MAMA SAID

🕊When I Get Home🕊

A/N: originally supposed to be two parts 🙄 wattpad is fucking up so here's to the longest chapter you'll ever see from me 🥴🥴. Let's see if anyone could make it to the end.  Heavily Chloe centered. Also, heavy topics are discussed here, so read with caution triggers are labeled beforehand. Happy reading.

Chloe!

The sleeping fifteen year old let out a low disgruntled groan as the sound of her name sliced through her head with skull-splitting sharpness. She rolled over and buried her head in a pillow that definitely wasn't hers but somehow smelled familiar. Her eyelids felt heavy, but someone was screeching her name and stomping heavily up the stairs towards her and if she was going to be able to deal with whoever it was that was responsible for disturbing her sleep, she would have to wake up. She pushed the blanket aside and tried to open her eyes but the sleep was too good to disturb, so she laid back down still out for the count.

Chloe felt a sharp pain explode across her mouth and she jolted up in shock. Alana hovered over her smirking with her arms folded. Oh, right, I'm here, she thought. Still sluggish and spent, Chloe's tongue darted gingerly to lick her lips and she tasted blood.

"What the hell," Chloe asked, realizing the girl had smacked her.

"Didn't you hear my mom calling for you," Alana asked, glaring down at Chloe with hard eyes full of contempt.

"When she tells you to do something, do it. Don't just lay there like the useless little bitch that you are," she growled.

Chloe felt around the side of the bed for her sister and relaxed once her hand landed on Halle's back. It was a rarity that she woke earlier than Halle. The oldest Bailey stared blankly at Alana. Her mouth felt dry and she could taste the remnants of marijuana still on her tongue. Chloe took a deep breath and attempted her breathing exercises to calm her nerves. She noticed that the chair wasn't underneath the door. She must've forgotten after her and her sister raided the fridge last night and crashed soon after.

"And wake that half-witted dumb ass sister of yours up."

Chloe knew Alana's words were just words, but they hurt. It was as if she could feel her heart shatter and her insides twist with every cruel taunt and catty dig Alana threw at her, and God, why would anyone want to make someone else feel so utterly worthless? Halle was different that's all. She wasn't half-witted or dumb. In fact, she was smarter than most kids her age, but everyone who came in contact with her couldn't help but to notice how she created the impression of someone years younger. Halle shifted on the bed, laying back against the pillow as her eyes fluttered open.

"What's she doing in here," Halle rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Alana looked at the younger girl in disgust, "this is my fucking house you should be asking yourself that question because I have yet to figure it out."

"Girl it is too early. Where do you find this energy," Halle asked.

The pain in Chloe's mouth was now more evident as she finally had her moment of staring off into space. Again she touched her lip and ogled the girl still staring.

"I don't know, God," Alana turned to leave.

Chloe allowed the anger building up inside her, to spread through her blood and envelop her body in a familiar blanket of rage and numbness till the trepidation and dismay were gone. She rushed to her feet running behind Alana slightly and took it upon herself to push Alana so hard the girl dropped to her hands and knees.

"Chloe," Halle yelled confused by what was taking place.

Alana stood and took a couple of steps toward Chloe who staggered backwards visibly shaken by the enraged eagle eye the brunette sent her way. Chloe's eyes locked on Alana like she was seeing her for the first time and a look of horror flashed across the fifteen year olds face.

"You want a fight," Alana seethed.

Halle hopped from the bed and stood by her sister's side, but then Chloe backed away from Alana like she was on fire shaking her head, the emotion suddenly gone from her face.

"I-I don't want to fight. You smacked me and called my sister dumb," her voice shook.

Alana wanted to laugh but couldn't when she heard her mother's voice from behind.

"What's going on ladies? Chop chop before everyone's late," Karen said from the doorway.

Alana looked Chloe up and down before turning on her heel and leaving the sisters alone.

"When did she smack you," Halle asked, taking in the small bloody spot in the corner of her sister's mouth for the first time.

"When I was asleep."

"Chlo, are you okay," Halle asked, noticing Chloe's breath becoming labored and her face contorted in anguished.

She thought she could see a bit of the old Chloe staring back at her now. The Chloe who once wouldn't dream of hurting another person. Halle pulled her sister in for a long embrace, unable to resist the urge to comfort her when she appeared so distraught.

"I'm fine Hals," the older sister sniffed as she pulled away, "I'm gonna go get dressed."

Halle watched as her sister carried a garment bag and her shower necessities with her into the hallway. Once Chloe left, Halle curled up on the bed and cried. She didn't think her sister was going to come back to her, not the Chloe she knew and loved. This Chloe, this angry, violent Chloe had taken her place. Maybe she's broken, Halle thought. Saddened, the girl pulled herself from the bed once again. This time slower because of the pain she still found herself in. She ambled towards the suitcase that she refused to unpack crunching a plastic wrapper under her foot from one of the many snacks she ingested before bed.

"I am never smoking again, ugh," Halle vowed quietly to herself as she pulled out one of her blazers.

A full thirty minutes later, both Chloe and Halle were dressed in Lexington's famous uniform. Chloe had chosen to skip out on breakfast because she couldn't fathom the thought of sitting at a table with Alana, but Halle didn't care. Brian, Alana, and Karen all gawked at the girl eating like she was a starving bear cub all alone in the wilderness. Karen chose not to speak on it, but Brian was far too cringed to remain silent.

"You know you could probably taste the food better if you slowed down," he scowled.

Alana chuckled lightly which made Karen upset. In her earlier years as a physician, she had spent the better of two years abroad in Spain helping out the local children whose families couldn't afford healthcare. Part of their daily routine was feeding the community with the little resources they had, and Halle reminded Karen of a little girl who she had taken a liking to named Esmeralda. Esmeralda would be the first in line every single day to receive her hot meal. She'd become so excited that she'd scoff the food down forgetting she had eaten it and accuse another child next to her of stealing from her plate. It happened that way everyday.

"Honey, please," Karen sat her fork down and sighed.

"What," Brian asked, "she's eating like a pig and we're not supposed to say anything? Look at her chin," the man motioned towards Halle who had her head tucked so low one would've thought she was asleep.

"I refuse to believe this is how my husband addresses a little girl simply eating. Brian we've had other foster children why are you behaving this way," she stared at her husband.

Alana peered between her parents shocked because her mother had never even spoken up for her that way and she was doing it for a total stranger?

Brian sighed, "I apologize," he looked to Halle who had hesitantly brought the fork back to her mouth.

"It's just, we have the banquet coming up and if this is how she'll behave there then...I don't know, maybe we could have Alana teach some etiquette classes after school," the Senator eyed his daughter.

"You want me to spend my extra time trying to teach this," she pointed to Halle, "which fork is her salad fork? I'd have better luck training a monkey to change the filters in the coffee machine."

Halle's fork clattered to her plate. Her mouth was agape and her eyes filled with rage and hurt, "I know which fork is the salad fork!"

"Oh look, it speaks," Alana deadpanned.

"Surprise surprise the negro child can do more than just shuck and jive, and if you keep speaking like I'm not here, that salad fork you speak of will do more than just scoop food into that gaping hole you call a mouth!"

Karen's hand went to her own chest in shock, "Halle, how would your mother feel if I told her what you just said?"

Halle shrugged her shoulders, "my mom told me that I can't do anything he," she pointed to Brian, "tells me to and she's the only person I have to listen to, so I'm not going anywhere with him just so he can show me off to those ugly white politician people again," the girl pushed her chair back and stormed off.

Alana shook her head, "see mom, they're all animals."

TEN MINUTES PRIOR

"So y'all dressed and ready to go," Bey asked.

Chloe had expertly placed lip gloss over the small scratch Alana put there earlier so Beyoncé wouldn't ask any questions. She could tell Bey had a rough few days because of the bags underneath the woman's eyes and didn't want to add anymore stress to her life.The blonde already had so much to deal with, she didn't need this on her plate as well. She'll tell Beyoncé eventually, she decided, but right now things weren't too bad.

"Yes Halle's eating breakfast now and Terrell texted, he should be on his way in a few."

"Mm did you eat already," Bey was brushing Blue's hair into a high bun.

"I'll just grab something on the way out," Chloe double checked and triple checked her book bag ensuring all of her assignments were organized properly in her binder.

"Look Chloe, a butterfly," Blue put her hands in the camera, crossing her thumbs together and wiggled her fingers like a butterfly floating through the sky.

"Wooow," Chloe exaggerated, "who taught you that?"

"Mrs Harrison," Blue hopped up and down.

"Hold still," Beyoncé said.

They were in the mirror with the camera set up so they could both see. A notification popped up on her screen.

"That's Terrell, he's outside," Chloe placed her bag on her back.

"Okay have a good day today. I'll see you in a few hours. Tell your sister I said the same."

"See you," Chloe smiled.

"Byyeeeee," Blue waved before the call ended.

There was a knock on the bedroom door. Chloe's heart leapt into her throat and she found herself holding her breath and staring at the door as the knob turned. She was terrified the person on the other end of the door would be Alana coming back for round two of their standoff. The door opened to reveal a concerned looking BJ standing awkwardly in the archway of the bedroom. Chloe shakily expelled the breath she had been holding, her fear giving way to mild relief.

"Morning," he said.

She gripped the straps to her backpack. Why was he at the door?

"Hi," she said just above a whisper.

She waited to see if he'd step past the doorway into the room, but BJ stood still, reached into the pockets of his ripped denim jeans, and pulled out a small ziplock bag of pre-rolled joints.

"I thought you'd want these," he held the bag out for her to grab.

Chloe shook her head, "no thank you. Yesterday was a one time thing."

BJ nodded, "living in this house? This will come in handy, trust me," he shook the bag.

Chloe thought about yesterday and how free she felt. She thought of counting the stars one by one only to start over again when she'd lose count of where she started from. The smile that was pulled across her face that wasn't forced or faked. She stared at the bag held by the man. For some reason, the idea of smoking again sounded amazing. It had been euphoric, and normally Chloe didn't even like getting second hand smoke from others, but now she wondered how it would feel on her tongue again. The taste of the smoke, even, seemed delectable. The teen hesitantly grabbed the bag.

"Thank you," she had her orbs trained to the floor.

"No problem," BJ put his headphones in and made his way down the hall.

Chloe turned the bag over, twiddling the four joints through the plastic. She walked back to her suitcase and stuffed the weed underneath the piles of clothes before going downstairs. Halle had already been standing by the door.

"Hey," Karen called, "you two didn't want to carpool with Alana? You're going to the same place."

Chloe and Halle exchanged looks, "we have security, we can't."

Karen palmed her face, "oh that's right. I keep forgetting you two came from queen Bay's home."

"It's Bey," Halle corrected.

Karen squinted at the girl, "right, well I'll see you two whenever you get back."

They girls turned to leave but not before Alana came rushing past them pushing both out of her way, "Yes Kennedy I'm on my way gosh when are you going to get that disgusting Porsche out of the shop anyway?"

For the second time today, Chloe inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly trying to keep a cap on her emotions as she held the door open for her sister to leave out first.

-

"Chile finally cuz I was ready to bust down some doors. I just knew them white folk had y'all somewhere in a attic," Terrell exclaimed as they made their way to the Terrell express.

A sizable security man in an all black suit had been waiting for them on the porch and was now escorting them to the truck.

"Terrell, do you have to change your hair everytime we see you," Halle asked sarcastically.

She was actually happy to see a familiar face from home.

The driver looked her over with a frown, "yes miss mamas I do. Ain't y'all learn to speak when you see somebody? Been with these Caucasians a day and lost all ya culture."

Chloe smiled wide, "morning Terrell," they said in unison.

"Nah that's more like it! Let's get y'all to the school house on time for ya mama dock my pay."

Terrell got behind the wheel while Chloe and Halle slipped into the back seats accompanied by their personal G.I Joe. Chloe slumped back in her seat and allowed her head to rest against the cool glass of the window as she listened to Terrell and Halle banter back and forth.

It had been a timely endeavor getting onto the private school grounds due to all of the paparazzi at the gates. Apparently they had been posted up since Monday morning hoping to get a glimpse or a word from anyone in the Carter family. Terrell had his head hanging out of the window screaming obscenities and threatening to run people over. The paps didn't know exactly who was in the car, due to the fact that Chloe and Halle went to school with kids from other luminary families. It could've been anyone, but to get their money making pictures or quotes, the paps treated every tinted sleek black vehicle that pulled up as if Beyoncé herself might roll the window down.

"I ain't finna be going through this every day, hell, my lash crooked now," Terrell parked right at the school's entrance.

The security guard they came to know as Gary, stepped out and helped each girl down from the truck. It felt like the entire student body peeped their descent. Gary escorted the two all the way up to the double doors and even offered to go in with them. Both Bailey's denied. That would only bring forth more attention.

Chloe regretted going to school the second she stepped foot in the building. She could feel the many eyes staring at her. Just like they had when it was announced that Bey was fostering them. At least then there wasn't an embarrassing video of her on the internet. Halle held her sister's hand tight. Chloe knew it was irrational to think that everyone was paying attention to her because of course people had other things to do, but still she wondered if every whisper was about her, if every student staring at their phone and laughing was laughing at her. She felt sick at the thought of people basking in her humiliation.

Yara sidled up to the two sisters startling them a bit. It's not that Chloe didn't appreciate the company, it's just that she didn't want to talk to anyone today. She'd much rather float through the halls like the ghost she was used to being and dip after classes were done.

"Ugh, it's only Tuesday," Yara quickly got into stride with the sisters, "have either one of you heard from Lovie? She hasn't been answering my calls."

Halle reached into her blazer pocket pulling out her phone, "nope."

"It'll be a random 323 number because she's using Yas's burner," they stopped in front of Chloe's locker.

"Haven't heard from her, sorry," Chloe offered up.

Halle, Yara, and Chloe slowly pulled their heads back from Chloe's locker and peered over their shoulders
after hearing a strange sound. Halle's breath hitched and she felt tears well in her eyes. The sound of voices from a cell phone loudly filled the halls and Chloe felt paralyzed. Even Yara felt her chest tighten.

"You just gone let him do that to your sister?"

"P-please she can't breathe! Just let her up for a second please! Just for a second!"

"How about you go over there and get him off of her?"

"She ain't gone do shit!"

"Agh!... Chloe help me!"

"Ahh you're hurting me...no...please...stop it!"

Halle's phone slipped from her shaky hands and fell to the floor with a loud crack.  Her own voice sounded foreign to her, so full of panic and fear. Instinctively Chloe's eyes flew to Halle's and she wanted to cry at the sight of her. Halle stood frozen in the center of the hall, almost catatonic amongst the chaos. Her eyes were wide and her mouth parted slightly. Chloe didn't remember saying those things, pleading with the man, while he was on top of her sister, but it was the sound of Halle's voice, so desperate and full of terror, as she begged the man to stop, that broke Chloe's heart. She'd only heard her sister sound like that once and that was the time her arm had been broken, and it terrified Chloe to know that her sister was once again reduced to supplication.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Turn that off," Yara yelled at Alana who stood smirking like always with her blonde sidekick.

"What's wrong," Alana turned to Halle sarcastically.

The thirteen year old's lip trembled as she fought the urge to cry. She wouldn't be caught dead in anyone's school letting out water works.

Despite the painful cracking in her heart, Chloe had found her voice, "don't talk to her."

Alana waved her off and pressed play again as she strutted down the halls with the volume on high. Halle stared at the teen's retreating form till her eyes filled with tears and all she could make out in the crowd was a blur of brunette hair. I hate her, she thought.

"That girl is a piece of work. Are you guys okay," Yara asked.

Chloe paced the small space in front of her locker now. This was not how she had planned to start off her school day, but she lacked control of her emotions when it came to Alana. Simply being around the brunette left her nerves on edge and every moment between the two felt charged, like Chloe could combust at any second.

"Chloe," Yara said in a calming tone.

"She's impossible," Chloe shook her head, "I don't get people like her. If I didn't like someone I'd do my best to steer clear of them. Why is she always on our necks? And to play that stupid video? To what? Taunt? Bother us? Doesn't she have other things to do? I mean she's a senior right?"

Halle shook her head seemingly at a breaking point of her own. Her legs felt weak, her mind was hazy, and she'd exceeded her standing limit with her bruised ribs. Yara looked around at the several onlookers who were at their lockers as well.

"I don't mean to be that person, but," she said before leaning in toward Chloe and dropping her voice to a whisper, "you have an audience."

Chloe found herself shrinking at the realization but her defenses were still high, "ugh I just wish this day was over with already."

-

"Two more days, daughter," Anthony yelled out of his car window as he dropped Lovie off too close to first period for her liking.

She rolled her eyes and headed into the school not having the energy to deal with her father's antics. She didn't have time to stop at her locker, so she headed straight to her class with a huge headache.

Lovie spent Monday night held up in her room getting blackout drunk and then damn near sleep walked through the following school day. It was becoming a pattern for her—using alcohol to avoid her problems. She knew it was dangerously unhealthy, but with her father's threat weighing heavily on her mind and Reiyo's beautiful voice haunting her day and night, Lovie couldn't stand to be sober for too long. Fortunately her father left all the time or was too busy dealing with business to pay her any mind, so she didn't catch any flack at home for raiding his expensive liquor collection. With no one around to keep her in check at home, Lovie was all too eager to let the alcohol quiet the noise in her head.

Her friends expressed their concern when she showed up to class sullen and obviously hung over, but she brushed off their questions and continued to grapple with her demons on her own. She had one rather irritating run-in with Mr. Mooney, her history teacher, who asked her to stay after class and then tried to play the caring teacher role by pointing out her change in demeanor and asking her if anything was wrong. She got him off her back by rattling off some generic excuse about the stress of the curriculum and continued her descent into despair.
-

Chloe sat on a bench inside of the girl's locker room trying to drown out Kinsley, the talkative girl she had deemed a bookworm last week, but nothing worked. Yara always managed to make it to gym right before it started, so she wasn't there yet.

"And I was like oh my God! I think I know that girl let me dm her and make sure she's alright, but then my best friend McKayla is all 'leave her alone Kins and feed Rocko he's looking at me funny' Rocko's my pet Python. My uncle's a therapist, and he said I should've grown out of the stage where I wanted a pet that if it got loose it would give the whole family a heart attack, but Rocko's a sweetheart he wouldn't harm a fly unless that fly is a rat or basically any other living thing. Oh my God, I'm starting to see where my uncle was going with this."

Chloe grabbed her bag and tossed it over her shoulder. She needed some air...quickly.

"Hey where are you going," Kinsley called after her.

The girl stormed out of the locker room seemingly flying down the steps, pushed open the door, and stood there with a blank face. Only after hearing the door slam closed did Chloe allow herself to break down, burying her face into the palms of her hands and crying till her throat was raw and her eyes were bloodshot. Her sobs soon turned into whimpers and she wiped at her face feverishly telling herself to suck it up, but everything felt like it was moving too fast. Leaving Bey's home, her beef with Alana, her random drug use, her career and to top it off, everyone at her school had seen the video. It was all anyone could talk about, but to Chloe it felt like that incident happened light years ago. How was it still a topic of discussion? She drummed her left thigh and gripped her backpack with her right. She felt exposed being outside, but didn't want to go back in the building either. Chloe began to walk until she was at the back of the school's track. She peered over her shoulder ensuring no one was paying her any mind and slipped through the gate leading to the surrounding neighborhood.

She wondered briefly how pissed Beyoncé would be if she found out she left school and walked through a neighborhood without security. She'd probably have a fit and Chloe certainly didn't need anymore drama. Sighing, the teen removed her blazer and folded it neatly to place inside of her bag. She found herself walking the streets of the posh neighborhood until she ended up at a park about a mile away from her school.

-
HALLE

I really just want to go home. Like home home where mama is. All of these people keep looking at me with sorrowful glances. Even the teachers seemed like they pitied me. Who wants that? To be pitied? Maybe this is why the Williams had me and Chloe vow to silence. They were probably looking out for us now that I think about it because no one wanted this feeling. The feeling of having everyone look at you and only think of one thing. Why did I have to go on live? If I didn't then none of this would be happening. I wouldn't be getting these stares. Okay I would because of my mama's status but they wouldn't be laced with condolement or worse the ever present snicker. I definitely would still be living at home instead of with those racist ass Hardings.

Lovie would probably be talking to me. I have most of my classes with her and she didn't say a word to me. Was she embarrassed of me now because of the video? She didn't want to be my friend anymore because people would associate her with it too? I wonder how many views it's gotten by now it has to be in the millions I'm assuming because why wouldn't it? My teacher allowed me to put my head down on my desk which was strictly prohibited at Lexington so that's a plus I guess.

I couldn't focus on the lecture, too busy thinking about how Alana played that video earlier. I don't want to ever hear that again. I couldn't imagine seeing it. Then I'd have to see that man's face and watch him pin me down. I did my best not to vomit when he kneeled on my stomach, too afraid I'd choke on it if the man didn't let me up, so I swallowed it. It was nothing though. I've done that plenty of times.

Men are trash.

They do nothing but use their strength to intimidate. Well Shawn's not trash. I kind of miss him telling me to go to bed by ten and sneaking Chloe and I snacks upstairs whenever mama would fuss about eating in our rooms. But this is all his fault, I don't know how, but I do know the men were asking for him claiming they had business to take care of. Would they have killed him if he was in the studio? They all had guns, so were they going to assassinate Shawn just like that? Now I want to call him and make sure he's okay.

-
⛔️⛔️📢📢⚠️⚠️TRIGGER ⚠️⚠️📢📢⛔️⛔️

Shawn had a child-like smile across his face when Glizzy called him early Tuesday morning saying they found the other three men from the video. He had guessed that they left town completely, but that was his bad for thinking they had brains. Once again he was in one of his unmarked warehouses in the middle of nowhere. No one had heard the screaming from Caine when one of Glizzy's men crushed his leg in multiple places or the constant pleading from Trill whenever another stab or slice was added to his bloodied body. Shawn had something special for him, but the one who was least harmed was Dre and that was due to the fact that he was Ace's right hand man and Jay wanted some information. He could tell threats of physical harm would do nothing to persuade Dre to name Ace's home or even a common drop spot the man frequented, so he let Dre sit and watch until he found something that would make the man tick. That's where Jay differed from most of these niggas, he had something to live for. He had things to barter with if he were ever in this situation and although that made him vulnerable, he wouldn't change it for the world. To see people so willing to die about the street life was astonishing. It wasn't like they were getting much money off this shit. They were still living in the projects.

Jay approached the chained men with a cigar hanging from the side of his mouth. Dre leered at him from underneath his brows, his mouth balled up like he was about to spit.

"Pull the chains higher," Jay blew smoke out as the men's feet were now off of the ground.

He leisurely stepped closer to Trill and pressed his burning cigar to his cheek.

"Aghhh," the man wiggled and thrashed.

He could've just killed them. Gave everyone one single headshot and be done with it, but his pride wouldn't allow it. These were the ill equipped people who were supposed to take him out? Take him away from his family leaving them to grieve in his absence? Ace was supposed to send his best to take Jay out and he knew that so what the hell was this shit show?

"Man it wasn't personal. I needed the money," Caine hung his head low when he saw Jay look his way.

Jay nodded slowly, "how much he pay you?"

"Five G a piece," Caine got out.

The laugh Glizzy and Jay let out echoed against the empty warehouse walls. Five thousand dollars and mufuckas was ready to kill? Ready to take a life? Ace wasn't even trying to feed these niggas? It was actually sad. His daughter's play purses cost about that much and Blue would throw them around like it wasn't nothing.

"Man you lost your life over five g? That shit crazy," Jay shook his head.

From what he saw, Caine was hardly on camera, but he was the first person to snatch Halle's phone and announce that they were live. They were so big and bold with a couple of teen girls, but nobody was laughing now. There weren't any taunts or threats being made besides by Glizzy and Jay.

"I can tell you where Ace stay. I-I been over there like three times," Caine struggled to get out.

"Man shut the fuck up! If you gone go down at least go out like a G and not some snitching ass nigga fuck is wrong withchu," Dre yelled.

Glizzy pushed his brass knuckles up higher on his fingers. The eerie crackling sound as his fist came into contact with Dre's nose filled the room. Blood leaked profusely and the red haired man leaned his head back in an attempt to slow his blood loss.

"You hit like a bitch."

"What the fuck did you say mama bicho," his puerto rican slang slipping out.

Dre lifted his head and stared pointedly at Glizzy, "You heard what the fuck I said," he spit blood onto the floor.

Glizzy didn't work like this. He didn't give his adversaries a chance to speak to him because he didn't care what they had to say, but Jay was his friend and this was his grievance to bear so he allowed him to run it how he wanted.

"Yo Hov just let me kill this one right here. He ain't gone talk anyway. Everybody from Boyle heights that know him said it'll be a waste of time trynna get something outta this mufucka."

Jay squinted but still shook his head. Everybody had something that made them tick. Shawn turned on his heel going back to Trill.

FLASHBACK (SHAWN)

"Have a nice rest of your day," the cashier smiled wide as she handed me my receipt.

A police siren sounded from just outside the opened restaurant doors, but I didn't pay no mind to it. I grabbed the plastic bag of food with one hand and headed out. Luckily uppity white people don't really know who I am, so I went without being recognized. As I made my way down the street, I saw emergency vehicles with their lights still flashing. The studio was on the same strip as a few shops, so I couldn't tell whether the ambulance and police were for a flower shop or Paramount. Either way it wasn't my business, so I really didn't care. A two minute walk. That's how long it took me to stand in front of the studio. Two minutes. I passed up on two uniformed officers conversing, but I only caught a few words.

Guns

Girls

Guardian

Having a horrible feeling, I sped up my steps until I was in front of the elevator pressing the button for the fourth floor. I stared at the top of the elevator watching as the numbers changed until finally a robotic voice announced the fourth floor. I looked to my right and there was one cop standing with his thumbs tucked into his waistband in front of yellow caution tape that blocked off the door of the studio I was in.

Fuck.

I swallowed hard and walked slowly toward the officer. He held up a hand in front of him telling me to stop.

"Sir, this is an active crime scene. You can't go inside right now."

I wouldn't be able to explain how I felt at that moment. All I know is that it took me a while to talk because the officer looked at me weird as hell.

"Crime scene?"

"Yes sir," he nodded.

I leaned to the left to make sure I had the right studio number.

Shit.

"Aye, it was two girls in here with locs in they hair. One fifteen the other thirteen," I rushed out.

He nodded, "what's your name?"

"Ja–," I cleared my throat, "Shawn Carter."

The officer reached for his radio that was on his shoulder, "we have Shawn Carter on the scene."

What the fuck is going on?

"Ten four, I'll have an officer come to him shortly," a voice came through the mic.

"Man what is all this," I asked.

Before he could answer another officer approached from my left side, "Shawn Carter," he asked.

He was an older black guy with hair that was starting to grey.

"Yeah what's up?"

He motioned for me to follow him and I got into stride alongside him.

"You're the guardian of Chloe and Halle Bailey?"

"Yes sir I am. Is everything okay? I left them here for a few minutes to get food they old enough to stay by they self."

We turned a corner, "that's not the problem. Apparently There were a few guys with guns who came in looking for you."

I stopped walking. What the fuck was he saying to me? He must've read my expression.

"The girls are okay. A bit shaken up, but as protocol they will still have to go down to the hospital and get checked out."

Why he ain't start out with that? See this why I hate cops.

"Where they at," I asked.

The officer knocked on a random door and opened it soon after. Halle sat in a chair speaking to a female officer while Chloe was in the corner of the room looking distraught. The heavy door closed by itself with a click and both girl's heads jerked in my direction.

"Shaaaaawn," Halle teared up forgetting the officer's questions and ran to me.

I dropped the food on the floor and picked her up as I stared at Chloe who hadn't left her spot in the corner. Halle sobbed in my arms and I could feel her entire body shake.

"What happened lil bit?"

I tried to look at her face, but she held on tight. I walked over to Chloe, switched Halle to one arm and held my hand out for the oldest.

"What happened Chlo," I pulled her into my side.

"The guys, four of them, They came in and said they were looking for you but I told them you stepped out. They said they were gonna stay until you came back but I didn't feel comfortable so I grabbed Halle to leave but the man pushed me in a seat. He snatched Halle's phone because we were on live like you said we could and then Halle tried to run. That's when the man picked her up and threw her to the ground and got on top of her. I tried to help but I couldn't because the man had a gun and said he'd shoot me if I tried."

Who the fuck are these niggas and what they want with me?

"Are you hurt," I asked Chloe.

"No, just Halle," she looked to the floor.

"They hurt you lil bit?"

I could feel her nod into my shoulder.

"Let me see," I gently pulled her back from me so I could canvas her for bruising.

"Where?"

"On my stomach and he was stepping on my chest," she sniffed.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my anger hidden. These girls can't catch a break.

"You okay," I assured her.

The female officer stepped to us, "we have an ambulance downstairs waiting to take them to get checked out."

We were escorted downstairs and it was a fight to get Halle in the truck, she claimed she was fine and this was all too much. Honestly I could've taken her to the hospital, but since they were children who had reported being attacked they had to go with the people. Chloe didn't say anything the entire ride over and Halle was on the bed yelling at the paramedic that she was stretching out her shirt trying to lift it. From the little I could see of her belly, it was badly bruised and all I could think about was my wife's reaction.

I fucked up.

PRESENT  (OMNISCIENT)

"You know y'all niggas famous right? Off my name," Shawn picked up an already bloodied knife from a nearby table.

"Yeah," he sighed, "everybody want y'all ass. Y'all was green lit but luckily I got to ya first," he inched towards Trill once more.

"I ain't treat y'all too bad have I? I been trying this thing called pacing myself ion think I got the hang a that shit though. I still get the urge to speed things along cuz I got money to make."

Trill grimaced at Shawn as he hung from the high ceiling.

"Trill huh...what kinda bullshit name is that? What yo mama named you," Jay asked.

Trill stared over Shawn's head unblinking. Jay plunged the knife deep into the man's gut evoking a pain filled scream that sounded like a sonnet to Jay's ears.

He held the knife there and slightly twisted it, earning another grumbled outcry.

"What ya mama named you," he seethed.

"Thaddeus," the man griped.

Jay chuckled and nodded as he ripped the sharp blade of the knife out of the man's stomach.

"So a nigga named Thaddeus thought he was gone take me out."

Trill bit his bottom lip in an effort not to let out any more pathetic cries. Caine couldn't look and Dre held a blasé facial expression. He really didn't know these niggas well enough to lend some sympathy to them. In his eyes they were a couple of bitches letting another nigga see them cry. Couldn't be him.

"Live by the code. Die by the code. Never been a hoe bury me before I sell my soul," Dre nodded his head like he could hear a beat.

Glizzy and Jay ignored him when he repeated it.

Hov looked over his shoulder back at Glizzy, "you sure this the same nigga from the video," he pointed to Trill who had his lips balled up tight but a tear ran down his face.

Glizzy nodded.

"This can't be the same mufucka that held my little one in his arms bouncing her around playing in her mother fucking face? Then had the nerve to throw her down like she wasn't shit!"

"Word to my muva," Glizzy mimicked Shawn's Brooklyn accent as he crossed his heart and sent up a Hail Mary to the ceiling.

"Nah son. Fuck was you doing on top of her like that? You ain't think it was gone be repercussions," Jay plunged the knife dangerously close to Trill's neck hitting the corner of his shoulder blade.

"Man we ain't even know they was yours," Caine said from the side of Trill.

"Bullshit! They was in my studio. Fuck I look like in there by myself with some random ass lil girls? Of course y'all knew, otherwise we wouldn't be here now would we? Don't play that dumb shit. Y'all forget I started where y'all at now. Ain't no fucking way y'all running in the studio and fucking with some random girls you thought just knew me when it was supposed to be a hit."

"And since you wanna talk," Glizzy took the knife from Shawn, lurched forward, and thrusted it through Caine's jaw with such force that the top of the blade poked out of his opposite cheek.

It had been a long time since Jay allowed himself to actually be in the room while shit like this went down. Still, the shocked expression on Caine's face as his tongue hung slack out of his mouth did nothing for Hov. He took a step back and allowed his general disposition to take over.

"Why don't you just get this shit over with," Dre asked tired of the prolonging.

Shawn asked himself the same question in that moment because he was indeed a businessman who had other obligations, but this particular task was more dire.

"You right," he pulled his gun out and took it off of safety letting three shots blast from the barrel all sniping Dre, but in non vital areas.

One in his leg, another in his shoulder, and the other at the top of his stomach. Dre began laughing like a person come undone. Trill and Caine were making strange noises they must've thought were cries but came out as wretched screeches of a wounded animal.

"If I knew I was gone die bout this shit I would've at least got some from ya oldest. Baby girl was thick as fuck," Dre said just to taunt Jay even going as far as to lick his lips and smile showing off his grill.

Jay balled up his lips, cocked his gun to the side, but Glizzy put his hand up stopping him from taking a shot.

"Let me do the honors," the Puerto Rican man suggested, and let his chopper sing, riddling Dre's body with bullets until the clip was empty. Glizzy snatched another round of ammunition from a nearby table and loaded his gun. The click when he took the gun from safety caused Caine to flinch violently. Glizzy spared Caine the overkill only delivering two breath taking shots straight to his head. Blood now dripped from Trill's mouth and oozed from his previous stab wounds. He took short and precise breaths as he turned to look Jay in the eye.

"Tell, Ace, I, said, fuck, him," were his last words as Glizzy let bullet after bullet collided with Trill's body.

Glizzy stood with a sly smirk on his face as he placed his gun inside of his waistband.

"I couldn't listen to his shit no more."

Three of Glizzy's men began to lower the bodies to the ground like a flag at half staff. Jay trusted that they knew what to do with them.

"It's cool man," Jay dapped Glizzy up and took long strides towards the exit.

-

Chloe felt restless, anxious as she stood in the park waiting for her mind to stop racing. She found herself grinding her teeth, clenching her fingers together. She wasn't sure if she was nervous that she left school grounds or if she was scared that someone would recognize her. Or maybe it was just from the events of the day and being in yet another new and alien place. The park was huge, it sprawled across at least half the block. There were several different sections that Chloe could see, all with different themes. The first, clearly for younger children probably up to five years old. It's where she had originally entered. It was empty and quiet now, but she could imagine it full and chaotic with tiny tots bustling about. Then, across from that, there was a giant outdoor sitting area unlike one she'd ever seen. Rich people really do have it all. And then a skate park was attached with stairs that wound up to where Chloe was now. She stood on the stairs instead of sitting, taking note of how the sun sweltered. Undoubtedly the concrete would burn her legs. The fifteen year old pulled out her phone checking the time until her next class. She wasn't crazy enough to skip out on the entire day. She just needed a quick breather. She couldn't remember the last time she had the chance to just be alone, enjoying the quiet. After a while, Chloe got restless again, so she took out her headphones and opened a beat that she had been working on before she left Bey's house. She made sure the music wasn't too loud, so she could hear someone if they walked up to her. The production of the track was finished, but the lyrics wouldn't come to her.

She was leaned up against a metal railing, soaking up Vitamin E, curiously examining the group of skaters to her far right. She was at the top of the stairs, so no one was able to see her. Chloe had only ever been to one other skate park and that was by accident when her and Halle took it upon themselves to explore the neighborhood back in ATL, so she watched appreciatively as three teen boys and one girl attempted trick after trick on their boards. She smiled contentedly as they cheered each other on and made a big fuss when someone fell down. Her eyes lingered on the skaters for a few minutes, starting to wonder if she had experienced some sort of panic attack. It just didn't seem right to feel that worked up, that anxious. But, then, strangely the bad feeling, the restless syndrome had dissipated. She pressed her hand against the railing next to her, and brushed her hand across it, suddenly interested in its texture. It felt hot to the touch, bumpy, metallic. She kept doing it. It was comforting. As she continued to stroke the railing, it was as if every bad thing was washing away. Like someone had spilled liquid sunshine all over her. She looked around. The music too, seemed suddenly more vibrant, the beat like her heart itself.

Was it inside her?

Was that a weird thought? To wonder if the music was pulsing both in her ear and through her? Hadn't she been angry and agitated only moments ago? She couldn't even remember it. It felt distant. The feeling had floated away up to the same blazing sun she felt was gently bearing down on her skin leaving a golden glow in its wake. Her spine buzzed, as if she were entering a warm bath.

"What's up babe," Chloe heard from the bottom of the steps.

She jumped a bit, and removed an earbud startled by the proximity of the person, but it was only a demure looking ten, maybe eleven year old boy who couldn't keep his bangs secured under his bright yellow beanie. Chloe let out a slight chuckle as she took in his scrawny nature.

"Aye what's up babe? What's up lil mama," he squeaked.

Chloe took that as her sign to leave, so she grabbed her back pack she discarded and descended the steps passing the boy up.

"Lil mama wait, you not gone talk to me? Wait wait," he called.

Chloe noticed the skaters had eyes on the scene and refused to be recognized without security present. The girl sped up her steps until she was half assed running towards her school. She looked to her right and there was the boy dragging a stick along the concrete next to her breathing hard.

"What's your sign? You look like an Aquarius," he said.

Chloe laughed because she was in fact a Cancer not an Aquarius and slowed her steps since no one else was around now.

"What's your number?"

She had half the mind to ask him why he wasn't in school, but the same question could be posed for her.

"Let me guess, ten," he tilted his head to the side and turned his lips up like he had heard that line plenty of times.

Chloe looked straight ahead and pretended the boy wasn't there at all, she was talented like that.

"You not gone say nothing back? You not gone say thank you," he smacked his lips when she didn't answer and ran in the opposite direction still dragging his stick behind him.

Once she was alone on her trek back to Lexington, lyrics began to flow. She didn't have her journal with her, so she reached into her backpack for a notebook.

Hush be quiet, I'm already not feeling well
Peace be silent, so I can start feeling well
I don't like hurting feelings
But you're making me feel worse
No offense, I'm just sick
But you're making me feel worse
Hush be quiet, I'm already not feeling well

You're causing me to have an upset stomach
With the words that's coming out your mouth
Going coming out your mouth

Chloe waited by the field entrance just behind the school bleachers, praying someone came out in time for her to slip in without having to go through the main entrance. She didn't know if the paps were still there, plus she would be questioned by the front office as to why she had left. At Lexington students didn't get off campus lunch until junior year and her student i.d had a very prominent orange stripe at the top letting everyone know what year she was in. Just in time, a handful of students filed out of the door onto the track. The girl caught the door by the tips of her fingers just before it closed, rushed through the halls easily, and slipped into her unassigned, assigned seat in between Yara and Beans with one minute to spare.

"Where were you last period," Yara asked.

Beans leaned forward in his seat trying to be nosy.

"I had to get a breather. I went to a park a few blocks from here. Did Mrs Clemens notice," Chloe whispered.

Beans smacked his lips, "now y'all know that lady notices everything. A whole kid missing from her class? Come on now."

Chloe let out a huff and slouched in her seat.

"I told her you had to go to the school nurse, so just have Lovie get you a pass and give it to her tomorrow. She swiped a stack the last time you two were down there," the big haired girl explained.

"Ooh," Beans hit the table, "see why didn't I think of that? I bet she selling them bitches for a pretty penny too. I'm finna get in on it."

"Thank you, you're a God send," Chloe nodded with a serious expression.

-

Despite her best efforts to avoid thinking about her friends, Lovie found herself watching them intently whenever she spotted them around school. She'd like to think that Chloe and Halle were doing fine. definitely better than her, but she hadn't actually spoken to them so she couldn't say for sure. From what she could see Halle seemed quieter than usual, but Chloe seemed more fidgety and she flinched so hard when someone entered the classroom unannounced during free period. Still, Lovie tried to make it easier on everyone and stay away whenever possible. Although Lexington was a huge school, she and the Bailey sisters shared a set of friends so crossing paths was unavoidable.

By the middle of the day Lovie felt physically worn down, like she might collapse at any second from the weight of it all.

"You look like hell," Yasmin said bluntly when she caught Lovie lacking in the hall. It wasn't the first time she looked her over and voiced such an opinion, so Lovie knew she must look as bad as she felt.

"Thanks," she muttered tiredly.

Beans slammed his locker shut beside her and Lovie winced, the loud noise painfully piercing through her skull.

"If you gone get lit on a school night and show up hungover the least you could do was invite me. I was bored as hell," he scolded.

"Beans you mean high as hell, we were all together last night," Yas exclaimed.

At the mention of yesterday and the word 'high' Chloe felt a pang in her stomach. She couldn't believe she sat there and watched as her little sister finished off a blunt. She had actually looked Halle dead in the face and didn't say anything. It wasn't that she didn't want to. She was either stunned into silence or too high to function. Either one of those still wasn't a good excuse for what she did.

"I didn't go out last night. And I'm not hungover," Lovie shifted her weight to one leg.

Yara smacked her lips, "you're forgetting who you're talking to, Lovie? We all know hungover when we see it, especially on you."

Chloe leaned on a nearby locker pretending she wasn't a part of the conversation and Halle folded her arms but stared at Lovie pointedly.

"So I had a little to drink last night. So what? You're hardly one to judge," Lovie said, alluding to Yara's brief dependency on opioids during her own dark time.

Yara's mouth twisted at the irony. Not too long ago she had winged herself off of the little white pills after Lovie, Yas, and Beans had a mini intervention and threatened to tell her parents what she was doing.

Yara sighed, "I'm not judging. I'm worried."

Lovie looked down the line to all of her friends. Taking in their fretful faces. Even Chloe had turned around with doe eyes. Lovie swallowed thickly and nodded. She couldn't tell her friends what was wrong. They'd hate her and she'd lose them just like she lost–

Her friends were all she had left. They were the one constant good thing in her life and while they've been able to weather some stormy times together in the past, she doubted they would stand by her this time. How could they? Yasmin had been beyond pissed the night she showed her the video and she despised liars with everything in her.

"Well don't be," Lovie got out and attempted to stroll away from her friends.

"Wait, Chloe needs a note from the nurses office. She skipped out on gym earlier," Yara called.

Lovie looked over her shoulder and locked eyes with Chloe who was obviously not proud of herself. Without words, the teen rumbled through her bag pulling out the nurses notepad and scribbled a date and time along with a faux signature at the bottom. She handed it to Chloe desperately willing her hand not to tremble.

"Thanks," Chloe muttered.

Lovie started towards her next class, "no worries," she disappeared quickly blending with the crowd.

The group of friends began walking down the hall as well.

"You know what I was thinking," Yara asked.

Chloe peered to her friend curiously, "what?"

"I should throw a sleepover," she smiled wide.

Yas rolled her eyes, "we're not twelve anymore Yara I think we're past playing spin the bottle, no shade Hals."

"I'm not twelve," Halle deadpanned.

Yara smacked her lips, "you remember when all of us would lay around and talk all night watching stupid romcoms and arguing about which actor was the cutest?"

"Correction, y'all hoes used to do that," Beans cut in.

"Please, I caught you crying watching the notebook," Yara waved him off.

"That was a cult classic and it ain't nothing wrong for a man to be in touch with his sensitive side," he turned to Chloe and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Your parents allow you to have boys spend the night," Chloe pushed herself from the locker she was leaned on.

Yara raised a brow, "of course not."

"But Beans"

Yasmin threw her head back, "pffft Beans is not a boy. I once watched him damn near have a panic attack when his daddy said he would force him to try out for football."

Chloe eyed Beans.

"Don't believe everything they tell you. They fucking lying," Beans said.

Once Chloe's eyes were off of him he drug his pointer finger slowly across his neck as he eyeballed Yasmin.

Yara stopped walking, "come on guys. Lovie clearly needs a little TLC right now, plus Chloe and Halle have never been to one of our sleepovers."

Beans shrugged, "Y'all not missing out on much."

Halle suddenly got excited at the mention of her invite, "when is it," she bounced on her toes slightly.

Chloe took in her sister's giddiness and sighed knowing she wasn't going to keep the girl away from the event. Yara thought for a second.

"Hmm we should have it Friday. My parents are going to Miami for the weekend and I convinced them that if I had to babysit my little brothers for two days straight I'd have an actual mental breakdown so they'll be going to my grandparents house."

"What do I bring," Halle's smile was contagious.

"Just yourself," Yara chuckled.

Yasmin held up a finger, "okay and who's to say Lovie's gonna show? By the way she's acting she might not wanna come."

Yara threw her arm around Yasmin's shoulder, "that's why you, my friend are going to convince her," she poked Yas's side.

"Why me," she asked.

"Because you're the hardest to disappoint," Beans cut in.

Yara nodded, "it's in the eyes."

-

Lovie moved through the rest of the day like she was in a fog, still reeling from the not-so-conversation she had with her friends. Their previous talk hadn't exactly left her feeling positive, in fact it had the total opposite effect. It left her feeling deplorable and afflicted. She couldn't get Chloe and Halle's worried gazes from her mind. They had no reason to worry about her. Her father's people did a disgusting thing which resulted in them being taken from their only family and being publicly embarrassed. How did they find it in them to be concerned for her? She understood that some people were caring by nature, she really did, but up until now she had never met anyone so selfless. Yes, her original set of friends looked after her, but to Lovie they didn't have any real life problems that they had to look beyond. Chloe and Halle did.

At lunch Yara and Yasmin attempted to engage her in some mindless chatter about second dates and dresses, but Lovie was too focused on the quiet conversation going on between Chloe and Halle at the other end of the table to participate. Besides, she really had no interest in discussing Yara's new beau right now. Not when her whole world was spiraling out of control and the one person she'd call to help her through wasn't answering their phone.

As her friends delved deeper into the dress debate, Lovie's phone vibrated in her blazer. With a furtive glance around the table, she discreetly fished the borrowed phone from her pocket and brought her hands under the table so she could check it in private. As her eyes locked on the screen, her stomach flipped when she realized just how many people she had to serve today, but then a small smile crept up because at least she had people willing to pay her. Her eyes were back on the sister duo talking amongst themselves. She couldn't exactly make out what Chloe and Halle were talking about but judging by their facial expressions and clipped tones, she could tell it was a tense discussion. Had they found out that she was the daughter of the infamous kingpin Ace and therefore considered hood royalty? Were they plotting how to blast the news to everyone at the school so she'd be shunned? Lovie couldn't stop the barrage of questions going through her mind. She excused herself from the table as soon as she finished her lunch, never sparing Yara, Beans, or Yasmin a glance but offering Chloe and Halle a wave and a warm smile. With Lovie gone, Beans halted the group's separate conversations, shooting a pointed look at Lovie's retreating form as he inched closer and turned to say something to Yasmin.

"Somethings definitely up with her."

-

Lovie shifted anxiously in her seat as she fiddled with the cell phone concealed in her lap. Every so often she lifted her eyes to glance at Mrs. Richards to make sure the English teacher wasn't looking in her direction. The last thing she needed today was to get detention or a demerit. After her disastrous conversation with her friends this morning she had foolishly thought the school day couldn't possibly get worse, but then she thought about her dilemma and now she was back to feeling like she was drowning in a sea of problems she had no idea how to fix.

Class was almost over and she spent the entire hour obsessing over her DNA and how fucked it was. She knew what she had to do and she spent the better part of class trying to figure out how she was going to do it. But no matter how many times she rehearsed the words in her head and imagined going through with it, she always envisioned the end result being the same: her friends turning their backs on her in absolute disgust. They didn't know much about Lovie's father's empire, only that he owned a bunch of clubs around LA. Yasmin once assumed that Lovie got her drugs from some low ranking hoodlum from the inner city and Lovie never corrected her.

She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't realize the bell had rung until her chair was bumped by an over-eager classmate. Snapping her head up to look around, she saw that most students had already filed out of the room. Lovie quickly gathered her belongings and hurried out of the classroom to meet a customer in the bathroom.

"Lovie, Lovie, wait," Yasmin called out, trying to catch up to her friend in the hallway.

The two shared the previous class and Lovie had felt Yasmin's eyes on her all throughout the mind-numbingly boring lesson on Beowulf, but she had been too afraid to turn and face her friend's interrogating stare. Plus Mrs Richards didn't play when it came to talking in her class.

They made their way through the hallway and Lovie disappeared into the crowd up ahead. Yasmin followed after her, weaving her way past her schoolmates and caught up to her friend halfway down the busy corridor. She grabbed Lovie by the elbow and spun her around.

"Bitch, what's up? I know you heard me calling you back there! I need to talk to you," Yasmin panted out, slightly winded from chasing her friend through the hall.

Lovie sighed "I need to get to class, Yas."

"Come on, Lovie Loovee. Don't do this. We're best friends, please tell me something," Yasmin pleaded, not knowing why she was being blown off.

Yasmin had been a little surprised when Lovie approached their table at the start of lunch and took her usual seat beside her without so much as glancing in anyone's direction, but Lovie had always been a master at avoiding her emotions and Yas suspected that this level of evasion had something to do with Lovie's father or other immediate family.

Lovie mentally rolled her eyes at how dramatic her friend could be, "look Yas," she pushed her braids to the side, "I've just been really stressed this week okay? You know how much I have on my plate."

Yasmin tried again, hoping to keep the conversation from getting away from her. "you have a lot of shit on your plate all the time, Lovie but you never completely ignored your friends. You just sat through an entire fucking class and didn't even acknowledge my presence! What the hell is up? What's gotten into you?"

Lovie reared back visibly thrown by Yasmin's words, "nothing's gotten into me!"

Yasmin regarded Lovie curiously, her anger seemed to have tapered off into a slight annoyance, but her eyes remained focused and demanding, "have you started taking the drugs you sell? What is it?"

Suddenly Lovie became very aware of just how public their conversation was. She quickly glanced around the hallway to make sure no one was there eaves dropping before returning her focus on Yasmin, "why don't you say it a little louder so the whole damn school hears you!"

Yasmin forced herself to move the conversation along, already having gone down a rabbit hole with Lovie once today.

"Look friend, you have a group of people behind you. We're worried, can't you see that? We want you to be okay."

