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"Damn Fatima, is it like that?" One of KeVon's frat brothers Lorenzo said while looking me up and down.

"Please tell my girl how bad she is!" Autumn said smacking my butt playfully. "'Cause she won't listen to me." I cut my eyes at her. "Don't look at me like that." Autumn snapped.

We were at Sapphire one of the newer clubs in the Virginia Beach area. It was Saturday night and the club was packed with mostly students from all the local colleges anxious for the semester to be over.

Things between KeVon and I were good again, this was actually the first night in two weeks that he was going out with his friends instead of staying in with me like he had been. His graduation was that next Saturday and he was excited about being done with school and devoting his time to his business full-time. I was both happy and proud of him.

But tonight wasn't about any of that, we were out celebrating Autumn. She had found out that she got into Hampton University's Graduate School for Counseling. She was so excited because even though she had applied at other places, she really wanted to stay at HU. She wanted to be a high school counselor and had already established relationships with many of the local high schools. She felt her best chance at getting a job right out of graduation was in the area.

I, on the other hand, had not heard from either John Hopkins or UNC yet and I was beginning to get anxious because everyone else around me was already getting notifications from their schools. What if I didn't get into either program? I thought to myself. I hadn't really considered the possibility of that happening. I was going to have to apply to other medical schools and hope that I could get in on late admission if things didn't turn out as I had expected them to.

Autumn and Lorenzo had been deep in small talk while I was lost in my own thoughts. I was ignorant as to what they were talking about. Apparently Lorenzo had made a joke, because Autumn nudged me roughly in the side for me to laugh along with her. I did my best forced laugh and watched the smile spread on Lorenzo's caramel face. He was the Que that wore his gold boots everywhere and wanted everyone to know that he was a bruh. Mostly because he was often mistaken for a Kappa or an Alpha with his pretty boy looks. He was trying his best to harden his image with those letters and it was comical to the rest of us.

"Where is your boy at?" I asked Lorenzo expecting to see KeVon somewhere around because most of his line brothers were there and he had told me that he would be out with them tonight when I told him I was taking Autumn out.

Lorenzo opened his mouth to answer, but looked unsure of what to say. As if fate was on his side, the DJ started to play C Murder's old school classic, Down For My Niggaz and I watched as he ran to the floor with the rest of the bruhs to try and take over the dance floor pushing and shoving each other. I scanned the sea of purple and gold shirts among the club's red lights that were flashing around the dance floor. I noticed the figure of every single one of his boys, but didn't see him anywhere in sight. I pulled out my cell phone and sent him a message.

I waited for a response but didn't receive one. I tucked my phone back away and looked out in the crowd as the DJ started to play Future. The Ques still owned the floor, now strolling around it.

"I thought you said that KeVon was going out with his boys?" Autumn asked me suspiciously one perfectly arched eyebrow raised high.

"That's what he told me." I mumbled pulling out my phone again and checked to see if he had responded yet. Still there was nothing from him.

I scanned the dance floor one more time and then around the club in general. When I didn't see him I looked at Autumn and she already had the keys dangling in front of me.

"It's time that we take a ride and see what Mr. Simon is up to!" She said.

I never believed in popping up at anybody's house unannounced but tonight something was telling me that's exactly what I needed to do. Maybe it was the liquid courage that had given me the extra confidence to do something that was against everything I believed in. I followed Autumn out to her metallic gold Nissan Versa. I jumped into the passenger seat of her car and my heart was pounding so fast that I thought about getting out and taking my butt back in the club. I wanted to believe that whatever KeVon was doing that he was doing the right thing. I even hoped that if he was up to something that he would be smart enough to do it away from his place, since I knew where he lived. Autumn was acting like a get-away driver. She leaned forward with both hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, speeding at miles that made me feel as if we were on the run.

"Slow down before you get us killed!" I tried to reason with her.

"We need to get to his house before one of his boys tips him off that you are looking for him." Autumn shot at me never taking her eyes from the road.

"Ain't nobody at that club worrying about what I'm doing." I argued.

