! She's the one who deals drugs," Alana pointed to Lovie.

The fifteen year old chuckled and peered towards the dean, "oh so now the black girl is the drug dealer?"

"Get my parents down here now!" The brunette demanded.

The principal dismissed Lovie, Yas, and Yara back to the waiting room along with Alana's side kicks while he waited for Chloe, Halle, and Alana's parents to come.

-

Heavy gradual clicks of heels caused many heads to turn in the crowded halls of Lexington high as Beyoncé took her time alongside her husband heading towards the main office.

Jaws dropped, kids squealed their names with glee but most of them simply gawked at the power couple as they walked by. Bey's mouth was fixed into a frown, unable to find her smile after receiving a call saying that not one but two of her daughters had been in a fight and she needed to get down to the school fast. She called Shawn immediately after, who had to postpone a meeting to get down to the school in a timely manner. Neither knew the state of their girls, but Bey could only imagine that at least one of them had been badly beaten up by the way the woman described it as a brutal fight. Shawn joked that their girls were tough and he tried to bet money that both Chloe and Halle had been the ones to prevail. The blonde rolled her eyes when he said it and reminded him that they are young ladies who she wasn't raising to be in public fighting.

Going through the maze of a school, the couple finally reached the office. The front desk clerk of course recognized them and knew exactly who their children were.

"Mr Larson will see you now, his office is right down that hall," she pointed.

Shawn nodded his thanks and placed his arm around his wife's waist as they walked. Bey could spot five young ladies sitting on a bench just outside of the office and realized she recognized three. Anthony's daughter, Yara, and another girl she had seen at the hospital over a week ago. She was good with faces. She noticed how Yara hid her face by looking into her phone, but it was too late Shawn and Bey had already spotted her. I'm telling her parents if she had anything to do with this fight, Bey thought. Shawn was too focused on Lovie who's eyes followed him panic-stricken. It confirmed his thoughts, that she knew whatever happened to her father, he had done.

Shawn gave the office door two knocks before he entered. Bey followed cautiously, like walking into a lion's den.

Mr Larson slowly made his way over to them, taking his time to cross the room, "Mr and Mrs Carter," he addressed them directly.

Shawn shook the man's hand, but Beyoncé barely responded. It was only a slight acknowledgement, a mere raising her eyes to meet with the man, but she had yet to remove her glasses so there was that.

Bey looked around and spotted Chloe and Halle sitting at the end of the elongated table. On the other side was Mr and Mrs Harding along with whom Shawn and Bey assumed was their daughter, Alana. Immediately, the woman went to Chloe.

"Let me see your face," She took the girl's chin looking at her daughter from all angles before smacking her lips and rubbing her thumb over a bruise on her cheek. "Look at this Shawn, done messed up my baby's face," she glared at the teenage girl sitting across the table.

Shawn ogled Chloe's face and shook his head, "at least she got one hit in," he felt like being petty.

Words weren't needed when Bey sat beside Chloe. She took in her daughter's appearance, her emotional state and she gathered her into her arms. Chloe read once that no one could make you feel safer than your mom. That no matter how old you grew, your mom would always be the one place you could go for sanctuary. She'd never thought that could apply to her and Bey. She'd only felt this connection once, that unspeakable bond that would never be dissolved. She felt blessed to be able to feel it again. She witnessed countless times as Julez and Solange had heart to heart moments or how much Bey adored Blue. She could see how Titan was his mother's entire life. She'd seen how Bey treated Halle and thought that, maybe, she only had enough love for one extra child not two. Maybe Halle was really just special enough that she consumed the love that was supposed to belong to her once again. She thought that maybe it was all her fault, maybe there was something defective inside her that put up a roadblock between her and Beyoncé. Made her impossible to form that sort of special bond with.

But it wasn't until now that she realized just how wrong she'd been.

Bey was one of the only people in the world that could hold her and tell her everything would be okay. And she'd actually believe for a second it was true.

The woman rocked her back and forth, with no impatience in her movements.

"Bey," Chloe whispered, and, unsurprisingly, heard tears in her own voice.

"It's okay Sweetpea," she whispered, kissing the girl's hair.

Chloe nodded into her mom's shoulder, unsure of what she even planned on saying anyway. Everything felt like a blur, like a dreaming trance. Things one second felt harsh and brutal and harrowing. The next second they felt unreal and numb and she wondered if she was going mad or if this was a dream. Had she really attacked that girl like that?

Bey stroked her daughter's cheek with the back of her hand. "Take a deep breath, okay?" Chloe did as told, expanding her lungs and letting go. "It's okay," Beyoncé murmured. "Everything's okay."

The words didn't placate Chloe, not in the least, but she took them for what they were worth. Bey wanted to make her feel better, wanted to ease her, comfort the pain that was overwhelming her psyche.

So she let her. She forced a shaky, pitiful smile and tried to give the woman's hand a reassuring squeeze.

The teen realized then that one of the reasons Bey seemed so genuinely nurturing right now was that she had lost the barrier, somehow, that pushed people out. She didn't recall the moment her guard went down and she knew without a doubt, it'd rise back up soon enough but, for a hot second, she didn't feel the discomfort, the feeling of exposure, the almost humiliation boiling in the pit of her stomach, at the thought of letting people in.

She no longer had the energy to shove people away.

Mr Larson cleared his throat eager to get all of this over with and Bey removed her glasses solely to shoot the man a withering glare. Halle looked on elated that her sister could have such a vulnerable moment after all of the horrible things that were apparently scribbled inside of her journal. Shawn made his way over to his thirteen year old. Their eyes met, brown to brown. He grimaced at the marks on her face knowing his wife would make a scene once she noticed. Not a single word was needed as she opened her arms, sheepishly, beckoning him like a toddler wanting to be held. He gathered her close, sweeping her up like dust off the ground. Her entire body felt worn thin and flimsy. It ached in ways she was all too familiar with. It was a hurt that she'd been forced to become acquainted with many times in her adolescence, most notably in the last year or so.

"What you doing fighting," he tried to be serious but Halle could tell it was for show.

She peered to Alana and shrugged her shoulders. It was then that Beyoncé noticed the dark red bruise and scratches along Halle's neck. She leaped to her feet and hurried over to her husband and child.

"Somebody mind telling me why my kids sitting here with bruises on their faces cause I ain't send them into this building this morning looking like this," She eyed the principal angrily.

Alana's Senator father sat there appearing unimpressed with the display before him. Karen shifted in her seat uncomfortably while Alana couldn't stop staring angrily at Chloe. Chloe stared back at her, rendered completely speechless with Bey and Shawn present.

Mr Larson nodded earnestly, "Yes Mrs Carter, if you would take a seat please."

Bey held the come back brewing inside her and eyed her husband who shook his head telling her it wasn't worth it. The woman sat down and Shawn placed Halle back down so that he could take a seat as well.

"I would just like to apologize for having to meet under these circumstances," Mr Larson stated, "To start –

"Uh Uh, I wanna hear it from my child. Go ahead Chloe," she gave the girl the floor as she gave Karen a once over.

Chloe felt her heart sink again and she struggled with the thought of lying to Bey like she had easily lied to the school's staff.

"She's been bullying me," Chloe thought the lie would be better if she at least started with a truth.

Shawn let out a huff knowing the history between the two teen girls. He looked Alana up and down in disgust as he took in her battered face. Chloe really did a number on her. The girl's eye was nearly swollen shut and her entire right side of her face was visibly swollen.

"She was calling me the n word and then she hit me while we were in the locker room, so I hit her back and we started fighting," her eyes shifted as she said it and Bey squinted wondering why Chloe was lying, but didn't bring it up.

"That doesn't sound like Alana," Brian said.

Shawn sat up in his seat, "you calling my kid a liar?"

"I'm not calling her anything. All I'm saying is that doesn't sound like something my daughter would do. She wasn't raised to be an...animal," Brian quipped.

Beyoncé and Chloe tapped their legs twice as fast beneath the table and balled their fists up.

