Please excuse ANY  grammatical errors.

September 14, 1996

~Third Person's P.O.V~

DeVanté, Tia, and Tupac are all in the game room playing around with each other and the games. Tia was too busy playing that she didn't hear the alert from the gatekeepers saying someone was here to see her but Elijah did and let this person through.

"They should be in the basement still so she probably can't hear nothing," Elijah told Taimak as soon as he opened the door. Elijah walked off somewhere.

"They?" Taimak whispered to himself.

He washed his hands and made his way down to the basement. There was a bunch of laughing, male laughing. He knew that it wasn't her brother or father because he had just left after seeing them. There NO WAY they would've beaten him to her house. He walked into the room to see Tupac, DeVanté, and his girlfriend.

"Got damn, nigga you suck at this!" Tupac threw the basketball through the hoop. "How you this tall and still suck ass?"

DeVanté laughed "Fuck you, bald head ass nigga." DeVanté tried to get the ball in the hoop but failed. Tia stood back watching them cracking up.

"Hey, hun," Taimak said coming up to her to kiss her.

"Hi, babe." Tia pecked his lips. "What are you doing here? When did you get to Atlanta? You didn't tell me you were coming this weekend."

"I know. I needed to take care of something and since I'm here, I HAD to come see my girlfriend." He pulled her by the waist and kissed her again.

Taimak wasn't expecting just a peck from her when they haven't seen each other in weeks. Then again, he knows that she hates PDA in front of people she knows. They aren't in public but there are people she knows in close vicinity.

"What's wrong with you?" He whispered pulling away. Tia stayed silent as her eyes shifted to a now silent Tupac and DeVanté. "Oh! Hello, I'm Taimak." He said holding out his hand.

"Pac." Tupac dapped him up instead of shaking it. "Sup, man."

"What's up." It wasn't a question, just returned greetings.

"DeVanté." DeVanté nodded at him, leaving Taimak's hand hanging.

"Don't worry 'bout him, man. He just mad that he keeps gettin' his ass kicked." Tupac chuckled.

"It's cool." Taimak shrugged. "I hate losing too." Taimak was trying his best to relate. "Aren't you the guy from the parking lot?"

"Yes," DeVanté said with his back turned missing the hoop again.

"Oh..." Taimak trailed off scratching the back of his head not knowing what to else to say.

"DeVanté, you're being rude," Tia told him.

DeVanté chuckled then turned around. "I'm not. I'm just trying to make the third hoop. My bad man, I'm DeVanté. I heard about you. Nice to meet you." He shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you too." Taimak took notice of DeVanté wiping his hand off on the side of his pants after they shook hands. Taimak didn't think too much of it. Maybe he's a germaphobe like Tia? Then he turned back to Tia and took notice of her attire."You got on short underneath that?" He asked her.

She blank-faced him and showed him her short. "Of course I do... Why would I not?" Tia asked him.

"Because I know how much you don't like to wear clothes around the house," Taimak responded.

Tupac turned to Tia. "Where yo bathroom? My stomach hurt. My mama cooked a good ass breakfast and it's all comin' back to my ass now." He was slightly hunched over.

"Literally." Tia laughed. "The ones down here need to be fixed. The plumber is supposed to fix the plumbing later today. Follow me upstairs. Do y'all want anything while I'm upstairs?" Tia asked Taimak and DeVanté. "There no snacks down here but plenty of drinks down here in the fridge." Tia pointed to it, specifically talking to DeVanté since he's never been to her house before.

"Y'all got some honey buns?" DeVanté asked Tia and she nodded at him.

"I'm fine," Taimak responded.

"You sure?" She double checked with her boyfriend. "Because I'm not going back up these stairs again. If you want something, you will just have to help yourself."

"I'm sure. Thanks." He nodded with a smile. When she was out of sight, Taimak turned to DeVanté. "Man, your jump shot is off."

"Huh- what?" DeVanté said snapping back into reality.

"You said that you're trying to get the third hoop. You can't do that if your jump shot is off and your aim sucks." Taimak explained.

