𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐀, a 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘪 𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘤!
L'RIYAH SAT ON top of her kitchen counter and watched Nia talk on the phone with a worried look on her face, she didn't know what happened but she assumed that something bad happened.
"you good?" she asked as Nia hung up the phone call, "CG broke his nose? i'm mad confused right now." Nia replied.
Riyah nodded her head. at the moment, she didn't really care about what happened to CG since they weren't even friends anymore.
it had been a while since she had even breathed next to him, so she wasn't too concerned.
there was only one thought in her mind that involved CG, and that was the fact that he knew about her and Notti.
she feared that out of jealousy, he would expose them.
"you wanna talk to him?" Nia suggested, making Riyah mug her.
ever since the argument that CG and Riyah had, Nia had been trying to get her friends to reconcile their friendship. it had been slightly difficult trying to maintain her friendship with the both of them as there were some times when Riyah would want to hand out, so would CG.
However, Nia secretly sided with Riyah. she believed that they. both had valid reasons to be mad at each other, but she thought that Riyah's views were slightly more valid.
"no, ian talkin' to him unless he apologises." Riyah replied.
she didn't feel bad for flashing out on CG because he was giving her the same energy, she believed that he had no reason to be mad apart from the fact that she lied to him.
"so never?" said Nia which made Riyah laugh, she knew how stubborn the pair were so she also knew that they would both be waiting for the other to apologises.
"how he even break it?" Riyah asked curiously. she couldn't lie, a small part of her was wondering if he was okay, but that didn't change the fact that she was mad at him.
"ion even know, he didn't tell me." Nia shrugged, she tried to ask him multiple times how he even broke it but he refused to.
"but i saw a post on his story earlier that showed he was at sugarhill, so maybe that's the reason." Nia suggested, Riyah's eyes slightly widened at the mention of Sugarhill.
it finally made sense, but Notti told her that he wouldn't do anything.
"wait. youn' think that Notti-" Nia's words were cut short as Riyah interrupted her, "no, ion think he would."
she tried to sound confident in her answer, but she didn't know what to expect.
★
NOTTI SAT SILENTLY throughout the car ride to Edot's. although it had only been at least seven minutes since DD had questioned him about CG's words, the tension between the two brothers could be spotted easily.
Notti had also realised that he completely ignored Riyah's words after she told him not to do anything, but he couldn't help it.
for the past months CG had been the opp that Notti hated the most. the constant disses that not only he but his gang were sending towards Notti angered him, the only reason he didn't do anything sooner was because he was one of Riyah's closest friends'.
he didn't regret fighting him, if anything he was happy that he finally got to get to him, he just felt bad for not telling Riyah.
"get out, we here." said AJ which made Notti snap out of his thoughts, he watched as AJ opened the door for him before taking off his seatbelt and stepping out the vehicle.
the boy turned to his side and watched his older brother who had a straight face plastered on, Notti instantly felt an itch of regret at the fact that he snapped at him.
he didn't want to keep anything from his brother, he wanted to tell DD what CG was talking about, but he knew that he would probably get his ass beat if he even tried to tell him that he & Riyah were a thing.
as the four boys entered Edot's home, the strong smell of weed hit them. the house had a few of their friends scattered around.
he quickly found a spot on a suprisingly empty couch, he watched as DD sat on the opposite side of him making him mug the older boy slightly.
"yo wassup wit you niggas?" Keem asked the two brothers as he walked into the room, "you got cuts on yo lips and knuckles, what happened?" he continued.
Notti glanced to his side to look at his brother, he expected him to speak up since he had nothing to say. "we found some opp niggas." DD simply stated.
everyone in the room lifted their eyes at the mention of the word "opps", they stopped what they were doing and began to pay attention to DD's words.
"oh shit, who?" Quan spoke up, barely anybody knew about the situation.
"that CG nigga." said DD, Notti sat quietly as he just listened.
"he mad annoying, he was wit' someone?" asked Edot, "yeah his lil friend JJ, i was fighting that nigga." DD answered.
"Notti you was fighting CG? good, that nigga been on ya dick heavy recently." Keem praised him, the mention of his name finally made Notti speak up.
