Quiet Storm☔️

033.

Its your favorite author's birthday🥳🥳.

Sin's POV
The same night...

"Dad! DAD! DAD!" I heard Legend yell and I turned my music off.
"What son?" I said scrunching my eyebrows.
"Dad they took mommy! They took her!" He said busting in the room with tears in his eyes.
"What? Took her? What are you talking about? Calm down." I said looking in his face.

"Dad just come look, please!" He said pulling my arm while he was crying.
"Okay okay, I'm coming." I said getting up and he led me all the way down the stairs.
As soon as we got down there he pointed at the door that was wide open. I looked on the ground and seen Jayla's purse on the ground spilled open.
"There was 4 people on ski masks wearing all black dad. I tried to get them off of her but they punched me, look." He said and I whipped my head towards him and I seen a bruise on his face that I didn't see before and I felt my blood start to boil.

"And then they pulled out this needle thing and put it in her neck and she passed out. And then they dragged her out the house, they took her dad!" He explained while crying like I've never seen him cry before.
"Come here. We gone find her, okay? I'm gonna find her if that's the last thing I do. We gonna bring mommy back." I said leaning down to his level and speaking to him with my hands on both sides of his face.

"Hurry dad, I don't want mommy to die." He said with his voice cracking and my heart broke.
"She's not gonna die son, I promise." I said trying to convince myself more than him. "Get your shoes on and pack a bag, we have to leave. Right now." I said to him and he ran up the stairs.
I looked at the ground and picked up Jayla's purse and a little note slipped out.

I unfolded it and opened it up and my breathing started to pick up.
She didn't come to me so I took her.
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Happy Hunting ;)

I read the note about 30 times before crumbling the note and running up the stairs. I got in my room and locked all the windows and closed the curtains. I started to get undressed and into an all black outfit. I slid my bulletproof vest and sleeves on before putting on my hoodie and my shoes. I grabbed my duffel bag in the bottom of my side of the closet before moving my last hanger and pressing my secret black button. The back closet wall started to open up and I went into my secret room.

I walked in and looked at all the guns, ammo, and grenades before starting to fill the bag up. Pistols, assault rifles, glocks, snipers, bullets, rockets, bulletproof vests and sleeves, masks, and even extended clips and knives. I grabbed everything I could possibly need for any scenario because if I wasn't at war before, I'm definitely at war now.

As soon as I walked out I hurried and closed the door back before Legend could see it.
"I'm ready dad." He said coming in with his duffel bag.
"Come on." I said turning out the lights before going down the stairs.
"Where am I going dad?" He said as we made it to the end of the stairs.
"You're going to my other house with your grandma and everybody else." I said picking Jayla's purse before turning out the kitchen light.

"You have another house?" He asked and I nodded.
"There's a lot of things you don't know son. I'll tell you when you get old enough." I said about to walk out but I cursed under my breath when I seen my phone shattered on the ground.
I picked it up and some of the glass fell off of the screen and there was those color lines running down the screen.

"Let's go." I said turning out the living room light before walking out the door and locking it.
I looked around and didn't see nothing but neighbors going in and out of their houses. I jogged to the car and unlocked it.
"Seatbelt." I said to Legend right as I turned the key in and Legend got in the front seat.

I pulled off and immediately went for a corner store that sells burner phones.
"Can you get me a juice?" Legend said and I nodded.
I got out and into the store and started to look for one of those cheap flip phones and I picked up about 3 of them.
I got Legend his juice and some hot Cheeto puffs, his favorite chips, and some crackers to munch on. I grabbed a handful of 5 hour energys before going to the counter.

"Wassup boss, you good?" The cashier, Omar, said behind the bulletproof window.
"Yeah." I said simply while digging my thick wallet out my pockets.
"$30.48." He said and I gave him a $50 dollar bill.
"Keep the change." I said and he bagged up my stuff.
"Aye, I heard there was a war going on. Anything I can do to help?" He said sliding me the bag underneath the window.

I looked at him and he was serious.
"You heard about Reggie?" I said because I don't have a picture on my phone.
"Johnson? Yeah, we don't like that nigga around here." He said and I nodded.
"When you see him, call me." I said and he nodded and I jogged out the store.

I got in the car and started it before taking the phones out the bag and giving what was left to Legend. I opened one of the phones and powered it on and flipped it open. I did the step process and dialed Smoke's number before pulling off.
He declined the call like I knew he would because he doesn't answer unsaved numbers. I called back to back at least 5 times before he answered.

"Who is it?" He said as I put my seatbelt on.
"It's me, we gotta problem." I said looking around.
"It better be good for you to be calling me at 2 in the morning." He said as I hopped on the highway.
"It's Jayla, she's gone." I said speeding to my mama's house.
"Huh? What the hell you mean she's gone?" He said as I heard shuffling on his line.

"She came home and some men came and snatched her. Legend saw the whole thing." I said running my hand down my face.
"What you need me to do?" He said as I switched lanes.
"Get Naomi, Jay Jay, and Miss Yvonne to my other house, like right now. I'm on the way to mama and Kash and tell P to get Laila and whoever else. And somebody needs to find Dj." I said getting off of the highway.

"Alright, I got you. Send me the address to the house." He said and I nodded before hanging up.
"Dad, how long are we staying at this house? And am I going to school on Monday?" He said and I let out a breath.
"I don't know how long you're gonna be here. And yes you're going to school, you have to ride there with a bodyguard." I said turning down my mama's street.
"Okay." He said as I opened one of the 5-hour energy's and drunk it all in 3 gulps.

I pulled in my mama's driveway and seen the living room lights on.
"Come on." I said to Legend as we got out the car. I jogged to the door and started knocking on it until somebody answered.
After a second the door opened and Quincy stood there and it took every bone in my face not to twist it up.
"Move." I said pushing passed him.

I walked in and looked around the living room and the tv was on. I walked towards the couch and there Dj was watching X-men with a plate of brownies in his hand.
"Get up, we gotta go. Where is Kash?" I said and on cue, he came walking out the kitchen with two plates of cake in his hand.
"Sin? What are you doing here?" He said stopping in his tracks.

"Where's mama? Who else is here?" I said starting towards the stairs.
"Just mama and Essence, why?" He said and I ran up the stairs.
"Mama!" I ran and knocked on her door twice before walking in.
"What?" She said groggily and I turned on the light.

"You need to get up, right now. And pack a bag, hurry up." I said before going into Kash's room.
"Essence get up. We have to leave." I said flicking on the light.
"What? What's going on?" She said taking the cover off of her but I went right back down the stairs.
"Sin what's going on?" Kash said following me down the stairs.

"Bro what are you talking about? Where are we going it's 2 in the morning." Dj said putting a shirt on.
"Somebody tell me what the hell is going on." Mama and Essence said coming down the stairs.
I looked around at everybody and let out a breath. "I don't have time to explain right this second. The sooner y'all get to my house is the sooner y'all are safe. Get a bag and let's go." I said and everybody went upstairs and my phone started ringing.

"Update me, what's the status." I said to Smoke after I answered the phone.
"I just picked up Naomi and Jay Jay and Miss Yvonne, is there anybody else? I'm ready to go." He said as I heard his car start.

"Try to see if you can find Cierra, she's probably somewhere with Ava. I'll have P get Laila and we'll meet at the house. I'm finna send you the address." I said and hung up the phone.
I called P and he answered right before the call went to voicemail.
"Who is this?" He said groggily.
"It's me, listen to me carefully. Strap up, go get Laila and whoever is with her, and go take her to my other house and meet the rest of us there. Make sure she packs a bag and I'll send you the address." I said and waited for his response.

"Alright." He said and hung up the phone.
"Sin?" Essence said coming down the stairs.
I looked at her and she only had a blanket, a pillow, and a small backpack.
"Can you take me to my parent's house?" She said and I tilted my head.
"Why?" I said while texting Smoke and P the address to my house.
"Well all my clothes are there, and my brother is there. If we need to get safe I want him to be safe too." She said and I let out a breath.

"Yeah I'll take you." I said and she went back upstairs.
A couple minutes later everybody was downstairs with a bag packed. I guess Quincy had his and Mama's stuff in the same bag cause they had the biggest one.
"Come on. Essence you're riding with me, and Dj go home and get ready. It's finna be a long night." I said walking out the door.

Laila's POV

"Mmmhmm Curtisss." I moaned his name while rubbing his head that was in between my thighs.
"Curtis I'm about to cum." I moaned as quietly as I could before I heard somebody knocking on the door.

"Somebody's at the door." I said through a moan but he ignored me and I closed my eyes.

"They'll go away baby." He said sending vibrations through me and I moaned out.
A minute later my legs started shaking and I tried to scoot back but he grabbed my legs.
"Let it go." He said and I moaned before cumming all in his mouth.

I sat there for a second trying to catch my breath before my room door busted open and I jumped and covered myself up. The light flicked on and there stood P dressed in all black in my doorway.
"Get y'all asses up. I know y'all heard me knocking at this door." He said and I glanced at Curtis before sitting all the way up.

