Please excuse ANY errors.

December 22, 1998

~DeVanté's P.O.V~

"I bet you gon' get yo ass handed to you on fuckin' platter. I packed it with me and we gon' see. Imma need you to back up yo words TONIGHT!" I told Tia while driving.

"A'ight, then we just gon' have to see. I hope you tightened up on your finger controls because they always seem to slip. Excuses... Excuses... Excuses." Tia shook her head, laughing.

"All you need to do is back that shit up with actions. For a change..." I said that last part quickly just to strike a little nerve. I put my tongue in my jaw to keep from laughing.

"For a change?" Tia's head jerked back. "That sounds personal, partner? How does Mario Karts turn into- No, when don't I back my words up? Name one time, Donald."

"Spades."

"Spades!? You're ass in that!" She cackled. "YOU don't back up YOUR words. I tried to teach you, but that's ONE thing that you ain't got in you."

"I'm not that damn bad at Spades. Give me MY credit." I popped my imaginary collar.

"Sir, I give credit where credit is due." Tia pursed her lips. "I give you credit with anything music and so many other things, BUT your credit- matter of fact the bank denied your access with them. All the banks."

"All of 'em?" I said taken aback. "Hol' on, I may be ass-"

"That's it. Once you say you ass, you're ASS and YOU KNOW it!" Tia said laughing.

"You see... You ain't gotta do to a man like that now." I said laughing. "You know what your ass at though?"

"Yes!"

"List all that shit then," I told her. "Imma do it for you. One: Pac-Man."

"Okay." She nodded.

"Two: Mortal Kombat. The reason you hate that game is because of your ass." I chuckled.

"Admitted." She nodded.

"Three: Mario Karts." I looked over at her, making a turn on the street.

"Here you go again." She said dropping her arm down onto her leg.

"Four: Dig Dug."

"Dig Dug? HELL NO, Donald!" She said laughing. "That's you and you a whole lie and a half for that."

"Who name is at the top of the board? Whose? I'll wait on it. We got ALL day." I told her.

"We don't need all day. Right at the top stands and TALL are MY initials, homie. Don't play. I'm not a gamer and I know what I'm not good at, but lying is wrong."

I nodded. "A'ight. We gon' see tonight."

"Well, then okay. Speaking of ass..."

"Where you goin' with this?" I said looking at the road. "I hope it ain't about my ass. The answer is still no."

"Do you think it smells like ass in hell? I mean, think about it... They aren't burning to the bone, just flesh, and the temperature is high, so it gotta smell like booty." She turned to me. "What do you think?"

"Who the fuck- who is livin' in that head of yours makin' you ask these ridiculous ass questions?" I asked her.

Tia turned her body to me. "You are and aren't you going to state your opinion?"

"No." I shook my head. "Not now at least."

"It's simple. Humans began to smell like ass in prolonged heat and especially because I know people in hell probably don't stay still. They're active, right? Constantly too because who would stay still in the fire?"

"Makes you wonder doesn't it?" I asked her. "Maybe you should take a road trip there and hope he let you back on earth," I said parking at a supermarket in Chessy, France.

I think Chessy is a little bit cheaper than Paris and we need a lot of shit.

"Maybe if you do it first and come back with proof. I'll know though because you'll look like Freddy Krueger." She replied.

"I can't believe that there's a nightmare-"

"On my street!" Tia and I said it together, but she said it in the voice of a foul or some shit.

"We're so lame," Tia said laughing.

"You even more with that voice you just did." I shook my head. "You done with the list?" I asked her.

"Nope, but I want to walk through the whole store. See something we need, we get it." She shrugged. "Alright, well... Let's go!"

Me and Apollo got out of the car. I went around to open Tia's door and she stepped out of the car tap dancing.

"Ooweee!" I chuckled. "I'm glad you don't smoke or drink because yo ass be actin' high and dunk almost all the damn time." Even Apollo laughed. "Just hoppin' out of the car dancin' to no music."