DeVanté chuckled at Taimak feeling a bit irritated. "So you can do better?"

"As a matter of fact, I can. Sports is my thing." Taimak said grabbing a ball.

Taimak raised his arm and noticed that his fall gear was hindering him from raising his arms too high. He turned around and sat it down on the back of a rocking couch. As he laid it down, DeVanté notices something fall from Taimak's jacket pocket. DeVanté stared at it for a few seconds while Taimak was trying to show him a real jump shot. DeVanté picked it up from the floor then opened the box that held a ring. DeVanté's eyes widened out of shock then returned to its normal size. Taimak just so happens to turn around.

"You dropped this." DeVanté looked up when he felt eyes on him. DeVanté closed the box that he stared at for a few seconds.

"Thanks, man." Taimak grabbed it from DeVanté's hand. "I thought I took them both out of my pocket." He chuckled.

"So, y'all THAT serious that you proposin'?" DeVanté asked standing back up.

"I'd like to think so," Taimak said jokingly. "Yes, we are serious." DeVanté chuckled then broke out into a full-blown laugh. "I'm sorry, is that funny to you?" Taimak said getting serious. He was through with being welcoming.

"That's... Cute." DeVanté nodded feeling amused at the whole situation. "I just find it hilarious that you asked her if she had on anything underneath that shirt turned dress of hers when I saw her in MUCH less," DeVanté emphasized. The air got thick and intense. One of the two men was tense with pure anger.

"In much less? Elaborate for me because I would like to know." Taimak nodded and folded his arms.

"Read between the lines." DeVanté shrugged and grabbed another basketball. "I understand why you'd propose to her. She's... Adventurous. Yeah, adventurous." DeVanté nodded. His tone implied something else.

Taimak was completely done with DeVanté's attitude and his temper began to rise. Taimak chuckled in amusement. "I'm so close to beating yo ass. I'm tired of being nice to your disrespectful ass. I don't know what the fuck yo problem is but we could solve it here and now."

"What happened to you showing me that jump shot?" DeVanté said turning around after making a ball in the hoop.

"Damn, now I know why she was hesitant about talking to- forgiving you. I should've just left it alone because I just met yo scrawny ass and I ALREADY don't like you. The fuck would I want to show you a jump shot after you've been NOTHING BUT DISRESPECTFUL to me. You remind me of the disrespectful Hollywood niggas I work with who don't like to take accountability for their actions and think the world owes them. I felt the vibe the moment you ignored me a few minutes ago but I ignored it. Turns out that I'm right. You need a wake-up call and I'll gladly be the guy to knock it into you." Taimak smirked.

"Knock it back into me? Nigga, please! I'll beat yo ass." DeVanté laughed.

Did you all forget that Taimak has black belts in MANY different forms of martial arts? DeVanté may be taller but Taimak's has more strength. DeVanté is just now putting on more weight after being sober for almost a year. On the other hand, DeVanté isn't intimidated and isn't going to let no man punk him. Who would win?

"What the hell y'all doin'?" Tupac said walking back into the room. "Y'all look like y'all 'bout to fight. DeVanté, you must've gotten to ass beat again?"

"Not yet, but he was about to and frankly still could," Taimak responded still in defense mode.

Tupac laughed. "Damn."

Tupac felt the hostility of the air when he came back downstairs. He's been around plenty of situations like these and knows what's up. He just chose to ignore it and lighten the mood because he didn't the severity of the situation. Nor did he know the reason for it. He also noticed DeVanté's slight disrespect before he went upstairs to use the bathroom. So he didn't know what exactly occurred while he was gone.

Tupac grabbed the ball from DeVanté. "Nigga, you do the know what to do with this." He laughed. "Me and you," Tupac said to Taimak. DeVanté grabbed another basketball laughing.

"A'ight," Taimak said walking past DeVanté, hitting his shoulder against DeVanté's as he passed him. DeVanté smirked at Taimak's childishness. Tupac also took notice of the impact of the sound but didn't witness the childishness since he was turned around facing the courts.

Tia came back downstairs. "Think fast!"