"What are you doing here? It's 2 in the morning." I said fixing the cover over my chest.
"I need y'all to get up, pack a bag, and come with me." He said putting his hands in his pockets and I looked him up and down.
"Why?" I said confused.
"Orders from Sin, don't ask questions. I don't even know what's going on yet." He said about to walk out.

"Wait." I said and he turned around. "How did you get in and the door is locked?" I said and he gave me a look and licked his lips before walking away.
I sat there looking at the doorway and looked at him in a whole different light. P has never been ugly but him dressed in all black, being all serious and demanding is sexy as hell.
I just turned bisexual and don't know how to act-

"Laila." Curtis said knocking me out my thoughts.
"What? Huh? Yes." I said and he tilted his head.
"I said are you gonna get up?" He said and I nodded before grabbing my bra and putting it back on.

10 minutes later...

"We're ready." I said as me and Curtis walked in the living room.

I looked at P and he was sitting on the couch with his arm hanging off of the back with his phone in his hand.
"Let's go." He said standing up and leading us to his car.

He lead us to his car and popped the trunk and we threw our bags in there.
"You getting in the front?" I said to Curtis and he shook his head.
"No you can get in the front." He said and the driver's window opened.
"Both of y'all can get in the trunk for all I care. Just get in the car, we gotta go." P said looking at us through the side mirror.

I got in the front and Curtis got in the back and he pulled off before I could even get my seatbelt on. We sat in a kind of awkward silence for a few minutes and I realized I left my headphones and sighed.
"Where are we going?" I said to P but he didn't even look at me.
I stared at him and repeated the question.
"Just sit back and ride." He said glancing at me and that's what I did.

Sin's POV
30 minutes later...

"This is your house dad?" Legend said as I pulled in passed the gates.
"Yeah." I said simply while driving up the driveway seeing Dj, Smoke, Quincy, and P's cars already here.

"Why don't you live here? This is way bigger than your house." Essence said from the backseat and I shrugged.

"When police see a black man living in a mini mansion, they automatically think they dealing dope. And since I do, I couldn't get that big of a house. Makes me look less suspicious." I said putting my thumb up to the security thing and waited for it to turn green.
"That's facts. The police in this city think black people cant be successful legally." Andre said and I popped the trunk and nodded.

"Come on, hurry up." I said getting out and shutting the door.
I walked up the porch and seen everybody standing there with blankets wrapped around them.
"Took yo ass long enough, open the door." Smoke said and I put the code in and then unlocked it before pushing the door open.
"Hurry up." I said holding the door open for everybody.

Everybody got in and I shut and locked the door as everybody looked around in awe.
"Sin you still haven't told us why we're here, and where is Jayla?" Kash said as everybody turned their attention to me.
"I am in the middle of a war and it just got twice as serious as it already was. You're here because it's the only safe place to be. I can't have anybody else going missing." I said and everybody's faces turned.

"What are you talking about? Who went missing?" P said and I closed my eyes and let out a breath.
"Jayla." I said and the room fell silent. "She got kidnapped when she was walking in the house and Legend saw the whole thing." I said and ran my hand down my face, trying to stay strong in front of everybody.
"So you guys will be staying here until I say it's safe to go home. The kids will be transported to and from school by a bodyguard. If anybody needs to go somewhere like the doctor or the grocery store, there will be a car to take you there and bring you back. But you cannot leave this house if you don't need to. Meaning no going to the club, no parties, no going to the bar, the mall, or anything like that because it's not safe." I said making sure I looked at everybody. "There's about 13 rooms in here. Find one and get comfortable, and don't break anything." I said and started getting my stuff together.

"Sh-she's gone?" Laila said with her voice cracking.
I avoided eye contact with her because I knew I wasn't going to be able to contain my emotions anymore.
"She's gone but I'm gonna find her." I said fixing my gun in my waist.
"And what if you can't? What is she's dead?" She said as tears ran down her face.

"I'm gonna find my girlfriend or die trying. She means just as much to me as she does to you." I said finally looking at her.
"Okay." She said sniffing and wiping her tears and I looked away. "Be careful out there." She said and I leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"Y'all come with me." I said to the boys and started towards the door before my arm was grabbed.
"Be safe out there Sincere." Mama said to me and I nodded.

I turned around and Quincy was looking at me.
"Look, I know we ain't on the best of terms but if there's anything I can do to help let me know. I've seen how much she means to you." He said and I moved my arm from him and let out a breath.
"I'll let you know." I said simply before walking out.
"Somebody get Ghost, Tony, Yoshi, and Richy at the trap." I said jogging down the long steps from the porch.

"Already on it." Smoke said going to his car with his phone to his ear.
I nodded and got in my car and immediately turned it on. I heard a phone buzz and I looked at Jayla's phone that lit up in her purse. I picked it up and it was a text message from Darrion, her co-worker. It was a text asking if she ever made it home, making me realize that's where she went when she left the house. I slid the notification over and cleared it and smiled at her lockscreen.

I nodded and got in my car and immediately turned it on. I heard a phone buzz and I looked at Jayla's phone that lit up in her purse. I picked it up and it was a text message from Darrion, her co-worker. It was a text asking if she ever made it home, making me realize that's where she went when she left the house. I slid the notification over and cleared it and smiled at her lockscreen.
It was a picture of me, her, and Legend laughing in the kitchen and a tear fell from my eye as I chuckled.

"I'm gonna find you baby, I promise." I whispered to myself before shutting the phone off and pulling off.

Jayla's POV
The next day...

"Hey! get off of my mommy!" Legend yelled getting off of the couch.
I was clawing at the strong arm that was around my neck while trying to gasp for air.
"Get off of her!" Legend said hitting one of the men that had a ski mask over their head.
"Shut that kid up." I heard a male voice say and Legend was punched to the ground and I tried to charge at the man.

"Not so fast Jayla, you're coming with us." I heard the same man say and I felt a needle in my neck and I winced.
Some liquid was going through my veins and my vision started to get blurry. I started to feel week in the knees and I stopped fighting back.
"She's out boss." I heard before everything went black.

I opened my eyes and inhaled deeply and started breathing hard.
"It was just a dream, it was a dream." I said to myself while sitting up.

I looked around and I was in an unfamiliar room where it was dark and I could barely see. I looked and I was laying on a mattress with a dirty white pillow and I was still in the same clothes from yesterday.
"So much for a dream Jayla." I heard a familiar voice and a light switch flicked on and the room turned red.

"Who are you? And what do you want from me?" I said getting off of the mattress and standing up.
"You don't know who I am? I'm offended. Considering we used to live together and you used to love me." I heard that same voice but it was right in my ear this time and I jumped.
"Reggie?" I said backing up but I ended up against a wall.

I went closer to the red lamp that was sitting in the middle of the room so I could see, but I didn't see him.
"Boo." He said in my ear and I jumped causing him to chuckle.
"Why am I Here? What do you want?" I said standing still while he circled around me.
"Oh you are here for many different reasons. Reasons that I will explain tonight, because thats when the fun starts." He said and I felt a cold metal against my face.

I started breathing hard and closed my eyes as the sharp knife went against my face.
"What do you mean fun?" I said and he chuckled.
"You'll just have to wait and see babygirl." He said and I felt him breathing against my neck for a second before he started to walk away.
"He's gonna find me." I said turning around to look at him and he stopped in his tracks.

"Of course. He's Sincere, smartest in the game, I'm sure he's on a wild goose chase right now looking for his precious charm. However, he is a genius to the point where he overthinks everything and I can bet your life that he's looking for you in all the wrong places." He said as I avoided eye contact with him.
"So no, I'm not worried about him finding you. But the condition you're gonna be in when he finds you is going to be a movie. Don't get too comfortable." He said and did that stupid ass chuckled before walking out of the big steel door.

I felt my breathing start to pick up and I backed up against the wall. I then started looking around to see if there was an opening or a window anywhere. I went wall to wall feeling if there was anything and there wasn't.
"I have to get out of here." I said to myself while starting to panic.

Sin's POV
6:32pm

"You sure you don't want to go to bed man? You haven't been to sleep since yesterday morning." P said to me while I threw away another 5-hour energy.

"I'm fine." I said running my hand down my face before looking back at my computer.

"At least eat something." Smoke said but I ignored him while taking my phone off of the charger.
"Wait, boss. Remember when Jayla told us when she had that run in with Reggie a couple weeks ago. She showed us a phone number that Reggie texted her from, you could try calling it." Yoshi said catching my attention.
I thought about it then went under my desk and grabbed Jayla's purse.

I dug through it and grabbed her phone and unlocked it since the password was Legend's birthday. I went to her messages and clicked on the unknown number from text that she showed us. I let out a breath before calling it and putting it on speaker.
"Hello Sincere, I've been waiting on your call." Reggie's voice boomed through the phone, already making me mad.

"Where is she?" I said calmly, but knowing he wasn't going to answer the question.
"Now why would I tell you that? I love seeing you all worked up and stressed out." He said and chuckled.
"Why did you take her?" I said setting the phone down on the desk.
"Many different reasons, some of them don't even have anything to do with you. But some do." He said and I stared at the phone.