"I'm high off life," Tia replied.

"Don't forget the drunk part, my love," I added.

"Drunk in love." She snapped her fingers, then pointed them at me.

"You got a comeback for everything, huh?" Apollo asked her.

"Mm." She shrugged her shoulder. "No. Each of us needs a buggy because we need a lot of food. This trip is a whole two weeks long and we gotta feed twenty-something people. Plus, Christmas and New Year's dinner."

I didn't say anything, I just put a quarter in the cart, grabbing one.

"Damn, that's a shit ton of money too," Apollo replied.

"I know." Tia's eyes widened.

"Luckily, you ain't payin'," I told her.

"You mean, you payin' for all this too?" Tia asked me.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Okay, baller." Her voice went high-pitched.

Dribbling the imaginary ball, then throwing it. "Baller, I am."

Tia put her hand above her eyes as if she were trying to see far away. "The ball didn't make it inside the hoop, baller." She giggled. I elbowed her side. "For real though," she began wiping her cart down and handed me a wipe.

"Thank you." We said at the same time.

"For what?" I asked her.

"All of this, but I can pay for something. I know this whole trip was a pretty penny."

"It was, but I didn't pay for everybody on the flight. Some paid their own way. Some being Dalvin, your pops wouldn't allow me to pay for him. You know how he gets. Then Derek paid for himself and Maria. I paid for their kids, and you know I didn't pay for Yasir and that lady he brought." I explained to her.

"You still paid for the majority of everyone, including myself." She replied.

This trip was solely for Tia. Our families were just something I figured- No, something I know we needed and something Tia and I would probably love. I mean, it's the holidays which are for family time, but also for many other reasons. I grabbed her left hand and once she turned to me, I grabbed her right one and leaned my forehead against hers, looking down and into her eyes.

"You get what you need to get and I got you. Don't worry about nothin'. I said I got it, I really mean it and we both know that when I say I got you, I do." I kissed her lips, thumbing the back of her hands with my thumbs.

When we pulled away opening our eyes again, she nodded with a smile. "And?" She raised her eyebrows.

"What you mean?" I said confused.

"I-" The tip of her tongue went to the roof of her mouth, suppressing a laugh, "I was waiting on you know what I'm sayin'." She laughed.

"For a second I thought you were about to say something, but you ain't sayin' a damn thing." I chuckled, grabbing my cart.

"Looks like we got a small crowd," Tia muttered to me. "Let's get what we need to get and be out."

"We know that shit ain't happening. Knowin' you, you gon' get more out of here than what you bargained for. Who are you foolin'? We are in the Walmart of France." I asked her, though it was rhetorical as we began walking further inside.

"You may be onto somethin'." Tia nodded in agreement.

"MAY is an understatement."

"Okay, Donald." She replied looking through the veggies.

We stayed in the grocery store for like whole three hours. We're still here but are now on our way to checkout. No, I'm bored or anything because we both have never been inside here. We both were stopped a few times by people who knew of our work. One thing I will say is that countries outside of the U.S. seem to appreciate the black entertainment industry more, especially France. France has always been accepting of black people since the beginning of time which is why most black entertainers.

Even in the early twentieth century moved here and made a name for themselves. I could name quite a bit of them. I wouldn't even put it all on the people/ supporters/ fans because the industry will turn on entertainers once they go against the grain that they planted. This is some shit me and Tia talk about, but anyways... I learned how to read the language and she learned how to read it better at the grocery store. We had to because literally, everything is fucking French. All three of us did. On our way to the counter, Tia stopped again.

"Babe, look." She pointed.

"Yeah, I see what you see. What about it?" I looked away from the Gingerbread and cookie houses.

"We should get them and enough so everybody can participate in the partnership. It'll be fun to do this with the kids. Having THIS as a kid, the few times we did was a luxury. What do you think? Should we get them?"

"Ion think everybody gon' wanna do that. I'm not stoppin' you from gettin' it or anything. By all means, do whatever." I told her. "The kids will definitely like it."

