Chapter 49

After the night I had--shit, the day I had--I earned me a smoke break. Instead of going home to deal with more bullshit with Yuri, I head to The Loft.

The parking lot is almost empty when I pull up. There's only one truck here and I know it well.

I head into the lobby and ride the elevator up to the fourth floor. I walk down the hall to what's turned into Daz's recovery room. When I open the door, Munch is on the couch in the same position he was in before we hit Angel.

I get this nigga worried, but he can't just stare at Daz the whole time he sleeping. This shit gettin' weird.

I sit next to him on the couch.

"Wassup, bruh? Why you ain't at home like the rest of them niggas?" I ask.

Munch leans back into the couch.

"I told his girl I was gon' stay with him 'til he wake up. That's cool with you?" He asks.

"Yeah. I know how close y'all niggas is. But are y'all close enough for you to be watching this man sleep?" I ask.

"I'd be doing the same thing if it was you," He says.

"Shit I hope not. You creepin' me the fuck out. I can't imagine how this nigga must feel," I say.

Munch cracks a smile.

"Fuck you, nigga. It's better than waking up to an empty room," He says.

"You prolly right about that. But ain't Dr. Amin say it's gon' take like a day or two for him to wake up?" I ask.

Munch nods.

"So take a break, nigga. Come smoke some shit with me right quick. Let this man rest without you staring at him," I say.

He looks at Daz.

"Nah, I'm straight," He says.

I smack my teeth.

"I ain't gon' keep you all night, nigga. You ain't even gotta smoke. But I do need help counting that money we took from Angel," I say.

"You gon' say anything to make me hang out with you, huh?" He says.

I smack my teeth and stand up.

"Stop acting like you don't miss me, nigga," I say.

Munch stands up too.

"Chill with that gay shit, bruh," He says.

"Says the nigga watching another man sleep," I say.

We start walking to the door. Munch sighs.

"Lonely ass nigga. You ain't got no other friends?" He asks.

"Just be grateful I'm letting you smoke this shit with me, nigga," I say.

I pull the plastic ziploc bag out my pocket and show it to him.

"That's Cali weed, nigga," I say.

Munch raises his eyebrows. That shit definitely got his attention.

"Yeah, nigga," I say, handing it to him.

He opens the bag. He don't even put it up to his nose. He ain't got to. The smell that strong.

I let him hold on to it as we walk down the hallway. I open the next available room.

Before you know it, we chilling on the couch smoking our asses off. My eyes low and probably red as hell. I'm slouched on the couch thumbing through dead presidents while Munch holds the blunt. A stack of money is piled on the table in front of us.

He hands the blunt out to me. I sit the money in my lap and take it from him. I take another pull even though my head already in the clouds.

Munch sits up on the couch. He looks over at me. He takes a deep breath and shakes his head. I furrow my eyebrows and sit up too.

"Wassup, nigga?" I ask.

"Look, Ace, I gotta kick it to you 'bout the niggas in yo' camp," Munch says.

I smack my teeth and relax.

"If you talkin' bout that rattin' ass nigga there ain't no need. I already know," I say.

"Yeah?" He says.

"Mhm."

"Alright. I just had to make sure you was on game," He says.

"Good lookin' bro, but trust me all the pieces fit together once I walked back into this mess they made," I say.

"Honestly though, I think he was working alone. Nobody was really fucking with him while you was gone," Munch says.

"Maybe that's why he ran off with my brother like he can't be touched. I'll choke Simon up when I see him but I gotta bullet with Cam's name on it," I say.

Munch looks confused.

"What, you think I should spare this nigga?" I ask.

I don't know why I asked 'cause I'ma do what I want anyway.

"Nah, it's just me and T was thinking somebody different," Munch says.

Now it's my turn to look confused. Cam was the one who brought Gecko to us that day. He saw what went down then next thing I know, I got SWAT storming my shit. It don't take a genius to figure out Cam ain't really equipped for this life. That's why I left Caesar in charge. That could be another reason he went running his mouth. He saw Caesar sliding in to take that number two spot and tried to get me jammed up.

"Yeah? Who y'all had in mind?" I ask.

Munch rubs his hands together.

"Honestly? We was thinkin' ya boy Caesar."

I almost cough up a lung laughing at that shit.

"Nah, bruh. He may have left the business in disarray but Caese ain't no snitch."

"No disrespect but you sure?" Munch asks.

I ash the blunt.

"Me and Caesar been friends a long time. I'm talkin' back when I was playing football and he was standing on corners. Santana taught us both the way of the world. I know that nigga better than I know Simon. He might as well be my blood brother."

Munch nods his head thoughtfully.

Then I think about it.

"Shit, Santana wasn't no saint. Caesar might actually be my brother," I laugh.

Munch shakes his head and leans back.