"What do you want?" I said putting my hands underneath my chin.
"For her? Jayla Star? You and I both know how good of a woman she is, and that comes with a big price." He said and I closed my eyes.
"Of course, and I'm asking what do you want?" I said breathing deeply.

"6 million, and your entire empire." He said and I busted out laughing.

"You must've lost yo damn mind." I said and he chuckled.
"Oh I lost that a long time ago homie. But it's either that or Jayla." He said and I glanced up at Ghost who was coming in with his laptop.
"I'm gonna find her one way or another." I said and I could practically feel him smile.

"Oh and I'm sure you will. But just like I told Jayla, the condition she's gonna be in when you find her is going to drive you nuts and my life will be complete." He said and my heart dropped but I didn't show it. "Bye bye now, don't take too long." He said in a cheery tone before hanging up the phone.

My blood started to boil and my knee started to bounce up and down so I put my hands over my face.
"I think he's bluffing Boss, he wouldn't hurt her and he loves her." Richy said and I shook my head.
"He's not. He used to beat the shit out of her then told her he loved her right afterwards." I said trying to stay calm.
"Sin." Somebody said my name but I wasn't listening. "Sin bro look at me." P said and I looked at him.

"You need to take some time to go sleep or eat something, your eyes are slowly turning black. We all know what rampage you went on the last time that happened." He said and Smoke and Dj looked at me.
"He's right. Plus you know Jayla would be mad at you if she knew you weren't eating or sleeping. 5-hour energy's aren't food." Smoke said and my knee stopped bouncing as I imagined her voice in my head.

"Baby it's almost 7 o'clock and you haven't eaten all day. I don't care what work you have to do, get up and eat." Jayla's voice rung through my head and I smiled to myself.
"I'll eat something later." I said and made a mental note.

"Boss I've been searching the city and I've crossed off every warehouse, abandoned building, or abandoned house in the city. He has to be hiding her in a regular house, one that is vacant at that." He said and I tilted my head.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" I said and he shook his head.
"It can be both. The good part about it is the obvious fact that vacant houses have neighbors. And since this city has a lot of nosy white people, if they see or here something suspicious they contact the laws." He said and I nodded.
"The bad part?" I said mentally preparing myself.

"The bad part is, I would have to hack into every landlord agency in the city and get every name of every renter's name, and that's thousands of names. The main thing that worries me is that Reggie might be under an unknown name and I'll scroll right passed it." He explained and I let out a breath.
"There's no other way to go about it?" I said and he fixed his glasses.
"Not one that I can think of at the moment, but I will let you know." He said and I nodded and he walked out.

"Um boss? There's an Uber eats delivery person outside." Tony said coming in and I scrunched my eyebrows.
"I called it." P said getting up as I shook my head.
A couple minutes later P had brought in some big bags of Popeyes and my stomach growled.
"I should've just went and got this shit. This shit was like $50 dollars." He said handing me a box.

I flipped the box open and grabbed the chicken leg and bit into it. I chewed and swallowed and right when I was about to take another bite, Jayla's phone got a text.
I recognized that it was Reggie's number and I knew it wasn't anything good. I opened the attachment and it was a video.
I clicked play and I seen that nigga's face and I twisted my face up.

"It's 7 o'clock Sincere, the fun is about to start. I wish you were here to see it." He said then flipped the camera and my heart dropped again.

There was a table with nothing but a platter of knives, whips, scissors, and some other shit I didn't know.
"Say hi Jayla, I'm sending this to your boyfriend." Reggie said and put the camera on Jayla who was tied up in a rusty chair with her hands behind her back and duck tape on her mouth.

He walked closer to her and touched her face but she snapped her head the other way.
"Tell him about how much fun you're about to have." Reggie said and snatched the duck tape off of her mouth.
"He's gonna kill you and I'm gonna watch." Jayla said and Reggie laughed.
"Not if I kill you first my little hostage." He said back to her and then the video stopped.

I suddenly lost my appetite and put my chicken back in the box.
"What's wrong Sin?" Smoke said pouring honey on his biscuit.

"He's about to torture her and I can't do anything about it." I said and the room fell silent. "I feel like I'm failing her, I feel like I can do more than this." I said talking more to myself.
"You can." Dj said with a mouth full of food and I glanced at him. "Bring Quincy in here." He said and I twisted my face.

"Yeah that's a good idea. You run the state but he has connections all over the country." Richy said and I shook my head.
"No, I can do without him." I said and Richy looked at P.
"It's a personal thing." P said and I stood up. "Sin at least finish eating." P said as I walked towards my door.
"I'm not hungry anymore." I said before walking out and going to Ghost's office.

"Good luck you're here boss, I was just about to come to you." Ghost said once I walked in.
"What's going on?" I said sitting in one of his chairs.
"Okay so I contacted some of my old hacker friends, and they said they're willing to come in and help you out with finding Jayla." He said and I rose my eyebrows.

"How much are they charging?" I said and his phone went off and he looked at it.
"50 dollars an hour." He said and I nodded.
"Bring then in." I said and he dialed a number before putting the phone to his ear.
"It's a go, I'll send you the address." Ghost said and then hung up the phone.

30 minutes later...

"Boss these are my old hacker friends from college. Michael, Josh, Terrel, Caleb, and Quan." He said pointing them out one by one. "Guys this is my boss-" He started but got cut off.

"We know who he is, we just didn't believe you worked for him. Nice to finally meet you sir." Caleb said shaking my hand.
"Don't call me sir, I'm not old." I said shaking everybody's hand.

"Nice to meet you boss man." Josh said and I nodded.
"So what's the plan Ghost?" Michael said as we all went back into his office.
"Well the only plan I have is to hack all the city landlords to find a vacant house registered in Reggie's name." He explain while I just watched.
"That's all you came up with?" Quan said and Ghost tilted his head.
"Do you have a better plan?" Ghost said and the room fell silent.

"Me and Josh will start on the East, Ghost and Michael can start on the North, Quan and Caleb can start on the South, and we'll all do the West last." Terrel said speaking and then I tilted my head.
"How long could this take?" I said and they all cringed.
"This could take a week to say the least boss." Ghost said and I closed my eyes.
"Well you better get to going then." I said and they nodded before pulling out different laptops.

Reggie's POV
7:30pm

I sat in my office smoking a cigarette before my phone started ringing. I looked at the caller ID and I was nobody but Andre.
"What do you want?" I said putting the call on speaker.

"Why did you take her? What did you do with her?" He said and I chuckled.
"That is none of your concern considering you quit working for me the day I announced this plan." I said and he scoffed.

"Because I actually care about her." He said and I busted out laughing.
"Since when nigga? You was planning this shit with me in the first place." I said and he smacked his lips.
"That don't mean nothing and you switched the whole shit around. I made up with Jayla a long time ago, something you need to be doing instead of torturing her in the middle of a war." He said and I sat back in my chair.

"She killed my baby and put me in jail for it." I said and he laughed.
"Now I see what Jayla be talking about. You're so delusional it doesn't even make sense. You know you pushed her down those stairs and you went to jail for constantly beating and raping her. She doesn't want you and she never will." He said and I tilted my head.
"Goodbye." I said before hanging up the phone.

"Knock knock." I heard and looked up to see Choyce coming in my office.
"Wassup man, I was waiting on you." I said getting up and giving him a manly hug.
"Yeah I had to straighten out some shit with my girl." He said sitting down in one of my chairs and I tilted my head.
"Word? What happened?" I said being nosy.

"Got caught cheating. Nothing too serious. Where's Jayla?" He said and I nodded towards the door.
"In the basement, she's tied up." I said putting my cigarette out in my ashtray.
"How long she been here?" He said as I blew out smoke.
"I grabbed her last night, she just woke up this morning. What time is it?" I said and he looked at his cheap watch.

"It's 7:34." He said and I smiled before standing up.
"The fun is starting, follow me. Dee and Redd come on, it's time to start." I said to my loyal workers that were standing outside my office.

( AN: You don't really have to remember these characters, I'm most likely not gonna keep them in the story for long. )

"Boss when do we get paid for this?" Redd asked me and I turned my nose up.
"We haven't even started yet and you already asking about pay? Be patient." I said and opened up the basement door.

We walked down the stairs and I turned on the light where I seen Jayla tied up in the ropes where I left her. She had her head leaned over to the side and I'm guessing she was sleep.

"Legend, Legend no." She whispered with her eyes closed and I tilted my head.
"Let me go." She whispered and her body started jerking before she woke up.
She woke up and looked around before her eyes landed on me.
"Damn you ain't say she was this fine boss." Dee said and I mugged him before looking at Jayla.
"Still wasn't a dream Jayla." I said and she started trying to move.

"You never told me why I'm here." She said and I grabbed a chair and sat right in front of her.
"Well first of all, you killed my baby." I said and she twisted her face.
"I didn't kill anything, you killed your own baby." She said and I scoffed.
"When are you gonna stop telling that lie? You and I both know I didn't push you down those stairs." I said leaning forward so I was in her face.