Lovie's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she attempted to look everywhere but at her friend. She still couldn't believe she was having this conversation with Yas in the middle of school. The crowd had thinned out now as most of the students had already made their way to class, but there were still a few stragglers walking the halls.

"You can't get rid of me bitch if that's what you think you're gonna get outta this whole act. Lovie love, you know I'm crazy I'll show up wherever if I have to. I can see you're holding some type of secret. It's obvious. Just come out with it."

She carefully considered Yasmin's words, still unsure of her next move. Secrets have only ever hurt them in the past, but this was different. This wasn't just another silly school-girl secret, this was something much darker. The exposure of such would only be liable to cause two out of five of her friends even more pain and trauma, and Lovie hated herself for having to victimize them all over again. But was keeping a secret really benefiting anyone? Lovie knew Yasmin was right. She couldn't keep avoiding having conversations with her friends, not when they were this close knit.

After checking her watch, Lovie sighed, "I'm sorry, Yas okay, but I have a few customers to meet. I promise after Thursday I'm all yours," she began to walk backwards down the hall with a faux smile.

"Good, because Yara's having a sleepover Friday and your ass is coming," Yara called down the hall.

"I'm there," Lovie smiled genuinely this time as she rounded the corner.
-

Halle had finished her notes to give to Dr. Kim, her science teacher. They were all completely made up. She hadn't taken any notes throughout the forty minute class and had to pull something out of nothing when Dr. Kim announced that she would be collecting the notes today to make sure all of them were structured correctly and made sense. Halle quickly followed the criteria Dr. Kim had written on the board and made up answers to the questions. Ones that signaled that she hadn't heard one syllable uttered. After passing her paper to the front of the class, Halle took off down the hall and stopped at the water fountain. She didn't really enjoy drinking from the public bubbler, but Bey usually packed her canteen with her lunch, so she had no choice.

"Halle, right," someone asked from behind.

The girl rolled her eyes and stood at her full height, wiped the excess water from the corner of her mouth, and turned around. She was met with a girl about her age, probably a year older. Halle recognized her as one of the few black freshmen on campus.

"Yeah?"

"Great," the girl said with a smile.

Halle gave her a blank face and waited for her to continue talking.

"So a few of us freshmen have this club called the Lexington warriors. We meet every Wednesday after school with Julie, one of the guidance counselors here. I don't know if you have her, but she's amazing."

Again Halle blinked at the girl who fiddled with the stack of flyers in her hand.

"It's Basically a support group. We discuss all kinds of things like coping with anxiety and personal traumas. I thought you may be interested," she held a flyer out for Halle to grab.

The thirteen year old gave the paper a slight once over before taking it.

"I know you're not technically a freshman, but I asked Julie and she said you meet the age requirement so it shouldn't be a problem," the girl smiled nervously showcasing her lime green braces.

"Um...thanks, but I'll pass," Halle tried giving the girl her sheet back.

"May I ask why?"

The bothered girl lifted her eyebrow at the intrusive question.

"Because I don't want to?"

"Because you're embarrassed," the girl stated matter of factly.

Halle scrunched up her face, "no? Because I do not want," Halle sat into her hip and tapped her chin, "let's see umm to feel a need or desire for...to wish, to crave, to feel inclined to sit around and mope and groan with a bunch of over privileged kids who make up problems in their heads that they don't really have. Now, here's your flyer back and thank you for the invite but I have to respectfully decline."

The girl shook her head, "keep it," she started to walk off but stopped and turned to face Halle again, "You know, you say privileged like you are not amongst the most elite at this school. Believe it or not, not all of us come from a family with a lap of luxury like you, and I don't know what Yoncé is teaching in her home but normal people don't jump down someone's throat when all they're trying to do is help."

Halle wanted to die laughing in this girl's face, but she really didn't feel like being rude considering she knew who her mom was, but why does LA people do that thing where they assume they know everything about a person just from a name? Come from a lap of luxury? Ha!!

"First of all," Halle motioned for the girl to step back which she did, "if this is the welcoming committee, you're never gonna get more members in the warriors of Lexington."

"Lexington warriors" the girl corrected.

"That's what I said," Halle gave her a pointed look, "and please, don't let my mom's name pass your lips again if it's to question her parenting skills. She has nothing to do with this."

The girl's eyes grew large, "that's not what I meant it's just. I assumed that —

"Assumed what," Halle cut in.

The girl shifted her bag on her shoulder, "I don't know. I just wasn't expecting all of this," the girl rolled her neck energetically and held up her pointer finger in an effort to show Halle what she meant.

Halle let out a genuine laugh and the girl relaxed a bit.

"I met Beyoncé when I was like seven once at one of her shows. I never forgot how inviting and warm she was to me, so when people were saying you were her daughter I guess I assumed you would act like that too. Which is nuts, I know because I don't act anything like my mom but," she shrugged looking at the floor now.

Halle nodded realizing what a responsibility she had. She's a reflection of Beyoncé now which was a scary thought. When people saw her out in public she was Beyoncé's kid instead of just Halle and she needed to act accordingly.

"I'm sorry," she sighed, "I'm a little on edge, everyone's been starting these random conversations with me. I mean people who have never even thought to say hi to me are telling me they would be there if I needed someone to talk to and then this," she waved the flyer, "it's just too much."

The girl nodded, "understandable, just hold onto the flyer, give it some thought. We're a pretty tight group we hang out almost every weekend. We help each other out whenever possible and we're genuine friends. You can never have too many of those."

"Thank you umm..."

"Oh sorry, I didn't introduce myself, I'm Reign," she held her hand out for Halle to shake.

"Thanks Reign," Halle let go of the girl's hand and pulled her backpack to the front of her, placing the flyer inside.

"See you around," Reign called over her shoulder.

Halle reached inside her book bag pulling out the flyer once Reign had left. She surveyed it for a moment. Trauma? Why did she think I went through something traumatic, the girl thought. If she was referring to two days ago she was mistaken. How was that anywhere near traumatic? The students at Lexington were known for overdoing their parts and reaching for a narrative that wasn't there. Sunday was nothing if she was honest. She was just upset with its outcome. Halle ripped the flyer to shreds and threw it in the trash as she passed it.

"Who was that," Yas asked.

"Some freshman, inviting me to try out for debate."

"Mm don't go. I tried out once and it turns out all they wanted to do was sit around and argue all day. Could you imagine," Yas flipped her hair.

Halle wanted to say something smart, but held her tongue and walked out of the double doors.

-

Halle couldn't stop moving. She was far too excited that Bey was on her way to retrieve her from school. It felt like forever since she was in the woman's presence and she could use one of her hugs.

"You see her," Halle stood on her tippy toes to get a better look over all of the teens in the parking lot.

Chloe squinted and shielded her eyes from the sun scanning the pick up line. She wouldn't be surprised if Bey didn't show at all with the way her life was going.

"There she is," Halle exclaimed as she put her book bag on.

"No it's not," Chloe rolled her eyes.

Mommy🐝💕👩🏽‍🦱: I'm right out front

Halle turned her phone around to show Chloe, "see told you it was her."

Chloe tucked a runaway loc behind her ear and attempted to hide her smile as she followed behind her sister who was halfway to the truck already. Julius smiled wide as he stood outside the door looking on as the girls neared him.

"Hey Julius," Halle was basically bursting at the seems of her blazer with excitement.

Julius waved at both girls making sure to wait until Chloe was near to open the door.

"Bluuuee," Halle squealed as she hopped in the truck squeezing the five year old tight.

Beyoncé looked on almost tearing up at the two. Halle kissed Blue's cheek which she of course wiped off to prevent an infection from the number one cause of death according to her kindergarten class; the cooties. Halle paid her no mind as she threw herself against Beyoncé.

"Hi mommy," Halle never wanted to let go.

Beyoncé's heart swelled hearing mommy directed at her that wasn't said under tense circumstances or muttered during a deep sleep. The two rocked side to side and no matter how much Bey told herself not to cry when she laid eyes on them she couldn't help it.

"I missed you," Halle whispered.

"I missed you more baby," Bey pummeled her face with kisses.

They pulled away and Beyoncé turned to greet Chloe, but she stood outside of the truck and it didn't look like she planned to move.

"What's wrong baby, get in," the blonde coaxed.

Chloe could only think about all the wrong she did while out of Beyoncé's custody. She partook in drug use, skipped class, and laid hands on someone twice. The shame was overwhelming and she didn't think she was worthy enough to be in Beyoncé's presence. Her gaze was pointed to the concrete and her throat was dry. Going home should have been the best feeling in the world, it should have been a relief, she should have been looking forward to it more than anything. Even if it was for a few hours. She should've been grateful. She didn't know how she looked right then, she felt as though she was in some sort of haze, and then flashes of her first night at the Hardings completely took over.

Halle's face as she screamed for Vivian to take her home. The anxiety-filled feeling as she waited to see who was on the other side of the door. The want, the need to have a say in what happens to her. Her own heavy breathing when Alana stepped to her face. It was all too much.

"Chloe," Bey was confused as to what was happening.

It took a moment to jolt herself out of the recollections and she gulped, slowly walking closer to the truck with her head still low.

Blue held up her green smiley face sticker, "look Chloe I stayed on green today!"

Only then did the fifteen year old raise her head to see if it was true. It was unheard of in the Carter house for Blue to stay on green. Chloe often thought the child didn't even start at the top of the chart like the rest of the kids. She probably entered the class with a warning from the day before. It was something Chloe tried to workout with the kindergartner. A smile suddenly appeared on her face once her eyes landed on the sticker. It was small and Blue had a long way to go when it came to classroom etiquette, but at least it was a start.

"Congratulations, big girl! I knew you could do it," she slid in the truck finally giving Blue a warm hug along with a list of affirmations.

"Hey Bey," Chloe greeted warily.

Beyoncé raised a brow, but couldn't resist enveloping Chloe in a tight embrace basking in the loving moment for a little longer than what was necessary. This was the one she worried about most because she knew Chloe would allow her mind to go haywire sometimes until it became a bit too much for her and Bey would have to pick her up from her bedroom floor and tell her everything would be fine. Chloe was a person of habit and the separation couldn't be doing anything positive for her mental. They were starting to drive out of Lexington's gates when Chloe silently laid her head in Bey's lap. The blonde stroked her hair and didn't say anything when her thigh became wet from the girl's tears.

"What's the matter," she cooed.

"I messed up," Chloe cried with sound, her body racking with each sob.

Beyoncé didn't know what that meant.

"Messed up how Chlo?"

Chloe couldn't answer through her cries, so Bey looked to Halle who shrugged her shoulders.

"Mommy is Chloe gonna be okay," Blue asked.

"She's fine BaBa. She just needs a moment," she assured.

-

Halle raced up the steps leading to the Carter fortress with Blue trying terribly to keep up. Beyoncé and Chloe were wrapped in each other's arms as they slowly took the steps. The oldest teen couldn't help but to smile as her sister twirled in a circle saying she's finally home, but Bey felt sick at the site knowing they would have to be back at the Hardings by nine o'clock. She didn't have anything special planned for them or work she needed them to catch up on. All she wanted was for them to be close to her and if she had to submit a document to Vivian everyday stating they had work matters from four to nine then that's what she'd do. Halle and Blue ran off to the kitchen to grab a snack while Bey and Chloe sat on the couch. The blonde kissed the top of Chloe's head.

"Sweetpea?"

"Hm?"

"What'd you mean you messed up?"

Chloe searched her brain to find the words, but nothing came up. She didn't say a word as she looked at Beyoncé, both of their eyes searched each other looking for the same thing; an answer.

"I—"

Blissfully unaware of the tense situation she was stepping into, Solange made her way into the family room doting an ecstatic smile.

"Niiiiieecce," she ran towards the loveseat her sister and Chloe occupied.

The youngest Knowles girl wedged her way in between the two making sure she bumped her sister's hip for more room.

"Solange," Bey stale faced her.

"What, you saw me coming you could've moved," Solo threw her arm over Chloe's shoulder, "you ain't eat none of they food did you?"

Chloe chuckled and shook her head, "good cause you don't know what they putting in there. Probably put raisins in potato salad and everything."

Julez walked in the family room followed by Tina, Angie, Kelly, and Titan in his mother's arms.

"Nobody invited y'all over here," Bey smiled.

"Girl please," Angie waved her off as she made her way to Chloe giving her a chaste hug.

Julez kissed Bey's cheek, "hey auntie."

"Hey titi baby," she cooed.

Bey felt like she hadn't seen her nephew in ever. With his court mandated schedule, he was missing from family time through half of the week.

The twelve year old rolled his eyes, "hey Chloe, where's Halle?"

"She in the kitchen with Blue," Chloe stood to greet Tina with a bear hug.

"That child gone blow up as soon as she hit sixteen, always in the kitchen," Tina said as Chloe pulled out of her embrace.

"How you doing baby?"

"Pretty good."

Tina rubbed Chloe's cheek adoringly, "mm don't fix your lips to lie to me. I can see it all in ya face."

Chloe chuckled nervously.

"We can talk later okay," Tina took a seat.

"I'm finna tell!" Halle's loud voice came from the kitchen.

"Me too!" Blue yelled.

Kelly shook her head, "they're baaack," she joked, making everyone laugh.

Moments later, Julez burst through the doors heading from the kitchen with Blue and Halle hot on his tail. Halle with a pissed look on her face, Blue equally pissed, but Julez with a smirk. The twelve year old ran and jumped on the couch beside Beyoncé.

"What happened now," Tina asked annoyedly.

"I was making Blue and I a snack and Julez came in there, took Blue's muffin and licked all over it. Then he did the same thing to my bread," Halle was fuming.

"And that's nasty," Blue added.

Everyone looked at Julez, who found the recount of events funnier than when he did it.

"Alright now Julez you pushing it. I told you about messing with them. What happened to 'oh my God it's so boring when we gone see Chloe and Halle' then you get here and act a plum fool," Tina scolded.

Bey put the boy in a playful headlock, "you messing with my babies," she tickled his stomach.

Julez struggled to get loose as he laughed. Bey continued to tickle him, "we done told you about messing with them."

"Okay, okay auntie dang," he laughed and fixed his shirt as Bey turned him loose, "you can't be out here tickling a grown man."

All of the women in the room smacked their lips in unison, "boy you swear," Angie rolled her eyes.

"You see this hair right here," he pointed to his hairless chin.

"Boy please," Solange rolled her eyes.

She hated when her son acted like he wanted to get older so fast. She wanted him to be her cute little boy forever.

Three hours later, the family all sat around watching the latest Avengers movie per Julez' request. He and Halle took turns playing Resident Evil on his Nintendo, placing money on whoever could beat the level that they were stuck on. Bey couldn't help but steal glances at Chloe as the movie played. She just looked so unbelievably sad, and the blonde couldn't let her words leave her mind. She messed up how? What did she do?

She's endured so much over the last few months to have an open line of communication with both Chloe and Halle. Even when Chloe had tried to push her away, she swallowed her pride and buried her pain in hopes of eventually having an authentic relationship with the girl. She didn't know why Chloe felt the need to keep everything to herself, but she understood.

Tina looked the quiet girl over with concern throughout the movie, her expression serious. She could tell that the girl had likely been crying but didn't badger her about it. The woman looked to her oldest daughter and discreetly pointed to Chloe, but Beyoncé simply shrugged.

Chloe's brows furrowed as she struggled with the thoughts in her head. Her mind kept shifting back to what she did and she just wanted it out of her head so she could breathe a little easier and enjoy the night with the family.

"It's just a movie, Chloe, don't think so hard," Solange teased.

The teen shook herself out of her thoughts and refocused her attention on the screen ahead. Despite her distaste for Marvel movies, Chloe was actually okay with Julez' movie selection. She was sitting a few feet from the boy on the couch and she couldn't help but smile whenever she glanced over at him and saw the look of rapt attention on his face as he took in the action on screen. But what she really enjoyed was whenever he broke his concentration to point something out to her or share some useless tidbit about the film. It felt like it'd been so long since she felt relaxed that she didn't mind having to sit through the movie for him. She actually appreciated the boringness of the movie, in fact, because about half-way through she started feeling her eyes drop with heaviness. She curled up against the arm of the couch and drifted off into a much needed nap as Loki and Thor's drama played out on screen.

-

Chloe woke up on the couch with a start sometime around seven thirty . She hadn't been having a nightmare, at least not that she could remember, but she had been tossing and turning uneasily, her anxiety never completely subsiding, not even while she slept.

There was a pillow under her head and a blanket covering her body that hadn't been present when she fell asleep and she knew Beyoncé was responsible for both. She stretched lazily and sat up, feeling around for her cell phone. She spotted her phone on the coffee table and leaned forward to grab it, squinting at the bright light the device emitted when she pressed the home button to check the time.

She scrolled through her unread text messages which consisted of a good night message from Shawn, who she assumed was out of town on business because he wasn't there, and a couple of messages from Yara asking about a History assignment. She sighed and shoved the phone in her pants pocket that she changed into earlier.

The house was quiet and Chloe assumed Bey's family must have gone home after the movie ended. She walked to the kitchen to find Bey removing a plate of food from the microwave.

"Here you go," she placed the plate on the table next to Blue and Halle.

Chloe muttered a thank you and picked up her fork.

•
     •
          •
"Chloe," the voice of Beyoncé snapped the girl out of her thoughts.

She took a deep breath and stared down at the faux 'chicken' Marsala that sat untouched on the plate. She had been pushing her food around the entire time. She glanced around the table, and saw the concerned expressions that were plastered on her sister and the blonde's faces.

"I'm sorry." she apologized, as she wiped her fingers with a napkin. "I'm actually not that hungry." she shrugged, as she picked up the glass of ice water, and took a long sip.

Bey and Halle exchanged looks before turning their attention back to Chloe.

Beyoncé reached across the table and rested her hand on top of Chloe's, "Hey, you okay?"

Slowly, she sat the glass of ice water down on the table, and started to feel a little uncomfortable.

"I'm fine. I don't need to be monitored," Chloe said.

Halle's eyes grew wide as she looked to see what Bey would say. Chloe didn't mean to come across as mean, but she felt like she was suffocating with her foster mom's watchful eyes always on her. The woman shook her head.

"That's not what I'm doing. I just love you and I want you to be okay."

Once again she felt the tears form in her eyes, and fought hard to prevent them from falling. She squeezed Bey's hand to reassure her that she was going to be fine. What if she was suffering some type of mental breakdown?

"I ate a lot at lunch," she lied, "can I be excused?"

Bey sighed and nodded.

Quickly, she stood up from the dining table, and hurried to her room just to get away from the tension. She leaned her back against the door, and folded her arms across her chest.

"What is wrong with me?" she mumbled, as she slid down onto the floor.

Twenty minutes passed before Beyoncé knocked on Chloe's door telling her it was time to go. Already? Hadn't they just gotten there? The teen's feet dragged all the way to the elevator. When Halle started begging Beyoncé to just let her stay the night she knew what type of drive over they would have.
-

"Just for tonight," Halle pleaded as she fought to hold back the oncoming barrage of tears.

They were parked in front of the Hardings home as Halle repeatedly tried to swindle Beyoncé into taking her back home. Chloe was never one to beg, but as she took in her surroundings, she found herself edging closer and closer to her sister's approach.

"Halle," her mother looked at her with sympathetic eyes. "If I could take you back I would, you know that. What you're asking me to do is what some people might call kidnapping. I can't just take you whenever I want. You have to be in the Hardings home by nine."

"It's not kidnapping if I give you my permission to take me," Halle pouted.

Blue looked up from her iPad, "what's kidnapping?"

"Nothing Baba play your game," Bey patted her child's hand.

"Mama, please," Halle begged, gripping her mothers arm, knowing she was about to lose this war.

Beyoncé took a deep breath to compose herself, knowing that she had to be strong for her daughter. She knew Halle was on the brink of breaking down and as much as it hurt to leave her there, she couldn't bare to watch her daughter break.

Somewhere in Halle's head she knew Bey didn't have a choice, but that didn't stop her from feeling like she was being thrown away. "I don't want to go."

Bey hoped Halle couldn't see her tears through her own blurred vision. She didn't know what else to tell her. If Chloe and Halle stayed home, their temp parents would surely have called child services. She didn't have a choice. "Vivian approved of my time with you guys for the rest of the week lil bit I'll see you after school tomorrow."

Halle finally allowed the tears that she had tried so hard to suppress to fall. Bey pulled her daughter into her arms and let her baby girl cry on her shoulder. Halle knew she was being completely irrational and probably a little spoiled, but how long did they expect them to stay there? Did she just say a week, the teen thought. Chloe felt a lump in her throat and she turned back to the window to avoid anyone's face. She didn't think her mental could survive a week of being housemates with her enemy. Who could?

"Halle," Bey pulled back, gently cupping her cheeks and wiping away the falling tears with the pads of her thumbs, "you'll be fine for a couple of hours baby. It's an hour until your bedtime anyway which means the majority of your time would be spent at school and with me."

"Is the other family bad mommy," Blue asked.

Bey slightly chuckled and caressed Blue's face, "umm... no Baba, they just want to stay home with us."

She didn't want her youngest at home worrying her pretty little head about anything, but in Beyoncé's opinion, anyone willing to blackmail kids no matter how trivial the task was wasn't a decent person.

"Mrs Carter, it's time," Julius called from the front passenger seat of the truck.

Chloe sighed heavily and gave Blue a goodbye hug before going to Beyoncé.

"There's no manual for this, sweet pea, but I am here for you. All you have to do is tell me what you need and I will always try to find a way to make it happen. Always."

"Okay," she nodded.

A loving smile took over Bey's face and she placed a kiss to Chloe's forehead. The blonde looked at Halle who sat with her arms folded defiantly. She moved away when Bey went to say her good byes and instead leaned to hug Blue. She opened her door before Julius could get a chance to do so and stood outside waiting for her sister. For some reason this amused Beyoncé.

"Halle," she slightly ducked her head to the side to get her daughter's attention.

When the girl turned around, Bey told her she loved her and watched as Halle tried to hide her smirk.

"I love you ," Bey said before Chloe hopped from the truck. The teen nodded, unable to verbally return the "I love you."

Right behind the fifteen year old was Blue looking sad, attempting to get out of the truck.

"Where you going Baba," Bey asked with a raised brow.

"To visit the new family," the five year old appeared confused.

Bey guessed that her daughter must have thought she had to go with the Hardings as well. She chuckled at the thought but it was actually sad.

"No Baba you stay with mommy," she helped Blue back into her booster seat.

The child watched as Julius escorted Chloe and Halle up to the house. Why didn't she have to go with the new family?

-
WEDNESDAY

Chloe spent the wee hours of the night completing lab reports for Biology till her eyes blurred and her head hurt. Despite the obvious psychological drawbacks, her attempt at avoiding actually dealing with her problems by keeping herself busy with school work proved to be quite beneficial. Eventually she drifted off to sleep in a mess of open textbooks and half-finished work sheets. The next morning, she was pulled from her slumber by her phone blaring beside her head. She answered it groggily, not really thinking about who could be calling.

"Hello?"

"You can't ignore me," Yas said in a way of greeting.

Chloe raised a brow, "what are you talking about Yasmin?"

"I've been calling and texting you since last night...with an emergency," she huffed.

Chloe stood from her bed glancing briefly at the alarm clock. How was it eight already?

"What's the big emergency?" the teen searched her suitcase for her uniform.

"Hold on," Yas switched to FaceTime, "does this side of my face look fatter than this side?"

Chloe stared blankly at her screen, "bye Yas," she deadpanned.

"Wait wait ask Ha–

Chloe quickly ended the call and scurried to get her clothes together. She canvassed the bottom of her suitcase for a skirt that was wrinkle free when her hand landed on something plastic. Curious, she pulled it out and palmed her face. She had forgotten all about the bag of pre rolls. She twirled the weed baggie around in her hand stuck on the little twig-like items. The girl stood. She didn't hear the squeak of the stairs or the creak of the door open, but she did hear her sister call her name. Startled, Chloe speedily unzipped her backpack and stuffed the ziplock bag inside before turning to face Halle.

"You not dressed yet?" she asked, biting into a piece of toast, fully dressed with her backpack on.

"Give me ten minutes tops and I'll be dressed."

Halle looked at the time, "hurry up because I'm not about to be late."

Chloe nodded and gathered all of her shower necessities.

-

Halle clenched her fist around her pencil and gripped the edge of the history textbook, trying to tune out Denver's humming which had been driving her up the wall for the past twenty minutes. He was high functioning on the autism spectrum and sometimes couldn't pick up on when people were getting annoyed.

Mr. Finnerty noticed her knuckles turning white. "Hey, Denver?" The boy looked up. "Let's try to keep the humming to a minimum, buddy."

"Oh, okay," he said in his soft, child-like voice. "Oops."

Mr. Finnerty flashed a thumbs-up and continued with his lecture.

Denver giggled and turned his attention to the back of Halle's head. "You have pretty hair," he said.

"Thank you," she forced out, not actually turning around to fully address the source of the compliment.

She returned to diligently answering the chapter questions on a sheet of looseleaf. This was getting ridiculous, she thought. Even Denver had started talking to her out of the blew? At what point would it stop? It wasn't like she and her sister were the only students with status. Why couldn't they bug someone else? Halle quickly finished her questions and pulled out her laptop to get started on the English essay she failed to start on. The bell rang after another fifteen minutes and Halle started packing her items away. Just as she had both feet out of the door preparing to head to her next class, Mr Finnerty called for her.

"How are you doing, Halle?"

How do I look like I'm doing? She wanted to say. Mr. Finnerty didn't mean to bother her. The history teacher's genuine kindness actually made her feel more comfortable than being in the classroom with the other snooty ancient teachers. She decided to give him the easy answer. "Fine, I guess."

"Not doing too hot?" he replied knowingly.

Halle shrugged.

The teacher nodded and took a sip of coffee from his tumbler mug, "you'll get used to this place, but anyway while you were out yesterday, you missed a quiz. Now, as you know, here at Lexington there are no make up opportunities but me and the Dean of students agreed that there should be an exception considering..."

Halle waited for the man to complete his sentence so she could leave.

"You have a makeup session immediately after school today. You'll be taking it with Mrs Ricci in the front office. Do you think you could make it?"

"Yes, thank you," Halle was relieved.

"I'll let her know to expect you," he nodded and headed back into his class.

Chloe spotted her sister in the hallway just after third period. The girl was standing outside Mr. Finnerty's classroom discussing something with the History teacher. Mr Finnerty's face was serious as he spoke but Halle appeared uninterested in whatever he had to say. Chloe watched the pair for a bit before Mr Finnerty stopped talking and disappeared inside of his classroom. Halle rolled her eyes dramatically once he was out of sight, as if she had been suppressing the urge the whole time. Chloe wondered if everything was okay. If she was having trouble keeping up with her assignments.

"What was that about," she asked as she approached her sister.

"I gotta stay after school for a makeup quiz," she pouted.

"Be grateful that you got a makeup. Hopefully it's not long because Terrell is gonna flip if he has to sit too long."

-

"Alright class, pop a marshmallow in," Mrs Harrison said with a smile.

The woman puffed up her cheeks with air and tapped them repeatedly, attempting to get the rowdy kindergarten class to do the same. It was her fun way of quieting everyone without getting frustrated herself.

Her eyes scanned the class watching as all the students mimicked her actions from their assigned tables, all but one. Blue Carter, though a super sweet child, always had trouble with stopping her side conversations whenever it was time for the teacher to speak. The woman walked up to Blue's table and tapped one puffed cheek as a reminder to the talkative child. Blue repeated the action and Mrs Harrison went to the front of the class again.

"All of you did great with your sight words! Clap it up clap it up," she said and watched as her students gave themselves a round of applause.

"Looks like you've earned yourself thirty minutes of free play before lunch!"

"Yaaaay," they all said in unison.

"But remember class, if you take a toy out of the bin, what do you have to do," Mrs Harrison put her hand to her ear waiting for the answer.

"Put it back when you're done," the five and six year olds yelled.

"Thank you, play safe and remember that caring is sharing," the woman sat at her desk.

Blue ran over to the corner of the classroom to do arts and crafts with her sidekick Caelynn on her heels. She sat at the small table and pulled out a piece of pink construction paper, searching her hardest for the right shade of brown crayon to get started.

"I'm gonna draw a fairy," Caelynn announced with a wide smile.

A curly haired brunette boy with glasses and freckles sat at the round table getting his own construction paper.

"I'ms gonna make boogers wiffs googly eyes," Wyatt smiled deviously.

Blue and Caelynn exchanged looks, "ewwww!"

"Your papers gonna have cooties," Blue scooted her chair further away from the boy.

Wyatt stood up and held his pointer finger out daring to touch Blue with his cootie infected hand. He watched as she recoiled and leaned into Caelynn's shoulder before he laughed and reclaimed his seat. Blue went back to her drawing.

"What's you's making," Wyatt asked Blue.

"A picture for my sisters...their visiting the other family," she said sadly.

"You's got sisters," Wyatt exclaimed, "I haves thwee brothers," the boy held up three of his chunky fingers.

"Yes," Blue colored with a serious expression.

Caelynn looked up from her paper and eyed Blue's, "my mommy said your sisters aren't your real sisters."

Blue glanced at Caelynn then back at her portrait of Chloe and Halle before reaching for another crayon, "your mommy's stupid," she shrugged.

Caelynn gasped

"Oooh," Wyatt's eyes grew wide behind his glasses.

"Stupid is a bad word," Caelynn said.

Blue didn't look up from her one of a kind, original, masterpiece, "I know."

Caelynn folded her arms, "well your sisters aren't real!"

"Uh huh," Blue exclaimed.

"Nuh uh, because my mommy told me so," Caelynn stuck her tongue out.

"They are real! They live at home with me," Blue raised her voice.

Wyatt's mouth was agape as his head turned from left to right watching the girls go back and forth.

"Yeah but they aren't real ones," Caelynn went back to coloring.

Blue stared at the girl with a puzzled expression. How are Chloe and Halle make believe and she saw them everyday? The five year old snatched Caelynn's paper and balled it up.

"I do have sisters, Chloe and Halle, and they live at home with me," she threw the paper ball onto the floor.

Caelynn stood and attempted to reach for Blue's paper, but she pushed the girl to the floor hard and watched as Caelynn cried loudly. Seconds later, Mrs Harrison stood in front of the three tiny tots.

"What's the matter Caelynn," she helped the girl stand.

"Blue pushed me down," She wiped at her eyes.

Mrs Harrison turned her attention to Blue who shrunk in her seat, "is this true, Blue? Did you push Caelynn down?"

"She said my sisters weren't real," Blue whined.

"She said my mommy was stupid," Caelynn exclaimed.

"Because you said my sisters were make believe," Blue yelled.

Mrs Harrison wiped the remainder of Caelynn's tears and told her that she was alright. She instructed Blue to follow her to her desk. The five year old stood, making sure to grab her picture. Mrs Harrison took Blue's free hand in hers and the child turned around to Caelynn sticking her tongue out. Wyatt laughed loudly and proceeded to color his paper.

-

"Mrs Carter, you have Blue's school on the phone they need to speak with you," Miranda stated.

Beyoncé sighed, dang Blue just had a good day. What happened that fast, she thought and called for a five minute break to take the phone call into the hall.

"What she do now," Bey folded one arm across her stomach.

Mrs Harrison spoke to Bey on the regular it seemed so there wasn't any need for pleasantries.

"Hi, Mrs Carter, Blue pushed another kid down today and made her cry," the teacher explained.

Her child had never put her hands on anyone before.

"What," Bey asked.

"Yeah apparently her and Caelynn had some sort of argument beforehand, and unfortunately due to Lexington's strict policy on bullying and fighting, Blue has to go home for the day and try again tomorrow."

Beyoncé's brows furrowed as she struggled with her thoughts. She brought her hand up to the sides of her head and massaged her temples, trying to rid herself of her growing headache.

"Okay umm give me thirty minutes I'll have to send someone for her since I'm at work. Is that okay," the blonde asked.

"Just send a quick email to the school with the person's information and I'm sure it won't be a problem," Mrs Harrison said.

Bey ended the call and went back into the dance studio, "Miranda, could you get Blue from school for me please?"

"Sure thing, do you need anything else while I'm out," the brunette woman grabbed her purse.

"No thanks," Beyoncé checked the time on her phone as she typed an email, "but could you stop to get Blue some lunch... something healthy?"

"On it," she pointed to her boss as she walked away.

"Take Julius with you," Bey called after her.

-

Chloe opened the door to her locker only to have her books and binder crash onto the grey tile floor of Lexington High. "Great." She sighed as she crouched down to pick them up. She attempted to quickly gather her fallen items, but as she reached for her last binder she saw a high heeled shoe land on top of it. She didn't need to look up to know who it was, but she did so anyway, locking eyes with Alana.

"Someone's a little clumsy today." she said in a sickeningly sweet tone.

Chloe ignored her.

"Here, let me help you." Alana said before swiftly kicking the binder, sending it down the hallway.

Her papers scattered in all directions. Chloe sighed and put the rest of her belongings in her locker and began collecting the loose papers while the older girl crossed her arms and smiled like she enjoyed watching Chloe struggle. She placed the rest of the unorganized papers into her locker and closed it.

"Have a nice day," she shoulder checked Chloe as she passed by, slamming the other girl into the lockers behind her. The fifteen year old winced in pain, but tried to hide it. She didn't want to give Alana the satisfaction.

"These belong to you?"

Chloe flinched as she turned to see Yara standing beside her holding a couple of worksheets with her name written at the top. Chloe took the sheets from Yara's extended arms and opened her locker to place them inside.

"Thanks," Chloe muttered.

"I don't know why you don't report her. This school is supposed to have a zero tolerance for bullies." Yara once again tried to convince her friend to seek help.

"I've told you. It won't help. Especially now that I'm at her house," Chloe reminded Yara.

"I'm still not over that one," Yara shook her head.

Chloe checked the time, "I'm gonna use the bathroom. Meet you in five," she rushed off.

She arrived at the bathroom a short time later, handled her business and was now washing her hands when the unmistakable sound of Halle's shaky broken voice pierced through her heart yet again. Her head burned fiercely as she tried to shake off her shock and disbelief and allow her brain to process the situation.

"What is that?" A random girl chuckled, stepping up to a leggy brunette girl perched on the wall with her phone out.

The brunette turned her volume up and panned her phone for the other girl to see.

"Agh, Chloe help me!"

Chloe's hands flew over her ears. Hearing Halle's desperate pleas again and seeing these girls' amused faces—it was all too much for her.

"This is so ghetto ew," the curious girl from earlier said.

"You've ever seen that movie Boyz in the hood," the brunette cackled.

"Ahh you're hurting me!"

Chloe stalked closer to the brunette, "shut it off! Shut it off!"

The two students looked at Chloe like they had just noticed her presence.

"Honey chill," the brunette girl laughed.

Chloe took a step back and tried to catch her breath, feeling guilty for losing her cool.

"Just please turn it off," she tried controlling her breathing.

The brunette girl scoffed, "this is my phone!"

"Give me that thing," Chloe growled, snatching the device from the girl's hands roughly.

She desperately fumbled with the screen until the video paused, catching small glimpses of her sister's pained face before shoving the phone back into the girl's hand. They held each other's gazes until Chloe squinted after the other girl took a picture of her with the flash on. Just then, the door flew open and the chatter from the hallways filtered into the bathroom.

"What the hell is going on in here? I could hear you yelling from the hallway," Yara asked as she made her way in.

Chloe turned her eyes towards her concerned friend. She was supposed to be practicing self-control and tranquil thoughts, but it seemed all she knew how to do at the moment was lash out at people. Feeling overwhelmed, Chloe dashed passed Yara and out of the bathroom.

"What was that," Yara asked as she followed Chloe through the halls.

Chloe quickened her pace, determined to avoid the conversation Yara was currently trying to start. "I don't want to talk about it."

Yara's long strides made it easy for her to match her friend's quickened pace and with a few added triple-paced strides, she was once again at her side. "Well, too bad because we're talking about it."

"Why can't they just let it go," Chloe snapped, coming to a halt and turning to Yara with a disheartened scowl. "And how come when a person says they don't want to talk about something, it can't be dropped? Why does everyone think they know what's best for me? People want to tell me what to feel, what to talk about, when to talk about it! But you know what? I've taken care of myself for as long as I can remember and I'm doing just fine!"

"Maybe it's time you start doing a little better than just fine," Yara said.

Chloe couldn't help but roll her eyes at the corny platitude, even though she recognized the sincerity in her friend's voice. She took off again, her feet carrying her through the school's double doors and out into the open air of the quad. She needed space—a moment to think—to reflect on whatever it was that just happened in the bathroom.

But Yara was right behind her, robbing her of her moment of self-loathing and misery, armed with questions and concerned eyes and Chloe just wanted to scream—scream at Yara to go away, scream at those girls in the bathroom, scream at whoever was unfortunate enough to fall into her path. She made her way down the school's side steps and when she was finally satisfied with the amount of physical space between herself and the bathroom she just humiliated herself in, she paused to take a breath.

"Done running," Yara asked. Her voice was soft and she tilted her head ever slightly like she genuinely cared and Chloe closed her eyes like maybe when she opened them she'd be back in her Calculus classroom and this whole bathroom thing will have been a very elaborate disturbing daydream. Then again, if she was making wishes she'd choose to go a little further back in time.

She wanted to do better as a friend and allow Yara to be there for her. Maybe even open up but the familiar response slipped from her tongue before she could stop it.

"I'm fine Yara, you can go to class before you're late."

"Chloe, it's our free period," Yara chided as if she was correcting a toddler. And Chloe supposed the tone was appropriate considering how absolutely small and out of control she felt.

"Oh," she said after a moment.

Yara's eyes were steady with concern and when she spoke her voice dripped with gentle sympathy—the combination made Chloe twitch. She was so tired of people looking at her like she was some sort of victim when she felt far from that word.

"What happened," Yara took a seat on the steps.

"They were watching that video," she said sadly, "and they were talking."

Yara arched an eyebrow, "what were they saying?"

Chloe sat her book bag down, "just making fun of it...and laughing. Then one girl took a photo of me like really close ya know and I'm used to people taking pictures...you and I both are, but I-just," she trailed off, "I don't know what's wrong with me."

Yara's soft expression twisted with empathy and poorly concealed anger. That's a look Chloe was more accustomed to receiving from people. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with you Chloe. There's something unsound about a person who would look at a video like that and squeeze any humor out of it. Don't you see that?"

No because I'm messed up. Okay? Because I'm deeply, fundamentally, irreversibly messed up, she wanted to say.

"I guess," Chloe played with her fingers.

She could feel Yara studying her and against her better judgment, she didn't take off running again.

"Can I give you a hug," Yara asked seriously.

Her sincerity was so intense Chloe could hardly stand it. She glanced at the many students walking the campus and sighed, settling against the railing of the steps, shrugging ever so slightly.

Yara stood with a goofy smile on her face making Chloe roll her eyes playfully, "you're gonna make me regret this aren't you," Chloe couldn't help but to smile when Yara opened her arms dramatically.

"Oh for sure," Yara pulled Chloe into a tight cheek to cheek embrace.

"Chloe," Yara asked, rocking them side to side.

"Mhm?"

"Remind me to never chase after you again. I'm an actress not an athlete, you're way too fast."

Chloe chuckled as they pulled apart.

-

Blue ran into the dance studio with Miranda chasing after her looking disheveled. Beyoncé chuckled because her daughter was in fact a lot to handle. The blonde called for a break so she could talk to Blue.

"Mommmyyy," she hugged her mother's legs, "look what I made!"

Blue held her picture up for her mother to see.

"It's beautiful Baba," she took her child by the hand leading her over to a corner of the room.

"What happened in school," Bey pulled Blue into her lap.

The child toyed with her mother's bracelet and shrugged her shoulders.

"Mrs Harrison told me you pushed Caelynn. Is that true?"

Blue nodded.

"But you two are best friends," Bey's tone was sweet.

Blue looked at the picture sitting in her lap, "not anymore."

Beyoncé sighed, "why not?"

"Caelynn said I don't have real sisters. She thinks they're make believe," Blue explained, not quite understanding what Caelynn meant.

The blonde pondered what to respond. Did she say that Caelynn was right and hurt her child's feelings more or try to explain the tough situation they found themselves in? She decided on another approach instead.

"Do you think Chloe and Halle are your real sisters?"

Blue thought for a moment, "I can see them. We play all the time and they live at our house, that means we're sisters."

Bey gave her daughter a high five before pulling her into a hug. "But you can't push people down because they say mean things Blue."

"But–
"No buts, that's unacceptable, especially at school. If I get another call from that school saying you put your hands on somebody I'm telling your grandma and Imma let her handle you. How that sound?"

"Nooo," Blue whined.

"Okay then, play nice and I want you to apologize to Caelynn tomorrow."

Blue rolled her eyes, discreetly scowling as her mom kissed the top of her head.

-

Chloe caught up to Yara after the last bell of the day.  She found the curly haired girl at her locker, shoving various books into her bag.

"Did you send Yas and Beans to talk to me?" Chloe cut right to the chase.

Yara took a moment to peek her head out from behind her locker door before returning to her task. "What are you talking about?"

"Yasmin and Beans...they both tried to talk to me," Chloe explained, exasperated with the little playing dumb act her friend was attempting.

Yara eyed the girl like she was crazy, "And your friends speaking to you is strange, because..." she trailed off expectantly."

"About what happened in the bathroom," she went on, "they tried to talk to me about it. Like I need help."

Yara shouldered her messenger bag, "and what did they say exactly?" she asked curiously.

Chloe rolled her eyes, annoyed with everything and everyone, "Yas wanted the names of the girls and Beans suggested I needed therapy," Chloe whispered her response.

Yara pursed her lips and hummed in response as she gently closed her locker.

"Did you tell them what happened in the bathroom," Chloe burst out as the pair started to walk towards the school's exit.

"Of course not, Chloe, you're a public figure now. Anything you do will travel around this school faster than you can blink."

Chloe palmed her forehead because she continued to forget her newfound status.

"I didn't send Beans and Yas to talk to you. They came to you on their own because they're your friends and they care about you, Chloe."

She felt a little guilty for doubting her friends now when they've been nothing but compassionate and supportive since the day she stepped foot through Lexington's double doors. But with her history it was hard for Chloe to accept their concern for her. Why should they care about her? And why shouldn't she be a little bit wary when she had suffered the consequences of mistrust before?

"Is it really so hard for you to believe that your friends might actually be worried about you?" Yara asked.

Chloe needed a moment to mull the question over with herself, but it never came because up walked Beans and Yasmin arguing about their favorite rappers.

"Boy Drake weak as hell! Gone somewhere," Yasmin checked her makeup in her compact mirror casually.

"You can't even talk about rap without mentioning him," Beans retorted.

"How about everyone talks about rap without mentioning him? Is he even still considered a rapper at this point?" Yas turned to Yara, "are you getting picked up?"

"No I drove, but let Lovie borrow my keys so you have the pleasure of taking me and Beans home," she placed her hands under her chin and smiled.

Chloe checked her messages, "looks like I'll be here for a while," she sighed.

"How come," Yara asked.

"Halle has a makeup quiz and apparently my driver's running late."

"We'll just wait with you. Come on girls," Yas flipped her hair dramatically and unlocked her car from where she stood.

"I ain't no damn girl," Beans growled.

"You're right, you're Beans which is basically the same thing," Yas smirked.

-

The four teens sat in Yasmin's car playing a fast round of 'This or that' suggested by Beans claiming Chloe was a mystery and it'll help to get to know her better.

"Alright, Nike or Jordan," the boy asked.

"Nike," Chloe asked.

"A night out or night in," Yasmin blurted.

Chloe chuckled, "night in Yas."

"Kendrick Lamar or J.Cole," Yara asked from the passenger seat.

"Definitely Kendrick."

Yas kneeled in the driver's seat, "You know what would be good right now?"

"What," Beans asked.

"If we was in rotation," Yasmin replied.

Yara was busy texting on her phone, "yeah except nobody's stupid enough to bring weed on campus. Lovie doesn't even do it."

Chloe felt her backpack remembering what she stuffed inside for the first time today. She unzipped the front pocket pulling out the baggie from BJ, holding it up so her friends could see.

"Yoooo," Beans exclaimed.

"What," Yara turned in her seat, "Chloe you didn't."

"Of course she diiid," Yasmin pretended to wipe tears away and reached for the bag like she was accepting an award, "I would like to thank Chloe for being the baddest bitch to ever do it, my other friends who aren't equally yoked but I still love dearly," she reached in her glove compartment and pulled out a lighter, "and a special shout out to Mary...Mary Jane, she has been there through –

"Can you just light the shit and stop playing," Beans quipped.

Yasmin sat on her bottom again, "actually I'll let Chloe do the honors," she handed the items back to her.

Chloe ran a hand through her hair with the lighter and pre rolls in her lap, "I don't know you guys."

"Dare I be the voice of reason one more time? Guys we're on school grounds," Yara pointed out.

"Yeah and nobody's here. There's like three other cars in this big ass parking lot so...Chloe do the honors please," Yasmin looked at Chloe through the rear view mirror.

After much consideration and thoughts on what a bad day she had, Chloe opened the ziplock bag taking out one of the joints.

"Ooooh," Yara and Beans said in unison like they were amazed by the sight.

"You guys are ridiculous," Yara rolled her eyes.

Chloe held the blunt to her lips as she sparked the lighter. She watched the flame flicker yellow and orange and pulled the smoke through, feeling the burn in her throat. It felt delicious. She looked at Yasmin as she attempted to blow a smoke ring, but instead it came out as a little misshapen oval. She passed the joint to Beans who had been leaning against the car window watching her with that same amused smile he always had in her presence.

"This how you do it," he said before letting out three perfectly shaped rings of smoke.

Chloe's eyes followed the smoke rings as they expanded and disappeared once they hit the ceiling of the car.

Beans cracked the window just a bit to flick the ash down and away, "So you a smoker now?"

Chloe shrugged, her heart-shaped face looking innocent and beguiling.

"Beans," Yasmin turned in her seat.

"What?"

"First of all, pass that shit. Second, leave her alone. Stop questioning her," she said with a not so subtle roll of her eyes and leaned further back in her seat kicking a foot out so that her ankle rested on the dashboard.

"I mean it's not something I see myself doing a lot, but it does make me feel better. I don't know," Chloe played with her fingers.

Yasmin nodded handing the blunt to Yara.

"So Monday was your first time smoking like ever," Yara turned in her seat.

"Mmhm"

"Y'all some bad influences oh my god," Yasmin cackled.

Yara chuckled taking one last hit and handed it to Chloe, "let's not forget to mention skipping class. I hope your student notifications were off."

Chloe took short measured huffs of the weed, "I don't think they were ever on."

"Somebody could've recognized you," Beans said.

"Beyoncé's daughter and all," he mocked using air quotes.

A thick layer of smoke came from Chloe's nostrils and floated up to the ceiling, "Beyoncé is not my mom, I'm in a temp home so I can do whatever and if that includes this then," she shrugged, "and I only skipped one class and it was gym!"

Yara reached over the seat to rest her hand on Chloe's forehead, "you are a little warm, maybe we should sweep by the emergency room."

Chloe smacked her lips and pulled her head away before passing the joint to Beans again. She knew she was pushing it with the whole she could do what she wanted thing. She didn't even plan to do any of this again for real this time. For real for real for real. Skipping class had simply been incidental, in a way, and she didn't like the anxiety that came along with it. She wasn't even sure why she said it. Maybe the weed was getting to her already.

"Oooh this my song," Yas turned the volume up and an old song lulled them into a hypnotic trance.

"Don't listen tooo what people say, they don't know about, about you and me," Yasmin sang at the top of her lungs.

Yara joined her pretending that they were both in a music video and were singing to each other, "put it out your mind cause it's jealousy! They don't know about this here!"

Chloe looked up letting the beat flow through her. It was resonant–vibrating, almost like it was calling her. She wanted to sing, the music was making her so happy. The verse changed, as she entered, and it was perfect.

"Girl let's talk about what your friends told you! That I'm a selfish man want my cake and eat it too," she sang loudly.

"Okaayyy Chlizzy Chlo coming through with the real vocals," Yasmin beamed.

Beans rolled his eyes and scrolled his phone until the blunt came back around to him. He questioned why he hung out with all girls.

As the girls sang, they had no idea how much time had passed. Five minutes? Thirty? Chloe had never been this happy or felt this blissful.

This was the perfect place to be. The best place. The only place.

"Oh shit, there go Mrs. Mahesh," Yas exclaimed and jumped to lower the volume to the music.

Chloe's eyes darted for the windshield to check how close the teacher was. No doubt her physics teacher walked mere feet away from the car. It should've scared her. Made her panicky. But she didn't feel anything but happiness. She was awash in it, consumed by it. She looked at Yara who had the blunt last and she appeared to be holding a considerable amount of smoke inside of her cheeks. The four teens watched silently as the heels of Mrs. Mahesh passed by. Luckily the woman's head was tucked in her phone. Yara had a coughing fit as she finally allowed the smoke to leave her mouth. It was a moment before anyone spoke.

"Pffft," Yasmin burst out laughing.

Everyone joined her holding their stomachs and wiping away their tears.

"Y'all so fucking ugly it's ridiculous," Beans got out, "Yara ass was not playing she held that shit in like a G on God she did."

"You thought I wouldn't," she giggled, "I am not about to be on TMZ for smoking weed. I'm a role model," she sat up a little straighter in her seat and fixed her collar.

"You could've just said it was salvia like Miley," Beans shrugged.

"And you see how that worked out for her," Yas shook her head, "but not Chloe staring straight at her while our scary asses was ducked in the seats."

Chloe chuckled, "y'all I think I'm higher than last time. Is that possible? Was this weed different or something?"

Yara put the blunt out finally, "yeah it was. Did BJ tell you the name of it? I need Lovie to get her hands on some."

"Nope," Chloe saw movement out of the corner of her eye.