"Well, if they don't wanna, the one who do can just do it."

"How many you think we gon' need?" I questioned.

"We should get trains for the kids. Ooh, what flavors we should get though?" She asked me. "I think we only need three. A house, a gingerbread man, and a train. The boys will definitely like making the train."

"Ain't too many people that like the actual Gingerbread taste. Only like my grandparents and probably the kids. Other than that we can get Oreo, Hershey's- and is that red velvet or just red cookies?" I asked her.

She leaned forward. "I'm almost sure that they are red velvet." She nodded.

"Yeah, so the other two can just be these other flavors." I shrugged.

We put them in the cart, I paid for everything and we left out the store. After Apollo and I loaded the groceries into the car, I silently sat down in the car for a little while it warmed up. It's cold as hell in Paris to me right about now. It's probably forty degrees Fahrenheit now.

"You tired? I can drive." She offered.

"Nope, I got it," I said opening up my eyes again. "I feel like a whole child because I'm in need of some rest."

"Jet lagged." She replied. "We're seven hours ahead of the time back home."

"Yeah," I said becoming aware again, then pulling out.

"Okay, it's like a forty-something minute drive and I'm talkin' the whole way because I can tell that you're a bit tired."

"Thank you, but I'm just a lil tired right now, but not sleepy. Probably will be when we get back though." I cut on my turn signal.

I really have to pay attention here because of the whole opposite side of the steering wheel thing here. I've done it before on plenty of occasions, but it's been a while since I have done this. At least the Franc drive on the same side of the street as the USA, because then it would've been more difficult. We sat there quietly listening to the music for a good twenty minutes until I decided to speak.

"I spy somethin' green," I told her, making a turn.

"The grass?" She asked me, turning down the radio.

"No, that shit is too obvious." I shook my head.

"The inside of your nose?" She questioned.

"Funny," I turned to her, "but no."

I saw her head turning to see what was green. My phone has been slipping out of my pocket, but it finally fell. Once Tia heard it, she picked it up.

"The button on your phone?" She asked me.

"Yeah."

"Wow, okay..." She nodded. "I spy something black."

"There's like an endless amount of black things in here. Dashboard." I threw it out.

"Nope."

"Steering wheel?" I asked her.

"Not a chance. Not even close." She shook her head again.

"Us?" I asked her.

"Nope, but close." She nodded.

"Your shoes?" I asked her.

"Nope."

"You're little skin tags?" I questioned.

"You're cold. Icy." She shook her head.

"So it's on me?" I asked her.

"Mm, possibly..." She shrugged.

"My shoes or socks?" I asked again.

"Nope, you're hot but cold. And your shoes aren't even black. DJ probably should teach you what color is what."

"Smart ass mouth." I chuckled.

"It's yo lip." She laughed. "Psych! You give up?" She asked me.

"Shit, I guess."

"Your pupils." She laughed.

"Nahh, that's straight-up cheating," I replied.

"How? I spotted it."

"How the hell am I supposed to see my pupils, especially when I'm drivin'?" I asked her. "I ain't ever heard of NOBODY using some damn pupils as an answer to ISpy."

"The mirror," Apollo answered instead.

"Exactly!" Tia laughed. "And there's a first for many experiences."

"Yo ass just be cheatin'." I shook my head.

"Me? You used your phone button, but didn't even glance at it." She looked at me with a stiff ass neck.

"Okay... But I felt it falling out my pocket."

"Again, you didn't see it. How do you even know that the button was sticking out? You wouldn't even have known, Donald." She said in an obvious tone. "Anywho, I spy somethin' long."

"Wait a minute, it's my turn," I told her. "But, a'ight. Yo forehead."

She pointed a wagging finger at me. "Don't play with me..."

"It's literally a game, so playin' is somethin' we are currently doin'," I said getting on her level because this some shit she would definitely say.

"Okay." She smiled at me. She knows what I'm doing. "Give up?"