"Well you know that nigga better than me," He says.

"But I tell you what, I didn't expect him to put Candyce in the game or fuck my business up the way he did. I ain't see Cam's betrayal coming either. I guess I ain't as good a judge of character as I thought," I say.

Munch leans forward again.

"Speaking of, there's something else you should know," He says.

"What?" I ask.

"It's about Candyce and ya boy," He says.

"Who, Reese?" I ask.

I ain't like that either but the nigga dead now so what I'ma do?

Munch shakes his head.

"I'm talkin' bout Caesar," He says.

I turn to look at him. I feel the heat from the blunt move closer to my fingers as it burns down.

It don't even matter 'cause the more he talks, the more it feels like my whole body is on fire.

I wake up to the police banging at the door. At least that's what it sounds like.

I'm groggy and disoriented as I sit up in bed. I feel like I just went to sleep. I look at the empty spot next to me. It takes me a minute to remember Caesar slept on the couch.

"Caesar?" I call out.

"I got it. Stay upstairs," He says.

I reach for my phone on the nightstand. I groan when I see the time. Who the hell is banging on his door like that in the middle of the night?

I get out of bed. I slept in nothing but my underwear so I look for my shirt on the ground. When I find it, I realize Daz's blood is still all over it. I toss it back on the ground and grab a T-shirt out of Caesar's drawer instead.

Downstairs, the person is still knocking like they're crazy. I guess Caesar opens the door 'cause the next thing I hear is a man's voice.

I can't make out who it is. I grab my gun off the nightstand just in case.

Ace storms in my crib mad as fuck. He walks straight past me like I don't deserve an explanation for why he breakin' my sleep at one in the morning.

I'm actually more concerned with why he's wearing all black since shit wasn't so sweet the last time we talked. According to him, he washed his hands with me, so I'm having a hard time understanding what the fuck he doing in my house right now.

I tuck my gun in my sweatpants just in case he still feeling some type of way. Then I follow him into the living room.

He's pacing when I walk in the room. I'd rather not beat around the bush, so I cross my arms.

"If you here to finish what we started earlier, we can do this shit at another time. I got a plane to catch in four hours," I say.

It's like he ain't even hear me. He just keeps pacing.

"I just heard some shit and I need you to tell me it ain't true," He says.

My heartbeat quickens.

Did this nigga find out?

I calm down. Who could've told him? Nobody had Ace's ear like Tory. Now that he's dead, can't nobody out me to him.

Feeling confident, I lift my head higher.

"What you heard and who you heard it from?" I ask.

Ace stops pacing. He looks at me from across the room.

"Munch just told me some crazy shit," He says.

Aw, fuck. Hearing I'm a snitch from Munch is just as bad as hearing it from Tory. I should've popped both them niggas when I had the chance.

"Tell me it ain't true," Ace says.

This is it, I think.

This could go one of two ways. I feel the urge to grab my gun now, but I hold off until Ace makes a move first.

I hope today ain't the day. I hope he ain't find out I snitched before I get a chance to fix it. I hope I can explain that it ain't too late to get him out this. Maybe I still got a chance to tell him that it ain't gotta end like this.

Don't tell me today is the day I take my brother out.

My heart rattles inside my rib cage. Still, I keep a straight face.

"Tell you what ain't true?" I ask.

Ace turns his lip up. I start reaching for my gun.

"Tell me you ain't fucking with my sister," He says.

I stop my fingers inches away from my gun.

"What?"

"Tell me you ain't fucking with Candyce, nigga!" He yells.

His words still ain't registering. That's not what I was expecting. I was prepared to kill or be killed. This conversation requires a whole different state of mind. One I can't even begin to tap into.

I stumble with my words. Before I can form a sentence, Candyce walks onto the steps with nothing but a T-shirt on.

Ace has his back to her so she can't see who it is.

If she knew who it was, she would've never had a gun in her hand and she definitely wouldn't have opened her mouth.

I didn't bother putting on pants when I heard somebody yell downstairs. I walked straight down the hall and onto the steps.

All I saw was Caesar and some nigga with a hoodie on in the living room.

Caesar's eyes widen when he sees me. I guess I came just in time.

"What's goin' on?" I ask.

The nigga in the hoodie turns around. When I see who it is, my eyes widen too.

My blood boils staring at Candyce half-naked in Caesar's house. So not only is he fucking with my sister, he's fucking her too.

"It's not what you think, bruh," He says behind me.

I ain't tryna hear nun' of that.

I turn and punch the fuck out him. He ain't got time to grab his jaw 'cause I'm right there punching his bitch ass again.

I ain't holding nun' back. This ain't that shoving match we had earlier. I'm fighting his bitch ass like the opp he is.

I'm too close for his tall ass to swing back so he tackles me. I keep swinging as we fall to the floor.

