^^ Que & Stephanie

Ashanti Renèe Robinson, NY📍

"Baby sister." She said walking up to me.

I backed up from her and she looked at me with confusion.

"No hugs no nothing?" She asked me.

"Why would I hug you?"

She backed up with Que and avoided eye contact with me.

"Aight let's get on this plane." Jay said moving along with me.

We went through security check and sat in the lobby waiting for our plane to be called. I looked up from across me and locked eyes with Stephanie. I quickly looked away. The thoughts going through my mind right now, were something I tell you that.

We were sitting there for what felt like maybe 30 minutes to and hour before we heard the loud speaker. "Now Boarding Plane: 105". We grabbed our bags and made our way to the gate. We walked through the plane to find our seats.

I was seated with Jo'nae. Demarcus was with Stephanie while Jay and Que were together. We were in the middle of the two Stephanie and Demarcus were seated behind us and Jay and Que were in front of us.

"Girl, We never made it to that spa day." She told me.

"Girl what is you talkin about?!"

"The day I got shot we never made it to the spa."

I looked over at her and jus started laughing. "Girl no duh!"

She real life funny. How you jus gon laugh at ya own self gettin shot! I laid on her arm as we scrolled our phones. We were watching tiktoks. I sent some to Jay for him to watch knowing damn well he won't. He only ever downloaded the app in case my phone died and I wanted to watch tiktoks on his! I'm real life his first kid!

The plane ride was so long and draining. I took like three whole ass naps. I woke up from one to Jo'nae laughing her ass off to a tiktok. She showed me it and it was a guy dressed in girl clothes pretending to be us. It was funny asl.

Jay turned around in his seat and looked over at us. "The fuck is ya laughing so much for."

We turned the phone towards him and he watched it. "Ya different." He said turning around laughing.

I laid back on her shoulder and scrolled tiktok when I seen a video of a woman crying. She was a black woman and she looked young. I connected my airpods and turned it up a little more so I can hear it.

"The fuckin system failed us yet again!" She said crying. As she was talking she was pacing around her house.

"If you are new here my 5 year old son was abducted by his father from my backyard last year in October. Me and his father are divorced so it's only me at home. He was playing outside while I was doing the laundry. Not even 2 minutes later I walk outside and he's gone! The only thing left behind was his little blue ball he always plays with."

I watched as she showed us the backyard and the gate. The gate was really tall so in order for someone to jump over it they would've had to have a ladder or something.

"It's was a very long year. I've been to countless meetings with officers and search groups that lead to nothing! I got calls from his father telling me that he has him and that he's not giving him back. I've shown officers this evidence, they denied it. THEY DONT WANT TO HELP ME. They really don't. I have voice audios, I have letters, I have camera footage I HAVE EVERYTHING THAT CAN HELP GET MY BABY BACK! But they're not helping me. Please can you guys share and comment. BOOST THIS VIDEO!! We need more attention brought to help find me baby."

I felt so sorry for her. I was mad like it was my child. I shared the video onto my instagram story before turning back to tiktok. I looked down at the date of the video and she posted it last month. I went on her page to see if it was a recent update or something. There was a video with her in a black dress and a tissue in her hand. I closed my eyes.

Please don't let this baby go lord.

She wasn't crying she was just staring into space. She was sitting in a little boys room, you can tell from the monster trucks and drawings on the wall.

"I never in a million years thought that I would have to make a video like this. I never thought I would've ever had to say these words. My sons name was Kayden. I named him after my little brother. It's extremely sad for me to announce that Kaydens gone."

As soon as she said that tears fell down my face. A mother lost her son. The hardest pill a woman can swallow.

"His father killed me. My baby's body was found just a couple miles away from his school. I demand justice for my baby, I've sent letters, left voicemails, sent in copies of evidence and I still haven't gotten a reply! It took me a while to realize why the fuck no one is helping me. I am a black woman, with a white baby father, and a mixed baby boy. They don't like us. They don't care what happens to us! But why did my son have to be the one to go. Why wasn't it me?!"

I closed out the video when she said this. My heart literally shattered. I felt a pain that I thought I would never feel. At least this much. It was fear. This is a ruthless world. It's cruel and dangerous. I'm scared to birth my child into this world and for her to have to suffer. But me and Jay will make sure that doesn't happen.

I placed my hand on my stomach and circled it. I laid on Jo'naes shoulder and fell asleep.

I woke up to Jo'nae lightly shaking me.

"Huh?" I said picking up my head.

"We landed." I opened my window shade and looked outside and we did land.

"That was quick." I said getting up.

