The crew stood in the basement, surrounding the the guy tied up in the chair. They jumped at the first opportunity to snatch him while they could. After tying him up, no one else touched him. They knew beating him until he was bloody wouldn't get them the information they needed—no matter if he did insult and taunted them.
Though they definitely did know another tactic that would get him to start talking.
Jon Jon approached the guy with a laptop in his hand. They sat a stool in front of him, and sat the laptop on top of it, before turning the screen on.
He watched in confusion, seeing as someone on the screen walked onto the back porch of a house, fiddling with the door handle. His eyes went wide once he recognized the familiar surroundings. It was his brother's home.
He kept watching in horror, as the person on the screen slowly creeped up the stairs to the second floor where the bedrooms were. He approached the first door on the right, and opened it. A couple appeared to be sound asleep in the bed, the guy on the screen raised the gun in his hand, and pointed it at the man's head, before flashing disturbed the screen. He repeated the same actions with the wife, as the guy began sobbing.
"No!" he shouted at the screen of the laptop, as the guy proceeded to approach the next room, which appeared to be a little girl's room. "No! Please no!"
"We don't harm children," Mid shrugged, gesturing Jon Jon to close the laptop. "But now yo' nieces and nephews have to grow up without parents because of you,"
"My family did nothing to you!" he yelled through a face full of tears.
"Yea well Reese's family did nothin' to you either, but yet you and yo' people still decided to take his life." Gotti spoke up, pacing back and forth in front of the guy. "Guess karma's a bitch huh?"
"All you gotta do is tell us what we want to hear and we'll let you go," Santos crouched down next to the man, patting his shoulder. The man snorted, and spit in Santos's face. The girls mouths all dropped open, before their expressions changed to disgust.
Santos sat there for a brief moment, before throwing a forceful punch across his face. Pulling out his gun he aimed it at his head, as the rest rushed to his side.
"Relax," Jon Jon told him, pushing his arm down.
Santos snatched his arm away from his hold, giving him a crazed look. "Relax? This muhfucka' just spat in my face," he frowned, kicking the chair the guy sat in, causing him to fall over. Santos kicked him repeatedly in the face, a few teeth flying out of out his mouth.
"Enough," Mid grabbed his shirt, shoving him off to the side. "Gahdamn nigga, you tryna kill the muhfucka before we get any information. He die, dats' yo' ass." he warned Santos, pointing at him.
"I-I'm n-not tellin' you n-nothin!" The guy exclaimed, spitting out blood.
"Dats cool, we got all week to torture yo' ass. Tomorrow we'll send a finger to yo' people." Mid shrugged. Boonie and Gotti grabbed the guy, and dragged him to the corner of the room, handcuffing him to the large space heater that was in the basement. The crew decided that the best way to get information they needed, was to slowly torture him—through family.
The crew all departed, and went their separate ways in the house, Lotus made her way down the hall, stopping in front of the wooden door. Lotus walked into Mid's office, shutting the door behind her so they could talk privately. She felt that her words were being misunderstood, or taken the wrong way.
She walked around his desk, where he pulled his attention away from his phone, watching as she now sat on top of the desk. She grabbed his bearded chin, gently biting on his lip before slipping her tongue into his mouth, catching him completely off guard. Though he was surprised, he went along with it, enjoying how she was taking charge.
"I never said I didn't have feelings for you, nor did I ever reject you."
Mid stood up from his chair, tenderly grabbing her neck, giving her another steamy kiss. "Do you want me?" he asked her.
"I do but—"
"But what Nevaeh?"
"I don't to gain you as my significant other, but lose you as my best friend." Lotus finally confessed, looking down at her hands, as she picked at her nails.
Mid gently grabbed her chin, making her look back up at him. "Who says I can't be both?" he asked her,
Lotus removed his hand from her face, and shook her head. "That's not what I mean Tedric. If we were to break up, not only do I lose you as my significant other, but I lose you as my best friend. Tedric I've seen how you treated past relationships, you turn into a cold, heartless person."
"Yeah because they've fucked me over or did me wrong. I wouldn't have any ill feelings towards you, if we simply just don't work out. But Nevaeh that's gotta be a risk you're willing to take." he said.
Lotus wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in for another kiss. "Well that's a risk I'll just have to take then." she said in between kisses. In the midst of them making out, they both heard the door open as someone walked in.
"Aye Mid—" Santos paused seeing the two hugged up, he gave them an amused look, throwing his hands up. "My bad I ain know I was interrupting," he grinned, turning to leave out the room. Both Lotus and Mid shook their heads, scoffing a laugh.
"Want me to take you home?" Mid grabbed his phone and slid it in his pocket, helping her off of the desk.
He watched as her body tensed up a little, before relaxing again. "Uhh no, I think I might just crash here." she told him, he gave her a funny look. "What?"
"Is there a reason why you don't want to go home?" he raised an eyebrow, Lotus shook her head, and started to reach for the door handle until Mid grabbed her waist. "Nevaeh," his voice became stern.