"Who was Halle fighting," Bey asked Chloe who pointed to Alana.

"She tried to get Alana off of me and that's when they fought."

Karen sighed, "Alana has a total different recount on what happened. She says Halle jumped on her."

Bey sized Alana up, "look at the size of that girl," she motioned towards Halle who was uncharacteristically silent, "you trynna say my five feet, eighty five pound soaken wet thirteen year old child had the strength to jump on that grown ass lil girl right there?"

"Bey," Shawn tried to calm her.

Karen looked frightened, "Mrs Carter, as you know, our daughters have had some issues in the past but I really don't believe Alana would say those things and then randomly attack your children."

"Ain't she the one who locked you in the closet not two weeks ago? This the man that forced you to take pictures with him cause he was trynna get the black votes for his campaign," Bey asked Chloe.

"Yes," she murmured.

Shawn looked between his wife and the man across the table, "what?!"

"Oh yeah baby I forgot to tell you that," Beyoncé turned to her husband and back to Karen. "You think with a daddy like that it's so far fetched that your child would be around here calling people the n word?"

The white haired Caucasian woman didn't react to Bey's words. Not even faintly, but Brian sat there cheesing and chuckling which infuriated Shawn to no end. He began cracking his knuckles and Halle grew cautious of the action.

Mr Larson wiped at his face, "I understand that this is a tough situation for both parties, however I'm working with the dean of students and the vice principal to come up with appropriate disciplinary actions."

"It better be disciplinary actions for those two who clearly attacked my daughter! Look at her face," Brian spit out.

"Actually, Mr Harding, there are several eyewitnesses that confirmed Alana as the instigator and as the person who threw the first punch. We've had numerous students claim to have heard your child using racial slurs towards both Bailey sisters and just this afternoon she was caught on camera vandalizing the school by throwing hundreds of copies of Chloe's personal information around the lunch room," Mr Larson said matter of factly.

He had been dealing with complaints about Alana since her freshman year and this was the straw that broke the camel's back for him.

"What personal information," Bey asked.

Shawn and Bey watched as Mr Larson opened a manila envelope and slid it over to Bey.

"No, don't read that," Chloe reached for the papers, but Bey held her finger up.

The teen focused her eyes on the table, grinding her lower lip between her teeth as she watched Bey read the first piece of paper. Shawn studied his wife's face wondering what could be on the paper. The whole room was thrashing, spinning now in complete circles. Bey felt like she couldn't breathe, her chest was on fire and the room was twirling and she was angry, so angry and the ceiling was caving in and she wondered if this was what it felt like to have a bomb strapped to her chest.

She picked up another page speedily reading the gruesome details of her daughter's past life. She couldn't even finish reading the last sentence before she was shaking her head, rejecting the very idea that Chloe, her Chloe, her Sweetpea had endured the violations penned word for word in her handwriting. Instantly, like being shot or punched, her entire body filled with dread and remorse. She knew Chloe had been raped. She sat right next to her as she told the doctor, but seeing the details attached to those horrendous acts, then knowing the entire school probably knew Chloe's business actually broke the blonde.

I'm killing her, a voice in Chloe's head whispered. I'm killing Bey.

The woman squeezed her eyes shut as she let out a loud sob, completely oblivious now to her audience.

"Bey," Shawn called, growing more and more alarmed by the second. When she didn't say anything, he was forced to draw his own conclusions. That those pages were printouts of Chloe's journal. It was the only logical explanation.

She was already shaking her head before she could get any words out. Brian and Karen exchanged a perplexed glance wondering what information their daughter had on Chloe that would cause this big reaction from the woman.

The first thing Bey said was hoarse and broken and almost too vulnerable for even her to believe. "It wasn't your fault. You were just a baby," Bey choked out in between sobs.

Halle couldn't stand to see her mom cry and thus produced tears of her own silently off to the side.

"It wasn't?" Chloe asked as if the statement threw her for a loop. She was so lost, so deep, inside her self-deprecating thoughts that she barely noticed how Bey's expression shifted.

She looked as if the question physically pained her and reached out to tuck a loc behind the girl's ear, her expression turning introspective. "Baby, no," her voice broke.

Chloe didn't seem to agree but she wisely chose to pick her battles. "Sweetpea," Bey whispered, seeing how her eyes were filling up, more so out of stress and consternation at her current situation than actual sorrow. "It's not your fault," the blonde instantly murmured.

While Bey and Chloe had their moment, Shawn slid the envelope his way and ran his eyes over the gruesome content, only pausing when he landed on one specific page.

"Preg—

He stopped himself from saying the word out loud, fearing that if he did it would make the journal entry true. Shawn wiped at his face and stared at Chloe in pure disbelief. This time Halle watched his jaw clench and pretended not to notice, knowing it was an involuntary protective reaction he had. He'd never taken well to hearing or seeing women or children being hurt. At the moment he was struggling with thoughts of not being able to protect Chloe in her time of need. Feeling as though he had failed her even though he didn't know of her existence. Everything inside him still desperately screamed at him telling him somehow he should've been there. Should've had some sort of superhero intuition, a sixth sense that led him straight to her and protected her through whatever dared to come her way. Chloe eyed Shawn just after he refused to read further and studied his body language as he gawked at her.

It shouldn't have been such a big deal knowing he read some of her entries. Basically half of her Sophomore class had read it along with the staff. It shouldn't have dug so deep inside her. It shouldn't have made her chest ache as badly as her head. Or her throat throb , the way it always did when she suppressed tears, like she had to physically swallow them down.

But it did.

The second the first sob fell out of her mouth, Shawn was already up and heading her way, done with asking permission to console her.

Both his arms wrapped around her and instinct took over as she flung herself entirely into his embrace.

"Whatever is on those papers. I apologize," Karen's heart was breaking watching the mother and daughter tear up.

"Shut up," Bey sniped, shocking everyone around the room. She had entered into a bitter tone as she wiped her last tear.

There was a long silence that dragged on, straddling the line between awkward and uncomfortable and just downright unnatural.

"How old is your daughter," the woman asked Brian.

Karen peered between her husband and child, "she just turned eighteen a month ago."

"Awe cause mine fifteen and thirteen. She's an adult fighting kids," Bey stressed as she sniffed.

Brian sat up seeing where the woman was going with this, "she's hardly an adult."

Bey motioned towards Alana, "look how big she is compared to Halle! She got five years on her! That is a damn child! I'm not about to have it!" She turned to the principal. "So when is the police getting here?"

"There's no need to get the police involved," Karen grew alarmed.

"You got one more time to address me directly and Imma show you that the apple," she motioned to Chloe "don't fall too far from the tree. You raised a monster!"

"Mommy," Halle said, causing Bey to turn her way. "Alana was taking these weird pills while we were at her house. She goes through the halls and takes them in between classes, maybe that's why she did all of this. She's probably not a monster."

"Bitch shut your fucking mouth you're lying!," Alana screeched.

"Aye aye," Shawn said.

Bey pushed her chair from beneath her with a loud screech and stood on a dime, "baby you eighteen. If you so big and bad to fix your mouth to call my child a bitch you better have the hands to back yo shit up cause ain't gone be no more talking, only walking, like a damn dog and I ain't talking 'bout no pets. Karen, I'm telling you now if she so much as utter naan nother word to anybody on this side of the table Imma spazz! Control that lil bitch! Since you wanna call my baby a bitch?! You the bitch! Out here fighting with somebody half your size!"

"Alana relax!" Karen scolded her child who was gearing up to say something else.

Oddly enough, as much as it baffled Halle to hear her mom speak that way, she stood from her seat and wrapped her arms around her middle, staring at the Harding family. "I'm sorry baby," Bey looked down at Halle and rubbed her back. She must've thought she had frightened the girl, but in truth Halle felt so protected in that moment. She saw the fire in the woman's eyes as she defended her hotly and thought that this was what it looked like when stepping up for a loved one.

"I see where they get their behavior from," Brian muttered.