Her ride had finally made it.

"My driver's here," she announced.

"Are you going to Alana's," Yara asked.

"No, I'm visiting home until tonight."

Yas's head whipped around, "like to your mama house?"

Chloe was too high to repeat that Beyoncé wasn't her mother so she just nodded. Beans, Yara, and Yas eyed her. Chloe's pupils were massive. She would've looked scary, if they didn't all feel so profoundly euphoric.

"What," Chloe asked distantly.

"Girl," Yas shook her head, "you might wanna tell your driver to stop somewhere before you go in the house. Your eyes look weird."

"What," Chloe got up to lock eyes with herself inside of Yasmin's rear view mirror.

Her eyes were cartoonishly red like someone had filled her eye whites in with a red marker and her pupils were in fact dilated.

"What do I do," she asked, slightly freaking out.

Her phone chirped and she knew it had to be Terrell rushing her out of the school building.

"All I have is some eye drops," Yas shrugged.

"And you might wanna spray yourself down with something," Beans suggested.

Chloe took the drops from Yas and sat back to put two drops in each eye. Yara handed her some perfume which Chloe went to town with.

"Hey, hey, that's my good stuff," she held her hand out for it.

Another text came to her phone and this time Chloe checked it.

Terrell💅🏾💅🏾: I'm finna pull off in two seconds

She rolled her eyes knowing that he couldn't leave without her in the back seat.

"I look okay," she asked her friends.

"Yeahhh," they all said in unison with high pitched voices and raised shoulders.

She must've looked stoned out of her mind.

"See y'all tomorrow," she opened the door to leave.

"Ask BJ what's the name of that," Beans yelled just as she closed the door.

Chloe made her way across the lot to the front of the school quickly spotting Terrell as he obnoxiously honked his horn after laying eyes on her. She doubled her steps. Terrell lowered his tinted window shaking his head with a half hearted sneer.

"Yo mama finna tear...that...ass...up!"

"What are you talking about Terrell," she sassed.

"You off yo rocka chile."

Chloe's heart dropped. Was it that obvious? She halfheartedly spoke to the bodyguard waiting with the door open for her and slid into the backseat where Halle awaited.

Chloe peered straight ahead. She didn't feel anything negative. She didn't even feel like the same person. She felt complete. Content. The weed had washed away the anger, and not just from today, from always. Everything sad felt happy. Everything painful felt pleasant. It was as if everything she hadn't understood before had become clear, and the future was beautiful, promising. She felt cleansed and cured.

Halle watched Chloe. Her eyes flicked over the slim brown of Chloe's irises, the color looking more dark under the influence. She could smell the weed on her as soon as she hopped in the truck. Halle looked at her content face, the calm way she was breathing, and her hands were lazy and relaxed, running over the material of her uniform skirt.

"You had fun," she found herself asking.

Chloe looked up at her quizzically.

"I can still smell the weed under all that perfume," Halle clarified, "how much did you spray?"

Chloe shrugged, and peered out of the window this time. She brushed her thumb across it, mapping its surface, realizing it was a perfect square and for some reason that intrigued her. She repeated the action for some time uninterrupted by her sister. Thirty minutes later, they were at the Carters' gates waiting for them to open.

"You might want to put some glasses on," Halle suggested.

Chloe nodded slowly because why didn't she think of that? She reached into her bag pulling out the oversized glasses Kelly had gifted to her and placed them on her face. Terrell parked the truck just before the grand staircase leading to the front door. By this time, Chloe's high was coming down, but she still felt the effects. The bodyguard opened their door to let them out and Halle had to practically kick Chloe in the back to get her moving.

"I just feel so bad for you," Terrell had faux sincerity in his tone, "Halle text me the tea play by play."

Halle chuckled nervously, but her stomach was in knots. At least it wasn't her though. But what would happen to Chloe? Why would she do this right before coming here, she thought. Chloe stood in front of the giant door just looking at it like it would open by itself.

"If y'all don't get in the house! I got places to be. I ain't got time," Terrell yelled out of the window.

Halle looked to Chloe who was busy picking with her nails now. They didn't have a key, so Halle rang the doorbell twice and waited for a staff member to answer it.

"Hola señoras entran," Frances the household manager smiled letting the two pass.

"Hi Ms Frances is mama home yet," Halle kicked off her shoes by the door.

"Aún no," Frances reached for both girl's backpacks, sitting them inside the closet.

Halle nodded towards Chloe who took that as her cue to head upstairs and at least change her clothes and splash water on her face or something. The girl practically tripped over herself trying to get to the elevator fast enough.

"Chloe," someone called from the living room stopping her in her tracks.

"Yes," Chloe fixed the bottom of her blazer as she peeked around the corner to see Angie and Solo sitting on the couch.

"Hello to you too Stevie Wonder," Solange stated, referring to her huge sunglasses.

Halle sprinted towards the two women and landed on Solo's lap, "hi Solo, hi Angie, where's Julez?"

Angela poked Halle's stomach when the girl put her socked feet on her legs so that she was laying across the two women.

"He has basketball practice today. You'll see him tomorrow though," she's answered.

Chloe tried to sneak away to her room since the women were now occupied with her sister, but Solange's motherly instincts were too good to allow that to happen.

"Uh, Chloe?"

"Yes," the teen bent her neck so that all they saw was her head around the corner.

"Come have a seat. I feel like I haven't talked to you in ages girl," Solo coaxed.

Chloe let out a huff, "I have to change out of my uniform."

"It's okay. I see you in that hideous thing almost everyday," Solo raised a brow to Angie.

"Actually I'm a little tired so—

"Girl come sit down," Solange stated.

She sighed and nodded and slowly moved towards the family room. She could see her sister's eyes bulge out of her skull.

"When is mama coming home? You wanna hear something hilarious? I had to stay after school today because I missed a quiz on Monday and nobody gets to make up quizzes at Lexington, so-

Halle trailed off noticing the two adults' attention were on her sister. Chloe dug her nails into the palms of her hands as she took in a deep breath and inched toward the sofa. She thought about which way she would go left or right, but it didn't really matter. Either way she would have to pass up Solange or Angela reeking of marijuana.

She eventually decided that Angela would be the one to pass up because Solange might make a big deal, but then again Angela would too, the entire family would and Chloe was still too high to properly handle it. The teen took measured steps until she reached the couch on the opposite side of the room and sat. Angela and Solange exchanged looks.

"Hmph," Angela pursed her lips.

Solange shifted Halle from her lap onto the cushion beside her. She put her fist under her chin and squinted in Chloe's direction before sitting back and folding her arms.

"Mmhm," she nodded to Angie with a knowing look.

Halle didn't know what was happening and Chloe awkwardly pulled out her phone scrolling through random apps to avoid eye contact.

Angela glanced at the time on her phone, "so Chloe, it's almost five thirty what took you girls so long to get here?

Halle jumped in knowing Chloe wouldn't have a good excuse at hand, "I was trying to say earlier that I had a makeup quiz."

Chloe shifted in her seat.

"Awe right, and what you do all that time Chlo," Angie asked.

The teen shrugged her shoulders, "I just waited."

Solange smirked and scratched her nose before locking eyes with Angie again.

"Front Door" the alarm system sounded.

There was a silence that followed, one everyone who got to know Chloe had become accustomed to. Sometimes Halle would just speak just to fill it, but not now. She could hear the sound of pitter patter on the perfectly waxed floors indicating that Blue was home and thus her mom as well.

"Chloe, Halle," Bey used the intercom to locate where they were in the house.

Solange scrambled to her feet to the buttons, "in the main family room."

Halle eyed her sister and just shook her head. Chloe's hand shook as she gripped the arm of the sofa. It was only a matter of time before Bey walked in the front room. Why couldn't Solange just let her change her clothes at least? This would've been avoided. Blue of course ran into the family room first followed closely by her mother.

"Don't you got a house Solange," Bey asked with her hand on her hip.

"Yeah and?"

The blonde made her way to the back of the couch and kissed Halle's head, "Hey baby." She turned back to her sister, "I can't tell cause every time I look up, you over here, hey Angie," she sat her purse on the coffee table and made her way to Chloe who was being bombarded by the five year old's tight hugs.

Solange sat back crossing one leg over the other and waited for her sister to announce what she already knew. Blue slid from the couch and went to her big cousin to bother her because it was mandatory. Chloe looked up at Bey, her heart damn near pumping out of her chest and gave her a nervous wave. Bey looked over her shoulder when she heard her sister slightly giggling. She turned her gaze back to the terrified fifteen year old wondering what this moment was about. The blonde sat next to Chloe, who slid further away from her, and Bey hopped from her seat two seconds later.

BEY

I know this girl ain't! I just know she not in my face smelling like this much weed. It's not happening! Nope I'm tripping. I have to be. I looked down at Chloe who couldn't even meet my eye. Even if she did I couldn't see them with them big ass glasses she has on her face.

"Give me a hug," I held my arms out to her.

She slightly chuckled, "huh?"

"Girl if you can huh you can hear," Solange said.

"Hush Solange," I still had my arms out.

I watched her closely as she shifted in her seat once again. She put one loc behind her ear and stood. She didn't walk to me so I walked to her pulling her in for a long hug rocking her side to side. I sniffed her clothes and she pulled away from me. This is probably the first time I wished Shawn was back at the house because I don't know what to do right now. I could see Chloe's hands trembling, so I know that my suspicions are true already.

"Chloe take the glasses off, you're inside," I said.

She frowned and studied the floor but didn't move an inch to do what I said.

"Chloe, remove the glasses you are inside," I repeated myself slowly.

She just shook her head in response.

"Blue, go to the movie room for a second sweetheart," Angela said.

I heard Blue running through the halls so I knew she had left, but I didn't take my eyes from Chloe. Slowly, I moved my hands up to her face to reach for the glasses, but she recoiled and took a step back.

"Chloe Elizabeth" I pressed.

I heard a slight sniffle from her. Her hands were trembling bad now as she reached for the glasses. She took them off revealing a smaller pair of glasses right underneath. Solange and Angie screamed as they laughed.

"Take the other ones off," I bit my cheek.

She tapped her foot and expelled a breath as she removed the shades. She had her head down, so I couldn't see her face, and I lifted her chin. Our eyes met when she looked up.

My hand went to my mouth in surprise. Like I knew she was high just by being in her presence, but to have it confirmed with my own eyes?

"Girl you are goooone," Solange said.

My head whipped around to my sister. Did she think this was funny? My fifteen year old was high! I didn't even pick up a blunt until I was twenty one. Even then I was too scared my mama would find out. Hold on let me see if she would lie to my face.

"Are you high?"

Chloe crossed one leg over the other, "I gotta pee," she whispered.

There were tears in her eyes as she glanced down again. I looked over my shoulder at Halle who shrugged her shoulders. Yeah right. You see one Bailey you see the other one. Solange stood and made her way over to me and Chloe.

"Let me see."

I moved out of her way as she stared Chloe down. She took her chin between her pointer finger and thumb moving her head back and forth slowly analyzing.

"This child is higher than a mother fucking kite. Girl what did you smoke?"

Chloe didn't answer.

After a moment, I glanced over at Halle who was cuddled up with Angie looking scared out of her mind. I upped a brow at her.

"I don't knowww," Halle whined.

"Don't bring her in this. Chloe the one high," Angie rubbed Halle's back.

I folded my arms and turned to the culprit again.

"Somebody better tell me something!"

Chloe squeezed her eyes shut at my tone, "it was just weed I don't know what kind."

-

OMNISCIENT

"It was just weed I don't know what kind," Bey repeated what Chloe said with a chuckle.

Solange grabbed her purse, "you know what? I think Imma go," she headed towards the hall.

She could tell her sister was livid and didn't want to be a witness to nothing.

Bey turned to Halle and pointed at her, "you high too?"

Halle jolted from Angie's arms suddenly and ran to the corner of the room, "nooo," she cried, "I-I told Chloe th-that I wasn't gonna do it anymooore!"

Solange gasped, "I think imma stay for a lil while," she walked backwards sitting her purse on the coffee table.

Angela sat there with a shocked expression, but Bey stood there with a blank expression which scared Halle more.

Bey stood stunned, her mouth agape now as she floundered for words."Anymore," the blonde looked between Chloe and Halle, "when did you do that Halle?"

At the sound of her sister's cries, Chloe opened her mouth to speak but the words died in her throat. Not only could she not speak, but honestly, she didn't know if there was anything she could possibly say in that moment to make the situation better.

"I have to pee," Chloe announced and attempted to tip toe away.

Bey damn near broke her neck from turning to Chloe so fast, "sit down!"

Chloe wrapped her arms around herself and took the seat she occupied before. Beyoncé pointed to Halle and then the sofa. She had to remind herself to breathe because this moment was too much to handle and where the fuck was her husband? Silent tears streamed down Halle's face as she sat beside her sister. Bey had to take a seat as well because she was already beat from practice and now it seemed like Chloe and Halle had stolen her breath. She sat on the floor in front of them and looked down as the clang of a belt hitting the rug drew her attention.

She smacked her lips and looked at Solange who bugged her eyes asking 'what?' The teens both eyed the weapon in front of them that Bey hadn't touched. Beyoncé inhaled deeply and exhaled to calm her nerves.

"When did a thirteen year old get a chance to smoke weed?"

Halle sobbed hard while clinging onto her sister's arm, "mommy," she tried.

"Halle," Bey matched her tone.

The girl looked at her mother which was more than could be said for the oldest who sat there bouncing her leg unable to meet the woman's eye.

"Two days ago," she got out between sobs and scooted away from Bey after seeing her clenched jaw.

Bey looked at Chloe. She needed answers, someone to blame.

"Where did you even get some weed?"

"Probably they lil friends," Solange butted in.

Angie tapped Solo's hand like she was the one getting into trouble.

Bey's eyes were huge as they scrutinized every movement Chloe made, "is that true? One of your friends gave it to you?"

Chloe shook her head and wiped a stray tear, "no," she sniffed.

"Then where'd you get it," Bey couldn't possibly imagine Chloe making a drug deal all by herself.

"Remember I said the Hardings have a son," Chloe wiped another fallen tear.

Bey brought her knees up to her chest, "mhm."

"Well," Chloe wiped her snot this time, "he gave it to me."

Solange scrunched up her face, "son? How old is he?"

Chloe thought back to Alana's rant from the other day, "twenty two, I think?"

Halle didn't let up on her sobbing yet, but Bey pushed it to the back of her mind in an effort to get her answers.

"So a twenty two year old man gave my fifteen and thirteen year old drugs?" she let the statement sit.

She questioned how wrong it felt leaving her mouth. Both Chloe and Halle avoided eye contact as they sobbed apologies. The guilt they felt running through them, especially Chloe, had caused their bodies to rack. The guilt had eaten her up for three days and even before that. Chloe was crying years of unshed tears not for herself, but for her sister. She had a long track record of failing as an older sibling and this was by far at the top of her list because she could've put a stop to Halle smoking if she truly wanted to.

"Why'd you take it,'' Bey asked.

Chloe burst into heavier tears, "I just wanted everything to slow down! Things were moving too fast and I-I couldn't catch my breath! I couldn't breathe!"

She took a breath realizing she was on the verge of a breakdown, "I wanted to feel free. Like a normal teen for once."

Bey's eyes wandered back to her crying daughters and the tears finally fell– she knew how difficult the separation would be for them, but she hadn't expected them to turn to drugs? Especially not her middle child? She could see in Chloe's eyes how terrible she felt, so she didn't feel the need to berate her much further but damn it she was the oldest and should've looked out for her sister!

"You wanna end up in rehab like most of the normal teens out here? Away from the people who love you? What were you thinking Chloe and to sit there and watch your sister smoke it? You know she follows your every move!"

Chloe shook her head, "I'm sorry! I didn't see her smoking at first because I was too out of it but once I did I tried to stop her –

"No you didn't!" Halle screamed.

Chloe turned to her sister, "yes I did! It was like my body couldn't move," she cried.

"It's called being high," Solange butted in.

Bey wiped her tears, "and you not off the hook. You have a mind of your own! You can not do everything your sister does! She's at the head of the line, it goes Chloe," she held her hand up high, "then Halle," She held the other one a little lower, "do those ever meet?"

"Are you two ever gonna be the same age at the same time?"

Halle shook her head no.

"Exactly, y'all are individuals!"

"Wait wait wait," Angie interjected, "so let's turn this back. A twenty two year old man just came up to y'all and offered y'all some weed?"

Chloe eyed Halle and they nodded.

Bey squinted, "did he peer pressure yall?"

Chloe thought for a second then said no.

"How he gone peer pressure somebody if he ain't a peer? He twenty two...this is a lot," Solange huffed.

Bey stood and Halle flinched violently, "mommy I'm sorry it was one time!"

"And it takes one time for somebody to sprinkle a little something else with that weed that'll leave you out of your mind and incompetent. Is that what y'all want? To be talking to walls?"

This time, they both shook their heads and Bey took a deep breath as she paced the floor, "I need the full story," she said.

Chloe didn't know how to tell it without incriminating her friends. She played with the ends of her hair, biting down on her lip when her eyes met with the eyes of an infuriated Yoncé before she quickly looked down and took a deep breath.

"I can't tell you," Chloe said, looking to Halle for support.

"What do you mean?"

Chloe fidgeted with her hands looking at the awaiting adults. Bey stared at Halle this time. After a few torturous moments of silence, Bey looked up to see Chloe's thumb hovering just before her mouth, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth in contemplation. There was an anguished look on the girl's beautiful face and tears in her eyes.

"Is somebody gonna talk to me?!"

The youngest Bailey felt more comfortable with her hand clasped into Chloe's with her eyes focused on the table in front of them before they both exchanged looks. Chloe silently imploring Halle to get started.

Halle swallowed hard and started to speak, her voice shaky but deliberate. "We were sitting by the pool the other day and he came out and asked if we were smoking," Halle's eyes darted from Bey to the belt still on the floor.

"And you just said yes to the strange man offering you drugs," Bey asked.

If people thought she was strict about their whereabouts at first, when they came home, they were gonna be Velcro'd to her side.

Halle's face crumbled in tears as she shook her head shamefully, "not at first, he rolled it and passed it around."

"To who," Solange sassed.

Halle eyed her sister.

"Don't be trynna coach her on what to say," Solo said.

Chloe quickly shook her head, her eyes wide,"I'm not!"

"Go ahead," the youngest Knowles never took her eyes from the fifteen year old.

"T-to some people who were at the Hardings. He asked Chloe again if she was smoking and she took it," Halle continued.

Bey shook her head and eyed Chloe, absorbing Halle's words as if they were blows, her breath hitched as she rubbed her palms flat on her thighs, "I can not believe this."

Angie folded her arms and pursed her lips, "keep going."

"Everybody was kinda cool and I-I was the only one not participating, so when they lit the other one I grabbed it. I'm so sorry," Halle had her hands clasped like she was praying.

Chloe listened on silently, her face still full of anguish and embarrassment. Beyoncé muttered something under her breath that Chloe was glad she couldn't make out.

"That's why y'all were acting so weird when I called talking about y'all sleepy. Whole time y'all were high," she shook her head, "this is ridiculous. I can't even look at y'all. I'm so disappointed."

Both siblings went into hysterics at her last statement. The oldest had her head in the palms of her hand covering her face completely as she cried loudly. Chloe didn't understand why she was crying so hard. She was usually calm and collected during these types of situations. Never let anyone see you cry she would tell herself. Your pride is all you have left, but she looked up to Beyoncé years before they met, so to hear that she had disappointed Bey in any way broke her. Halle, a motherless child only months ago couldn't believe she had let the woman she now called mommy down. She sat on the sofa turned away from Beyoncé and let out ear piercing wails.

Bey paced in front of the couch and stopped to bend close to the sisters' faces, "y'all must want them to take you away from me forever!"

"No," they cried.

"Then why would y'all go and do this? Chloe and during my time with you," the blonde asked, sounding betrayed.

"I'm sorry! I was just sad," Halle cried.

Chloe could feel eyes on her, it had been over twenty minutes since Bey had gotten home and she could sense that she was just waiting for her to say something, something profound that would be able to explain away all of this.

"Chloe?" She finally heard, gulping as she looked up, "Are you gonna contribute?"

She felt sick, the patronising tone in Bey's voice was enough to make the panic rise inside of her as she shook her head in response. She had nothing to say, she couldn't say anything –

"I couldn't come home, and I figured since everything else was blowing up it wouldn't matter if I smoked," Chloe explained.

Solange stood beside her sister mimicking her with folded arms and a squint, "so what happened today that you high? You didn't even go back to the Hardings house you came straight from school. How'd you get it today?"

The attention was on Chloe and it only served to make her heart thump harder against her chest, her palms were sweaty, she had to let go of the hands that had been keeping her grounded so she could wipe them on her skirt. She took a deep, shaking breath, her eyes tearing up as she bit down on her lip and refused to look up to meet the thwarted faces of the three women she could feel staring at her.

"BJ gave me some more of his stuff before I went to school on Tuesday. He said I would need it if I was living in that house, and the kids at school were being relentless today– I couldn't take it. So after school I went to the parking lot and did it."

Chlo rested her head in her hands and shook her head, gripping at her hair as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The room was spinning, and she was struggling to breathe – there had been only one person who had this effect on her and right then, she was struggling to remember where she was.

Beyoncé felt sick to her stomach.

"Who is BJ," Angie asked eventually.

"Their son," Chloe wiped her tears.

"Mm," Angie and Solange eyed each other.

Something still wasn't making sense to Solange, "so he handed you weed and you just knew how to roll it?"

"No, it was already done," Chloe said.

Tears were now covering Beyoncé's face, "see anything could've been in there, Chloe. You don't even know these people."

"How much did he give you," Solo pressed.

"Umm four," Chloe sniffed.

Solange and Bey exchanged looks, "you got some more?"

"Solange," Angie yelled.

"What? You want to send her back out with weed still in her pockets," the younger Knowles woman exclaimed.

Bey didn't even think of that. That's why she needed Shawn here. When he finds out he might just go clean off.

"Well," Solo stared Chloe down.

"Yes," she admitted.

"You got it on you?"

"It's in my bookbag."

Angela checked the cuticles of her nails and reached into her purse for a nail filer. She was used to kids Chloe's age in the system experimenting with drugs, but she truly didn't see it coming with these two. Still, her name was Bennet and she wasn't in it, so she blew her cheeks up and tried her hardest not to say 'the ghetto' too loud.

"I can't believe this girl done brought weed to school."

Beyoncé flopped down on the couch behind her and covered her face with her hands crying silently to herself. She couldn't tell anyone why she was crying right now. To be honest she didn't even know. It was a mixture of her girls wanting to come home and she couldn't help them and her disappointment and embarrassment that they would even bring themselves to do what they did.

"Go get the book bag," Angie said, not looking up from her nails.

"Imma go with her and make sure she ain't taking nothing out," Solange volunteered, "Come on."

Halle walked to her mother sitting at her feet and placed her hands on the woman's knees, "BB," she tried.

Bey's tears halted and she looked down at the girl, "that's not my name Halle. Don't be disrespectful."

"I-I thought t-that since—

"Since what? Since you made a mistake I would disown you? I'm not mommy anymore because you smoked weed? Halle please you've already broken my heart once today, let's not," Bey shook her head.

Halle nodded and Bey knew she shouldn't, but she took Halle's hand helping her stand up and pulled her into her lap.

"I don't love you any less okay? It's scary hearing you two are out there by yourself getting into things that ain't good for y'all. I'm still mommy," she whispered.

Halle sat there taking in Beyoncé's scent reeling over how much she loved this woman. Solange had Chloe's bag in her hand as she re-entered the family room shaking it to announce her arrival. Chloe peered over at Halle in Bey's lap and stifled her eye roll. She wasn't proud of the nagging jealous feeling gnawing at her insides but Halle smoked too. Why was she being coddled? Angie tried her best not to laugh as Solo did the most, twerking with the bag high in the air.

"Solange," Bey warned.

"Okay okay, where its at," Solo asked Chloe.

The girl pointed to the front of the bag that zipped up. Angie, Bey, and Halle watched intently as Solange took all day to unzip the pocket. Chloe couldn't believe this was her going through this and not some tv show she was watching. It felt like she was having an outer body experience. No, that wasn't her bag. No, she hadn't smoked weed before. A time machine would be amazing right now. It felt like she shrunk in size when Solange pulled out the little baggie showcasing it to Angela and Bey like a product during a YouTube makeup tutorial.

"Girrrl," Solange said after opening the bag and sniffing its contents, "You was smoking this? Chile no wonder you look like that."

"First it's sneaking out to a party, then it's smoking, what's next yall finna be skipping school too," Bey raised her voice.

Halle flinched still in the woman's arms. She could sense the bitterness and anger in her voice, making the girl pull away so she could look at her and Halle wondered for a moment, if this was the first time Beyoncé had actually yelled at them. Chloe scratched her scalp before she looked down at her shaking hands.

"What was that face," Bey and Solange asked in unison.

Chloe furrowed her eyebrows, "what face?"

Bey turned to her sister and cousin, "was there a face?"

"There was definitely a face," Angie looked Chloe up and down.

Bey looked to the heavens and back to Chloe, "please don't tell me you skipping out on school too! I swear I'll drop dead right here on this floor cause you killing me!"

Chloe paled at the question, reluctant to add to the blonde's growing distress,"No no I haven't," she rushed out.

"So if I call up to that school they gone tell me the same thing?"

"I–

"Halle go hand me my purse," Bey stated.

Halle didn't offer anything up, didn't make a move, just sat there with her head on Bey's shoulder. Angie watched as the oldest teen fidgeted with the bottom of her blazer and knew she wasn't telling the truth.

"It was one class! Gym, I didn't wanna go to gym yesterday!"

"So you ditched," Bey shifted in her seat.

"Yes," she held her head down.

Beyoncé looked down at Halle, "you ditched too?"

"No," Halle snuggled closer to her.

Angie shook her head, "and went where? Because I know that strict school don't allow children to just run amuck in the halls. We all went to private school."

Chloe didn't answer, instead she looked off into the distance, shook her head and snapped her mouth shut. She had already said too much. She couldn't bring herself to say anymore.

Solange sat into her hip, "girl where you go?"

"To a park," she admitted.

Bey sighed, "without security? And what if somebody would've picked you up huh? Recognized you from the magazines and blogs and thought they could make a pretty penny off of you? Chloe, you have security for a reason."

"I know, but all the students kept talking about was that video! Some people kept playing it out loud for everyone to hear and I couldn't stand it anymore. I just needed a minute to breathe."

Bey remembered what it was like to hear that recording for the first time. To watch it even. It felt like someone had plunged a knife directly into her heart and left it there. She could still hear both of their desperate pleas crisp and clear in her mind. She didn't think she'd ever be able to forget them. Now Chloe would have to live with that same feeling and those same voices permanently embedded in her brain. Except it'll be so much worse for Chloe because she already had a mile long list of similar incidents that would wake her up in the middle of the night in hysterics. This was just the icing on the cake. This was the reason she wanted the girls homeschooled now. She knew first hand how cruel kids could be.

"Come here Chloe," Bey called from the couch.

The fifteen year old let out a small whimper before the tears came. She could barely breathe in between sobs as she inched toward Beyoncé who had moved Halle to the side. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest.

"You wasn't crying when you was lighting the blunt," Solange teased.

Angie pointed the nail filer at her cousin and mouthed for her to stop. Once Chloe was close enough, the blonde reached up and cuffed her face gently in her hands. Chloe's eyes were closed as she waited for a hit that never came. Bey regarded her face and pulled the broken girl into her lap and then to her chest. Chloe buried her head in the crook of Bey's neck and sobbed while Beyoncé rubbed her back in an up and down motion with one hand and stroked her hair with the other. They stayed like that for over five minutes and Solange couldn't believe what she was seeing. These girls were spoiled as hell! Bey finally broke the silence still holding Chloe in her arms protectively.

"Sweet pea you don't need drugs to make you feel better okay? Why would you do that? And skipping out on class? I get it, but you could've called me. That was dangerous."

Chloe didn't speak, she simply continued sobbing into Bey's neck.

Bey pulled away to look at her face.

"I'm not gonna do it anymore Bey I promise," she croaked.

Brown eyes met Hazel and Bey searched the girl's face for a twinge of slyness.

Chloe never broke eye contact, "I mean it," she said as if reading the woman's mind.

Bey reached up and placed her right hand on the girl's tear-stained cheek, wiping them away with her thumb. Chloe sighed softly, and leaned into her hand, the blonde's touch soothing her more than Bey knew.

"I believe you," she admitted, causing Solange to smack her lips loudly.

Bey noticed the way Angie and Solange eyed her and felt stupid. It was obvious that she wasn't the disciplinarian.

"Lil bit, Sweet pea, go to your rooms for me please," Bey stated.

Chloe stood and Halle pulled herself from the couch.

"Your rooms, meaning separate," she added as the two ambled out to the hall.

Once they were out of earshot, Angie and Solange turned to Bey with equal looks of puzzlement.

"What the hell," Solange started.

The blonde sighed, "I know already okay? You don't have to nail me to the cross."

Solange raised a brow, "they smoked weed Bey and you're sitting here wiping their tears like they didn't know what they was doing."

Angela grabbed her purse knowing that this wouldn't lead anywhere good.

"I already said I know Solange, dang," Bey rolled her eyes.

Solange picked up her belt that was discarded on the floor and began putting it back on, "what would you have done if it was Blue fifteen years old coming in high? You know Halle's only a few months older than Julez and if his ass came into my house talking about he even looked at some drugs he getting tore up."

The question plagued Bey. What if it was Blue?

"Blue would get a whooping, no doubt about it," Bey finally said.

"So what's the difference between Blue and the two you just sent to their rooms like you Carol Brady," Solo asked.

Bey searched her brain for the answer that was already on the tip of her tongue, "because Blue wasn't raised by two lunatics. They already expect me to beat them Thu Thu. I have to change the way they're disciplined. I can't treat every child alike because they're not the same. Plus they going home to white people Solange and I'm trying to get them back here with me. What would I look like sending them with bruises because they managed to get a whooping the few hours they were with me? You didn't see the pictures I saw in their files. You didn't hear all of the stuff they had to go through. Angie seen it, she'll tell you" she motioned towards her cousin who nodded sadly.

"They don't need anymore violence in their lives, so I have to find a way to get my point across to them without acting in aggression or making them fear me. I don't want any of my kids to fear me," she explained calmly.

Solange nodded knowing her sister was right, "you gone tell Jay?"

"I mean eventually, not right now though," Bey sighed.

"You still ain't talk to him," Angie scooted closer to her cousin.

"Nope, he been blowing my phone up. I know that."

"Girl, you know I'm the last person to be on Jay's side, but you can't blame him for all of this...I mean not really. All he was doing was trying to feed them and they're teens. Did you want to go everywhere your mama and daddy went at they age," Solange asked.

Bey sighed her response.

"Exactly, and suppose he was there. They would've most likely taken his life right in front of the girls and nobody wants that. I know you don't see it right now, but in a way this was a blessing."

Beyoncé looked at Solange like she was crazy.

"Hear me out. The girls are gonna be back here in no time. I can feel it. But if Shawn hadn't left when he did, we would've been planning a funeral. Everything happens for a reason, JuJu believe it or not."

A few minutes passed in silence until Angie burst out laughing.

"What's funny," Bey asked.

"I'm just thinking about when–," she couldn't get the sentence out between her laughs, "when Chloe–, she couldn't get it out to save her life, "whooo," she wiped her tears, "when Chloe took the glasses off and she had another pair underneath."

Solange threw her head back cackling, but Bey found nothing funny.

"Ang we ain't even think of that one," Solo clapped her hands.

"She said, y'all ain't gone catch her slipping."

"I know that's right," Solo and Angie high fived.

Bey looked at the two from the side of her eye, "I'm glad y'all find humor in my pain."

They laughed harder.

"A he he," Beyoncé rolled her eyes and stood.

"Girl don't get mad cause you got some delinquents on your hands," Solange teased.

"They not delinquents, just misunderstood," she padded into the hallway.

Solange held up the ziplock bag of prerolls, "Chloe's stash seems to differ."

Bey waved her off and went to the theater room to check on Blue.

Solange turned to Angie, "and I ain't babysitting no more, hell I might turn around and find my shit missing. Then Bey gone owe me some money and a lot more trees for my troubles."

"You know you wrong," Angie shook her head.

Solo chuckled and sniffed the baggie once more, "this really some good shit. I should ask for her plugs information."

Angie sniffed it, "mhm then give it to me."

-

Chloe laid on her stomach with her feet in the air and her chin against her plush pillows on FaceTime.

"Where are you," she pulled the phone closer to her face.

There was rustling when the camera shook, "I'm in my closet," Halle whispered.

"Really, it's kind of cute let me see," Chloe flipped on her back.

Halle held the camera high so her face could be in it as well, "here's my right side Frances coordinated it by colors as you can see. The left is shoes and here's the extra shelves I begged Shawn to put in. Isn't it cute? Wait look, I got new lights too," Halle flicked her pink lights on and off creating a strobe effect.

Chloe smiled wide, "that looks amazing, but why are you just in there?"

Halle sat on her bean bag chair she drug inside not five minutes ago, "I don't know, hanging out," she whispered.

"Girl I don't see how you do it cause I can't," Chloe said.

"It's kind of cozy...Did you see how mad she was," Halle exclaimed.

Chloe sighed, "she looked more sad to me."

"You right, she said we disappointed her," Halle looked away.

"Let's talk about something else. How you think you did on your quiz?"

"Aced it no doubt. You would think these private schools would be harder but we know more than most of those students. I'mma tell mama to transfer me because my brain isn't getting stimulated enough."

"Yeah right, and go where," Chloe smiled.

"To public where everybody mind they business."

"So Bey could have a heart attack every morning at drop off? I don't think so," Chloe chuckled just thinking about it.

Halle slid further down her bean bag chair, "remember her on our first day at Lexington."

"Ya got ya laptops right," Chloe used a deep voice.

"Ya chargers, make sure y'all phones on silent," Halle added dramatically.

"Wait wait, what about your p.e uniforms," Chloe and Halle laughed together.

"It'll be that, times a million," the oldest turned when there was a knock at her door.

Shortly after, Bey and Blue entered. Chloe sat up and cleared her throat,

"on a call," Bey asked

"Just Halle calling from the other room," she swallowed the lump in her throat and ended the call.

Bey looked at the phone in Chloe's hand and cringed. She so badly wanted to confiscate it, but she needed it for emergency uses while she was away.

"Mommy said we could play in my play room until later," Blue jumped up and down.

Chloe eyed Beyoncé who shrugged her shoulders. Bey wasn't so cruel to keep them separated when they only had hours to catch up. She noticed Chloe still in her uniform.

"She has to change first Baba and then she'll meet you in your playroom, go and get Halle for me."

"Okay," Blue ran off.

Bey waited awkwardly in the doorway before turning on her heel and leaving. She didn't know what to say to Chloe just yet. She decided she would sleep on it later and try for tomorrow. Chloe wanted to tell Bey how sorry she was just one more time. That she was ashamed for letting her down and maybe she'd understand this go round, but she had already left the room and Bey's presence intimidated her so much that she couldn't get the words out a few seconds ago.

-

Halle hopped on one leg as she tried to pull another pair of pants over the jeans she changed into. She   rushed to turn off her closet light after she heard her room door open. Slowly she sat at the back of her closet and wrapped her arms around her knees, waiting there in silence. Halle sent up a silent prayer asking for the lord to look after her.

⚠️⚠️📢📢⛔️⛔️TRIGGER WARNING 📢📢⚠️⚠️
FLASHBACK

"Baby girl," Tasha called in a sing-song voice as she pretended to search the room like her and the twelve year old were playing hide and seek.

"Where could she be," the woman stood in the middle of the room in a thinker's position.

Halle covered her mouth in an effort to mask her heavy breathing. Warm tears cascaded her face as she pushed herself further to the back of the closet. She knew it was all for not. She knew that Tasha would look there, but at least it brought her some time to come to terms with whatever would happen. The girl stayed perfectly still in the small closet. She could see Tasha putting on a show through the slits on the sliding door.

"Is she under the bed," Tasha asked the room.

Halle's breath was hot on her hand and the lump in her throat was expanding rapidly. The woman stood after checking beneath the bed and whipped her head towards the closet. A whimper slipped from the young child's mouth.

"I wonder if she in here," Tasha's loud voice seemed to ricochet off of the walls.

The angry woman walked slowly to the closet door and slid it back with the patience of a lady in waiting. Halle's eyes were squeezed shut still banking on the if I can't see her. She can't see me rules from her early childhood.

"There you go," Tasha's pointy nose flared with excitement and a little hatred.

Halle let out the sob she'd been keeping at bay. Tasha folded her arms and sneered at the girl crying with her head down.

"Might as well come on out. Ya lil ass wasn't doing all that when you ain't abide by my rules. It was fuck me then, huh," she raised a brow.

Halle cried loudly in hopes that Mike would hear her and come tell his wife off like he sometimes did. The man was very protective over her.

"Yeah Yeah. Quit all that. Ya daddy not even here," the woman shifted her weight, "and I'm not gone repeat myself get yo ass out of there!"

The girl finally looked up, "I like your hair, it's really pretty," she sniffed.

"Mhm you liked them cookies too," Tasha rolled her eyes.

Halle had been on punishment and was under strict orders not to visit the kitchen for three days, but it was the night of her second day and the growling and gnawing performance her stomach put on was driving the child up the walls. She waited until she knew Tasha would be in bed and snuck downstairs to rummage through the cabinets. The first thing her eyes landed on were some peanut butter cookies. She only meant to take one, but she had chomped down on her finger mistaking it for a cookie and just had to have another one. Then another one and another until they were all gone. She did her best to hide the evidence by stuffing the packaging deep down in the garbagecan and made sure the counter was free of crumbs, but Tasha must've wanted a late night snack because here she was asking about the cookies.

Halle backed away as the woman lurched forward, "I-I love you!"

"You don't love shit," Tasha screamed as she drug the child out of the closet by her right leg.

"I do! I do!" Halle nodded her head frantically and attempted to get her ankle from the grips of the woman.

"You kicking me," Tasha yelled.

"No!" Halle screamed.

Her voice was hoarse from being deprived of water. She didn't even know where her body found the moisture to produce tears, but then again they were especially salty today. It didn't take much for Tasha to lift Halle in her arms and throw her on the bed. The woman unbuckled her belt and folded it in half.

"I was just hungry," Halle cried while pushing herself up by her forearms.

Tasha didn't say anything. She glowered at the child with pure hatred in her eyes. Halle's heart sank as she stared back into the soulless orbs of her foster mother. She made a quick dart for the other side of the bed. Tasha stood in front of her. Halle jumped on top of her bed and scattered to the other side once again at an attempt to get to the door, but the woman was just too fast. Terrified, the girl stood in the middle of her bed and did the only thing she could think of; call her sister.

"Chloe!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Halle knew where Chloe was. She knew full well that if she called her sister there wouldn't be an answer. Chloe couldn't burst in the room and rip the belt from Tasha's hands. She couldn't plead for the woman to stop and show mercy. Couldn't even comfort Halle with her presence after this incident was over, but still Halle screamed Chloe's name.

"Chloe!" she screamed again as Tasha landed a few smacks on her bare legs with the belt.

The enraged woman began climbing on top of the bed to get the girl to hold still.

"Chloe!" she put all of her heart in it.

Halle slammed her bottom against the softness of her twin sized bed. She somehow slipped out of the woman's tight grip on her arm and jetted towards the door.

"Daddy!" she called out this time.

She wasn't sure if the man was home yet, but it was worth a shot.

When she reached the door she found it to be locked. She fumbled with it for a millisecond and thanked the lord after hearing the 'click' signifying it was ready to be opened. Tasha rushed over and slammed the door shut after Halle pulled it open nearly smashing her finger. She smacked Halle to the ground with the back of her hands. The girl faced the floor and began pushing herself up until she was on her knees staring up at the woman, lip trembling, snot down her face, but love and fear in her watery eyes.

The girl swallowed hard.

"Daddy," she whispered.

Again Tasha brought her hand back and planted a smack on Halle's face that left a burning stinging sensation. "I keep telling you that's my man not yours. He don't come running at your beck and call."

Halle began hyperventilating as she clutched her sore face and proceeded to back away. The woman bent down grabbing Halle by her wrist and stood her up right.

"You think he want you," Tasha screamed.

Halle was used to this type of talk by now, but she never understood what the woman meant by it. Her breathing became rugged and she refused to meet the woman's eye.

"I'm talking to you," Tasha shoved her a few times.

Halle still refused to look up and the woman became more angry than before. She shoved Halle even harder, this time she landed on the bed. Halle stared up in horror watching as the woman grabbed a pillow.

"Oh God," she allowed herself to say.

Halle flailed as Tasha forced the pillow over her face. She screamed with every ounce left in her when the woman didn't allow her up for air, but the sound was muffled to Tasha's delight.

She's gonna kill meee, Halle thought. Without a second thought, her right leg extended and she kicked the woman in her stomach. Tasha fell to the side of the bed and a nasty feeling of regret took over Halle's body. She threw herself onto the floor, wheezing after the contact her chest made with the hardwood.

I'm gonna die.

"I can't breathe...Chloe!" she called out.

She didn't know why she insisted on calling her sister. It wasn't like she was going to come, but that was the only thing that gave her hope. She crawled on all fours towards her door, but didn't make it far before Tasha snatched her up by her hair. She became frantic, screaming Chloe's name like it was her last breath.

"You put your damn hands on me," Tasha seethed.

Halle shook her head so that Tasha could loosen the grip she had on her hair.

"Chl...Chloe," Halle's voice cracked.

"Chloe," Tasha mimicked.

Halle bawled and sucked in air at the realization that her sister wasn't coming. No one was. No one ever came. She squirmed and wiggled under the viselike grip until Tasha's hand wrapped around her throat. The woman squeezed the girl's neck constricting her air. Halle's eyes bugged out of her skull. She grabbed at Tasha's wrist but the woman wouldn't let up.

"Please," she struggled to get out.

Tasha only chuckled at her pathetic pleading.

"What the fuck is going on," boomed a voice from the doorway.

The woman dropped Halle to the floor instantly and rushed to her husband. She rubbed his chest and looked the man in the eye, "nothing baby, me and Halle just having girl talk."

There was a whistling noise coming from Halle's direction, which was the only thing Mike could focus on. She was now flat on her back coughing and trying to get air to pass through her lungs. Mike ran and sat Halle up. He begged her to breathe as he cradled the girl in his arms.

"What did you do!" he screamed glaring up at his wife.

PRESENT

Halle didn't even hear Blue come into the closet until the five year old was sitting right next to her with a bewildered look on her face and slowly reached to wrap an arm around the older girl. Halle's body froze at the contact for a second. She took a deep breath and told herself that it was just her little sister. Slowly, Blue's head moved to rest on Halle's shoulder.

"Are you sad," she asked.

Halle wiped at the tears she hadn't realized were there.

"No, umm these are happy tears," Halle lied.

"Happy tears?"

"Yes it's something you do when you get older."

"I don't wanna get older," Blue said sadly.

"Don't say that Baba, yes you do," Halle rubbed Blue's hair.

There was a comfortable silence until Blue broke it.

"What's a weed?"

Halle pulled the girl from her shoulder and gawked at her, "where did you hear that?"

"When Angie said go to the movie room I hid around the corner like a spy! It was so fun! You didn't even see me," Blue giggled, "she said you and Chloe had a weed, is that bad?"

Halle searched her brain for an answer, but Chloe was better off at the big sister role than she was. She always seemed to know exactly what to say in these moments.

"You don't have to worry about that and don't say that in front of mommy because then she'll be upset."

"Is that why you're in the closet," the child asked.

"I'm just changing my clothes," Halle stood.

"Great, now we can go to my playroom!"

"I don't think I can," the teen buttoned the jeans to her second layer of pants.

"Uh huhhh mommy said so," she pulled Halle along.

-

Chloe stared at her reflection in the mirror, a frown on her face; she had been so certain that Bey would hate her for being so stupid, but instead, she had told her she was disappointed and just held her when she cried. That hurt more. Somehow it hit harder than any blow she'd ever taken.

"Dummy," she said to her reflection.

Her efforts to pull her mind out of the dark pit of self-hate were futile, pointless, endless. She tried and she tried and she tried but nothing worked.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Beyoncé, who walked into the room after realising her daughter had been in the room for longer than an hour. Just seeing her standing there, staring at herself in the mirror broke her heart, but she forced a blasé expression on her face and walked over to her.

"Chloe," Bey spoke before she rested a hand on her back, tears in her eyes every single time when the girl initially flinched from even the gentlest of touches.

There was a crushing pain on Chloe's chest, making it hard for her to breathe, until she felt Beyoncé's arms wrap around her, and push her head onto her chest. Her eyes closed, and she listened to the way Bey's heart was beating, and felt the way her chest would rise and fall, trying to force her own breathing to match the woman's. She wanted to apologise, she wanted to say so much but the words would never come. Maybe she would never speak to Bey again, maybe she would never be able to convey how she really felt to the people who loved her. Chloe wanted Beyoncé to scream, she wanted the woman to tell her she hated her for being an idiot, she would take anything over this. What is this? Affection? When she'd done a heinous act? Affection? When she felt the worst she had in awhile. What would it take for the blonde to go upside her head with something? To smack her across the face and spew obscenities? Maybe then her actions would be justified.

Beyoncé pulled away from Chloe noticing how the girl didn't meet her eye. She was frustrated, upset, angry and her hatred for the department of family services only increased with every day that passed. If Chloe and Halle were in her care they wouldn't have been subjected to drugs or felt the need to ditch because they had a family around them that were close. They could pick up the phone and dial anyone's number and they'd be there asking what they could do to help.

"Do you hate me," Chloe asked hoping she'd say 'yes' and she could go back into the shell of a person she was prior to meeting the blonde.

It seemed as though she had been fighting all her life—when she was younger and was initially put into the system, going from an extremely close knit family to manic foster parents within the matter of a year, she fought to stay afloat. Then she found herself fighting for so much more– her life. Now she had finally found her another family, her home, but she had to watch as it was taken away from her in a blink of an eye.

She had been clinging onto her own life for so long, and for the first time she had been tired of fighting for something she should already have. It had reached the point when, just as she thought nothing bad could happen because it already had, there was something else to add to the mix.

Always.

Bey let out a huff of frustration and Chloe let her head drop to her hands, wishing Bey would just stop delaying the inevitable and tell her how much she hated her. Question aloud why she even brought her to LA. She held back the tears, ignoring the pain in her chest as she bit down harshly on her lip. She couldn't cry, not right now because crying meant weakness and if she ever wanted Bey to be able to express her loathing for her then she couldn't let her be swayed by tears. She had to be strong. Or at least make Bey think she was strong.

Before Beyoncé could speak she just looked at Chloe and gave her a small sad smile as the tears ran down her face, "is that what you think?"

At that, Chloe gave a quick nod of her head. Bey gently stroked the girl's cheek.

"I hate the choices you made. I hate the way I'm feeling right now. I hate a lot of things about today, but I could never hate you, Chloe. You understand me? Never."

The young teen didn't say another word. Simply nodded her understanding.

"I wanted you to spend some time with Blue before you go. She really misses you being here everyday," Bey rubbed Chloe's shoulder.

"I know she calls me from her iPad at night," Chloe chuckled.

The two began to head out of the room, "and speaking of calls. Don't think y'all off the hook for all of this. You keeping the phones just in case there's an emergency, but trust when y'all come back home they mine. Oh and I still have to tell Shawn."

Chloe blew her breath and allowed Bey to take her hand as they headed towards Blue's playroom.

The blonde stood in the doorway watching Halle and Blue play with dolls, both of them getting mad claiming the other wasn't playing right. Halle looked like she didn't even want to be there in the first place.

"I don't understand why Barbie has to have this many jobs. I mean what's Ken even doing," she said as she held the doll in her hand.

Blue scrunched her face up, "it's pretend."

"Well can he pretend to have a job," Halle rolled her eyes.

"I like playing dolls with Chloe, she's the best," Blue moved Ken from the top of her dollhouse to the computer chair 'downstairs'.

"There, now he's working," she declared.

Bey pushed the door open wider and stepped to the  side to let Chloe in.

"Heard you were missing somebody," Chloe smiled, taking a seat on the floor.

"Halle doesn't know how to play make believe," Blue handed the girl a doll to join.

"Yes she does she just likes to mess with you. That's all," Chloe got more comfortable laying on her stomach, "you know she used to make believe a lot of stuff at your age."

Blue dug into her Barbie clothes chest for another dress, "really?"

Halle was too busy staring at Bey to pay her sister any attention. She bent to place the doll inside of the dollhouse, her shirt lifting slightly showing off the multiple waistbands from doubling up on her jeans. The blonde took notice but opted out of speaking on it.

"Mhmm she used to swear her stuffed animals came alive at night. Then she used to beg me to play with her dolls like everyday and would use different voices for each of them and get mad when I refused to do it."

Halle smacked her lips, "don't believe everything you hear Blue because people be doing too much."

Bey stood at the doorway trying to imagine what Chloe and Halle looked like as small children. How'd they act? Did their personalities change any over the years? Did they talk with a silly lisp after losing their two front teeth? It saddened her that she didn't know them so long ago. The woman left the girls to it and headed downstairs.

-

She padded towards the kitchen where she heard Solange and Angie laughing loudly. The two women were sitting at Bey's counter with glasses of wine in front of them. Just as Solange lifted hers to put to her lips, Beyoncé slickly grabbed the cup from her taking a sip and a seat.

"Aight now if I would've reacted on impulse you would've been mad."

Beyoncé cradled her head in her hands as she listened to Angie moving around the kitchen, opening cabinets and fumbling with glasses and bottles.

"Here," the demure woman said, sliding the small glass of D'usse towards her, "you deserve something stronger."

