Me, Spooky, and Rubi were on our way to Manny's warehouse to wash his money. I'm furious that we have to do this because I know it'll take forever to wash all of that cash, and I'm even more furious that he prefers that I wash the cash instead of us chilling together.

I was looking out the window while Rubi and Spooky were conversing. It suddenly became quiet, and I noticed Spooky and Rubi staring at me with a worried expression on their faces. I rolled my eyes because I knew they were going to ask what was wrong, and I didn't want to tell them because they make everything a joke.

"What's the matter with you, sister-in-law? You appear to be upset back there." Spooky laughed.

I gave Spooky a sidelong glance before returning my gaze to the window. "It's unimportant. All you have to do is keep your eyes on the road."

Spooky laughed and returned his attention to the road. Rubi was still looking at me with that concerned expression on her face. I can already tell she's going to irritate me if I don't say what's on my mind.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, girl? Are you upset that Manny thrashed Nau'Jour?" Rubi inquired.

Spooky gave Rubi a puzzled expression. "Who did Manny beat up?"

Rubi burst out laughing. "The ex-boyfriend of Angel. He came to the house yesterday, attempting to reclaim her, and your home boy was not pleased. Manny, according to Angel, beat the hell out of him. I had no idea your boy was so envious."

Spooky laughed. "I see Manny kept this from me. That's some insane shit. I knew Manny was crazy, but not that crazy about no girl."

"First and foremost, that is not why I am upset; rather, I am relieved that Nau'Jour received that good ass whopping he deserved, and second, I am enraged by Manny's refusal to spend time with me. He preached that he loved me and wanted to be with me while we were in Mexico, but once we returned, it was all about work, as if that was all he cared about. When it comes to spending time with your girl, why can't Manny be like you Spooky?" While pouting, I said to them.

Spooky simply shrugged. "You have to understand that he is the sole proprietor of this business. Everything could be jeopardized if he makes one mistake. He's trying to keep everything on track and ensure that it stays that way."

I scowled and shrugged my shoulders. "He should have considered that before telling me he loves me and wants to be with me. He'll be furious if I attract the attention of someone else."

Spooky burst out laughing. "He's already furious because Trevante got half of your attention."

I burst out laughing. "I'm guessing he told you about me and Trevante going out for brunch huh?"

Spooky looked at me with a "duh" expression on his face. "Of course, he was mad as hell. He wanted to strangle both of you. I guess he dislikes it when another man attracts his girl's attention."

My arms were folded. "However, if he doesn't get his act together, I'm going straight to Trevante."

Spooky gave me a "oooh" face expression. "I hope you're aware that I'm snitching on you."

Spooky was punched in the arm by Rubi. "You rat, you're not about to snitch on my sister. Snitching isn't something you're supposed to do anyways."

Spooky gave Rubi a serious expression on his face. "Aye, hold on a second. I'm not a damn rat. Don't call me that shit."

Rubi sighed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

I started laughing at them. We arrived at Manny's warehouse in a matter of minutes. Spooky, being the gentleman that he is, grabbed the two boxes of money for us as we got out of the car. As we entered, there were people working fast and hard with the drugs.

Manny must be paying them well for their efforts. As we followed Spooky, he began speaking Spanish to everyone. After that, Spooky led us into a room where no one was present and the only thing in the room was a machine. I suppose that's the machine we'll be using to wash the money.

Spooky set the boxes down and smiled as he placed his hands on his hips. "Are you ladies ready to start working?"

I exhaled a sigh. "Hell no, do you know how long we'll be here washing this money? We're going to be here all day and night, and we have no idea how to do it."

Rubi, too, sighed. "Shit, we should have brought an air mattress."

Spooky burst out laughing. "Man, you guys chill out. Let me show you that it's not that bad."

Spooky took some money from one of the boxes and demonstrated how to clean the money properly, which doesn't appear to be difficult. The only part I dislike is that laundering all of this money will take too long. To wash the money, we'll need more than just two people. Spooky smiled at me and Rubi as he wrapped a green rubber band around the clean bill.

