Right now, Rubi and I were on our way to the woman who had taken Manny's money. I knew it was a bad idea to ask that woman to assist us. She mentioned she wanted to buy her kids clothes and shoes, so I should've known she was going to steal. I'm hoping she'll work with us because if she doesn't, I'll be forced to do something I don't want to do. I'm sorry to see her children without a mother. I glanced over at Rubi while driving and noticed that she had a suspicious expression on her face.

"Why do you have that expression on your face? Do you have anything on your mind?" As I returned my gaze to Rubi and the road, I said.

Rubi had the same expression on her face when she looked over at me. "So, if she doesn't return the money. How are we going to proceed?"

With a "really" expression on my face, I looked at Rubi. "You already know what we need to do, Rubi. I don't want to do it, but we don't have a choice if she doesn't give us the money. Manny is probably going to skin us alive if we don't kill her."

Rubi's skeptic face morphed into a stressed expression. "Oh my God, Angel, I'm sorry, but I don't have time to sit here and bury another body. That shit is aggravating and exhausting. It'll be even more exhausting because that woman isn't as petite as Jayda."

I understand Rubi's point, and burying a body is a lot of work, and I honestly don't want to go through it again, but if she refuses to cooperate, that's what it will come down to.

I let out a sigh. "You make an excellent point, but we must obey Manny's orders."

Rubi sighed heavily, expressing her frustration. My phone started ringing before I could say anything else to Rubi. I grabbed it and realized it was my mother. I tapped on Rubi's shoulder and showed her who was calling my phone.

"Why is your mother calling me now?"

Rubi burst out laughing. "I'm guessing she's calling because Nau'Jour snitched on you."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "If that's what she's calling for, then Nau'Jour is definitely a fucking snitch."

I finally answered the phone for my mother while Rubi laughed at what I said.

"Yes, mommy?" In a sweet tone, I said.

"Don't yes mommy me. I'm not sure what's going on, but Nau'Jour called and said that guy Manny beat him up for no reason. Why would you give him permission to touch Nau'Jour? I'm confident he arrived with good intentions. He only wanted to give you some presents for your birthday." With a sneer, my mother said.

"Wait a minute, you're going to take his side without even listening to me or Manny?" I enquired with a sneer as well.

"Well, the way he's saying it, it sounds like you guys started with him, so I trusted him."

I burst out laughing. "Are you serious, Ma? You're really going to side with him without hearing my side of the story? First and foremost, he did not present me with any gifts. He only said that so you could give him my address and he could come see me. He actually came to see me in the hopes of reuniting with me. Manny didn't take Nau'Jour's disrespect lightly because he was the one who started it. I'm not sure why you still care about him after he cheated on me several times."

"You mean to tell me he didn't even bring you at least one gift?"

"No, he didn't bring anything. He lied to you, and did he tell you he brought a female to my house? I'm sure he didn't."

"No, he didn't say that to me, and I can't believe he lied to me. I apologize for not hearing you out first, baby. I'll make it a point to confront him about lying to me, bringing a woman to the house, and, most importantly, disrespecting you. I'm such a fool for not listening to you first."

"You're fine, ma. Because he's not good, you should just leave him in the past like I did. He's a pathological liar and a cheater."

"I'll leave him in the past for good baby, and are you around Rubi?"

Rubi looked at me and mouthed "what?" when I looked over. I returned my focus to the phone after that.

"Yes, she's with me. Do you want me to say something to her for you?"

"Yes, can you ask her when she'll be returning to New York? Her boyfriend also approached me and inquired about her, as well as why she had him blocked. She wasn't supposed to be with you for that long in the first place. Isn't she aware that she owns a home and must pay bills? Why does my child have to be so careless?"

I took my phone out of my ear. Because Rubi is unable to leave, I'm not sure what we'll say to her. I'm pretty sure she'll get hurt if she leaves. Regardless of how cool Manny is right now, I'm pretty sure if either of us leaves California right now, he'll kill us.

