"Get the fuck off me, man. Ion wanna talk bout none of that shit. I told y'all it was a bad idea to come here in the first motherfucking place, but at least we got that shit off our chests." I tell my mama as she tries to check on me again.

"Aye bruh, I know tonight was fucked up, but one good thing did come from it. Chanel was able to get Tony's phone for a lil bit and she found some interesting shit. We'll talk about it later though. Get in." Brandon tells me as I get into the backseat of his car. I can't believe Ariyah's dumb ass left me here.

Chanel and Milani make their way over to the car as well and get inside. Chanel in the passenger's seat and Milani the back with me. As Brandon cranks up, my pops rolls over to my side of the car and I let the window down.

"I love you, son. You know that right?" He smiles and daps me up.

"I love you too, old man and yeah I know it. Thank you for always having my back."

"You don't gotta thank me, but I do need a favor. I need you to forgive your mama. The only one of us that needs to be mad at her is me. She did this to me. She didn't do anything to you so you have to forgive her."

"You wrong, pops. She did do something to me. She took away my childhood. When I was younger, everybody else got to run around and play ball with their dads, let their dads teach them how to drive and shit. She took that from me by doing that to you. I don't mean to keep bringing up old shit but times when I needed to be taken care of, I didn't even get the chance to say nun because I had to help take care of you. The time you caught Tony touching me. That wasn't the first time. He did it plenty of times while you was doped up on pain meds. If she hadn't did that shit to you, my life would've been different. I don't regret taking care of you because I'd do it again if I had to, but don't tell me I have no right to be mad." I tell him before letting the window up.

Brandon pulls off as I use my phone to continuously call Ariyah, getting no answer which makes me even more upset. I know damn well her ass see me calling her.

"She ain't no real bitch." Milani says under her breath, but loud enough for me to hear her.

"What the fuck you say, Milani? Ian for yo smart mouth tonight so don't say shit else or we gone have a problem."

"You heard me. Don't be mad at me cause yo bitch folded when shit got real. You been liking this smart mouth and now all of a sudden it's a problem." She says, sucking her teeth. "Why you didn't tell me that you had a fiancé? Her soft ass."

"You didn't care remember? When we went out to eat, you said you'd take me from my bitch if you wanted me and that you didn't care if I was single or not so that's on you." I shrug as I wince from the pain on my face. "So why you care now?"

"I don't care, Drummer. I just don't like how you called me a hoe for fucking with Tony and yo hoe ass had a fiancé this whole time, but been tryna get in my pussy since I met you."

"Uhhh y'all gotta have this conversation in my car? Damn, we don't wanna hear that shit. We just heard enough arguing." Brandon says loudly, causing us both to get quiet because we know he's right.

The rest of the ride is silent as Brandon drops off Milani first then me because he's taking Chanel back to his place.

"You gone be good, my nigga?" Brandon asks me.

"Yeah, I'm straight. Preciate the ride."

Walking into the house, I kick my shoes off and strip out of my clothes as I walk into the bedroom; finding Ariyah laying in bed.

"I'm glad you're home and I'm sorry I left you there. It was just too much crazy shit going on." She smiles softly as I walk past her then go into the bathroom, taking a hot shower.

Once I'm finished and dressed, I get into the bed and my thoughts run through my mind. Closing my eyes, I inhale deeply until I feel Ariyah's hand on my chest.

"Baby, I hate that it took tonight for me to finally understand why you dislike your uncle Tony so much. I know I wasn't much help, but I just couldn't believe the things I was hearing. I can't believe your own uncle would do that to you."

"Ariyah, stop. Stop fucking acting like you understand my life because you don't. You don't understand shit that I had to go through. Yo ass left me when I needed you the most. How you think that made me feel? Now you want me to lay up here and talk like shit good between us? That was fucked up." I yell as I sit up. "Matter of fact, since everybody else had sum shit to get off their chests, what you got?"

Ariyah remains quiet as she thinks about a response then starts talking, " Well since you're asking, I don't know if I can marry a man that was touched intimately by another man. Whenever we have sex, I feel like that'll be in the back of my mind. I kind of look at you differently now."

"I should've known you'd switch up when you found out because you're too stuck on having a fairytale life that doesn't involve real issues. Don't worry babygirl, you don't have to worry about marrying me because I've been faking everything anyway. I only proposed because you kept nagging me, I have love for you but I do not love you, I never will. I have been cheating on you and you know that girl my uncle had tonight? I've been spending time with her, we got a real connection. I been tryna fuck but we ain't made it that far yet because after your sob story about not being able to get pregnant, I tried to be a better man to you but fuck allat shit." I admit honestly as I get up and start getting dressed.

"I knew your dumb ass was cheating!!! I had a feeling something was going on between you two when y'all were throwing shade at the dinner and to think I already knew the bitch because I went to her dance studio for pole dancing lessons for your raggedy ass. So this whole time you've been leading me on and wasting my time for what!!!??"

"I felt like giving you the life you wanted was something I owed you for sticking around when Niyah died. I was fucked up then and you changed me. I've been living my life for everyone but myself so I'm gonna change that, starting now by doing what I should've done sooner. Ariyah, I'm done. I can't keep being unhappy. Being with you makes me miserable to the point where I don't even like coming home."

Ariyah and I continue the conversation as she follows me down to the front door, pushing my back with her small hands.

"Baby, listen, now that we've both gotten those things off our chests. We can fix this! We can go to counseling or something. I'll be a better woman. I'll suck your dick whenever you want me to. I'll learn to be more aggressive in bed. Please, just don't do this. You're ruining the dream I had for my life." She tells me as tears run down her face.