*Flashback to a year and a half into Reggie & Jayla's relationship*

"I'm leaving you! That's where I'm going! I'm tired of putting up with your shit!" Jayla yelled in my face before stuffing clothes in a suitcase.
"What shit?! What am I doing?!" I yelled back at her and she looked at me before walking passed me and going to the dirty clothes hamper.
"So you're saying you didn't go out and cheat on me last night? I thought you were having dinner with your parents but you came home with lipstick on your shirt and this shit smells like perfume. You've cheated on me over and over again and I stay with you like a dumbass. But not this time." She said throwing the shirt at my face before zipping up her suitcase and started towards the door.

Right before she grabbed the door handle, I grabbed her arm and she stopped moving.
"Don't leave me, please. I need you. I can't live without you." I pleaded to her and she scoffed.
"You use that same line every time you cheat on me. Keep saying that to yourself and you'll live one miserable ass life." She said before twisting the door open.

"Jayla get your ass back here! You're not leaving with my baby in your stomach!" I yelled and she turned around.
"Neither of us even want this baby! I wouldn't even have this baby if you didn't rape me!" She said and I scrunched my eyebrows.
"I didn't rape you." I said and she threw her hands up.
"You are the most delusional person I have ever met in my life! How else would I be pregnant!? We don't have sex anymore!" She said and my breathing started to pick up.

"I didn't rape you." I said again while walking towards her.
"Yes you did." She said walking away towards the stairs.
"I didn't rape you!" I repeated as my body temperature rose.
"Yes the hell you-" She started but I pushed her and she stumbled back hard and almost slipped down the stairs and my heart dropped.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to do that." I said walking towards her as she tried to get up.
"Get away from me." She said holding herself up.
I watched as she stood to her feet and tried to walk but then slipped. My heart dropped as I heard her screaming while she fell down the stairs.
"My baby." I whispered before looking over the stairs where she laid at the bottom.

"Jayla? Jayla!" I said running down there and kneading by her head. "Are you okay? Baby talk to me." I said shaking her.
"Reggie the baby." She groaned out and I looked down and she there was blood on the floor in between her legs.
"No. No no no no no. No! Jayla get up! You're bleeding!" I said and she rested herself up on her elbows.
"I gotta get to the hospital." She said and then yelled out. "It hurts so bad!" She said with her eyes shut and I got up and called 911.

1 hour later...

"Family of Jayla Star?" A doctor said coming out of the back and I stood up.
"That's me." I said and she looked at me before pushing her glasses up on her face.
"Follow me." She said before walking away and I followed her.

She lead me back to a room where Jayla was laying on a bed with a gas mask on and she was hooked up to a machine.
"She's not looking too bad, but she's not looking good either. We had to do an emergency C-section and take the baby out." She said then paused.
"And?" I said and the doctor took her glasses off.
"Unfortunately the baby was already deceased before we took it out." She said and it was like my heart left my entire body.

"But we noticed a lot of physical injuries in her body. She has a broken rib, bruised arms and legs, her right eye looked like it was recently black, and her left cheek bone was slightly out of place. Were you aware of any of these injuries?" She asked me and I covered my mouth as I had a flashback in my mind of two days ago when we fought and I got mad and beat her.

"N-no I wasn't. I wouldn't even know where they came from. All I do is go to work and come home." I said and the doctor looked at me suspiciously.
"Okay well she's going to have to stay on bed rest for a couple weeks so she can fully heal, internally and externally." She said and I nodded before going to sit down.

The doctor left the room and I stared at Jayla who had her eyes closed. I was looking at her for a long time before she opened her eyes and took off the breathing mask.
"Our baby is gone." She said simply before putting the mask on.
"I know." I said looking at her suspiciously.

*End of Flashback*

"I slipped!" She yelled and and I scoffed.
"You slipped on purpose!" I yelled back in her face.
"Are you serious!?" She said and I rolled up my sleeves.

"You told me that you didn't even want the baby. And seconds later you're all of a sudden having a miscarriage, sounds pretty suspicious to me. Right?" I said turning to my workers and they nodded.

"Secondly you put me in jail." I said and she threw her head back.
"We've had this conversation so many times. I'm not the only person you've raped or beaten!" She said and I seen Choyce look at me.
"Third, after we broke up, out of all the men in the world you went and got with my sworn enemy." I said and she squinted her eyes at me.
"And your boyfriend that you love so much, killed my father." I said and she smirked.

"I wish I was there to see that." She said and I stood up and slapped her and the room fell silent.
"Your father was just as sick of a man as you were, and I'm glad he's dead. And even more glad that my boyfriend killed him." She said and my body temperature started to rise.
"Shut up." I said balling my fist up and clenching my jaw.

"Your father made you so miserable, and he turned you into a monster." She said and I closed my eyes.
"Shut up." I said raising my voice.
"And I tried to help you, I tried. But you hurt me too many times and I left you high and dry." She said looking at me and my blood started to boil.
"I said stop talking!" I yelled in her face and she chuckled.
"And now you're mad, you're angry. Angry that you don't control me anymore. You're angry that I'm happy without you. You're angry that my lips belong to someone else." She said taunting me.

"Stop talking!" I said as she started to get in my head.
"You're angry that I get wet for somebody else." She said smiling while I frowned. "Well guess what, I don't want you. And I never will. My man's sex makes me forget about you-"
"STOP... talking!" I said and punched her in the face as her head jerked to the right.

I heard her chuckle and I leaned down in her face as she looked at me.
"You might wanna watch your mouth, I'll slit your fucking throat." I said and and we locked eyes before I seen her mouth open.
All of a sudden I felt something wet hit my face and I realized she spit on me. I stood up straight and wiped it off and looked at my hand. It was a mixture between spit and blood and I twisted my face.

"Beat her until I say stop." I announced and Dee and Redd went over to Jayla and started beating the shit out of her.
I didn't hear her scream at all, just grunts and groans as they punched, kicked, and slapped her like she stole from them.
"Get the whip." I told Choyce and he opened my torture bag and got the whip and handed it to me.

A few minutes later Jayla had fell back in the chair and was on the floor while the boys kept beating her.
"Hey don't you think they're being a little too rough?" Choyce said lowly to me as we both seen Dee punch her in the face and blood flew out of her mouth.
"Alright stop." I said and they stopped and picked her chair up off of the ground.

"Got anything else smart to say?" I said walking up to Jayla seeing her eye was black and the other one was starting to swell up. She had blood coming from her nose and her both her lips were busted.
"N-no." She said letting out a shaky breath and I smirked.
"Untie her." I said and they immediately got the ropes off of her hands and feet and then grabbed her.

"Take her shirt off." I said folding my arms as I watched them take her Jean jacket off then rip her shirt from her body.
"Tie her to the pole." I said and they followed instructions.
Jayla looked like she was literally glued to the pole and I smiled at how scared she looked.
"Start recording." I said with a smile on my face and Redd took my phone and I seen a flash come from my camera.

"How many hits do you think you deserve Jayla?" I said walking towards her and ran my fingers through her hair.
"Hits?" She said but it was slurred, making me assume it was because her lip was leaking.
"Actually no. If you don't wanna get hit, then you'll tell me where your boyfriend's new house is." I said running my hand down her back which was smooth and soft.

"I'm not telling you shit." She said like I knew she was going to so I gripped the whip in my hand and slung it across her back, making her scream.
I looked at the wound and smiled, seeing that it tore her skin open.
"Wanna talk now?" I said seeing her chest heaving up and down and her eyes were closed.
"I don't know where his house is." She said and I slung the whip across her back again.
"FUCK!" She screamed as tears started running down her face. 

"Tell me where his house is Jayla." I said and she shook her head.
"I don't know!" She yelled and the cycle started to repeat.
We repeated this same line three times before I finally got tired and started beating her with the whip while she screamed in horror.
"I don't know! I don't know! I don't know!" She screamed when I paused.

"Boss." I heard and Redd was putting the phone down. "I really think she doesn't know, she would've said it by now." He said and I looked at Jayla who was sobbing with her forehead against the pole.
"I don't know, I didn't even know he had another house." She said through a scream and a hiss.
"You didn't know?" I said folding my arms and she shook her head quickly.
"I didn't know, I promise." She said shakily and I glanced at her back which now had blood running down it and scars that could take months to heal.

"We'll try this again tomorrow." I said wiping the blood off of the whip. "And we'll bring your friend in next week." I said and everybody turned to me.
"W-what friend?" Jayla said trying to turn her head.
"You'll see soon enough." I said before zipping my bag back and started to walk back up the stairs.

"What do you want us to do with her boss?" Dee asked me and I looked at them.
"Come with me." I said and I glanced at Jayla who was sitting there silent.
They followed me back into the regular part of the house and I went into the empty kitchen and set my bag down.
"What's the plan?" Choyce asked me while I leaned on the counter.

"You guys get changed then go to the store and feed her something. If she has to go to the bathroom then both of y'all need to escort her there. She's a smart girl, so both of you guys need to watch her while she's sleeping to make sure she doesn't get away." I said and they nodded.
"Why do we need to feed her exactly?" Dee asked me and I tilted my head.
"Because we need to keep her alive. She's no good if she's dead, Sin isn't gonna give up anything." I said before walking away into one of the rooms and taking off of my blood-covered shirt.