"Momma said your boyfriend asked her about you and why you blocked him, and she also wants to know when you're moving back to New York?" I looked at her, puzzled.

We both looked at each other, puzzled, because we didn't know what to say to our mother. Rubi needs to come up with something because I'm at a loss for words. I just hope Rubi doesn't say anything stupid.

Rubi looked at me and began to whisper. "Tell her I blocked him because I don't want to talk to him anymore, and that I'm staying with you until I'm ready to return. Regardless, my bills will be paid."

I nodded and replaced my phone in my ear. "Ma, she said she blocked the boy because she doesn't want to be with him anymore, and she said when she's ready to leave, she'll leave, and her bills will still be paid whether she's living here or not."

My mother sighed, and I could hear her. "Tell Rubi she should get a job while she's up there." She's not going to stay there for free."

I took my phone out of my ear and shifted my focus to Rubi. "Momma said you need to get a job because you're not going to be able to live here for free."

Rubi huffed and rolled her eyes. "Girl, tell mom to leave me alone and stop talking to me before she turns it into an argument, because that's exactly what's about to happen. She seems to enjoy starting with me for no apparent reason."

I'm not going to tell Mom what she just said because it will undoubtedly result in an argument. But I agree with Rubi because our mother always starts with her for no apparent reason, and when Rubi blows up on her, she tries to play the victim card, which you can't do.

I returned the phone to my ear. "She said, ok, and ma, are you coming to see me on my birthday?"

"I'm not sure, baby. I'll have to check my calendar to see if I don't have any cases on that day. I promise I'll do my best to make it."

"It's fine if you don't make it. I understand how busy you can be at times, but I'll talk to you later, ma. I love you."

"I love both of you girls, and I forgot to tell you this before you hang up. Your school called again to inform you that you had only completed half of your assignments. Angel baby, you know I'm not with that type of stuff. I'm not sure if it was that boy who lives with you who got you distracted or if it was Rubi, but you need to stop allowing them to distract you from your work. Your future is literally at stake. Do me a favor and concentrate."

I exhaled a sigh. "No one is obstructing my concentration, momma. I am solely responsible for my own errors. I'll contact you later. I love you."

I hung up the phone and turned to face Rubi, who was staring at me with a frown. I'm sure she's irritated by our mother's constant nitpicking with her. I'm not sure why she does it, but I hope she stops before things spiral out of control. But I know I'm irritated because Nau'Jour's snitching on us was childish.

I laughed softly. "Our mother is something else, isn't she?"

"Girl, she be blowing the fuck out of me. Every time I look around, she's either questioning what I'm doing or giving me negative feedback on whatever I'm doing. She won't stop until I body slam her ass on her damn head."

I burst out laughing. "That's our mother, sis. That is not something you can do to her."

Rubi shrugged her shoulders. "I couldn't care less if she was our great grandmother. She should just leave me the fuck alone."

Rubi's response made me laugh. I swear she and our mother irritate me. They never seemed to be able to be nice to each other. I'm not sure what's going on with them, but my mother is telling the truth about my schoolwork. I've always wanted to be a doctor since I was a kid. Manny has made it impossible for me to complete any tasks. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back on track with my work and other obligations soon.

My phone cut me off as I was about to say something to Rubi. My phone rang, indicating that I had received a text message. I took out my phone and saw that it had a message from Manny on it.

❤️

you already know what to do if she doesn't listen to your instructions.

Text Message Sent at 10:13am

After I finished reading the message, I looked over at Rubi, who looked at me with her brows squished, as if she was perplexed.

"Can you tell me what the message said?" Rubi enquired.

"Manny texted that if she doesn't follow our instructions, we already know what to do. I just hope she listens because I don't want her kids to grow up without a parent."

"I don't want to bury her big ass, so I'm hoping she listens too."

