😗sorry for any mistakes

Houston, Tx

August 5th

Sunday

Kacey watched Dee yell at the boy who stood in front of everyone in tears, begging for his life. Nobody understood why he was begging, once you steal from them, your life is nonexistent after that.

It wasn't any point of begging.

"I'm sorry mane, please" Trey mocked the boy causing him and Ro to burst out laughing "Shut yo' ass up. Wasn't sorry when you were stealin' " Trey mugged before Dee punched the boy in the jaw.

"Bitch ass nigga" Dee shook his hand as the boy was on the ground holding his face, still pleading for his life. Kacey reached up to his right ear, dialing the volume down on his hearing aid. The loud cries were making a pitching screech go off in his ear, he couldn't hear it but it was very painful.

"Please, I'm sorry. I-I have a sister and brother that needs me, please man" He cried harder, wiping the leaking blood from his mouth with his arm. Kacey furrowed his eyebrows, looking at the boy. If he was being honest, the boy looked like he could be in high school.

"Fuck them, they might die too. Fuck nigga" Dee scoffed, pulling his gun out from his waistband.

Trey started laughing "Y'all can do one funeral too. At Least y'all can be together, most people can't" Trey joked. Everyone sucked their teeth, giving him a certain look "A gah damn shame. Nigga 'bout ta' use our money he stole fa' his funeral" Trey shook his head, pulling a bag of pork skins out of his book bag.

"I can't stand this nigga" Ro quietly laughed and shook his head at Trey loudly opening his bag.

"Let this be a lesson ta' everybody" Dee picked the boy up by the front of his basic black shirt. He turned him around, showing his face with blood still leaking from his mouth. "Stop fuckin' playin' wit' us. Next person that steals from us, pick out yo' casket while you at it" He put the gun to the boy's temple.

"P-Pleaseee. Please don't" The boy sobbed and for the first time, Kacey actually felt bad for him. He usually didn't care, he just killed someone this morning without any remorse but right now, this was hurting his heart.

"Wait" Kacey spoke up, giving his computer to Kyro. Everyone looked at Kacey funnily, wondering why he stopped him.Nobody has ever stopped Dee from killing someone before. "Put the gun down bro. How old is he?" He walked up to Dee, grabbing the gun from him first and taking it off safety.

"Nigga i'on know. Does it look like I care? Nigga stole ten grand from us" Dee mugged him, reaching his hand out for his gun.

Kacey sucked his teeth "Chill out" He mumbled, putting it in his waistband. "How old are you li' bru?" Kacey raised his eyebrow, eyeing him closely.

"F-fifteen" He mumbled through his sniffles of trying to calm down. "Don't lie ta' me, you fifteen?" Kacey asked to clarify as Dee immediately let the boy go with a frown on his face.

"I swear. My last semester school ID is in my wallet" He wiped his face with the back of his hand and reached into his black Nike sweatpants pocket. His hand was shaking as he handed Kacey his small black wallet with holes all in it. Kacey went inside his wallet, and the first thing he saw was his school ID from the last school semester, he was in the ninth grade.

"His name is Remi and he's fifteen" Kacey handed Remi's wallet over to Dee. "C'mon man. Stand up" Kacey shook his head, holding his hand out for Remi. Remi hesitated at first before grabbing his hand, allowing Kacey to help him stand to his feet.

"All y'all dismissed. Get out!" Kyro ordered the rest of the workers inside the room. "Get back ta' work too, yall ain' on the clock fa' free'' He added while everyone quickly got out of the room and the last person closed the door behind them.

"Who the fuck bought you in?" Dee asked, tossing the wallet back to Remi. They ran a strict business where they didn't want anyone under the age of eighteen working for them or with them when it came to their gun and drug business.

They were once kids starting in the drug business and it wasn't any place for that. They didn't want kids to go down the same path as they did at a young age, they were so deep in, they didn't know if they would ever get out. None of the boys wanted that for kids under the age of eighteen, they haven't even graduated from high school yet and they all took getting a diploma seriously.

