😗sorry for any mistakes

Atlanta, GA

December 8th

Monday

"Nah Kei sent me a picture of the dent in his car. But I ain' even surprised, I seen ha' do worst" Jabari laughed over the phone as Matthias sat outside the police station waiting for Ailani to come out.

Matthias shook his head, he had never seen Ailani go crazy like that. "Dawg, you were scared weren't you? I used ta' call ha' li' incredible hulk. Ass stronger than a motherfucka' " Bari continued to laugh.

Matt chuckled, leaning back in his seat, watching people go in and out of the station. He wasn't scared honestly, more so of in shock. She was very strong, it told off those officers and they still weren't able to get her off Cora.

He saw the old Lani everyone talked about and he heard stories about it. It was wild but he understood at the end of the day.

"You can keep da' girls a little longer this week?" He asked.

"You kno' I can but when they start catchin' dem attitudes, I'm sending them back. Their attitudes are terrible, I'on know where they get it from" Jabari said.

Matthias started laughing "Ken get dat shit from Lani and Rayah get that shit from you" He chuckled and Bari sucked his teeth.

"Nigga you is a damn lie! We all kno' Ken gets ha' attitude from you. Mad ass nigga" He said and both started laughing. "I'on even be havin' an attitude. I be chillin" He said.

"Ha! you be chillin' but was snappin' on my best friend?" He resorted, and Matthias' smile dropped "She told you 'bout dat?" He asked, feeling like shit all over again.

He knew their arguments were far from over and that feeling of shit he felt from how he's been treating her and talking started to come right back.

"She didn't want to but I caught ha' cryin' when I came over on Saturday. You know you can't yell at ha' bro, she hella sensitive about that"

"I know and I messed up. Ima fix it tho if she let me" He sighed. "I'ma call you back, she comin' out" He hung up the phone when he saw Ailani and Adonis walking out of the police station.

Thanks to his father being a retired detective, he was able to get Lani a tap on the wrist but she still had to stay in a holding cell overnight.

"I mean it lil Lani, no more smashing folks head into the car" Adonis warned, opening the passenger side door for her. She cracked a small smile "I hear you pops" She said, getting inside.

"You gon' teach me how you swingin' folks around lata'. I'll see y'all lata' " He kissed Lani's head before closing the door and tapping the top of the car.

Matthias stared at her as she leaned her head on the window "You good?" He asked, seeing she hasn't said a word to him or even looked at him yet. She ignored him and closed her eyes.

He sighed, taking the car out of park and pulling out the parking spot. He drove off and turned up the music as The Way by Jill Scott played. They drove in complete silence.

_________________

Matthias wrapped the towel around his lower waist after stepping out of the shower. He took the shower cap off, hung it up on the hanger then opened the door, letting the steam come into the bedroom.

He frowned "Whatchu' doin?" He asked, seeing Ailani packing a big duffle with clothes.

"Goin' ta' my granny house for a few days" She sighed, going into her dresser, grabbing more clothes.

"Wait, wait, slow down. Fa' what?" He asked, walking over to the bed and grabbing her wrist to stop her. He was very confused, she still hasn't said a word to him since they got home an hour ago but he didn't think she would leave.

"Cause I'on wanna be around you" She snatched away from him causing his eyebrows to raise and he felt a stinging in his chest.

"Oh," He mumbled, watching her continue to pack her things. "You blame me for the fire? Lani I—"

"It's not even that Matthias. I just need a breather from you, I didn't forget what happened before the fire." She said, he sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Mama I didn't mean it like that" He ran his hands down his face.

"What other way did you mean it, Matthias?" She shifted her weight on one of her legs and folded her arms across her chest.

"I'on know" He mumbled.

"I try every day in this relationship to communicate with you and express myself to you when you know it's hard but for you to say it's always something wrong with me. Do you know how that made me feel? And behind my back." Her voice cracked.

"It was like a slap in the freakin' face. I was vulnerable around you just for you to-to take me as a joke. If you felt like I was doin' the most you could've said that. You say one thing but do another then I'm just supposed to be okay with it." She shook her head, zipping up the duffel bag. "I feel like I can't even be vulnerable around you anymore without you saying I'm doing too much behind my back" She sniffed

"I'm sorry. And yes you can, I'on why I said it but I never meant to make you feel like that" He pulled her by her waist in between his legs.

She shook her head "Don't you have ta' go work anyways?" She tilted her head to the side "Go work like you always do Matthias, Ima be at my granny's house until the girls come back." She moved his hands from her and then grabbed her duffel bag, putting it on her shoulder.

"Baby please" He grabbed her wrist not knowing what else to say to make her not leave and for her to know how sorry he was.

She stared at his face for a few seconds then shook her head "We need space. You needa fix a few things, I'm not about to be being a second choice when it comes to things anymore. I'll see you inna few days" She pecked his lips, and moved his hand from her wrist.

He huffed, watching her walk out and put his face in his hands.

_________________

"Well, you kno' my motto. If the bitch ain' in the hospital then you didn't beat ha' ass good enough" Lisa said, sitting the glass of lemonade on the table in front of Ailani.

Ailani busted out laughing, looking at the badges on her hand. Her granny was a straight og and didn't play any games. She always had to win the fight or she had to come home and fight

her granny.