"No it wasn't you was sleep for a while."

We got off the plan and gathered our bags at the luggage return line. I struggled a little with mine and I looked around for Jay but he was with Que and Jo'nae talking to an airline worker.

"Let me help you." The voice said. I turned and it was Stephanie.

"No thank you, I got it." I told her. But she ignored me. She picked up my suitcase and put it on the floor.

"Can we talk?!" She asked grabbing her bag.

"There's nothing for us to talk about."

"I feel a disconnection between us and I don't like it. So can we please have a talk."

I hesitated before agreeing. What's the worst that can happen? I rolled my suitcase over to them while Stephanie followed.

"Ya ready?" Jay asked looking at us. We nodded.

"Wait, where's De?!" I asked looking around.

We looked around the airport for Demarcus and spotted him. He has his phone popped up on the wall and he was dancing to a song that was playing in his airpods.

"Demarcus!" Jay yelled. "Bring yo ass."

He picked up his phone and jogged over to us. "Mane you fuckin up my flow I was gettin jiggy."

We laughed and headed to the car Jay had waiting for us. We got in and drove off to the hotel that we picked. Once we got up to our rooms we separated.

"Aight bae. You can take a nap while I get some food and shit situated."

"I'm actually good. I sleep most the time on the plane I wanna go out!" I told him putting my bag on the bed.

"Oh okay, whatchu wanna do??"

I grabbed some biker shorts and a cropped white tee out my bad w/ some panties and a bra.

"I wanna go to the beach. It's beautiful outside and it's so warm."

"Aight, that's a 20 minute drive from here."

"Okay so let's go. Imma take a shower and get dressed though."

"Aight I'll be back, Imma go tell the rest we goin to the beach." I nodded and we went our separate ways.

I walked into the bathroom and started the shower water. I let the water beat down on me as a washed my body. Once I finished and stepped out the shower I heard a knock at the door. I threw on my rob over my towel and walked out towards the door. I looked through the peephole and it was Stephanie. I opened the door a crack.

"Yes?"

"Uh, you know how I told you can we talk?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"I can obviously see that now isn't a good time so, can we talk at the beach? I heard we're going."

"Yea, sure."

She stood there awkwardly before she walked off. She so weird. But I kind of can't blame her we never really had a relationship back in New York. I saw her waved and disappeared.

I put on my clothes and my slides. Jay walked back in the room with cheese its and a water bottle for me.

"I knew you ain't only go tell them we was going to the beach. You was takin to long."

"Yea, I went down to the snack bar and gotchu these." He handed them to me and went to put on some swim shorts. I grabbed my phone, my purse, and waited at the door for him. When he came back out we went and met the others in the lobby.

"You look bad asl!" Jo'nae said circling me.

"Girl please."

We walked outside to a car and got in. Jay drove us to the beach and we got out. Stephanie grabbed my bag and walked ahead of me to put down the blanket.

"You good?" Jo'nae asked as we slowly walked to the sand.

"Yes, She just wants to talk to me but I don't know why."

"Prolly to reconnect. Don't hesitate to call me if she say sum slick shit."

I laughed and looked behind me. The boys were getting the other towels and snacks out the car.

"You know I won't." I said to Jo'nae turning around.

"Alright, well Ill leave you two alone." She walked back over to the boys and I walked up to Stephanie.

She looked up at me and smiled.

"Hi, uh- let me help you." She held my hand to help me sit on the blanket.

"Isn't it beautiful out here?"

"Yea it is." We sat there awkwardly. I didn't know what to say to her. I barely know anything about her.

"Uh- Can I ask you a question?" She said breaking the silence.

"Yea."

"Why do you hate me?" I looked at her and let out a heavy breath.

"I don't hate you. I barely know you enough to hate you. I just don't like you."

"Why?"

"Because you stole my mother from me. I needed support and love and I never got it because it was given to you."

"It wasn't."

"It was." I said in an angry tone. "She always put you over me and you aren't even her blood child. Imagine how I felt every time I needed someone and I had no one."

"If you would've stopped pushing your mother away maybe she wouldn't have even gravitated towards me."

When she said that I looked into her soul.

"What." I said to her.

"You kept pushing her away. Maybe she only got close to me because she was missing the mother daughter type love that you weren't giving he-"

"I pushed her away!" I said in a louder tone. "I never once pushed her away even when she hurt me the most! My arms were always open for my mother's embrace. But she ran to you instead!"

"You didn't want to be around me!!!" She said back.

"I never said that! Who the fuck told you that?" I yelled.

"Armoni."