She told DeVanté but he didn't react fast enough. Taimak ended up catching it because his girlfriend tends to do that often. He smashed it in his hand and then threw to DeVanté with force.
"You gotta be quicker than that, lil man," Taimak told him after DeVanté caught it in his chest.

DeVanté was now just as pissed as Taimak was but didn't want to lose his cool. After all, he has changed. Right? He didn't want the old him to come out and scare a certain somebody. Instead, he just smirked but his expression didn't match his feelings. DeVanté threw the ball he held, threw it at Taimak hitting him in his chest, but the impact didn't affect him as much as it should've. Was he caught off guard? Of course. But he managed to grab the ball before it hit the floor.

"You gotta be quicker than that, muscle neck," DeVanté smirked with a chuckle this time. He opened his smashed honeybun and took a big bite.

"What's up with the force?" Tia laughed. "And the passive-aggressive attitude."

"It's just how I throw." Both men said in sync.

"What took you so long?" Taimak asked Tia.

"I was making me a fruit bowl. I ain't eat crap since the other day and I'm starving." She responded and took a fork full of fruit. "Y'all about to go against each other?" Tia asked Tupac and her boyfriend.

"Yup, and he finna get his ass handed to him." Tupac laughed.

"Good luck?" Taimak asked Tia.

Tia smirked then walked to him to give him a peck. Instead, she was pulled into a deep kiss by Taimak. Taimak looked over to the side to see DeVanté's reaction. Nothing... DeVanté seemed to be in a relaxed state, just eating his smooshed honeybun. Almost like he wasn't bothered. Maybe it was just an act? Or it's a fact that he REALLY doesn't care. Taimak pulled away and started the game.

"What was that?" Tia asked him. It was more intense and deep than earlier, especially since she kissed back.

"Good luck. If Tupac claims to be as good as he claimed then I need it. Then again, it could be that DeVanté sucks and doesn't know what the hell he doin' challenging people and all." Taimak replied. There was a double meaning within his words but only the two men knew exactly what it is he meant.

Why did Taimak pull Tia into a deep kiss, you may ask? Well, because he loves her of course. Also, because he wanted to see if she was the reason for DeVanté's hostility since he didn't know much about the root of the problem. He does know that it started when he accidentally dropped the rings and DeVanté discovered it. Taimak has had this problem before. You know, one of the people Tia hangs or hung out with being jealous and whatnot. Maybe that isn't the reason for DeVanté's hostility. Then again, who's to say? The only one who could answer that is DeVanté himself.

Read between the lines? Usually, when that is said to someone in this situation, they think the worst. Taimak did take DeVanté seriously, only for a few seconds but he was interested in DeVanté's elaboration he never gave.  He just thought of him a bitter about something. DeVanté on the other hand KNEW what he was doing but just like many other times, he just didn't seem to care or show any ounce of regret.

October 6, 1996

~DeVanté's P.O.V~

My parents are in Atlanta and have been for a couple of days now. They wanted to stay here, but I made sure to tell them that this is my house and that I'm not the one to listen to gospel music all day. Especially since I'm working and constantly and constantly listening to samples and demos. Dalvin with the same thing. They don't listen to secular music and they're staying at a hotel. They come over here a lot. More than they visit Dalvin's crib. I think it's their way of checking up on me to make sure I'm still sober.

Speaking of sobriety, today is my one year anniversary of being sober. I've had a few challenges here and there but I pulled through. Most of the challenges came when I'm in the studio with people who aren't sober or at parties/ functions. That's why I reverted back to my old ways. My old ways are staying in the studio ALONE in the dark doing my own thing. I'm killing two birds with one stone. I'm more focused and I have less of a chance of relapsing. Yes, sometimes I still think about it but then I remember why I'm sober and the journey of sobriety.

My parents are here now. My mother is in the kitchen cooking talking about how I need to gain more weight. I gained weight when I was living with them for that short period of time. I've lost a tremendous amount of weight since I've been away because I haven't been eating much.

