C H A P T E R
T W E N T Y - E I G H T

        Marcus and Shaun stood back and watched as the workers cleaned up and fixed up Ahmad's shop. It took a minute but Marcus pulled some strings and got someone to redo the whole shop for the low and he was truly grateful for it too.

Shaun shook his head as he looked around at the shop, it didn't even look the same anymore. "Some fucked up people out here man," He mumbled sliding a piece of gum in his mouth.

The two including Hazel put money together to get Ahmad's shop back up and running and they still did tattoos on the side just to keepv those customers coming. They wanted Ahmad to come back worry free, so they did everything in their power that they could do to mark this one situation off his list of other problems.

"You ain't never lied, but they ain't stopping shit. We bouncing back ten times harder." Marcus mumbled.

"Already,"

Things got quiet between to the two as they both were occupied by their phones, Marcus was replying to nudes Anaya sent while Shaun was instagram and snapchat stalking Alisha.

When he came across pictures of her and Damion doing like a photoshoot together he clicked on it to be nosey.

Liked by ACalieen, Marcsowavy and 56,328 others
AlishaPierce I fall in love with these photos each time I look at them .. LADIES if your man doesn't look at you like this.. throw the whole nigga away 😂 BUT my loves, Anaya and I have amazing news to share with you all! Pierce by Pierce Fashion is releasing new items soon! Anaya and I have been working hard to push out some of the items you all requested. It took a minute but the time has finally come. First I want to shoutout to MY love, my #1 supporter @Damion4real for doing this photoshoot with me, I know you don't like taking pictures but everything turned out truly beautiful and you look damn good 💦👅 but overall, I'm so excited for these new pieces to drop within' the next few weeks. Secondly my photographer : @IndigoArtistic thank you for turning my vision into a reality. Thirdly, I want to thank my sister and her amazing boyfriend @marcwavy you guys are truly something special. And lastly, our supporters this wouldn't even be possible without you guys, love you all so much #PierceGang #PierceByPierceFashion💜

View all 3,217 comments
AnayaaPierce These really turned out beautiful sis😍 but um call me like NEOW!
ACalieen You better fuck it up Lisha😍 I already knew when Ahmad gave me that look it was about to go down 😂👅 and right @AnayaaPierce talm bout my love.. bitch since when?? Call US!
Damion4Real It was an honor to be apart of babe, proud of you and down for the journey of more success to come!❤️

Locking his phone he sighed, he missed her. They hadn't talked in three weeks since she was seeing him and he had to admit it was hard not being able to pick up the phone and call her whenever he wanted like before.

The last they talked was when she came over to talk about her decision on giving Damion a chance. They shared one last kiss then went their separate ways. Damion didn't realize how much he actually liked Alisha until she told him goodbye and he felt like a fool for not being the man she wanted him to be.

But he was scared he'd hurt her, Damion runs from love and committment because of how his father raised him. His mama left him at a young age and from then on his father raised him to never fall in love and whenever he does, he fucks it up scared that the women will be like his mama but he stopped that when he met Ashley, he actually wanted to be with her and grow with her despite how his father felt but then one of those drunk nights happened and it changed everything.

But he was really willing to change for Alisha, he just needed time to see if she was worth changing for. He couldn't even lie and say it didn't hurt to see her with Damion all boo'd up when that should be them but he wasn't gon' ruin her happiness and interfere what they had going on just because he just realised what he had in front of him.

Alisha and Damion they were in a good place, Alisha was actually taking the time to focus in on him and saw he was actually a great guy. He was always positive and supported any idea or thought she ever had and that alone was amazing cause even though she didn't have that support from her folks she had it from her man and she grateful for that.

The three weeks between them have been like perfect and she was slowly thinking she made the right decision. They haven't had sex since Damion wanted to make love to her mind first then her body. Alisha almost melted when he told her that cause usually men were trying to bed her.

And a lot of times Alisha found herself comparing Damion to Shaun and she had to admit Damion was winning by a long shot. The most her and Shaun ever did was go to a movie but usually they'd hang out at his place then have sex, she then started to ask herself was is it love or just lust between two cause she knew she got that mixed up a lot but she stopped questioning herself the more Damion showed her he was the man made for her.

She hasn't told her mama about him yet, but she knew once she did she would finally get that approval she's been craving from her mama. She knew it was foolish to bank her happiness off of what her mama wanted but people had to understand that if you grew up watching one of your siblings get praised for every little thing they did, you start to want the samething so all Alisha's life that's what she has been wanting.

She wants that moment that her and mama will finally share with her saying how proud she is of her, it would be a moment to where she can finally say she did it.

No one knew this about Alisha except Shaun and now Damion, Anaya didn't even know since Alisha didn't want her to feel as if she was jealous even though at times she did get jealous of Anaya she never wanted her to know that.

"You good bro?" Marcus asked putting his phone away. Shaun shrugged. "Nah, but I will be."