The streets weren't a place for anyone but it really wasn't a place for fifteen-year-olds and more.

"Vapor" Remi groaned a bit, sitting down in the seat after Kacey helped him.

"He knew how old you were? Or did you lie?" Dee questioned, giving him a bottle of water from the middle of the table. "He knew. He just told me not to tell anyone but I was scared. I can't lose my little sister and brother, I'm all they got" He sighed, still shaken up a bit.

They all shook their heads, seems like nobody could do their job correctly anymore then wondered why they acted the way they did. "Stupid ass nigga. I'll handle it" Kyro shook his head, closing Kacey's laptop and pulling his phone out.

"How old are your little sister and brother?" Kacey questioned. He knew with him being this young, he only stole the money for his siblings. Kacey only knew that because most people that stole from them always brought some type of jewelry or a fancy car. Remi looked the same and didn't even have a haircut from the few times Kacey has seen him around the warehouse.

"My little sister is two and my little brother is eight" He responded before chugging the water down.

"You used the money for them? Where are yo' parents?" Dee asked, running his hands down his face. From the look on his face, you could see he felt bad for beating his kid up. Only a little bad.

Remi finished the water, breathing heavily a bit before answering. "I needed to get a motel for us because the shelter we were in, kicked us out after my sister got sick. She's only two, and she is really fussy and cries all throughout the night. My folks kinda disappeared four months ago. They left me three grand and dipped. Said something about not being able to be parents and stuff" Remi shrugged, not knowing.

Dee scoffed at his response"They bitch asses are on drugs. That's all" He shook his head in disappointment. He knew from experience because that's what his parents did. They abandoned him when he was only thirteen years old to be a drug addicts.

"I know. They got my little sister sick from it, they were doing heroin" Remi spoke lowly and rubbed his nose. " Three grand ran away fast with me having to feed them, my sister not being potty trained. And I still had to pay the electric and water bills. We had to leave our home because our parents weren't paying rent on time. I couldn't tell anyone because they were going to take my siblings and we can't be split up" He explained, rubbing his hand together.

"I-I didn't know I took ten grand. It didn't look like that much when I took it. I was desperate and my brother was crying and mad because it was so hot outside and we didn't have anywhere to go. I-I only spent three hundred, I got the rest in my backpack. I can get you your three hundred back. I'm so sorry" Remi started crying again in his hands, scared for his life.

"Stop cryin'. It's straight, I ain' that mad nomo'' Dee furrowed his eyebrows, awkwardly looking around. He was good with people crying in front of him, he always felt awkward. Even with his girlfriend, he just pats her back.

"That stealin' shit, don't let it happen again. You could've asked fa' the money and we would've helped you and yo' siblings out" Dee spoke and they all nodded in agreement. They hated seeing kids on the street, it never sat right with them.

"Vapor told me not to. He said I couldn't speak to y'all or even look at y'all. He was taking more than half of what I was making every night—"

"How much were you makin'?" Ro asked, grabbing the first aid kit from underneath the table.

"Probably like five hundred, I couldn't stay out super late to make more because of my siblings," Remi explained, watching all of them closely. "I was taking maybe one hundred dollars home every night" He added, watching Ro open up the first aid kit and Dee started to rub hand sanitizer on his hands.

"See and here you were mad at him. Vapor rub rippin' half of them off. Only a hundred? Outta five? He's not supposed ta' do that" Trey clicked his tongue with an evil smile on his face.

"We're gonna have ta' start doin' everything on our own again. Ain' not tellin' how many niggas he rippin' off. But I'm handling dat" Dee nodded his head as he cleaned the cut on Remi's lip. "You ain' workin' here no more either. You are too damn young, you needa be focusing on school" Dee told Remi, gently patting the alcohol wipe on the cut Remi hissed but nodded understanding.

"And let this be a lesson. Don't ever steal from nobody, you could've got yourself killed then what? What was gonna happen to your siblings?" Dee stated "We get you just trying do right by you siblings but you gotta plan shit out more and better. You only steal from Walmart" He patted his back.