"i finally caught that nigga bro, i can't stand him." spoke Notti.
literally everyone knew how much CG and Notti hated each other, so they were all happy for him.
"now you just need to catch that Riyah B bitch." Boogz added, everyone in the room except Notti nodded and dapper him up in agreement.
the mention of Riyah's name made Notti's eyebrows furrow, he honestly hoped that they had forgotten about her as it had been a while since Riyah last dissed them.
"yeah when i catch that bitch bro, imma-" DD began before getting interrupted by his brother, "what? she ain't even a real opp to us." Notti spoke over DD.
he tried not to show how angry he was getting at the sudden mention of her, but he was failing.
"the fuck you mean she not a real opp?" DD mugged his brother at his words, "she been dissin' us fa time and you sayin' she not an opp?" DD argued.
"she not even in a gang nigga, how you mad she dissin' us?" Notti questioned, his friends were looking at him as if he was crazy.
"but you was just dissin' her, you actin' mad weird." DD didn't understand his brothers' sudden switch in attitude towards Riyah, just four months ago he was absolutely hated her and now it was as if he was defending her.
"ion give a fuck, ian wastin' my time on someone who ain't even involved wit any gangs." Notti snapped, the rest of their friends sat in silence no knowing what to say.
they had witnessed the brothers arguing many times, but only over petty things.
"aight chill, you really arguing bout a bitch?" Quan said, trying to clear the tense air in the room.
everyone returned to their separate conversations as Notti and DD sat in silence, the topic died down as DD got up from the couch and made his way to the kitchen. Notti didn't know why he did this, but he got up and followed his brother.
DD scanned his eyes over Edot's kitchen trying to find something to eat, he quickly glanced at Notti who entered right behind him before looking away.
it was silent before Notti spoke up, "you good bro? i was-" "nah nigga, don't talk to me." DD interrupted his words.
"you mad oppy for not tellin' me what CG was talkin' about and tryna' say that Riyah B aint' a opp, we meant to be bros." he added.
"you mad cause ian tellin' you something? you weird for that." Notti snapped, he didn't want to argue with DD, he just wanted to make sure that he was okay.
"and because you tryna defend an opp, you makin' me mad confused." said DD, "she barely our opp, ion care bout' her no more." Notti responded.
he wasn't lying, he didn't really see Riyah as his "opp" since she wasn't even involved with any gangs.
"the fuck is so bad that youn want to tell me?" DD argued. he could remember when Notti and CG were going back and forth, he could recall CG mentioning that apparently Notti was "fucking wit an opp".
"do i gotta tell you everything? hop off my dick DD." Notti said with a mug, he was starting to get mad at how his older brother was talking to him.
"why CG say that you was fuckin' wit the opps?" DD asked curiously, he made sure to lower his voice so that nobody else around the house could hear his words.
"i told you, that nigga was cappin'." Notti lied.
DD kissed his teeth as he could tell his brother was lying , "say word to ya-".
"fuck outta here wit that shit bro, you my blood brother and youn wanna believing me?" Notti tried to gaslight, he felt bad because his brother's suspicions were correct, but he knew that DD would be extremely angry if he did find out.
"cause you keep lying nigga." DD snapped, he realised how loud he was being so he tried to keep composure.
"youn needa believe me, i'm out." Notti said before leaving the kitchen, "the fuck is you goin' nigga?" DD quickly followed his brother as he watched him reach the door.
"home nigga." Notti said with annoyance, he lied once again.
he was really going to Riyah's house because that was the only person on his mind that whole day, he just needed to get away from DD's constant questions.
the last time he had spoken to Riyah was before the incident and he knew that if he continued to speak to her, he would end up accidentally telling her what happened between him and CG.
★
AS NOTTI FINALLY reached Riyah's home, he knocked on the door and waited for a response while he secretly prayed for it to be Riyah who opened the door.
he lifted his eyes from off his phone as he heard the door open to reveal Riyah, "wassup wit' you? you dead took like ten minutes to answer the door." Notti complained as he hugged Riyah.
she moved out of the door frame to let him in, "my bad, i was scared cause im home alone so i wasn't expecting anyone." she explained.
she was shocked by his visit since he came so unexpectedly, he hadn't told her that he was even thinking of coming over.