I picked up my phone and dialed one of my worker's numbers before putting the phone to my ear. It rung while I looked for another shit before it picked up.
"Sup boss." He said as I took a grey t-shirt off of a hanger.
"Wassup, what's the status?" I said putting the phone on speaker and setting it down.
"Um at first it was just Ghost that was working to find you, but now there's 5 more men here and they're all really good at finding people." He said and I put on a coat cause it was December now and it was cold as shit outside.

"Do you have any names?" I said changing my shoes.
"No, not yet. But I will tell you when I do, just have a plan." He said as I laced up my sneakers.
"Don't worry about me, I got it figured out." I said before hanging up.

I walked out the room where Redd and Dee were still standing in the kitchen talking to Choyce. "Boss, we don't have any money to feed her. And there's no food in this house." Redd said before I walked towards the door.
"Uh there's $10 dollars on the stove, make it work for the week." I said before leaving

Jayla's POV
11:04 pm

"Aye, here." I heard and the light turned on and the room turned red again.
I opened my eyes and sat up on the mattress and watched the brow skinned guy give me a sandwich with a napkin underneath and a bottle of water.

"Thank you." I said to where only he could hear.

I lifted the bread on the sandwich and it was nothing but a thick slice of bologna and some welfare cheese.
"Is this poisoned?" I said catching their attention.
"No it's not poisoned, boss said we need to keep you alive." The real dark skinned one said.
"Alive? Y'all acted like you wanted to kill me earlier." I said under my breath.

"Stop talking and eat." The light skinned one said and I averted my eyes to him.
"I'm not eating this." I said pushing the sandwich across the cold hard ground.
"Starve then, I don't care." The guy said again and I looked at the water bottle which looked fresh so I opened it.

I sniffed the rim of the bottle and made sure there wasn't anything mixed into it. Then I put the bottle to my lips and didn't take them off until all the water was gone.
I squeezed the bottle and started to catch my breath before closing it again.
"What?" I said lowly to the dark skin guy who was staring at me and he looked away.

"Is there a mirror somewhere?" I said and he looked at me again.
"Not in here." He said to me and I sighed.
I crawled back to the mattress and just sat down and looked into space. I involuntarily grabbed my chain that was around my neck that had Sin's name on it and kissed it. I grabbed my other necklace with my cross on it and closed my eyes. A prayer started to flow from my lips as I whispered it to myself.
"What the hell is she doing?" I heard the lightskin guy say but I ignored it.

"I don't know." The darkskin guy said as I kept whispering to myself.
"Amen." I said out loud. I looked around the room and I shivered out of nowhere and goosebumps started to appear on my arms.
"Can I have my jacket back?" I said lowly while looking at my jacket that was across the room.

The two boys looked at each other before the darkskin one got up and got it off of the ground. He handed it to me and I took it before putting it around my shoulders. I grabbed the dirty white pillow and tried to fluff it up some before laying down on it.
I looked off into space and sighed heavily.
Sin hurry up and find me baby.

About 30 minutes later I was still trying to go to sleep but I forgot I can't go to sleep without somebody next to me. I tossed and turned on this hard ass mattress before I finally just gave up and sat up. I looked at both guys and the light skinned one was sitting on the stairs on his phone, and the dark skinned one was sitting on the stairs with his head against the wall and his eyes closed.

I tried to get up but I hissed once I leaned over and the scars on my back opened up.
"Shit!" I whisper yelled to myself as my Jean jacket fell off of me.

I scooted myself to the edge of the mattress before using all my body strength to lift myself up with just my legs.
I walked over to the darkskined guy with my arms covering my cleavage since my shirt was ripped up and tapped his shoulder.

"What?" He said dryly with his eyes open.
"I have to use the bathroom." I said in the same tone and he looked me up and down before standing up.
"Yo." He said to the light skinned guy, catching his attention. "She gotta go to the bathroom." He said and the lightskinned guy mugged me.
"I have to take her too?" He asked and the guy nodded.

"Yeah that's what boss said." The darkskin guy said and the other one stood up before pulling out a bandana.
"Hold still." He said coming towards me but I flinched back.
"Don't touch me." I said backing up from him.
"Put this on her, I'm not about to play with her." He said handing the rag to the darkskin guy that was a little nicer than him.

"Turn around." He said in a husky tone while looking down at me.
I hesitantly turned around and the bandana went over my eyes and I couldn't see anymore.
"Is this really necessary?" I asked quietly while he tied it tight over my hair.
"You can't see the house." The light skinned guy said and then my arm was grabbed.

I walked up the stairs and I heard that big steel door open and a breeze of cold air hit my bodies.
"Shit." I whispered to myself while rubbing my arms.
We were walking down this hallway a little bit before they stopped me and took the bandana off.

"5 minutes and we're coming in." The light skinned guy said looking me up and down. "That doesn't mean you have to rush tho." He said and I twisted my face.

"Jackass." I mumbled before opening the door and turned on the light.
I put my hand in front of my eyes because it was so bright and I've been sitting in a dark room. I looked around and there was nothing but a toilet, a bathtub, and a sink and all of them were rusty and dirty. I subconsciously rubbed my arms before just deciding to suck it up because I really had to pee.

I took the almost empty toilet paper roll that was on the floor and took some of the tissue off and layed it across the toilet seat before sighing. I pulled down my jeans, leggings, and my underwear before sitting down on the seat and closing my eyes. I ran my hands down my face before looking around the room and something caught my eye.

I wiped myself with some of the tissue before putting the tissue in the toilet along with the tissue on the seat. I flushed the toilet and pulled up my pants before looking at what looked like a small dirty window. I hurriedly washed my hands with the cheap bar of soap that was there before glancing at the door.
I looked back at the window before grabbing the sink to see how sturdy it was.

I climbed on the sink and stood there trying to look out of the window to see but it was so rusty and dirty, I couldn't see anything. I tried to open it but it was locked from the outside making me huff.
"5 minutes is up I'm coming in!" I heard the lightskin guy yell before the door unlocked and I jumped down fast.

I leaped to the door so when he opened it I was already standing there. He eyed me suspiciously before moving out of the doorway and pushing me through the door. I stood there while the darkskin guy put the blindfold back over my eyes.
My arm was grabbed again before we started walking and I heard that big steel door open again. I took the blindfold off and sighed before going to the mattress and laying back down.

I layed there with my eyes wide open before I felt a needle go in my neck and I jumped up.
"What are you doing?" I said looking up at the lightskin guy who was standing over me.
"Shhhh go to sleep." He whispered to me and I felt that familiar liquid running through my veins and I seen the darkskin guy come and stand over me before my vision got blurry.

I reached and touched his hand but my body got weak and I involuntarily fell back on the bed and my eyes fluttered shut.

Smoke's POV
Midnight

I watched Sin as he gulped down another 5-hour energy, which was like his 10th one today. I couldn't really stop him because I know what I would've did if it was Mackenzie that went missing, I wouldn't sleep either. I shook my head and looked at my phone and checked the time to see it was now the next day. I looked at Dj who was sitting next to me with his hood over his head, sleep.

I seen Sin lean back in his chair and cover his eyes for a long time. I stood up and pulled up a chair right next to his desk but he didn't even look up.

"You alright man?" I said already knowing the answer.
"No." He said and I let out a breath. "This shit is eating me on the inside." He said uncovering his face where he was starting to form bags under his eyes.

"I mean what do you think his doing to her? Beating her? Cutting her body up? Rape-" He started to say but I cut him off.
"Don't say that man, you're gonna drive yourself insane." I said stopping him.
"I'm just saying. He could be doing anything to her right now, and I'm just sitting here." He said and sighed.

"I'll be back." He said getting up and leaving the room.
I watched him walk out and started thinking about Jayla. She probably going through the most shit man, I can't imagine how Sin's feeling on the inside.
I was staring off into space until a phone went off and I knew it wasn't mine because my phone was on the table.

I glanced at Sin's phone that lit up and I seen that unknown number that Reggie kept texting from. It was an attachment and anybody would know it wasn't anything good.
I picked his phone up and opened the text where I immediately seen a video and there was somebody tied to a pole.
"Please don't tell me that's-" I said watching the video but stopped when the girl turned her head and I seen that it was Jayla.

She didn't have a shirt on, her hair looked like a bird's nest, she had bruises and blood all over her face. Her right eye was swollen and the left one was black, and she had a big knot on her forehead. I seen a small dirty mattress in the background and I knew that's what they had her sleeping on. My breathing started to pick up while I turned the volume up a little bit.
"How many hits do you think you deserve Jayla?" Reggie said walking into the view of the camera with a whip in his hand and my body temperature started to rise.

"Hits?" She said but it was slurred as blood was gushing out of her mouth.
"Actually no. If you don't wanna get hit, then you'll tell me where your boyfriend's new house is." He said moving closer to her and touching her face.
"I'm not telling you shit." Jayla said and spit some blood out of her mouth onto the floor.
All of a sudden Reggie took the whip and slung it real hard across her back and Jayla screamed and my mouth dropped.
"What are you watching?" P asked me but I wasn't even listening.