They laughed at him "Nigga don't tell him no shit like that. He got his ass beat for stealing something" Ro shook his head, handing him the Neosporin. Dee nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders "Nobody gives a damn about Walmart"

"Where are your siblings now?" Kacey asked, rubbing his chin hairs.

"At the motel. I gotta get back because Duke—my little brother has his first of day of school in the morning" Remi said. "He's starting fourth grade" He smiled a bit.

"Nig—Why would you leave them alone? At a motel?" Dee scrunched up his face after putting the Neosporin on his lip.

"Y'all told me to come here. I thought I would be back by now, I didn't know I was gonna get my ass beat" Remi frowned, scratching the back of his neck.

They all shook their heads at him "Don't you have school tomorrow too?" Ro questioned, giving him an ice pack for the red bruise on his cheek. Remi shook his head "I can't go. I don't have anyone to watch Aurora. I can't put her in daycare, they're gonna ask too many questions that I don't have answers to" He sighed, holding the ice pack on his cheek.

"Don't worry 'bout allat. You goin' ta' school. Let's go" Dee nodded his head towards the door then looked at Kacey with his hand held out.

"Please don't hurt us, or at least them. I said I'm sorry, I can work your money off" Remi pleaded after Kacey gave Dee back his gun.

Dee sucked his teeth and straight-faced him "Nigga ain' nobody gonna hurt you or your siblings. I'm just tryna help, now let's go" He fussed, putting his gun on his waistband. "I need'a fuckin' blunt. Y'all worked my nerves tonight. Pri ass better still be up too" He pulled his phone out from his pocket and started walking towards the door.

Remi looked at Kacey with fear in his eyes "He ain' gonna hurt you li' bru. He gotta soft spot for kids, he just wanna help y'all out" Ro assured after seeing the look on his face.

Remi nodded, still looking unsure but got up from the seat anyways "If I die, I'ma hunt y'all." He warned before walking towards the door where Dee was waiting for him.

"Talking about hunt. He more delusional then these bitches" Trey shook his head, looking down at his phone.

Kacey shook his head and then glanced at his apple watch, seeing the time was 11:00 PM. He had to get to Caydence and Kapri's house before his girlfriend cussed him out. She hasn't smoked all day and Kacey was supposed to bring her some weed.

She's been so irritable the past two days. Weed honestly calmed her nerves and eased her stress. At Least that's what she tells him.

He just went with it. Anything to make his girlfriend happy.

"I'm about ta' head out" Kacey spoke lowly, walking over to his book bag. He started packing up his computer safely and yawned softly. He was tired but thankful that he didn't have to work in the morning.

"Give this to my best. I just printed out the new flyers," Trey said, holding out a piece of paper. Kacey took it, reading over it. He frowned after reading the words of 'Coco's last dance' for August 31st on a Friday.

"What do you mean, her last dance?" Kacey looked up at him with his eyebrows furrowed. He knew nothing about this.

Trey nodded "That's her last day strippin'. I'm surprised you ain' know, she's been planning this for weeks" He stated, only confusing Kacey even more.

He wondered why she didn't tell him. He wondered even more why she was stopping.

_________________

Houston, Tx

August 6th

Monday

"Bookie...it's gonna be okay. You actin' like you aren't friendly anyways" Caydence chuckled, grabbing the empty plate with syrup all around it from in front of Kory.

Kory rolled her eyes "I'm not friendly. I'm just likable. There is a difference sissy" She dramatically sighed "Summer went by too fast now I don't even have the same class as Stephanie. I have a class with people I don't know" She pouted and folded her arms across her chest.

Today Kory was starting her first day of first grade. She was excited about it yesterday but this morning she just woke up in the worst mood. She was upset that her best friend didn't have the same class this year. She didn't know if she was going to like her teacher this year either because she never had a male teacher before.

She had a young male black teacher, he seemed cool and genuine when Caydence and Kacey met him last week at open house.

Kacey didn't like him too much because, at open house, he felt like he was staring at her when he wasn't. He was just being welcoming but Kacey always gets easily jealous. He was working on that, he didn't want to be the annoying insecure boyfriend that threw a fit every time someone looked at his girlfriend. It was hard to not look at her, she was so beautiful even without trying.