"sorry, this mad unexpected." Notti apologised.
the couple made their way into her room as Notti sat down on her bed, "stop! no outside clothes on my bed, it's nasty i'm sorry." she complained, Notti rolled his eyes at her words as he forgot how she hated germs.
"ian seen you all day and you not letting niggas onna bed?" he rolled his eyes joking making Riyah mug him, "you mad weird if you think imma let you on this bed wit outside germs." she said jokingly with a disgusted look on her face.
"chill out if youn tryna fight again." Notti threatened, referring to the last time they "fought".
"aight cmon then, i won last time." she said while getting up from her bed with a smile as she thought back to their last "fight".
"Riyah i dead let you win, don't try that shi wit me." Notti laughed. as much as Riyah wanted to deny it, it was true.
"aight chill, no need to get political." Riyah mugged him as she watched Notti take his hoodie, revealing a top that he had underneath it.
Notti settled himself beside Riyah on her bed. "where you been all day though, stink?" Riyah asked, Notti cringed at the nickname as she had called him it multiple times before.
"yo chill, what i told you bout that cringy name ma." he laughed, "and what you mean where i been all day?" he asked.
"i've been textin' you and getting no reply, if youn like me just say that." she joked, Notti shook his head at her. he didn't even realise that his phone had been going off.
he pulled out his phone from his pocket to see what she was talking about, "oh shit my bad Ry, today was mad busy." he explained.
he looked at his phone percentage as it read 5%, "can i use a charger? my phone boutta die." he asked, Riyah nodded before getting up from her bed to unplug her charger and hand it to him.
as she was about to hand Notti her charger, she took notice to his knuckles. her eyes widened at how red they looked, "oh my God Notti, is you good?" she asked concerned.
"huh?" he asked confused.
Notti furrowed his eyebrows as he didn't know what she was talking about, the girl kneeled down beside him to place her charger on the floor and take a better look at his knuckles.
she grabbed his hand and looked at how red his knuckles were, there were a few cuts that looked irritated.
fuck, Notti thought.
he had completely forgotten about his knuckles because they didn't really hurt, they just felt slightly irritated. he watched at how confused Riyah looked, "what happened?" she asked.
Notti hesitated before answering, he didn't want her to know what happened because he didn't know how she would react.
"ion even know, it was just like that." he lied, she could tell that he was lying as he was avoiding eye contact with her.
"so your knuckles were just like that?" she asked him, she didn't believe a word he was saying.
"mhm." Notti lied once more, "you don't gotta lie." she said as she was still staring at Notti who was looking at everything but her.
a smile threatened to spread on Notti's face at the fact that she knew him so well, he just couldn't lie to her.
she knew that he was lying as since they were extremely red, she could tell it had happened recently. she found it weird how the same day CG broke his nose, Notti had hurt himself too.
then it hit her.
it all made sense now. it explained why CG broke
his nose but didn't want to tell Nia how he did, it explained how irritated his knuckles looked too.
she was slightly annoyed at the fact that she told Notti not to do anything to CG, but she couldn't blame him. for the past two weeks, all CG was doing was talk shit, so she understood why Notti took advantage of the fact that CG had span his block.
"oh my God, Notti did you fight CG?" she spoke up, Notti furrowed his eyes as he was confused to how she even knew.
"how the fuck you even-"
"ian stupid Ethan." she interrupted, "you know you broke his nose, right?" she asked.
Notti smiled at her words, he was happy at the fact that he was finally able to hurt him.
"good. that nigga talks mad shit, ion give a fuck." he said harshly, he tried to tone his attitude down as he remembered who he was talking to.
"i see he hurt you too?" she asked referring to his knuckle, "what? never that, it looks like this because i punched that nigga so many times." he said confidently.
Riyah rolled her eyes before standing up, she used her strength to pull Notti up from her bed.