Halle felt her mother's muscles flinch and she squeezed her tighter to get her to calm down as it was now Shawn's turn to go on the defense.

"Make another comment," he warned simply.

Brian lifted his brows, chuckled and adjusted himself in his seat, but didn't let another word leave his mouth.

Alana continued to defend herself. "I don't take drugs and especially on school grounds! Check my bags! Check my locker you'll see," she said to Mr Larson.

"Police me please," Bey folded her arms.

Mr Larson ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair. The police had never been on Lexington's private school grounds, not ever in the history of the elite school did anyone feel the need to call the authorities. "Mrs Carter."

"Police me please," she said again, barely even looking over her shoulder to say the words. It was clear by the look on her face that Beyoncé wasn't used to repeating herself. For as long as she'd been a superstar, people had pandered to her every request.

"I–

"Imma own this damn school if I have to call them myself," she pulled out her phone. "Her ass is going to jail! Period!" She dialed the 'nine' "she think she could do what she want to my kids? Over here pill popping and releasing information," she muttered as she dialed the first 'one'.

"My wife asked for the police," Shawn nearly growled out with Chloe still close to his chest.

Mr Larson hopped from his chair, "we'll contact the authorities right away."

"Thank you so much," she said with a sarcastic glint in her eye.

Chloe just wanted to go home and scream into her pillow and fall into a slumber in which she never had to wake up. She realized then she was holding her breath and let out a violent exhalation, noting the lack of noise now coming from the room after Mr Larson left.

Bey just stared at Halle for almost a full minute before rubbing her temple, ogling the long scratches on her neck. Alana hadn't been the one to put them there. It was blonde number two. "Messed my baby all the way up! I can't even think straight!"

Alana narrowed her eyes at the girl clinging to her mother like she was so innocent. Then something else occurred to Halle. While Chloe's secrets were spilled, Alana's hadn't been revealed. The thirteen year old locked eyes with the brunette and smirked.

"Alana," she started, "I'm sorry your ex-girlfriend Kennedy broke up with you. Maybe you could find another girl that you really like and likes you back in that way instead of pushing yourself on people who aren't lesbian like you."

"Aren't what?!" Brian exclaimed, his eyes wide as saucers. He looked like he'd been told the sky was really orange.

Halle had it ready and loaded. "A lesbian, like Alana," she said in her soft voice and looked around the room drinking in the Harding's utter shock and Alana's enraged glare. "Oh, sorry," she said sheepishly and looked up to her mom, "I thought everyone knew. I didn't mean."

She was cut off by Beyoncé shushing her and Chloe couldn't help but chuckle at her sister's petty antics.
Halle knew it wasn't her place to out people. For some, it took years after realizing who they were to tell their loved ones out of fear of rejection and ostracizing. But in this case she didn't feel so bad for saying what she had to say.

Brian turned to his daughter, "is this true?" A thick vein pulsed on the side of his head.

"Brian please calm down," Karen placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, but Brian pulled his arm away. "No Karen we're her parents we deserve to know the truth," his eyes never left his daughter's. For as far back as he could remember, Alana had always been his perfect little girl after the disappointment of a son he had. This couldn't possibly be true. Halle had to be making things up as she went. "Are you a lesbian," he flat out asked his daughter.

"Yes!" She threw her hands up, her eyes growing wide.

Brian processed this. "No you're not. You're my daughter."

Alana swallowed hard on the lump that'd built up in her throat. "Why can't I be both, dad?"

Brian took a deep breath, having to collect himself, before speaking again. "You-you just can't."

Karen couldn't resist standing and going over to hug her daughter, "why didn't you tell me sweetheart?"

"Because I knew you'd tell dad, and he'd go on and on about his image being ruined," she bit out.

"You know I love you either way right," Karen cooed.

The brunette girl couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes now. She nodded, attempting to keep her face somber but there was an unparalleled amount of hate in her eyes towards Halle that she could not conceal. Bey saw it, and covered Halle's eyes not wanting her daughter to see the cold calculating stare.

"This is ridiculous," Brian folded his arms.

No one said much else as Mr Larson re-entered the room. "Alana, Mr and Mrs Harding, please follow me. Mr and Mrs Carter an officer would like to speak with you."

The Hardings shuffled out of the room and two sets of footsteps joined the Carters in the private room.

"Hello, Mr and Mrs Carter," a fairly young uniformed female officer greeted, her mouth twisting into a smile.

An older man stood by her side, clearly feeling good in his gray suit. "How are you?" The grey haired man asked, feigning actual interest in Chloe and Halle's well-being. He didn't understand why his presence was needed considering he wasn't a beat cop like the rookie standing next to him. The principal tried explaining that the two families involved in the altercation were high profile and therefore needed to be handled differently, but he couldn't care less what these people did for a living. He had a pile of paperwork to complete and by him being here, it just added to his to do list.

"I'm fine" Halle said, uncomfortable as hell but stifling it down. Her last encounter with the police was still fresh on her mind.

"No she's not," Bey countered, "both of them were targeted and attacked and I want the girl arrested."

Both the officer and the detective exchanged a look and the man scribbled something down on his notepad, attempting to be nonchalant.

"We're here to talk to you about what happened," the officer nodded.

"Did you wanna start," the detective asked, condescendingly gesturing with his chin towards Chloe since she appeared the oldest.

Her mouth opened a little, the way it always did when she was unsure or embarrassed or insecure. She looked down for a couple seconds before shrugging her shoulders getting ready to rehash the lie for the third time that day.

Shawn didn't like to admit it aloud-he doubted he ever had-but being around cops put him in a panic after always having to deal with them in his formative years when he ran the streets. He wondered if his wife knew that. If she could tell he hated cops by principle, or if she saw his disdain for the uniform as him turning his nose up to the force, as lesser people. He threw his arm over Chloe's shoulder protectively and listened as she began to talk.

-

"What do you think they're talking about," Yara asked as she stood from the bench and began pacing.

The three friends had watched cops enter the principal's office just as the Hardings left out. Lovie wracked her brain, realizing only now that she hadn't asked herself this question. She was too focused on the idea that the man who had taken her father away, so she assumed, was behind that door ten feet away from her.

"I don't know, Beyoncé probably wants to press charges," she said finally.

The curly haired girl looked at her phone, panic seeping into her veins, this was getting out of hand.

"Y'all think this a bad time to ask for a picture," Yasmin asked, making Yara stop and stare.

"Yes Yasmin," she sneered, and continued her pacing.

"Sit down, you making my head spin," Yasmin sighed.

She nodded quickly and took a seat trying to appear at ease. Lovie raised her brow at an incoming message, "Beans said the police just broke the lock off of Alana's locker!"

The three friends huddled together as Lovie speedily replied.

LV🔌🍃🍃: keep me updated

Bernard Du pont🥴🤣: they just handcuffed her 🤣🤣😬

LV🔌🍃🍃: 🥴🥴🤣🤣🤣😂 🙏🏾

Bernard Du pont🥴🤣: they headed to the front of the school now I'm recording all of this shit🤣 dawg I'm crying! She making a fucking scene

Seconds after Beans' last message came rolling in, yelling could be heard down the hall; undoubtedly it was Alana's loud mouth screaming something about injustice and a plot to set her up. Lovie, Yas, and Yara rushed to the window of the office followed closely by Alana's two friends who had still been held there.

"Sis is going out bad," Yasmin shook her head.

Lovie couldn't help the wide smile on her face watching as Beans followed behind the cops dragging a screaming, handcuffed Alana. He engaged the crowd of students who had curiously gathered in the hall loudly prompting them to get in the camera and express their elation like they were on spring break and he was an MTV cameraman.

"Guess they found the drugs," Yara whispered.

Lovie nudged her before someone actually heard her. The officers paused right in front of the main office and Mr Larson pulled the door open visibly frustrated, stomping by and headed to his office to retrieve the Carters. All four of them trailed behind the man as he escorted the family out into the hall. Chloe and Halle briefly locked eyes with their friends and Halle discreetly held up a thumb letting them know everything was going to plan. The detective and officer they had been speaking to followed as well.