"It's nothing Mid, if you don't want me to stay here then I'll go home with you but I rather not go home tonight. I need to be out the house for a li'l." she shrugged, reaching for the handle again, opening the door.
Bambi, Gotti, Tiny and Santos all stood on the other side, almost falling forward as they tried to be nosey. "Oh my gosh, y'all need to grow up." Lotus cracked up, as Mid stood behind her, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest, shaking his head.
Lotus walked out of the bathroom, tying her silk scarf around her head. She cut the light off, and walked around the bed, and got onto it. She got settled under the blanket, and rested her head on the pillow, as Mid finally walked back into the room, eating some Welch's fruit snacks.
"You always eating something," Lotus mumbled, hearing him smack on the candy. He got into the bed, and pulled Lotus closer to him. She snuggled her head in the crook of his neck, throwing one of her legs over his, wrapping her arm around his torso. The scent of his cologne filling her nostrils every time she inhaled, put her mind at ease, her body relaxing feeling the warmth of his body pressed against hers.
"You got to talk about it eventually you know," she heard him saying breaking the silence between them. She shifted a little, to look up at him. "You know you can always talk to me about what's bothering you right?"
"I know, but tonight is kind of a good night for me and I don't want to ruin it by talking about it." she said.
"A'ight, I won't force you to talk about it but just know I'm here." he assured her, his hand gliding across her bare skin under her shirt. She snuggled under him again, closing her eyes, listening to the TV that played as a background noise along with the revolving ceiling fan. "Goodnight love," he kissed her forehead, continuing to caress her skin.
The night ended with the pair falling asleep in each other's arms. For once in awhile, Mid was able to sleep throughout the night, the feeling of having someone next to him while he slept gave him comfort. Usually he'd have to smoke, but he didn't have to, instead watching TV until he dozed off.
The following morning, Lotus woke up before him. She figured she would make breakfast, not wanting Mid to go out and buy food like he usually did. Minnie always teased him about it, stating that he needed to learn how to cook, since he didn't have a woman to do it for him.
Though he knew a few basic meals to make, he was lazy and his patience ran thin, making it difficult for him when it came to cooking.
Lotus on the other hand, found joy in cooking. The kitchen was her comfort spot, making her favorite recipes was therapeutic to her. Gigi would always joke, and tell her that her future husband would eventually become jealous, because she was practically married to the kitchen already.
Mid walked into the kitchen with the phone glued to his ear, he saw Lotus looking for something in the cabinets. He watched as she stood on her tippy toes, trying to reach for something on the top shelf, cursing to herself. "Dammit Tedric," she said out loud, getting ready to get on the counter. Mid tried muffling his laughter, making his way over to her, he reached up and grabbed the measuring cup she was trying to reach for.
He passed it to her, grinning. She rolled her eyes, and took the cup out of his hands. He leaned down to give her a kiss, before walking around her to grab an apple juice out of the refrigerator. "Yes ma, I am listening." he deadpanned, shaking his head as Lotus chuckled.
"Hey mama!" Lotus yelled loud enough for Minnie to hear her. Mid deeply sighed, and put the phone on speaker.
"She can hear you now," he told Minnie.
"Lotus! Hi baby! When are you coming over?" Minnie's warmed tone voice spoke over the speaker. Lotus turned the water on in the sink, and began rinsing the cup out.
"I can come by today, I don't have any plans. Unless of course Tedric decides last minute that we need to do something," Lotus said, shooting Mid a look. He ignored the look she gave him, and continued to drink his apple juice. "Also I was hoping you could teach me the recipe for your lobster lasagna roll ups,"
"If you come by today, I'll definitely teach you."
"See Tedric you have to take me now!" Lotus pleaded, stomping her foot.
"Brat," he mumbled, taking Minnie off of speaker, putting the phone back up to his ear. "A'ight ma we'll be thea' later—bruh why do you women always gotta result to violence if shit don't go y'all way? I'ma bring her goddamn,"
Lotus chuckled grabbing the bread and dipping it into the batter, before putting it into the pan, the kitchen erupting with the sound of sizzling. "Do you want cheese on your sandwich?" she turned around to see him admiring her, causing her to blush.
"What you makin'?"
"Bacon, egg and cheese French toast sandwich."
"You think now's the perfect time to do that?"
Lotus knitted her eyebrows in confusion, tilting her head a little. "What do you mean?" she rested her hand on the counter.
"Once you start cookin' fa' me, I'on think I'll let you go afta' dat'." he smirked, she sucked her teeth, playfully rolling her eyes as she waved him off. "You think I'm playin', I'll start buying you all the pots and pans you want." he joked. Lotus threw her head back and started laughing.
"You're crazy," she said once her laughter died down. The kitchen fell silent, Lotus cleared her throat, as she could feel Mid staring a hole in the back of her head. "My mama and siblings came to visit," she finally told him.