"where we goin' Ry?" he asked, "your knuckles are irritated as fuck, you need some ice." she said as she led them downstairs to her kitchen.
as they reached the kitchen, Notti hopped onto her kitchen counter and watched as she walked over to her freezer and took an ice pack out.
she smashed the packet on her kitchen counter to break the ice and made her way to Notti, she took his hand and ran her hand over his knuckles making him wince in pain, he hadn't even noticed how sore it was until she did that.
"sorry." she apologised, "you good, don't worry." he spoke.
he watched as she smashed the ice on the kitchen counter even more before taking ahold of his hand once more, she placed the ice pack on top of the irritated area which made Notti slightly shiver from how cold it was.
"you mad?" Notti asked which broke the silence between them, he felt bad for lying to her.
"no, ion even care about that nigga so i'm kinda happy you fought him." she laughed lightly, Notti smiled at her words before focusing on his hand and how she applied pressure to the ice pack.
he slightly winced in pain at the sudden pressure, making Riyah mutter a small sorry.
"how did it even happen?" she asked curiously.
"that nigga kept talkin' about how he was finna slap me when he saw me and ian fuck wit the way he was talkin' to you," Notti started, "so when he posted that he was in Sugarhill, i took my chance." Notti shrugged.
he forgot to mention the fact that CG called her a bitch, which was what really started the fight.
Riyah couldn't even lie, she did feel sorry for CG when she heard that he broke his nose, but she was glad that Notti was able to get his get back.
"you know how dangerous that is?" she asked him, but she knew that Notti didn't care. "CG is mad unpredictable, who knows what he coulda done." she added.
Notti tried his hardest to stop the smile that was threatening to appear on his face, she was always telling him about how dangerous the things he did were but he found it cute.
the girl was secretly thankful that the only bad thing to come out of the situation was a broken nose because she knew that much worse could've happened.
Notti was known for how reckless he was when it came to his opps, people knew that when it came to his opps, his actions were always unpredictable.
"respectfully, ion even care." said Notti, "i'm just glad i caught that nigga, all he do is talk shit." he complained.
Notti didn't want to mention the fact that the reason why he began to hit CG was because of what he said about her. when he called her a bitch, it gave him more of a reason to punch him.
"you ever gon' be friends wit him again?" Notti asked, Riyah hesitated before answering.
"if he apologises first, then i might think about it." she answered.
Notti mugged her at his words, he didn't want her to be friends with him not only because he didn't like him, but because he was a bad friend for what he did.
"the fuck you muggin' me for?" she asked with a small smile on her face, "ion want you being friends wit' that nigga Ry." he replied.
"why?" she asked him.
"he's a bad friends ma." he answered, but he was lying.
he knew that CG was one of Riyah's most loyal friends', but when Riyah told him about their fallout, he was. slightly happy since he felt that he was pulling her away from him without even realising.
he hated how the only reason they couldn't be together now was because of CG.
"i mean, i guess he is." Riyah said unsurely.
if anything, CG was a good friend, but these recent months had weakened their relationship.
although she didn't like CG at the moment for how their friendship ended, she couldn't deny that he was a good friend to her.
CG always kept her secrets, defended her in arguments or fights she got into, always checked up on her, he was always truthful to her and this was how she was repaying him.
after everything that he had done for her, here she was helping his opp that he hated the most.
but Riyah couldn't lie, she did see some signs that CG liked her. sometimes she would notice him staring at her, he would offer to pay for her a lot and would compliment her more than a friend would.
this whole "story" had started because of CG and how Riyah was helping him, and now it had ended in a way that nobody expected.
it all made her wonder if she was the problem because in that moment, she understood why CG was acting the way he was. however, she also believed that she had a reason to also be mad.
the silence between Riyah & Notti grew as she zoned out while holding the ice pack to his hand and Notti just watched her. they didn't know what to say, for the first time.
she took the ice pack off and noticed a small part of his knuckle was bleeding, she opened a cabinet beside them and took an antiseptic wipe and a small plaster.
he watched looked intently at the girl he once used to claim he "hated", looking at Riyah instantly made him think back to his argument with DD and how he didn't want to tell DD what CG was really talking about.
he could remember how panicked he felt when CG began to talk, he knew that the whole interaction could go one way or another.