"This is a set up! I don't take drugs! Dad you have to believe me," Alana struggled with her cuffs.

"Alana," both her parents said at the same time, more in sync now than they were in their marriage.

"Would you like to press charges for the assault?" The officer asked the Carters.

After giving her children a once over, Bey thought about what the Hardings would do if it were their kid being bullied and taunted. "Yes," the blonde said confidently.

The Carters were compelling, dominating, persuasive people. Even those who never encountered them, people who never met them once in their lives, knew that they didn't play when it came to family. That had much more to do with Shawn rather than Bey, but she was grouped in by default.

It was almost comical, the reaction they were getting from Alana's parents. As if they couldn't believe that Bey would actually want to press charges on their child. She would've laughed had she not laid eyes on Chloe who looked so terribly sad and appeared to be hiding her face in Shawn's shirt from the other students.

As the police removed Alana from the premises, Mr Larson turned his attention to Shawn and Bey. "Due to our strict rules here, I can't have the girls on the school campus."

"So you kicking them out?" Shawn did his best to keep his voice low. After all the money he paid for their tuitions, they were getting kicked out for defending themselves?

"No no no, what I'm saying is I think it's best if they continue their education with our online school until the end of the school year. They'll be receiving the same education and only have to come to the school for certain assignments. Most of our students who start their careers early take this route. In fact, their friend Yara did the same thing when she was in eighth grade and returned the next year with no problems."

Shawn felt Bey slip her hand into his, lace their fingers together and squeeze, and he knew that taking this option was best for his girls. The man sighed, releasing some of the anger that had built up in him over the last hour.

"When does it start," he asked.

"I'll have the admissions team change their status to online and create the curriculum today. They'll be completely virtual by morning," Mr Larson nodded.

Chloe and Halle both looked stunned, their eyes boring into each other's. They had escaped this incident by the skin of their teen. Bey had already talked to them about completely pulling them out of school last week, so this wasn't truly a punishment, just hastening what was already going to be.

"Okay," Shawn agreed.

-

Lovie, Yara, Yasmin and Beans sat in the office. The girls for some reason hadn't been dismissed and Beans had a free period. An awkward silence hung over them that none of the four teens knew how to break, the only sound in the group coming from Lovie's phone that was buzzing in her lap. The exhausted girl picked it up and cancelled the incoming call without even looking at it. Yara and Yasmin looked between each other and their hands, while Beans sat with his head hung.

"So um, how has your week been?" Yara tried awkwardly, causing Lovie to scoff at the girl's lame attempt at starting a conversation.

How was her week? Hmm it was horrible. It was the loneliest she'd ever been in her life.

"Look, let's just face it. This is awkward as fuck so I'mma stop us from beating around the bush, and just cut right through the damn thing," Beans exclaimed, clasping his hands together as he met Lovie's saddened eyes.

His voice changed to a serious tone mixed with traces of empathy, "we're so sorry to hear about your father."

Yasmin dropped her head and reached for her best friend's hand, "I'm sorry that I was too caught up with being mad at you that I couldn't be there when you needed me most. I-I can't even express how sorry I am, friend."

"I'm so sorry, Lovie," Yara whispered through her tears, her heart breaking at the thought of what they all had done so selfishly even after knowing her father had been in the hospital.

The girl felt her own tears stinging at Yara's words. Things have been bad, no horrible this week. So horrible that she found herself drinking alone on a bench outside the funeral home her father would have his home going. She had to make all of the plans herself in her mother's absence. She had to meet with the director of the establishment, choose what suit he'd be wearing, choose if it was an open or closed casket, choose exactly which casket he'd spend eternity in, everything had been overwhelming. Lovie's phone buzzed again, causing Yara to look down at the offending object. The grief stricken girl hastily scooped her phone up, and hit ignore before placing it in her bag.

"You didn't know. It's not you guys' fault," she said, her voice soft but rough, and so full of raw emotion.

"But still we should've been there even if your dad was in the hospital for an ingrown nail," Yasmin replied.

"I respect that' Lovie replied, nodding her head in understanding, because she knew that if the tables were reversed, there was no way in hell she would have left either one of them alone no matter if they told her they had been the one to place their own loved ones in the hospital. She would've been there. She would've stayed.

"Did you have the service already," Yara asked cautiously, her voice cracking still under the force of the tears that still brimmed her eyes.

Yas and Beans' curiosity piqued, wondering the same thing.

Lovie took a deep breath, and Yasmin saw how her hands shook as she took in the question. "It's tomorrow morning."

Her phone buzzed inside her book bag, signalling an incoming phone call. She let it ring.

"Maybe you should get that," Yara suggested.

Lovie nodded and reached in her bag again to retrieve the small device. She ran her finger over the screen to see who had been calling and hesitated to answer.

"Ma?"

-

It had been three hours since the Carters arrived home with all three of their girls. Blue had an early dismissal since everyone had been at the school anyway. It was safe to say that all five of them were a little on edge, Chloe more so than anyone. Halle spent these three hours worrying and fretting. Worrying about Chloe, worrying about the inevitable talk she knew would happen, worrying about herself. because she couldn't stop dwelling on what happened with her sister and Alana. She had never thought it possible for Chloe to lose control in such a way and if she was being honest with herself, it scared her a little to have seen the girl act the way she did. She wasn't sure what to make of it, because Chloe was always so passive, and she knew that her timid sister couldn't even hurt a fly, but at the same time, she couldn't forget how angry Chloe looked in that moment. It was all too reminiscent of the look Mike used to have, and Halle had to keep reminding herself that Chloe wasn't like him.

Halle ruffled her hair with a towel, making sure it was at least a little dry, before flicking her locs back. She sighed as she took a look at herself in the mirror, taking in the sight of the bruises she sustained. She thought about how she looked this way months ago when she first arrived in LA and chuckled. "I kicked her ass though," she mumbled to herself, before she turned away from the mirror and exited the bathroom. She made her way into the kitchen, smiling when she saw Chui humming away to himself as he chopped onions.

"Vaya, jovencito, I hope the other person looks worse," he raised a brow as he continued chopping.

"They do," she chuckled and opened the refrigerator looking for a snack to tide her over till dinner.

She settled for a grab and go protein pack and grabbed a pre-made smoothie.

"What you cooking," she asked as she made her way over to the counter, sliding into a seat.

"Paella Valenciana, nothing fancy, I didn't get started on dinner yet. This is just a because meal," he picked up some saffron to give the rice a bit of color.

"Looks complicated," she bit into a cracker.

"Not really," the man lowered the fire on the stove.

-

The hot water rained down on her body as the steam rose, and Chloe relished in the feeling of her day washing away from her skin as she rinsed the shampoo suds out of her hair. She had been in the shower for a little over thirty minutes already, allowing herself to take her time as her mind filled with rampant thoughts. When the water began to run cold, she stepped out and proceeded to get dressed in some sweats and threw her still damp hair into a messy bun.

She laid on her bed, her head propped up under a mountain of cushions, as she stared blankly at the ceiling unable to get the images of her day out of her mind and the hatred she felt for herself for what she had done and what had been done unto her. She hated herself even more, because she knew that if she was put in that position again, she would do the same thing a thousand times over. It hadn't gone unnoticed to her though, that Halle hadn't visited her since they got home. Bey and Blue had popped in, Shawn was constantly checking up on her, hell even Solange had wobbled her way down the hall to see how she was doing, yet Halle had stayed away and Chloe thought that was the thing that hurt the most.

When she heard a small knock followed by her room door opening, she assumed it was Shawn again like every other time before that, so she didn't take her eyes off of the ceiling.

"Hey, you," Halle's voice came from the entrance, and Chloe slowly turned to meet her sister's eye.

"Uh, hey," she replied roughly, sitting herself up halfway.