We arrived at the lady's house a few minutes later. Her van was in the driveway, so she was home. We pulled in behind her van and turned off the engine. I grabbed my gun and checked to see if it was loaded. I stuffed the gun in my back pocket after inspecting it. I then looked at Rubi to see if she was ready to go inside. She was looking at me as if I were insane, so I looked at her, baffled.

"What exactly is your issue?" I asked her, baffled,

Rubi shook her head. "It's the way you checked out the gun for me. You've been hanging out with Manny for far too long. But let's go inside and get this over with."

What she said made me laugh. I just hope I don't become as cold-hearted as him. Rubi and I got out of the car and started walking towards the front door. We softly knocked as we approached the front door and received no response at first.

We were about to knock again when we heard the sound of a crying baby approaching the door. So that means she carrying her baby towards the door. The lady opened the door, holding the crying baby. She smiled as she bounced her baby up and down to get it to stop crying. I noticed that the baby appeared to be two years old when I looked at it.

"Hey. What exactly are you doing here? Are we going to play another game?" She inquired, her face bright.

I shook my head with a straight face. "No, we came to talk. Do you have a second?"

She nodded her head inside her house, indicating that we could enter. "Sure. Come inside and be cautious of your steps. There are a lot of toys on the floor."

When we entered her house, we noticed that there were a lot of toys on the floor. I took a look around and noticed that several things in her house needed to be repaired. Her carpet needs to be cleaned because I can tell her kids spilled something on it, and she has cracks in the walls and a broken cabinet, and you can tell her kids write all over her walls because the wall is covered in blue and green crayon marks, but other than that, she doesn't have a bad home; it just needs to be rearranged and cleaned up.

After seeing the extent of the damage and messes in her home. I noticed a picture of her and kids on the wall. I noticed she was holding her two children by herself, implying that she is a single mother. My eyes were drawn to the words written on the frame, which read "my boys," hinting that she has two sons. The woman sat in her recliner, rocking her sleeping baby. She gave us a look while we were still standing.

"Aren't you going to take a seat?" She inquired.

I agreed by nodding. Rubi immediately jumped up and screamed when me and her sat down. Rubi drew a toy truck from her butt. I really wanted to laugh, but I had to keep a serious face on. Rubi threw the toy and frowned at the woman.

"Listen, bitch, you need to cle-" Rubi was cut off before she could finish her sentence.

"As a result, I'd like you to be completely honest with us." I said.

She kept smiling as if she hadn't done anything. "Sure. What's going on?"

I sighed. "We counted the money and noticed that there is a lump sum missing, which we know we did not take. We know you did it, and we want our money back."

She laughed nervously. "I'm not sure what you're on about. I only collected the $100 that you guys gave me. You must have dropped the cash or something."

Rubi clenched her teeth. "Do you think we got worms for brains, bitch? You know you took it, and I understand why you did it; you live in filth."

I elbowed Rubi and gave her a "the fuck" look, and she looked at me confusedly, mouthing "what?" I then sighed, knowing that what Rubi said to that woman had hurt her feelings.

The lady sighed. "Yes, I took the money, and yes, I truly needed it. I'm a single mother of two who does everything on her own. The bills are piling up, and pampers and other necessities for the kids are outrageously high, so I couldn't help but take the money."

With a sad expression, I looked at the woman. "I understand and am sorry to hear that, but as I previously stated, that money is going to someone else. Things will get ugly if the person does not receive the money, and I know you don't want that to happen, so just hand it over to me and we'll be on our way."

The woman looked at me, puzzled. "How am I going to feed my children and buy their clothes and other necessities? Are you even paying attention to me?"

Rubi sighed and rolled her eyes. "You're acting as if it's our fault you're broke and a single mother. You should apply for food stamps or you should go out there and shake your ass on a pole for some money. Clearly, you're not paying attention to us. We need that money, and if we don't get it, something bad will happen, which I swear I don't want."

The woman stood up and took her phone from her kitchen counter. "If you don't let me keep the money, I'll call the cops and tell them what you're up to."

I let out a sigh and ran my fingers through my hair. "You're not going to do that."