Marcus smirked. "Alisha?"

"How did you know?"

"I peeked over saw you stalking her page, what's going on with y'all?"

"Nothing anymore, its like even when I try to do right .. I still fuck up." He mumbled pulling at his beard.

Marcus frowned confused. "Am I missing something? Y'all had something going on?"

Shaun chuckled realizing he never told Marcus. "Yeah, a little while back we been kickin' it and I knew she was developing feelings shit even I was but I wasn't ready to get into a relationship and she didn't want to wait nor did she really have too especially when she had another nigga who was willing to drop everything he had going for her so I understood."

"Damn, where the hell have I been? Been missing out on some tea." Shaun shook his head. "Shut yo fruitcake ass up, but forreal man what should I do? Should I just stay back and let her be happy or finally confess how I feel?"

"If you confess how you feel, its just gon' make y'all situation messier than it already is, but I'm the friend who urges their friends to go after what they want so they can be happy but I will say don't wait too long then you might lose her for good, women want a man that's sure of what they want, they need to know all the answers and I'm sure with the way your ass is you was giving off mixed signals..one minute acting as if this is what you want then falling back, women hate that shit so if you do go through with opening up to her about how you feel be sure about if thats what you truly want cause then she'll be the one who looks like a fool if she chooses you." Marcus preached.

Shaun nodded taking his advice, "She is who I want .. I'm sure of that."

"Then yo light bright ass already know what to do, get yo girl fuck that Damion nigga .. he cool or whatever I guess, but don't let him be the reason you lose your girl and you better be quick about it cause he seems like the type to fight for what he wants as well."

"Alright, but how? Do I just call her up and be like I wanna talk .. meet me at my house?"

Marcus sighed. "Between you and Ahmad, I don't know who's slower when it comes to love.. first, if you do that she just gon' assume you want sex. Second, why are you making her come to you, put ya money where ya mouth is and go to her .. put forth some effort to show you're serious about what you're saying, pop up at their boutique with roses or some shit .. show her something you haven't showed her since y'all been dealing with eachother and let it go from there."

Shaun nodded. "Thanks Dr. Phil,"

Flicking him off, he laughed, "Ain't shit man, you and Ahmad my sons .. gotta lead y'all straight."

"Here you go with this son shit, but speaking of Ahmad black ass .. you heard from him? I wrote him like two weeks ago and usually he writes back by now but I ain't got shit."

Marcus frowned. "Nah, he ain't wrote me back either .. I sent him photos of the progress of the shop just to ease his mind that shit was gon' be alright but ain't heard nothing .. I'm sure Cali has though."

"I don't know man, this ain't like him .. you don't think anything could be wrong right?"

"If it was, they would contact his parents and they haven't mentioned anything to me and we talk everyday so who knows."

Shaun nodded, "Yeah you right, visitation tomorrow so I might go up there to see what's good with my boy."

"I'll come too,"

Ahmad laid on the hard mattress as he struggled to breath, he was still in intense pain as if he just got his ass beat. He knew his nose had to be broken cause the amount of pain he got from that would sometimes knock him out due to it being unbearable to deal with.

It's been three weeks and he's been in there with barely any food or water. Probably twice out of the week one of the officers who beat his ass would come down there and give him scraps of what was left over from lunch.

It wasn't much but it was better than nothing, but Ahmad just found himself praying to God hoping he'd get him out of this fucked up situation.

The nightmares have returned due to him not having his meds but he was surprised how well he's been handling it, the thought of Cali, his unborn, Marquette and God sorta helped him stay calm but he honestly didn't know how much longer he could take being in pain and locked away like this.

His trial was coming up a week to be exact, but yet he had no way to contact his people to see what was going on with that. Reaching his hand he clutched his side trying to stop the pain tha was coming from there.

Closing his eyes, he forced himself to sleep so the pain would go away. Praying he woke up in a different place but he knew he wouldn't.

        Gina walked to Ahmad's cell just to catch up with him but when she saw he was gon' she frowned. "Where did he go?" She asked Tate who was reading a book.

Sitting up he sat the book beside him, "The hole,"

She frowned. "For what?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, he's been there for like three weeks .. where you been?"

She sighed, "Vacation, thanks for the information."

Giving her a thumbs up, she walked away from the cell power walking to where the hole is located. Bypassing guards she saw Officer Langston messing with other inmates shaking her head.

"Hey Pam, how many we got in there?" She asked greeting her homegirl who guarded the outside of the hole area. "Three, I believe."

"Can you let me back there to see a specific one?"

"Who?"

"Ahmad Sinclair." Pam sighed and nodded knowing she wasn't suppose to be letting other guards through but since they are friends, she went against the rules. Letting her through she put her pin into the system then escorted Gina down the halls looking through each room for Ahmad. Reaching the last one she used her key to unlock it then allowed Gina to step in to see him laying there bruised up.