Candyce runs down the stairs.

"Stop!" She screams.

I don't pay her no mind. I keep eating these weak ass licks Caesar is throwing. I try to get him off me but when Candyce gets too close, we both stop.

"Stay back!" We yell at the same time.

For some reason, that shit pisses me off more. While Caesar's distracted, I punch him dead in his face. Blood drips on me. He falls back holding his nose.

Blood ain't enough to stop me. I'm already seeing red. I climb on top him and keep swinging.

Oh my god. Oh my god. What the fuck do I do?

Caesar's bleeding. Ace ain't stopping. And I can't do shit without getting in the middle.

Think, Candyce. Think.

If they keep on, one of them is gonna' knock each other out. Or as mad as Ace is, he might even pull a gun out on Caesar.

Then I remember the gun in my hand. Without thinking, I point it in the air.

POP!

Ace whips his head around.

"I said stop!" I yell.

He mugs me as he stands up. I rush over to Caesar. I help him up while Ace stares at us in disgust.

"You crazy, girl? You tryna have the police at my door?" Caesar asks.

"I didn't know what else to do. Y'all wouldn't stop," I say.

Ace smacks his teeth.

"Man, I'm gone," He says.

"Wait, bruh. You got that shit off yo' chest now let's talk about it," Caesar says.

Ace turns around.

"Ain't nun' to talk about, nigga! We done! Ain't no fuckin' brothers! Ain't no family! As far as I'm concerned you dead to me, nigga!" He yells.

"Ace, you don't mean that," I say.

"And you," Ace points at me.

I stop breathing. He shakes his head.

"I hope that nigga was worth it," He says.

He gives me one more look of disgust before he walks away. He opens the door and slams it shut.

I don't have time to think about what Ace meant by that because Caesar's nose is still gushing blood.

I pull up a kitchen chair so he doesn't get blood on his white couch.

"Here, sit down," I say.

Caesar takes a seat while I run to the bathroom. I grab a towel off the rack and race back over to him.

"Tilt your head back," I say.

Caesar does as told. I gently press the towel against his nose.

"I got it," He says.

I let him take over. He keeps the towel pressed to his nose, but he doesn't lean his head back.

"Why you not tilting your head?" I ask.

"You not supposed to," He says.

I've never heard that before but I don't argue with him since he is the one that used to date a doctor. If anybody should know, it's him.

I run my hands through my hair as I look at the mess on the floor. Blood is smeared all over Caesar's marble floors. He sees me looking and grabs my hand.

When I take it, he pulls me on his lap. Up close I see the bruises starting to form on his face.

"You okay?" I ask.

Caesar shrugs.

"At least the cat outta the bag, right?" He asks.

I sigh.

"Yeah, but I didn't think it would be like that," I say.

"I'm fucking his lil' sister. It was gon' be bad no matter how he found out," Caesar says.

I guess he right about that. I couldn't imagine Ace not overreacting. I think he would've had the same reaction if we sat him down and told him about us.

"How did he find out?" I ask.

"He said Munch told him," He says.

"What the fuck?"

I get he's mad at me right now but he didn't have to stoop this low.

"I can't believe his fat ass told on me," I say.

"It don't even matter. He did us a favor. Now we can be together without anybody holding us back," He says.

I furrow my eyebrows.

"And by together you mean?"

"A couple," Caesar says.

I raise my eyebrows. He smiles.

"Oh, you gon' make me say it? Boyfriend and girlfriend," He says.

That's something I never thought I'd hear out Caesar's mouth. I'm not even sure it's what I want to hear right now.

"So when did we decide to put a title on this?" I ask.

"I mean we was already together before Ace came back. Now that he knows about us we can claim it out loud," He says.

Back up...

"When did we get together?" I ask.

"The day you went missing. The day Tory died," He says.

"You mean when we had sex?" I ask.

"Yeah," Caesar says.

"Sex and a relationship is two different things, Caese," I say.

He gently pushes me off his lap.

"So what you saying?" He asks.

"I'm saying I was vulnerable. Tory had just died. I needed a distraction," I say.

Caesar stands up.

"And what about this past week? You staying here, us spending time together. Was that a distraction too?" He asks.

"No, I thought we was just going with the flow like we've always done. I didn't think it was leading to a relationship. I didn't even know you wanted one," I say.

"You fuckin' with me, right?" Caesar asks.

"What you mean?" I ask.

"I just broke up with my baby mama and gave you a key to my house. Stop actin' like you ain't know where this was headed," He says.

"I wasn't thinking about it like that. I thought you was opening the door for us. I didn't think you was ready to walk through it," I say.

How was I supposed to know he wanted to get serious about us this time? He's been stringing me along for years. I learned not to get my hopes up a long time ago.