"Do you think you got it from here, or do I have to do it again?" Spooky inquired.

Rubi exhaled a sigh. "No, you do not need to do it again. Could you please just help us out babe? This is excessive. Y'all acting like we have eight arms to do all of this shit."

Spooky laughed, grabbed Rubi's waist, and kissed her on the lips. "Baby, relax; I wish I could stay and help, but I can't. I have some business to attend to. I'm confident you'll finish everything before nightfall." Spooky then handed over the keys to Rubi. "I know you're only going to be here for a minute, so I'll just leave the keys with you. Manny will come and get me. I love you, baby girl."

Spooky left Rubi and me alone in the room. I grabbed a bill and looked at the machine, perplexed. I forgot how Spooky did it already.

I palmed my face. "Girl, we haven't even started yet, and this shit is already annoying."

Rubi sighed and shrugged. "Well, it's not that difficult, Angel. Allow me to do some of them."

Rubi took some money and began washing them like Spooky. She just did everything like him, and then she put a green rubber over them. She smiled as she looked at me.

I burst out laughing. "All right, smart ass, I know you can do it. Let's just get this shit out of the way."

Rubi and I started cleaning the money. We spent nearly 2 hours cleaning half of the money. I'm not going to lie, my hands and feet are killing me. My phone rang to notify me that someone had texted me while I was cleaning the money. I took out my phone and saw that Trevante had texted me. He texted me just when I needed a break from cleaning all of this money.

wyd princess?

Text Message Sent at 2:06pm

nothing much. wyd lil boy?

Text Message Sent at 2:08pm

lil boy? 🤨 stop messing with me, girl. im grown ass man. and im at the gym right na. i was thinking about you while I was working out.

Text Message Sent at 2:10pm

why are you thinking about me as you exercise? is it your intention to call me fat? 😕

Text Message Sent at 2:11pm

lol you already know that's not what I'm saying. you're well aware that you're not fat in the first place. even if you were, you would still be my fine ass princess.

Text Message Sent at 2:13pm

that's so thoughtful of you Tre 🥰

Text Message Sent at 2:15pm

lol ❤️ given that you aren't doing much. can I take you out on a nice picnic after I finish working out?

Text Message Sent at 2:16pm

im actually doing something with my sister. i am unable to do so today. im sorry

Text Message Sent at 2:17pm

its ok. you are not required to tell me the truth 🥺

Text Message Sent at 2:18pm

lmao what exactly are you talking about, boy? im telling it like it is.

Text Message Sent at 2:20pm

im just fuckin with your big head ass. im confident you wouldn't deceive me. maybe ill take you out on a picnic next time.

Text Message Sent at 2:22pm

ill notify you when I'm available 😉

Text Message Sent at 2:23pm

a'ight bet, do that 😏 and do you have anything planned for your birthday, lil mama?

Text Message Sent at 2:25pm

no, i haven't made any plans as of yet. my birthday outfit has not yet been ordered 😩

Text Message Sent at 2:27pm

if you don't have anything planned, i can make one for you, and ill send you money to order your outfit as well as money to get your hair, nails, make-up, and feet done. i don't want you to spend your money on your birthday. you deserve to be pampered ❤️

Text Message Sent at 2:30pm

tre, thank you so much. i swear you're the best. that means the world to me 🤞🏽❤️

Text Message Sent at 2:31pm

lil mama, you welcome. ill do anything for you. i love you...

Text Message Sent at 2:32pm

When I looked at Trevante's message, he said, "I love you." I simply froze and did not respond. I wasn't ready to tell him I love him again because I'm still stuck on him messing with Alexis and I'm afraid of him breaking my heart again. Rubi was staring me down when I looked up. I looked at her, perplexed.

"What? What are you looking at?" I said this as I slipped my phone into my pocket.