Notti never intended to break his nose since it was his girlfriend's best friend, well ex - best friend, but he couldn't help it as CG had tested his patience.
Notti didn't know why he hated CG so much.
for some reason, CG always knew how to push his buttons. it was as if he knew exactly what got Notti mad and how long it took for him to react.
the two had been dissing each other before had even interacted with Riyah, which was probably why CG was so hurt by the situation.
although Notti could see how upset that Riyah was because of the situation, it felt a little good to make CG mad.
a smile plastered on Notti's face as he watched Riyah opened the packet of the antiseptic wipe, he found it funny how much she cared when he didn't think that the cut was that bad.
"why you smilin' at me like that?" Riyah asked as she looked up to his face with a small grin on her face.
"youn gotta do all that my heart." Notti laughed slightly, "i'm not gon' leave you like this E." she replied as she continued to wipe the blood away with the anti septic wipe and place the small plaster on the cut.
Notti stared at the girl who "hated" him not even five months ago, he watched how she had a concerned look on her face as she tried to angle the plaster onto an appropriate place. the thought of how much they used to dislike each other made him let out a laugh.
Riyah furrowed her eyebrows as she looked up to him, "you keep laughin', what's so funny?" she asked with a smile threatening to appear on her face. she held Notti's injured hand with her left hand as she used her thumb on her right hand to sooth the plaster onto his skin.
"you used to swear you hated me, now you tryna make sure that i ain't hurt." Notti explained with a smile, Riyah let the smile that she dared to let out spread on her face, she rolled her eyes at the boy in front of her for his words.
"you mad annoying, ian ever helping you again after this." she replied making Notti laugh out loud, she took her hand away from Notti's before grabbing the wrappers of the plasters and antiseptic wipe, and making her way to the bin.
as she finally reached the bin, she made sure that he didn't see her let out a smile because he was right.
if Notti had showed up to her doorstep four months ago, she would've probably called CG or slammed the door in his face.
"you stay actin' like youn care bout me Ry." Notti teased, he watched as she walked over to her fridge and scanned her eyes over the different options.
"i don't." she replied quietly, but Notti was able to hear the smile on her voice as she said those words.
Riyah grabbed a bottle of apple juice before closing her fridge to look at Notti, who was already staring at her.
"say word to ya-" "imma really fight you." she laughed, she refused to lie on her dead's.
she obviously cared about the boy, but she knew that her telling him that would boost his ego by 1000.
"nahh, i dead can't take you seriously Riyah." he laughed, Riyah was always so unintentionally funny to him.
Riyah had a smile on her face as she shook her head, she began to walk out of her kitchen and make her way back to her room with Notti following behind her.
she let out dramatic sigh as she dipped into her bed, instantly feeling a sense of comfort. she watched as Notti settled beside her.
the two sat in silence as they were both in their own worlds, it was crazy how fast the mood had changed. however this happened a lot, for one moment they would have so much energy then less than a minute later they could be serious.
but for the first time in a while the silence between them felt odd. it was as if the two had so much to say to each other, they just didn't know where to start, which was true.
for the past few day, L'Riyah didn't know how she felt.
she felt like she was ruining two good relationships she had. with CG, she felt like she had ruined a great friendship by messing with someone who he publicly needed with. she knew that part of the reason why CG hadn't exposed her yet was because he was probably embarrassed. he probably didn't want people to clown him because somebody he considered his best friend was secretly dating his biggest opp, which she understood.
she also hated how she had such strong feelings towards Notti, but couldn't express them. she couldn't go out with him like a normal couple would, post him online or even have some privacy with him in public without the constant fear of being caught.
just like L'Riyah, Notti also didn't know how he felt.
he felt like his close relationship with his brother was slowly deteriorating because of everything, he hated hiding things from him so this situation made it even worse. he wanted to tell DD so bad, but he knew the amount of problems it would cause.
Notti turned to his side to see his girlfriend staring straight ahead of her, it made him wonder if she was thinking what he was thinking.
"i got into an argument wit' DD today." said Notti, trying to clear the silence in the air.