"Ariyah, that's the shit I'm talking about. You got an unrealistic ass dream stuck in your head. Ain't no fixing this. Like I said, I'm about to start living for me and the first thing I'm finna do is go get the woman I actually want. Thank you for everything, but we're over. Ain't no fixing this shit! You have two weeks to pack your things and leave."

"WHAT THE FUCK, DALLAS!?! You've done a lot of fucked up shit to me, but this has got to be the worst. You're not about to go fuck another woman and come back to this house!!? I'll call the police on you before I let your ass embarrass me this way! What will people think when they find out we're not together!? What about when they find out that you're already with another woman!?" Ariyah says as she tries to block me from going out of the door.

"This is my house. Calling the police won't help you, they ain't gone do shit, but make you leave. FUCK EVERYBODY and their opinions! You've always been too worried about what other people think. Now, bye and don't call my fucking phone!"

Without another word, I walk out of the house and get into my car then start driving to Milani's house. Despite all the bad shit that happened tonight, I feel like a burden has been lifted off me. If I had of known breaking it off with Ariyah would feel like this, I would've been let her ass go.

Pulling up to Milani's house, I get out and knock on the door until she finally answers. As soon as I see her beautiful face, I grab her neck as I pull her to me; kissing her passionately. Her lips move against mine as I deepen the kiss by plunging my tongue into her mouth and walk us towards the wall.

"Wait. Stop! You need to let me fix your face." She breathes out. I just nod and have a seat on the couch while she comes back with a first aid kit and begins tending to my wounds from the fight with Tony.

"I don't appreciate you coming over here and kissing me like we're on good terms because we aren't. You need to be at home with your fiancé." Lani says as she cleans my wounds.

"Milani, I didn't come over here to argue with you. I came to get my woman. I been wanting you since we met, but my relationship with Ariyah was holding me back. I've been unhappy with her for years so tonight, I ended it. She told me she didn't know if she could marry a man who has been touched intimately by another man as if I asked for that shit to happen. After she said that, I came clean about not loving her, being with you, and wanting you. It's just crazy because I spent years pretending to be in love because I felt like I owed her the lifestyle that she wanted."

"Well Drummer, she obviously wasn't the one for you if she said that to you. I'm glad you're living for you now, but I hope you don't think we're gonna be together just because you want me. I've told you before that I don't do relationships so don't start acting like your uncle." She says then realizes what she said. "Shit, my bad. Too soon... but I do wanna know something. Why did you feel like you owed her ?"

Milani puts away the first aid kit and lays back on the couch so I make myself comfortable in her lap and rest my head on her legs as she rubs my hair.

" I felt like I owed her because she saw me at my lowest, changed me, and took care of me. Ariyah and I met at a crazy ass time. I was grieving the death of my daughter, Niyah, and we met at the funeral because she was a friend of my baby mama. My daughter was 2 years old when she drowned because her dumb ass mother was too high on heroin to watch her. They both were outside at the pool and my bm was so high that she went into a deep sleep. My baby girl fell into the pool and I was the one to find her. I was coming back from slanging dope on the streets and found her under the water. She was dead 2 hours before I got there. After she died, I was going down the wrong path, addicted to weed and pills, drinking until I blacked out, angry as hell, beating the shit outta niggas for no reason etc. Ariyah helped me get counseling, got me clean, and was always around to help me. Eventually we got together. She did so much for me that I felt like I had to repay her by giving her everything she deserved, but now that I think about it, I only felt like I loved her because I felt like I had nobody else. I had my family, but I shut them all out. I stopped going around them because I couldn't stand to look at them. They were supposed to be babysitting Niyah that day, but decided not to answer the phone when I pulled up to drop her off. I had nobody else to watch her, but her mama. I blamed myself for years. The funny thing is neither me or my baby mama needed a kid. I got her pregnant when I was 16. She was 14. I guess Niyah dying was our punishment for being terrible ass parents."

"Drummer, I am so sorry that happened to you. I understand why you felt like you owed her, but the only person you owe is yourself. You owe it to yourself to be happy and live the life that you want. Just because Ariyah helped you at your lowest, doesn't mean you should put her happiness over yours. Don't let your past haunt you forever. You have to forgive yourself, your baby mama, and your family. Harboring that hate isn't good for you, it'll make you bitter." She tells me, rubbing my beard with her fingertips.

"I hear ya. Do you look at me differently now that you know about what Tony used to do to me?" I ask, not really wanting to know.

"Nah, I don't. Like you said, you didn't ask for that to happen. In my eyes, you're still the shit talking, fine ass nigga that won't leave me the hell alone."

Milani and I laugh at her comment then she tells me about her ex. I can tell he really fucked her up, but ima fix her. Ima show her how a real nigga should treat her. It's crazy that her own sister would betray her like that. I guess both of us, got some issues going on in our lives. Ariyah never understood that though because her life has always been peaches and cream. She ain't never went through no real shit.

After asking Lani a question and getting no answer, I look up to see her knocked out so I slowly get off her then pick her up and carry her to her bed. Walking back into the living room, I make myself comfortable on the couch and I'm about sleep until I hear her phone vibrate on the table.

"Don't do it." I tell myself as I contemplate checking her phone. "Fuck it!" I say then grab the phone and surprisingly, it doesn't have a code. As soon as I read the message from Holloway, I decide to text him back as if I'm Milani; just to see what the fuck is going on.

"This bitch tryna set me up." I laugh, not believing this shit.

Storming in her room, I yell loudly, "WAKE YO MOTHERFUCKING ASS UP, MILANI!!"

She jumps up, rubbing her eyes and looking confused, "w-what? What is it?" She asks as I just glare at her then throw the phone into her lap.

She reads the messages and tries to follow me out of the house, but I jump in my car and speed the fuck off; thinking of how I'm gone get rid of Holloway, Tony, and Jarell. All three of them niggas got sum shit coming to them.