When I'm focused on my craft, nothing else matters in that moment. One thing about parties/ functions is that they always have some good ass food and I pig the fuck out. My dropping weight probably gives them the idea that I'm still getting high but I'm not. Now, I'm not nearly as skinny as I was when I was getting high and drunk but still thin nevertheless.

My pops is sitting right here in front of me playing solitaire, while DJ little badass walking around is fucking with all my shit. He just turned one on his and Dalvin's birthday. Somehow he's even more bar than when he was a baby. ALWAYS getting into shit! Oh, yeah! Derek is also in town and he, his girl, and his child are staying at my house. Derek was sent out to some things for mama.

My parents probably planned this just so his ass can keep an eye on me. Derek the saint as my parents like to think of him now has a child of his own out of wedlock; a son. Everyone knows how religious my parents are. I'm happy my mother is here because I do miss home-cooked meals. That fast food gets me sick a lot of the time. DJ's little badass decided to throw his almost full bottle at my TV.

"Aye lil ni- lol boy, what's wrong with you?" I said grabbing him and holding him in the air. His badass was laughing hard as hell. "Don't do that no more. You hear me? Huh?" My voice was playful, but I was serious at the same time.

He was giggling up a storm. "What was you about to call my son?" Pops asked me.

"Lil boy. That's what I called him." I told him and put DJ back down on the floor.

"No, you wasn't," My dad shook his head. "God don't like liars." He told me. "Tell the truth, shame the devil, son."

If I say it then I'll get a bunch of flack and I don't have time for that. DJ threw his bottle at my face causing me to wince. That boy got good aim. "I guess we FINALLY got a son who's good in sports." My pops said laughing and so was badass DJ.

"As if you were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar..." I said still holding the space right above my eye. That shit will definitely leave a mark on my face. "You not gon' do nothin'?" I asked pops. "This man just threw a bottle at my face ON PURPOSE!" I told him with my hand pointing to DJ.

"No." Pop's responded nonchalantly and he had the nerve to add a shrug. "Maybe he'd knock some sense into that head of yours."

"What?" Right after I said that a toy flew across the room at me. It hit me right in the nose. I got up and picked his little ass up. I held him to where his head was near the ceiling. "Do that again and you gon' see what happen!" I said tickling his neck with my thumb.

Okay, maybe it's because I'm being so playful that he keeps doing what he does. His little laughs are so adorable. How can I be mean to his little badass? I put him back down and grabbed all of his toys and his bottle and put them where he couldn't reach them. He wasn't drinking it anyway, instead, he used it as a weapon. That made him cry and I almost gave them back until he threw himself on the floor and threw a crying tantrum.

"Boy, get up! You shouldn't have hit him." Pop's yelled at him.

"He just a baby. He don't know no better." I told pops. "Come here, DJ." I held my hands out and indeed he came to me.

"Alright, don't complain to me when he give you another concussion," Pops said pointing to me. "Makin' up excused for the boy. You know he hard-headed. Somethin' like you."

"I have never been hard-headed. I'm the ONLY levelheaded child y'all got. Was I a little rebellious? Yes, but can you blame me?" I asked bouncing DJ on my knee.

"Pshh, yes!" Pop's said laughing. "You never listened."

"Y'all were too strict. I'm pretty sure you didn't listen to EVERYTHING your parents told you to do." I told him.

"That son is where you're wrong. I listened to EVERYTHING my parents told me to do in front of their face." He told me.

"Exactly, in front of their face. Meaning the minute you were out of their sight you rebelled. Uncle told me about y'all sneaking off and going to juke joints to dance and be with women. You can't expect from your children what you didn't expect from yourself at those ages. I wanted to know a world outside of the church just as you did. Those kids' parents at the church would constantly tell on us but failed to reveal what their children did.

"Most times they was just mad because their kids was worse. It didn't help that the things that occurred between me and you at church in front of everybody. People forgot that we're were the kids and YOU are the pastor. I'm wasn't posing as a saint but people expected me to. They looked at me as if I was the pastor. I was just a learning child who wanted ANSWERS!" I told him.