"Can I...?" Halle asked, gesturing towards the bed that Chloe was still sprawled across, causing the girl to straighten up even more.

"Uhm, yeah! Yeah, sorry. Sit down," she almost shouted her reply, causing Halle to chuckle lightly at her sister's obvious nervousness. She could be so dramatic.

Chloe folded her legs and placed a single pillow in her lap, while Halle perched herself on the edge of her bed, and patiently waited to see if the younger girl was going to talk again.

"So..." Halle sighed. 'How are you holding up?' She asked, her eyes studying the older girl intensely, mentally noting the dark rings that sat beneath her eyes, her usually glowing skin was dry and her hair was pulled into a messy bun at the very top of her head.

Chloe wanted to say she was ok and she almost did, not wanting to have this inevitable conversation, but she knew that Halle could read her like a book, and ultimately lying wouldn't stop the guilt and hatred she was currently feeling for herself. The problem was, she didn't have the words to say to her sister. She didn't know what Halle wanted or needed to hear from her in that particular moment, so she let out a deep sigh and simply shrugged her shoulders, catching the other girl's eyes for a second before pouting slightly and looking down at her fingers.

"Everybody read my journal, and you probably hate me because I forced you into a situation today that you didn't have to be in," she eventually said in the most vulnerable and timid voice Halle had ever heard from her.

Halle's brow scrunched in confusion, because she couldn't understand why on Earth she would possibly hate her for what happened today.

"I don't hate you. Why would I," she asked, her voice soft and warm in a way that Chloe didn't feel she deserved.

"Because of what I did," she replied almost instantly, her eyes widening as her mind was filled with images of what she had done to Alana and Kennedy. "Halle I can't apologise enough for behaving like that, especially in front of you. It was wrong and I won't ever let it happen again. I'm sorry." She rambled, unable to put straight everything she wanted to say to her sister.

"Chlo, hating yourself and apologising isn't going to make this better. You need to move on from this. All of it. Stop letting it eat you up," Halle replied softly, shuffling along the bed to get closer to her sorrow filled sister, before taking both her hands into her own.

"I want to...It's just hard," Chloe replied, her voice barely a whisper as she spoke. "How could I do that to another person, Hals?" She asked, looking into Halle's eyes as if they held all the answers. She shook her head softly and let out a low, humourless chuckle. "After everything...everything we went through back in Atlanta? I don't know how you can even look at me right now, when I'm just as bad as he is," she finished, her tone full of self-hatred and Halle could see it reflected in her eyes. She was sure that that look was the most painful to see on Chloe's face, because the thought of her older sister hating herself was incomprehensible.

"Don't say that," she breathed sadly. "You're nothing like him, okay?"

Chloe rolled her eyes at the words, tears flooding brown orbs as she mentally disputed everything that Halle was saying to her.

"How am I not like him? Did you see Alana's face?" She asked bitterly. "It looked like I almost beat the girl to death or at least unconscious," she added, and Halle could feel her own tears springing at Chloe's words, because she couldn't understand how someone so incredibly pure, could be so loathsome of themselves and so broken by the world. She leaned in and delicately rested her head on Chloe's shoulder, "first off, Lovie fought her too and so did I so get that out of your head. And the difference Chlo, is that you feel bad about what you did, even though you did it for all of the right reasons. Mike never felt an ounce of guilt for what he put you through over the years and I know cause if he did he would've stopped with you and not continued with me." Halle explained with a soft kind of firmness to her voice, because she wanted Chloe to really hear what she was saying.

She looked at her sister in the eye now, "you're not a bad person Chloe. You're so good...God it gets annoying sometimes. You might have lost your way a little today, but that person is still inside of you. The Chloe Bailey that I love and cherish and look up to is still inside of you. In fact I'm looking at her right now." She finished, the last words slipping out like word vomit, but Halle didn't care because she meant them.

She wanted the happy, funny, nerdy, Chloe that she knew and loved back.

Chloe nodded like she was soaking the words in, "did you just big sister me?" She asked with a smile.

Halle put her finger to her chin like she was in deep thought, "I think I did."

"You're growing up," Chloe stated flatly.

Halle chuckled, "Yeah that happens sometimes."

Both girls exhaled a breath when the door swung open and Beyoncé and Shawn entered hand in hand. Chloe watched them closely and not for the first time, marvelled at how incredibly in love the two were. She had always found it fascinating to watch them, even when they were unaware. Shawn and Bey always seemed to move around each other, like planets orbiting the sun. They moved together as one entity, as though they were magnetised. One moved, the other moved too. One stopped, the other would practically freeze in position to match. It reminded her a lot of her birth parents. They too, had the type of relationship that moved Heaven and Earth. That was, until Heaven threw a pin in the works and took them for good.

Beyoncé bent to pick up Chloe's uniform blazer which had been thrown to the floor beside her bed in a frenzy the moment she returned to her room. Chloe's eyes followed the woman, watching as she carefully folded the garment and placed it inside of a laundry basket. The blonde then crawled onto the high reaching bed and faced both girls. As always, Shawn took a seat at the vanity and waited for his wife to speak first. They agreed she would take the lead with this one.

"So," Bey started, "y'all ready to tell me the truth?" She asked, cautiously looking between them both.

Chloe was frozen in place, fighting between her heart and her head. Halle looked to her sister wondering what they were going to say.

"Yes, I just," Chloe began to respond, turning to look at Halle, who looked like she was about to cry at any moment, from being caught in a lie. The woman's eyes raked up and down her daughter's face, searching for any sign of what she was going to say.

"I'm sorry for lying in the first place," the girl exhaled, her expression masking one of pure exhaustion. "I didn't want to get expelled," she added, tilting her head to the side as she pulled at her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Chloe," Beyoncé lamented.

"I know," she quickly interrupted, turning fully towards Bey now, shuffling on the bed so that they were impossibly close.

"So what really happened," Shawn prompted, wanting to both clear the atmosphere a little and get the two girls to say something of substance because right now they were otherwise mute.

Chloe messed around with her fingers, "I attacked her." She mumbled, her throat suddenly feeling dry. Bey nodded silently, her lips pursing a little as the silence lingered awkwardly between them.

"She didn't call me the n word," Chloe breathed, as she wrung her fingers uneasily.

She watched with cautious eyes, as the blonde in front of her searched around the room, looking anywhere but at her, as if she were trying to find the answers to an unspoken question. After a long, heavy period of silence, Bey finally shook her head and looked into longing eyes that were pleading for her to understand.

"Chloe baby, that's a huge accusation. Why did you have to add that," the woman asked, wanting to get some sort of sense from the girl in front of her.

Chloe took a deep breath and turned to look into the warm, brown eyes of Shawn who seemed to have the ability to ease her through any situation. "Because she always says the most racist things to us."

"She called me a monkey," Halle interrupted.

"Can you start from the beginning Chloe," Shawn asked as he took in her bruised knuckles.

She let out a deep breath and composed herself preparing to recall her eventful day, but it was only when Bey's hand slid into hers, giving her the smallest squeeze of encouragement, that she was finally able to speak.

"Alana was waiting for me by my locker when I got to school this morning. She said that I was scary because Vivian went to her house to pick up our stuff instead of me coming to get it myself. I tried to ignore her, I did but I was tired of her messing with me especially after the whole closet thing. I told her that I was gonna tell the whole school about her being gay if she didn't leave me alone, and she said I would regret saying that to her. Hours later, Halle and I went to lunch with our friends and everybody was staring at me and holding papers." Her stomach tightened as she remembered that feeling. How humiliated she was once she realized the information her classmates were all privy to.

"My friends read the papers before I did," Chloe continued, tears spilling down her full cheeks as she re-told the true story that she hadn't yet recalled to anyone.

"I knew only one person would do something like that and I ran from the lunchroom to the locker room. Once I saw Alana it was like I lost all control. I punched her and then slammed her head into the locker before I started beating her. It was like I couldn't stop myself." She almost felt the need to prove that she had done what she had said, because it was apparent that the woman didn't believe she was capable of such an act.