"Visit?" Mid repeated after her.
"Yeah, my mama took my sister and brother and moved across the country to California a few months after Reese died. I planned on moving as well, but I couldn't just leave my grandparents behind in the state that they were in. I haven't spoke to my mama since she left, only my siblings." she began venting to him, still moving around the kitchen.
"The day that we came back from Colombia, they had been staying at my grandparents house for a few days already. My mama would find any little thing to nitpick, and criticize me for. I tried overlooking it because Gigi told me to respect her, but eventually I snapped once I went home yesterday morning and found them packing my grandparents stuff."
"Woah woah, I know she ain put yo' folks in a nursery home or none." Mid frowned.
"Retirement," she corrected him, flipping the French toast over in the pan. "She disrespected me and made it seem like I was freeloading off of my grandparents, and I lost my shit Tedric." she turned around to face him, a couple of tears streaming down her face. "I choked her, and I swear for a moment I felt contentment, watching as her gasp for air and that scared me."
Mid quickly got up from his seat and walked around the counter where Lotus was, grabbing her into a consoling hug. "I'm not sayin it was right but, she pushed you to the edge and it was only a matter of time until you snapped. Where are yo' folks?" he rubbed her back, Lotus wiped her face.
"They're at some retirement apartments about thirty minutes from the house, crazy thing about it is, they had been plannin' this for a while. Everyone knew except for me, and that's the most hurtful part about it. After everything that I have done for them, this is how they repaid me."
"You know who you startin' to sound like? Like me." he said. "Yo' folks don't need your help anymore, even before yo' moms moved away, you've been taking care of them. Maybe this is a sign you need to start livin' fa' you ma."
In the midst of their conversation, his phone began to ring. He looked at his phone, furrowing his eyebrows, declining the call. "Look baby don't let that stress you out a'ight?" he gently grabbed her chin, wiping the remaining tears on her face with his thumb. Lotus nodded her head, continuing to make the French toast.
"Bambi need us at the house," Mid informed her, texting Bambi back as she sent him a text that seemed frantic.
"They can wait, you need to eat." Lotus snapped her fingers, pointing at the chair at the island. He slid his phone back into his pocket again, and went to go sit down.
"Yes ma'am," he grinned.
Once the couple were done eating, and lounging around for a few minutes afterwards, they finally decided to leave the house, knowing if they lounged around any longer they would probably fall into a food coma.
Mid parked in the driveway, and got out of the car. He opened the door for Lotus to get out, making sure to hit the alarm to lock the doors before they made their way inside. Mid walked behind Lotus, playfully poking at her sides as she kept swatting his hands away, laughing.
"Tedric stop bruh damn," she smacked his hand again, shoving him away from her, only for Mid to grab her hand and pull her into him, giving her a kiss. Lotus blushed, and opened the door to the conference, her giddy smile instantly dropping seeing that Koi was sitting in one of the chairs.
"Fuck is she doing here?" Lotus sized her, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Well since Tedric blocked me, I thought I come share the news in person. I'm pregnant," she revealed, Lotus jerking her head back in shock, quickly spinning around to face Mid who stood there with an unamused expression on his face.
"Really? You cheat on me, I break up with you, you pop up a few weeks later telling me you're pregnant--for what? Hoping I'll take you back or some shit? Get the fuck outta here wit' dat' shit Koi deadass,"
"I'm not here to start anything Tedric, I just wanted to let you know because besides Nyce, you're the only person I've slept wit'."
"Fuckin' hoe." Bambi cursed, mugging her. Tiny bit down on her lip to keep herself from laughing, nudging Bambi in her side. "Bitch my brother probably isn't even the father of dat baby,"
Koi deeply sighed, deciding to ignore her. "Look I'm keeping this child, you'll get your paternity test once the baby is born, but I think you should just start mentally preparing yourself that this baby might be yours because--"
"Okay cool so nine months from now you can hit me up, anything else? If not, escort yo' self out." Mid gestured towards the door, brushing past her. Koi bit the inside of her cheek, and grabbed her purse, walking out of the conference room.
Lotus glanced down at her feet, swallowing hard, her mind beginning to race.
Did she make the right choice giving in so soon to be with Mid?
Hey hey! Back with another chapter! I just know y'all cussing me tf out LMFAO.
One of my readers who was reading HOTS and POM earlier today called me sadistic 😭😔 do y'all really think that way of me?
Anyways thoughts on this chapter? My girl Lotus FINALLY gave in!! WOOT WOOT!!
Not much to say, read 'SERENE' by shessourban
PLEASE, show love.
Lastly, I need a way to communicate with you guys. I be having a lot I want to tell y'all but there's only so many announcements I can make lol. Majority of y'all msg me, but I don't be on here if I'm not writing, so I be replying late as hell. 😭
anyways, ideas?
dassit, dats all!
y'all be easy
see y'all in the next chapter! - Wynter ❄️💙