L'Riyah turned over to the boy to be met with his eyes that were already on her, "really, why?" she questioned, it was unusual for her to hear about them fighting as from what she saw on social media, the two were as close as ever.
"we'll be called you a-" "you argued because of me?" Riyah interrupted, the last thing she wanted to do was get between the two brother's relationship.
"not really, he called you a bitch and a opp." he explained, "i dead just told him that you not an opp but he turned it into a big thing." Notti added.
Riyah couldn't even blame DD for thinking that with the amount of times she dissed his gang.
"honestly, the only thing you can do is agree with him." Riyah replied calmly.
as much as it hurt her, there wasn't much that they could do. they would always be seen as "opps" to each other, that was the annoying part.
the argument with DD made Notti realise that it would take more than a conversation to get his brother to accept Riyah.
"nah he's mad annoying." Notti shook his head making Riyah laugh, "he's ya brother, don't say that." she said with a smile.
"ion even care, that nigga mad annoying." he laughed, he loved his brother but sometimes he was too much.
"nah but real shit though, you just needa let him talk." said Riyah as her laughter died down, "if you keep arguing wit him bout shit like that, he gon get suspicious." she added.
Notti nodded, she was right.
he knew DD and he knew how quickly he could get suspicious, it was better if he just let him say what he wanted to say and agree.
he turned his head to her desk seeing that her laptop was open, showing a music program that had recording on it.
"you makin' new music?" he asked curiously, "yeah but ian releasing it." she answered.
Notti furrowed his eyebrows, "why? youn released inna while.". it had been a while since Riyah had dropped music, but that was because she had been so busy that she almost forgot that she had songs to work on.
"i'm workin' on sum right now, i deadass forgot that i make music." she answered truthfully, Notti laughed as he wondered how she could ever forget that she made music.
to Notti, music was everything.
it was something that he had always been interested in ever since he was young, he planned to get big and be known everywhere. so far it was going great, his name was very big in the New York drill scene.
"how you forget? nah you stay makin' me laugh Riyah." he smiled.
Riyah let out a small laugh, "nah listen ion even know, imma start being consistent though." she said, Notti knew that, that probably wasn't even true.
"you gon' be dissin more opps my heart?" he teased, Riyah side eyed him with a small smile forming on her face.
the last time she dissed someone, it didn't end well at all seeing as she was caught up in all this drama.
"now you doin' too much." she replied, Notti laughed as he knew she would be annoyed at him asking that.
one thing that Riyah knew was that her dissing days were over, it just wasn't for her.
"nah ian gon' lie, you was aight at dissing." said Notti, he didn't say anything else because he knew that her ego would be out of the roof if he told her the truth that she was actually really good at dissing.
Riyah burst out laughing at his obvious lie, "you know you wanna say that i was good, just tell the truth Ethan." she laughed, Notti kissed his teeth at the use of his real name.
ever since she found out what his government name was, she had been teasing and abusing him with it. he was mad because her name was actually nice, so he couldn't say anything about it.
"yo chill wit' that Ethan shit." he said shaking his head slightly, "aight my bad Reyes" she teased.
Notti furrowed his eyebrows at his girlfriend before kissing his teeth once more, "nah what? how you even find this shit out?" he asked curiously.
"ya fan girls." she smiled, it was scary how much they could find out about him.
"they mad federal." Notti shook his head.
the boy turned to his side and saw Riyah's bedside table that had her tv remote on it, he picked it up before turning the tv on.
"you betta pick sum good, not that shit you put on last time." Riyah spoke with a laugh.
"yeah you buggin', breaking bad a good show." he mugged her, his eyes still focused on the tv in front of them.
"shit boring as fuck." she replied.
"ian gon' say too much bout what you be putting on." he said with a smirk plastered on his face, "you a hater for real." Riyah rolled her eyes before moving slightly to feel more comfortable.
she was glad that the awkwardness was over between the two, she didn't want such a small thing to ruin their connection.
she just hoped that things stayed like this for long.
author speaks!
um hey y'all🌚🌚
long ahh chapter but it's deserved because i low-key ghosted, i rlly hate this chapter tho...