"After that I don't remember much, just glimpses of Halle pulling Alana off of me and me fighting Alana's ex because she tripped me."

"Chloe," Bey whispered, filled with a mixture of shock at the story she had just told her, and pain at the thought of how hurt she must've been that all of those people had read her innermost thoughts. Thoughts neither she or Shawn even had the privilege of reading, let alone strangers.

"So there was more than one person y'all were fighting," Shawn asked, needing to get all of the facts.

"Yes um...there were three in total," Chloe replied as she rubbed away the tears on her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Three! Where were the other two," Beyoncé almost shouted.

Halle figured her sister had done enough talking so she took over, "they were in the office waiting."

"Did they jump y'all?" Shawn felt himself becoming angry all over again.

"Um no, Lovie, Anthony's daughter, helped me after Alana got me to the ground. Then another girl entered the fight and me and her went at it until Yara stopped us. My friend Yasmin, she helped Chloe with Alana's ex and then it ended because a teacher came and nobody wanted to get in trouble." Halle explained.

Chloe sniffed up snot, "I don't remember all of that." She played with her hands. "I'm a monster" she added quietly, her eyes flicking to the ground as she spoke the words she believed more than anything. She didn't feel worthy to even look at the beautiful woman in front of her.

"You're not a monster," Bey replied, as she reached out and placed her hand gingerly upon the girl's slumped shoulder, needing to provide comfort of some sort, despite her mind racing, trying to imagine the sweet girls in front of her in a full out brawl.

A question rested at the tip of Shawn's tongue. A question he's had on his mind ever since he read the few pages from Chloe's journal. He knew he'd regret asking, but he had to know.

"Were you pregnant," he blurted out.

Beyoncé's heart stopped in her chest, she craned her neck towards Shawn. Her mouth hung slightly open as she tried to process what just came from her husband's mouth.

"Huh," Chloe let out.

Shawn ignored the heat from his wife's blazing stare, "were you ever pregnant? In your journal, you said you thought you was pregnant. Were you?"

She froze, taking the words in. Her face fell slightly.

Halle stared at Shawn, taken aback by his inquiry. There was a long stretch of silence after Shawn went silent. A long bout where you could hear a pen drop, while everyone waited for Chloe's response. Instantly her head was shaking, her still uneven breaths growing louder as she attempted to simultaneously relax and force her migraine away.

Shawn tried again as Chloe rubbed her forehead furiously. "Chloe."

"Please," she begged, squeezing the bridge of her nose between two fingers, hoping it'd numb the pain in her head, if only slightly. Halle scrunched her face up at her sister's actions.

"No, I-I was never pregnant, ever. I just thought I was because my cycle was really late and it scared me," her cheeks burned at her own statement.

"Oh, sweetpea," Beyoncé breathed out a sigh of relief and unexpectedly gathered her daughter into her arms, cradling her head. Even without a warning, Chloe easily breathed in the woman's perfume and burrowed her face into her shoulder, shutting her eyes. The two of them sat there for minutes on end, without a word; hugging.

"Chloe, this journal," Shawn started, "I don't think it's helping you none. You doing nothing but holding on to bad memories from a life you no longer live. It's not healthy." He studied her face for a minute. "When you write in it do you feel any different?"

She met his eyes, and shook her head. He had her there.

"I don't think you should use it anymore. I mean you have a therapist. You have music. You have your sister. You have me and Bey, but that journal, it's toxic and you shouldn't be revisiting those memories as often as you do. Even if you don't sit there and read it, you write your songs in the same book as you write about your abuse and just flipping those pages to find a blank one to use is a lot."

The forlorn look was gone and now in its place was the slightly disgruntled expression she naturally got every time she felt guilty about something.

"It's ultimately up to you whether you want to continue using it, but please at least try and hear me out," he stood and walked over to the girl, holding his arms out for a hug. Which she gladly gave him.

Bey stood as well, "come on lil bit, give your sister some alone time. You need to put some neosporin on those scratches anyway."

Halle gave Chloe's hand a light squeeze and slid from the bed, exiting with her parents. Once they were long gone, Chloe stood and lifted her mattress to retrieve the journal. She ran her hand over the orange hard cover and opened it to the first page. She chuckled at how sloppy her handwriting used to be. She flipped to the second page. Her smile changed then, morphed into a slightly more mortified expression and suddenly she crossed her room floor, headed to her desk to grab a pen. She reclaimed her spot on her bed and began to write.

March 25,

Today was horrible. Everybody found out about you. Like everybody. Some bitch, sorry some girl, made copies of you and let everybody know what I talk about in here. I beat her though. I beat her for you, my friend when I didn't have one. A listening ear when I felt nobody could hear me. I fought her and that little bitch of a girlfriend of hers. All for you. My family seems to hate you though. That's weird to say, well to write. My family. My family. My family. My family. They don't think we should be together anymore. You're too toxic. I guess that means me. I'm too toxic because really you're just a bunch of blank pages held together by string. You're toxic because I'm toxic and you're a reflection of me. Not me me per say but you're the thoughts I try to keep down and to myself, but I did put a few of the happy me into you. You have some songs in you just like me. Shawn wants me to get rid of you so bad. I saw it in his eyes when he suggested it. He was serious. But how can they ask me to get rid of my first friend? How could they ask me to get rid of you when you are me? I sound crazy. Oh yeah almost forgot to put in here. Me and Halle are getting adopted. Bey and Shawn already started the paperwork. Now that sounds crazier than me. I'm getting adopted three years before I age out of the system. They say never say never though so I guess. Any who, as weird as it sounds, I don't think I can trust you anymore. Not after today. Not after those looks they gave me at school. I've never been so humiliated in my life and it was all because of you. So imma listen to Shawn because he's right. I have to get rid of you. It just has to happen. This will be my last entry. This will be my goodbye. This will officially serve as our breakup and I'm sad don't get me wrong. I'll still feel the need to reach for you whenever I'm down but I'm getting older and it's time for me to start finding different ways to cope. So here's goodbye my friend, my sweet little butterfly, goodbye. Forever and then some, goodbye.
-Chloe B. 15y.o

-

Blue questioned Halle for the millionth time about her bruised up face and when it seemed Halle wouldn't tell, the five year old resulted in running around making punching sound effects saying Halle got beat up.

"POW," Blue threw her small fist at the annoyed thirteen year old.

They were in the living room just hanging out while Shawn sent emails to his staff from his laptop. Halle hung from the couch upside down letting her hair touch the floor and her feet rest on top of the sofa.

"POW," she threw her fist again, this time closer to her older sister's face.

"Mooooove, don't you have some toys to play with, some boogers to eat, or something," Halle swatted the child's hands away.

"Daddy! Halle's being mean because she got beat up!" Blue yelled.

Shawn peered from his laptop just as Bey returned from the kitchen chomping on a bag of plain Lays chips. "Leave her alone Ivy," she said and sat next to her husband, pulling her feet beneath her.

"Can I have some," Blue and Halle asked at the same time.

Bey rolled her eyes, tossing another chip in her mouth, "here dang, y'all just want it cause y'all see it," she poured a small amount into each of their waiting hands. "Can never have nothing," she muttered.

Shawn chuckled and turned to her, "lemme get some."

She dug into the bag and broke a minuscule piece of chip off, placing the crumb in his hand. Both of them died laughing and Shawn stared into his wife's eyes. She leaned her forehead towards his, their noses pressing together.

"Ugh," Halle said as she held her hand out for more chips. Bey ignored her and placed a quick kiss to Shawn's lips.

"Bey, Shawn," Chloe padded her way into the living room while the adults looked at her.

"Wassup," Shawn asked once she stood behind the couch.

Chloe averted her eyes to Bey and held her hands out for chips. She hadn't eaten since breakfast and she didn't notice before but her stomach was begging for her to put something in it. Bey handed the girl the entire bag, earning a smack of the lips from Halle. As Chloe tipped the bag to her mouth, vacuuming up the remaining chips, she casually placed her journal on top of the sofa. Bey and Shawn eyed each other.