"I'm trying to figure out why I'm the only one cleaning this money. Do you really want us to spend the night here?" While cleaning the money, Rubi said.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I apologize. I received a text message and wanted to see who it was from, and I desperately needed a break. My feet are destroying me."

Rubi positioned her hands on her hips. "Who, after all, was the message from? If it was Manny, he needs to come here and assist us. We've been standing here for over two hours."

My head shook. "It wasn't Manny. Trevante was the one who texted me. He was curious about what I was doing."

Rubi burst out laughing. "I see that nigga misses you a lot. He's also trying to get back together with you, but if I were him, I wouldn't do it because Manny is insane."

I scratched the back of my neck, remembering Manny almost killing Trevante. "Yeah, I think he knows, but I don't think he cares."

Rubi gave me a surprised look. "You must have some good vagina because there's no way I'm going to chase after someone who's got a man who's willing to kill whoever tries to talk to you."

I laughed. "He doesn't give a damn about Manny's antics because he's still trying to get back together and plus he said he'll send me money for my birthday to get my hair and stuff done."

Rubi stuck out her tongue. "I know that's right. You'd better spend that boy's money before you spend your own. I like him, but don't let me Manny see that because he'll go insane if he finds out Trevante is sending you money."

My shoulders shrugged. "I honestly don't mind if he finds out because it might make him spend more time with me."

Rubi burst out laughing. "Your ass is going to spend a lot of time in your own grave. You should stop trying Manny's patience, girl."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Anyway, enough about him, how much money do we still have to clean?"

Rubi exhaled deeply. "We've got a lot. We'll be here all day if we don't stop talking." Rubi's face lit up as if she'd had an epiphany. "You know what we should do?"

"What crazy idea do you have?" I asked, looking at Rubi with a puzzled expression.

"We should go around asking people to assist us in cleaning the money." Rubi said with a smile.

I stared at Rubi as if she were insane. Why would we ask people to wash illegal cash? We could get ourselves into a lot of trouble, and more importantly, we could get Manny into trouble, which I cannot allow to happen. Rubi's decision made me shake my head.

"Fuck no, girl. That's a terrible idea. What if they figure out what we're up to and turn on us?"

"We can ask someone who's stupid or something I don't know, but we need someone else to help us or we'll be here all day. Without a doubt, if Jayda had been present, she would have assisted us." Rubi simply shrugged.

When she mentioned Jayda's name, I felt sad. "I suppose she would, but where are we going to look for someone if we're going to look for help?"

Rubi simply shrugged. "We can go to a nearby supermarket."

I locked my gaze on Rubi for a long time. I'm not sure we should follow her plan because it could backfire and get us into trouble. I have a bad feeling about this, but we do need to hurry up and clean this money because Manny will most likely want it cleaned at a specific time, so we'll need an extra person.

"All right, we'll only need one person." I then turned my attention to the money-cleaning machine. "We'll have to transport this in the car and take it to the house. We cannot allow the individual to visit Manny's warehouse."

Rubi gave me a puzzled look. "Why don't we just ask the person if we can take it to their house?"

My shoulders shrugged. "Fine, and one of those men out there will have to carry this machine to the car because I know our arms will break if we try to carry it."

Rubi nodded. Rubi pushed open the door and motioned for at least three men to assist us. They initially looked perplexed at us, but they nevertheless approached us.

Rubi pointed to the machine as the guys entered. She started speaking slowly to them. I'm not sure why she was talking so slowly. She might believe they don't speak English or something.

"Hey, could you guys assist us in getting this to the car? Don't be concerned with what Manny has to say. There's nothing to be concerned about because he knows us and was the one who set us up to do this."

The guys exchanged a few glances before shrugging their shoulders. They snatched the machine and carried it towards the exit. Me and Rubi grabbed the rest of the money as they carried the machine.

We trailed closely behind them, and they were moving quickly. We opened the door for them and also opened the door to the car, where they placed the machine.

They shut the door quickly. They returned inside after we thanked them. Rubi and I got into the car and began looking for the nearest supermarket.

"Let's just hope your plan doesn't backfire." In a serious tone, I said.