"Nope." I shook my head at her. "Your eyelashes?" I asked her and she shook her head. "Mines?"

"Nope!" She spoke popping her p.

I glanced down at myself, at the road, at Tia. "I mean we can't see it, but we both know I'm long, am I right?"

"Now babe?..."

"Yeah?" I looked away from the road for a quick second to see her stiffly pointing to Apollo with her head.

"We all grown," Apollo replied. "I heard way more than that from y'all, I could tell you that much." He chuckled.

Tia made a face but didn't say anything. She's thinking what I'm thinking, which is what the hell does he mean by that? Neither of us said anything out loud though. I would have, but this might be embarrassing for her. I have a strong feeling about that and embarrassing her is something I don't want to do. Tia lowered herself in her seat, turning up the radio again.

"Wait a minute... I thought we was still playin'?" I asked her, turning the radio down again. "I give up, what is it?"

"It's you," Tia replied.

"Ain't that what I just said?" I chuckled.

"No, you know what you were referring to."

"I said me though. Did I not?"

"Donald, let's not play like you weren't referring to what you were referring to."

"And that is?" I trailed off, waiting.

"I'm not even finna keep repeating myself." She mumbled to herself, shaking her head, then turning up the music a little bit.

I shook my head at her and turned it back down. "Don't you ever touch a black man's radio, girl! S'wrong wit' chu?"

"How original." Tia chuckled.

"That shit better be good!" I told her with a smirk.

"Or what?" She smirked, challenging me.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I chuckled moistening my lips with my tongue. "We should've gone to the damn premiere. Been came out."

She turned up the radio again with a grin. We're almost home anyway. The drive didn't take the forty-five minutes that it was supposed to take. Instead, it was an hour and then some because the traffic is bad around this time of year. When we did make it home, I didn't make multiple trips to and from the car because it's too many people for that shit. I let the other men handle that and nobody had to make two trips. We were in the kitchen putting up the groceries and messing around when Yasir came in.

"Mmm, penne, spaghetti, rigatoni. Just like my sister like her men, Italian." Yasir looked directly at me.

"Yasir..." Tia trailed off.

I was about to say some slick shit, but Tia spoke up instead of me, shutting me up.

"You are always sayin' some slick shit. I'm saying this and saying it one time only, you either cooperate with them or LEAVE here the same way you came. And I mean to cooperate with ALL of them because you start a lot of shit with whoever doesn't agree with you." She pointed to the door. "Yes, you were invited, but didn't nobody LONG AGO, but ye mama expected yo ass to come here. She's the ONLY one and I don't give a damn if she likes it or not, you're out. If you THINK I'm jokin', TRY me." She turned her head at a sixty-degree angle. "Okay? Cool. Great." She gave a thumbs up with a fake smile before turning back around to put up more groceries.

I laughed under my breath. Okay, she told his ass. Yasir just stood there looking stupid as always. I guess it comes naturally because lately, that's all he's been doing, looking stupid as hell and mouthing off some dumb shit.

"Oh, and that also goes for your girlfriend too. You can tell her I said it too." Tia turned around for a split second.

"He doesn't have to. I heard you." His girlfriend came from around the corner.

"Fantastic." Tia smiled turning back around.

"Damn," Dalvin said aloud and I guffawed.

"What do you have against me? Is it because I'm a white girl with your black brother?" Bianca asked Tia.

Oooooh, now she's accusing Tia of being racist? My eyes shifted back to Tia who continued putting up groceries. I stopped though. Derek looked at me with a surprised expression. I don't think he's ever heard her curse is probably why.

"Y'all back with groceries, huh?" Ashari said walking into the kitchen.

She walked in at the wrong time.

"What makes you think I don't like you? Especially because you're white?" Tia questioned. "What gave you the impression?"

"Your tone comes off as aggressive."

Tia finally turned around with her hand on her hip. "Aggressive?"

"Yes, that's what I said." Bianca nodded and her tone is off. "You seem very aggressive when you speak."