"Wanna talk now?" Reggie said walking around her in circles.
"I don't know where his house is." Jayla said lowly and Reggie hit her again making me jump.
"FUUCK!" Jayla screamed as she started crying and I covered my mouth.
I seen P come around behind me and looked at the phone over my shoulder and I shook my head.
"That's Jayla? Damn they fucked her up." P said more to himself.

"Tell me where his house is Jayla." Reggie repeated again and Jayla started sobbing and shaking her head against the pole.
"I don't know!" She said through a cry and the whip went across her back multiple times and I shut the phone off.
"We have to find her, she's gonna end up paralyzed if she stays there too long." P said and I shook my head before I heard the toilet flush.

"No shit." I said before opening Sin's phone back up and deleting the video.
I knew if he seen it he was going go throw a fit. I put his phone back down as he came out the bathroom and I avoided eye contact with him and pulled out my phone.
"What happened?" Sin said looking back and fourth between me and P.
"Nothing." We both responded in unison.

30 minutes later...

"Oh shit." I said jumping up and putting my blunt out.

"What?" P said rolling up a blunt of his own.
"I gotta get Naomi something for her birthday." I said grabbing my jacket and putting it on.
"I'm finna head out, lemme know if y'all find something." I said dapping Sin and P up.

I walked passed Dj but then stopped and backed up. He was still sleep and I smirked before slapping the shit out of him and running out the room.
I jogged down the hallway and out the warehouse where I seen Tony at the front on the phone. I stood from a distance and looked at him as he paced back and fourth.
"I don't know where the fuck he is, I didn't even know that." He said and I tilted my head. "Well fuck it, I can't help you." He said before hanging up the phone and pausing when he seen.

"Wassup bro." He said and I nodded.
"Wassup, who was that?" I said pointing at his phone.
"Nobody, just.. my mama, looking for my brother. He went sneaking out the house again." He said and I nodded.
"Right right." I said looking him up and down. "Ima head out of here tho, I got somewhere to be." I said and he nodded and I walked passed him.

I walked out and jogged to my car and got in and immediately turned the heat on cause that fresh December breeze was cold as hell.
I turned the car on and I was about to pull off but Naomi's voice rung in my head.
"Put your seatbelt on Demitrius." I heard in my head and chuckled to myself before putting it on then pulling off.

A few minutes later I was riding around before I realized I didn't really know what do get her. Usually I would call Jayla and ask her but obviously I can't, so I FaceTimed the boys in the group chat.

"Nigga you just left." P said answering the phone as I found somewhere to park.
"I know, but I don't know what to get Naomi." I said looking around at the street i was on.

"You don't know what to get your girlfriend for her birthday?" Sin said in a sarcastic tone and I smacked my lips.
"No, I don't. I don't get any girls any gifts besides mama, Cierra, and Jayla." I said telling the truth, I've never really been in a committed relationship where I bought gifts.
"That's right, you're lonely." P said and I smacked my lips.

"Just tell me something." I said and he made a face at the camera.
"I don't know why you didn't just text Sin. He's the simp in love with his girlfriend." He said and Sin smacked his lips.
"I'm not a simp." Sin said and I huffed.
"Never mind I'll just call mama." I said about to hang up.
"Alright alright. Get her some flowers or something. Order her some clothes, you know she don't be in the flyest shit cause she be taking care of her peoples." Sin said and I nodded to myself.

"Oh buy her a bear, females love bears. And a necklace or something." P said and I nodded.
"Alright, I'll figure something out." I said then hung up.
I started my car back up again and headed to Walmart. I thought about calling Naomi and asking what size clothes she wears but I stopped myself. I called Mama instead and she answered right before the phone went to voicemail.

"What do you want boy?" She said with sleep in her voice.
"Do you know what size clothes Naomi could wear?" I said stopping at a red light.
"Not really, why?" She said and I looked to see if there was any cops around before I ran the red light.
"Because it's her birthday and I want to get her some clothes." I said getting on the highway.

"Hold on let me ask her grandma." She said and I heard some shuffling around before I heard Quincy's voice in the background.
"I'm coming right back baby." I'm guessing she said to him and and I turned my nose up.
I heard a door open before I heard her walking down the stairs.
"Here, my son needs to ask you a question." Mama said before I heard a different voice.

"Hello?" Miss Yvonne's voice rang through the phone.
"Hey Miss Yvonne, quick question. Do you know what sizes Naomi wears in her clothes?" I said politely because I like her.
"You remembered her birthday?" She asked me and I chuckled.
"Yes I did, I'm getting her gifts." I said switching lanes.

"She wears a medium in shirts, and a size 15 or 16 in jeans which is just a large." She said and I made a mental note in my head.
"Okay, thank you. Is she sleep?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, she's not a night owl." She said as I drove towards the highway exit.
"Alright thank you." I said turning into the Walmart.
"Okay. And Demitrius?" She called out to me.
"Yes?" I said finding a parking spot.

"Thank you for doing this. She'll be so happy." She told me and I smiled real big.
"You're welcome." I said before hanging up.
I parked near the front and turned my car off before tryna get out but got pulled back.
"This fucking seatbelt." I said forgetting to take it off.
I got out and locked the doors before zipping up my jacket, hiding my vest.

I jogged inside and grabbed a cart by the front and immediately headed towards the bears. I went and found some and they were all different colors, sizes, and patterns. I thought about it and Naomi didn't really seem like the type to like big bears so I went towards the small ones and browsed through them. I glanced at the bottom shelf and there was a small red bear with a white bow sitting on the shelf alone.

I reached down and picked it up and looked at it. I thought about what her reaction would be to it and then but it in the basket. Then I went and got her some roses because I didn't know what she liked. Then I went and got her a birthday card and an envelope to go with it then stopped to think.
"She ain't even my girlfriend yet and I'm doing all this running around for her." I said to myself then chuckled while throwing the card in the basket.

I got an idea in my head then jogged back to the card section and got her some balloons, and I grabbed a gift bag too. I grabbed my phone out my back pocket and dialed my jewelers number.
"Wassup nigga." He said answering on the third ring.
"Wassup, you awake?" I said walking into the snack section.
"Yeah what you need?" He said as I grabbed some little Debbie snacks.

"I need a necklace, like for a female. Something small and simple, but nice." I said grabbing some chips, remembering that she liked the purple Doritos.
"Yeah I got some that just got finished yesterday, you can come look at them whenever your ready." He said and I nodded.
"Yeah give me about 20 minutes and I'll be on my way." I said getting her some chocolate and hung up.

"This store is too damn big, I should've made a list." I said going back to the freezers, where I just came from.
I opened the freezer and got her a sweet tea, her favorite drink. I looked in my basket one more time before walking all the way to the front and got in line.
"Damn you're tall as hell." The woman said as I put my stuff on the conveyor belt.
I decided not to say anything mean to her like I would usually do, I just gave her a fake smile.

"Is this for your mother or something? A sister?" She said and I twisted my face.
"Its for my girl." I said watching her ring up my stuff.
"Oh that's too bad, you're cute." She told me but I wasn't attracted to her at all, she looked dirty as fuck.
"Thanks." I said simply while my patience was running low already with this girl.
"So are you guys like dating dating or..?" She said and I turned my nose up at her.

"Can you just finish bagging my shit?" I said with a voice full of attitude.
After that she got my stuff in the bags and I put the bags back in my cart before pulling my card out of my wallet.
"I'm just asking, I can give you a good time." She said and I stopped and mugged her.
"Nobody need a good time but that lace front. I can see that whole screen door." I said and her mouth dropped and she looked embarrassed.

"Fuck you." She said and as I was putting my PIN number in.
"I'd rather do that to my girlfriend. Thanks for offering tho, that was nice of you." I said before walking my basket outside to my car.
I put all the bags in the backseat before pushing the cart somewhere. I unlocked the front door before I heard somebody yelling.

"Aye! Aye bro!" I heard and I scrunched my eyebrows before turning around.
Somebody was jogging towards me and I couldn't see their face but I seen some dreads swinging back and fourth.
"Who is you- oh I know you." I said seeing it was that nigga Jericho, Ava's boyfriend.

"Hey have you heard from Jayla?" He asked me and I twisted my face.
"Why?" I asked, I didn't even know he knew Jayla like that.
"Oh, um, she wasn't at work today and I was wondering where she was." He said and I tilted my head.
"You work with her?" I said and his facial expression changed like he was caught.

"Oh, no I just work at the place next door to hers. Kay Jewelers." He said and I nodded.
"Awe. But Jayla's sick right now, throwing up and shit." I said coming up with something off the top of my head.
He looked at me with a suspicious look before nodding.
"Awe well tell her I hope she gets better." He said and I nodded before he walked off.

I watched him walk off for a second to a car before i seen Ava get out the passenger seat. I shook my head before getting in my car and pulling off.

10 minutes later...