Caydence was working on it with him, always assuring him how much she loved him during random times of the day. Kacey really lucked up with her.

"No. You're friendly as hell, just like daddy. You will be okay. You're gonna come back being friends wit' everyone in the class" Caydence chuckled, coming back to the table after throwing the trash away.

"I'm just nice. Maybe you should try it sissy" Kory batted her long eyelashes. Caydence just stared at her, Kacey could tell she wanted to flick her off with her middle finger but chose against it.

"I'll be nice when you start being nice to Kacey again" Caydence smiled, batting her own eyelashes. Kory's face fell flat "Who is that?" She tilted her head to the side.

Caydence tucked her lips from laughing while Kacey just shook his head at her pettiness. Kory still didn't like Kacey right now, the most conversation he gets out of her is a dry hey or bye. Kacey tried to apologize multiple times for scaring her as he did but Kory wasn't having it.

It hurt his feelings if he was being honest.

"The same person sitting next to you and who is picking you up from school today" Caydence smiled, standing up from the table again.

"No! Why? I don't like him, sissy?" She whined and rolled her eyes at Kacey, hurting his heart. "Why can't you pick me? You don't want to hear about my first day?" She frowned, getting up from her chair and pushing it in as Caydence taught her.

"I have to work, bookie. You can call me and tell me though" She responded, grabbing Kory's book from the empty dinning chair. "What about Granny? Or Dee? Anybody else?" Kory reasoned, still frowning.

"Everyone is busy, Bookie. He's picking you and Paris up." She helped her put her bookbag on. "Sissy I'm not safe wit' him" Kory whined and stomped her foot on the floor.

Caydence's eyes widened and Kacey just got up from his seat, going back into Cadence bedroom, not saying a word. Kacey knew he did it to himself but that didn't hurt any less, hearing about a child not being safe with him.

"You need to stop wit' that Kory. That wasn't nice at all" He heard Caydence say while he grabbed his keys and wallet from the nightstand. "I just told the truth sissy. Why am I in trouble when he did it" Kory said as Kacey came back out of the bedroom.

"You aren't in trouble but you aren't being truthful either. If you don't feel safe with Kacey then why did you come to get in the bed with us last night after he got here?" Caydence kneeled in front of Kory with her eyebrow raised. Kory went silent, fiddling with her fingers, and shrugged a tad bit.

"Exactly, you can't be lying about things like that Bookie. You know I wouldn't have him around if you really didn't feel safe around him, correct?" Caydence asked, fixing the collar to her red polo shirt.

Kory nodded then sighed lowly "So the lying has to stop Bookie. If you're mad at Kacey still, that's okay but don't lie about not feeling safe with him. You gonna get his ass kicked out" Caydence started ticking her making Kory start giggling and squirming away from her.

Kacey chuckled at him, seeing how good Caydence was with kids made Kacey want to sit her down for nine months.

"Okay! I'm sorry. If I don't have anything nice to say, I don't say anything at all" Kory nodded, reciting what Kacey always tells her. She was a bit of a mean girl, always talking about people in public. He told her she needed to stop because she doesn't know what anyone is going through at home.

"That's my girl" Caydence kissed her forehead "No let's go before we make you late for the first day" She stood up straight, Kory nodded, and skipped off towards the front door.

Kacey grabbed the new yellow lunch box with Kory's name all over it from the dining table. "You okay bubba? She didn't mean it like that" She laced their fingers together as they walked to the door.

Kacey nodded "I kno'. Just have to fix it wit' her. That's all" He said lowly, looking ahead at the door, seeing Kory already went outside. "Why you showin' so much skin tho?" He snatched his hand away from her and smacked her ass.

Her body jerked forward and Caydence hissed, holding her now sore right cheek "What I tell you 'bout hit so hard when I have on these?" She frowned, walking out the door. She had on black biker shorts with a basic black crop tee and air Jordan—retro 4's (University blue).