"Oh?" Tia asked taken aback. "Never have I got that. It's usually I'm too quiet and low. My problem is with my brother, not you. I may have gotten a bit hostile with my brother, but not with you. NOW I do." Tia quickly pointed to her before resting her arms again. "So I'm going to revert your question back to you, because this..." Tia spun her index finger between the two of them. "Do you have a problem with me? If so, we can straighten it out here and now. Lay it all out on the table." Tia shrugged both of her shoulders.

Bianca rolled her neck with a bunch of attitudes. "As a matter of fact, I-"

"Let's go back downstairs and unpack," Yasir spoke up, grabbing the top of Bianca's arm, and pulling her away.

I went to the groceries closer to where Yasir and his girlfriend exited the kitchen. I rolled something down that area just to find a reason to get closer and hear what the fuck they're to saying.

"Shit," I said loud enough for everyone else in the kitchen to head. "Let them me go get that."

I'm not doing this because of them, I could give a damn if these motherfuckers see me, it's Tia. I don't want her to know that I'm eavesdropping on them. If it was up to her she'd say leave them be.

"Where the fuck we gon' go!? Don't start no shit here. She ain't even get at you like that. Makin' up shit. Learn how to shut yo mouth. Stay in yo place." Yasir muttered to her with aggression and held onto her right.

"For trying to take up for my king. Your sister is trippin'. Who the fuck would wanna be with her? Especially that nigga she got. He's too nice for her aggressive ass." Bianca replied.

"You see me with her right?" I spoke up loud enough for them to hear, but directly to his little girlfriend.

I saw Yasir shake his head before they both turned around. Bianca seemed startled. Knowing that she wasn't going to say anything because she seems stuck.

"I'm with her and for a reason and I'm not complainin', so you shouldn't either. How you gon' talk about somebody you don't know who at first didn't even say anything but what? Two words to you? Seems as if you're the one with the problem, probably because of some bullshit he fed you. Well, continue to be misled." I shrugged. "I don't give a fuck." I picked up what I needed and walked back down the hall to the kitchen that is loud as fuck.

Everybody is in here laughing. Tia is sitting on the floor kicking her feet up and down laughing. Dalvin was laying on his back on the floor laughing with his arms around his stomach. Derek was leaning over the counter with his head down laughing. Ashari was leaning against the counter, resting her back on it. What the fuck? Whatever they're laughing about, I want it to be said and/or done again so I can laugh THIS fucking hard. I was gone for like five minutes. Not even!

"What the hell is so funny? What I miss?" I said to nobody in particular looking around the room.

"Th-" Tia attempted to speak but it was caught in her throat, causing her to cough through her laughter.

They all continued laughing while I stood there lost. I shook my head, walking around them to put the more groceries. When everyone finally calmed down, Dalvin finally got up off the floor. Tia did the same.

"It's too late. You wouldn't even get it, bro." He patted my shoulders twice.

"You don't know that. Looks like y'all was having a good ass time too." I told them.

"The-" Tia then stopped speaking as if she were trying to remember. "I forgot that quick." She said laughing embarrassed.

"And you still laughing?" I have her a look, laughing myself now.

"Yeah!" She replied laughing.

"Y'all some damn clowns." Derek chuckled.

Tia finally stood up, dusting herself off. "When I remember, I'll tell you, but it won't be funny then," Tia said wiping her teary eyes.

"For real!" Derek agreed with her.

"Wow." I replied continuing doing what I was doing and so did Tia. "A'ight."

"I feeling like fried chicken tonight. What about you?" Tia asked me. "You feelin' like fried chicken?" Tia asked me.

"You actin' like you wasn't just on the floor a minute ago." I chuckled at her. "But yeah, I guess I'm feelin' chicken."

"I'm feelin' it too!" Dalvin shouted. "What else?" He asked her.

"Ass," I replied to him.

"I bet you would really love some of that right now, huh? Ain't had it in a while." Dalvin replied with a cool nod, pointing his thumb at me.