No sooner than the brown liquor came into view, Beyoncé snatched it up in her fist and drained the glass of its contents in one shot. Angela gave a comforting pat on the back and turned to put the bottle back in the cabinet.

"She put the infected lips on my glass," Solange took her wine glass back, turning it in a full circle to examine the rim.

Bey leaned her elbows against the counter and chuckled, "you can't drink anyway didn't you drive over here?"

"Girl it's a half cup of wine, well under the limit," Solange scoffed and looked at Angela as she took a small sip to savor the taste.

"So what they up there doing? You put them on time out," Angela asked and Solange snickered.

"The opposite, they spending time with Blue playing with some dolls."

"You can tell they nice, cause you couldn't get me to play nothing at they age. I didn't care whose child it was, get it away from me and fast before I curse them out," Solo joked.

"That's cause you thought you was grown," Angela said.

"I was," the woman took a sip of wine.

"Bey you should call Vivian first of all because no matter if it was the girl's choice to take the drugs, their adult son shouldn't have offered it, and if he lives there then he could have a heavy influence on them especially Halle being at that awkward in between age," Angela suggested.

Bey palmed her face. She was so focused on the situation that she couldn't look beyond this day. Of course she should report it, but then again didn't Vivian say they could possibly be separated if they left the Hardings?

"You think Vivian would take them out of the home for this," the blonde asked.

"Um there's a lot of different outcomes. She could suggest drug and alcohol counseling and keep them there. Put them in some extra curriculars, anything really. It all depends on how strict she is as a social worker. Some of my kids smoke weed and I don't do nothing," she admitted.

Solange and Bey raised a brow.

"I know I know but you have to pick and choose your battles with some of them. As long as their attendance at school is superb, their grades are looking nice, and they show up to their mandated therapy sessions I'm good. That's with the sixteen and seventeen year olds though. Some of these kids have been put through hell and back and it's understandable that every once in a while they choose to smoke a little something something as long as it's nothing heavier than that."

"Well I don't care. Mine ain't doing it," Bey looked ahead pointedly.

"Now that, I can agree with. They can't be messing up them vocals," Angela said.

"You think they gone be separated if they leave the Hardings," Bey asked.

"I can't say. I mean I only know about the city I work in, but the odds are usually high for teenage siblings to be separated. It's already hard to get people to take in kids that ain't theirs, but it's especially hard convincing someone to do so when the child is a bit older. Then to do it twice? It's a miracle they together now. Plus, they not in anyone's group home. They ain't in the hood in somebody raggedy ass apartment squished together like sardines. I'm not sure if you should tell her now that I think about it," Angie trailed off.

Bey pulled her phone from her pocket, "imma call her now."

The three women waited as the phone rang repeatedly until it went to voicemail. Beyoncé sighed and couldn't help but think that it was for the best. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if they were ever separated because of something she did.

She drummed the counter, "can you take the girls with you when you leave?"

Solange looked behind her to see if Jay had somehow teleported into the room, "girl hell naw! Them bad ass kids are not coming with me."

Bey leaned over the counter now, "I'm talking about dropping them off at the Hardings. I did it yesterday, but it was a lot. I almost told the driver to pull off with them still in the car and I don't want today to be a repeat of that."

"And what am I getting out of this," Solange smirked.

"Satisfaction that you kept your sister out of jail because if I see the man who supplied Chloe with drugs I just might spazz," Bey took another sip of Solange's wine.

"You did say you wanted her plug's information," Angie cut in.

Solange rubbed her chin, "you right, you right. Alright I'll take'em but it better not be too far outta my way, and feed them before they leave. I don't got time to be stopping nowhere cause one thing about Halle, she gone pull the I'm hungry card after two minutes of sitting still.

"Psh and don't I know it," Bey shook her head.

-

Beyoncé let Chui know that they would be having dinner a bit earlier for the entire week, so the man had been in the back preparing. He didn't mind having to make separate dishes due to Chloe and Halle being vegan it actually gave him a chance to show off his culinary skills in a different way.

After Frances set the table, Bey called the girls down to join her, Solange, and Angie. Solo was busy texting Julez' carpool mom after he asked to stay at his friend's house a little later. She didn't mind because they were only two doors down from her and the boys were practically best friends although Julez would never admit it to anyone.

"Y'all washed your hands," Bey asked all three girls.

They nodded and took a seat. Chloe wasn't really hungry, in fact just the thought of food was making her feel nauseated. Chui served the food and Chloe muttered a solemn thanks, the complete opposite of the thirteen year old to her left who appeared to be overjoyed.

Angie and Blue were having their own side conversation. Halle was busy dogging her food and Solange was nose deep in her phone.

"You get started on that-and actually eat it, Chloe, don't just push it around the plate like you do," Bey took a bite of her pasta, "you need to eat."

Chloe made a show of lifting her fork and stabbing her lettuce with it before taking a small bite. She hadn't had much of an appetite over the last couple of weeks and had taken to messing around her meals and then sneaking down to the kitchen late at night for a snack when she couldn't sleep. Again she hesitantly brought a fork full of salad to her mouth and glanced at Bey to show her she was actually trying. She had told herself she'd eat enough to placate the woman but she certainly wasn't going to let herself get fat just to appease her foster mother. Bey continued to eat her food absently while eavesdropping on Solange's phone call. She was currently standing by the refrigerator and she could faintly hear her canceling plans for later on in the week, telling whoever was on the other end that she decided on having a family day that day.

Solange joined her family again with a downtrodden gaze. Bey wondered who it was on the phone, but assumed that it was her sister's secret boy toy that she spent most of her time with.

Conversations didn't flow as easily as they discussed everything from Blue's incident at school to Chloe and Halle's publicist releasing a statement asking the public for privacy during these 'trying' times. Halle could feel herself relax a bit whenever Bey laughed at some crazy thing Angela let out of her mouth.

"Ain't you supposed to be eating that," Solange jokingly scolded as Chloe stabbed at her salad.

"Half this salad is tomatoes," Chloe muttered.

"Not a fan of tomatoes," Angela asked.

"No," Chloe answered emphatically as she speared another tomato with her fork.

Her face scrunched in disgust as she pushed the tomatoes to the corner of her plate, trying to keep them from touching her lettuce. Her plate was practically overflowing with them. When she looked up everyone was staring at her and she felt a little self-conscious for being so picky. She never liked tomatoes and had always picked them out of her food, but lately she has been more compulsive about it than usual. She didn't want them anywhere near her salad and the thought of them in her plate made her skin crawl. She may not be able to keep her life from spiraling out of control, but she will have a tomato free salad if it was the last thing she did.

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

"I didn't want to be difficult. I didn't know there'd be so many," Chloe admitted, thoroughly embarrassed by the attention her compulsive behavior now garnered.

"You have to eat your vegetables to grow biiig and strong right mommy," Blue asked, showing off her 'guns'.

"Here, I'll take them. I love tomatoes," Halle offered.

She slid her plate over to Chloe's and shoveled the offending food onto her plate.

Chloe felt herself relax just a little, now that her salad was in order. She settled her back against her seat and smiled gratefully at her sister whom she knew wasn't that big of a fan of tomatoes herself but was just trying to take the unwanted focus off of her.

By the time dinner came to an end, Bey was emotionally exhausted. Blue sat in her lap as she played on her iPad, and the blonde stared at the Bailey sisters wishing they could stay for just a bit longer.

"Alright," Solange jingled her keys, "we out."

Halle stood up first and leaned down to give Bey and Blue a parting hug.

"I'm sorry again mommy," she whispered.

Bey nodded and pecked her forehead, "see you tomorrow. If that man offers you anything else, call me. I don't want you around him."

Halle nodded, "he's actually really nice."

"Nice people don't give drugs to kids lil bit," she tapped her face lightly.

It was Chloe's time to bid her adieu. The girl pulled her shirt past her waistband, stretching the expensive fabric which had Beyoncé cringed on the daily. Blue pointed to her screen, "look Chloe isn't that nice?"

She had been watching some toy unboxing video. Chloe lifted Blue from the woman's lap. Blue didn't understand why Chloe had to leave again. She just visited the other family yesterday. Shouldn't it be her turn? It wasn't fair.

"See you Blue Blue," Chloe kissed her cheek.

"Look at the pretty colors! She's so cute," Blue turned the device around so that Chloe could see.

"Ohh she's pretty," Chloe cooed and placed the girl back down.

She stood in front of Bey wondering if it was appropriate to hug her. She didn't know the dynamics after a day like this so she just stood. Beyoncé took the cue and brought Chloe in for a tight hug kissing all over her face until Chloe tried her best to get away.

"I love you," Bey said, not expecting anything in return, "you be good while you're there Sweetpea and please go to all of your classes tomorrow. I'm gonna call up to the school and make sure they turn on those notifications for the both of y'all like I have on Blue. They didn't change your guardian information yet so I'm still on there, and like I told Halle, if that man offers you anything else please have it in you to deny it."

Angie and Solo waited by the archway of the kitchen both wishing Bey would hurry up.

"I will," Chloe nodded truthfully, "see you," she said sadly.

Solange, Halle, Angela, and Chloe headed towards the door.

"You didn't see when she changed the baby's clothes," Blue chased behind them pointing to her screen.

Chloe stopped and turned, kneeling in front of the child pretending to be interested in whatever was on the screen.

"They gotta go Baba," Bey lifted Blue.

"But they just got here," tears were in Blue's eyes.

Beyoncé kissed her daughter's cheeks, "I know but you'll see them okay?"

Blue wasn't trying to hear anything her mother was saying. She didn't even bother wiping her cheek off before she began to cry loudly. Her body jerked as she flailed in her mother's arms throwing a complete tantrum. Chloe was stunned at the performance and it reminded her strangely of Halle whenever she'd get overwhelmed. But Blue had nothing on her sister Halle would commit fully. She'd be on the floor right now instead of in her mother's arms like Blue found herself. Moments went by as Bey and Angela tried their best to calm Blue until her sobs turned to sniffles.

"Can I see her," Halle asked.

Bey handed Blue to Halle who struggled to hold the five year old in front of her, but managed by wrapping both arms around her in an elevated bear hug.

"It's okay BaBa we'll be here tomorrow," she tried.

"When I wake up," she sniffed, playing with one of the teen's locs.

"After school, like today," Halle nodded.

"But you visited the family yesterday," she cried.

Halle took her thumb and wiped her tears away, almost losing her grip on the girl, "I know," she looked to Chloe for help.

The fifteen year old wanted to let Halle take the lead on the big sister roll because Halle was so used to being the youngest that she showed little to no knowledge on how to lead by example. Angie rubbed Blue's back comforting her little cousin.

"How about we wait for you before school and walk you to the door. Show Caelynn you do have sisters. Two of them and we don't play. How does that sound," Halle smiled.

Blue smiled wide, "great! Caelynn's gonna be sooo mad!"

"I bet," Halle placed Blue on her own feet, stretching her numb arms.

"I forgot something," Chloe rushed out.

Solange checked her watch. She did have her own child to get home to after all. She blew her breath as Chloe darted for the elevator. She returned shortly holding an Orange book close to her chest, grabbed her backpack, and stuffed it to the bottom.

"See you Blue," she said one last time as they all headed for the door, this time leaving.

-

Solange parked her car in front of a reasonable sized house in the suburbs cringing at all of the basic lawn decorations. Angie rolled her window down to see better. The front room light was still on at the Harding's home and they could see clear as day through the window due to the curtains being drawn. Karen and Brian were on the couch sipping wine and watching tv.

"Oooh that is some scary shit," Solange squinted trying to see more in the house.

Angela chuckled, "they're just watching tv Thu Thu."

"But in white," Solange finally turned her engine off.

She eyed Chloe and Halle through her rear view mirror and her heart instantly broke for the two. They didn't belong here in the suburbs with these people. They belonged wherever the hell her sister wanted to call where she lived. Up the hill? Yeah they belonged up the hill.

"So Chloe, you got that man number who gave you the weed," Solo asked causing Angela to bite her cheek from stifling her laugh.

"No," Chloe deadpanned.

"He live there?"

"Yes."

"Kay, let's go," the big haired woman took her key from the ignition and opened her door.

"Go where," Chloe bugged her eyes out.

"Y'all gotta be back by nine right? I'm walking y'all to the door," she hopped out.

Chloe sighed heavily while Halle just looked at the house sadly.

"You don't have to do that. It's okay," Chloe urged.

She didn't know why but she'd rather Solange stayed in the car.

"Girl come on," Solange opened Chloe's door.

Angela turned in her seat, "Thu please don't embarrass these girls they already had a long day."

Solange waved her off, "I'm not gone embarrass nobody. My sister asked me to drop them off? This is how I drop kids off. I go to the door."

Angie sighed heavily knowing her cousin was about to do the most.

"Solooo," Halle whined after she got out of the car.

Solange grabbed both of their hands taking the lead to the door. She dropped Halle's hand to ring the bell, but held onto Chloe's.

"Please don't embarrass us," Halle begged.

"Girl ain't nobody here to embarrass. I'm here t–

The door opened to reveal a smiling Karen in her housecoat and pajamas.

"Hiii," Solo smiled widely, "I'm just here to drop the girls off, make sure they got in okay."

The blonde haired woman nodded with a wide smile, "thank you umm..."

"Solange, their aunty," she stuck her hand out for the woman to shake.

"Well come on in girls," Karen said.

Chloe stepped inside and then Halle, followed by Solange.

"Oh, okay," Karen said confused as the stranger made her way into her house.

Brian stood from the couch, "who do we have here?"

Karen clasped her hands together, "apparently their aunt."

"How you doing," Solange waved.

Halle elbowed Solange discreetly and Solange elbowed her back with her faux smile still plastered on her face. The two passed petty licks back and forth until Chloe eyed them both.

Brian raised a brow and took a sip of his wine, while Solo sent him a dirty look.

"You know, I'm from the south when people say hello there's usually a response that follows but maybe that's just us country bumpkins I don't know," she chuckled.

Halle pulled Solange's arm, "Solo what are you doing," she whispered.

"Girl, I'm grown don't question me," she whispered back and stood at her full height.

"Could I trouble you for a bottle of water? The drive over was harrowing and I am quite parched," Solange asked in a British accent.

Chloe wondered why Solo was using that accent, but didn't ask. It was just one of Solange's many quirks.

"Oh sure honey I'll be right back," Karen walked off.

Her husband followed closely behind.

"Chloe go get the dude number for me real quick," Solange whispered.

"What," Chloe asked, matching her tone.

"Your plug!"

"Why," Chloe whispered.

"Oooh y'all so disrespectful. Ain't y'all from the south? Can't be asking a grown woman why."

"She just wants to buy something from him," Halle whispered and folded her arms.

They were all standing in a makeshift circle talking in hushed tones.

"Stay outta grown folks business. You ain't got no home training," Solo said, her voice still at a whisper.

"Chloe ain't grown," Halle whispered back.

"Neither are you now gimme the number," Solange said.

"I'm telling mama," Halle said.

"Whose? Mine or yours?"

Halle scrunched up her face, "mine!"

Solange waved her off laughing quietly, "you gone have to come harder than that niecy Pooh. She is my sister, she can't do nothing to me."

"I don't wanna ask for his number," Chloe whispered.

She's never asked anyone for their number. How would that even sound?

"After all I did for y'all," Solange whispered.

"What you do," Halle asked, still whispering.

"Member that time you was on punishment and wasn't supposed to have a phone but somehow I got a FaceTime from a Hallegotbandz and didn't snitch," she looked to Chloe, "and the time you–

Chloe folded her arms waiting for Solange to lie.

"Okay you got me, you got me," Solo pointed and nodded her head, "just go get the numberrr," Solange whined, shaking her shoulders just like Blue had done before they left the house.

She could tell just by the smell of Chloe's stash that it would have her floating with the stars and she had grown too accustomed to the weed she had now and didn't get as high anymore. She needed to switch suppliers. Just then, Karen returned with a bottle of water and her husband who just stood there looking annoyed.

"Here you go," Karen smiled.

"Thanks," Solange took the bottle but didn't open it.

An awkward silence filled the room, "is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Oh um Chloe has to get something from upstairs that I let her borrow," Solange gave Chloe a pleading look.

"I'll be right back," she announced, and headed upstairs.

"I'll help her look for it," Halle followed Chloe's steps.

Solange checked her phone after receiving a message from Angie.

Ang🗣💗💗: What are you doing?!!

Sol🥴🙄: Chloe getting the number for me 🤣😭😭

Ang🗣💗💗: I'm telling Bey you got Chloe being the middleman😆

Sol🥴🙄: she ain't gone do nothing to me
Sol🥴🙄: but don't say nothing just in case or you ain't hitting shit when we get home

Ang🗣💗💗: like I ain't got my own✌🏾🤣🤣😭

Solange rolled her eyes and put her phone away not noticing the couple eying her just a few feet away.

"So I hear you like posing for pictures," she attempted to start a conversation with Brian.

"What," he asked.

"You know, my nieces? The pictures," she held her right fist in the air.

Brian fixed his robe, "oh, that. Well uh, you see, about that," he stammered.

Solange held up her hand telling him to stop, "just don't let it happen again."

-

Walking up to BJ's door had been terrifying for Chloe, but thankfully her sister was right behind her. She had silently followed Chloe up the stairs and looked on as her older sister did the most contemplating if she should knock or not. Halle decided she'd have to do it, so she balled up her fist and rapt lightly on the door. There was Metallica music coming from the room, but not as loud as last time. They waited for the moment the door opened which never came so Halle knocked again, this time harder, nearly banging. BJ pulled the door open with an irritated expression but once he saw who it was it changed.

"What's up guys," he opened the door wider.

Chloe looked helplessly lost, and Halle motioned for her to speak.

"I–I– can I," she choked up.

Halle shook her head and huffed, "my aunty wants your number to buy some weed from you."

"Oh, hell yeah, it's 323-6837342, she can hit me up whenever. Tell her I pull up. Thanks for the 'business' referral."

"Yeah sure," Halle nodded, putting the number in her phone to give to Solange.

She grabbed Chloe's hand to walk off and headed down stairs.

-

"With a name like Karen, at times like this do you ever get annoyed by the memes," Solange asked.

Karen thought for a second, intrigued by the question, but the sound of Chloe and Halle descending the steps distracted her.

"We couldn't find it," Halle winked and held her phone up.

"Oh how will I live," Solange said with little energy as she copied the number and saved the contact under 'Chloe's plug'.

"Thank you," she smiled, "and remember you two stay above the influence," Solange quickly hugged them both, "and no more photo ops with strange white men," the woman emphasized loudly so Brian could hear.

"Okay Solo," Halle shook her head pushing the woman toward the door.

"I'm telling your mama you keep putting your hands on me," Halle continued escorting her out, "goooo republicans," Solange said sarcastically as she stepped out of the house.

Karen's hand went to her chest as she turned to face her husband, "well she's...diplomatic."

-

Chloe stood over her suitcase folding her freshly washed laundry that was sitting on the bed when she entered the guest room. She neatly tucked the clothes into various parts of the bag. It would be easier for her to unpack and place her laundry into various drawers around the room, but that would mean her stay was prolonged so no. After she was finished, Chloe went to her book bag, pulling out her journal. She planned to copy the lyrics from her notebook into the journal so she wouldn't lose it. She had just sat on the bed with all of the utensils she needed when Alana barged into the room causing her to flinch so hard the journal toppled to the floor.

"You don't know how to knock," Halle said, whipping her head around to look at the intruder, "we could've been changing...freak!"

Alana's face was dark and angry and Chloe quickly wondered what she could've possibly done this time to piss off the brunette.

"My laptop's gone," Alana shouted.

"What," Halle asked, setting down the pile of clothes in her arms to devote her full attention to the scowling girl. Was she trying to accuse them of stealing?

"My laptop is missing," her voice was low and her words were deliberate, "and I know one of you thieving, penniless, empty-handed, flat broke, indigent bitches stole it!"

Halle and Chloe exchanged looks before Halle spoke, "it's been a long day so Imma give it to you like this. First of all...

"Second, why would we steal your laptop when we have our own? For the up tenth time Alana, we, as in my sister and I are not poor. Never have been. Unlike you? We have careers, ones we get paid for? and even if we didn't we'd still be out better than you. You and the whole world knows now exactly who our parents are and what they do, so why keep up with this rhetoric? I don't appreciate you barging in here making ridiculous accusations. You might wanna humble yourself before we do and you know like I know that we will...humble you."

Alana stepped closer to the girl and spoke softly, "you think I give a damn about your gangster daddy and your weave wearing, ass shaking mommy?"

"Watch it," Chloe warned, her temper flaring at the mention of Bey and Shawn, "and back up," she snapped.

"Oh struck a nerve, did I," Alana asked, her trademark smirk appearing but only for a second as her face relaxed in that same distorted neutral expression, "awwee is little Halle-Annie gonna cry now because I said her mother flaunts her ass around on a stage for a living?"

"Shut up, you don't know anything about her," Halle screamed.

"I know she has to put on leotards and dance in front of men for money," Alana said, making sure she took in both girl's reactions.

"Fuck you," Chloe bit out, her jaw clenched and her eyes narrowed into angry slits.

She was so angry she was almost unrecognizable to  Halle. Alana raised a brow at that, a hint of a smirk crossing her face before she sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, "where the fuck is my laptop?"

"Why the fuck are you asking us," Chloe retorted.

Halle remained unmoved from her spot in front of the bed. She was stunned but somehow impressed by her sister's words. Who was this person and what did they do with Chloe Bailey?

"You're getting your thieving asses out of here tonight! Moooom! Mooom," Alana yelled.

Halle sat in her hip and waited for Karen to come while Chloe tried her hardest to get herself together before an adult felt her current wrath instead of her usual silence. Two seconds later, Karen rushed into the guest room pulling her robe close to her as she tied it.

"What's going on," she asked.

"One of them stole my laptop," Alana crossed her arms again.

Halle smacked her lips, "nobody stole anything. She's lying, making things up so we could get into trouble! We have our own laptops, we don't need hers!"

Karen sighed, "everybody just calm down. Maybe you misplaced it Alana. Where'd you last see it?"

"You're talking to me like I'm stupid mom! You know I hate that! One of these bitches took my laptop!" she screamed.

The youngest Bailey's mouth dropped.

Halle didn't think she had ever heard someone talk to their mother the way Alana just did. Did her parents not require respect in their home? Have they never beat her for having a mouth like that? Was that the problem?

"There's no need to call anyone out of their names Alana," Karen raised her voice, "now I couldn't possibly imagine these two having the need to steal anything. I mean gosh did you check everywhere before you accused them?"

Alana smacked her thigh, "yes mom...see I knew you'd take their side! Daaaad daaaaddd," she tapped her foot still glaring at the sister duo.

Chloe counted in her head until she forgot which number she was on and started the whole routine over and over until Brian walked up to the door wearing his alma mater shirt and striped pajama pants. Halle ran to sit on the bed catching everyone off guard.

"Please explain while you're yelling in the house," Brian stated.

Alana rolled her eyes, "these two scoundrels stole my laptop and mom doesn't believe me."

Brian pinched the bridge of his nose and expelled a breath.

"No we didn't," Halle cried.

Brian held his head down trying to find a middle ground, he lifted his head, "let me just quickly canvas the room for the computer. If it isn't here no harm no foul."

The satisfied look on Alana's face created a sickly feeling deep inside of Chloe's stomach. She clenched her fists at her sides. Brian stepped into the room standing beside his daughter.

"But we didn't take it," Halle tried again.

"Brian, honey this is too much," Karen said.

Brian held up his finger silencing the woman, "it'll be quick whaddya say. If the laptop isn't here," he pretended to dust his hands off, "water under the bridge for everyone."

The man stepped further in the room and Halle pulled her knees closer to her chest, "we didn't steal it! She's lying," she burst into tears.

Chloe stared at her sister now, her head throbbed and her hands shook and she couldn't purge the sickening feeling from the pit of her stomach no matter how hard she tried.

"Woah," a voice called from the hall.

Everyone turned to see BJ with a puzzled expression, "someone having an intervention without me," he asked.

"Nope just trying to figure out who stole my laptop," Alana said sharply.

BJ scratched his head, "stole your laptop? What are you talking about? I borrowed it after you came home."

Karen let out a sigh of relief. Alana punched BJ in the arm, "what did I tell you about touching my stuff without permission? Stay out of my room," she screamed.

Bj's eyes were red so it was very apparent what he just came from doing. He chuckled at the petty hits his sister sent his way, "fucking relax."

The Harding siblings ambled down the hall arguing back and forth calling each other out of their names. Chloe was now sitting next to her sister on the bed looking on as Brian stared at them.

"My apologies," he gave them a curt nod before exiting.

Karen stepped closer to them, "I am so sorry about that. My daughter's just extremely spoiled. She's a good person at heart, but she just comes off so abrasive. She gets that from her father," she turned and headed for the door, "again, I do apologize sincerely on my daughter's behalf."

Halle wiped at her remaining tears, "I hate it here."

"Me too," Chloe eyed her journal she had yet to pick up from the floor.

Karen lowered her gaze to the floor after hearing the girl's words. She once again adjusted her robe and let them have their space.

-

"And then she took the glasses off and she had on another pair! Girl when I tell you I screamed! Me and Angie was no help at all. I'm surprised Bey ain't kick us out cause girl we were deaaaad," Solange laughed.

"So she was just in front of y'all high," Kelly asked.

Solange exhaled smoke before she took another puff, "yup, eyes all red and puffy. Child looked like somebody done laced her or something cause her eyes was all dilated."

She had been in the bathroom using FaceTime to catch Kelly up on everything she missed for nearly thirty minutes.

"And you sitting there smoking it," Kelly deadpanned.

"Hell yeah! You wanted me to throw it away? My child is fed and sleep. I checked my work emails and I'm chilling!"

"That is crazyyyy and I'm about to tell mama," Kelly exclaimed.

Solange chuckled, "remember when she caught all of us high off of our ass?"

Angie waltzed into the bathroom, "mmhm Bey scary  ass was crying all hard talking about some–

"My mama disappointed in meee," they all said at the same time as they laughed.

Kelly smiled wide at the memory, "I can still feel that smack to the back of the head. Mama wasn't playing, lined all of us up going upside our heads with a newspaper."

"I still say we should've called the police on her. That shit was painful...it had hurted me," Solange said seriously causing the two other women to cackle. She passed the blunt to her cousin still giggling, "Chloe came in clutch though I'm not gone lie."

"I know Angie not smoking with that job of hers. Don't they drug test yall," Kelly put her face closer to the screen.

"Girl they got fucking heroin addicts working there and they can't afford to lose me I'm their best employee how you think all of my time get approved for me to come out here? They know to skip me when they start they lil drops," Angie put a towel underneath the door so the smell wouldn't travel down the hall to Julez' room.

Kelly shook her head, "imma report you, watch."

"Chile, good luck with that one. Oh I almost forgot to tell you," Angie continued between puffs, "tell me why Solange dumb ass drove the girls back to the people house and pushed her way in."

Kelly palmed her face, "Thu Thu you didn't."

Angie passed the blunt to Solange who took several puffs, "girl she exaggerating. All I did was go in the house, I ain't push nobody."

"Might as well," Angela sat on the edge of the tub.

"So what was they like," Kelly asked.

"Girl white as the fuck that's all, nothing worth remembering."

"Mm, y'all think I should call BB? She is in the house by herself with Blue. I feel so bad," Kelly went on.

Angie checked her notifications on her phone, "to be honest, I think she needs some time to herself after today."

"I'm finna add her, hold on," Kelly said.

Seconds went by before Beyoncé's face popped up on Solange's screen.

"What do y'all want," the blonde asked.

Solange passed the blunt to Angie making sure to blow the smoke directly into her front camera.

"Y'all can't hold water for two seconds," Bey shook her head.

Angie chuckled, "Is it really expected of me at this point?"

"How you doing, busy Bey," Kelly asked.

Bey wiped at her face, "I'm just over here moping in bed."

"Blue sleep," Solo asked.

Beyoncé panned the camera down so they could see Blue in bed next to her, "cried herself to sleep. My baby so sad."

Beyoncé prattled on for about forty minutes or so about how she felt about the situation. Kelly noted the far away look in her eyes the entire time she spoke. By the end of the discussion, the blonde looked beaten down and exhausted and if Kelly were in the same room she'd offer a warm gesture to comfort her, but since they weren't she offered her sister kind words until they all called it a night.

-

Til the wee wee hours of the morning
Til the sun spread from the sky I call it dawn
I'll keep singing with owls and floating on stars
Flying with the bats and dancing in the dark

Chloe found herself sitting on the bed at nearly three in the morning finishing a song she started writing weeks ago. She couldn't sleep. No matter how many times she flipped her pillow to the cold side or moved her sister over when she clung to her in her sleep like a baby panda; she couldn't sleep. Chloe thought about that first night months ago when Beyoncé brought them back to her house and tended to her wounds. The woman had been so tender and kind making sure she didn't hurt her further, but then all she knew was hurt. She didn't expect anyone to show kindness to someone so broken beyond repair and how could she when someone constantly instilled in her how ugly she was, how stupid she was, how useless she had become? The only thing she was good at was laying on her back according to Tasha, so why would she even bother allowing some human decency in her life?

The lamp was off, the blinds were drawn, and the room was dark. She went to write in her journal again, using her phone as light to not disrupt her sister's sleep.

Yeah I'll be, I'll be
Late nights, no sleep

Halle stirred in her sleep, whimpering ever so often. Chloe looked over her shoulder fixing the comforter up to the girl's neck the way she liked it. Suddenly Halle jolted up from her sleep and Chloe jumped back in surprise at her sister's abrupt movements.

"God, Halle you scared me," Chloe gasped breathlessly.

The smaller girl didn't say anything, she stared straight ahead, unmoved.

"Halle," Chloe questioned.

The girl slightly swayed to the left, but her head jerked back up, still she was wordless.

"Hals," Chloe waved her hand in front of her sister's face.

Halle pushed the covers back and proceeded to get up, forcing Chloe to stand since she was on the outside of the bed.

"Halle a- are you okay," she asked, stuttering slightly.

Halle stood on her own two feet with the posture of a queen. She began walking towards the door, but couldn't get around the chair beneath the handle that Chloe had placed there. The fifteen year old took measured steps toward her sister. They were both still in the dark and to be honest, Chloe was scared, not just startled, but scared. She reached for her sister's shoulder but thought better of it and grabbed her hand.

She needed light.

Chloe searched the wall, still unfamiliar with the room until her hand touched the light switch. The light came on, and it felt blinding. She had to wait for her eyes to adjust. Halle's eyes were open, but there was nothing behind them.

"Halle," Chloe's heart dropped when the girl still stared ahead.

She put her hands on each of her shoulders shaking her slightly. What was going on?

"Halle," Chloe's eyes filled with tears when she didn't get an answer.

The minutes passed torturously slow as she waited for Halle to speak. The small girl continued her bout of silence, and Chloe was feeling completely exhausted, slightly flustered, and a little annoyed.

The girl blinked and pushed Chloe's hands away lazily, "I gotta get out," Halle whispered.

Chloe relaxed because at least she got an answer out of her sister, but what was she talking about?

"I gotta get out," Halle said again, this time a bit louder.

"What are you talking about," Chloe asked, her face the portrait of confusion.

Steeling herself, Halle moved past her sister stiffly, and jiggled the doorknob, but there was only a resistance. It wouldn't budge because of the chair.

"Halle, stop, what's going on," Chloe asked, trying to keep her voice low.

She went to grab Halle's hand again, but she flinched away and screeched, "I gotta get out," she groaned.

"Shh," Chloe urged she didn't want to wake anyone else in the house.

The fifteen year old took a hold of Halle's shoulders walking her towards the bed. What happened for Chloe was fast. Her sister pushed at her chest which left Chloe stunned as she toppled back. Halle had never laid a hand on her before. The young girl kept her blank expression, looking hard and intense. Halle stared at her for what felt like minutes, her breaths rising in hot puffs in front of her.

"Halle," Chloe's voice cracked as she reached out to touch the girl's arm gingerly.

When she didn't resist, Chloe helped her sit on the bed. She continued to stare, an unspoken challenge to Chloe's gaze. She looked so different. As if a door had completely closed, like no one was home.

Chloe watched Halle's head slowly turn, her mouth pinched in irritation,"no," she said.

"Halle go back to sleep...please," Chloe begged.

She didn't understand what was happening. Was she sleep-walking? Sleep-talking? When Halle didn't acknowledge her, Chloe took her arm, attempting to lay her back. Big mistake. The girl let out a jarring scream as she pushed Chloe's hands away. The oldest looked towards the door praying no one had heard it.

"Halle you have to be quiet," Chloe said.

Again she went to lay Halle down. The girl wailed screaming at the top of her lungs, "no...no stop!" Chloe's hands went to cover her sister's mouth who was now on her back staring up at her with icy eyes. She didn't stop screaming and thrashing and Chloe cringed at the cold spit on her palm. Her arm wrapped tightly around Halle, holding her down as she continued to scream. She tried to tell Halle to stop fighting her, but Halle's eyes weren't focused on her at all now. The tears fell fast and heavy, her sobs were ugly, and as much as she tried to fight how tightly Chloe's arms were holding her in place, it didn't take long for her to relent as she let out another scream.

"Shh Halle! What's wrong with you?"

A thought crossed her mind but she immediately shut it down but then...

Chloe searched the bed with her left hand. Her right hand still covered her panicked sister's mouth. She dialed the only number she could think of.

"Hello," Bey's voice came through groggy and husky.

"Bey, something's wrong with Halle! I can't get her to stop!" Chloe had to use a little muscle this time to keep her sister down.

The call switched to FaceTime and Chloe turned her camera on her sister.

"I don't know what to do!"

"Why you covering her mouth? Let her up," Bey panicked.

"She's gonna scream," Chloe rushed out.

"So!"

Chloe took her hand from her sister's mouth, frowning at the amount of slob she managed to get on it. The teen wiped her hand on her sister's shirt. Halle sat up quickly, holding the cover closer to her body as she shook her head, as though somehow that would rid her of the nightmare that she had tried to forget. She continued to cry but quietly. Her hand went to her own mouth as she tried to keep her sobs at bay. Chloe could tell Halle had woken up from whatever dream-state she had been in by the look behind her eyes.

"What happened," Bey asked.

"I don't know she just woke up acting weird and started saying she had to get out, so I tried helping her back to bed and she freaked out!"

Bey wiped the sleep from her eyes, "let me talk to her," she yawned.

Chloe didn't know if her sister was up for a conversation. She held the phone out for Halle to grab, but she shook her head still covering her mouth.

"Just hold it for her sweet pea."

Chloe sat next to her sister, holding the phone so that they were both in frame.

"What happened lil bit," Bey adjusted herself in bed.

Chloe noted the oversized silk bonnet on the woman's head that she always wore at night and thought about the times her and her sister would crack jokes about it. Halle didn't answer Bey, didn't even want to look at the phone.

"You had a nightmare? Is that it," Bey tried another approach.

Chloe turned to see what her sister would say. Halle simply nodded.

"Can you tell me about it," she asked.

Halle shook her head and Chloe rubbed her back in support.

"It's personal?"

Again Halle nodded her answer and Beyoncé sighed.

"Have you had this nightmare before," Beyoncé changed the tone of her voice to a higher one.

Halle shook her head.

"You don't want to talk to mommy," Bey asked.

Halle cleared her throat, "I can't tell you."

"Why?"

The thirteen year old opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"You don't have the words," Bey implored.

"I–It was too much pressure on me. It was like I couldn't move h-he was too heavy mommy and he," she looked away wiping a tear.

"Who's he," Bey asked.

Halle didn't want to speak the name because of how sensitive her sister was about the subject.

"Mike," she mouthed.

Bey sat up and turned her side lamp on. She was always unbelievably uncomfortable whenever the girls would mention him. She had her own issues with the man way before Chloe and Halle were ever born, so she knew how Mike showboated his brawn and forcefulness, but not to the extent of the Bailey sisters.

"He what," Bey probed.

Halle peered to her sister unable to read her face, "he... hurt me...bad this time until I passed out and when I opened my eyes again, Tasha was there with her hands around my throat and I couldn't get out."

Each word felt like she had swallowed a razor blade, as she croaked out each one and then pressed her hand to her throat to make sure nothing had been damaged. Halle watched as Chloe swallowed and straightened her back. The guilt was too much for Chloe. It rolled through her in waves, overwhelmed her senses and seized her heart in a viselike grip and she couldn't breathe. Couldn't think with Halle looking at her with those wide brown eyes and that worried expression on her face.

She wanted her anger back. Needed it to protect her. Anger was easy, anger had become familiar, anger had kept her from feeling any pain since she got out of that wretched house.

"You're okay, it was just a dream. You're safe, baby girl. Do you hear me? They can't hurt you anymore," This was Bey's usual mantra for both girls anytime she'd have to wake up and console them.

Chloe felt the tears burning behind her eyes and the lump forming in her throat. She closed her eyes, imagining that Bey was saying those things to her.

"But it felt so real," Halle croaked.

"What I tell you last time," Bey asked, keeping her voice low as to not wake her sleeping daughter.

"That the feelings attached to the dreams are real," Halle replied.

Chloe's anger was starting to fade. She could see the pain in Halle's eyes and hear the hurt in her voice. She didn't want to acknowledge her sister's anguish. Couldn't even bring herself to acknowledge the role she played in Halle's torment. Made her feel ostracized at times because of her own jealousy. Made her have to decide between being completely alone or seeking solace in the hands of her abusers when Chloe was too depressed, too traumatized to utter a word or show affection to anyone. And of course kept her daily run-ins with Mike to herself thinking she was helping her sister stay a kid for as long as possible, not knowing that they were going through very different yet very much the same experiences. And yeah maybe that was her fault too. Maybe she did ignore the weird way Mike would stare at Halle. Maybe she did turn the other cheek whenever Mike had the girl in his lap for a little too long or said something inappropriate. But what was she supposed to do? She was a kid too? She was scared too! He hurt her too, in some of the most unimaginable ways. She should've taken his threats seriously when he said he'd go after her, but she just couldn't picture it. He loved Halle, cherished her even, and hated Chloe for simply existing and would spit in her direction hoping to get a reaction out of her. But Chloe couldn't let herself think about that, so she held on tightly to the last remaining scraps of her anger.

"Did you say your prayers before bed," Bey asked Halle who shook her head no.

"What about you sweet pea?"

Chloe shook her head and added that to her long list of guilt.

"We gone say them together. Go ahead and get under the covers."

Chloe turned the lamp on and snuffed the main light before laying back on the bed. She was overly exhausted. Halle rested her head on Chloe's shoulder as the teen attempted to switch angles so that everyone could see each other.

"Repeat after me, father I lay down."

"Father I lay down," they repeated.

Bey cleared her throat, "Mike and Tasha for you."

"Mike and Tasha for you," Halle repeated.

The words caught in Chloe's throat. She didn't want their names to fall from her lips. It always left a nasty copper taste like she had a mouth full of pennies.

"Chloe it's important for you to say their names aloud. Do it for yourself," the blonde coaxed.

The teen opened her mouth to say it, but shut it just as fast.

"You can do it," Bey said.

Chloe glanced at her sister. Do it for Halle, that's the least you could do, she told herself.

"Mike and Tasha for you," her voice broke out into a sob.

Beyoncé wiped at her own face to free it of the tears, "I'm having a hard time forgiving them."

She listened as they repeated it without provocation.

"God, I want to forgive but the pain keeps me from going forward," Bey said.

The echo to her words didn't miss a beat.

"But today I choose to give it to you," she nodded her head.

Chloe and Halle seemed to harmonize even with their talking voices as they rehashed the blonde's words.

"The pain," Bey said sharply.

"The pain," they quoted, wiping away their tears.

"The bitterness," Beyoncé said with conviction.

"The bitterness," Chloe cried knowing full well that's what she felt.

Halle hiccuped too badly to speak, so Bey and Chloe waited until she was ready, "the bitterness," she finally choked out.

"Free me of any desire for revenge. I give it all to you," Bey raised her hand to the sky as her words were restated to her.

"Lord, heal every part of me that is being affected by this. I release them to you now," Beyoncé spoke.

The girls echoed her statements.

"In Jesus name, amen," she ended.

"Amen," they said in unison.

Bey smiled at the small victory. She gazed out of the window from her room watching as the sun turned the sky a light shade of pink.

"Chloe put the phone down beside you. I'm gonna pray for you two for a while."

Chloe knew women back in Atlanta who could pray for hours on end, and she's watched Bey do the same at least twice before.

"Okay good night," Chloe said.
"Night mama," Halle called out.

"Good night," Bey smiled.

Both Chloe and Halle closed their eyes as Bey went into prayer again.

"Father, bless them with the wonderful power of forgiveness. Give them the grace to unconditionally forgive those who have done them wrong."

Chloe could feel her eyelids get heavier by the second.

"Give them the strength to let go of all ill-will, the strength to forgive themselves of their own failings and sins, knowing that you have already forgiven them. Free Chloe of all anger and hate. Free Halle from the nightmares. She doesn't need to see it anymore. God let them be free!"

The woman prayed for over an hour until she heard the light snores from Halle and heavy breathing from Chloe.

In time to see the sunrise
And still right then I don't close my eyes

-

THURSDAY

After waking up entirely too early, Lovie decided to make her some coffee before school. She was going to need about a gallon of the stuff to get through the day if her tired eyes and throbbing headache was any indicator. Though she didn't drink last night, she had spent her time pulling up to at least fifty houses after school after borrowing Yara's car on a whim.

She was sitting at the kitchen table sipping her second cup of coffee when she noticed a flash of a white t-shirt and a beard pass by the kitchen and head into the front room. She had her morning motivation podcast playing through the bluetooth speaker in the kitchen as she edited her essay that was due first thing this morning. She looked up to see her father walking towards the speaker. She watched tentatively as he turned the sound down. Feeling like she'd been caught doing something wrong, Lovie quickly averted her eyes and lowered her head. Today was Thursday. Thee Thursday. She didn't worry anymore about getting pummeled to a bloody pulp because her pockets were sitting a little heavier now. She had just a few more people to serve today and she'd be out...for good little did her father know. Maybe now she'd have time to focus on her actual passion; acting.

"Getting your caffeine fix," Anthony gestured to the cup in his daughter's hand with a small smile.

Lovie grimaced in response as if the thought of engaging in small talk with her father was physically painful for her. "Yeah."

Anthony walked closer to the table, pulled a chair out and took a seat. Lovie didn't acknowledge his presence anymore. She continued to read over her essay minding her business.

"You know what today is right," he asked.

"Yup," she popped the 'p' and continued reading.

Anthony sighed and reached his hands in his pockets, catching Lovie's side eye. She went back to the screen scrolling down a bit. Her eyes darted nervously as she saw her father pull out a phone. Still she masked her trepidation by mouthing the words to her essay as she skimmed through them. Was he trying to call his people already?

"How you doing," he asked nonchalantly.

Lovie scoffed at the absurdity of such a simple question for such a complicated situation. How was she doing? Well let's see, she had work on top of work at school, her cheer team fucking sucked and she just might have to bench everyone, her own father was still threatening to have her mauled, she lost out on volunteer hours because of her "job" a job she didn't even get to keep the proceeds from. She was paying for her stay at her father's house and on top of that she had neglected her friends because of something he did.

"Good," she said drily and got up from the table.

She shoved her Math book, and her laptop in her bag and zipped it closed. "what is this," she asked.

"What is what," Anthony frowned.

"This," Lovie pointed to herself and her father, "why are you talking to me all of a sudden?"

"Cause you my seed," Anthony answered slowly. "you and Reiyo both got a thing for asking the obvious."

Lovie felt a stab of hurt at the words "you and Reiyo" because there will never be her and Reiyo again. She fucked that up.

The teen shouldered her bag and frowned at the perfectly shined floors, "I'll have your money by today no later than eight."

Anthony nodded and got up to walk towards his daughter. He reached in the pockets of his jogging pants and pulled out both of Lovie's phones. He reached into the other pocket pulling out the keys to her car placing the items into her awaiting hands.

"Thank you," she muttered.

Anthony pulled Lovie's head close to him and kissed her hair, "I love you."

"I gotta go before I'm late for class," she announced and headed out of the door.

When she got to her car she noticed that the windows had been changed to the bullet proof one's her father had. She shook her head and sat inside for five minutes before she peeled off.

-

A box of tampons. That's how Bey's morning started. Her head was foggy from lack of sleep but she somehow missed her alarm. She was in the office today, so at least she didn't have to rehearse on the first day of her period. Currently she was in her office ensuring she had all of the papers she needed for the day.

"Mommy I can't find Penny," Blue whined from the doorway.

Penny was the stuffed monkey the girl had previously gifted Halle. She had been obsessed with giving it a name since that day. Bey was bent over her desk using her finger to scan through papers quicker due to the throbbing in her head. She looked to her daughter, "did you check beneath your bed Baba?"

"Yes!" Blue stomped her feet and folded her arms.

The blonde's eye twitched because her knee jerk reaction was to go tap Blue's hand a few times for stomping her feet, but the lack of energy was taking a toll on her. She rubbed her forehead and exhaled.

"Did you ask Frances? Maybe she knows," Bey suggested.

Blue ran off and Bey went back to her paperwork. Once all of the files were accounted for, the blonde headed to help her daughter finish getting dressed. Blue was in her playroom tossing toys everywhere making a complete mess as she looked for Penny. Beyoncé checked the time on her phone.

"Blue, we're running late, just choose another toy and let's go," the woman tried.

Thursday was 'show and tell' day in Blue's kindergarten class and she had to have Penny as proof that she had sisters at home and they were real. They weren't make believe. The child stood and headed to another toy chest and began rummaging through it.

"Blue," Beyoncé called.

She ignored her mother taking out more toys.

"Let's go Ivy," Bey called.

Why was it that kids tested people on the days where everything was going downhill already?

"But Penny," Blue tried.

"Choose another toy or don't bring nothing," Bey folded her arms, "you have two minutes," Beyoncé walked off to collect Blue's backpack from her room.

She came back and Blue stood by the playroom door looking like someone had stolen her cotton candy at a carnival.

"I don't wanna go to school," she pouted and folded her arms the way toddlers do.

Bey sighed and took Blue's hand in hers, "and why is that Ivy?"

"I can't find Penny," she whined.

Bey checked the time once more, "You have lots of toys baby. Why is Penny so important today?"

"Halle isn't make believe, she's real," Blue blurted out.

Bey pinched the bridge off her nose. The way her stomach twisted with cramps and her daughter yelling at her and the fact that they were behind schedule had the blonde's temper on one.

"Blue we really have to go," she tried again.

The child laid out in the middle of the hall with her arms splayed out to the side as she stared at the ceiling. Bey would laugh if she had the time.

"Blue I will bring you down to the elevator just like that if you don't put a move on it," Bey warned.

"Hmph," Blue let out as she stared at the ceiling knowing full well her mother wouldn't drag her down the hall.

Bey rolled her eyes and hoisted Blue's backpack over one of her shoulders. She bent down putting one arm under Blue legs and one around her back; bridal style  and began walking towards the elevator. Blue made it a point to stare defiantly at the ceiling with her arms crossed. She purposely kicked one shoe from her foot.

"Blue, you are really pushing it. I'm gonna tell your daddy," the blonde bent to retrieve the shoe.

Beyoncé switched Blue to her hip and the child went completely limp like a wet noodle with her back arched like she was ready to do a death drop. Still the woman refused to feed into her daughter's feeble attempts at a tantrum and stepped onto the elevator. Once they were downstairs, Julius was there waiting with something hidden behind his back as he smiled adoringly.

"I heard somebody was looking for something," he held up the toy monkey and wiggled it around to make a smile appear on the five year olds face.

"Pennyyy," Blue wiggled from her mother's arms.

"Thank you," she squealed and ran off towards the open door, her thoughts and motivations propelled by the sounds of faux explosions and her imaginary cape behind her. She was gonna be a hero!

Bey shook her head, "where'd you find it?"

"I didn't, Frances told me to give it to her," Julius grabbed Blue's bag from his boss's shoulder.

-

Chloe checked her phone as she rushed to pull up her tights, "huuuuuh," she exclaimed after ogling the long rip in the thin fabric.

The two sisters were running late and Lexington handed out two demerits for tardiness. They didn't have time to be sitting after school in detention, and they promised Blue they'd walk her into school. Chloe searched her suitcase for another pair of tights, flinging clothes everywhere. Terrell was already outside and she hadn't even brushed her teeth yet. Halle tossed her sister some white knee high socks, "just wear those," she said as she flipped through her binder frantically ensuring that her essay was there.

"I can't, this skirt is too short," Chloe still searched, growing increasingly frustrated.

Halle grabbed her toothbrush and sprinted out of the door, bumping into Karen on the way to the bathroom.

"Sorry," Halle called over her shoulder.

Karen followed behind Halle and stood in the doorway as she squeezed toothpaste onto her brush.

"Late morning," she asked.

"Mhm," the girl's mouth was covered with white foam as she scrubbed her pearly whites.

"I'm gonna get you two something quick to eat alright?"

Halle gave the woman a thumbs up as she continued to brush. She spit in the sink and took in her disheveled appearance. There were bags and dark circles under her eyes and her skin looked a bit dry. She blew out her breath and pulled her hair into a ponytail. A moment later, Chloe ran into the bathroom just as Halle was leaving out. The youngest Bailey eyed the knee highs on her sister and chuckled. Chloe brushed her teeth and tongue like it was a rat race to the finish and tended to her edges. Once she was done, Halle was at the door handing her her backpack and phone. They both raced down the steps and headed for the door.

"Wait, wait," Karen doubled her steps.

The girls stopped their trek and turned to see Karen holding two of the muffins Bey had sent over and small cartons of almond milk.

"Thank you," they said in unison.