"Yeah, but I thought you were the one I didn't have to worry about since you was so quiet. I was dead wrong. You put us through hell and you will get that same treatment with your children but worse. I don't regret anything that happened. If you hadn't done what you did, I wouldn't have did what I did." He replied.

"I  was a kid." I reasoned.

Derek walked through the door with a couple of grocery bags. "I can't stand yo dogs man." He shook his head then went straight to the kitchen. When he came back to the living room he plopped down on the couch, exhaling loudly.

"I know yo fat self ain't tired from walking to the kitchen and back?" I asked Derek.

Derek chuckled at me. "I know yo ugly and anorexic behind ain't talkin' bout nobody."

"I'm ugly, but you had the nickname Duff growing up." I laughed. (I looked up the name in the urban dictionary and I'm disappointed in the nickname he was given as a child. It means designated, ugly, and fat friend. That's wrong...)

"I'm just gon' ignore that," Derek said with a while attitude.

"Boff of y'all parents look good which makes y'all look better. Derek look like ya mama and Donald look just like me. Stop goin' back and forth like children. Though I find it quite hilarious." Pops told us sitting us up.

"What was y'all talkin' about?" Derek asked us.

"How strict he was with us growing up," I responded.

"Nahh, Pops wasn't strict with us." Derek took off his jacket.

"Yes, he was. You just sayin' that because half of the things he did to me never happened to you." I told him.

"Half of the things you did, I didn't do." Derek had a point but...

"About half of the things you claim that you didn't do, you did. You just didn't get caught. I'll admit that you didn't do everything I did, and I'm glad you didn't but you did more than they know." I told him.

"Tell me some of those things I don't know Junior." Pop's said shuffling his cards.

"You know I can't do that." I laughed. "What you don't know, you ain't meant to know," I replied.

"You can't do nothing to us now with that knowledge. So, I will tell you that DeVanté used to steal condoms from the store because he was too scared to actually buy them. You know, since everything he did was recorded and reported back to you. He was scared to tell y'all he was fu- having sex with girls." Derek said laughing. Pops looked at me with that look.

"Alright..." I sat up in my seat still holding onto DJ. "Derek used to drink y'all liquor that y'all would drink on special occasions. He would make sure to measure it and steal it from the store. Y'all wonder why he was cross-eyed, it was because he was drunk." DeVanté said joking about the last part.

"You tellin' on me but who started it?" Derek asked me.

I stayed silent and Pops started laughing. "I knew I wasn't out of my mind. I thought your mother was lying to me some of those times. Wait 'til I tell your mother about this."

"Tell mama? Nooooo." I shook my head at his statement.

"Keep it on the down-low. Pops, don't nobody gotta know. What she doesn't know won't hurt her." Derek said with his hands folded together.

"You just don't want your perfect image ruined. You're the golden child." I told him laughing.

"You just mad because I took your spot HOLLYWOOD." Derek shot back.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Man, ion care if you tell her. She already thinks ill of me anyways."

"Son, nobody thinks ill of you. You just made some bad decisions and now you're repenting. I made mistakes as well." Pops explained.

"Yeah, but you ain't havin' it thrown in your face all the time," I told him.

"Son, you don't think I'm reminded by your mother's family that I lost your grandparent's house? They talk about me. It's the past but it's the truth. Not all of them are too fond of me but with me being the bigger person, I leave it alone. They gon' say what they say." Pops explained to me.

Dalvin walked into my house. "DeVanté, let me holla at you right quick." He said waving his hand for me to follow him.

Pops looked from me to Dalvin and back to me. "Son, do you ever lock your door? You need to start because I don't want to see you laid up in another hospital bed."

I stood up and sat DJ on the couch. "I do but not when I'm expecting company. My security knows not to let anyone through that gate. Before then I wasn't living in a house like this with security at the front. Not to mention my dogs will attack any unknown person." I walked to Dalvin who then walked outside.

"What happens if they make it past security and those dogs?" Derek asked me.

"They won't." I went outside and closed the door. "Fuck you want?"

He exhaled. "We got a problem."