He was close and spoke lower when he said it, so that's good. At least the other three didn't hear him say that. Tia looked at me with raised eyebrows then turned her head away from me. She heard on account of how close we are.

"Nigga, if you don't shut yo ass up, you better. Ain't none of yo damn business. Plus I was referring to you being an ass." I chuckled.

"I know, but I have no business and that is one of the funniest things I ever heard you say. Can't live it down." He laughed.

"That's some shit you would never understand, Dalvin."

Tia went to put some other things ups further away and then came Derek.

"You right, 'cause I don't understand that shit either." Derek chuckled, mumbling to me. "But the choice is yours." He shrugged. "I guess it ain't for us to understand which is why we ain't in this position." He inhaled then exhaled dramatically. "I'm glad." He and Dalvin started laughing again.

I tuned out my loud and irritating brothers focusing on my girlfriend who was just minding her business.

"Thank you, Donny." Daryl's mother's voice is what snapped me out of my thoughts.

I quickly diverted my attention to where the voice originated. "You're welcome, Mrs. Nadine. But for what?" I asked her.

"Breakfast, but I would have gone if I knew. I was awake around the time." She said in her Haitian Creole accent.

"Oh, I didn't know. I didn't want to wake nobody up that early and I know everybody was jet lagged." I replied. "It's no problem though."

Tia didn't even know Daryl's parents, her added grandparents were in Georgia before we left because they were staying at my place right along with my grandparents. When the four of them met, there was a slight language barrier though on account that Tia's grandparents' English isn't completely clear. They are from Haiti and then moved to Canada.

That was my first time actually meeting her grandparents, so they were hesitant to stay with me. Daryl provided reassurance for them that I'm a cool person. They were there for like three days and my grandparents arrived the day prior to leaving for Paris right along with my parents. My parents decided to stay at Dalvin's which was a great thing because then Tia would know they were there on account of DJ who tends to be loud when we get on the phone. To avoid her coming over, I was sure to go over to Tia's house for the last three days.

Even though they aren't her biological grandparents, they act just like her, so I see where Daryl gets it from. They both treat Tia like they're her actual family and I appreciate it. The good thing is that her grandparents can understand and speak French fluently is that it's a spoken language in Canada and a minority language in Haiti. After helping to put all the groceries away, I was about to make my way upstairs but was stopped by Daryl.

"Hey man, wanna play some cards?" He flashed a smile. "We playin' Spades." He offered me.

"You KNOW I can't-"

"Nonsense. Your pops need somebody on his team." He then walked away but turned back to look at me. "You comin', right?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I said then started to walk.

I guess staying awake can help me with my even more fucked up sleep schedule. Back home, my sleep is already fucked up, but getting used to the two weeks here and then going home will be something else. France is seven hours ahead of Georgia.

A plus to playing Spades is that I'm ass in that game and I'm being put in pops team. He's been pissing me off anyways and Spades, Uno, Domino's, and Monopoly are games MOST black people don't play about. This shall be fun. Besides, he never even taught me to play either. I'm not going to try and make us lose on purpose, but we shall see.

"Oh, no. Not this guy..." Tia exasperated, throwing her head back with a small giggle under her breath.

"Junior, you know how to play Spades?" Pops questioned.

"I'm the best," I said taking a seat.

"Really?" Daryl raised his eyebrows at me.

This nigga KNOW I can't play, he and his daughter the main ones that got on my ass for that. So I just shook my head at him. Then Tia... I'm going to against her and she's still mad that I can't play.

"You mad?" I asked her, taking a seat across from my dad. "I'm not even on your team."

Tia squinted at me, nodding her head. "You have a point, DeGrate. I just hope you put your money where you're mouth is." She mocked my words from earlier. We were literally talking about this in the damn car. How ironic is that?

"I DO have a pint, Andrews. I will, thank you."

"Somethin' telling me to can't play." Pops eyed me.

"Somethin' is tellin' me that we should start the game," I replied with a shrug.