Halle held her muffin in her mouth as she adjusted her book bag and opened the door. The constant honking sound coming from the Terrell express had the older neighbors on their porches clad in their robes complaining about the noise. Gary the security guard walked stoically behind them watching from every angle. Chloe and Halle covered their faces and sped their steps until they were in the car. Terrell checked his mirrors and smoothly pulled into the street.

"Terrell, can you like, speed up, we have something important to do before school," Halle asked in between bites.

The driver pursed his lips, "awe you ain't said nothing but a word," he stepped down hard on the gas.

Halle choked on her muffin a bit and Chloe patted her back. Terrell weaved in and out of traffic like he was on a police chase. Chloe studied her sister wondering if this was doing something to her stomach.

"So what Bey say when she saw you high like that," Terrell asked.

Chloe rolled up the partition, but Terrell rolled it back down.

"You ain't walking funny so I know she ain't put the paws on you," he pressed.

Chloe rolled her eyes, "could you just drive Terrell?"

"I am driving."

"So she was mad, huh," he smirked.

"Nope she was happy," Chloe said sarcastically while turning her muffin around in her hand eyeing it from all angles.

"Ehh wrong answer foe head, yo sis already texted me the tea yesterday she said yo mama was mad as hell and she went off," he sighed contentedly with a smile on his face, "that give me so much hope for the next generation cuz I know she musta drug yo ass through the mud the way you was looking. Kids these days ain't got the sense God give a Billy goat. You posed to least have a two hour window. Errbody an they mama know that," Terrell jerked the car into another lane.

Chloe cut her eye at her sister who mouthed a measly sorry. Honestly Chloe didn't really care that much that Terrell knew. The man had knowledge of most of the Carter family tea because everybody felt so comfortable around him. Ten more minutes of hard stops and raucous road rage, Terrell was at Lexington flashing his credentials and giving the security his party's names.

-

"Up up up! Come on let's get a move on it," Solange clapped her hands loudly at her still sleeping child.

Julez pulled the covers tight around his face, "maaa why you so loud?"

Solange clapped her hands louder, "let's go let's goooo," she said in a sing-song voice.

Julez threw a mini tantrum still laying down and his mother pulled the covers back from his body, "five more minutes," he groaned.

Solange began tidying around her son's messy room, placing the dirty laundry in the basket and shuffling the scattered papers on his desk, "I gave you five minutes, five minutes ago Daniel now you already know how I feel about being late and Matteo's already at the door waiting for you. Either you get up or I'm coming back in here with a bucket of ice water...try me," she exited.

The boy thrashed about in bed muttering things to himself. Finally, he peeled himself from the bed and picked out his clothes for the day. Luckily he didn't have to wear a uniform like most of the kids in the neighborhood. He drug his feet slothfully slow into the bathroom and showered quickly.

Solange was busy packing her son's lunch humming quietly to herself. As she sliced the bananas to add to his fruit medley, her phone chirped with an incoming text message. She jumped at the sudden sound and nearly sliced her finger open with the knife she was using. She shook her head as she chastised herself for being so careless and placed the knife down to grab her cell phone from the countertop.

ANT😘😍♥️: morning baby 😘😘

Anthony had invited her to join him for dinner tonight and Solange had declined. She wasn't sure if he had worked on what he needed to as far as his attitude and didn't want to be around him until he did.

Wife👰🏾‍♀️: hey

ANT😘😍♥️: miss u baby when Imma see you

Solange sighed as Julez waltzed in the kitchen with an exaggerated frown. He went to the refrigerator to     grab a yogurt and licked the top of the plastic.

"Ugh," Julez dramatically scraped his tongue, taking a look at the low fat label.

"You got something against flavor," he asked his mom.

"Naw but yo ass gone have something against it in a minute if you don't make your way towards that door," Solange smiled sarcastically as she replied to her message.

Wife👰🏾‍♀️: you did your soul searching 🧐🧐

ANT😘😍♥️: bae yess

Wife👰🏾‍♀️: Imma have to see tbh

ANT😘😍♥️: see about what

Solange grabbed her purse and Julez' lunch box and headed out of the door.

"Morning Matteo," Solange smiled at the much shorter boy standing on her porch.

"Morning miss Knowles," he smiled showcasing his chubby cheeks.

"I keep telling you to call me Solo. Miss Knowles make me sound like somebody grandma."

"You're too beautiful to be a granny Miss Knowles," Matteo blushed.

Julez smacked his lips and pushed the boy by his shoulders off of the porch. Unlike Julez, Matteo had yet to have his growth spurt and still had his baby weight on him. Solo joked all the time that the two boys looked like the number ten whenever they would walk down the street together.

It was Solange's day to play the suburban carpool mom and these days drove her to her wits end because not only was she responsible for her own child getting to school on time, she was responsible for Matteo, and his mother did not play.

Julez and Matteo talked animatedly about some girl from school who supposedly had a huge crush on the taller boy. The pre teens got into the backseat forgetting Solo was ever there as they talked about  rating girls from one to ten. The woman rolled her eyes at the guy-talk and finally went to respond to her message.

Wife👰🏾‍♀️:  see when imma be free

ANT😘😍♥️: don't play games

Wife👰🏾‍♀️: who playing

ANT😘😍♥️: You

Wife👰🏾‍♀️: I'm serious 🤷🏾‍♀️

ANT😘😍♥️: yeah Aight

Solange scoffed and started her engine.

-

As promised, Chloe and Halle waited in front of the elementary school's drop off line. They hadn't been waiting for long, but Chloe was still iffy about making it all the way across the quad in time for her first period.

"You see her," Chloe asked, stretching her neck to see down the long line of cars.

"Not yet," Halle checked the time, "she's usually here by now I'm finna call her," Halle pulled out her phone quickly dialing the number.

Just as Bey answered the phone, Halle saw Beyoncé's company truck pulling in.

"Hello?"

Chloe rushed to the truck to get the ball rolling on her day. Halle followed close behind.

"Yeah I was just calling to see if you were running late but I see you now," the girl made her way through dozens of laughing and rough housing pint-sized kids until she stood beside the matte black vehicle.

"Morning," Julius waved and opened the door to let Blue out.

"Morning," Chloe and Halle replied with a smile.

Blue hopped from the truck, landing on the ground like Spider-Man with Penny under her arm.

"You brought Penny to school," Halle tugged on the stuffed animal's ear.

The child bounced on her tippy toes nodding excitedly, "it's for show and tell!"

Chloe peeked her head in the truck to speak to Bey, "hey," she waved quickly and attempted to proceed to the school's doors.

"Chloe," Bey called causing the girl to turn around,  "is that how you greet people?"

Chloe's cheeks burned from embarrassment, "sorry we're running late," she shuffled back to the truck allowing the woman to kiss her on each cheek.

Bey wiped her lipstick from the teen's face, "I don't care, you show me some love when you see me," she smiled fixing the girl's collar.

Blue grabbed Chloe's hand, "come onnnn there's Caelynn!"

Chloe checked her watch again and sighed knowing she'd have to run at this point to the other side of the building.

"Morning mommy," Halle hugged the woman tight.

Bey and Halle were snuggled against each other for some time, "you get enough sleep," she whispered, against her hair.

"A decent amount," Halle pulled away.

Blue was getting restless at this point, "mommy Caelynn's going inside!"

Bey chuckled, "alright Blue you didn't even give me my goodbye hug. How am I supposed to leave?"

Blue sighed while dragging her feet towards her mother, she kissed both of her mom's cheeks and then the tip of her nose, "I love you," Blue waved.

"By girls and Blue keep your hands to yourself," the blonde called out before Julius could shut her door.

Chloe and Halle were on each side of Blue as she ran up to a blonde little girl. They could tell that Blue was starting trouble by the way her neck rolled as she spoke. Both kindergarteners turned to the teens briefly and Blue continued to say whatever it was that she said. Finally, Chloe got within earshot of the mini conversation.

"See they are real...duh," Blue exclaimed.

The other young child wore her hair in two braids on each side of her head with navy blue bows at the end to match her uniform.

"Hii," Chloe bent down to Caelynn's height, "what's your name?"

Blue sat into her hip and looked her ex bestie up and down. The child fiddled with the buttons on her blazer, "Caelynn," she answered without looking up.

Halle stood with her arms folded. She liked kids, but not ones who had beef with Blue.

"That's a pretty name," Chloe smiled.

Finally the child looked the fifteen year old in the eye, "are you Blue's sisters?"

Chloe looked over her shoulder at Halle and Blue who wore identical facial expressions urging her to answer, "yeah we are."

"Told you," Blue blew a raspberry in the girl's face.

Chloe eyed the girl at her side, "what did we say about being nice?"

"But she said you weren't real and you are, so ha," She blew another raspberry.

Chloe shook her head and stood taking Blue's hand into hers. She walked her up to the doors with Julius trailing behind and hugged her goodbye. Halle echoed her movements.

"See you later Ivy Blue," Halle teased.

The child rolled her eyes before heading into the line of small students. Julius waved goodbye and headed in the opposite direction.

"Okay if we run I could make it to my locker to exchange my books," Chloe stated.

Halle nodded, "race you," she took off at full speed.

Why did she always do that? Chloe rolled her eyes and began running, quickly passing her sister up.

-

Surprisingly, Lovie showed up to school in better spirits. She seemed her normal self as she talked to Yas, Beans, and Yara about getting her items back.

"I'm just happy you don't need my car no more cause you didn't even fill up my tank," Yas said.

"It wasn't full when I got in it," Lovie retorted.

"But why'd he give it back so fast? Was it even a full week," Yara asked.

Lovie put her finger to her chin, "hmm I didn't question his motives until now."

Chloe and Halle walked to their group speaking to everyone. The oldest Bailey opened her locker to swap books out. Halle fiddled nervously with the strap on her bag before opening up her mouth and forcing out the question that had been laying so heavily on her mind. "So you're our friend again," she looked at Lovie full of hope.

She knew she sounded juvenile in front of the clique, but she never had a friend to lose. Chloe shook her head as she pulled a couple of notebooks from her locker. "Halle."

"What, she wouldn't even speak to us. I need clarification," Halle looked to Lovie again.

"It wasn't like that," Lovie started defensively, "look guys," she sighed, appearing conflicted and Halle's stomach clenched in panic.

"Like I told Yasmin, I'm sorry for going ghost, but I had a lot going on. After today, my schedule will get way lighter than what it used to be."

Chloe turned away from her locker to face her friends and nodded at Lovie with sympathetic eyes because she understood not wanting to talk to people for some time. "No harm done"

Halle nodded her head slightly. There was an awkward silence amongst them as they walked to their classes.

"Who wants to help me run lines later," Yara asked as an icebreaker.

Yasmin played with her nails, Beans and Halle stared straight ahead and Lovie checked her watch, "well, will you look at the time," she said just before slipping around the corner before any of them could say anything, "gotta make a drop," she called over her shoulder.

"Well, at least she's back to her old self," Yara commented as they watched her make her way down the hall.

"Guess we'll catch up with her at lunch," Beans added with a shrug.

"I'll run lines with you," Chloe offered after a while.

Yara lifted Chloe's arm up like she was a reigning boxing champion, "you see this, is what a supportive friend looks like."

Chloe took a bow causing Yasmin to roll her eyes jokingly as they all turned a corner, "I support you in other ways."

"What you support," Beans asked.

"Remember that haircut you insisted on getting at the start of the school year and I went with you even though I voted no on it? Remember that time I sat outside of Sterling's house for you to see if he was lying about being home? Remember that–

"Okay Yas I get it you're supportive," Yara deadpanned.

They all dispersed into their classrooms. Chloe, Yara and Beans slipped into math class just as the first bell sounded. They weren't in their seats for two minutes before the teacher requested that they passed their homework forward. Chloe hustled to finish the calculus worksheet she didn't get the chance to start yesterday.

"Just copy mine," Beans offered.

"Ha!" Yara through her head back, "maybe if she wants her grade to drop fifteen percent. Here Chloe," Yara attempted to slide her paper over.

Chloe sprinted through the equations, "thanks but I don't cheat."

"Well excuse me, miss holy roller," Beans passed his paper to the person in front of him.

"Homework to the front please," the teacher eyed Chloe.

She glanced quickly but still scrambled to finish. There was no way she was receiving a zero on a homework assignment.

"At least use my calculator," Beans offered.

"I am a calculator," Chloe scribbled on her paper completely focused.

The teacher eyed the clock on the wall, "Ms Bailey, your homework please," he called.

"Just a second," Chloe worked on her last problem.

The teacher approached her desk slowly, "Ms–

"Here you go," Chloe held the paper out for the teacher to grab.

He made his way to the front of the class, setting her paper on top of the pile and leaned on his desk, "homework is to be done at home ladies and gentlemen not during school hours."

Chloe leaned on her fist thinking how long the day would be.

-

Beyoncé sat at the head of the long office table with people from Sony, Parkwood, and several sponsors for her tour. They had been there discussing budget plans and promo ideas for almost two hours.

"So, have you had the time to think about who your opening acts will be," a label head asked.

"I have to have my girls on there, Chloe and Halle," Bey nodded.

"You want...them to open...for you," the A&R from Parkwood, Pawel, asked.

"Amongst other artists of course but yes. Is that an issue," the blonde asked.

Pawel scrambled for his notepad and fixed his glasses, "no, that's great actually, they'll have to release their e.p sooner than we thought, but this is amazing for Parkwood."

"I agree," Bey smiled, "I'll let Sony take care of the rest of the openers. Just have them run a few names by me in a few days."

The aged suits at the table all agreed.

"Alright fellas I'm about all talked out," she stood to leave. "Talk to you guys soon."

-

Chloe found herself dozing off in nearly every class. The slumbersome girl entered her Biology lab feeling completely sluggish. This was one of the few classes that she had to pay attention to this week because there was a huge test coming up and her teacher's Russian accent always messed with her southern ears. Yara and Beans followed close behind and took their usual spots in the back of the class. Within fifteen minutes of listening to the monotone voice of her teacher, Chloe's eyes came to a close and she drifted off to her dreamland.

"Chloe," Yara poked her shoulder.

"Chloe," she whispered again without any results.

"Miss Bailey," Mr. Kauffman yelled out.

The girl jolted from her stupor looking around the class frantically.

"You have one more time to fall asleep in my class and that's three demerits under your belt," he stated.

She nodded and leaned her head on her fist, but Yara watched as her eyes started to close again.

"Beans," Yara whispered.

"Wassup?"

"You should go get Chloe some coffee," Yara tapped the girl, waking her up again.

Beans peered at the teacher, "how am I supposed to do that?"

"Figure it out!"

"Shhhh," a boy sitting in front of Yara turned around.

"Turn yo ass around. Don't say shit to her," Beans whispered harshly.

Yara watched as Beans raised his hand and asked to be excused to go to the restroom. After receiving a hall pass, he leisurely made his way to the cafeteria and purchased a coffee and a bag of hot chips. Traipsing through the hall, Beans paused when he overheard the familiar voice of Alana laughing cynically amongst her friends. As he got closer, he saw that they were all hovering over a phone looking intently.

"Alana that's sick. I don't know if you should go through with it," one girl said.

Alana smiled while still ogling the phone, "I kinda have to."

Having a bad feeling in his gut, Beans decided to mess with her, "You have to do what?" He attempted to look over her shoulder.

The sardonic girl immediately put her phone away, "how about you mind your own damn business."

"Rawwr, somebody's feisty," he made his left hand into a "claw" and pretended to scratch at her.

Alana shook her head and stalked off with two blonde bimbos strutting behind her. Pretty soon Beans was back in his seat next to Yara and Chloe thanked him for the coffee.

"I ran into Alana in the hall. I think she's up to something," he pulled his bag of chips open, fumbling with the plastic obnoxiously.

Several students turned around along with the teacher.

"Class you know the rules, you can have a drink all you want, but there's no eating in class," Mr Kauffman called from his desk.

Beans kept his eye on the teacher as he carefully pulled one flaming hot Cheeto from the bag and lifted it to his mouth. Chloe allowed the warm coffee to consume her body. She wasn't really a coffee drinker, but she indulged seldomly.

"I'm not gonna focus my attention on Alana," she said after a while.

"That's the way of thinking," Yara chimed in.

-

Halle, Yas, and Lovie were involved in their own little side conversation as the teacher started a new lesson in calculus. By now, he was sick of addressing the group personally about their constant chattering. With ill intent, the man wrote out a long winded equation, capped his marker, and turned to face the loudest of them all.

"Halle, would you mind coming up and solving this equation?"

The girl's cheeks burned off embarrassment. Chloe was the math wiz not her. She was better with English. Halle looked between her friends and gulped before standing. As she made her way to the front of the class, she began solving the problem in her head so she wouldn't take that long once she had the marker in her hand. She did little to hide the frown on her face as her teacher smiled and handed her the writing utensil.

"Need a lift," a sizeable jock called out when Halle reached her arm up high to begin writing.

"Isn't that what Rachel said that night of the spring formal," Yas quipped.

"Yeah we all know you had a little trouble rising to the occasion," Lovie raised her pinky finger slowly to show what she meant.

The football star sunk low in his seat muttering to himself.

"One more outburst and I'm sending everyone to the dean's office," the teacher interjected. "Now, miss Bailey if you will."

Halle took a deep breath and cruised through the equation. Her wrist continued apace across the board until she was finished.

"Can I sit down now," she asked.

The teacher nodded his head, flabbergasted that she was able to fathom the numbers and letters written on the board let alone solve it. He hadn't even started the lesson plan for it. Halle held her head high this time as she reclaimed her seat.

"Remind me to study with you for the next test," Yas whispered.

-

The sister duo breezed through the rest of the school day and were now waiting to be picked up. Unlike yesterday, Terrell was on time. They nodded their hellos to Gary and slipped into the truck where Julez and Blue awaited.

"What are you doing here," Halle asked.

"We going to my house," Julez shrugged, pulling out his Nintendo, "I got past level nine last night!"

"You lying! Let me see," the girl beamed.

Julez proudly loaded his game history and flaunted his new victory, "now pay up."

The thirteen year old huffed, reached into her wallet and slapped forty dollars into Julez' hand.

"That's what you get for betting against a pro."

Ten minutes on the road, Terrell was ready to pull his hair out with how rowdy the kids had become. Even Gary wanted to put in some headphones as Blue, Halle, and Julez yelled at the top of their lungs, got out of their seatbelts, and passed licks ever so often. Chloe sat there with her head against the window bothered by the madness, but did nothing to try and stop it. Blue took a crayon from her book bag and threw it at Julez after he refused to let her play with his game. Julez picked it up and attempted to throw it back but instead it hit Terrell in the back of the head.

"Aight nah I'm finna pull this truck to the side of the road and have y'all mamas come and pick y'all up from there. Y'all need to sat down somewhere," Terrell said.

"I don't know who he think he talking to," Julez muttered.

Halle and Blue rolled their eyes but sat back in their seats.

"Oh miss Halle miss Blue I can roll'em too, trust," Terrell made a show of rolling his eyes so they would see him through the rear view.

Chloe sighed. Sometimes she hated being the oldest. She tuned everyone out until they were getting out in front of Solange's home.

"You're mean," Blue stuck her tongue out at the driver.

"Ya mama," Terrell yelled back.

"Her mama what," Bey asked, coming out of the door.

With that, the driver peeled off with a loud screech of his tires.

-

"Don't come in here being all loud. It was just peaceful two minutes ago," Tina scolded the three hooligan children racing through her daughter's house.

Solange invited everyone to her home to have some time with Angie before her flight left tomorrow morning. The adults had just finished grilling Solange about meeting her boyfriend which led to a bunch of laughable accusations about the identity of the mystery man. Nevertheless, Solange had always been headstrong, so the enigma still hadn't been solved. Chloe removed her blazer and sat next to Kelly while the younger three were carted off to the kitchen by Beyoncé to get an afternoon snack started.

"How you feeling," Kelly asked.

Chloe played with Titan's hands as the angel-faced youngster sat in his mother's lap, "tired," she answered truthfully.

Tina crossed one leg over the other, "probably from all that weed you been smoking. I hear that make you real tired."

"Ma," Kelly said.

Chloe groaned internally, realizing she'd never hear the end of this if Tina knew.

"What? She might be off the hook with y'all but not me. We already got one person in the family who think she Snoop Dog and Bob Marley in one. We don't need two...well in this case three if you throw Halle lil self in there."

"Thank you mama," Solange smiled without a trace of irony. She picked up her phone from the coffee table and sat back thumbing through photos she took while under the influence as Tina glared at her.

A message popped up on her screen and she sighed.

Chloe's plug🍃🪴: Im not gonna be on that side of town is it okay if I send my friend to serve you? She got the same stuff.

Unknown: I guess🙄

Chloe's plug🍃🪴: you still want a zip right?

Unknown: yeah

Chloe's plug🍃🪴: alright I'll let her know

Solange usually didn't allow random people to serve her weed but she met BJ's parents and had his address if anything went awry with this friend of his. Plus he said the dealer was a she and women did everything better so she wasn't all that worried. Chloe continued to play with Titan as Angela and Kelly chopped it up about who knows what when someone began knocking on Solange's door. She knew it couldn't be the weed lady because that was just too fast.

Nothing good ever seemed to come from opening her door to unexpected visitors and yet, Solange found herself walking listlessly to answer the knocking. Who the hell knocked instead of ringing the bell anyway? When she pulled open the front door, she was met with an elated looking Anthony with a bouquet of roses in his hand. Solange ran her hand through her curly hair and tried to wipe the initial shock from her face. She hoped her family didn't notice the hitch in her breath when she first opened the door.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered, crossing her arms across her chest defensively.

Anthony rocked back on his heels and shoved his hand into his pockets. His eyes danced between Solange and the ground.

"I need to talk to you. Can I come in?" he asked.

"Hell naw you can't come in my family here," she said before deciding to step outside, forcing Anthony to take several steps back. She pulled the door closed behind her and looked up at him defiantly. "We can talk another time Ant."

Solange peered to her right and saw some eyes peeking through her blinds and huffed knowing that it was Angela being nosy.

"Come on baby, I brought you flowers," he smiled holding them out for her.

She swatted the flowers away, "why do you always do this Ant? Everything has to be on your time. I told you I'll see when I was free and you pop up at my house?" She declared with a hint of challenge to her voice.

It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to Anthony–well maybe a little, but more than that she felt the need to assert herself. To get her way no matter how trivial the matter was since Anthony was such an alpha male who tended to want control over everything. So if he wanted to talk right now, well then she sure as hell wasn't going to allow that.

"So you ain't wanna see me?" He started. "You know you missed my face," he forced out a small laugh and smiled in Solange's direction, desperately trying to ease the tension.

But she wasn't feeling charitable so she made no attempt to match Anthony's mood. "I've seen better," she said mildly.

Undeterred by Solo's coldness, Anthony soldiered on.

"I just felt like you were avoiding me."

"I was. It's called space."

Anthony nodded and muttered a muted "oh" in response and Solange continued.

"The last time I was with you, you acted like my presence disturbed your entire way of being. You kept bringing up another person you for some reason imagined I was with and what was I supposed to do with that, Ant? Just take it like I've been doing?"

INSIDE THE HOUSE

"Look look look," Angela waved Kelly and Beyoncé over to the window.

All three women watched as Solange passed words with a man on the porch. Bey noted the line in the middle of Solo's forehead and knew that her sister was upset. Kelly sat there smiling like she was viewing a mirthful couple in their natural habitat.

"Watchu think they talking about," Angie whispered.

"I don't know, Thu Thu looks mad though," Bey said.

"Y'all think she can see us," Kelly asked.

She didn't have to wait for her answer too long because Solange's head whipped around in their direction giving them the evil eye. Angela laughed loudly, "she crazy! I keep telling y'all to get her evaluated."

Halle came up to the window trying to push her way past the women to see what they were looking at.

"Go sit down lil bit," Bey shooed her away much to her dismay

Tina eventually joined them after her curiosity got the best of her, "who was at the door," she asked.

Kelly turned around with a smile, "I think it's Solo lil man friend."

The older woman smacked her lips and went to the door pulling it open, startling the twosome, "well you here, might as well introduce yourself."

Solange's face dropped, "mama he was just leaving."

"Nonsense he just got here. Come on in," Tina stepped aside to let him pass.

Solange clenched her jaw as Anthony pushed past her into the foyer, his eyes raked over everyone staring at him in the process. After a few moments alone on the porch, Solange rolled her eyes at the thought of introducing Anthony to her family before she gave in and stepped into her house with a heavy sigh. She shut the door and turned to follow them into the living room. Her mother didn't do the comfortable silence thing, or in this case, the uncomfortable silence thing, so Solange was not all that surprised that it took less than thirty seconds for Tina to open her mouth and share what was on her mind.

"Solange hadn't told us much about you umm..." Tina waited for him to say his name.

"Anthony," he smiled wide and held his hand out for the woman to shake.

Tina gave the man a halfhearted shake, "well Solange ain't you gone introduce him?"

When it became clear that Tina's question wasn't rhetorical and that she actually expected an answer, Solange shifted and ran a hand through her hair, gazing at her puzzled son and then her sisters who wore blank expressions. There was a heavy pause before Solo scratched her forehead intently and exhaled, blowing the air out of her cheeks in one loud huff.

"Anthony, this is my mama Tina, my cousin Angie, my sister Kelly and her son." She clasped her hands and continued. "My other sister Beyoncé, these are her three right here. And this is my son, Julez. Everybody, this is Anthony my friend," she said; the last word tasting bitter in her mouth.

Anthony's heart dropped at the rejection but he still managed to force a tight-lipped smile. "How y'all doing," he waved.

"Hey," Kelly and Angela said.

Chloe smiled nicely from her spot on the couch, Julez barely uttered a 'sup', Blue didn't pay him any mind when he entered, but there was Halle standing in front of the man before engulfing him into a tight hug.

"Hi, I'm Halle," she smiled up at him.

Bey was abashed watching as Halle wrapped her arms around the stranger as if he was a long lost friend. "Baby give'em some space," she walked up and grabbed Halle's arm, escorting her to the couch.

"I'll put these in some water for you," Tina offered.

Anthony nodded and watched the woman disappear into the kitchen before turning back to the family.

Angie stepped forward first, "should there be a boy in front of that friend?"

"Most definitely." Anthony chuckled and plastered his charming smile on his face. Beyoncé and Kelly exchanged looks while Solange rolled her eyes, still unimpressed with her guest's unannounced visit.

"Well sit down, sit down," Angie insisted.

Anthony shrugged and made himself comfortable on the sofa. It wasn't like this was his first time over or his second or third. Beyoncé stood the entire time sizing the man up. As the seconds ticked by, Kelly grew more and more unnerved with the tense and awkward situation. No longer able to withstand the unique blend of inquisitiveness and indifference, she decided to bite the bullet and break the ice herself.

"So, Anthony, what brings you by," Kelly asked.

"Just wanted to surprise my girl," Anthony nodded, causing Julez to look at him in disgust before turning back to his game.

Solange took a seat in a separate chair and waited for her family to grill him like they did everybody else.

"So tell me, how'd you two meet," Angie asked.

"We had a mutual friend that introduced us," he talked without meeting anyone's eyes. "We talked for a while after that and she told me she ain't like me at first but I eventually wore her down."

"Okay relax," Solo said.

Halle scooted closer to Anthony and grabbed his wrist turning it around, "what kind of watch is this? I think Shawn has one of these. Right mama?"

"I'm not sure," the blonde said from across the room.

Anthony cringed at the mention of Shawn's name, but then he imagined the initial shock that would be on the man's face if Shawn found out he was in the house with his family and that thought alone pleased him. He made himself even more comfortable. Tina was back from the kitchen in no time and looked on as Angie went in with the questions.

"So how long have you two been together?"

"Angie!" Solange scolded.

She hated discussing relationship matters while kids were around.

"What? I'm just asking a question."

Anthony's jaw flexed which didn't go unnoticed by the social worker.

"You good. For about six months now I guess," he answered.

Titan started to fuss, and Kelly stood to rock side to side with him in her arms, "what do you do for a living?"

"I own a few night clubs around here," Anthony shifted in his seat and wiped at his face.

"Mm which ones," the tall woman pried.

"All of the 'Mag Lits' are owned by me."

Angie nodded, "I love their wings."

Beyoncé and Tina watched Halle closely as she continued to mess with the man's watch, but the blonde didn't miss when Chloe whispered something into Julez' ear causing him to look Anthony's way and laugh.

"You got kids," Kelly asked after a beat, seemingly trying to change the subject and ease the tension in the room.

A conflicted look crossed Anthony's face. "Yes I have three."

"Three huh," Angela noted plainly, tapped her chin, and eyed Solange.

"Yup, a set of twins and a little boy."

"They all got the same mama?" Angie asked bluntly.

"Yes, I'm divorced," he grounded out, his jaw tightening at the mention of his ex-wife.

Solange tapped her foot nervously. Anthony almost never talked about his kids. She almost forgot he had any up until this moment. Halle shifted a little closer and placed a hand on Anthony's chain. "I have a friend that's a twin!"

Beyoncé's heart dropped a tiny bit at the small sign of the man's discomfort. This is what she meant when she said Halle didn't have any clue what personal space was sometimes. It took everything in Anthony not to burst the girl's bubble and say that they were probably talking about the same person.

"Lil bit, go upstairs and get my charger from the first guest room it's on the bed," Bey said.

Halle nodded and dashed passed everyone.

"So what are your intentions with my daughter?" Tina asked, turning and looking Anthony in the eye to emphasize her seriousness.

"Maa!" Solange expelled a breath.

Chloe pulled out her phone a long time back and pretended she couldn't hear the conversation in front of her while everyone else waited on his answer. Even Blue and Julez peered from their devices. Anthony searched his brain for an appropriate response; he wasn't used to people being all up in his relationship business like this. Even his former in laws didn't badger him to this extent. Was this a fucking interrogation, he thought. He glanced at Solo before speaking.

"Well first I intend to love on her for as long as she'll have me. My next intention is to make her as happy as I possibly could."

Julez shook his head "corny," he muttered to himself. Solange felt a small amount of relief at hearing Anthony say those words but that relief was short lived.

"So if you love her why is this our first time meeting you?" Tina mused out loud as she thought about the secrecy between the two. Something wasn't sitting right.

"I couldn't find it," Halle announced as she waltzed into the living room empty handed; seemingly oblivious to the tense conversation she was breaking up.

"Okay, thank you baby," Bey said sincerely, thankful for the interruption.

She kind of felt sorry for Solo because this was no way how the family should've met Anthony, especially Julez. Solange appeared completely mortified by now. Halle went to reclaim her seat but Blue had moved from the floor to the couch and stretched her legs so that Chloe had to scoot over and there was no more room. She stepped up to Anthony's legs like she was about to sit and the man moved his legs out of the way while mugging the girl in front of him.

"Halle!" Tina and Beyoncé yelled at the same time.

The thirteen year old flinched and turned around with a look of arrant confusion. "Ma'am?" She looked to Tina who patted the space beside her, "come sit right here."

Halle obliged making herself comfortable by leaning her full weight on the woman's side while Tina gave Beyoncé a dubious look. Chloe and Bey had similar expressions of unease and embarrassment written clear across their faces.

"Back to the question on the table," Angela continued. "Why we just now meeting you? What was with all the secrecy?"

Anthony leaned forward slightly so that his elbows were resting on his knees as his hands were clasped together, "I actually wanted to meet y'all. It was Solange's idea to keep everything on the low."

Julez stared pointedly at his mother. He knew that she was seeing someone she'd told him that much but nothing else after that and he always wondered why.

"Why was it a secret, Thu," Kelly bounced Titan on her leg to keep him quiet.

Solange slumped back against the couch cushion, the weight of the moment overwhelming her, making her tired. "It wasn't a secret necessarily. It was still early, and I didn't wanna jinx nothing."

"So who was the first to say the three big words," Angela asked.

Solange looked at Angela like she was crazy and Angela sent an apologetic smile her way.

Tina sighed, "Chloe, take the kids upstairs please."

Chloe's eyes snapped in Tina's direction at the mention of her name, her attention clearly elsewhere. The girl nodded and stood going to Kelly to retrieve Titan. Halle went and grabbed Blue's hand and Julez made sure to give the man the nastiest look he could muster up before exiting the room. All Solange could think about was cursing Anthony out when she got the chance. His phone chimed loudly and he ignored it and instead sent the person a message.

"I'm sorry to just come and go, but I gotta go deal with a work issue," Anthony stood.

Solange forced out a smile despite the sinking feeling in her stomach."Yeah. I bet."

The man could tell she was beyond pissed by one glance in her direction. Thankfully, she respected her mother too much to pop off in her presence.

"Well it was nice to finally meet you Anthony," Tina said just to show some hospitality but in reality she wasn't too pleased that this was Solange's boyfriend.

Kelly and Angie gave him similar farewells, but Beyoncé refused to pass words with him. Every red flag had been going off for her. As soon as the man entered the house, the energy completely shifted. He wouldn't meet anyone's eyes when he talked, and Solange wasn't her usual talkative self when he was there.

Solo walked with him to the door and Anthony leaned in to say goodbye with a quick kiss before he turned to disappear down the walkway. Anthony unlocked his phone. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going due to the barrage of messages coming through his line. Before he knew it, he had barged into a smaller person; shoulder checking them hard. Out of instinct, he caught the person before they could hit the ground.

"Watch where the he–

The person couldn't finish their sentence, too shocked after realizing who she was talking to.

"What are you doing here," Anthony asked, completely thrown off.

Lovie motioned towards the almost empty book bag on her shoulder, "making your money. What are you doing here?"

Anthony looked back at Solange's house, "don't worry about it," he scurried off to his car.

IN THE HOUSE

Angie had been rushing Kelly to come with her to a nail appointment, claiming she didn't want to go by herself because it was her first time with the nail tech.

Kelly rolled her eyes, "what about Titan? He can't be in there with all those fumes."

"I'll drop him off to your house later on," Tina offered.

"Girl, come onnn before I be late!" Angela was busy looking out of the window at something.

Solange's head jerked up at the sound of her doorbell ringing. She groaned and shuffled through the living room.

"I swear to God, Ant if this is you. Imma kill you," she muttered halfheartedly to herself as she neared the front door.

But it's not Anthony who's standing on the other side of the door. Lovie couldn't get any words out. Solange?! She was at thee Solange's house?! This was her ultimate fangirl moment! The woman's albums had gotten her through so much over the years and she was just astonished to be in her presence.

"You the person BJ sent to serve me," Solange asked, noticing how young the girl was.

Unable to find and voice the words, Lovie nodded with wide eyes. Suddenly Solange had to step to the side because Angie pushed passed her and hollered a sorry over her shoulders followed closely by Kelly who mouthed a playful 'help me'.

"Well," Solange bugged her eyes.

Lovie snapped out of it and unzipped her bag, pulling out a zip of weed. She looked over her shoulder. Was that Kelly Rowland who just passed her? Solo took the package in her hand weighing it with her expert hands to make sure she wasn't being shorted.

"Feels okay," she said and sniffed it to make sure it was the same stuff from yesterday.

Once she was satisfied, she pulled out two hundred dollars attempting to hand it to the girl who still hadn't spoken a word. She was too busy trying to put two and two together. What was her father doing at Solange's house? Was he sending some type of threat? The woman looked okay from what she could tell. Then it occurred to her that she was in a sense standing on her friend's aunty porch and that frightened her. What were the odds that they were inside while her father was there? The man had to want an actual war where nothing good could come from it. There was no doubt in her mind that if Jay found out her father had just been here there wouldn't be a bloodbath, and not just for her father but for everyone involved.

"Helllooo," Solange scrunched her face up as she dangled the money in front of Lovie.

"Sorry, huge fan," the girl took the cash and turned on her heel to leave.

Solange closed the door behind her with a puzzled face.

"Who was that at the door," Tina asked.

Solange put the weed into her pocket, "girl scouts mama."

Tina couldn't stand when her children lied to her, but decided to drop it because after all she was grown. She looked at her two girls more so Beyoncé.

"Bey, baby, I need to talk to you," the woman started.

Beyoncé's palms immediately started to sweat, "about what?"

Solange sat with her feet underneath her and listened in.

"About Halle," she sighed. "I think you really need to talk to her about her behavior."

Bey and Solo exchanged looks. The blonde moved her hair to one side, "her behavior?"

Tina didn't want to come off as harsh, but she was actually worried about the child. "She's a little too comfortable when it comes to people she don't know. That whole thing with Anthony?"

Solange dared a look at her sister because she knew it was true. Beyoncé looked a bit offended at first but her face relaxed into a more sullen one, "that's just how she is."

Tina sat up in her seat, "but you gotta ask if it's appropriate. I'm not finna be easy about this subject. She's not five or six years old Beyoncé, that girl is thirteen. Was you jumping in people's laps and all up in a grown man's face?"

"That was just this time mama," the blonde retorted.

Tina scoffed and Solange turned to her sister, "But Bey this not her first time doing that. We've seen her before."

Bey arched a brow, "and nobody thought to tell me?"

"Well, you the mama, ain't you supposed to know these things," Tina asked, her country accent showing its face.

"I'm not around her twenty four seven mama," Bey retorted with a slap of her thigh.

For a moment, it seemed Tina was gearing for a comeback but exhaled, "listen, Bey baby, all I'm saying is it's your responsibility to have those conversations with her. Sooner rather than later because that child, bless her sweet heart, but that child is years behind in certain areas and you have to be the one to catch her up before the world do."

Beyoncé's eyes widened, her mouth moved uselessly as she fished for the right words to say before settling for a simple, "okay."

Tina sat back in her seat and Beyoncé did the same, "uhh," Tina said.

"What," Bey asked.

"Go talk to her?" Tina said.

Bey sat up. "Now?"

"Ain't No time like the present."

The blonde stood up and slowly walked out of the room, leaving Tina and Solange alone.

"And you," Tina said, shaking her head.

Solange flopped on the couch so she was laying on her back, "maaaaa."

-

Julez stood in a fighting stance demonstrating him tussling with Anthony while Chloe and Halle looked on.

"Man I'mma be like, mink mink mink. Then hit'em with that full Nelson they never see that one coming. And when that right hook come aro–

"Boy you would already be on the ground," Halle cut in.

"Put fifty on it right now," Julez held his hand out.

Halle was just about to slap five until Chloe interjected. "Okay guys, no ones fighting anyone. Although Halle, that would've been a good way to make your money back plus a ten dollar bonus," the sisters bumped fists.

Blue and Titan were playing peekaboo on the floor when Beyoncé walked in. "Halle can I talk to you for a second?"

The girl eyed her sister.

"Dang you stay in trouble," Julez teased.

"Be quiet Julez," Bey scolded as Halle walked her way.

The blonde took her hand and led the girl into Solange's room. Silence was the mode of communication, it wasn't awkward but the air was tense. Halle's been in Solange's room at least twice and loved the way she was a minimalist. She swallowed the silence and chewed on the inside of her cheek as Bey sat on the bed and patted the space beside her. The woman didn't know how to navigate this conversation at all. Halle smiled nervously and sat down next to her.

"Am I in trouble," she asked softly.

"No baby, I just wanna talk to you," Bey took Halle's hand in hers to reassure her.

Halle held her head down and waited for the next thing to come out of her mother's mouth. Bey inhaled before speaking. "Has anyone ever talked to you about... personal space and the importance of it?"

Halle nodded, confused, "Yeah Chloe says I need to work on it."

Beyoncé smiled reassuringly and continued, "well she's right. Especially with people you don't know. You can't be that close to random people, Halle. For some, it could be very uncomfortable. Like today with Anthony it was kind of inappropriate."

"Inappropriate? What did I do," Halle asked, suddenly alarmed.

Beyoncé cocked her head, "Halle, you're thirteen, you shouldn't be sitting in any man's lap especially if you don't know them."

"I sit on your lap all the time," Halle protested.

"I look like a man to you? Plus you're my baby it's different," she pushed Halle's locs behind her ear.

"But–

Bey held her pointer finger up, "no buts lil bit. Do you know one of the first signs I got that something wasn't right back in Atlanta?"

Halle shifted her weight on the bed and shook her head, "no."

Bey rubbed her back in small circles, "Mike put you in his lap."

Halle's head jerked up and Bey knew she would become defensive, "but Shawn puts Blue in his lap all the time."

Bey sighed and looked to the ceiling wondering what Halle wasn't getting, "Blue is five and still there's a certain way to do things. No grown man is supposed to have a thirteen year old in his lap smack dab in the middle where his private is. That's not normal."

Halle's cheeks burned with embarrassment. The blonde noticed her hand start to shake.

"I don't mean to be candid with you but they can feel something right there," Bey's face was serious.

"That's disgusting! Mama why would you say that," Halle exclaimed completely cringed.

Bey held her hands up in mock surrender, "I'm just saying there's a correct way to do things. What he should've done was at least put you on one leg if you just had to be in his lap for some reason." Bey took both of Halle's hands in hers. "Someone could take advantage of your willingness to be friendly, Halle, and it's very important that you understand that. Especially since you're not at home right now. Do you understand?"

Halle eyed her hands, "I guess."

"What I say," Beyoncé asked, not believing her.

"You said, to watch myself around strangers–don't get too close," Halle reiterated.

"What's too close? Is this too close," Bey leaned forward and placed her forehead to Halle's, making her laugh.

"Yes," she said.

"How about this," the woman pulled back and held her arm out in front of her.

"No, it's okay."

The blonde was about to end the conversation when a thought crossed her mind. "Anybody ever talk to you about girl stuff before?... like ever," Bey asked, concerned.

Halle looked up, "What do you mean?"

"You know, birds and bees, your cycle, no touch areas, things like that," Bey held eye contact.

"No," Halle said somberly.

Beyoncé shook her head in disbelief. Her baby was really out here being left to the wolves.

"I don't get a period, isn't that weird," Halle blurted out, throwing Bey for a loop.

The woman felt extremely ill equipped to have this conversation.

"Never?" The blonde asked.

Halle shook her head and Bey pursed her lips together before she let out a defeated sigh. She thought about how old she was when she got her first cycle. Probably eleven and a half years old, but still she knew all about it from her mother so it wasn't a surprise when it came.

"Umm maybe just give it some more time lil bit everybody don't mature at the same rate." Was all Bey thought to say.

Halle nodded her understanding. Bey was probably right because she was on the smaller side. That could be it.

"Now, about your no touch areas," Bey started, feeling like she was talking to her five year old instead of her teenager.

Halle flopped back on the bed and covered her face with her arms, "I already know about those."

"You said nobody ever talked to you about it," Bey said.

"Yeah, but I still know."

"Well could you tell me if something like that happens; if someone violates your personal space or if someone is making you feel any type of discomfort when it comes to your no touch areas? Can you tell me?"

Halle didn't answer her.

"Halle," Bey called and pulled the girl's arms away from her face. "Will you tell me please?"

The girl nodded.

"Promise," Bey stuck her pinky out.

Halle smiled and rolled her eyes playfully, "promise," she said as they locked pinkies.

-

Tailing behind Anthony was both easier and harder than Angie would've thought. Easy because she followed from two cars away and he still hadn't noticed. However, it was harder when every minute she drove Kelly's car the woman yelled out another 'what if' scenario and went on and on about how dangerous it was.

What would Solange say? What if we get caught and he has a gun or something? Isn't this illegal?

Angie had absolutely no idea what the answers to Kelly's questions were. She also wasn't privy to what she'd be walking into, but she kept telling herself it was worth the risk. It was clear that the entire family caught a bad vibe from Anthony, but no one had the heart to say anything in front of Solange. However, with Angie being Angie, she had to say something. She just needed solid proof.

Anthony had stopped briefly at a local gas station and filled his tank up before heading to a condo where Kelly and Angie waited a full thirty minutes until he came out. The social worker followed the man up until he pulled into a warehouse parking lot. Angie chose a spot close to the front so that she could watch people come and go.

"Angie, let's just go back," Kelly wrung her hands nervously.

Angie smacked her lips and made sure her window was slightly ajar hoping to catch snippets of any cell phone or group conversations she could use. Luckily, she was shortly rewarded with two.

"—Trill, Dre, and Caine went ghost since Tuesday. Nobody heard from'em," from a younger man in a tight white shirt and sagging denim jeans.

"—I don't know. Look, I ain't got time to talk about this. We got some niggas coming from Downey to help out tonight," from a haggard looking man who slammed his door as he got into his car.

Kelly's dark brown eyes flashed up, focusing on a large, unmarked van entering the lot. She held her breath, following it as it pulled in about four spots over. She glanced in her cousin's direction.

"Are you recording," Kelly whispered.

"Hell yeah, I'm finna treat this like a episode of cheaters cause what the hell is going on? He probably a serial killer," Angie zoomed in further on the van's plates.

A thousand more anxious thoughts rushed through Kelendria's mind but her anxiety quickly dissipated at her last thought.

"He's a businessman Angie, maybe this is where he keeps the stuff for his night club."

"What like drugs," Angie asked.

Kelly shrugged.

"Shit," Angie and Kelly quickly leaned their seats back, ducking low as two straggly looking men passed by leisurely. Once the two women were sure the men were out of sight, they sat back up.

"You so scary. It don't make no sense," Angela teased.

"You ducked down too," Kelly retorted.

"Damn right, I'm too fly to die," Angela joked.

Kelly saw something through her periphery, "look," she pointed, "here he come now."

The women watched as Anthony dapped several men up. Again Angela pulled her phone out to record. She caught the tail end of Anthony seemingly barking orders into his phone just before slipping into his car. Angela waited ten seconds after Anthony reversed out of the lot to start her engine and head in his direction.

"Remind me why we doing this again," Kelly said after fifteen minutes of pursuing the man's car.

"Because Solange is the youngest therefore it's our job to make sure she straight."

"Solange is a grown woman," Kelly leaned her head against the window.

"Where?" Angela bit back.

"I'm telling her you said that too."

Angela made a smooth right turn, "while you at it, tell Solange her man must be scamming the guest at his clubs because look at this house."

The two women were in front of an enormous home with about seven luxury cars parked in the garage and two in the driveway. Angela began recording, happy she caught Anthony as he proceeded to punch the password into the security system and headed in. A few moments later, another car pulled into the driveway. Kelly and Angela looked on as a teenage girl hopped out of the driver's seat, slamming the door with a little too much force. Angela made sure to get her on video.

"You think that's one of his kids," Angela asked.

Kelly didn't take her eyes off of the girl as she made quick work of taking the stairs. "Didn't we just see her at Solo house?"

Angie squinted, "uh I'm not sure."

Kelly pointed and nodded, "Yeah that's definitely the same kid that was on Solange's porch when we left. You was too busy trying to get to the car, but I got a pretty good look at her and that's the girl."

"We in the twilight zone or something," Angela pressed stop on her recording and pulled off in the opposite direction.

-

Sometimes Lovie's hands shook without her even knowing. She'd be taking notes in class and suddenly she wouldn't be able to read anything she had just written and she'd realize the death grip on her pen and that her hands were shaking. Sometimes she had to retype a text four or five times because her fingers could not be forced to find the right keys. She wondered if her hands would ever stop shaking, if they would ever stop feeling like the hot and slick feeling of blood was still on them.

When Reiyo left —when Lovie made Reiyo leave, Lovie was left with a whole fire-razed city inside of her—a mess of rooms and doors stretching on into nothingness that she knew she could get lost in for the rest of her life. Pain is blinding. Beyond the slamming of those doors inside her head and the shaking in her hands nobody had seen Lovie's hurt, hadn't realized the extent, the magnitude, the fear that came along with it. But she was used to fear. Fear of failure, fear of disappointing her father, fear of herself. She could write a roadmap for fear, give tours, point out all the best landmarks.

Surprisingly, Reiyo's absence from Lovie's life caused her almost no discomfort. The only change was that she hadn't been sleeping well for the first few months. Exhaustion kept shuffling things around in her life, taking away some things and replacing them with others. It was like waking up in a house that someone had moved around during the night- like a lock turning the wrong way, or a light switch not quite where she remembered it. The constant flux left her disoriented in her own skin. There went her ability to focus in class, but here was swaying and seeing lights whenever she stood up too fast; there went her ability to balance on top of a pyramid, but here was almost fifteen minutes added to her study time. Every day was a string of bitter surprises in what task she had lost the ability to complete and what bizarre trade-off she was given in return. But she couldn't think about any of that at the moment because she was on a mission.

Lovie stomped through the house and stormed through her father's office door. She ripped open her duffle bag and dumped its contents onto her father's desk. As the cash spilled out in waves, the girl never broke eye contact with Anthony who appeared thrown off.

"All of it, plus a ten percent interest just in case you try and pull it," she sneered.

Part of her wanted to stuff the money back into the bag just so she could pour it out again. Instead she slapped her palm against the wooden desk, the stinging shock of the pain shot up her arm, lodging someplace in her head, causing something dark inside her to twitch. Lovie tried to steady herself, stop the dangerous sway in her body and the pounding of her heart, but the harder she tried the more something inside of her burned. The teen was vaguely conscious that she was unraveling, that the exhaustion and the pain she had been trying to keep in too small a space had conspired to let the rage she was attempting to tame all her life off the chain. She could almost hear the rattle in her head as that chain hit the floor and somebody else started to take over.

"Now, why were you at Solange's house earlier?"

Anthony chuckled and sat up in his seat, "is this a child of mine questioning my whereabouts?"

Lovie chuckled as well, "you're a coward!"

"What the fuck you say to me," he stood.

The rage flexed inside of her and she yelled, slamming her fists into her palm, "you heard what the fuck I said! You sit here and act all tough like you the man to beat but you are a fucking coward! You bring all these guys into your little game and swear you're teaching them to have heart. To be these tough roughneck supposedly militant soldiers for you but you can't teach something you don't have! I have more heart than you! I'm tougher than you!"

Anthony stood and rounded his desk, "You tougher than me huh?"

"Yes!" the girl screamed. "You left us," her voice broke.

The man looked at his daughter like she had two heads, "left?"