"I wanna burn it," she stated seriously, her voice low.

She had been in her room thinking it for a while, that the only way the journal would have a proper send off was by going up in glowing hot flames. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. She didn't want to leave any trace of it behind.

"Okay," Shawn said simply and closed his laptop before standing.

The family of five made their way to the backyard, watching as Shawn got a fire started in the wood burning fire pit. Halle could see the flaring kindles illuminate in her sister's eyes as she ogled the fire with the little orange book held tight to her chest.

"I feel like you should say something," Halle nudged Chloe, pulling her from her trance.

Blue on her hip, Beyoncé coaxed the oldest girl to speak, with a wave of her wrist.

Chloe took a deep breath, and sighed.

"Here's to the end of an era," she raised the journal in the air, "may we never return."

Shawn smiled wide, feeling privileged to watch her close a chapter to her life and become so willing to start anew. The fifteen year old held the book above the cracking flames as if she was about to toss it in.

"I can't do it," she said.

"Chloe," Halle muttered as she raked her fingers through her hair.

The girl pressed the journal into her chest like her life depended on it,"I can't," her voice broke.

Halle peered at Bey who shrugged. "Can I do it," Halle asked. "Yes," Chloe replied after a long silence. She looked down at her hands, picking at her cuticles as she spoke. The younger girl had to basically pry the book from her sister's hands, but eventually Chloe relented. Before she could change her mind, Halle threw the journal into the open flames.

"There, done," she announced.

Chloe watched the flames shimmy and sway as they rapidly incinerated all the words that were her own, sending thick black rings of smoke into the air. She felt a weight lift from her shoulders, almost like she could finally truly breathe.

"Burn baby burn!" Blue squealed, catching everyone off guard.

They all laughed, "that's right baby! Burn baby burnnn!" Bey threw her arm in the air.

Shawn brought Chloe into his side and watched the flames flicker.

It's gone, gone, gone, gone
It's gone, gone, gone, gone
It's gone, gone, gone, gone
Bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye

-
NEXT DAY (Thursday)

It had been a full eight days. Roughly, it had been one hundred and ninety two painful hours since Lovie heard the flat beeping tone of the Grim Reaper of a heart monitoring device. It had been about eleven thousand, five hundred, twenty minutes since Lovie's life flipped upside down and permanently remained shattered.

She hadn't reacted in the typical way most people did when a loved one passed. She had eaten, she had showered, and tended to her hair. But, as the days went on, not stopping for her, it was already time for everyone to dress up in black and pay their respects in a chapel.

It was nine on the dot as the girl stepped towards the community church; alone. A few of her dad's "employees" offered to accompany her into the building, but she had denied the offers, not wanting to spend these vulnerable moments with hoodlums who only cared about her father because of what he could offer them. They could charge it to the game.

Lovie's breathing grew rigid at the sight of the double church doors and she felt faint, despite the few bits of granola bar in her stomach. The church was vacant and her father's casket wasn't even in the front yet. She took a seat in the first pew ensuring her posture was as straight as a board just in time to see pall bearers dragging out the casket. She had chosen an open casket. From where she was sitting, she could only see the tip of her father's nose and a slight silhouette of his features. She made a whimper partially seeing him and felt her stomach plummet to the ground.

People were starting to arrive by the boatloads and Lovie suspected that some only came to ensure her father was actually dead. She felt someone tap her shoulder and jumped about a foot in the air. Turning, she realized it was Yara, alongside Beans and Yasmin.

"Hey," Yasmin squeezed Lovie's shoulder, taking a seat in the pew behind her.

Lovie managed a half smile and turned straight forward as the preacher grabbed his microphone and mournfully greeted the guest. She saw her estranged grandparents individually pay respects before walking away and sinking into the same pew as her. Her grandmother, a sweet old lady who she hadn't had the pleasure of growing up with because she couldn't stand the way her father lived his life, gripped her hand and told her it was going to be okay. Lovie nodded, stepping before the coffin and felt sick at the sight of her dad. His skin was grey-ish and his eyes were softly shut. As she stared more at his head resting against the board of a coffin, she knew that he wouldn't ever wake up. She breathed out shakily and moved her eyes downward. He was clothed in a nice suit with a plain white dress shirt. However, Lovie noticed the tie the mortician had put on him and chuckled. She'd only seen him in a tie on pictures from his wedding day, and her mother joked that she had to practically force it around his neck. The teen reached inside the casket and straightened the tie so that it was perfect and reclaimed her seat.

At the sound of the chapel's door opening, everyone turned around. Lovie's breath caught in her throat. Strutting down the aisle, perfect posture, perfect hair, striking cheekbones and glowing amber skin was her mother, Chikwe. Chikwe held the hand of a clumsy eight year old boy who tripped over his own two feet attempting to keep up with his mother's long strides. Lovie's heart was having a field day inside of her chest. She made sure she kept her shoulders upright and neck unbent. Chikwe took a seat next to her daughter, pushing all of her pleasantries aside as she stared ahead; unspeaking.

"Lovieee," Cassius attempted to go to his sister, but was pulled back by his mother.

"Behave yourself Cassius," Chikwe scolded him.

The young boy nodded and sat to the left of his mom. Beans peered over his shoulder, searching the crowd for the familiar face of his friend's mouthy twin sister.

"Where's Reiyo," he whispered to Yasmin who shrugged her shoulders.

"Shhh," Yara put her pointer finger to her lips.

Throughout the service, Lovie stole small glances from her mother.

She always thought Chikwe was the most beautiful woman on the planet. Too often, she'd wished she resembled her instead of her father. Reiyo was blessed with her mother's looks and anyone who met her didn't hold off on letting her know just how gorgeous she was. To some, it could cause a mean jealous streak, but Lovie never allowed that to happen. She was Reiyo's biggest fan. At the thought of her late sister, the teen peeled her eyes from her mother, her features too hard to regard.

Within forty five minutes, the service ended. No one spoke on Anthony's behalf. Not one person shed a tear. Not even Cassius, but Lovie suspected that he truly did not understand that this was the last time he'd see his father. After Reiyo's passing it took him an entire six months for him to stop asking when she was coming home. He assumed she was in New York with their father just like Lovie.

Chikwe was the first person to stand and head down the aisle once the preacher dismissed them. Lovie hesitated before she ran after the only immediate family she had left.

"Ma!" She screamed.

Chikwe sped up her steps, dragging poor Cassius along.

"Ma!" She screamed again.

This time Chikwe halted her steps and whipped her head around harshly. "What!"

Lovie was thrown off by her mother's tone. She rarely yelled. She'd much rather cut with her words using a sinister low tone.

"Are you coming to the burial," she stared at her younger brother.

The hair-raising laugh Chikwe let out was all the answer the teen needed, but the woman spoke anyway. "That bastard better be lucky I showed up here. I only came so Cassius could have some closure."

"What about me?" She found herself asking.

Chikwe's brows met in the middle of her forehead, "you? What about you?"

"I'm alone." The teen choked out.

Chikwe looked her daughter up and down, "you're not my problem anymore. I gave up my parental rights a long time ago."

Lovie chuckled, somewhat abashed. "Where am I gonna go? I'm fifteen they're gonna give me to the state."

"They should take you to the prison where you belong," the woman gripped her son's hand when he tried to run off with another child who passed by.

Lovie's words got caught in her throat, "- it wasn't m–

Chikwe cut her off, already knowing what she was about to say, "this isn't the place."

"Then where?"

"Look, your problems are not mine, Lovie," she attempted to walk away.

The teen caught her mother by the arm. Chikwe eyed the hand and used her pointer finger and thumb to remove it. Lovie took a step back and lowered her gaze to the floor. "I'm your child too."

Chikwe's heart clenched, "you took my daughter away. She isn't here and when I look at you all I could see is her blood on your hands."