I wonder why Tia even feels comfortable with being around my father after the other day, let alone to be playing a card game with him. Then again, Daryl probably asked her to play.

"You shuffle and deal." Daryl sat the cards in front of me, tapping the deck.

"Okay." I began to shuffle the cards.

After shuffling, I began passing them out and that's when laughter erupted.

"You don't know what the hell you doin', son." My dad spoke up.

Realizing that I am dealing counterclockwise instead of clockwise, I collected all of the cards.

"My bad," I told them.

"You ain't have nobody cut the cards or anything." Tia reminded me.

"I'm tired. I was LITERALLY on my way to bed when your pops approached me." I replied. "Forgive me for my slacking, love."

Tia smiled at me and then looked at Daryl. "Daddy, you did the man dirty times three."

I think they're referring to my pops, but I just may surprise them. After reshuffling the cards. I had to reshuffle because there's a superstition that so many back folks have wh

"Wasn't done on purpose." Daryl shrugged at his daughter. Tia just twisted her lips to the side.

"Who?" Pops said confused.

"You and I." I sang.

Tia giggled under her breath. "You're so corny and with your dad."

"Mmhm. Cut the cards." I said setting the cards down in front of her.

She cut them, then I passed them to Daryl first, my dad, Tia, then myself until the cards were gone. That's the same order we were to play in. Daryl threw out two of clubs, pops threw out an eight of spades, Tia threw out a five of diamonds and I threw out an ace of spades.

"Junior, what are you doing?" My dad said raising his voice.

"What you mean?" My eyebrows furrowed in irritation. "We won that book, right?"

"Ye-"

"Then why complain?" I asked him.

"Because you cut over me with a high rankin' card is why. If you ain't have no diamonds, you put out your lowest Spade when I already have one up." He complained. "You just gave them an extra book by doin' that!"

"We still won it. I made us win that book." I replied. "And don't forget that it's just a game," I said collecting the cards and sitting them on my side. "Y'all take games too seriously. It's called a game for a reason. This mess ain't real life." I laughed. "Lighten up, tightwad," I told my pops.

"Tightwad, he is, but only when it comes to my daughter. Yes." Daryl agreed with a sarcastic chuckle.

The room fell into an awkward silence for a second.

"BAM!" Tia said slamming her card down. "Put my money where DeGrate?" Tia asked me.

"Chill, this is just your second book, sweetie CUPS!" I responded.

"God damn it, it's because you did that shit again. Cutting over my god damned cards! " Pops shouted while the rest of us were laughing. "Give me a new partner or some shit because this shit here ain't workin'!"

"Nahh, pops! You stuck with him now!" Dalvin said coming up behind him laughing. "Y'all fault y'all ain't teach us?"

"Dalvin, you're good though," Tia responded.

"That is I. Good in everything I do." Dalvin popped his collar.

"But I got better," I said aloud.

"Well, damn!" Pops slammed his hands on the table dramatically. "I would hate to see yo ass before!"

"Don't jock my style, young one," I replied to my little brother.

"You NEED to jock his!" Pops laughed at me. "Teach this mothafucka how to play, Dalvin!"

"Damn... And I thought I had to watch my mouth around you, Rev," Daryl said surprised. "But it gets worse with ye son."

"This is who you get it from." Tia leaned over to me in my ear. "Potty mouth."

"Worse? So you put this non-playin' mothafucka on my team on purpose knowing his ass can't play?" Pops asked Daryl.

"First person I just happened to run into." Daryl shrugged. "Your fault. You could've taught this non-playin' mothafucka." He then turned to me. "I'm sorry, De. His words not mine." He apologized.

"Why I gotta be a mother effer? I'm not screwin' nobody's mother." I asked my pops. "Wouldn't that be you?"

"Boy, you better pay attention to the cards bein' played." Pops replied to me.

"I am, I was just wondering'." I shrugged my shoulders.

"I sure as hell don't look like it." Pops threw out.

Word Count: 5,715

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