"We? Nigga, I'm chillin'." I put my hands in my pockets.

"Yeah, well so are K-Ci and Jojo drunk asses." He pointed to two cars.

"Fuck happened?" I asked them.

"We went to a party with Pac and I thought JoJo and K-Ci would go home but I guess not. When I got here, I saw JoJo parked here slouched over. K-Ci was right in front of me driving recklessly on my way here and I made his ass get out and get in my car. His car on the side of the road. I'm a little on the tipsy side myself and that party was closer to your house so I played it safe and drove here. I guess the spirit lead JoJo and he did the same." He said walking to the car with me beside him. I could tell Dalvin was a little messed up due to his stumbling when walking.

"Fuck y'all keep drinkin' for? Y'all see how I ended up. I'm tellin' you, that partying life ain't it, lil bruh." I shook my head and looked through the window. "This shit has gotten out of hand. A party every once in a while is fine but this gotta stop. Fuck this got to do with me? What the fuck you want me to do?"

"Either take them home or sneak them into your house without pops notifying they people if he find out they doin' this shit," Dalvin explained.

"Again, what the fuck they gotta with me?" I asked. "Maybe they people should know because of how far it's gotten. They- Y'ALL are drunks and I'm tired of it."

"You got some nerve when I helped yo ass out plenty of times. Help me get these niggas into the house." He opened the door to JoJo's car.

"Pop's in the living room and mama in the kitchen cooking. ONE of them will see these drunk ass niggas. So, what now? Because I'm not leaving when mama is almost down with the food. I want my food hot and fresh for the first time in a long time." I explained to him. "Y'all KNEW y'all supposed to come here being that I'm only a year sober. Yet, y'all show up sloppy drunk to a SOBRIETY celebration. Who does that?"

Dalvin sighed. "Look man, I'm sorry. We was just trying to have a good time. Just help me get them out and up your stairs."

"Gimme the keys to K-Ci car," I told him with my hand out.

He dug in his pockets then looked up at me. "I gotta go to my car." He told me stumbling away.

I looked at JoJo shaking my head. How the fuck my skinny ass gon' help his big ass out the car and ALL THE WAY UP my stairs? I backed up and went to Dalvin's car. "Fuck is talkin' you so long?" I frowned.

He turned around and looked at me. "I think I left it in the ignition. K-Ci's ignition..." He trailed off drunkenly.

"Fuckin' idiots, man!" I said shaking my head in disappointment.

"Can you blame me? I'm not in my right mind."

"Nigga, you wasn't in yo right mind before you went to that party, because if you was, you wouldn't have driven there yourself. You would have your driver take you. You- Y'ALL KNOW y'all always get drunk and high. ESPECIALLY with Pac." I corrected him.

"I wasn't thinkin'. Now, shut the hell up and help me with this big nigga! Damn, De!" He said and walked back to JoJo's car.

"Why we gettin' Jojo when it'd be way easier to start with K-Ci?" I asked him confused. "I can get him my damn self." We got JoJo out of the car. "Man, HELL NAWW!" I screamed and dropped his heavy ass. He and Dalvin went tumbling to the ground. They both groaned.

Jojo opened his eyes and attempted to sit up. "You gon' have to get yo fat ass up and walk!" Some of my dogs are standing there and just watching us. "I could go and get the hose."

Dalvin stood up and looked at me like I was nuts. "What the fuck was that⁉️"

"You had me caring most of the weight is what," I answered.

Dalvin shook his head. "Most of the weight. Man, JoJo is equally fat on both sides."

I laughed while clapping my hands. "This nigga!" I walked off in the direction of my front gate.

"Nigga, where the fuck you goin'!? You just gon' leave yo friend here?" He asked me irritated.

"Nope, he too heavy! Imma get my security to carry him! A few of them if needed." I mumbled the last sentence. "You can go grab that tote that's in my tool shed! Empty everything out of it!" I yelled to Dalvin.

Why the tote? For starters, JoJo is heavy as hell. The other reason is so he'd be hidden from my parents. I still think their parents should know about their drinking problems. If they don't, that shit will get worse. I don't want to see them in the same position as myself, but it seems as if it's already that way. They aren't as far gone as I was at least.