Lovie ogled her hands like she was an infant who just noticed she had them, "I didn't pull the trigger. The man, he-he did, not me. I lost my sister, ma. She died right in front of me, but I didn't think I'd lose you that day too."

It wasn't that Chikwe didn't love her daughter. She loved all of her children, but Lovie had always been the one who tried her most and after hearing the details of Reiyo's horrendous death she couldn't bear to look at the daughter who survived that brutal night. She had cried a million and one tears as she signed her rights over to her ex-husband.

"Lovie," she sighed.

"Mom please, can I come to New York with you and Cassius," she found herself begging.

Chikwe swallowed the lump in her throat as she held eye contact with her only living daughter. It'd be like a ghost hunting if Lovie came back home. She was used to Reiyo being at the house with just her and Cassius, but Lovie had left at twelve and only ever visited on holidays since. She'd freak hearing Lovie bustling about through the house, expecting to see her songbird of a daughter next to her twin cracking jokes.

"I can't," Chikwe choked out.

Lovie's shaking hands found their way to her hair as she thought of another solution, "if I get custody papers sent to you could you sign them and I stay here in LA? Could you at least do that? I won't bother you. I just can't be caught dead in a group home or foster home when I have a mother here living and breathing." She was simmering, her blood boiling underneath her skin.

Once upon a time, it would have disturbed Chikwe to hear her daughter take this type of tone with her, but she recognized that the girl was under an extreme amount of pressure. One she felt in her bones. When she took in Lovie's detached demeanor, she quirked an eyebrow and struggled with the want to mother her child in that moment, but they had spent many years being strangers and the moment felt too awkward.

"I'll sign them," she decided. "Don't worry about sending them to me. I'll have my lawyers draw something up tomorrow."

All Lovie could do was nod, still reeling from her mother's rejection. "Thank you. Can I give Cassius a hug?"

Chikwe nodded, much like her daughter. She slightly cringed when Lovie enveloped her younger brother into a long-winded hug. She resisted the urge to call for her mom just one last time as her long legs made their way out of the door. She knew it would be futile.

She noticed that it felt like she hadn't exhaled in days.

Her lungs were shaky as she tried to take oxygen in, tried to calm herself down, tried to get a grasp on herself. She heard her friends behind her, heard them slow their pace, halt in their tracts in order not to startle her. She wanted to turn around and tell them everything way alright, tell them they had no reason to worry, that she was fine and they could go about their day however they planned. But before she could find the words, Yasmin was at her side taking her hand in hers. The three friends had seen the mother and daughter talking and thought to give them their privacy, so they stayed away. They couldn't hear what was being said. They could only see the pained facial expressions from Chikwe and Lovie's gentle movements.

"Are you okay," Yara felt stupid for asking because duh she wasn't, they were standing in a church right now just after sitting through her father's funeral.

"I will be," Lovie affirmed herself.

Beans gave the girl and understanding look, "where was Reiyo? Why didn't she come?"

Lovie had almost forgotten that she had never told her friends of her sister's passing. It was a secret she had to keep for her father. If people found out, they'd want to know the circumstances of the death and Anthony couldn't have that. They held her funeral in New York with only immediate family and a few of Reiyo's friends.

Yara, Beans, and Yasmin still remained, staring at her with wide sympathetic eyes. Lovie stared at them like she was playing a game of chicken. Be the first to move and you lose. But she had nothing more to lose. The truth came tumbling from Lovie's lips in a series of broken sentences and incoherent muttering. Her mouth moved rapidly, as if it was trying to outrun the shame creeping up her cheeks. She spit it all out without preamble: Their kidnapping, Reiyo's shooting death, Her mother's shunning.

Yasmin listened silently, her face full of compassion that Lovie assumed wasn't for her.

"Why didn't you tell us," Yara asked once she stopped talking.

"My father needed it to be kept a secret, and I guess in my head she was very much still alive, so I couldn't bring myself to talk about her in the past tense.

Yasmin and Beans nodded their understanding.

"She deserves a send off," Beans suggested.

"She does," Yara agreed.

Yasmin thought for a second, "how about we throw a small memorial for her tonight? Something low key?"

Lovie smiled, "I'd like that."

"My house at eight, casual attire," Yasmin announced.

They all agreed on the allotted time.

Yara announced her call time to set and had to be whisked off and Beans and Yasmin had to head to school since they were technically ditching.

Most of the guests had moved from the chapel and were now standing before a fresh headstone. The preacher prayed some more as the coffin was lowered into the ground. Lovie stood in between her grandmother and grandfather watching the coffin slowly but surely go downward. She had zoned out but then she saw her grandfather bend forward. Lovie bent down and grabbed a handful of dirt. She tossed it onto her father's coffin, unable to produce any tears. She dusted off her hands and was eerily reminded of Reiyo's funeral. She knew her head stone was somewhere miles away from this one and that saddened her. Even in death her family was still disconnected. She blinked and just like that, her father's body and coffin were six feet under, dirt scattered along the top like sprinkles on a birthday cake.

The attendees of the funeral were all dispersing. She stood there in front of the ditch dug specifically for his corpse. The preacher stepped toward her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss, but he's in a better place."

She fought back a snicker. Better place? He must've never met her father.

Once she was alone, she blew a kiss into the grave and sighed. She looked out onto the other graves then back at the headstone right in front of her. Her throat dried and she blinked tears away. She picked up another handful of dirt and sprinkled it on his coffin once again. She let out a heavy hearted sigh before wiping her hands on the skirt of her dress. She backed away from his grave and headstone and turned on her heel. She didn't know what her future held, but one thing she knew for sure from turning her head around and looking over her shoulder, was that she'd never return there.

-

LATER THAT NIGHT

When Lovie arrived at the Wilkins' home late because she was running on cp time, she was astounded by the heartwarming display in front of her. Yasmin had told her to come around back. She was met with her friend's smiling faces as they stood surrounding a bonfire. The backyard had been draped in electric blue decorations, Reiyo's favorite color, and there were more than a dozen Chinese lanterns hanging around. She recognized smooth music coming from a speaker as the last playlist Reiyo had shared on her Instagram. Everyone from Coltrane Williams to J Ember graced their ears.

"Guys you didn't have to do all of this," Lovie beamed as she approached her friends.

Yasmin handed her a red solo cup, "yes we did. It's only right we celebrate a beautiful soul like yo-yo's." She used the silly nickname she came up with the first time they were introduced. Lovie was on edge the entire time that day, scared the two might not get along due to their boisterous personalities, but they clicked immediately.

"She would curse you out right now if she was here," Beans joked. Reiyo hated being called anything but her given name, but she allowed it seldomly with Yasmin.

Yara poured herself up a drink and joined her friends in front of the fire. There was a comfortable silence amongst them until Yara broke it.

"To Reiyo," she lifted her cup, staring at the flames.

"To Reiyo," the rest said in unison, mimicking Yara's actions, and drinking from their cups.

"Remember the summer before eighth grade when Beans tried to make a pass at Reiyo and she stole his swim trunks and threw them in your neighbor's yard," Yasmin asked Yara.

They all chuckled, feeling the sting from the alcohol, "how could I forget, the neighbors called the police complaining about a strange naked kid in their yard. Had my mom pissed at me for a week and I had nothing to do with it." Yara said.

"I know she liked me though," the boy said confidently.

"Pleaaaaase," Lovie threw her head back laughing. "She came home and complained all night about how lame LA boys were. She told me that you had one more time to give her googly eyes before she, and I quote 'take a brick to his dome, dead ass'."

"That's my girl," Yasmin chuckled.

Hours felt like minutes as the friends reminisced about old times. They agreed to stay the night at Yasmin's, so Lovie wouldn't have to go back to an empty house. It felt like old times, and the girl couldn't be more grateful for the people she called friends.

A/N: Imma stop right here because...chile 🙄🙄

Favorite moments?

Least favorite?

Also any request for the next chapter?

Thanks for reading...until next tizzy-ime.😘😘