She started dialing on her phone and showed Rubi and me that she dialed 911. "Do you really want to put me to the test?"

Rubi and I exchanged glances. We already know what we have to do because she is refusing to cooperate. I reached for the gun from the back of my pants and clutched it. Her oldest son ran out of his room, calling her name, before I could draw the gun. I can tell he's about 3 or 4 years old when he ran up to her. He was a handsome little boy with dark skin. He has beautiful deep brown curly hair. He looked at Rubi and me and began to hide behind his mother.

"Who these people, Mommy?" In his baby voice, he inquired.

"No one, baby. What do you require? Mommy is very busy." She informed her son.

Her son started tugging on her shirt. "I'm hungry."

"Ok, I'll fix you something in a minute. Allow me to lay your brother down and handle them, and I'll be right there."

He walked back to his room with a nod. The lady then placed her baby in the crib and returned her gaze back at us. I'm not sure what to do at this point because she's threatening to call the cops. I have no choice but to leave right now and devise a new strategy. Rubi and I were both looking at her with a furious expression on our faces. With a grin on her face, she looked at us.

"I believe you should leave before I hit the call button." She stated this while holding the phone up to our faces.

I agreed by nodding. "We'll catch up later."

"I'm relieved to be leaving this filthy ass house anyways. In here, it smells like fucking bacteria and cheetos." Rubi stood up from her chair.

Rubi and I walked out of her house, and she approached the door and watched us walk away. We got in the car and noticed she was still smiling at the door. I swear she won't be smiling when I catch her ass again.

I only spared her because she mentioned the police, and her children are present, and I don't want to kill her in front of them because I know it will mentally and emotionally ruin them, and I know her son will say we were the last ones there. We drove away from her driveway and quickly drove down the road.

Rubi sighed vehemently. "I swear I should've slapped that broad back bitch. She was really testing my patience."

My head shook. "She definitely tried my patience, but I have to tell Manny what happened. I honestly don't know what to do about her now that she's mentioned the cops. I need to get that money from her before she deposits it or spends it."

"I already know Manny will trip. The only thing he'll tell you is that you should've just kilted her whether her kids were present or not."

"Well, he knows I'm not going to kill her while her kids are present, so he can trip all he wants."

I pulled over to a gas station and dialed Manny's number. The phone rang several times before he picked it up.

"Wassup, mama? Did you handle her? Did you get the money?"

I let out a sigh. "About that, I didn't get the money."

Manny sucked his teeth, which I could hear. "Angel, what the fuck do you mean you didn't get the money? Did she spend it or what?"

Another sigh escaped my lips. "No, she threatened to call the cops, and I was at a loss."

Manny, too, sighed. "Listen, mama, you return to her house and make sure you park a safe distance away. Follow her and see where she goes, and if she's alone, deal with her right away."

"What if she leaves while the sun is still shining? Would you like me to deal with her in broad daylight?"

"If that's what it comes down to, so be it. Only call me back when you've finished with it."

Manny hung up the phone, and I returned my phone to my pocket. When I looked at Rubi, I noticed she was looking at me as well. She had a suspicious expression on her face.

"And what did he say?" Rubi inquired.

"He said to go back to her house and wait until she leaves, and then handle her if she's alone."

Rubi sighed and rolled her eyes. "We already understand what that means. We have to kill her big ass."

I laughed when Rubi said "big ass," because does she have to keep calling that woman big all the time? I put the car in drive and started driving away from the gas station. We took a while to get back to her house. We arrived at her house to find her van still parked in the driveway.

We parked a long way away from her house. We sat there for several hours and she never came out. I'm beginning to believe we can't handle her ass today. As the sun began to set, I looked at Rubi to see if she was still looking. She wasn't looking because she was sleeping, and I couldn't blame her.

We sat here until the sun went down. When it started to get dark, I was about to leave when I noticed the woman's door open and saw her and her children walking out of the house. To wake Rubi up, I punched her on the shoulder.