"Yo Creed, John?"

"What's up?" They asked.

"Can y'all do me a favor and help JoJo ass upstairs?" I asked them. "I can't carry that heavy nigga. Y'all said it yourself, I'm skin and bones." I chuckled.

"Yeah, we noticed he was drunk," Apollo told me.

"He almost crashed his car to the gate," Creed said shaking his head.

John and Creed stepped out of the booth. It's not a small booth. It's very spacious. I didn't want Apollo to help since he's older. The reason all of them are here is because they come a little earlier to switch shifts. I thanked them both as we walked back. Dalvin had the tote flipped over, sitting on top of it.

"You asked me why I'm just leaving my friend there but you left him lying on the ground," I told Dalvin.

"Well, yeah. He a heavy mothafucka!" Dalvin said getting up.

"Y'all can put him in that tote and bring his ass upstairs. Put him in the bedroom across from mines and sit or lay his ass by the toilet. He not messin' up my sheets." I told them then went to K-Ci who sat in Dalvin's car. I grabbed K-Ci.

"Fuck you doin' nigga!?" K-Ci yelled drunkenly.

"Helping your drunk ass out the car. Fuck it look like?" I asked him.

"Fuck you, nigga! Ain't forget what you did!" He yelled at me then slumped over.

"Yo still mad for shit you put me in! Now, I ain't gotta do for you but-"

He turned his head and gathered all the spit in his throat up and spit on me. "NIGGA, FUCK YOU. FAKE ASS PRINCE LOOKIN' MOTHAFUCKA!

I charged at him to beat his ass. "DON'T FUCKIN' SPIT ON ME! FUCK IS YO PROBLEM ⁉️" I got a few licks on him before I was pulled away from his ungrateful ass. "YO FUCK YOU K-CI!"

I snatched away from Dalvin and John. I wiped my face off. That glob hit me on the left side of my jaw. ANOTHER reason why I don't hang with these niggas as much especially K-Ci sensitive ass. This nigga mad because he asked me a question and I agreed with JoJo. He goes on to tell me that I ALWAYS take Jojo's side. I do it because JoJo is right the majority of the time! K-Ci wants everything to go his way. He's the David Ruffin of the group and it's always been this way.

"Look, just go in the house. We going through the back, so keep an eye on mama. She tells pops everything!" Dalvin told me.

I walked back to the house and closed the door with my foot.

"Where Dalvin?" Pops asked. I ignored them both and kept walking. Then I shrugged my shoulders hard as hell. I'M HEATED! "YOU WILL ANSWER ME WHEN I'M TALKIN' TO YOU!" I heard footsteps behind me and I was snatched around. His yelling scared DJ and made him cry. "I don't care how old you are or where you are. Nigga, you will respect your father! Do you hear me?"

I pulled away from his grip and just nodded. It wasn't I felt small in that situation. Like a little kid again in my own damn house that I pay the bill for. This ain't right and I don't like this feeling. I shrugged my shoulders at him and that's being disrespectful? Can't you see I don't want to talk!?

"I don't know. He might be back. Still treat me like a fuckin' child." I said and walked away. "Still treat me like a fuckin' child," I mumbled low but not low enough.

"The hell you say under yo breath?" Pops asked and I ignored him and kept walking. The moment I got in the bathroom, I snatch a rag from the shelf, wet it with soap, and scrubbed the hell out of my face.

Author's Note: He made it! How do you feel about the two men, Taimak and DeVanté, being petty? Was it all necessary?  I'm highly disappointed about them showing up drunk to DeVanté's sobriety celebration. I'm saying it like I didn't write this! Lmbo! This is the first time that I write in third person. I may do it a few more times by it won't be common. This is the end of the day. Oh, NO! Could this day get any worse for this dude? Next chapter...

Word Count: 5,895
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Thank you all for taking the time out of your day to read another chapter of this story. Thank you for staying despite the slacking.💚🖤❤💜💙💛