"You would be surprised what men do to cover for each other." She said getting off on the exit that led to KeVon's house.

This was the fastest I had ever made it to Norfolk from Virginia Beach and I didn't know if I was supposed to be impressed or terrified by that fact. We pulled up to KeVon's house and when I saw his all-back Dodge Durango I closed my eyes tightly shut.

Autumn parked on the street and turned to look at me. "You got a key to his crib, right?"

"No!" I said shaking my head. I looked up and saw some glimmer of a light through the curtains of his bedroom window. "But t I know where they keep the spare key." I followed-up my curiosity now at a high.

"Well, let's go then." She said. I felt as if she was also carrying with the way she was acting.

"Maybe I should knock first?" I mumbled.

"Where's the key?" She asked bypassing my suggestion and looking around their front porch. I moved to the side of the house where a stack of bricks were and lifted them until I found the key. I always thought it's placement was weird but I heard one of his boy's mention it before when he talked about getting into their house to get something for them. I nervously picked the key up and handed it to Autumn. "Why are you so nervous? If he's not doing anything then he's straight." Autumn reasoned.

"What if he is?" I asked.

"I'm not holding you back and you better beat the black off his ass!" She whisper-yelled at me with hand gestures handing me back the key. I let out the breath I had been holding and pushed the silver key into the lock and turned. I hated that the door so easily opened. I tiptoed inside with Autumn right on my heels. She was acting like a detective looking around their mostly black living room with accents of Omega stuff all around. "You can tell that nothin' but niggas live in here." She whispered while we walked towards the stairs.

I had been here many times before but my feet never felt as heavy as they did at that moment. I began to climb the stairs and could hear voices when I was halfway up, both coming from his room. I stopped and turned to Autumn ready to run back down the stairs and out of the house because I was not ready for whatever was behind that door.

"Beat. His. Ass." She mouthed through clenched teeth, nodding for me to keep climbing.

I sucked in vital air as I resumed my climb up the steps. When I reached his door once again I almost chickened out from opening the door. I really didn't want to know what was behind it. Autumn turned the knob and threw the door open and from the doorway my mouth dropped seeing KeVon in the bed lying on Deja's chest. She was sitting up against the headboard and they were both completely naked watching something on his tv comfortably as if they did this all the time.

"What the f-" Autumn said for me. I was rendered speechless. My eyes kept going from the man who was supposed to love me to the woman who did my hair weekly, who I often confided in about my relationship and who I also considered a friend.

"Tima...let me explain!" KeVon said carefully easing himself from the bed and slipping on the shorts that were nearby on the floor.

"Let you explain?" I asked him with shock stepping inside of the room, finding the scene in front of me self-explanatory.

"It's time she knows the truth." Deja said comfortable in her spot on his bed.

"Bitch, I will cut you!" Autumn exclaimed jumping for her but KeVon's fast hands gripped her by the waist stopping her assault. Autumn didn't care that she had a club dress on at all.

I felt as if I had boulders tied to my ankles and I didn't know who to go after first, her or him. I didn't know what to do. This had never happened to me before.

"I wish you would lay a hand on me." Deja said sarcastically to Autumn who was still reaching to grab her.

"I'm gonna do a lot more than lay a hand on you. I'm gonna snap your lil ass neck in half."

"Cut that shit out Autumn." KeVon said struggling to keep her away from Deja. I walked over to him calmly and pulled his hands off my friend.

"Take your hands off of her." I warned him.

"Not until she calms her ass down!" He shot back at me much louder than he should have been considering the circumstances.

"Let go of her!" I yelled this time. My tone must have convinced him I wasn't playing because he lifted his hands in the air.

Huffing and puffing Autumn looked at me. "You beat his lying ass, while I snap this Barbie doll in half." She directed ready to leap on Deja who still sat in the same spot not moved by the scene before her. This time I held on to my friend.

"She's not worth it." I said to my friend not sure where the words were coming from with the hammering that was happening inside of my chest.