"I just blacked out. The last thing I remember is her laughing about it and I just snapped" She shook her head. She still couldn't believe she blacked out like that, she honestly hasn't done that much since before she got pregnant with Sarayah.

She was thankful to be able to get out of trouble. She would probably be in jail right now for giving Cora a concussion, breaking her nose and two of her fingers.

"Did they have any leads about the fire?" Lisa sat down in the chair in front of her.

"Yeah, a few witnesses saw her throw a brick at the front windows. Before the cameras went out in the shop, they caught her breaking the windows and going inside. She poured gasoline all over the shop and set it on fire" She explained, still couldn't believe her hard work went down the drain all over a man.

"Crazy ass bitch. Over a man? She had ta' do allat" Lisa shook her head, and Lani slowly nodded. "Over a man and a child that she abused. It doesn't make sense to me but she gon' get hers" Lani said.

She already knew Cora was going to jail for a few years. She was already going to go after the charges were going to be filed for child abuse and neglect now she was going for arsenating.

"What the insurance company say?" She asked, mixing her lemonade around with her straw.

"I have to ask Lyric. She is the one that talked to them," She said. She felt bad for putting this stress on Lyric while she is pregnant. They got lucky, when they went through the things they could save from the fire, the safe they had with important files and money was okay. Along with the cash register, they still had all the money.

"Seeing it in flames like that made me think of Daddy and Malachi," She admitted. Seeing fires just reminded her of them and brought flashbacks of that night.

"You think you need to start back therapy," Lisa asked. Lani shook her head no. She was in therapy for the time she was 7 until she was 15. It helped a lot and it was normal for her to think of them. It was something that was a part of her forever, and she has to live with it.

"So you wanna tell me why you put a duffel bag in your old room when you walked in?" Lisa raised her eyebrow, Lani looked down at her hands and sighed.

"Me and Matthias are havin' problems," She said and Lisa jerked her head back some "Really?" She asked shockley. She knew if she couldn't tell anyone her business, she could always go to her granny and get no judgment.

Lani nodded "Yeah I think we should break up," She said.

"Woahh, slow down pooh. It's that serious?" She asked.

Lani shrugged, sitting back in the seat "The way I'm taking it yeah. Yesterday during the party, I went to take his plate since he was working again." She rolled her eyes "When I walked in, Pops was asking him what was wrong with me and he said that there's always something wrong with me" She shook her head.

Lisa furrowed her eyebrows "What does he mean by that?" She asked.

"He said nothing but I can't help but think he's talking about last month. I'm not going to lie granny, I was taking their birthdays and death anniversary a little harder than usual. Some days I couldn't get out of bed and I would just cry on his shoulder. But if he felt like I was annoying him and too much then he could have said that instead of talking behind my back" She started getting emotional.

Lisa had a slight pout on her face. She knew it was hard for Lani to express herself and so emotion to someone. She was taking it harder than others might. Emotionally unavailable people, it's never easy for them so when they do express themselves, they're a little more hard on themselves.

"He probably didn't mean it like that Pooh" She put her hand on top of Lani's. "What else could he mean then? That's the only time I was doing too much" She shrugged.

Lisa popped her hand "Stop sayin' that. How you feel when grieving is not doing too much. If you want to cry, you can do that. What he said, I'on think he meant it in that way" She said.

"But, what he said wasn't right, especially behind your back." She said when Lani was about to say anything. "This is y'all first real argument huh?" She asked, Lani, nodded.

"But it's like an ongoing issue for us. He's always working, no matter when or were away. I'm starting to feel second to it. When we have time alone, it's either we spend a few minutes together then he goes and works. Works all the time, I barely see him sometimes. And I hate to sound selfish but I just want the person at the beginning. The person that would make time for me" She said.

"Pooh," Lisa sighed "Nobody's perfect, nobody's relationship is goin' ta' be perfect. Have you ever asked why he worked so much? Why does he drown himself in the work?" Lisa asked.

Lani thought about it before shaking her head no "So it's my fault?"

"Noo. No, it's probably the lack of communication on his part. It's not right to what he's doin' but it is always a reason and it sounds like a mistake. Don't give up on the relationship so easily after one mistake. Yalls relationship is not going to be perfect and it's always going to be a small mistake on both of y'all ends. It's on y'all if you want to fix those mistakes" Lisa said.

"You can't just run away from your problems pooh. You love him?" She smiled slightly.

"I do, that's my other half" She mumbled.

"Then fix it. Talk about it, don't give up on him because he did one small thing you didn't like. Take the space yall need from each other but don't stop fighting for the person you love pooh. Don't let this small thing make you lose your other half" Lisa said standing up.

"Ima go take my pills, all be back" She walked out the kitchen leaving Ailani in her thoughts. She knocked out of them when her phone vibrated on the table.

🥰🤎

I didn't say it before you left but I love you.

She stared at the message, debating if she should text back or not. But the words of her granny kept replaying in her head.

I love you too

___________________________________

HEEYYYYYYYYYY

Thoughts or opinions?

He really hurt my baby feelings man🥲

Granny's advice?

560 votes for an update!!!

BYEEEE UNTIL MY NEXT UPDATEEE🦋