"These are the ones I just finished the other day, and of course I still got some in the back." My Jeweler said saying some necklaces out on his kitchen counter.

I looked at them all closely and shook my head at the ones I didn't like before one caught my eye. It was a gold necklace that had small diamond-filled butterfly charms attached to it.
"How much is this one?" I said picking it up.

"That one only goes for 2k since it's the smallest. It got some earrings to go with it too if you wanna look at them." He said and I nodded while holding the necklace up to the light, watching the diamonds dance.
"Here they go." He said holding up some small gold diamond-filled butterfly earrings that matched the necklace.

"Yeah these is fly, lemme get these too." I said and he nodded. "How much is it all together?" I said pulling out my wallet.
"$2,300 do you want boxes?" He said as I started to count out the 100s in my wallet.
"Yeah do that for me." I said focusing on not losing my count.
It took him a minute to get it boxed up but he handed me this pastel blue colored box and I handed him the money.

"Preciate you homie, I'll be back soon." I said dapping him up. "Where your daughter at?" I said putting my wallet back up.
"She up there sleep with her mama. She up and walking now and getting into everything she can touch." He said and I chuckled.
"Ima have to come back and see her then, little lightskin." I said with a smile. "Ima get out of here tho." I said standing up straight.

"Alright, be safe out there nigga." He said dapping me up and I nodded before walking out the kitchen. "Aye man." He said making me turn around.
"If you buying her jewelry and shit, she gotta be something different. Make sure you treat her right." He said and I tilted my head.
"How did you know?" I said and he chuckled.

"Boss came over here a few weeks ago buying a promise ring for his girl, and he had that same look on his face when you found the right necklace. Only special females get jewelry and I know it ain't your mama's birthday yet." He said and I laughed.
"Your right you right. Thank you tho." I said walking out the house.

A few minutes later before I got to the suburbs where Sin's house is, I took a turn into the most famous hood store in the city, Mars Mart and hopped out.
"Sup boss." I said to the Arab man who owned the store.
"Wassup, what can I get for you?" He said and I nodded towards the food warmers.
"Lemme get two plates." I said and he moved behind the bulletproof window and I followed him.

( AN: I don't even know if they have any Mars Marts outside of where I'm from, but Mars Mart is the OG hood store😭. They a corner store, a restaurant, and niggas used to go and get they haircut their too😂. )

"On the first one let me get 3 chicken wings, a piece of catshish, a side of macaroni, and greens and cornbread. One the second one let me get 2 catfish and 2 wings, red beans and rice and cabbage with cornbread." I said as he put everything as I said it, and the sides in the little styrofoam containers.
"Hold that." I said before going to the freezers and getting me a bottle of Nehi Peach. I went and took it back to the counter and he scanned it.

"Alright $11.30." He said and I took out my wallet again and gave him $12.

He gave me the change and slid the boxes under the window and I nodded at him before leaving out.

20 minutes later...

"Mama?" I said walking into a room that I didn't know who was in.
"Your mom is 2 doors down." Laila said taking her eyes off of the tv, and I seen somebody next her lift their head up which I seen was Curtis and I rose my eyebrows.
"Thanks." I said before closing the door.

I walked two doors down and knocked on the door before opening it.
"Mama." I called out to her and I seen Quincy lift his head up.

"What?" She said and I turned the light on.
"I need your help with this." I said setting all the bags on the bed before sitting down.

"You do know it's one in the morning right?" She said and I nodded before dumping the stuff on the bed.
"I know but I need to do this now mama." I said as she sat up in the bed and fixed her head scarf. The same African head scarf she's been having since the night she took me in, and that was when I was like 13.

"What are you trying to do son?" She said rubbing her eyes.
"I need to put this bag together and I don't know how to do it. I'm not used to this type of thing." I said holding up the gift bag that I got.
"Who you doing this for again?" Quincy said with his eyes closed and I glanced at him.
"Naomi, it's her birthday." I said and he opened one of his eyes.

"Um put those snack boxes in the bottom." She said and I picked up the cosmic brownies and oatmeal cream pies and layed them down flat in the bag.
"And then put those chips on one side, and that candy on the other side." She said as I reached over and grabbed the twizzlers and the sour patches and put them in the bag.
"Put those drinks on top of the candy." She said and I followed.

"And then put the bear on top with the card. And you can either tie those balloons to the handles or just give them to her." She said and I thought about it before tying the balloons to the side. I grabbed all the bags off of the bed before standing up.
"Thank you mama." I said and kissed her cheek before turning off the light and walking out but I stopped in the doorway. "Wait, which room is she in?" I said looking back at them.

"On the 3rd floor with Kash and Essence." Quincy said with his eyes closed as Mama layed back down.
I went down the hallway and up the stairs before opening the doors. The second door was Kash and Essence watching tv and they looked at me.
"She's 2 doors down." Kash said looking at the bag in my hand and I nodded before closing the door.

I went two doors down and knocked twice before opening the door. There I seen Naomi with her back facing the tv that was playing Martin. I smiled at her before walking in and closing the door. I was about to climb in the bed but I seen some candles on the nightstand and then I lit them up before taking my shoes off.
I set the bag on the floor and the food and jewelry on the nightstand before climbing in the bed and waking her up.

"Naomi, Naomi wake up." I said in her ear and I seen her eyes start to open. 
"What? What's going on?" She said with sleep in her voice and then she looked up and seen me.
"Demitrius? I thought you were at work." She said walking all the way up.

"No I came back." I said putting my arms behind my back.
"Why?" She said sitting up and watched me as i got off of the bed and picked the bag up off of the ground.
I held the bag up and got back in the bed as she stared in shock and looked at the balloons that were floating in the air.
"Happy birthday babygirl." I said and her mouth dropped.

"Noooo oh my god." She said getting up on her knees. "You didn't have to." She cooed to me while I handed her the bag.
She glanced in the bag for a second before poking her bottom lip out and looking at me again.
"Give me a hug." She cooed to me again while walking towards me on her knees.

"Thank you." She said wrapping her arms around my neck and I wrapped my hands around her back.
"You're welcome now open the bag." I said and she sat down and got comfortable on the pillows before taking out the bear and the envelope.
"Awwn this is so cute." She said looking at the bear and ran her hands over its fur.
"I didn't know which one to get, but I thought of you when I seen it because it was the only one on the shelf." I said and she looked at me.
"The only one? No way." She said before opening the envelope which was the card.

She pulled it out and opened the card and some money fell out of it and onto her lap.
"Oh my god." She said picking up the 2 $100 bills before nudging my arm and I smiled.
She opened the card and read it out loud.
"Happy birthday, you are a beautiful person inside and out. I hope you remember that today and always." She said before poking her lip out again.
"Thank you." She said looking at me and I smiled at me before kissing her cheek.

She opened the rest of the stuff with the biggest smile I've ever seen. 
"Thank you so much, I appreciate you." She said grabbing my hand.
"We're not done yet." I said before leaning off of the bed and grabbed the two styrofoam containers along with two pastel blue boxes.
"This is just food." I said moving the containers out the way.

"Open this." I said putting my right arm around her and handing her the long box.
She slid the box open and I gasped.
"Oh my goodness, you did not." She said looking at the small but beautiful chain that I knew she would like.
"This is so beautiful." She said taking it out the box and admiring it.
"And one more thing." I said handing her a smaller box and she opened it.

"Awwn." She said looking at the earrings while poking my bottom lip out and I seen her cheeks flush like she was about to cry.
"Are you crying?" I asked her and she looked away and wiped her face.
"I'm sorry, I'm a crybaby." She said before looking back at the earrings.
She closed the box before turning my whole body to look at me.

"Thank you." She said looking into my eyes and I licked my lips.
"Youre welcome." I told her and she reached out and put her hands on either side of my face.
I was staring at her confused before she leaned in and kissed me.
I immediately started kissing her back and pulled her closer to me. She got bold enough and stuck her tongue in my mouth and my eyebrows raised.

I could tell she was trying to get the hang of it for a second before she did and my hands went on her waist and I pulled her on top of me. After a minute she pulled back for air and I was smiling real big at her.
"I didn't know you had it in you." I told her while catching my breath.
"Me either." She said back and we shared a small laugh.

"Thank you, I know I keep saying it but thank you. Nobody has ever done anything like this for me." She said and I smiled.
"I'm gonna do a lot of things nobody has ever done for you, if you give me the chance." I said shooting my shot at her and she tilted her head.
"Was that your way of asking me out?" She said and I chuckled.
"Did it work?" I said and she started laughing.

"Somewhat, but I want you to ask me." She said looking me in my eyes.
I looked at her and let out a breath before looking her in the eyes.
"Naomi."
"Demitrius."
"Would you like to be my girlfriend?" I said putting his hands back on my waist, and I felt this little tingle in my stomach.