"Please don't try to play dumb! I heard you that night. When the guys gave you that ultimatum! They said choose between you and Reiyo and I." Tears welled in the girl's eyes. "You chose to save yourself! You left us to figure it out on our own!"

"Y'all are smart girls! You never needed me," Anthony yelled back.

Lovie paced the room, "except we did. We needed our father that night! Does it look like we outsmarted them?"

"But you made it out," he tried.

Lovie stopped. It was like watching an animal hunt, like the few prowling steps before the full sprint and the violence.

"At the expense of what!" She screamed.

She wished she could scream every scream she'd wanted to that night, wished she could empty herself of that enforced silence, the silence that she kept, was still keeping, was keeping from everyone, was still locking inside of herself.

Anthony didn't answer, too guilt ridden.

"Of what!" She tried again. "I don't know if you remember correctly or not, but you have two daughters, not one, two!" The vein in her forehead was pulsing. "You gave us away to save yourself! Any honest man would have given his life for his children but not you. You just said take'em and I hate you for that! I hate you! We didn't have anything to do with whatever you did to piss off those Latin kings but that didn't matter right? You didn't give a damn about it as long as your reputation didn't get touched. As long as you didn't go out sad right?"

She looked wild, more than wild; feral.

"Look Lovie," Anthony started.

"No! You always try to avoid this conversation because you know what I'm saying is true! Why don't you just say it? Just admit it for once! You gave the Latin kings the go ahead to kill not one but two of your daughters to save your life!"

Anthony's head dropped to the floor, "it wasn't like that."

"Oh I know exactly how it was. I was there remember? They had you on speakerphone! I bet you were sick huh," she smirked.

"What are you talking about?"

Lovie inched towards her father, "when they told you I was alive. That I made it out?"

The man wiped at his face, "actually the opposite. I knew you'd make it out. There was no doubt that you wouldn't but I didn't expect–

"Reiyo not to be behind me," Lovie cut in. "You didn't plan for that? You expected me to be able to save myself and my sister? You didn't expect for them to put the gun in my hand? You didn't expect for them to-to walk me over to my crying sister and have me look her in the eye while the man wrapped his hand around mine and forced me to pull the trigger until Reiyo wasn't crying anymore? That wasn't in the grand scheme of things?"

Anthony had tears drop down his face, "I'm sorry."

In the wake of his apology, Lovie stood stunned. It was his first time uttering the words in her presence. For him to do so would have meant fessing up to being wrong, doing something so nefarious that if his people ever found out they would've killed him themselves. There had been a hurt there, something he was hiding away, something he was holding on too tightly to, like trying to stop the pain from a burn by pressing it hard enough, like blaming himself for something out of his control. But boy was he in control. That was the hardest pill to swallow as a parent. He did have control. All he had to do was show his face to the Latin kings instead of being in hiding and Reiyo may have lived. Maybe they would have spared her.

That's what he had done.

There was a brief moment where his mind tried to throw out the thought, dismiss it, send it away to the deepest depths of impossibility, but the knowledge refused to leave, settled into every part of his body the way only truth could. Anthony leaned against his desk not trusting himself to keep standing under his own control.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

Some tightness inside of herself that Lovie hadn't even been aware of, some troubled knot, finally unwound. She heard herself let out a sound between a laugh and a sob as she felt her father embrace her, felt him hold her up as she cried so hard she thought it might not ever stop. Anthony was holding her, tightening his arms around the girl a bit to contain her trembling. He held her until her sobs finally died out, until her breathing stopped hitching and at last slowed, until she simply leaned into him like she hadn't seen her dad in years. Like his slight confession had birthed a new person. Someone she wasn't ashamed to call her father.

In that endless moment in her father's arms, Lovie began to feel like the anger she had been holding in her bones could recede, could pull back like a low-tide and leave the rest of her washed smooth. She had a momentary vision of what that would be like, of how over time that awful night would start to shrink and fall deeper into her body's memory. One day she would stand on the edge of herself and see that night, like a penny at the bottom of a pool, the water moving over it so that even finding a clear image of it was impossible. There would be so much else besides that night to fill her, like water, like love. The root word to her name. The one thing people spoke into the air anytime they called for her; love.

Still, Lovie was inquisitorial at heart, so she still needed her answers. "Why were you at Solange's house today," she pulled away searching her father's eyes for an answer.

"She's my girlfriend," Anthony admitted.

"What," Lovie took a step back like she'd been seared by fire.

Anthony nodded, "for months now."

With a sensation of sick clarity, Lovie shook her head and looked away, "why are you trying so hard to destroy that family?"

Anthony exhaled, "it's nothing personal it's just business."

"Bullshit, that's just something," she started, words tumbling out of her before she could make sense of them. She stopped. She had to say this right, as if the right words in the right order could fix this, could stop whatever was on her father's agenda.

"That's just something people say," she began again. "You've been dating Solange? Out of all the women in Los Angeles dad you go and do this knowing the direct link she has to Jay? Are you doing this for some type of Intel? She knows some information you need?"

Anthony actually seemed hurt by the accusation, "Naw it ain't even like that."

Lovie smirked, "of course it is. You do realize that the moment he finds out, your body will be the one to hit the floor right? Not Solange?"

Anthony cut his eyes at his daughter.

"You can't possibly love her if that's what you're thinking. You're incapable of loving your own children! In fact you can't even love yourself. You're just another street nigga who had to grow up too fast and didn't have the time to work out his mommy and daddy issues and takes it out on everybody he comes in contact with. Well you know what? Nobody deserves that. I know poor Solange probably doesn't even know what you do for money does she? First you hire incompetent ass goons to do a job you should've by right been able to carry out yourself. Then you're in his family's home when you should really be hiding? Have you heard from Trill, uncle Dre, or Caine because word on the street is nobody has. But I have a guess as to where they are. Fucking Dead! Everybody has been betting on who could find them first and I'll bet your whole life's savings that Jay got his hands on them. Just wait until he finds out about you and Solange!"

Anthony's nostrils flared at the God honest truth, "he ain't go find out."

Lovie scrunched her face up, "we'll see about that."

Anthony smiled. It was a real smile; genuine and sparkling, and all the more terrifying because it was so convincing. He kept that smile up and moved toward his daughter, every step he took closer to her made it harder for Lovie to think. She wanted to move, wanted to hit or to run, but something in her was frozen, like the messages of panic her brain was frantically screaming to her body just weren't getting through. The man was inches from her now, so close she could see his chest move as he breathed, see the heartbeat on his neck. Anthony was no longer in the room, Lovie could tell by the sneer in his eyes, but as he taught her years back, never let your opponent see you weak. She stood her ground.

"Now this is familiar. Nice to see you, Ace," she said sarcastically.

Her father had never been the one to lay hands especially on girls, but she had seen him do heinous acts to just about everyone under him to get their unwavering cooperation.

In a strange turn of events, the man pulled his daughter into a hug. Ace's grip tightened and she hissed through her teeth in pain.

"What are you doing?" She got out attempting to remove herself from his grip.

The man tightened his hold squeezing the girl with his taut muscles. One would say to hold themselves up when their lungs were burning was an art, but for Lovie and Ace it was more so a game. For the girl it was all about not wanting to win. It wasn't just about not breathing; she had to stop wanting to breathe. She had to forget there was a space in her chest for air, forget that breathing was something she had ever learned to do. If she let her lungs want air, she had lost because clearly that's what her father wanted as he continued to squeeze her. She had to close her eyes and stop wanting to see anything but black, and then she had to stop wanting to see even that. She had to stop wanting movement, stop wanting to feel any sensation in her body. It was more than going limp—she had to flip the lights off in every limb, the knowledge that she had any extension beyond her own mind had to end. If she let her body want to thrash against Ace, she had lost.

Last, she had to stop wanting to be.

Without breath, she had to pull herself into the tightest space she could imagine, and then obliterate that space. She could not want if there was no one to do the wanting. If she let herself want continuation of consciousness; to experience, to feel, to think, to live—she had lost.

As his hold somehow got tighter, letting go became harder and harder to do. Her father insisted on winning, and she took that to heart, mistook his constant pressure for her own motivation.

In the past year, she had wanted to hide her true self, and then she had wanted to prove she was strong enough to embrace that self. She wanted to be someone that was counted on, she wanted to be a friend, she wanted to be there for whatever was needed, she wanted her love to be more than a dream, she wanted to comfort, she wanted trust, she wanted to protect. At fifteen Lovie found herself with a whole mess of wants, but most of all, always, she wanted to live.

Letting herself sink to the floor, Lovie closed her eyes, and began the process to stop wanting. The shaking in her hands finally stopped.

Anthony gazed down at his limp child, tears had started in his eyes, catching on his eyelashes as he tried to blink them away. He hoisted her into his arms and took her up the stairs, laying her in her bed. He stayed there for a minute ensuring the constant rise and fall of her chest was real before turning out her light and making his exit.

-

LATER THAT NIGHT

Yara didn't really stay up late on school nights, and since tomorrow was Friday she was getting ready for bed by eleven. She enjoyed getting her sleep, and with her work schedule lately, she needed some rest. But, at eleven thirty one, her phone vibrated loudly on her bedside table. Incoming call from Lovie.

"Hello?"

"Hey," came an agitated voice from the other side. There was a long pause, at least thirty seconds before Lovie spoke again. "Can I come over?"

"I'm already in bed."

"I meant, can I stay over?"

"On a school night?"

"I just don't want to be at home right now." Lovie wasn't begging, but Yara knew by her tone that she was on the verge of it if she refused.

"Climb up my window so my mom won't see you," she said sighing.

"Here I come." The line clicked dead and Yara peered out to see her friend already scaling the trellis. If she wasn't low key worried, she would have laughed to herself, amused.

She opened her window and extended her hand for Lovie to grab onto and pull herself in. She hopped in quietly, already in her pj's.

"Couldn't sleep," Yara asked dryly.

"Something like that," Lovie said, her tone clear she didn't want to discuss anything.

"Is something going on at home? Are you still fighting with your dad?"

"Can't a girl want to spend some time with her friend," Lovie asked, avoiding the question.

"You didn't really want to this week," Yara stated bluntly.

"I think the correct response would've been, aweee Thank you Lovie you're so sweet," the girl joked sarcastically.

"Not funny," Yara scowled as she ignored Lovie and went to her desk.

The teen flopped onto her friends' bed, "you still didn't finish your paper? It's due in two days you know."

"If you came over here to antagonize me, you can climb back out the window," she said jokingly as she tidied her desk.

Yara turned around, expecting Lovie to come back with a snappy remark, but she did not expect her friend to be looking like someone had stolen her puppy.

"Hey, is everything okay with you? Really Lovie you don't look like yourself," Yara asked concerned.

She thought to be truthful with her friend, but that meant being truthful to herself. Lovie had woken up around an hour ago feeling dazed and confused. It took her a moment to realize that she had somehow ended up in her room with the covers pulled over her. The last thing she remembered before that was her father encroaching on her with a menacing glint in his eye and then he hugged her? No, that was no hug. It was more of an attempt on her life, she thought. Her father had squeezed her until she passed out and he had never in her life put a hand on her, so she must've struck a nerve. The girl wiped at her face not realizing she was crying.

"I'm fine Yara. I just need some sleep," she laid on her side facing away from her friend.

Yara sighed and went to turn out her lights hoping that whatever had this girl on edge she would be free of it by morning.

-

Kelly and Angela came by Solange's early in the morning under the guise of Angela wanting to see her before she headed to her flight, but Solo suspected their true feelings were to talk about yesterday's events.

"Finally," Angela said when Solange opened the door, "we were ringing your doorbell for about twenty minutes."

Solange rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "You were supposed to be here at ten it's too early and don't y'all have a key?"

"First of all, it's ten thirty and my key back in Atlanta," Angie said as she made her way in.

Solo looked at Kelly, "I ain't feel like looking for it in my purse."

Angela caught her eye and cocked her head to the side to study her cousin curiously. As she took in Solange's disheveled appearance, Angela's lips pulled into a disapproving frown. Solo could practically feel Angela judging her but she didn't really care and she didn't bother to stop herself from rolling her eyes at her high strung cousin.

"Hey Thu you got any coffee ready," Kelly asked.

"No but there's water and soda in the fridge."

"I'm about to go make some," Kelly decided and sauntered off.

Solo nodded and entered her kitchen behind her big sister. She needed something to help get her through the rest of the day after her disastrous talk with Julez last night and the evening prior.

Kelly and Angela continued to eye each other as they took tentative sips from their mugs.

"So we wanted to talk to you about something," Angela said after a couple of awkward minutes of Solange eyeing her suspiciously and Kelly glaring at the door waiting for Bey to arrive.

Kelly set her mug down on the counter, "I thought we were waiting on BB."

"She probably got caught up with work stuff," Angie said.

Kelly grabbed a napkin and cleaned the coffee stain from beneath Angela's mug, "Um she promised she'd be here, so we should wait."

"You alright there Thu Thu," Kelly asked.

"Yeah," Solange nodded, "I'm just over here thinking," she said before taking another sip of her coffee. She winced as the liquid burned her throat before smiling broadly at the two women before her.

A short while later, there were keys jingling by the front door and they knew it was Bey. So the women moved from the kitchen to the front room just as Beyoncé slipped through the door quietly. She spared them only a brief half-smile in greeting before casting her eyes down to the floor and shuffling into the living room. She took a seat on the sofa besides Solange opposite Kelly and Angie.

"Sorry, I'm late," Bey apologized, "It was a hassle getting Blue to wake up for school."

"No worries," Kelly said.

"Ok, so now that we're all here," Angela started, calling the meeting to order. "Me and Kelly went on a little adventure yesterday."

"All her idea! I was coerced and lied to, just throwing that out there," Kelly interrupted.

"Can y'all just come out with it? What's with all the suspense?" Solo rolled her eyes.

"Okay okay," Angela pulled out her phone.

"Thu Thu please don't get offended, but we don't like your boyfriend," the social worker said.

Beyoncé smiled and pulled her feet onto the couch, "at least somebody said it before me."

Solange's eyes flicked to all of the women in the room, hurt burning deep in her gaze. She kind of figured they would say this but it still hurt to hear.

"Yesterday I said I had a nail appointment but I lied so I could follow Anthony around, kind of see what he was up to, that type of thing." Angela said.

"What," Solange exclaimed. "You followed him?"

"Mhm," Kelly nodded.

Bey did her best to stay quiet because she knew Solange tended to go off the rails when being confronted about something.

"And it's a good thing we did too. Thu I think he's into some other stuff. Could be money laundering, could be drug trafficking, I don't know, but two plus two is not coming out to four in this equation."

Solange squinted, "what are you talking about?"

Angela pressed play on her first video, "we followed him to a condo about twenty minutes from here."

Solange grabbed the phone from Angela and Bey peered over her shoulder so she could see.

"That's where he lives," Solange deadpanned

Angela and Kelly eyed each other. "Scroll to the right."

Solange did as instructed and pressed play on the next video which depicted Anthony going in and out of some warehouse with a bunch of men scattered about.

"We saw him calling shots there. Everybody was listening to him," Kelly said.

Solange had never seen this place. Anthony never even talked about owning a warehouse that big. What could he be storing in there?

"Swipe again," Angela said.

Bey and Solo watched as Anthony entered a huge home. Solo looked up and was about to hand the phone back.

"Keep watching," Angela said.

The two sisters watched as a teenage girl got out of a car and headed into the home as well. Bey couldn't help but feel like she had seen the girl before. Maybe she was a student at Lexington? Maybe she'd seen her a few times? She wasn't sure.

"Isn't that the same girl who was here yesterday," Kelly asked.

Solange changed the rotation of the phone and stared at it. "At my house?"

"Yeah when we was leaving it was a girl on the porch," Kelly pressed.

Bey looked between her sisters.

"Ohhhh yes! This is her," Solange exclaimed.

Kelly clapped her hands, "see I knew it. I never forget a face."

Angela crossed one leg over the other, "well what was she doing here?"

"She sold me some weed and left," Solange shrugged.

Angela and Kelly jumped up in surprise and high fived each other, "bitch I knew it!"

"It's official I'm switching my career to a detective or maybe like a bounty hunter or some shit," Angela exclaimed.

Bey and Solo exchanged confused glances.

"Don't you get it? That's clearly his daughter! We don't need a paternity test to prove that one," Angela said.

Solange looked at the phone once more and played the video, "you're reaching Angela. What are the odds?"

"Pretty fucking high Solange. Look at that girl's face and look at Anthony, that's his twin! Then they both went into the same house? And then he left right before the lil girl came and sold you something?! She probably got the drugs from her daddy's warehouse and is selling it for him."

Solange shook her head, "no I don't think so."

Beyoncé was stunned because things were actually making sense the way Angela put them and that girl did look a lot like Anthony. Like a lot. Angela's words were starting to settle into Solo's mind.

"Y'all really think he would send his daughter to sell me drugs?"

"Crazier things have happened," Kelly said.

"And you said he was calling shots," Solange asked.

"Yes, and I'm talking cursing they ass out and nobody saying nothing to him," Angela folded her arms and pursed her lips.

"Solo, I don't like the sound of this," Bey said.

"Girl yo man a whole kingpin. I ain't tryna hear nothing from you," Solange bit back.

"But his daughter coming to your house randomly? And you don't even know it's his daughter? That is a huge red flag. Then if Angela right, he has his own kid going to somebody house selling drugs? And she's a girl, so what you think he gone get your son to do?"

Solange cringed at the mention of her son and it was then she knew what had to be done.

Kelly muttered something about having to get to a meeting and Bey echoed her statement. But before Kelly could make her escape, she stepped over to Solange and pulled her aside. Bey watched as Solange leaned into Kelly and talked quietly as the older of the two pulled the sullen woman into a hug. Solange returned the hug and offered Kelly a small smile and Bey could only guess what they were talking about, easily recognizing the compassion in Kelly's eyes.

All three women left Solange alone to deal with her thoughts. Angela called an Uber to the airport and Beyoncé and Kelly hopped into their separate cars after hugging their cousin goodbye.

-

School went relatively quick for everyone considering that they were all excited for their sleepover. Both Chloe and Halle thought it was wise to keep the overnight get-together to themselves too afraid that Bey would say they couldn't go. Halle didn't even make a big deal when she had to get dropped off at the Hardings because she knew her friends would be by to pick her up at ten.

Thunderous bass boomed from just outside of the Hardings guestroom. Halle rushed to the window with her overnight bag secured on her shoulder and peeped through the blinds.

"Come look at this," she chuckled.

Chloe had just finished placing her pajamas inside of her bag. Curious, she zipped it up and sauntered to the window.

"No home training at all," she shook her head in mock disappointment.

In the middle of the otherwise quiet suburban neighborhood, there was rambunctious rap music coming from Yara's drop top convertible. Lovie sat in the passenger seat whispering something to Yara who shook her head at the two delinquents occupying her back seat. Yasmin and Beans had spotted the two in the window and were now putting on an award winning performance dancing wildly to the beat. Halle lifted the window.

"Hoodlums," she yelled.

"Get your asses down here Bailey one and Bailey two we ain't got all night," Yasmin yelled sarcastically.

"That's all you have," the thirteen year old yelled back before shutting the window.

Chloe stared at the bag in her hand. Earlier she had been busy packing and unpacking the bag telling herself that she wasn't going. The last sleepover she attended she was like eight and even then she had to call her mother in the middle of the night to pick her up because she was terrified to sleep somewhere foreign.

Things between her and the rest of the group had been improving a lot lately, when it came to her comfort around them. She was almost willing to say they had become close friends, but the girl's place in the group was still strained so to avoid the inevitable awkwardness, she wanted to disinvite herself.

But before she could drive herself too crazy overthinking it, Halle rushed out of the room with child-like glee in her eyes. Chloe quickly forgot her worries and followed her sister downstairs and out of the house.

"Excuse the mess in the backseat," Yara said referring to her friends.

Yas and Beans met up at Yasmin's house to be picked up together and they had taken shots out of boredom. Halle reached for the door handle but was stopped by Lovie.

"Wait," the girl turned in her seat with two flower leis in her hand and handed them to Yas.

"Everybody must get lei'd tonight," Yasmin placed the flower necklaces over her friend's heads.

"Y'all are so extra," Halle said as she finally slid into the backseat.

Chloe hopped in seconds later and they were off down the street. Before long, Yara parked in front of her home and sighed. Her parents hadn't left yet.

"You know they aren't going anywhere until they lay down the law to your faces. Especially you Beans. My mom's still having flashbacks from that time you destroyed our kitchen," the big haired girl said.

"I destroyed a microwave, not the whole kitchen," he retorted.

"Semantics," Lovie said as she turned around, "her parents love me. I have nothing to worry about," the teen got out of the car.

Beans hopped out as well followed by Yas and Halle. They horsed around swinging their bags at each other all the way up to her porch.

"You alright back there," Yara asked.

Chloe let out a breath and nodded as she got out of the car. Yara followed, throwing her arm over her shoulder.

"Look at them," she said.

Chloe looked on as Beans and Yas passed licks while Lovie recorded the whole thing.

"They're like two year olds I swear," she sped up her steps to break up the little dog-fight before her parents opened the door.

"Alright, alright, alright," she pushed past her friends to unlock the door.

"Mom, dad," she yelled up the steps.

Halle followed Lovie into the front room and took a seat next to her. The two talked amongst themselves as Yara and Chloe sat together on another couch. Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs and Lovie sat a little straighter to put on her show of formalities and sophistication. Halle followed suit.

"Mr and Mrs Shahidi so nice to see you again," Lovie stood and held her hand out for Yara's mom to shake.

Lovie had snuck out of Yara's room early this morning because she had to head back home to get ready for school, so Yara's parents hadn't seen her.

"You know we do hugs," Keri's smile was wide as she embraced Lovie.

Yara's dad struggled with two suitcases and a plethora of smaller bags as he made his way in.

"And you must be Chloe and Halle. Yara's told me a lot about you two," the woman smiled.

Yara rolled her eyes discreetly from the couch. Her mom could be so embarrassing at times.

"Hi, nice to meet you," the Bailey sisters said in unison as they stood for their chaste embraces.

Yara's dad smiled and nodded, still juggling about ten items in his hand. Keri looked around expectantly.

"Where's Yasmin and Beans," she asked.

"Somewhere around here," Yara said.

Just then, Beans walked backwards into the front room as he conversed with Yas loudly, "so we'll put the keg right over here. This is a nice spot for hookah and over there is where the poker table should go."

"Should we take a wall down? I'm not really feeling the jenesequa," she looked around the home like she'd never been there.

"Beans, Yas," Keri called with a hand on her hip giving both teens a pointed look.

"You know we was just playing Mrs S," he went to hug her.

The parents briefly spoke on their strict rules and regulations regarding drinking, breaking items, and a mile long list that went in one ear and out of the other to most. The parents were at the door now as Keri tried one last time to give them a run down.

"Alright mom they heard you the first six times. Have fun!"

"But!"

"Bye bye now," Yara playfully shooed her mother out of the door ensuring she locked it.

She turned around and smiled mischievously at her friends, "let's get started, shall we?"

They'd set out all the alcohol on the kitchen counter, set up the living area so that everyone would have somewhere to sit and ordered half a dozen vegan friendly pizzas despite Yara's insistence that three would've been more than enough. Lovie attempted to hand Beans his plate, "hold it like this, it's hot on the bottom.

Beans talked animatedly to Yara not paying any attention to what his other friend said as he reached back for his plate.

"Hold it like this, it's hot on the bottom," she repeated.

Again, Beans reached for the plate causing Chloe and Halle to snicker.

"It's hooot on the bot•tom!"

Everyone paused. Lovie looked to Halle.

"You see how you gotta talk to these...hoodrats?"

The room erupted in laughter. Yas helping play host, handed Chloe a drink, which she took with a quiet thank you, beginning to feel more at ease when she noticed Yara sitting on the floor offering her a comforting smile. She wasn't going to drink any, but she also didn't want to be a party pooper, she already felt ostracized as is.

Unsure of quite what to say, the boy in the group tried to brush over his awkwardness by diving right back into the conversation they'd all been having before. Talking about some tv drama Chloe hadn't even watched, not that she would've tried to join in if she had, things were still strained for her and she didn't want to accidentally make it worse.

It was Yas who first noticed Chloe staring into her cup, obviously left out.

"Let's play a game!" she suggested, cutting off the conversation around her as she tried to come up with something they could all be involved in.

"Like what, Yas? Truth or dare?" Lovie mocked, implying they were too old for that kind of thing.

"I wanna play," Halle got excited.

"Hmm, maybe later." Yasmin teased, her eyes raised to the ceiling as she tried to think of something fun for everyone. "How bout never have I ever?" She declared triumphantly, sure it would be something they'd all enjoy.

There were a few chuckles from Lovie and Halle and weak protests from Yara and Chloe but when Yasmin's whines continued they all caved and agreed, insisting she start.

Eagerly agreeing, the girl looked around the room with a devious smirk trying to decide who she'd target first.

Halle filled her cup with cranberry juice so she'd be able to play and Chloe didn't bother switching hers out because she knew she wouldn't need to take a sip. She hadn't really done anything.

"Never have I ever hooked up with anyone from the basketball team," she decided after a moment, grinning at her big haired friend.

"Define hook up," Yara squinted, twirling her red solo cup in a circle.

Yasmin smacked her lips, "anything, kissed... other things, you know what hooked up means."

Chloe and Halle raised their eyebrows at each other before turning back to their friends to see who'd take a drink.

Yara huffed irritably before taking a drink, though she was not the only one. Confirming Yasmin's previous suspicions, Lovie also took a drink and Yasmin's smirk turned victorious. Seconds later, Beans took a sip from his cup.

"What the hell," Yasmin and Lovie exclaimed.

Halle doubled over laughing.

"What? We do have a girl's basketball team," he shrugged.

"You guys are disgusting," Halle sat with her legs beneath her.

This definitely had the potential to get interesting.

"Never have I ever gotten drunk on a school night." Lovie shot back for her turn directly after, staring at Yasmin, who rolled her eyes as she took her drink. Though she wasn't the only one, Yara and Beans also took a sip, the first regretful, the latter indifferent.

Next was Bean's turn, who felt far too old to be playing such a game but participated regardless. He struggled for a moment to come up with something entertaining when Chloe caught his eye.

"Never have I ever snuck out to a party." He smirked.

His intent wasn't malicious though, he'd picked up on Yasmin's intention to include Chloe when she came up with the game so he was trying to do the same.

Chloe chuckled nervously and Halle wondered if her sister would actually drink alcohol so soon after being caught using drugs. She had in fact snuck out before but only that one time. Halle sipped her cranberry juice, scrunching her face up at its bitter taste. She hated cranberry juice. Everyone waited to see if Chloe would sip from her cup. She looked at her sister and put the cup to her lips pretending to sip.

"And you looked amazing that night, forgot to tell you that." Beans complimented, to which the girl replied with a quiet thank you and lifted her cup to cover her slight blush, so unused to praise.

"Beans bruh you corny as fuuuck," Lovie said.

Everyone laughed in his face.

"It's Yara's turn," Beans reminded after a moment, feeling embarrassed.

"Never have I ever read a whole novel in a day." She shrugged and Yasmin glared at her gently, letting her know her question had been boring as they all took a sip, Chloe's still a fake one.

The youngest Bailey nudged her sister to remind her of her turn when she didn't immediately start to speak.

"Oh, right. Umm...Never have I everrrr stolen from my parents." She decided on quickly, surprising some of her friends.

Lovie, Beans, Yara, and Yas all sipped, even Halle had her cup to her mouth, the latter avoiding everyone's eyes as she did.

"See I knew it! I'm surrounded by thieves, my soothsayer tried to warn me. I'm never doubting her again. Sorry mama Laghari," Yara looked to the ceiling.

Lovie stood from the floor to stretch her limbs, "bitch you sipped too," she laughed.

"Okay my turn. My turn," Halle clapped her hands.

"Never have I ev—

"Halle not playing," Chloe cut her sister off, afraid she'd say something out of pocket.

Halle smacked her lips and leaned against the arm of the couch.

"Never have I ever.. caught someone having sex," Yas chuckled as her turn came around again.

Halle covered her ears, "la la la la la," she said as she tilted her head side to side.

Lovie, Beans and Yara drank, the first two looking obviously amused by the memories it brought up while Yara wore the traumatised expression of a child who's caught their parents in a compromising position.

"Never have I ever.. been to a strip club." Lovie said for her turn, to which Yasmin scoffed and muttered a light 'bet you wish you had' under her breath. Yas and Beans drank again, both receiving a raised eyebrow from Chloe, though they weren't under the microscope long when she noticed Yara also drinking.

"What were you doing at a strip club?!" Halle asked, eyes wide.

"Wouldn't you like to know." She teased her smaller friend but offered no further answer, though she could feel them all staring at her wondering. With a light cough she notified Beans he was next and tried not to be too satisfied with the way their gazes lingered on her.

Starting to really feel the effects of the alcohol Beans had to rack his brain for something to say when his turn came, eventually settling on one he'd heard used a thousand times before at parties. "Never have I ever kissed a girl."

Lovie hesitantly took a sip.

"LOVIE, oh my God who?!" Yasmin shrieked at the unexpected revelation, making the girl instantly regret her honesty.

"When!" Yara probed.

"Nah, uh." Lovie teased with a light chuckle. "Beans drank too, so you're just gonna have to wonder."

"You can't just drop a bomb like that and then leave us hanging," Yasmin huffed.

"Spill," Halle's smile was wide.

"I can and I will, those are the rules. Sorry." Lovie shrugged, the clear opposite of sorry.

"Mmhm, Imma find out," Yas pointed and squinted.

"Whatever. Someone save me, who's next?" The cheerleader whined, tired of having the floor.

"Alright, I have a good one." Yara, tipsily declared as her turn rolled around, a chuckle left her lips as she looked around the room, eyeing everyone as if she were about to catch them out in a dirty secret. "Never have I ever given a lap dance to a total stranger."

No one drinks.

"Oh, guys, come on, really?" She received various amused looks and shrugs, the girl gave a light scoff and took a drink herself. "I don't know whether to be disappointed or proud of you all right now." She mumbled into her cup with a feigned pout as she shoved Chloe to remind her it was her turn.

The teen hummed in thought trying to make the others nervous until a frustrated Halle insisted she got on with it.

"Never have I ever said an "I love you" without feeling it." She decided finally.

Yas, Beans, and Halle all sipped with guilty looks on their faces as they avoided the other pairs of eyes in the room.

"Never have I ever kissed someone and regretted it." The thirteen year old offered on her turn, though it wasn't true. She knew it was technically cheating but she wanted to see what her sister would do as she watched her carefully out of the corner of her eye. Though the answer she received only left her with more lingering questions as Chloe lifted the cup to her lips taking a "sip" followed quickly by everyone else around the room.

"Who the hell you been kissing," Beans looked disgusted.

He had come to see Halle as one of his little cousins and the thought made him cringe. Chloe upped a brow curious as well.

"I just lied to see what y'all would say and y'all fell for it," she shrugged, receiving a pillow to the face from the boy.

Halle threw a handful of popcorn his way.

-

"Okay so we can go classic with 'The Breakfast Club' we can watch 'Mean Girls' for like the millionth time-," Yara browsed her Netflix options.

"I don't care you can decide," Chloe replied with a light chuckle.

They were in Yara's room goofing around for about about two hours now.

Chloe took in the large floor to ceiling bookcase in her friend's room wondering how many of the books she had actually gotten around to reading.

"Stop moving," Yas chuckled as she painted Halle's toes 'Bleu De France'.

"I can't help it. It tickles," she squirmed again.

"Get over it," the girl blew on her friend's toe to dry the polish quicker.

Beans laid upside down on Yara's egg chair scrolling his Instagram, "What's up with you and Kenny," he asked.

Yasmin stopped painting and turned his way, "we not dating, but why?"

Lovie eyed the boy from the king sized bed. He flipped his phone so that Yasmin would see the video her "boo" posted of a girl dancing on him at a party.

"You deserve better," Yara said.

"Definitely," Lovie agreed and turned the page to the magazine she had been reading.

"He's not even cute," Halle shrugged.

"Pleeaase," Yas chuckled as she screwed the cap on the polish.

Lovie nodded, "She's right."

"He's not that bad," Chloe said twiddling with her fingers.

"That's what's left on the buffet table after everybody made their choices Yas. You don't make a decision and that's what you end up with," Lovie never understood Yasmin's attraction to Kenny.

Yeah he was tall, but that's about where the appeal ended. Yasmin laughed, not taking any offense to her friend's words. As Chloe watched Lovie tentatively paint her nails the perfect shade of pink while flipping another page to her magazine, she noticed how different the infamous girl was when they weren't in public. More approachable? No, more human.

"So you ready for this? Some dude in Chicago went on Tinder and advertised for someone he could kill and eat," Lovie read from the trashy magazine.

"Wow, dark much?!" Yara replied, raising her head to look at Lovie who shrugged as the others looked at her with a mix of shock and amusement.

"Shutup," Yas said halfheartedly.

"I'm serious, he got like one hundred and twenty matches. Why does every woman think she could change a guy?"

Beans slanked out of his seat, "I'm bored."

He was starting to think a game of truth or dare was most definitely in order.

"New game!" Beans declared, receiving a few groans, most notably from Chloe.

"Truth or dare is back on the board," he commented, moving closer to the middle of the room and picking up an empty beer bottle, placing it flat on it's side in the centre of the floor. The others all followed suit, shuffling so they were all sitting on the floor around the bottle. This was the way Lovie had taught them to play when they were younger and the cheerleader couldn't help but smile at the thought that they held onto some of their old 'traditions' even if it was something as insignificant as Truth or Dare.

"But when I suggested it I got shut down," Yas rolled her eyes.

"Who's spinning first?" Halle asked as they all got comfortable.

This would be her first time playing and she was over the moon at the idea.

"Game master goes first." Lovie answered, having declared herself such.

The self imposed title received a few eye rolls but no one bothered to argue as the girl reached out to spin the bottle, hoping for it to land on Yasmin as she smirked at her friend, a dozen questions already in mind. Falling just short, much to Lovie's disappointment, the bottle pointed to Beans instead.

It only took a moment however for a devious smirk to appear on her lips as she thought of something fun for him. "So how bout it, Beans? Truth or Dare?"

He eyed the girl wearily, "truth."

"Are you a virgin," she grinned, her smile widening even further as she took in the flustered expression on her friend's face.

"I pick Dare." he announced in an attempt to avoid answering the question.

"Fine, I dare you to answer the question." Lovie rebutted quickly, much to his dismay.

With an exaggerated sigh, Beans took a large gulp of his drink but otherwise stayed silent.

"Sounds like an answer to me." Yas mumbled into her cup, receiving a glare from her embarrassed friend causing everyone to join together in laughter.

Chloe stayed silent though, her shoulders tense and her jaw set as she tried to control the thoughts running through her head. They were starting to make her sick.

"Spin it, Yas." Yara encouraged lightly, trying to offer Beans an escape from further teasing.

Leaning forward to spin the bottle, her eyes lit up when it landed on the youngest of them all. Halle clapped her hands, smiling from ear to ear.

"I dare you to sing for us."

"Yesss!" Yara and Lovie agreed instantly.

"What if I wanna pick truth?" She teased, keeping her nerves well hidden.

Halle knew she was technically a professional singer, and it wasn't as if she couldn't remember the words to at least one song but for whatever reason singing to her four friends made her more anxious than performing to a crowd of strangers.

"Oh, come on Halle, how come you're a whole recording artist and never sung for your friends," Yasmin whined.

Clearing her throat quietly, Halle closed her eyes and tried to channel the same energy she used in the studio. Allowing her eyes to flutter open slowly, she began to sing 'Girl on fire' by Alicia Keys, full out, dragging out each word better than the original and left everyone smiling from ear to ear, especially Chloe. The oldest Bailey's eyes shimmered with amazement as her sister continued the song. Yara started a round of applause as the last note drew to a close, the others quickly joined her, and Halle couldn't help but laugh as a feeling of warmth spread over her chest.

"Next time y'all better pay up cause I don't perform for free," she said as she leaned over to spin the bottle.

"Truth or Dare?" She asked as it stopped on Lovie.

There was a lengthy pause as the girl tried to weigh her options.

"Truth," Lovie replied, sensing that was the answer Halle was hoping for.

Hesitating momentarily, Halle worried what she had to say might ruin the night. She half considered letting the issue drop, but such an act would be far too against her nature. She began, making sure her tone was gentle rather than accusatory.

"When you were kinda M.I.A for the past week, what was the real reason?"

Chloe noticed Lovie physically tense at her sister's words. The others stared at Lovie expectantly.

"Halle, I don't think—" she attempted to intervene quickly.

"Umm I was stressed. I owed so much money to my plug... like a lot and I was getting threatened," she said truthfully.

Doing their best to keep their reactions neutral, her friends looked at her with sympathetic eyes as they learned yet another troubling truth about Lovie's life they'd previously been oblivious too.

"On top of that," she continued, "I was fighting with my dad and school," she looked at her hands pausing for a moment. "If you knew something about someone close to you that would cause a disturbance in their life, would you tell them?"

Halle considered her question as everyone else sat in content silence with one another and sipped at their drinks.

"No," she decided.

"Take your turn, friend." Yas motioned for Lovie to spin the bottle.

Spinning the bottle once more, Lovie watched as it landed on Yas, but with Yasmin looking back at her seemingly ready for whatever she was about to ask her to confess or do, the cheerleader blew on the bottle so it landed on Chloe.

"You cheating," the nervous teen furrowed her brows.

"Truth or Dare?"

Chloe rolled her eyes and exhaled a breath.

"...Dare."

There was no way she would sit and have someone pry into her personal business like Halle just did to Lovie.

Pursing her lips, lovie thought hard on a dare. Usually she'd be thinking up something totally embarrassing to inflict upon a friend, but nothing like that really seemed to come to mind for Chloe.

"I dare you to go outside and jump in the pool fully clothed."

Easy, Chloe thought.

Beans scoffed and sat his cup down, "You going easy on her, last time you dared me to run down the street in my underwear."

"Because she knew you'd do it," Yas shrugged.

Chloe was busy pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She took her phone out of her pocket and placed it on the floor.

"Let's do this," she stood.

Everyone gathered around Yara's pool staring down at it. Lovie,Yas, and Halle all pulled out their cells to record the moment.

"Scientific research," Lovie joked.

Chloe shook her head and backed up towards the sliding patio doors to get a running start. Once she was far enough for her liking, the girl took off at half speed and cannon balled into the deep end of the Shahidi's pool. Her friends hooped and hollered once she resurfaced and swam to the edge.

"Oh my God I can't believe you did that in a Zerina Akers fit girl," Yasmin said.

"It'll dry," Chloe said, putting her elbows on the side of the pool, "Yara can you help me up?"

The teen nodded and reached her hand out to assist her friend, but Beans' foot may or may not have "accidentally" tripped her. Yara plunged face first into the water sending the remaining three recording girls into a fit of laughing hysterics.

"Beans," Yara wiped some water from her face, "I am going to kill you! Do you know how long it takes to wash and detangle my hair?! It's not even wash day!"

"I promise you it was an accident," he looked to his friends with a smirk.

Chloe struggled to pull herself up the step ladder. Her soaked clothes were weighing her body down. Halle handed her sister a towel once she was on solid ground not bothering to hit stop on her camera.

"And those videos better stay in your camera rolls or you all will be hearing from my legal team," Yara stomped her way to the towel rack.

Yasmin followed her and zoomed in on her friend's pinched brow, "she so mad, she's threatening to sue."

Lovie padded over with an extra towel and wrapped it around Yara's hair, "come on Angela Davis let's get you to bed," she said referring to Yara's hair as it started to coil into an Afro.

Thirty minutes later, everyone had changed into their pajamas and laid around Yara's room discussing their individual weeks while the calming sounds of Jhene Aiko played.

"Wow, you two actually smoked weed with these idiots? I don't even smoke weed," Lovie said after listening to Chloe and Halle's infamous smoking escapade. "I mean Chloe I could see but Halle?"

Chloe's head popped up, "why me?"

Lovie tilted her head to the side, "you have this tortured soul aesthetic that I see from some of my best customers."

Chloe didn't know if she should be offended or not so she didn't offer anything else. She shrugged at her friends and took an actual long sip from her bottle of water. Just then the lights to the house cut out and the music halted.

"Whoa what happened," Halle looked to Yara.

"It must be the breaker," Yara was always prepared.

She lit the candles that sat on her dresser and threw Halle a flashlight since she appeared the most freaked out. Everyone jumped and huddled together when they heard a creaking sound.

"Somebody's out there," Halle whispered as she pointed the flashlight towards Yara's closed door.

"Guys," Yasmin whispered, for what she didn't know.

Thinking as one, they all crept closer to the door and stood stock-still. Lovie was about to write it off as the house settling when the sound of glass shattering sent Halle, Yasmin, and Yara fleeing in opposite directions around the room. Chloe and Lovie looked at each other as they stayed still waiting for whatever would happen. Suddenly, someone opened the door and jumped out at them; girly shrieks echoed off Yara's walls.

"Y'all so fucking scary," Beans laughed walking further inside.

Halle nervously chuckled as the lights flickered on. The girls forgot that Beans had slipped away to make more popcorn for them.

"That's not funny. I damn near peed myself," Yasmin admitted.

"How'd you cut the lights and music," Chloe asked.

Beans pulled out his phone, "this house is basically controlled by Alexa. I just opened the app."

Yara rolled her eyes at her immature friend, "and the glass shattering. Please don't tell me you broke one of my mom's vases!"

"Get with the times," Beans held his phone up again and pressed play on a YouTube video.

Everyone decided to call it a night after that.

-

Lovie was dreaming. There were loud noises, bright colors. She wasn't sure if she was happy or sad. She wasn't sure where she was. But slowly, a shadow slipped over the dream, like a dark rain cloud moving in, dampening the summer sun. Hands took hold of her shoulders, jarring her, forcing the dream away.

"Lovie," an insistent voice said while shaking her hard.

"Wake up."

It was a voice Lovie knew, a voice that plagued her. It was higher than usual though, pitched and scared.

"Wha—Reiyo?" Lovie questioned, her mind clouded with confusion. She could sleep for another hundred years, why was Reiyo waking her up now?

She opened her eyes. It felt more like a crack, a tear. They were not ready to be open, so the air stung. Everything felt bloodshot and scratchy. All Lovie could focus on in the darkness was a single Senegalese twist that had fallen on her sister's left shoulder whereas the others were pushed to the back leaving Reiyo's round face exposed.

"You need to get up," she hissed snakelike into the darkness, nose near the confused girl who was on the floor gripping her sleeping bag.

Lovie merely blinked at her, still unsure if this was even real. She didn't recognize this as her room. She reached out toward her sister and stroked her cheek fondly, recoiling once her warm skin touched Reiyo's frigid face.

One tear escaped from her eye as Reiyo touched her own cheek surprised by its brisk feel. The girl gasped and gawked at her hands like she was a newborn baby who had just discovered them.

This wasn't right.

Lovie had another memory, one of slugs flying and high-pitched shouting, and blood so much blood it nearly blinded her as it dripped from her forehead into her eyes.

No-no-no-no, she thought, her eyes widening, tearing further.

She reached forward, wanting to touch Reiyo again, wanting to confirm her mere existence. Maybe if she wasn't there, just a typical imagining, Lovie would know those other memories weren't real either. But when she moved forward, Reiyo lurched back sharply, avoiding Lovie's hand as if her fingers were aflame. Reiyo's mouth opened like an ear-piercing scream would suddenly erupt and Lovie's hands covered her ears waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

When the sound never came, Lovie looked up to see that Reiyo was indeed screaming, she just couldn't hear it. It was as if someone had turned her ears off and all she could hear was a constant ringing.

"Right now," Reiyo's voice seemed to blare loudly in her ear but in a quieted snarl.

Lovie sat up frantically, and pulled the sleeping bag back to reveal the inevitable wet stain on her pajama pants.

Oh my god.

Luckily, it hadn't gotten on the sleeping bag and was only on the front of her pants. Quietly, Lovie rose to her feet ensuring not to wake the others. Yara, Yasmin, and Beans were splayed out on Yara's King sized bed while Chloe and Halle were nestled together on the extra bed Yara's dad had brought in knocked out. Lovie grabbed her backpack which had two extra pairs of pajamas and one set of actual clothes for the next day. It also contained a plastic bag to throw the soiled clothes in. After shuffling into Yara's ensuite bathroom, Lovie leaned against the sink and stared at herself in the mirror. The guilt was too much, her breath began to pick up when a slight knock sounded at the door. Lovie couldn't bring herself to open her mouth, so the door swung open and Halle ran in doing the potty dance.

"Oh, I didn't realize anyone was in here. I really have to pee," she pulled down her shorts and slammed her body down on the toilet.

The fifteen year old was cringed as the sound of Halle peeing filled the room. She turned away to give Halle a bit of privacy and did her best to cover her middle with her hands, but anyone with eyes could see that she had in fact peed herself. Halle quickly finished and went to the sink to wash her hands. Lovie scooted out of the way stiffly. Halle eyed her friend with a raised brow.

"Why are you being so weird?"

Lovie couldn't form words. Her hands still covered her middle and she crossed one leg over the other. Halle studied her through the mirror until her eyes landed on the spot her friend tried to hide. The small girl shook her wet hands over the sink and went to dry them with a towel, eyes still staring at Lovie through the mirror. The older girl was ashamed to say the least.

Humiliated.

Finally Halle turned her way, "you had an accident," her voice was a little husky from sleep.

Lovie opened and closed her mouth, taking a deep breath through her nose, and looked at her toes for an answer.

Halle stepped closer, "that's okay, Chloe used to have them all the time. Like all. the. time. Please don't tell her I said that she'd wring my neck."

Lovie stood up straight and relaxed her arms realizing there was no need to hide it now.

"You just have to put yourself on a timer that wakes you up multiple times during the night until you can control it."

Lovie nodded with a tear coming down.

"It's okay, really. It's no big deal. We'll just tell them you puked from the alcohol and had to take a shower," Halle rubbed Lovie's shoulder.

The bathroom was quiet for a moment while Halle rubbed her arm.

Lovie eventually nodded and Halle went to make her exit.

"Thank you," Lovie rushed out just before Halle left.

Halle shrugged, "that's what friends are for."

Once The click of the door sounded, Lovie began peeling her clothes off. She placed the soiled clothes in the plastic bag and turned the knob to Yara's shower. She stifled her cries as the water hit her skin because she didn't deserve to be able to shed anymore. She had no room in her heart to be sorrowful because it was overrun with regret. Five minutes after her shower had started she ended it, dried off with the quickness and dressed. She snuck out of the room down the familiar hall to the Shahidi's laundry room and tossed her clothes in. Whew, she thought as she once again got in her sleeping bag and tried her best to get some shut eye.

-
SATURDAY

Halle could have sworn she had just closed her eyes a moment ago, but when she cracked an eye open to take in her surroundings, she saw that it was morning. As the girl tried to shield her eyes from the harsh sunlight filtering in through Yara's window, her phone rang on the floor next to her, reminding her of why she was awake at such an ungodly hour on a weekend. Halle grabbed the phone and pressed the answer, eager to stop the shrill ringing.

Of course it was Solange calling her, who else would be indecent and call someone at seven am on a Saturday?

"Hello," Halle said groggily.

Solo's response was brief, to say the least. "Check your messages."

Halle shifted on the makeshift bed, tossing aside the fuzzy blanket she had been using to keep her warm. Her bones cracked as she turned her head from side to side and stretched her sore muscles.

"Solo it's seven in the morning," Halle whined.

"Okay and?"

"What could possibly be this important," Halle felt like messing with her since she called so early.

The girl could hear the heavy sigh escape the woman's lips, "chile you act like you hungover or something just check your messages."

Halle rolled her eyes and opened her messages. She scrunched her face up at the image Solange had sent to her phone.

"You opened it," Solange asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know her? Bey said she might go to your school."

Halle peered from her phone up to Lovie who was still asleep. "Yeah she does. She's my friend. Why do you have that picture of her?"

"You met her parents before," Solange blurted out.

"No? Is she in some kind of trouble?"

"No, has she talked about her parents before?"

"I feel like maybe I should get my lawyer on the phone," Halle said.

The girl smiled when she heard Solange laugh, "You play too much but for real. She talk about her parents? Say what they do?"

Halle shuffled out of the room,"her mom lives in New York but her dad stays here in L.A he's like this big club owner. Everyone says he's really mean but I can't say for myself."

"Ask her, her daddy name when you see her for me," Solange said.

"Solo You just don't go around asking people their parents names," Halle whispered.

"You said that's your friend right?"

"Yeah but this isn't the 1960's when you were in high school everybody don't know people's parents," Halle said.

There was a pause before Solange's voice came through again, "I just had to text yo mama ahead of time so she won't be surprised when she see you with my size seven up your ass."

This time it was Halle's turn to laugh, "I'm just kidding!"

Yasmin walked past her and waved good morning before taking the first step down stairs. "Hold on Solo." She muted her phone. "Yas, what's Lovie's dad name?"

Yasmin stopped on the staircase, "Anthony, Those your folks on the phone?"

Halle nodded and Yas proceeded down the steps.

"Hello?"

"Yeah," the woman said.

"His name is Anthony like your boooyfriend. Wait, is that why you called because they're the same per–

"Grown folks business," Solange said before ending the call.

When her phone rang once again, Halle just stared down at it, seeing Shawn's name flashing up before she shook her head and sent it to voicemail.
-

When Lovie finally got up, her friends weren't in sight, but by the sound of petty arguing coming from downstairs she knew they hadn't left the house. She brushed her teeth and washed her face before heading down to the kitchen where the five teens were gathered.

"What's with all the noise?"

"Look who finally decided to grace us with her presence," Yara said.

Chloe checked the time on her phone, "Yeah I thought I would be the last to wake up but you got me beat by at least an hour."