"Just let me get one hit in so I can wipe that dumbass smile off her face!" Autumn begged. I looked up to find Deja blowing her a kiss. Was this bitch crazy? She wanted to die!

"Everybody calm the fuck down!" KeVon snapped trying to take control of the situation.

"I'm calm!" Deja said said with a smirk. "It's your lil Dumbo over there that looks like she's about to cry." This bitch was supposed to be my friend! I repeated in my head.

I snapped at her words and dove on the bed and started trying to choke the hell out of Deja. She was squirming and kicking trying to get me to let her go and I felt KeVon and his muscular strength pull me off of her as if I weighed only 100 pounds.

"Fatima, chill the fuck out!" He had the nerve to yell at me. I started kicking and punching at him as much as I could with him holding me from behind. "How could you do this to me?" I continued fighting him and tears stung their way down my hot face. The pain from the reality of what had been going on behind my back was fully sinking in.

"I'm sorry." He said restraining me with his arms. "I wasn't tryna hurt you."

"Sleeping with one of my friends is your way of not hurting me!" I screamed.

"That bitch ain't your friend!" Autumn yelled.

"Don't be mad at me because I know how to take care of a man and your girl don't." Deja sniped. "I told her she better get it together, but she didn't listen."

"Bitch, I'm tryin' not to kill your simple, ghetto ass but you must wanna die today." Autumn pointed her finger at Deja.

"Let me go!" I elbowed KeVon hard in the chest. He reluctantly put me down and I turned around to face him. He held up his hand to his face as if he was expecting to block a hit. "How could you?" I said swiping the tears roughly from my face.

"Sis, you look real pathetic right now..." Deja interrupted with a sarcastic laugh.

"Deja!" He snapped pointing at her. The next thing I know, Autumn jumped on Deja like a tiger jumping on its prey. Autumn started punching and slapping her immediately. KeVon reached down and pulled Autumn off of her.

"I need both of you to get the fuck out!" He said pointing at the door.

"I'm gone!" Autumn said with a smile looking at the result of the work she had done on Deja. "I said all I needed was one hit." She began to dramatically crack her neck like a boxer.

"Fuck you, you fat bitch!" Deja said nursing the side of her lip that was starting to swell.

"You want some more?" Autumn dared holding up her fists.

"Get out now!" KeVon boomed causing all of us to jump. He turned to me. "I can't talk to you while you're actin' like this and got your crazy ass sidekick with you." I punched him across the face before I had a chance to think about what I had done.

I saw his tongue massage the inside of the cheek before he turned to me. "You got five seconds to get the fuck outta my house."

"Or what? You gonna hit me?" I taunted stepping closer to his face. "Huh, let me see you try."

I felt Autumn tugging on my left hand. "Come on Tima, I told you he wasn't worth shit." She said putting emphasis on her words.

"I'm not worth shit?" He chuckled sarcastically. "She ain't gonna find nobody better than me."

"You keep thinking that." Autumn said pulling me towards the door.

"Don't call me, don't come to my house...don't anything." I said while walking towards the door. "And I hope you catch something from that diseased THOT!" I said before leaving the room.

"She got that part right, her nasty ass done been all through the seven cities!" Autumn added from the hall.

As we jogged down the stairs, I wished I wasn't wearing the knee high boots I had on because my feet were on fire. I could hear Deja and KeVon yelling at each other as we walked further away from where they were until we were out the door altogether. As soon as we got to the car I drooped over with my hands on my knees, suddenly feeling physically weak. I broke down crying in front of the passenger door where I felt Autumn helping me up.

"Come on, I'm not about to let you cry out here for them to see you." She opened the door and I climbed inside of her car. I began to wail because the pain of what was happening was too much to handle.

"You can do better than him." She told me as we began our long drive back to our apartments in Hampton. Even though that was the right thing a friend should say and it was probably true. I wasn't digesting those words at the moment. All I felt was pain. "Let it out." Autumn encouraged patting my back. "You deserve this cry. He was foul for what he did...him and Deja both. But they gonna get what's comin' to them. Believe that." And cry for the entire drive home I did.