Rubi sighed and looked down at her phone. "Girl, please stop saying that before we have bad luck, and let's go to Yucca Supermarket."

I shook my head and continued driving to the supermarket. I'm just hoping we can find someone who is clueless and can simply assist in cleaning the money. In order for them to help us, we'll have to concoct a lie that they'll believe.

I don't need the person to be aware that they are cleaning illegal cash. Arriving at the supermarket took a long time. I parked and looked at Rubi after we found a parking spot.

"Let's hope we don't make a mistake." I said this while pointing to her face.

"Just come on, girl." While opening the car door, Rubi said.

I rolled my eyes and exited the vehicle. We started walking towards the store. To be honest, we'll look ridiculous standing in front of the store asking for assistance, but if it helps us clean up the money faster, I'm all for it. Rubi and I are standing in front of the store, waiting for people to come out and in, but we have yet to see anyone.

I heard my phone ding while we were waiting to see someone, which meant someone texted my phone. I took my phone from my pocket and looked at the screen, seeing that I had received a text message from Manny.

❤️

Have you finished washing the money?

Text Message Sent at 4:13pm

I frowned as I looked at my phone. Manny must believe we have superhuman abilities. We won't be able to clean up all of this cash so quickly. We have to find someone quickly because I'm not going to do this with Manny today. I slid my phone into my pocket and grabbed Rubi's arm.

"We need to hurry up and find someone because Manny just texted and asked if we finished, and I know he'll be upset if I tell him we didn't."

"Ok, let's see um-" Rubi shifted her gaze away from me and toward the woman exiting the store. "Let's ask this lady right here."

When I looked at her, she appeared to be in her mid-30s. She has dark skin and a heavy build. She was dressed nicely, and her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She was carrying a large amount of groceries. She must have a large family or something. She approached the 2019 black Dodge van.

"Come on, before she gets her ass in the van." As I began running towards the woman, I said.

Rubi and I started walking quickly towards the woman. As we approached her, she was loading her groceries into the van's trunk. We stood behind her, and when she turned to pick up the bag from the ground, she noticed us. She looked at us with a crooked grin.

"May I assist you, ladies?" She inquired.

I gave a nervous smile. "We apologize for bothering you. We wanted to ask if you could assist us with something."

She kept staring at us, perplexed. "What exactly do you require assistance with? If it's illegal, I can't help you because I have two children and I don't want to miss out on anything."

When the woman said the word "illegal," Rubi and I looked at each other. I don't know what lie to tell. We might lose her if we don't come up with something quick.

"Well, it's this game we're playing, and we need to win it. We only need three players to win a large sum of money." With a nervous smirk on my face, I said.

When we said "money," the woman's eyes lit up, but she looked at us again, flummoxed. "Are you sure you're not trying to kidnap me or get me involved in sex trafficking or something?"

Rubi gave her a "what the fuck?" look. "Hell nah, lady, we're not on that kind of shit. Are you interested or what?"

She looked at us for a moment before smiling. "I'm in if there's money involved. I can buy new clothes and shoes for my kids."

I looked at her as she fiddled with my fingers. "We were wondering if we could play the game at your house though."

She simply nodded. "Of course, just follow behind me."

Rubi and I nodded and dashed to our car. We got in the car and drove away from our parking spot. The woman was loading the last of her groceries into her car as we were backing out. She slammed the trunk shut and walked to the driver's side of her van. She reversed the van and backed out of her parking spot. We were right behind her as she drove away. I'm hoping everything goes well because I don't have time for mistakes.

We arrived at her house in about 45 minutes. When we arrived, it appeared that she was living in an old model house. It's not that bad, but it's also not that good. We parked behind her as she parked her van in her driveway. We all exited out of the car at the same time. She looked at us as she opened the trunk.

"I'm about to put the groceries away. Would you like to come inside and play the game?" She inquired, her face bright.

I laughed nervously. "No, I was hoping you had a shed or somewhere we could play the game."