Lovie proceeded further into the kitchen and immediately turned on the coffee maker. Her stomach growled as she turned to her friends. "Any idea what we're having for breakfast?"

"That's what we were just debating about," Yas said.

"How about I cook breakfast," Lovie offered.

"Do you even know how to make vegan food," Halle asked.

"Girl this is LA. That's all we eat."

After a quick scan of the refrigerator and a once over of the pantry she decided to whip up some banana pancakes and got to work pulling the ingredients out and setting them on the counter by the stove. She was actually not a bad cook and even enjoyed it sometimes, especially times like now when she needed a distraction. She let herself get wrapped up in her task, making a complete mess of the kitchen in the process. Her mother used to scold her for being sloppy in the kitchen whenever she attempted to cook before she left New York, but Lovie had always argued that a messy kitchen was simply a sign of being a committed cook.

"Lovie we going to a party tonight you coming," Yas called from the kitchen table.

"No I'm good," she called back.

She didn't trust herself to go to a party in her current mental state. Plus she really didn't feel like seeing anyone at the moment. She turned back to the pan on the stove and poured the batter, making quick work of finishing the pancakes, plating a few for everyone, and munching on one herself as she cleaned up.

"Come get your plates, I'm not serving anyone," she took her plate and headed to the table bypassing everyone going in the opposite direction.

Halle slid into a chair at the kitchen table and pulled the plate of pancakes close to her. She took a large bite. "These are actually pretty good," she said around a mouthful.

"Mmhm," Chloe agreed.

Lovie rolled her eyes playfully. "Don't sound so surprised. I can cook, a lil sumn sumn." She poured Yas a cup of coffee and placed it on the table in front of her before moving to the counter to grab her own mug, wrapping her fingers around it securely. She took a long sip and peered at her friends over the top of the mug. "So what do you guys have planned for the day?"

Yara shoved another forkful of syrup covered pancakes into her mouth and brushed a hand through her unkempt hair. "I have no idea."

"Oohh let's go on a hike," Yas grinned.

"Let's not," Beans grunted, pancake crumbs flying from his mouth.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you not to talk with your mouth full," Yasmin asked.

Lovie ignored the both of them and looked to Chloe, "What about you? Any plans for the day?"

Chloe shrugged, trying to appear casual. "Nope none."

"What about Pacific Park," Yara suggested.

"Ooh Yes, let's go I've never been," Halle said excitedly.

Lovie took another sip of coffee, "Pacific it is."

"I almost forgot," Halle raised her bottle of water to Lovie, "we're basically cousins now."

Lovie's eyes narrowed, "what do you mean?"

"Your dad...I think he's dating my aunty, she called me this morning," she went back to her food.

Lovie damn near did a spit take. "She told you that?"

Chloe and Yasmin noticed the way the girl's hands shook as she went to place her mug on the table and ran her hands through her hair.

"More or less, yes."

Lovie just sat there stunned, trying to process the information while the rest of the teens eyeballed each other.

"How does she know me," Lovie asked.

Halle got up to clean her dishes, "guess through your dad. He's pretty cool by the way."

Lovie tried to think. Her brain felt fuzzy. Did she just imply that she's met her dad? She turned her head to look at Halle who was behind her.

"You've met my dad?"

"Yeah," Chloe started, making Lovie turn back to the table. "Thursday, he came over Solange's house to meet the family."

Lovie felt woozy for a second, maybe the food wasn't settling well in her stomach. She closed her eyes, trying not to get sick. After a moment, she opened them again, collecting her thoughts. Was her dad this sick that he would dare be in the presence of her friends?

"So your daddy is bumping uglies with Solange? How he pull that off," Beans asked bluntly.

Yara smacked the back of his head, "You can't talk about people's family like that."

-he came over Solange's house to meet the family.

It was those words that echoed through Lovie's head, and the room was suddenly smaller, hotter, and she wanted to be anywhere other than there. She wiped her sweating palms on her legs, trying not to draw attention to the fact that she was close to breaking down right there and then, with everyone watching.

It was Halle that pulled her from her impending panic attack, "Can we hurry and get dressed because me and Chloe have to leave for my mom's by four."

I shouldn't have lied, Lovie thought as she took her plate to the sink. She hadn't seen her father since that last incident and she was honestly afraid of being in his presence, but part of her wanted to go home and give him a piece of her mind for being so callous, so exacting.

"Friend," Yasmine called from behind making the girl flinch. "You've been washing that plate for about ten minutes now. I'm pretty sure it's clean."

"You know I like to over clean," Lovie smiled, placing the dish on the rack before drying her hands.

Yasmin shook her head and proceeded upstairs. For a moment, Lovie wondered if she could win an award for her obvious talent as an actress. If only her friends could spend one moment inside her head to see what was truly going on, would they still want to hang around her? Would they be disgusted by her? Vow to never speak to her again? Lovie exhaled and tried to push her thoughts to the back of her mind as she headed upstairs to get dressed.

About an hour and a half later, the group of six were parked about three minutes from the amusement park. Everyone waited in silence for Chloe to get off of the phone with Beyoncé, so they could walk as a group.

"Ok see you later," Chloe said just before ending the call.

The girl peered out of the window and watched as hundreds of people gathered in lines for rides and food.

"I think I should call my bodyguard," she said.

"Girl It's six of us. We're damn near a gang. If anybody try you, we got you," Yasmin chuckled, receiving nods from her friends.

Chloe sighed and locked eyes with her sister. She wished she had one of those leashes that Caucasian women made their toddlers wear. With this size of this crowd, coupled with Halle's tendency to run off, the thirteen year old would be easy to lose.

"Okay but Halle you stay with me or we're leaving," Chloe said as she opened the car door.

Halle resisted the urge to roll her eyes, almost mumbling about how she wasn't a child, but she was distracted by the sound of people screaming from one of the rides.

"Let's go!" She said with a wide smile and followed behind Chloe.

Yara pinned her hair up and placed some shades on her face before she hopped out followed by twiddle dee and twiddle dumb better known as Yasmin and Beans. Lovie was the last to leave the car. She had to talk herself into it for about two minutes, but she managed. They walked until they reached the huge bright Pacific park signage. Chloe and Halle took in the crisp smell of the beach waters as they stepped onto the pier hand in hand. As Beans,Yas, and Yara discussed which rides they were getting on first, Lovie distracted herself, pretending to look down at her phone, the thought of being in a crowded place causing panic to rise in her chest, that she tried to cover up as best she could.

"Lovie," She barely heard Chloe calling her name, until her hand was on her shoulder. She jumped, her eyes wide and panicked until she realised where she was. Quickly, Lovie tucked her phone back into her bag and bit down on her lip, "You okay," Chloe asked.

Lovie hated that question more than any other, because she never knew how to answer it. Most of the time she would fake a smile and tell the person that she was absolutely fine, because that was what they wanted to hear. If she were to answer the question truthfully, she dreaded the thought of anyone knowing exactly how she felt – she could go into how much pain she was in, how she hated herself, hated her life, longed to be anywhere else, and anyone else.

"Yeah I'm good," she smiled, but Chloe saw right through it.

She looked at her sister, "Halle could you go catch up with Yara?"

Halle, already distracted with the woosh of the rides as they passed them and the oversized Ferris wheel, nodded excitedly and ran off to join the others.

"Look, I don't wanna push-" Lovie quickly cut that sentence off before Chloe could finish, "And I appreciate that." Her tone was bitter, in the hopes that her friend would just get the hint and leave her alone. Instead, Chloe got a little closer to her, and threw her arm around her shoulder. They walked in silence until they caught up with the rest of their group who were holding their spots in line for the 'Pacific Plunger'. Yara turned around after feeling someone tap her shoulder. She was met with a young girl probably around ten years old.

"Can I get a picture," she asked with adoring eyes.

Yara chuckled and removed her glasses, "sure," she said awkwardly, looking at her friends who had amused faces. She bent to the girl's height and smiled into her awaiting phone. "Thank you," she beamed and ran off to join her mother.

"Them glasses don't hide those cheekbones," Beans said.

Just as Halle started to get restless waiting in line, they were at the front being waved over by the worker.

"I'm gonna sit with Yasmin," she grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her over to the seats.

Chloe was not afraid of heights, but she wasn't exactly a fan of them either. The ride was one of those that went up as high as it could and dropped straight down. She didn't see the hype or the thrill of it, but she still sat in the seat and waited for the worker to double check that she was secured in.

"Watch Beans be the loudest one screaming," Yasmin said as the ride began to move up slowly.

"That be y'all, loud as hell for no reason," the boy quipped.

Chloe held her breath and peered down watching as the people started to look like ants. She could hear her sister joking about slipping out of the restraints. Not knowing when the impending drop was going to happen was the worst part.There was a moment of perplexity when the ride came to a halt and all of the friends eyed each other. Chloe gulped with wide eyes watching her feet dangle mid-air

"Are we stu–

The ride shot down like the wind and Chloe squeezed her eyes shut and gripped the bars on each side of her. She could hear Beans and Halle fighting for the title of the most deafening scream. Seconds later, the ride was over and they were all safely on the ground. Lovie and Yara laughed loudly as the restraints were released, but Chloe took one look at her sister and knew they had to hurry to a bathroom.

"Halle girl if you throw up on my shoe I swear," Yasmin quickly moved away.

Chloe prayed they wouldn't be embarrassed by Halle's weak stomach. The thirteen year old swallowed and swallowed again, "we're good," she raised her arms in the air like she had scored a touchdown.

"Thank God, here have a mint just in case," Yas went into her purse handing her friend the entire pack.

-

A few hours later, the group had ridden every ride possible, even the ones for little children at the behest of Beans, Yas, and of course Halle. The group of six walked around trying to find which games they were going to play next. Lovie had found it in her to actually try to have fun with her friends after deciding that tomorrow was the day she was going to tell them all about her father. She needed at least one last hoorah before everything turned to shit.

"Huhhh," Yasmin whined and dramatically stomped her feet after looking at her phone.

"What is it," Lovie asked.

"My mama need me home to watch ZaZa she got paged into work," she frowned.

Halle scrunched up her face, "must be a real emergency."

Yasmin sighed, "Yeah something about being understaffed at the hospital. They need extra surgeons on hand."

"Well it is Saturday in LA. I just know the hospital be bussin'," Beans sipped from his soda.

Yara took her keys out, "let's get you home. We wouldn't want your mom being late trying to save lives and what not."

The group began walking towards the exit and Chloe spotted Terrell parked right out front. She had texted him to pick them up from there hours ago.

"Our driver's here," Chloe announced as she neared Yara's car to retrieve her overnight bag.

"Okay, text me when you make it home," Yara hugged Chloe quickly and went to Halle doing the same.

Everyone else said their farewells and Chloe and Halle ran to slip inside the Terrell express.

"Y'all ain't invite me?" Terrell asked jokingly as he pulled off.

"Next time," Chloe laughed.

-

Chloe, Halle, and Bey were in her office on zoom with a few of Parkwood's finest. The teens were on pins and needles because this was an unscheduled call and they had no idea what it was about.

"So, unfortunately we have some bad news," Pawel started.

Chloe peered to Bey who shrugged her shoulders implying she had no idea what it could pertain. Her foot unceremoniously began to tap and Halle adjusted herself in her mother's lap.

"You know how we talked about releasing your e.p in three months," Pawel asked.

"Yes," Chloe said cautiously.

She looked at the other squares watching as several people wore glum facial expressions and her heart sank.

Pawel dropped his head, "well we won't be able to do that roll out."

Halle smacked her lips and leaned forward on the table with her fist under her chin as Bey tried to hold back her laugh.

"Why," Chloe looked to the blonde for the answer but Pawel started speaking.

"Because we had to push it forward. It'll be released within a month which gives us enough time for promo. I'm talking interviews, magazine spreads, the whole nine yards."

Chloe felt like her heart had stopped. She sat there with a dumbfounded look as Halle squealed into her hands. Something wasn't adding up. Why the sudden push for the release when the label was adamant about building them as artists first before it happened?

"Why the push," Chloe asked.

Pawel clapped his hands, seemingly excited, "thought you'd never ask. Mrs Carter, do you want to do the honors?"

Bey nodded her head smiling from ear to ear, "you two are coming on tour with me."

Halle stood from Bey's lap, "we get to come with you?"

She knew Bey would soon be traveling the world for her tour and was worried the woman would leave them and forget they existed. Chloe, understanding full well what Bey meant turned away from the screen so they wouldn't see her tears drop.

"Yeah, you two are gonna be one of the opening acts," Bey announced.

Halle stumbled back a little, "are you serious?"

"Yes lil bit," Bey assured.

Halle held up her pointer finger, "one second please." She ran out of Beyoncé's office and shut the door behind her leaving everyone thrown until a high pitched scream was heard on the opposite side. Bey and Chloe laughed as Halle made her way back into the room, "okay I'm done." She reclaimed her spot on Bey's lap and listened as Pawel spoke.

"So the next step for you two would be finding a manager. I know we briefly spoke about it, but it needs to happen within a week. We usually go through you, Mrs. Carter when it comes to scheduling them, but things are about to become hectic and it'll be easier for everyone if we get another party involved as quickly as possible."

The other people in the zoom agreed and so did Bey, but she didn't know who she trusted to handle the ChloexHalle Brand if not her.

"Are you two okay with holding interviews starting Monday," she asked the girls.

They both nodded excitedly. "Okay Pawel, and the gang, I'll let you guys go. Please resend that email with potential managers to both of my assistants. I'll let them know to start setting up interviews," Bey waved goodbye to everyone on the call and ended it.

Both Bailey's turned around and hugged the woman tight. "Thank you so much," they said.

Halle pushed her hair out of her face, standing up, "like this is not a joke right? Nobody's gonna call us back and say it's a prank or nothing?"

Bey stood and walked behind Chloe as they headed into the hall, "it's not a prank I wouldn't do y'all like that," she chuckled.

"You swear it?" Halle's southern drawl was back.

Bey chuckled as she walked, "I don't swear."

"That's not what mama T said," Halle made a disapproving cross with her fingers while walking backwards ahead of everyone else.

Bey waved her off. "Don't mind what yo mama T said, this is real girls," she stopped at a random door on the first floor and the girls followed her in.

It was made like a green room with gemstones sitting on shelves next to incense and different types of smudge sticks and plants. The blonde grabbed some white sage and handed it back to Chloe. She grabbed a shell and handed it to Halle. She plucked leaves from four different plants and held them in her left hand. They watched as she searched along the shelves of stones and crystals before selecting four and turning to face them. She told the girls to follow her and headed outside in the back. None of them had on shoes but they didn't mind because the grass felt soft as it brushed along their feet. Bey stopped at a random spot in the grass and took a seat, the girls mirrored her. They looked on curiously as the woman lined the stones up. She held her hand out for the shell and Halle placed it in her hand.

"Have you ever heard of smudging," she asked.

They nodded their heads, "my mom used to do it," Chloe smiled.

They watched as Bey placed the plants inside of the shell.

"Do you remember what the shell is for," she asked.

"It represents one of the four elements; water," Halle said.

Bey nodded, "What are the plants I'm using," she wanted to test their knowledge.

Halle shrugged, but Chloe looked at if she knew.

"Sweatpea," Bey called out.

Chloe turned her face to the sun as she stretched her back out, "cedar, tobacco, sage, and sweetgrass; all gifts from mother Earth."

After fumbling in her pocket for a lighter she grabbed from the room, Bey lit the plants aflame.

"There's your third element," she smiled warmly.

She bent forth and gently blew the flames and the smoke wafted towards the two girls who instinctively inhaled the smoke, giving them their fourth element; air. Both Chloe and Halle pinched their noses at the awful smell emitting from the smoke. They of course knew what it was for, but the smell still gagged them. Bey moved their hands from their faces and stood. She lit the white sage smudge stick and walked around with it making sure the smoke traveled over herself and both of the girls. She wished Blue was there instead of at Kelly's for a play date. Once the plants stopped burning in the shell, Bey blew the sage out as well. She dumped the ashes from the shell into the grass and reclaimed her spot.

"What are those for," Halle asked, pointing to the crystals.

Bey gave the stones a once over, "some crystals I thought you should have for your upcoming week."

She picked the first Crystal up and turned it around in her hand. It was different shades of pink, "For miss Chloe we have the Rose Quartz, it's for love, trust, and emotional healing.

She placed the stone in Chloe's hand. Chloe ran her hand over the smoothness of its surface. "Thank you," she smiled.

The blonde picked up another stone, "For Halle we have Howlite you carry it when you need to surrender yourself or like...letting go of attachments."

"Thank you," Halle tossed the black and white stone from one hand to the next.

Chloe stared at the two stones that were left wondering which one was for her before Bey lifted the small turquoise one, "Aventurine for vitality, confidence, optimism. Who y'all think need this one this week?"

Halle immediately pointed to Chloe who scoffed; she opened her mouth to protest but decided against it, "You know what? It's true it's true. Thank you, Bey," she said as the woman handed the stone to her.

Lastly, Bey lifted a dark-blue stone, "Apatite, for intuition, wisdom, and communication."

"I communicate," Halle said.

"This is more for your wisdom and intuition," Bey placed the stone in her hand as Chloe threw her head back laughing.

Halle pushed her playfully, "I don't know why you're laughing she said you need to work on your optimism."

"Right, I'll just use my wisdom and intuition to think about how I'm gonna do that," Chloe pointed to her sister who had to laugh this time.

"Girls, please don't lose the stones, and try to take them with you everywhere," she said.

"Okay," they agreed.

"Good because when Pawel said things are about to get hectic, he wasn't playing. After we hire a manager for you two more than likely the following day is where the real work begins. Now tell me if things become too much because both of you come first before any of this business stuff," Bey grabbed the shell and stood.

"Like when we get a manager they're gonna work for us right? Not the other way around," Halle asked as they walked.

"Yes, Halle," Chloe answered.

Bey thought about who she could get to accompany them during their work hours if she or Shawn couldn't make it because by the sound of it, they would quickly get into the proneness of doing whatever their manager said like so many new artists before them which could sometimes be career ending. She thought about hiring a nanny because there was no way her family would be able to help out on every occasion due to everyone's busy schedules. They'll be alright, she told herself as they entered the house again. Frances offered them all a cold drink as they took a seat in the family room.

"Thank you," they said in unison.

Bey brought her laptop to the family room and they spent the rest of the hours playing this or that for Bey's tour looks until it was nearing nine. Bey was the first to sigh at the time. Terrell would be driving them back because Bey had to wait on Blue to come home from Kelly's and she hated going to the Hardings anyway. It was always too hard to leave. She sent them to the truck with well wishes and told them she'd see them tomorrow evening and to text her as soon as they got in.

-

Halle rang the Hardings bell for the third time, making sure to lean on it for as long as possible. Gary had escorted them into the porch and was now waiting silently for the door to open. Chloe rolled her eyes and checked her watch. They had been out there for almost ten minutes. Halle turned to walk back to the truck when the door swung open. "My bad guys, was in the zone," BJ opened the door with bloodshot eyes reeking of weed.

"Are you two okay to go in," Gary sized BJ up.

They looked back at him and nodded before heading inside. Terrell honked his horn and waved goodbye as he waited for Gary to get back inside. Bj closed the door behind them.

"By the way the parentals are gone until tomorrow night. Alana said she'll be at a party or something tonight. I'll be in my room bagging for work," he used air quotes. "Knock if you need me, other than that place is all yours," he saluted them and headed upstairs.

Halle went into the room and put her pajama shorts on with a Power-Puff Girls t-shirt and slid her feet into her bunny slippers. She heated up something quick in the microwave and sat on the couch. It felt weird casually being in someone's house when they weren't there. She was busy channel surfing and stuffing her face when her sister joined her clad in a light blue pajama set hugging her knees to her chest.

"What are you watching," she asked.

"Proud Family, Disney doing a throwback night," Halle scooted closer to her sister.

Chloe stared at the screen once it came from the commercial break. The two sisters sat in silence watching as Penny proud and her friends started a girl group and began touring.

"Could you believe that's gonna be us," Chloe asked.

Halle didn't take her eyes from the screen, "actually yes."

"I used to dream about things like this happening. It just seems so surreal ya know? We don't even have an album out and we're opening up for Bey," Chloe smiled.

"To be honest I'm kind of scared," Halle admitted.

"Why," the oldest looked to her toes.

"Because, BB in work mode is an entirely different person. What if she doesn't like our set or is disappointed in what we come up with, look and song wise," Halle stated seriously.

To be honest those thoughts crossed Chloe's mind as well. "We'll just ask her for help. I'm pretty sure she's gonna be heavily involved in the process anyway. We're signed to her label, going on her tour, and we live in the same house...I mean not right now but you get what I'm saying."

Halle nodded, "you're right she wouldn't have brought us on if she didn't think we could deliver."

There was a comfortable silence as the two tuned back to the television. They watched as "Dijonay" made yet another move on "sticky". Halle poked her sister's side with a smile. "That's how Beans act towards you. except you're sticky and he's dijonay."

Chloe chuckled because it truly was.

Halle sat up with a child-like grin on her face, "do you like him?"

Chloe scoffed, "Beans? No!" She said swiftly.

"I saw you at the sleepover when he said you looked beautiful. You was all 'oh Beans, thank you, how ever will I go about my days without your undying admiration and praise," she mocked in a high pitched voice as she blinked her lashes a million times over.

The fifteen year old nudged her sister playfully, "all I said was thank you."

"Mmhm with the reddest cheeks I've ever seen on a black girl," She turned her attention to the tv. "You ever had a crush before?"

Chloe's eyes widened and a frown spread across her face, "no not really."

She was always the type to mind her business and not think of boys while she was at school and that was the only place she would have had the chance to meet anyone to crush on.

"Why," Halle asked.

For a moment, Chloe thought to lie, but then what was the point in it? "Um, to be honest, when I was younger I didn't really think of boys like that. Just as friends ya know? Then when I got to like I'll sayyy twelve or thirteen, I was disgusted by just the thought of even laying eyes on the opposite sex."

"I get that," Halle nodded because she could understand where her sister was coming from, "you think it'll ever stop being that way?"

Chloe thought for a second, "yeah, it will. Just waiting for a little time to pass that's all. How about you, have you had a crush before?"

She couldn't believe what she had asked her sister. Months ago she would've been spooked just to think those words.

"Remember Rayvion," Halle asked.

Chloe's hands went to her mouth, "noo not him! Halle he was horrible!"

"Yeah with his grades," Halle defended.

"And with his mouth," Chloe reminded her. "He always cursed the teachers out."

Halle placed her fist beneath her chin and sighed contentedly, "yeah he did, didn't he?"

Chloe smiled and shook her head, "a shame. Shouldn't you be crushing on eighth graders anyway? Rayvion was older than everybody in our class."

Halle shrugged, "I am a product of my environment."

Chloe didn't understand what her sister meant by that and to be honest she didn't care to ask. All she knew was she was suddenly irritated and didn't want to speak on the matter anymore. They watched the tv until it was watching them. Halle was the first to wake up on the couch and tapped her sister's shoulder so they could retire to the room together. Too tired to climb the stairs, both Bailey's wished for an elevator that would whisk them up the never ending staircase. When they passed BJ's door, there was still loud music playing and Chloe wondered how he could concentrate on anything with all the racket. After they got into the room, Chloe placed the chair underneath the door and crawled into bed beside her sister. They told each other good night and let the sandman's magic do its work.

-

Hours later, Chloe stared at the ceiling fan going round and round. Too many nights were spent like this; her inability to sleep always an issue for her. She got up realizing there was no way she could get back to sleep and decided to get a late snack since she hardly ate anything. Once she opened the door, there wasn't any music playing, rather an unfamiliar sound coming from a room furthest down the hall. If for no other reason than curiosity, the girl followed the noise. It was not long before her curiosity was satisfied; she stood in front of Alana's ajar bedroom door watching as the girl wept into her hands. When did she get home, Chloe thought. Finally, Alana lifted her head from her hands after feeling someone staring, her eyes hard and demanding. "Why are you here?"

Alarmed, Chloe took a step back from the door. "I wanted to make sure you were okay," she said truthfully. No matter how much Chloe told herself she didn't care, the nurturing part of her heart won the battle. Alana remained stone-faced, unmoved by Chloe's words.

"Okay, is that all," she asked with tears still falling from her eyes.

Chloe nodded and turned around to head to the kitchen.

"Wait," Alana called.

The girl stopped in her tracks and turned to see Alana looking at her with doe eyes, "can we talk?"

Talk? What could we possibly have to talk about, Chloe thought as she took a cautious step in the crying girl's direction. Once again she stopped at the door. Alana motioned for her to step in. Every bone in her body told her not to, but her legs were moving by themselves as she entered. Chloe took in the expertly decorated room, a complete opposite to the one she and her sister were occupying. She had no doubt that an interior decorator had something to do with it. She guessed Alana wanted a career in fashion by the three dress forms in the far left corner.

"Have a seat," Alana motioned towards her bed and pulled out a tissue to wipe her nose.

Chloe looked at the spot for a second before she sat. She picked at a loose thread of her pajama sleeve as she waited for Alana to speak. The older girl fanned her eyes, willing the rest of her tears back.

"Chloe," she started, her voice cracked and her eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you and your sister. I'm so sorry. I don't know if you'll ever forgive me but I need you to know. I was wrong and going through my own shit and took it out on you two. You didn't deserve that."

Chloe could smell alcohol on her breath and knew she was at best tipsy. When she didn't offer the girl a reply, Alana reached out to place a tentative hand on Chloe's knee but Chloe instinctively jerked away. Alana's face fell in disappointment as she folded her hands back in her lap.

"Yeah. I just needed to apologize. I needed you to know how truly sorry I am," Alana said, her brown eyes boring into Chloe's own.

"Well, thank you...you know, for being sorry," Chloe said plainly.

She didn't doubt Alana's sincerity but the words felt empty and Chloe remained unmoved by her tear-filled apology. She felt nothing and briefly wondered if maybe she was past the point of accepting apologies from people. Maybe she had heard I'm sorry one, two many times. More than she could count actually and it never changed the outcome. Still, Chloe was still tired of the constant back and forth between them, so she decided to play nice.

"Why were you crying," she asked.

Alana shook her head and tears welled in her eyes again, "Kennedy, she broke up with me tonight. At a party in front of everyone. It was so humiliating."

Chloe's brows met in confusion. Kennedy? The blonde side kick? They were a thing? The fifteen year old tried to hide her surprise but she was no award winning actress.

"Yes, we were together. Not many people knew because I told her my dad would freak out and he was this straight narrow minded republican. Kennedy claimed she was tired of pretending to be besties and decided to just end it all. Just like that. Like I meant nothing to her. You know what? I bet she was cheating all along because who does that," Alana wiped at her eyes once more.

Chloe nodded sincerely, "everything will be fine. It just hurts really bad tonight. Tomorrow, you'll feel better. Maybe even call her up to talk about it and try and work something out."

Alana nodded, "you're right. She was probably just rolling from that pill she popped before she went in."

The room filled with silence. Chloe got lost in thought but pulled back sharply when she felt Alana's lips brush against hers. "What are you doing?" she whispered, completely panicked and thrown off.

"I thought...you...I was," Alana started sputtering nervously.

Chloe stood from the bed and so did Alana.

"I'm not into girls," the frightened teen rushed out.

Something changed in Alana's face and she was suddenly back to that angry girl strutting the halls of Lexington high. "Don't flatter yourself. I can have any bitch at Lexington if I wanted. Ask you BFF Lovie. I think she hates me because we kissed at a party once. But then again we were both drunk off of our ass, she probably doesn't even remember," Alana said darkly, her eyes fixed on Chloe who stood in front of her closet door.

Chloe raised her brow, and crossed her arms over her chest, deciding this conversation wasn't going anywhere good tonight. "Look, I'm sorry your girlfriend left okay? I'm gonna go," she took a step forward but was pushed to the floor with a loud thud.

"This is why I hate you people," she screamed.

Chloe quickly scattered to her feet. Again Alana pushed her with so much force that the girl toppled backwards into the closet.

"No!" Chloe screamed at the top of her lungs, frantically crawling on all fours to get out.

Alana smirked, "do all negro children have an aversion to closets or just you," she grabbed Chloe's hair just as the girl exited the closet and drug her back kicking and screaming.

"No! No please!" Chloe screamed on her knees as Alana began shutting the door.

Anger erupted from the pit of her belly and Chloe began pushing the door from the other side still begging for Alana to show mercy.

"Please! I'm sorry!" She felt herself losing the battle as the light from Alana's room began to become minuscule between the crack of the door.

"I'm sorry Alana, please don't," Chloe wept loudly at the thwack of the door finally slamming shut.

She peered to her left and right and could only see darkness. The girl swiped at her ear, swearing she could feel someone playing with it. Chloe turned the knob and it wouldn't budge.

"God, please," she squeezed her eyes tight as she felt her pulse quicken.

Again, she jingled the knob hoping, praying it would open. Nothing.

"Please, open the door," Chloe cried.

She didn't receive a response. Instead, she heard music blasting from some nearby speakers probably to drown her voice out. Chloe felt for her chest. Her heart shouldn't be beating as fast as it was. It was unnatural.

"I can't breathe," she started to hyperventilate.

Her cheeks were stained with tears as she crashed down to her bottom. Her mind was tangled with images and eerie sounds from her past. She looked around the darkened closet and couldn't see her hand in front of her face. Her heart beat  so fast that it was starting to hurt. The ringing in her ears wouldn't let up and that's when her body gave in. Chloe fell back with one arm clutching her chest begging for more air that wouldn't come. She scarcely felt her eyes roll to the back of her head before passing out in the middle of the closet floor.

⚠️⛔️EXPLICIT📢 CONTENT MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING⛔️⚠️

FLASHBACK

Mike yanked the door open to the small upstairs closet Chloe had been sitting in since the man finished raiding her bedroom ensuring that it was free of anything that could be considered a dress or skirt. Chloe jumped at the sudden commotion and scrambled backwards until her body hit the wall. The man's eyes were dark and wild as he appraised her with a sinister expression. Chloe could feel the anger emanate from him and suddenly she felt like she was suffocating in the enclosed space.

"So you wanted to be fast today," he accused angrily.

Chloe noticed the man was unsteady on his feet and recognized his flushed cheeks and slightly slurred speech. He was drunk.

"The preacher said to hug our neighbors. That's all I did, honestly," the girl tried to explain.

"You don't hug nobody, you know that," he said, stalking over to Chloe with his eyes fixed on her like he was preparing to devour her.

"I'm sorry, it, it won't happen again," she stammered out.

Chloe was genuinely confused because Mike had witnessed the whole thing. The hug was completely platonic, like she was hugging a mother of the church.

"Oh I know it won't," his voice a bit sharper this time.

Mike chuckled darkly, kneeling besides Chloe grabbing the girl's jaw in his hand. He turned her head slowly from side to side to inspect her already battered lip.

"Imma show you how people treat fast ass girls," he hissed in a voice so demon-like, the terrified girl felt herself shudder.

Her body was exhausted from the last two hours of his rage filled rant and her mind was still reeling from having to comfort her confused sister when she herself wanted to crumble.

"You like having boys all over you right," his mocking voice cut into Chloe's thoughts and she tried her best to keep her head up and hold the man's heated gaze, but she couldn't, her eyes fell to the floor.

"I asked a question," he stated simply.

Chloe knew what he wanted her answer to be, but she couldn't bring herself to say it because then she'd be lying. No she didn't like boys all over her. She didn't like anyone all over her.

"I don't," she whispered.

Mike jerked her face towards his, "you lying in my face," he sneered.

He lightly pushed the girl back so that she set up only by her forearms, "you told him how you liked it? Hm? How much your body reacts to me when I'm in it," he asked, sliding one leg over Chloe's thighs so he was straddling her. She swallowed thickly at Mike's words as her head dropped in shame. He was right. How could she deny wanting it when her body responded to his touch?

Mike placed his thumb under Chloe's chin and jerked the teen's head back up. "You love it don't you," he taunted as he slid a hand into Chloe's hair, gripping possessively. She hissed slightly as he tightened his hold and smirked before tugging the girl's head back, leaning in to catch her in a dominating kiss. Mike's teeth purposely snagged the girl's bruised lip and he bit down hard as he pulled back. Chloe tried her hardest not to cry out in pain knowing he would get satisfaction from her tears, but despite her efforts, Mike still smiled
against her mouth before pushing her flush against the floor.

"How do you do it, hm," Mike asked, trailing a hand from the center of Chloe's chest down to her waist band. He pulled at the drawstring of her pale blue pajama bottoms lazily. "How do you get me to love this and hate you at the same time?"

Chloe stared up at the man paralyzed. Mike's knuckles grazed against the taunt skin of her abdomen and she sucked in a shaky breath, her muscles contracting under his touch. Chloe didn't dare try and defend herself and the man briefly moved from the girl to close the closet door completely so there was no longer any light.

No! No! She promised herself she wouldn't hug anybody ever again if this was her punishment. She'd go through life and not allow anyone else to so much as look her way if only God would help her right now. Her lip trembled harshly as she swallowed her feelings. Mike was pretty calm right now and she didn't want to change that. He swiftly dipped his hands into her pajamas, pushing past her panties and shoved his fingers deep inside her. Chloe gasped at the intrusion and slammed her eyes shut tight, her body tensing, not yet prepared for it.

"I fucking hate you. You know that," Mike bit out against her ear harshly.

Chloe could smell the alcohol on his breath as the man breathed hotly against her ear and the smell made her stomach flip. If angry sober Mike could hurt her the way he did, The teen imagined angry drunk Mike would absolutely destroy her. She did her best to keep as quiet as a church mouse and pretended she was somewhere else.

Hold on...p-please, slow...ow...slow down

The words never left her mouth just stupid thoughts to keep her mind occupied until this was all finished. Mike continued to thrust his fingers into the girl. Her body clenched around his fingers and she squirmed uneasily under his weight. If Mike would just slow down and give her a second to adjust, maybe she could get through this. But like always the man was relentless. Instead his hate-filled eyes stared right through her, a baleful grin on his face and a distant look in his eyes. Mike picked up the pace, his fingers slamming into her with enough force to send her head into the wall behind her. Chloe winced as she grit her teeth and tried to bear through the pain. She let out a low whimper and screwed her eyes shut, unable to look at the man's cold eyes any longer. She tried to get to the place in her mind where she tricked herself into believing he was doing this out of love, but her body was tense and rigid and there was an uncomfortable pain between her legs, and an even deeper ache sitting heavily inside her chest.

She couldn't breathe like this.

Couldn't think.

And she couldn't pretend this person on top of her had any love for her when every thrust of his hand between her legs felt like a stab to the heart.

She didn't exactly want this disgusting twisted version of Mike that had woken her from bed nearly every night over the last two years, but she had wanted him. She wanted him to acknowledge her presence when it didn't have anything to do with...with what did she call this? She wasn't quite sure. She wanted him to show her as much kindness as he showed her sister. She wanted the love that was exclusive to only Halle for some reason. She wanted a father, so she had let her mind rationalize what he was doing to her at times so she could have just a moment or two of attention or affection, whichever came first.

Her resolve began to crumble under his roughness. She couldn't take it anymore.

Chloe noted Mike's steely expression and the glassy look of determination in his eyes and her panic increased, unable to recognize anything human in the man's cold indifferent face. She knew he was too strong, and too focused to be deterred. Screams from the pits of her gut died in her mouth just before they could escape her lips.

The teen could hear the doorknob to the closet twist and she slightly lifted her head. Mike pushed her back onto the floor. Her heart leaped into her throat and she found herself holding her breath and staring at the door as the door knob turned again. She was terrified the person on the other end of the door would be her sister. It twisted again, this time opening. The teen's heart could've died in her chest at that moment as she was in a gridlocked stare off with Tasha.

Mike halted his hand, stilling suddenly as his eyes widened in shock after turning and facing his wife. Tasha looked down at her husband's hand between Chloe's legs and then up at Mike himself who had a faux look of stupor as if he only just realized what he was doing. Chloe took advantage of Mike's "shock" and scrambled back towards the wall, straightening out her pajama pants. Her whole body shook and she couldn't quite decide if she wanted to burst into tears or apologize to the woman at her feet and beg for her forgiveness. The decision was quickly taken away when Tasha scowled and slammed the closet door shut. Mike smacked his lips and looked back at Chloe. "You ain't nothing but trouble."

-

CHLOE

I pulled my knees impossibly close to my chest realizing I had been in my head for entirely too long. I gazed up at all of Alana's clothes and shoes surrounding me and sighed heavily to myself. I looked over my left shoulder and then my right. Wait, who is that, staring back at me? Is someone here for me? Before me, in a small clearing of the many clothes hung on plush hangers was a girl with a pain-riddled face and fear-sodden eyes as she stared down at me. A sallow hand emerged from behind a pink cashmere sweater and reached out for me. I leaned forward and touched her hand with my fingertips and smacked my lips. No, it's my stupid mirror playing tricks. Suddenly, the eyes of the face thinned and the lips curled into a malevolent smile. She sat next to me mirroring my movements.

"What's your day been like? Has it been alright," she asked sincerely.

I nodded and put some space between us both.

"You good? Mkay we both trill," she nodded casually staring straight ahead at the door and nudged me with her elbow with an honest smile, "cause if you good then that means I'm tight."

Without warning, she pulled my journal from behind her. A number two pencil fell to the floor when she opened it to a blank page. She tapped the pencil on her chin and looked to the ceiling before her eyes landed on me, "can you help me think of words that rhyme with tight?"

I ogled her like she was insane and ignored the request. The girl didn't pay me any attention.

"Hmm bright, spite, nite," she scribbled something in the book.

I tried peering over her shoulder, but she slammed the journal closed and sneered in my direction.

"Hype," I said after watching her struggle for a while.

She pointed the pencil at me, "that's a good one! Let's seee."

She scribbled in the book again, "how does this sound," she cleared her throat, "cause if you good then that means I'm tight. All we need is hype since there's no one else to answer they Aight," she sang confidently.

I gave her a small smile, "sounds pretty good."

She bowed sarcastically and we both chuckled. 

Laughing hysterically, the girl sank onto the floor and gripped onto the journal. Her chest expanded and lowered rapidly causing her to begin to hyperventilate. What's happening? The tears glided over making her a blubbering mess. She fell to her left and began to shake violently, her sleek eyes going blurry from the wetness. I could hear sounds like someone had turned on a faucet and before I knew it, water seeped in under the closet door briskly covering my feet. The girl cried harder and the water seeped faster going over my ankles.

"Stop crying," I told her.

The girl didn't seem to care that she laid in what was now a shallow bank. She carried on with her wailing until the dirty water seeped almost too fast.

"Tears aren't gonna help you. You're only drowning yourself," I tried again.

The girl sat up now with soaked hair but didn't let up on her tearful crusade. The water touched my calf. If she kept at this rate she'd drown us both. My hands slammed on the door as I screamed for someone to let me out.

"Mommy," the girl cried next to me.

"Let me out," my hands came down on the door each time until the girl slipped down onto the floor with a broken sob, not caring that the water covered her legs.

"Let me out," she repeated after me, over and over again, her breathing heavy as the tears continued to fall.

I wanted to curl up in a ball and just sleep for as long as I possibly could. Hopefully I'd wake up and be back home.

"Mommy," the girl wiped at her face.

The water rose again and she had to stand. We're gonna drown!

"Open the door! Let me out!" I screamed as I pounded the door with both of my fists.

"Mommyyyyyy," her cry was desperate.

I whipped my head around to her, "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

She gave me a displeased look and yanked at my hand. Her grip was stronger than it should have been considering her age. What was she nine? Ten? I don't know. She had the strength of a person three times her size as she pulled my arm, leading me to the back of the closet. I tried prying her fingers away but they wouldn't budge. She peered back at me with a child-like smile as she skipped singing some odd tune.

Yippity-yap yippity-yap-yap

Yippity-yap    yap-yap-yap-yap

Yippity-yippity-yippity-yippity-yap

White.

OMNISCIENT

Chloe took in her new surroundings. She stood in the middle of what looked like a grocery store, but something was off. The hum of some old school tunes played on the radio. There weren't any people in the store and no sounds of carts scraping the floor or someone calling over the loudspeaker for a clean up in aisle twelve to hint that there was any company other than Chloe and the cashier.

"Alright have a good evening ma'am," the teenage worker said with a smile.

Chloe looked to see if there was anyone there but knew her and the cashier were alone in the store.

"Alright have a good evening ma'am," he said again.

The teen went to take a step forward toward the red and white exit sign and wasn't surprised at the sound of water sloshing at her feet. She looked down to see murky water but this time it was tainted with a dark crimson color coming from the cheerful cashier's conveyor belt giving the shallow waters an eerie cherry pink hue.

"Ugh," she lifted her right foot disgusted by the feel of water leaking into her shoes.

"Alright have a good evening ma'am."

BANG

Chloe dropped to a kneeling position at the sound of a single gunshot a little too close to her ear. She duck-walked until she was inside the seasoning aisle, blood pumping twice as fast to keep up with the rhythm of her accelerated heartbeat. She waited for another shot to ring out but it never came. On edge, she stood needing to get to an exit quick.

The lights flickered harshly the moment Chloe took a step. In the distance, she could hear her mother's voice, desperately crying out for her before another bout of silence washed over the grocery store. There were familiar screams coming from the back of the aisle Chloe stood in front of that seemed to echo through the store, screams she had heard far too many times before and she felt herself starting to sob. She couldn't be back here, but those screams could've only come from one person; herself.

"Go on sweetie he's ready for you," someone said.

Chloe flinched and turned around. An elderly white woman came into her line of vision, her hand rested on a cart full of food, but she didn't appear to be speaking to her. Chloe poked her head over the woman's shoulder to see who was at the front of the line and sighed.

Shit.

She couldn't see her face but she knew it was her, she could feel her presence; her doppelgänger. Menacingly slow, the teen slithered her way to the nine year old placing items onto the conveyor belt. Her feet drug due to the steadily rising water. The young child seemed to struggle with the last item because she was bent over the cart stretching her arm to reach the vanilla extract. The cart nearly tipped over and Chloe placed her hand on the handle to steady it.

She didn't feel like herself. Her body felt heavy and it was like someone else controlled her every movement as she grabbed the bottle from the cart and placed it on the belt. The nine year old's eyes were clouded with confusion when she looked up, and stared at Chloe in front of her as though she had no idea where she was, or how she had gotten there. Chloe didn't say a word as she looked at her younger self. Her eyes moved to the clock on the wall.

"Alright have a good evening ma'am."

The teen turned to her right and there she was as beautiful as Chloe remembered; her mother.

"Mama?" the teen girl felt as though she may faint.

"Careful now," Lisa placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder inching backwards.

BANG

Chloe lost her footing and fell to the floor with a splash. She covered her ears as the sound of bullets whisked past her head each bang louder than the last.

"Agh," she cried when something heavy fell on top of her, taking her breath away.

She knew what it was or rather who it was lying there shielding her body from being harmed. She began to panic crawling backwards attempting to get away from the awful scene.

"Mommy," Chloe yelled as she watched her mother's chest rise and fall as she laid there in the bloodied water.

She couldn't tell whether it was water all over her face, tears, or her mother's blood, but she supposed it was a mixture of all three. Chloe crawled towards her mother attempting to reach out to her but as soon as her fingertips came dangerously close to Lisa's face, Chloe was standing in the middle of the store once again alone with dirty water at her feet.

"Alright have a good evening ma'am," the teenage worker said with a smile.

Chloe looked to see if there was anyone there, her actions seeming a little too familiar.

"Alright have a good evening ma'am," he said again.

Can he shut up, she thought. Her eyes darted for the exit sign and her feet began to move by their very own merits in the opposite direction. No! She had to get out! Her legs felt like boulders when she struggled against the pull trying desperately to leave. She blinked and stood in front of the seasoning aisle.

"Go on sweetie he's ready for you," this time Chloe wasn't surprised when she turned to see the elderly woman with white hair.

No no no no

Spotting her doppelgänger in line, the teen tried her best to avoid her. She held onto a display table at a feeble attempt at resisting the pull. Why did it want her to talk to the ghoul girl so bad? Chloe fell flat on her face hitting her chin harshly on the epoxy floors. She was being pulled by her left leg for some time until she was face to face with her dead ringer.

"Alright have a good evening ma'am."

Confusion seemed to cloud the ghoul girl's brain, and she rubbed her eyes as if seeing an ethereal being.

"Alright have a good evening ma'am," the cashier smiled at no one once more.

The teen glanced at the clock.

BANG
          BANG
                    BANG

The sound was as if the gun had been pointed directly at her head, it was so loud. The water's color changed to a darker red.

"We have to go," she shot into action all of a sudden.

Chloe could feel the water almost to her knees now.

"We have to go," Chloe emphasized.

The awestruck girl opened her mouth to say something, a panicked look clear on her face, but the words wouldn't come out. The beeping as the cashier scanned the items blared loudly in Chloe's ear. She grabbed the shadow girl's hand and proceeded to walk in the other direction, but the water was to Chloe's waist now and to the girl's chest. They were soaked, and Chloe knew what was going to happen next. The beeping was quicker than it had been, and little Chloe began to panic as she shook her head and pulled her hand from the teen's.

BANG
          BANG
                    BANG

"No," Chloe grabbed her forearm pulling the girl into her side.

The ghoul girl clung to her waist now, pushing her face into Chloe's stomach. It took all the strength she had, but the teen managed to lift the phantom being onto her back. Chloe had to loosen the girl's grip around her neck because she was choking her trying to hold on. The ceiling began to rattle at its hinges creating small cracks in the drywall. Gobs of crimson water gushed from the crevices. With the phantasm child on her back, Chloe whirled in circles unsure of where to go. She blinked and stood upright in front of the cashier.

"Alright have a good evening ma'am."

No no no no

BANG

Chloe could feel the girl's grip tighten around her neck again as she held the girl's legs to make sure she stayed afloat.

BANG

Her eyes met with the cashier's eyes, and her heart stopped for a second as the boy craned his head to the left terror-stricken.

BANG

Smaller Chloe let out a whimper and began to wiggle attempting to get down.

BANG

Sweat gathered on the worker's forehead as he tried opening the register, but it wouldn't budge. It was as if they were able to see something that Chloe couldn't.

"Mommy," the little girl croaked, still wiggling from Chloe's grip.

Like a rabid dog, the girl bit down hard on Chloe's hand causing the teen to lose her grip. The ghoul girl splashed hard into the water quickly sinking to the ground.

"No," Chloe screamed, searching the darkened water frantically for a trace of the girl's body.

Her fingers trembled as she looked for signs of air bubbles, but found none. As the water went higher, her heart beat faster. She took in a gulp of air and went underneath the dirty liquid. Eyes open. Heart still racing. Was she even in the store anymore? It seemed more like the ocean. She could spot the doppelgänger at the bottom near some rocks possibly unconscious or worse. That was when the true panic began, she kicked and thrashed trying to find the ground below her, to get hold of the child, but it was of no use. Chloe swam to the top hyperventilating for a few moments before she plunged herself back under. The water was too deep; it was rising past her shoulders as she struggled to stay in control of herself. She took in a breath, deep mistake, water poured into her mouth and her throat began to burn. The water was lapping faster now, her clothes were drenched but she no longer felt cold, her body just felt numb, and no matter how hard she reached out in hope of grasping the girl's hand she couldn't get close enough.

Again Chloe swam to the top spitting up the water from her lungs. She felt helpless. She looked around and was engulfed in nothing but darkness, but she couldn't focus on that. She took a longer breath ensuring her cheeks were filled with air and tried again. Soon the water rushed up over her head again and she used the last of her energy to swim further than she had before. She reached one last time, a futile attempt, for the girl's hand just barely grazing her fingertips. One more downward stroke and Chloe's hand clapped around the younger girl's. She yanked quickly fearing that she would lose air soon. The phantom being was heavier than before because of the water weight. With one hand wrapped around smaller Chloe's middle, she used her dominant right hand to wade through the water. She was almost out of air and had no more power or energy to fight the rising currents anymore. She could feel the world blur around her and a wash of guilt swept over her. Was she just about to give up and not think about the people who cared for her? The people who loved her? With newfound energy, Chloe finally made her way to the top. She struggled getting the younger girl's head above water, but managed. 

She had no idea what to do until the bright fluorescent lights came on and she was once again faced with the Whole Foods cashier. Her hands slammed over her ears when the echo of ear-splitting BANGS carried through the air. Though still drenched, the front of Chloe's shirt grew warm. The bullets sounded again and the teen let out a frustrated scream before she dropped to her knees with her back leaned against the moving conveyor belt. That's when she spotted her. Young apparition Chloe lay flat on her back gasping for air, coughing and spluttering up water. Chloe let out a sob, her eyes closed tightly, waiting for the next round of bullets but it never came. Slowly, she crawled towards herself in a sense and kneeled before her. She  couldn't breathe. Chloe found herself gasping for air just as the ghoul girl on the floor was. She fell to her back, the two laying side by side. She felt as though she was drowning but it was different, her world was completely dark.

No, Chloe told herself.

Get up she needs you!

Breathless, Chloe gathered the stamina to turn on her side. Water spilled from her mouth. She pushed herself up feeling heady and lethargic but couldn't focus on it. The teen turned the small child on her side watching her spit up the remainder of the water.

"Chloe," she heard a voice from a distance.

"Chloe," it sounded again but it was so unfamiliar to her ears.

She snapped herself out of the trance-like state she found herself in and realized she hadn't left Alana's closet. A thin layer of sweat was over her body and she surveyed the person who called her name. Bj stood before her with one hand on the closet doorknob with a worried expression.

"Did Alana lock you in here," he asked.

Chloe remained silent.

BJ took a step forward offering his hand to help her stand, but Chloe pushed herself back against the wall.

"Is everything okay? You were passed out," he stated.

He could see the dried tear stains on the girl's face and the new ones that were forming. Again he reached out to her.

"Please don't," Chloe shook her head.