She smiled real big at me before jumping up and hugging me.
"Yes yes yes! I would!" She said and I kissed her cheek before pecking her lips 3 times.
"I never get tired of kissing you." She said as we shared the same goofy ass smile.
"Me either. But I want you to know something. I said as she got off of me.
"I'm listening." She said and I wrapped my arm around her as I spoke.
"I haven't been in a relationship since high school, and that girl literally was the opposite of you. She liked to party every weekend, she never liked to stay in the house for a long time, she loved to drink and spend money, and have sex all time time. I didn't have to be a gentleman or anything because it was easy to keep her happy. And I'm telling you because I'm not the gentleman type at all, but for you I'm gonna try. With the help of my family of course." I told her and she smiled real big at him.

"Well I want you to know something too." She said and I rose one of his eyebrows.
"I've never been in a relationship before, I've never had sex before or done anything sexual. I haven't done any drug- basically I'm a little saint okay? And with you, I'm going into this relationship blindly but I'm gonna try." She said talking with her hands and she looked nervous.
I stared into her eyes before putting my hand at the back of her neck and brought her face closer to mine.

"That's okay babygirl, I promise." I said and she smiled before I kissed her.
"Can you promise me something else?" She said touching my arm and I nodded.
"What?" I said staring at her intently.
"That no matter what you'll always communicate with me, that you don't shut me out about anything." She said and I seen this gloss in her eyes that I couldn't say no to even if I wanted.

"I promise." I said and I seen her hold up her pinky.
"Pinky promise?" I looked at her small hand and laughed before linking my pinky in hers.
"Pinky promise." I said and we both kissed our hand and she clapped like a little kid making me smile.
"Wanna watch a movie?" I said and she looked at me before sitting up on her knees.

"Can I be honest about something?" She said and I nodded. "You need a shower first." She whispered out loud and I laughed.
"You're right, warm the food up for me?" I said taking my jacket off and throwing it in the closet along with my shoes.
"I will." She said before I grabbed my towel out the closet before walking in the bathroom.

Naomi's POV

I watched him walk out the room and into the bathroom which was across the hall. Seconds later I heard the shower cut on and then I took both of the door trays and opened one and my stomach growled at the fried chicken and catfish. I opened one of the little cups and I seen red beans and rice and I smiled.
"Yess my favorite." I said doing a little dance before closing everything before going down the stairs.

I went down on the second floor slowly, making sure not to drop the food then i quickly went down the hallway. I went down the second set of stairs and it was quiet and dark so I knew my grandma had went to sleep. I walked passed and into the big beautiful kitchen that I loved and turned on the light. I set the food down before finding the microwave and I huffed because it was above the stove and I could barely reach it.

I went over to the table and grabbed one of the chairs and brought it in front of the stove. I stepped on it and then opened the microwave, almost hitting my face.
I put the food on for a minute and a half since it wasn't all the way cold. I just stood there on the chair watching the time go down on the clock. I folded my arms and I zoned out while thinking of Demitrius.
I remember the first time I saw him in the Walmart on Jay Jay's birthday, he wasn't paying me any attention at all. I actually remember hearing him on the phone with a girl asking if he could come over. Then at Legend's birthday party, I caught him staring at me at least 5 times. When Jayla told me that he thought I was cute I was so shy because I thought that a guy like him could have any woman that they wanted, but he noticed me.

And then I gave him my number and he took me to the Cheesecake Factory on Halloween and it was the best time I've ever spent with a guy in my life. When we kissed for the first time, I think I almost peed myself by how excited I was. And now we're here, he's officially my boyfriend and I haven't stopped smiling since he woke me up.
"What are you doing?" *beep-beep-beep-beep* Somebody said at the same time the microwave went off, scaring me out my thoughts.

I looked over and Sin and Dj were standing there looking at me.

"Jesus Christ." I said touching my forehead before opening the microwave.
"What are you guys doing here?" I said getting the food out of the microwave.
"We came home." Dj said as I slowly put the food tray on the counter before getting down off of the chair.

"Are you guys okay?" I said giving them hugs.
"We're fine." Sin said giving me a hug and I twisted my face at how he smelled.
"What are you doing awake?" Dj said and I pointed to the food trays.
"Demitrius got us food and I'm trying to warm it up I just can't reach the microwave." I said and both of them chuckled.

"Oh yeah that's right, happy birthday." Sin said leaning over the island.
"Yeah happy birthday." Dj said and I smiled.
"Thank you guys." I said going back to the chair and pushing the buttons on the microwave.

"We didn't get you no gift but we have money." Sin said and I rose my eyebrows.
"You don't say?" I said playfully as they both pulled out their wallets and I got excited.

"Here you go." Dj said and I hopped down from the chair and cheesed as he handed me a small stack of money.
"Here." Sin said handing me the same thing and you couldn't wipe the smile off my face.
"Thank you guys." I said and clapped my hands.
"What did he get you for your birthday?" Sin said and I smiled at the thought.

"He came in with this big purple and white bag, which is my favorite color. And he had these birthday balloons tied to it and he gave me a bear and a card with money in it. He gave me my favorite candy and chips and drinks and Debbie snacks. Oh and then he got me this beautiful necklace with butterflies on it and earrings to match." I rambled on while they listened while laughing. "And the best gift of them all, he asked me to be his girlfriend." I said and I put my hand over my heart.

"You said yes?" Dj said and I nodded. "Yes it was so cute, I couldn't say no if I wanted to." I said they chuckled.
The microwave went off and I got the food out of the microwave.
"You must really like him huh?" Sin said and I blushed.
"I don't know how to explain it. We haven't known each other for nothing but 2 months, but he can make me feel like I'm the only girl in the room." I explained while taking the plate out the microwave.

"Awwwn y'all so headass." Dj said and I laughed.
"Alright I'm finna go to sleep tho." Sin said walking away.
"Yeah me too." Dj said but I stopped him.
"Dj are you okay?" I said and he turned around and gave me a quick smile.
"Don't worry about me, it's your day." He said before walking off.

"Hey can you tell Sin to take a shower? I didn't want to be mean but he smelled pretty bad." I said he laughed.
"I'll tell him." He said walking away chuckling. "Sin get yo musty ass in the shower!" I heard him yell and I shook my head before putting the chair back at the table.
I grabbed the plates and went back up the stairs really fast, but it was a workout going up two flights of stairs.

I made it to the room and I heard the shower water for only a second before it cut off. I went in the room and cut on the light and leaving the door open. I set the food on the nightstand before grabbing the remote and changing the tv channel.
I actually didn't know what to change it to so I settled for nick at night until Demitrius came back.
I was about to sit down until I spotted the necklace box and I picked it up and opened it again.

I took the necklace out the box and tried to put it around my neck but I was struggling.
"Need help?" I heard Demitrius's voice and I turned around.
"Yes, I can't get it." I said but I stopped when I realized he was in his towel and his chest and stomach was dripping wet, and he looked good.
"Turn around." He said after I handed him the necklace. I turned around and moved my hair out the way and leaned down.
I felt him hook it on and I turned around to him smiling at me.

"You are the most beautiful person I've seen." He said and I poked my lip out.
"Awwn thank you." I said and he leaned down and kissed me.
"Dry me off." He said taking the towel from around his waist and I hurried and looked away.
"Oh my gosh can you put some clothes on?" I said covering my eyes.
"I can't put no clothes on if I'm wet baby." He said and I moved my fingers to see he was standing there in nothing but some boxers.

"You play too much." I said and he laughed before I took the towel from him and dried his back.
"You know you have nice hair, you just don't take care of it." I said seeing that he had cute 4b hair that curled up because of the water.
"Shit I was thinking about cutting it off." He said and I smacked my lips.
"No, I don't like bald people. They scare me." I said and he busted out laughing.

"Bald people scare you?" He said taking the towel from me and running it through his hair.
"Yes, it's something about the naked shape of a head that creeps me out." I said and shivered at the thought.
I tried not to stare as I seen him reach and grab a bag out of the closet and grab some grey and white Nike basketball shorts and put them on.
"I can feel you staring at me." He said pulling the white strings and I blushed and looked away.

A few minutes later he had gotten dressed and I turned out the light and turned the lamp on and got comfortable in the bed.
"Do you have something to drink? I could've got you a water bottle from downstairs." I said and he shook his head before reaching over and pulling out a bottle of pink pop.
"Ooo what is that?" I said looking at it.
"You've never tried Nehi peach?" He asked me and I shook my head.

He opened the bottle and took a sip before holding it up to my mouth and I took a small gulp.
"That's good." I said before pulling out the sweet tea he bought me.
"Which one you want?" He said picking up the trays and opening them.
"Can I have the one with the red beans?" I said and he handed it to me.
"You like those?" He asked me and I nodded while opening the container.

"Yes it's so good." I said smelling it again.
"What we watching?" He asked me while logging into his Netflix.
"Can we watch Anime?" I said and he whipped his head towards me.
"You like Anime?" He said and I nodded.
"My favorite one is hunterxhunter and assassin classroom." I said and he smiled real big.
"Oh I'm gonna have so much fun with you." He said and kissing my cheek.

**************************
16,872 Words📝.

How long do y'all think it's gonna take to find Jayla? She going through it😩.

It was a sad chapter but Naomi and Smoke saved the save with they cute selves🥰.

Vote and Comment, I read them all🙂.