BJ raised a brow and backed away, "do you need me to call someone? The ambulance?"

He was once again met with the girl's silence and turned on his heel to get help. Halle, Chloe thought. She pushed herself to her feet and dashed out of the closet and out of Alana's room down to the guest room she shared with her sister. She bulldozed her way in and rushed toward the bed where her sister slept soundlessly.

"Halle," Chloe shook her sister awake desperately.

"What's wrong," the girl sat up on her forearms noticing the crazed look in her sister's eyes.

Chloe pulled the covers from Halle madly, "we have to go."

"Huh," she was still half asleep.

In a haste, Chloe grabbed her backpack stuffing her journal and her crystals inside. This was all she needed. She grabbed her sister's as well speedily stuffing her laptop inside along with a few homework assignments she had scattered on the desk. She turned to face her sister, "put your shoes on we're leaving!"

Halle didn't hesitate she sprang into action, her mind buzzing white from sleep. She could sense something was terribly wrong. The thirteen year old chose a random pair of shoes quickly slipping her feet inside. She ran to grab her phone.

"Hurry," Chloe called from the door.

Heart beating almost out of her chest, Halle tripped over herself as she got to the door. The fifteen year old grabbed her sister's hand pulling her through the house. They were scampering down the steps when BJ called over the banister.

"I tried calling my parents, but they didn't answer."

Chloe and Halle looked his way only for a second before they were out of the door and sprinting down the street. The two sisters ran for half a mile before they had to stop. Chloe sucked in heaving breaths, hands on her knees as she buckled over, unable to take one more step. She'd pushed herself a little too hard, she realized as the pain in her calves blazed up her hamstrings and into her back. Everything felt locked, seized up tight. She placed a hand out to steady herself on a nearby streetlight. Halle mirrored her sister breathing heavily. She winced through the pain in her legs, her eyes gazed upward.

It was dark.

The thirteen year old looked around, hands on her hips, still breathing hard. How long had they been running?

"What's going on," Halle finally asked, still trying to catch her breath.

"We needed to get out of there," Chloe had two book bags on her shoulder as she began waking.

"Why," Halle struggled to keep up with her sister.

"We just did."

A silence fell amongst them as they continued down the street. Halle shivered a bit once the cold air hit her legs. She looked down and cringed at the extremely short length of the pajama shorts she had on. The chill of the night hit her mildly clad skin again and she rubbed her arms to warm herself.

"Where are we going," she finally asked.

Chloe pulled out her phone noticing that it was dead, "what percent is your phone on?"

Halle checked hers, "I forgot to charge it. I was using my laptop. Maybe we should go back."

"No, we can't go back there," Chloe handed Halle her bag.

The oldest girl checked her bag going into her wallet to see how much cash she had on her. All twenties, no change. They would need to go to a store.

"You could have at least let me put on pants before you dragged me outside like a dog," Halle complained as they made their way across a random street.

Chloe looked her sister over with a frown, "sorry."

As they continued walking, Halle didn't bother looking up. She didn't really look at anything as she followed Chloe's form. She wasn't sure where they were going, how they were getting there, but Chloe always seemed to know the way. They walked in silence until they were in front of a gas station about a mile from the Harding home, but all Halle saw was the dull white light shining out onto the pavement in front of them. Chloe grabbed her sister's hand and entered the store heading straight back to grab two bottles of water and two personal packs of Oreos to keep her sister occupied for a while. The Middle Eastern man behind the counter looked as though he wanted to ask a question but thought better of it and rang them up for their items.

"Do you know how to get to Trousdale Estates from here," Chloe asked.

The cashier nodded, "take the fifteen bus, should lead you there," he said with a thick accent.

Chloe nodded and held the gas station door open for her sister.

"What's in Trousdale," Halle asked as they quickly left.

"Kelly's house. She doesn't live that far from here," Chloe handed Halle her Oreos.

"And we're taking the bus," Halle exclaimed.

Chloe placed her backpack down on the bus stop bench and stood before it.

"Halle please, you've taken the bus plenty of times," she uncapped her water.

"Yeah but never at night and we don't have security," she took a bite from her cookie.

Chloe was halfway through her bottle of water when a man in his thirties approached her. The bus stop was practically in the gas station parking lot, but she didn't remember seeing him pull up. He was carrying a plastic bag in his left hand, so she reasoned he must have been inside the store already. She realized then she was thinking irrationally when she left the Harding home.

"Hey sweetheart, want some company?" he offered, striding over to her with a smarmy smile.

Her voice hitched in her throat. She peered to her sister who had crumbs over her face with wide eyes. Why couldn't people just leave her be?

"What I want is for you to get out of my face," Chloe snapped at him, lifting her eyes to give him a withering glare of disgust.

"Whatever. Bitch." She heard him mutter to himself before he got into his car and peeled out of the parking lot.

She took a long drag from her water bottle and ran her hands through her hair pulling tightly at the roots as she tried to slow her heart rate. The two sisters waited for the bus for over ten minutes. Chloe shouldered her backpack and counted the money out for both her and her sister. Halle stepped onto the bus first, still chomping on her cookies and sat at the very back. This was all too familiar for Chloe. Whenever they missed the school bus back in Atlanta they'd catch the city bus and Chloe would hold onto the money to pay for them both. The bus driver ogled the teen's shabby appearance as Chloe attempted to get the wrinkles out of the five dollar bill. With shaky hands, she pushed the money carefully into the machine. Once the bus accepted it, she lowered her head hiding her face from the few passengers looking worse for wear. There were only three other patrons: A middle aged black mother soothing her crying infant, a white man possibly in his sixties with long white hair and an unkempt beard visibly drunk, and a young Hispanic woman in a nurse's uniform who frequently nodded off.

Halle gazed out the window with her head on her sister's shoulder as she opened the other pack of cookies. Chloe's foot wouldn't stop tapping as her eyes followed the map on the bus. She counted the stops until they reached Kelly's house which was about twenty. Luckily it was late and not many people took the bus around those parts, so the bus driver didn't have to stop as often.

It was just after two in the morning when the bus driver yelled at the girls that it was his last stop. Chloe shook her sister awake and grabbed their book bags.

"We gotta walk," Halle asked when they stepped off.

"It's not that far, look, I can see her house from here," she pointed.

Halle sighed and Chloe felt bad that she had her sister outside this late in her sleep shorts, but she wouldn't have been able to go to sleep in that house ever again. Alana was getting too out of hand for her. She pulled her sister into her side and started the ten minute trek to the Witherspoon residence.

-

"He's finally sleep," Kelly said as she entered her and her husband's bedroom.

Tim walked over with a telling smile to meet his wife's face, "you know what that means right," he asked with bedroom eyes.

He was close enough to kiss her, but he stopped and reached one hand behind her head to release the clip holding the massive mane of curls holding her hair. Kelly gave a light shake as the coils fell against her face.

"I like the way you think," Kelly smiled and laughed her infectious laugh.

His delicate kisses trailed the side of his wife's neck. He nibbled, licked, and kissed his way down to her chest. Kelly exhaled at his tongue on her breast.

"That feels good," she threw her head back.

Tim lifted his wife and pushed her against the wall bringing his kisses back up to her neck. Their doorbell sounded and Kelly's eyes fluttered open.

"Baby, someone's at the door."

Tim continued with his slow kisses, "whoever it is can wait."

The doorbell sounded again.

"Baby go get the door. It's after two in the morning. What if it's an emergency," Kelly patted her husband's shoulder to let her down.

"Okay but you mine when I come back," he kissed her lips again.

"Always," she said as her husband left the room.

Tim took the stairs quickly, "who the hell rings somebody doorbell at two in the morning," he muttered.

The man turned on the light to the front room and peered through the peephole.

"What the hell," he said aloud.

He unlatched the door and opened it revealing the sullen faces of the Bailey sisters as they made their way inside.

"Baby," he yelled for his wife.

Kelly came down the steps in her matching champagne colored silk nightgown and matching robe as she tied the string tight around her waist, "who is-

She slowed her steps once her eyes landed on the two teenage girls standing in her foyer in their pajamas. Tim and Kelly exchanged looks as she approached Chloe and Halle who hadn't opened their mouths yet.

"Girls what's going on is BB with you," she asked and peered towards her door.

Chloe only shook her head in response. Kelly placed her hand on their backs and helped them sit on her couch. She softly moved to sit next to Halle. Her heart sank when the girl moved to put her hand in hers and rested her head on her shoulder.

"What's going on," Kelly's voice was soft.

"I don't know. Chloe woke me up and said we had to leave," Halle said.

Kelly looked to Chloe, her brown eyes fell to a close and Kelly knew she must have been exhausted, she wished she would say something.

"How'd you get here," she asked.

"We took the bus," Halle said

Tim wiped at his face and walked into the kitchen. Kelly stood and went to use her house phone. Chloe leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes for just a moment.

"Mhm," Kelly said into the phone, "Tim opened the door and they was just there."

Halle turned around and listened as the woman spoke.

"They say they took the bus," Kelly and Halle locked eyes.

"Ok, see you in a few," the woman placed the phone down on the receiver.

-

BEY

Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I hopped out of bed not bothering to change out of my pajamas and ran down the hall to Blue's room. What the hell were they doing at Kelly's house? And to take a bus at this time? Why didn't they call anybody? I picked Blue up from her bed glad she didn't wake up because I don't want her seeing me panicking like this. Blue squirmed in my arms as we waited for the elevator. Come on come on come on! Finally the doors opened and I got on. Did something happen to them? Were they hurt? I mean Kelly said they seemed fine, but what had them leaving the house in the middle of the night and hop on the bus by themselves? I adjusted Blue in my arms and slipped on some slides that were by the door. Blue didn't need no shoes. I could just carry her to the car. I grabbed some keys from the table and ran out of the door to the garage.

Which car is it? I clicked the key fob making the Benz coup chirp and flash its head lights. I ain't have time to call for a driver plus Kelly was a fifteen minute drive from me. I scrambled to put Blue in the backseat and buckled her in before running around the front of the car to get in the driver's seat. Before I knew it, I was in front of the gate waiting for it to open.

"Hellooo," I yelled out of the window at the guard.

Is he sleep? I honked the horn twice and he jolted up squinting his eyes at the bright headlights.

"Sorry Mrs Carter," he tipped his hat.

Boy if you don't open this gate! He pressed the button and the gates started to move slowly. Oh my God! I tapped the steering wheel. Did these gates always open this slow? Once it was open enough for me to squeeze the car through, I peeled out down the road doing eighty five swerving lane to lane with fire in my eyes. I had a million thoughts going through my mind until I pulled into Kelly's driveway. Blue was still sleep when I lifted her into my arms again. Tim opened the door before I could get to the porch.

"Where they at," I handed Blue off.

"In the front. I'll lay Blue in her room," Tim nodded, shutting the door behind me.

-

OMNISCIENT

Chloe hadn't spoken a word to anyone since the moment she had gotten to Kelly's home, she stared into space as she pondered over what events led to her running there in the first place. Kelly had tried to get the girl to speak, repeatedly asking her what happened, but the teen couldn't bring herself to say 'someone locked her in a closet' fearing that they would think she overreacted. Halle sat with her legs pulled onto the couch as she leaned her head against one of Kelly's fancy decorative pillows. Chloe made sure to sit as far away from her sister as she possibly could when her anger had become too much from her spiraling thoughts. Why did she make a big deal of this? Why did she fall for Alana's stupid mind games? Was she actually stupid?

But before Chloe could answer her own questions, Beyoncé rushed into the room with wide eyes. The fifteen year old immediately went rigid, a jolt of fear shot straight through her like an electric current. For what reason? She couldn't put her finger on it at the moment. Chloe had no idea how long she had been staring at the wall for, but she looked up to see Beyoncé bending close to her face.

"What happened," the blonde pressed.

Chloe answered with a small shrug of her shoulders but didn't say anything in response. Bey was looking at her daughter, silently begging her to just say something, anything! Beyoncé recognized when Chloe was in her shut down mode, so she turned to Halle who just sat there looking so helpless. The blonde was on her knees gripping each of the girl's hands.

"What happened baby tell me," her eyes darted back and forth between them.

Chloe felt as though sometimes, she could be sitting in the room minding her business and somehow, she'd be back in the closet the moment she blinked her eyes and it was hell trying to pull her mind from that and that was what she devoted all of her attention to. Not the worried woman in front of her. Unfortunately.

"Chloe woke me up and said we had to leave quick. That's all I know," Halle averted her eyes.

The rims of Bey's eyes filled with tears and she stood only to sit in between the two children. The blonde hated how Chloe hesitated when it came to moving towards her, and she loathed how she did the same for fear of scaring her. Neither of them had to say a word to each other as Bey's arms wrapped around Chloe. Her eyes fell to a close; she felt safe again. Chloe knew deep down that Beyoncé would never hurt her; not knowingly. However that didn't stop the fact that she couldn't breathe. She couldn't tear herself from her own mind for two seconds to give Bey her answers.

"Talk to me baby girl please," the woman tried.

Chloe remained silent and Bey turned to Halle.

"Somebody know you two left the house?"

Halle sat with her feet beneath her, "mm the Hardings wasn't home and all I saw was BJ before we left."

Slowly, Bey moved her fingers through her hair and she thought about everything – the things Chloe had told her that had happened in the past, the fact that she wouldn't speak, the look in her eyes.

"Did something happen with BJ," Bey prayed she'd say no, but the girl didn't utter a word.

Beyoncé finally noticed the red hue to the girl's cheeks and realized she had been holding her breath the entire time.

"Chloe," Bey patted her back, "no don't do that to yourself baby, breathe...let it out," she rubbed at the girl's chest.

Wired up, mind all over the place, Chloe didn't let any air escape her mouth. Not because she refused but because she couldn't. Her lungs burned and the room became increasingly warm. Seconds later, Kelly waltzed into the front room holding two piping hot cups of chamomile tea. Halle watched her sister casually, unfazed by the scene in front of her.

"Chloe please," Bey was now on her knees holding the girl by the sides of her cheeks, "baby nooo don't do this...breathe for me!"

Kelly placed the cups down gently and kneeled beside her sister, "she not breathing?"

The blonde turned to Kelly shaking her head.

"Chloe, honey," Kelly rubbed her arm in comfort.

She felt the teen shift beside her, meaning she was listening, "you're okay."

Chloe blinked repeatedly as her body began to sway to the right until Bey steadied her.

"You're gonna pass out!" Bey tried.

The girl's eyes were low but she blinked and blinked again until she regained her pensive stare.

"Chloe stop! Stop it right now!" Bey screamed getting overwhelmed.

Halle flinched at her tone and took a sip from the teacup Kelly supplied. The doorbell sounded, gaining Kelly's attention.

"I'll get it," Tim offered when he came from the kitchen.

Who else was at her door this late? The woman stood waiting to see who the mystery person was.

Standing at a full six feet two inches, Shawn made his way into the front room.

"Tim called me," he said with his hands in his pockets.

"Baby she's not breathing," Bey wiped at her face.

Halle's eyes followed the man intensely as he crossed the room with a frown etched deep into his face. He regarded Chloe's russet complexion and the sweat that made her skin look dewy. Both Kelly and Bey moved out of his way, looking on as he wordlessly reached for Chloe's hand. When he wasn't met with any resistance, he stood her to her feet. Getting Chloe to walk proved to be a difficult task as the distraught teen was fidgety and unsteady, but Shawn was persistent and eventually her right foot moved forward causing her left to follow. Beyoncé sat next to Halle feeling tired and worn down as she watched her husband whisper into Chloe's ear.

"Can't nothing touch you," he whispered, "ain't a soul on Earth getting to you cause they gone have to go through me. You harming yourself right now and your sister's watching," He whispered.

"Find that calm, try and get out of your head," he looked the girl dead in her face and could tell she was trying to listen to his words, actually hear them.

"I know it's hard. Trust me, I do, but let it out Chloe. You can stop whatever is going on in your head. It could just go away like that if you let it. Breathe, let it go. I got you."

Chloe's took in an extended gasp of air and the color slowly but surely returned to her face. She staggered back, like she had been dealt a powerful blow. All of a sudden, she appeared panicked. She pulled her hands from Shawn's and ambled down the hall towards a random bathroom. Flinging the bathroom door open, she collapsed onto the tile and lurched forward to vomit into the toilet bowl.

She remained on her knees, her face full of tears and her body shook with sobs as she retched up the contents of her stomach. It was all so messed up, she thought. She was so messed up.

A knock on the bathroom door startled Chloe and she tried desperately to wipe the tears from her face with the back of her hand.

"Chloe," Shawn called from the other side of the door.

She reached up from her spot on the floor to grab a washcloth from the vanity. She wiped at her eyes and mouth and slumped back against the tub, letting the coolness of the porcelain soothe her.

"It's okay if I come in," he asked.

No.

Memories of her mother's last moments flooded Chloe's mind and she pushed her hands into her hair and scratched at her scalp, wanting desperately to claw the horrible images out of her head.

The sound of the bullets. The smothering feeling of her mother's body on top of her. The constant ringing in her ear. The warm blood that covered her hands. The nasty copper smell. The look of horror on her mother's face. The look of acceptance on her mother's face.

"Chloe," Shawn knocked again.

The girl pressed the washcloth to her mouth to muffle her cries as her shoulders shook with the power of her sobs. She slammed her body back against the tub with an anguished cry. Again and again till her back ached with pain from the ledge of the tub smashing into her spine. Pain. She had become accustomed to pain in the past few years, it was almost a welcomed feeling when she felt it again.

I killed her!I killed her! I killed her! It was me!

The door clicked and Shawn peeped his head in. He saw that she was okay but looked a bit frenzied. The man stepped inside taking calculated steps as to not frighten her.

"Don't close the door please," she begged with her face resting on her knees.

Shawn nodded and sat beside her on the floor. After nearly fifteen minutes of abundant silence, he gingerly reached for the cloth in Chloe's hand. She allowed him to take it as her sniffles dissipated.

"Let me see," Shawn said and slowly tilted her chin up.

The man used the cloth to wipe away the remainder of her tears, "you wanna tell me what happened?"

Chloe's eyes searched Shawn's and she didn't know if it was from the earnest tone he used or the fact that he simply requested something from her, but the teen felt compelled to speak.

"Alana," Chloe whispered.

Shawn shifted slightly on the floor, "Alana? Who's she?"

Another tear ran down the girl's cheek, "this girl from school... she, she hates me. One day I accidentally bumped into her in the hall and she spilled coffee all over herself."

Chloe looked away for a moment and Shawn waited for her to continue.

"I didn't even know who she was, but ever since then she had it out for me. She started saying the meanest things to me and I'd ignore her every time, but then she started getting physical," she wiped her snot away.

Shawn tensed, "physical?"

Chloe nodded, "first it started with only hair pulling anytime she got the chance, but one day she smacked me across my face."

Shawn sighed but didn't want to interrupt the amount of sharing going on.

"One of my friends found out and threatened her so she'd leave me alone, but the day we got taken away we were brought to her family's house."

"What!" Shawn's eyes bulged.

Chloe nodded and sniffed, "and the first night, she was messing with Halle and I got so upset that I-I smacked her."

Shawn couldn't help but to feel proud, but Chloe looked ashamed, "that's your little sister you supposed to protect her."

"I know but...I don't like violence. I've never hit someone before that day," she admitted.

"It's not your fault. You was defending somebody you love, that don't make you a bad person. So, she hit you back?" he asked.

Chloe shook her head, "no, well not at first. She waited until I was sleep one time and smacked me back so I got up and pushed her."

"Awe so she a coward," Shawn said.

Chloe shrugged her shoulders.

"So what happened today, well tonight?"

"I got out of bed to get a snack and I saw her crying. I thought maybe I can try to show her some kindness and she won't be so mean to me ya know? I'm so stupid," Chloe's brows furrowed and she looked away.

"You're brilliant, with a big heart don't say that," Shawn interjected.

"No I am because I actually believed her when she said she was sorry. I asked her why she was crying and she told me that her and her girlfriend had just broken up and I told her that she was gonna be fine, trying to be nice but I guess she took it the wrong way because she, she tried to kiss me," the teen looked as if she was holding back bile.

Shawn grew visibly uncomfortable, "kiss you?" He scratched the back of his neck.

Chloe's eyes flashed wide with panic. "I didn't. I didn't want her to," she sputtered out, shaking her head, "I told her that I-I wasn't like that, that I wasn't into girls, not that anything is wrong with it but it's not who I am. That's when she lost it! She pushed me to the floor and started saying all of this racist stuff. I tried to leave, but she wouldn't let me. She pushed me again and I fell into her closet but I crawled out. She grabbed my hair and forced me in there and locked it," Her voice was shaky as more tears fell.

Chloe looked at Shawn again with a wet face, "and I-I don't like to be closed in like that. It makes me think too much, see things that I know can't be real," she croaked.

Shawn watched as her fingers trembled as she  rehashed the story. He knew some of the things she'd endured while being locked away and never wanted her to have to relive any of it. He threw his arm around her shoulder, bringing her closer to his side.

"It's all my fault," she whispered.

"What is," he asked.

"Mama...she's gone...and it's because of me. She-she was there because of me! She gave her life for me," Chloe whispered.

She had never said that out loud to anyone. Not the police officers at the scene who questioned her. Not her father when he needed answers to get closure after losing the love of his life. No one. Shawn was privy to the tragic way Mrs Bailey passed because it was noted in Chloe's file. He read all the gory details   about the girl witnessing her mother get gunned down while shopping, but he assumed it was a sore subject for her so they never had a conversation about it.

"It's not your fault," he said.

Chloe rested her head on Shawn's arm, "yes it is," she sobbed.

"If I didn't ask for that stupid sweet potato pie for desert mama would've been at home instead of at the store when the man came in. She put herself in front of me when he started shooting!"

Shawn surveyed the ceiling, "she was your mom Chloe. That's what they do. A parent's first instinct is to protect their kids no matter the circumstances. You were her baby girl. Now I never met your mother but I could bet that if something would've happened to you that day, she wouldn't have known what to do without you. Couldn't have."

"Then why do I feel like it should've been me instead," she stared straight ahead.

"You just miss her that's all. You don't really believe that," Shawn said.

The two stayed like that for another twenty minutes. Shawn's legs were beginning to become numb when he heard the fifteen year old's breathing get heavier with sleep. He looked down at the sleeping girl feeling burned out himself. Slowly, he stood and lifted Chloe to take her into a guest room. He laid the exhausted girl down and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. The man stood in the doorway watching over her for a few moments before turning on his heel to leave, running into his wife who struggled to hold a sleeping Halle in her arms. Shawn held his arms out for her and the blonde hesitated a moment but allowed him to lay the thirteen year old next to her sister.

Bey and Jay held each other's gazes. He had been away from his wife for longer than a week plenty of times but never with the prospects of not speaking to her. Unspeaking, Shawn took his wife's hand and led her into another spare room. They sat on the bed facing away from each other. Minutes ticked but Bey didn't want to be the first to speak and Shawn didn't know where to start.

"She says some girl locked her inside of a closet," he started.

Bey huffed but didn't offer anything. Both Shawn and his wife eyed their hands.

"She say who?"

"Says her name's Alana," Shawn could see his wife's reflection through the window.

The look on her face must've said it all, because he felt inclined to finally turn to face her, "all of this is on me."

Bey wanted to let out an awkward laugh but instead she met her husband's gaze and nodded her understanding. It's been a hell of a week without him. She didn't want to see him before, but now that they were in the same room, she didn't know how she survived it without him by her side. A few moments passed before Beyoncé spoke again, and their eyes met in and understanding that only they could be a part of.

"I forgive you."

Shawn only gave her a small nod of his head and a grimace that followed. He didn't want forgiveness because he couldn't give it to himself, but his wife was a merciful woman, sometimes to her own ruination.

"Thank you," he let out.

She moved to lay on her side and Shawn wrapped his arms around her while Bey's hands rested on his, "I missed you," he said.

After all of these years, her husband still gave her butterflies, "I missed you too."

She smiled and closed her eyes when she felt her husband kiss her hair. They were content just being in each other's embrace again.

"You know Blue pushed somebody at school?"

The blonde could feel the bed dip when Shawn shifted, "word?"

"Mhm had to get sent home and everything."

Shawn stifled his laughter because Blue was for sure his child, "y'all got a lot to catch me up on."

"A whole lot," Bey chuckled.

"Awe man," he smiled, "that don't sound too hot."

-

"Uh huh," Beyoncé said into the phone as she looked over her shoulder at her family.

Everyone had gathered at Kelly's house for breakfast after hearing about Chloe and Halle's eventful night. Currently the blonde was on the phone with Vivian Ward explaining everything that Chloe said had happened under the "watchful" eyes of the Hardings.

"I understand," she said , her eyes fell to the floor as she ended her call.

She lackadaisically turned to the awaiting tribe, "what she say," Tina asked impatiently.

Chloe sat quietly next to mama T, her gaze downtrodden, her hands clasped with the older woman's. Next to her was Halle with her head in Angie's lap. Shawn stood and went to his wife's side to support.

"Come on Bey," Solange had Titan on her hip and Blue to the side of her.

Beyoncé made small circles on her temple with the pad of her fingers and Kelly already knew what her sister had to say wasn't good news.

"Come on aunty," Julez urged.

He would never admit it but he enjoyed having new cousins to mess with and on top of that, he was actually worried for their well being.

"She said," Bey started.

The family listened intently.

"She said."

They were at the edges of their seats.

"She said the investigation is over. The paperwork hasn't been submitted yet, but Chloe and Halle are out of temporary custody...they're coming home."

The front room erupted in a sea of applause complete with hoops and hollers. A smile was wide on Halle's face, but her sister wouldn't believe it until she was actually at home. Beyoncé kneeled before them, "you coming home," she repeated.

Halle sat up and pulled her mother in for a hug.

"You know yall about to be on punishment for like two months right," Halle's cheek was pressed into Bey's.

"Two months," she exclaimed.

"Hush before I make it three ," Bey pulled back giving the girl a quick peck to the cheek.

The woman went to Chloe next. She still hadn't spoken to anyone but Shawn since last night, which Bey felt some type of way about, but at least Chloe didn't flinch when she hugged her.

"Not a word huh," Bey smiled, but Chloe just shook her head.

Blue came to stand beside her mother, "they don't have to visit the other family anymore?"

Bey shook her head, lifting Blue as she stood, "no more, baby."

Blue smiled but nothing else. The sullen mood had its grips on everyone today and the five year old wasn't exempt. Beyoncé just wanted to get her kids home and spend the whole day with them and her husband just being lazy together.

"Let's go home," she looked at Shawn.

-

CHLOE

I used to hide when I could hear Mike screaming. Sometimes, I would sneak outside and sit in the grass plucking at its blades. I could still hear him, but I would try to listen to the birds, the squirrels, or the wind blowing through the leaves. Sometimes, he'd be yelling for so long and so loud the moon would be out and I'd have a dozen mosquito bites. I'd be too afraid to go back inside, so I'd stay there until it was quiet again.

I still don't know what he was so angry about. Where it all came from. Was it some sort of poison he needed to exorcise daily in order to live? Maybe that's why he acted that way. Maybe he was looking for peace, but I don't think he ever found it. He just found more power to wield over others.

I can still remember watching him in church, the way he nodded his head at something the pastor said or highlighted a specific part in the text of the Bible. The way he stood up whenever he 'felt' the word, with his arms wide open as if he were trying to hug the whole congregation all at once.

Strain us.

Purify?

He wanted us to be good. He wanted us to be obedient. He wanted us to listen.

My hands would be clasped tight, my smile ever so wide, but my eyes trained straight. As I got older, I would think, hypocrite. Liar. Charlatan. He wasn't a man of God. And, if he was, it was a God I never wanted to meet.

Sloth was a sin.

Greed was a sin.

Gluttony was a sin.

But all I could feel growing was hate. Hate took its hold on me.

Wrath was a sin. Well not really but it should have been.

He taught me a valuable lesson, though. He was the epitome of a person I never wanted to become. He was an example I could look to whenever I was at a crossroad. Whatever he did I'd just do the opposite.

Right now, I'm in the backseat as Shawn drove us back home, thinking about yesterday's events and how he helped me become calm. During our talk, he mentioned Beyoncé. He thought maybe we were a lot alike. Her family had said that a few times before. I couldn't see it. The woman was many things.

Beautiful. Talented. Brilliant. Kind. Placid.

There was no way they thought we had any similarities, but I can't help but to feel a sense of familial ties when I looked at her and it overwhelmed me sometimes. 

I took in my surroundings and we were parked just outside of the Carter fortress. Had I been daydreaming that long or had Shawn whizzed through the streets like lightning? For the first time since I met Beyoncé, she appeared like a normal woman instead of a superstar as she adjusted Blue on her hip and held her hand out for Halle to grab. She was dressed in a blue sweatsuit she'd gotten from Kelly's house and some furry slides that didn't match the outfit. I looked down at the green sweat suit Kelly insisted that I borrow, so I didn't have to walk around in my pajamas, and took in how we were dressed exactly alike besides the shoes.

My heart sank because I hadn't spoken to her yet. I knew it hurt her, but I couldn't help it. I took the steps slowly for some reason. Earlier in the week I thought when I came back here I'd run up the stairs and race to my room but here I was dragging my feet. Bey mumbled something about getting Blue and Halle settled and told Shawn to help me. She told me earlier that her and I would have a long talk about yesterday once I spoke to her again. I nodded when she said it but honestly I didn't want to talk about it. It wasn't just the closet part for me it was the images I saw when I was apparently passed out. They sent a trickle to my spine.

Shawn was in front of me with his hand on the door to my bedroom, before he pushed it open. He had this huge smile on his face as though he expected me to be happy but the moment my foot stepped over that threshold, I realised I wasn't. Of course I was over the moon to finally be home, but those images had me shook to my core. Was I the sole person responsible for my mother's murder? Had I been the deciding factor in God's sick game of life that led to her untimely death? For a second I thought that maybe this was the reason I couldn't let myself get too close to Bey. Fearing I would somehow make one move that would change her life for the worst.

Shawn sat my backpack down that he'd been carrying. He asked me if I wanted some time alone and I hesitated before saying yes. Shortly after, he left and said he'd be in to check on me in an hour. I stood in the middle of my room taking in the beautiful silver furnishings. I ran my hand along the edges of my vanity and from the corner of my eye, I could see the crisp edges of the envelope Shawn placed on my bed months ago.

'Welcome Chloe'

Curiously, my hand ran over it. I picked it up and looked over my shoulder as if someone could see me.

Bit by bit, I used my index finger to tear at the sealed edges until the flap was lifted slightly. I pulled the single sheet of paper out and chuckled at Shawn's perfect penmanship. My eyes scanned over the opening line.

'So you've met my wife and stole her heart.'

That's an attention grabber. My hands became sweaty as I continued to read.

So you've met my wife and stole her heart. I could tell by the way she talks about you. She's told me so much about how talented you are and how much she thought you and your sister were gonna conquer the music industry. She also told me about the horrible home situation she found you in, and it made me upset just hearing about it. Bey says you're the quiet one, and I told her that it's the quiet ones that always had the most to say. I may not know you yet, but hopefully as time goes on you could look to me as someone you could talk to if ever you need a listening ear.

I understand what it's like to be a person your age feeling like you're a small fish in a big pond and everyone around you is either too busy or too unwilling to help you navigate your way. It could be overwhelming. You have a support system with my wife and I now, so if ever things start to get too much or move too fast, call on one of us and we'll try to slow it down the best way we know how. You're not alone anymore, so welcome, Chloe. Welcome to Los Angeles. Welcome to a new start. Welcome to a new life. Welcome home.
                            -Shawn

I collapsed in my vanity chair gripping the note to my chest. What was I doing moping around feeling down and out when I had gotten exactly what I had prayed for? I got out of the Williams's household. I have a record deal. I'm about to release my first ep any day now. I have an amazing support system. I have people who genuinely love and care about me and here I was dragging something from my past into my present and future?

"Thank you," I said to the heavens.

"Thank you so much," I let a single tear fall.

-
OMNISCIENT

Being home was now a strange source of anxiousness for Shawn. After the fight that happened between him and Bey the last time he was there, the whole building felt implicated. He walked with his hands in his pockets until he reached him and his wife's bedroom door. Beyoncé sat at the edge of the bed seemingly in deep thought.

"Chloe's getting settled in. I told her I'll check on her in a few," he took a seat on the bed next to her.

Images of the fifteen year old's red face from last night   flit across the woman's mind. She wondered how long it would take for the girl to break her silence. Her natural reticence was already hard to handle, but would Chloe go about her days even more suppressed and muzzled? Bey shook those thoughts off and took a deep breath, "Okay." She finally said, with a faux smile at the edge of her lips. She looked at the man who was sitting next to her with his eyes focused entirely on the pictures on the nightstand from one of their vacations in Paris.

The blonde moved a little closer to Shawn, before her eyes glanced down at her hands, "I was doing some thinking."

"About what," he asked.

There was a pause, and then a sigh, "about the girls. I'm glad their home, but I don't like the way Vivian could just come in and take'em from us." Bey shook her head and stared at the blank wall in front of her.

Shawn nodded knowing how heartbroken his wife had been on that harrowing night. "it was crazy," he muttered.

"Yeah," Bey nodded, "and I don't want it to happen again."

Shawn rubbed his wife's back, "Baby I promise I have my stuff in order nothing like that is gonna happen again."

With a frustrated sigh, the blonde turned to her husband, "that's not what I meant."

Shawn raised a brow, "what did you mean?"

"I want," she picked with her hands, "I want to adopt them...officially," she whispered.

Shawn sat with Bey's words for a moment as she studied his face unsure how he would take it.

"No one could randomly take them from the house because we'll be their parents instead of their guardians. They'd be safe. They'd be ours." Her words were slow, carefully spoken and she watched for the reaction in his eyes, not missing the slight reluctance that was there.

"I want them here baby," Bey caressed his cheek. "I don't think I can handle another separation. I don't think they can handle another one either. They were a mess all week. Chloe came here high one day and I'm talking high, Shawn."

"What!" he exclaimed.

She only nodded her head in response, "yeah got her hands on some weed from some man at the other house; Halle too."

Shawn wiped at his face, "lil bit was smoking?"

He couldn't imagine either one of them taking hits from a blunt but especially the youngest one.

"Yes, it was crazy. Now Chloe won't even speak. Halle's more clingy than before. I just– we have to adopt," Bey urged.

"We'll do it."

Shawn's response was quick and unexpected and Bey wondered how three words could hold so much weight– she could practically feel the boulder lift from her chest.

"You mean it," she dared to ask, grabbing her husband's hands.

"Of course, those girls belong with us," Shawn squeezed the hand that was in his.

At his words, he could practically see something inside
his wife unfold. Beyoncé gulped back the lump in her throat, not able to stop the tears from falling before she quickly wiped them away, "Thank you baby. Thank you so much."

Both of them smiled at each other and Shawn gently nudged his nose against Bey's as he lent down and pressed their foreheads together, silently asking for permission which was granted when her lips pressed against his. His hands cupped her face and he pulled her a little closer to him, as his fingers moved to tangle through her hair and then rested on the back of her neck. It was the kind of kiss filled with love, but also desperation, the kiss of two lovers who had been estranged for far too long. Shawn wanted to kiss her entire body, feel the softness of her skin again, so he trailed his kisses down her neck to inhale the smell of coconuts and sugar. Her moans vibrated off his ear and he could feel himself stiffen. It took no time for their clothes to be off, the only fabric that touched their bodies were the silk sheets. He positioned himself to enter her but stopped quickly to peruse. Her flexed body, perfect breasts, and creamy smooth skin were somehow much more beautiful than any other time they were together; the whole picture perfect body was topped with that exquisite face. Her curls were wild against the pillow, a striking dichotomy to her soft cheekbones and lust-filled eyes. He pushed himself inside her and brought his face down to kiss her lips. Her moans grew louder and he took it as a cue to quicken his pace.

"Baby you gotta keep it down," he warned.

Their youngest kids' rooms were the closest and it'll be hell if they burst in right now. Pushing himself faster into her he could feel himself and his wife getting closer. Eventually they started to come together and he brought his forehead to hers.

"I love you," he slowed down wanting the feeling to last forever even as he could feel the first wave of fervor crash over him.

Beyoncé's face was a mixture between pained and pure bliss. She opened her mouth to repeat the sentiment but couldn't focus long enough. Their tongues wrestled in a power struggle. Shawn moaned in her mouth fighting off his own orgasm. He picked her up, flipped her to her stomach and laid against her. He pushed inside her slowly listening to that groan she made each stoke felt agonizing as he was doing his best not to get off before her. She could feel him barely breathing again, always seemingly holding his breath.

"Faster, harder" she breathed out.

His speed picked up exponentially and she couldn't catch her breath anymore. The room filled with sounds of baited breath. She started to come as she screamed and she heard a loud exhale from him signaling to her that he was close again. He let go of his grip on her shoulders and moved them to her hips thrusting harder than he had before. This was the pleasure pain feeling she loved the inescapable pain of the push followed by the swift pleasure of the pull. Shawn pushed inside her hard one last time before pulling out and expelling all over her back. He collapsed next to her catching his breath and wiping sweat from his brow.

"You really missed me," Bey teased with a smile. Shawn grinned and looked over at her.

"You my baby thug, of course," he laughed.

Bey got up to pee and Shawn followed her to fill the bathtub.

He climbed in and put his hand out for his wife to join him. She slipped in, the water was hot and stung a little but she let herself get used to it. She slid over next to him.

"Here let me get your back," Shawn said with a slight chuckle.

"Laugh all you want, but it was hot," Beyoncé said proudly.

"I'm not disputing that," Shawn said as he washed her back.

The suds trickled down her back and Shawn lowered his head to kiss her shoulder. He had no idea how anyone could be this beautiful. Her golden skin glistened from the soap and in certain angles it even glowed.

"God, you are so beautiful," he said, laying another small kiss on her shoulder.

Bey laid back and nestled her head in the crook of his neck.

"Why do you always say that, I'm just me," she giggled.

"You serious? You seen yourself," he asked with a light laugh.

"Yeah and I look like hell right now," she admitted.

"Not to me," He switched hands to wash her arms. His knuckles revealed a small scar.

"What's that?" Bey asked, Shawn stared at it a bit and then replied.

"That was me getting my affairs in order. Nothing to worry about no more," he said turning his neck to make eye contact with her.

Bey traced circles around his knuckles, "whatever you did, is it gonna come back around to our kids?"

Shawn was silent and planted another kiss on the blonde's shoulder then her neck before he rested his chin there.

"No baby."

"Are you sure," she said, turning to him.

"I'm sure."

She stared at those deep brown eyes and even though he was smiling she could feel something bad would happen. She couldn't explain it, but her gut was doing flips at the moment. There was a knock at the bedroom door followed by Halle's voice asking if she should start the movie in the theater.

"Go ahead, we'll be right out," Bey remarked as she got out of the tub; Shawn followed her.

"Shouldn't they be on some kind of punishment," he was wrapping a towel around his waist.

A large grin pulled across Bey's face as she pulled a robe around her. "They will, starting tomorrow though. I just want a day with them since they officially home."

"Sounds good to me," he wrapped his arms around her as they headed to the closet.

-

OMNISCIENT

You got the light, count it all joy. You got the right to be mad, but when you carry it alone, you find it only getting in the way.

They say you gotta let it go.

"Now tell me why you mad," Anthony said to Solange.

The couple had been parked at one of his downtown nightclub locations. Solange agreed to meet up with him solely out of respect. She had thought long and hard on her decision with the new information Angela and Kelly gave her. It wasn't the fact that he had things he was keeping from her, she liked to keep a mystery about herself as well. It was the feeling in her gut that she had been getting around him lately, and him popping up at her house was the icing on the cake; not to mention his daughter.

"I'm not mad, Ant. I'm just," she trailed off and peered out of the car window.

There were several people milling about outside, going in and out of shopping centers, looking content as they chopped it up with family or friends. It was fortuitous for her because it gave her time to think as she focused on other people.

"Just what," Anthony asked emphatically.

Solange turned in her seat, "what do you do for a living?"

Anthony clenched his jaw and glanced uncertainly at Solo, "whatchu mean? I own nightclubs all over this city. You know that."

Solange just wanted to see if he'd lie to her face and that was the only thing she needed. The woman smacked her lips, "you can quit it with all that. My cousin followed you."

"Watchu mean yo cousin followed me," he bit back angrily.

Solange folded her arms. Her eyes were stark and deep, the way they got whenever she was impassioned, "followed you to some warehouse. Followed you to a house in Westwood! You constantly accuse me of cheating," she used air quotes, "but you out here living two lives! One I don't seem to be a part of, so tell me Anthony, you sell drugs or something?"

Anthony closed his eyes, rubbing his face. He didn't answer, ignoring her.

"Hellooo," she snapped her fingers close to his face.

He knew the woman was challenging him. He also knew he shouldn't do a damn thing, besides, he was on a mission to get his woman back.

"Look baby it's not what you think," he started.

"Then explain it," she cocked her head to the side.

"Why the hell you having me followed anyway? What, you don't trust me or something," he yelled.

"First of all, I ain't have nobody follow you nowhere. She did it on her own cuz she ain't like your vibe," she defended hotly. "Second, what you not gone do is sit here yelling and cursing in my damn face," she checked her reflection in the side view mirror, "I'm too cute for all that."

Anthony didn't say anything. This wasn't how he planned for this to go. She threw him for a loop with her questions.

"So you ain't go say nothing? No explaining yourself? No baby I'm sorry's just nothing huh?," Solo nodded, putting her tongue to the side of her cheek. "Okay," she reached for the door handle.

"Baby wait," he called out.

"What am I waiting on Ant? For you to stall time to think of what you gone say? What is it? What you got a wife sitting at home up in Westwood? That's why you always had me at your condos? Am I your concubine? Is that it," she yelled.

Her eyes filled with tears, "say something," she sounded rattled.

Solange went to reach for the handle again. Anthony quickly leaned over, grabbing her arm.

"Yeah I sell," he huffed.

A tense few seconds passed as Solo glared at him. Niggas sell drugs everyday. He could've said that a long time ago and saved them from going down this route of deceit and mistrust. Maybe they could've made it.

"But not small time. I'm head honcho, the chief," he said.

She could see a hint of pride in his face as he said the words.

"So you a kingpin?"

He opened his mouth to say no but then remembered if he wanted Solo to stay he needed to be honest.

"Yeah," he sighed.

Solange felt incredibly tense, a muscle in her neck strained painfully. Everything felt heightened. She was walking around here dating a kingpin unknowingly? Anything could've happened to her.

"And was that your daughter I seen at my house after you left? Cause she sold me weed and that lil girl looked a hell of a lot like you. Was that one of the twins?"

Anthony turned to her looking as if he'd been made, "she told you that?"

Solo smacked her thigh in anger, "what does that matter? She ain't have to say a word to me when she's walking around here with your whole face! What kind of man let their own kid sell drugs for them?"

Anthony whipped his head towards Solo, "somebody who's not raising a dependent spoiled brat!"

"So what they call you," she asked sarcastically.

Anthony scrunched his face up, "what they call me?"

"I know you ain't going by your government so what's your name on the streets? I'm very curious."

Anthony thought of a way around this. Now that she knew of his main hustle, it wouldn't be long that she put two and two together and realized he's the one Shawn had beef with. He was the one who paid men to take out her sister's husband.

Fuck.

He wiped at his face again and opened his mouth to lie, but before he could answer the question, a hooded figure appeared in front of the car.

"Ace, Hov sends his condolences," a man yelled out before opening fire.

He sent bullets crashing through the windshield shattering it to pieces, evoking a piercing scream from Solange. Anthony didn't have time to reach for his gun as he threw the car into reverse and peeled out of the spot.

-

SOLANGE

Fuck these hoe ass niggas
They all be talkin'
They all be sayin' shit
They all...

What the hell is happening right now? I must be high! No cause I purposely didn't smoke nothing before I came here. Panicked, I turned to Anthony who was speeding down the streets like a maniac.

"What are you doin?" I asked desperately.

The speed of the car climbed with every passing second. Ant pinched the bridge of his nose like I asked a stupid question. Somebody just shot into his car and now he going crazy on the road?

He jerked his head towards me, "open the glove compartment and hand me that gun," he yelled.

"What!" I screamed.

He couldn't be serious?! Hand him a gun? Fuck do I look like?

"Hand me the gun Solange!"

Wait, did the man call him Ace before he started shooting? Hov sends his condolences? My mind couldn't wrap around reality fast enough. I could hear horns blaring as he weaved through traffic. I wasn't even in a seat. I was crouched down between the passenger seat and dashboard.

"Why," I asked, hitting my head when he slammed on the brakes only to veer the car to the right forcefully.

Anthony peered out his window, "cause these niggas chasing us. Now hand me the damn gun NOW Solange!"

Make a decision, I thought frantically. Fuck! I just needed a few more seconds to think!

I took a breath, suddenly feeling like I was moving in slow-motion, like I was in a film without sound. I pulled myself up so I could sit in the seat. Out of the side view mirror, I could see a black truck on our ass. Ace. Ace. Ace. Where have I heard that name?

"Ace, Hov sends his condolences."

"Aye man if my nigga Jay see this tell'em my nigga Ace sends his best regards."

I turned to Anthony again, "you the one that had my nieces attacked in the studio! You tried to have Shawn killed! You probably leaked their business to the press too!"

Fuck Bey is gonna kill me when she finds out! What the fuccck?!

Sweat was down Anthony's face now, "Fuck, Solange, the Gun!"

"Let me out," I screamed.

"How the fuck am I supposed to do that when people tryna shoot at us on the road?" He yelled back.

Oh yeah. Shit. I struggled to pull at the clasp. My hands were shaking too bad. I don't do this type of shit!

"Now Solange!" he screamed.

Finally I got it open, but damn what didn't he keep in his glove compartment? It was filled with all types of shit, so I stuck my hand inside feeling around for the gun. Anthony slammed on the brakes again. The force sent my head hurling into the dashboard, this time the impact left me stunned. My left hand went to my forehead feeling something warm and sticky.

"Can you stop slamming on the damn brakes? What the fuck is wrong with you?!" I screamed.

He jerked the car to the left and I almost slid into his lap. He shot me a dirty look.

"Put your Goddamn seatbelt on!"

I rolled my eyes but did it, gripping the door hard as he pulled a narrow turn towards the highway.

"Slow down!" I yelled.

He didn't bother looking at me, too busy focused on the road ahead. The speed climbed again and I could tell the traffic was starting to slow down. He's gonna get us killed!

"Slow down!" I screamed again, louder this time.

Before I realized what was happening, the car skidded fast. I felt this enormous force like it was a thousand pounds as I was pulled towards the door. Anthony's hands flew from the wheel. There was a loud, ear splitting crash of metal and then, the worst pain I've ever felt. My body slammed against the seat belt, so hard it felt like a blow to the chest from a heavyweight champion. It completely knocked the air out of me, and there was a panicked moment where I couldn't draw a single breath.

I shook my head, trying to clear the confusion, but it only made me dizzier. I tried to focus on my surroundings, but couldn't. The ringing in my ears caused a sick feeling of nausea, but all I knew for sure was that I was alive and conscious. I couldn't believe it but somehow I was both.

Over the ringing, I heard coughing and I craned my neck to the left to see Anthony in and out of consciousness with blood oozing from his head. For a split second, I was relieved that he was okay. Then I remembered him yanking at the steering wheel and I wished the crash would've killed him. Forgive me Lord, but I have a child!

"Are you alright," a voice called from my right side.

It sounded dreamy and distant. I opened my eyes again, my vision took a moment to adjust. There was a clean shaven white man looking concerned. I looked over, realizing for the first time that I was upside down in the car. I couldn't talk, my head hurt too much. The man reached his arm inside of the car and tugged on my seatbelt. His expression changed to one of uneasiness.

"Don't worry I'll be back. I have a knife in my car."

What was he talking about? I didn't have time to guess why, though, because I willed my arms to reach up to unfasten my seatbelt and it wouldn't budge.

I'm stuck.

I tried again to press down on the button, but try as I might, it still wouldn't budge. I pulled as hard as I could at the frayed belt, despite the fact that my fingers refused to work right. They felt useless on my hand. My head felt heavier now. I'm guessing the blood was rushing.

"Let me take a look," the white man was back.

I could see the knife in his hand, but he struggled with the harness anyway.

"Cut," I tried to say.

He immediately started cutting the belt across my lap. I tried to help as best as I could, but I couldn't feel my fingers at all. I could, however, feel the tremor of the man's hands, so I wrapped mine around his to steady his cutting. Please get me out of here! Anthony let out a few groans and I just wanted to scream. Shut the fuck up! My chest heaved in and out I know for a fact because I had to hold my mouth open for air.

"Oh fuck," the man stopped cutting and looked to his left in horror.

It took everything to turn my head again but I did it and noticed that there was gas leaking. A trail of it wormed its way to the front of the car. Then there it was. The heat. I ain't see before, but the car we collided with was on fire.

"Shit!"

"Just—just hold on," the man looked nervous but he began cutting away again.

I actually might die, I thought suddenly as my heart hammered in my chest. Somebody screamed in the distance. The man stopped cutting again. I heard the sound of shattering glass followed by a crunching, rending explosion in the back of the car.

"I'm sorry," he gulped and backed away.

Where was he going? We were halfway there!

"W-wait," I choked out and tried grabbing at his hands.

"Please, p-please! Help me! Help meee," I pulled at the seatbelt frantically.

"Somebody help me!"

I kicked and flailed as the heat became too much.

"Help me," I cried.

"Help me!"

The world was spinning, and it felt like I was about to throw up. I tried my best to keep my eyes open but weariness won.

"Help me," I whispered just before everything went dark.

And now my heart knows no delight
I boarded a train, kissed all,

Goodbye.🕊

A/N: 😫😫 if you made it this far. I am surprised 🤣🤣 🤷🏾‍♀️Questions?