Walking towards him, she squatted beside him checking for a pulse. Seeing that it was low, she began to worry. "Shit," She mumbled. "Pam! Get a nurse and call the ambulance!" She shouted.

Pam took off hitting the emergency button alerting the medical professionals so they would know to come. Gina propped Ahmad up the best she could as he laid there damn near lifeless in her arms. "Just stay with me okay? We gon' get you out of here alright?" She whispered in his ear constantly checking for that pulse that continued to give her hope.

After fifteen to twenty minutes of waiting, two ambulance workers came in with a stretcher. Carefully lifting his body and placing a breathing mask over his face they rolled him out. "Do you know what happened?" One asked Gina.

"No, but I have a good assumption as to what did happen." The guy nodded as they both followed behind Ahmad who was being escorted through the back where the trucks where.

"Contact his family, tell them we're taking him to First Choice Emergency Room."

Gina nodded, as they went separate ways. In the midst of her heading to the office, she did a small prayer that he pulled through but now the only thing on her mind was getting in touch with his family.

        "Pass me that can of hairspray please," Cali asked Glenda. Grabbing the can she handed it to her as Cali repositioned her shop for the welcoming of Chris who would be starting next week.

She was excited but she wasn't too happy at the moment due to her not talking to Ahmad. When she went to visit him they told her he didn't want to visit with anybody and for three weeks every Tuesday and Sunday she went up there and got the same answer.

She started to wonder if he was regretting having a baby and didn't want to see her but she didn't think Ahmad would do it like that. Each night she went to sleep with Ahmad on her mind, hoping he was okay. She even wrote him letting him know that whatever he was dealing with mentally that caused him to shut himself off from the outside world that she was still going to be there for him.

Taking a seat Cali sighed as her hand rested on her small baby bump. She was trying not to stress too much but things were becoming too much for her to handle and the only person that could calm her was Ahmad and not being able to see him or at least hear his voice drove her crazy.

"You alright Cal?" Glenda asked as she swept up hair around her station. "Yeah, I'm fine just tired and stressed honestly .. I'm just in need of some good news at this point."

"Girl you and me both, but just keep hope a live." Glenda told her.

Hearing the doors chime, they looked to see Alisha and Anaya entering the shop. "Hey baby mama," Alisha cooed hugging Cali and rubbing her belly.

When Cali dropped the news to Anaya and Alisha about her pregnancy they were beyond happy for Cal and couldn't wait for the arrival of their niece or nephew. "Hey guys," Cali smiled.

"Poor baby look so tired, you okay?" Anaya asked.

"I'm fine guys but um Ms. Alisha explain yourself please .. what happened to you and Shaun?"

Alisha shrugged. "We wanted different things so we went different ways."

Cali nodded, "But are you happy?"

Am I happy? She asked herself. "Yes, Damion is really everything I ever wanted in a guy."

Anaya smiled. "And I'm glad, I did not like Shaun with his wish washy ass."

Cali looked at Alisha noticing a look in her eyes. "I wasn't a big fan of Shaun until I saw you guys together, I saw happy you looked whenever he was around and the smile that always appeared when he texted you .. if you aren't truly happy with Damion don't settle sis, cause it'll never end right."

"She's not settling Cal, Damion is a good guy.. do not try to detour her from him." Anaya defended.

"Okay? He may be a good guy but he isn't who Alisha truly wants .. who gives a fuck if he's the best guy on this planet if she isn't satisfied it'll never work."

Anaya rolled her eyes, "I just find it crazy how she finally gets a good guy and is already trying to jeopardize it, mama was right." Anaya mumbled.

Alisha snapped her neck in her sisters direction. "Mama was right about what?"

Anaya looked away, "Nothing, do what you want Alisha."

"No what you finna do is tell me what you and mama been talking about behind my back!" Alisha semi-yelled.

"Mama said you're the cause of all your problems. You make stupid ass decisions and when shit hits the fan you blame others and I personally feel if you leave Damion for Shaun you're just going to be making another stupid decision just like the decision you made with messing with Melvin."

Alisha's eyes burned. "I make stupid decisions? and I'm the cause of all my problems? All the decisions I ever made in my life were to please mama and daddy but they were never satisfied! The reason why I'm so fucked up when it comes to love is because I never got taught it or felt it from my own fucking parents! It was always about you, I was the child they wished they never had .. anything I did they could careless about but if Princess Anaya did it, she gets all the praise! It already hurts to hear you're a disappointment from your parents but I never thought I hear you damn near agree with them.."

"That is not true and you know it! Mama and daddy supported everything you did!"

Alisha shook her head at how clueless Anaya was to her parents. "No they didn't Anaya, I put myself through fashion school but I bet they didn't tell you that but soon as you wanted to attend the same school they helped. They offered to help me later but I didn't want none of their money after that. They only supported me if you were involved but you wouldn't know that because you're so used to people kissing your ass so you don't understand how it feels to feel neglected by your parents but see your sibling get all the love!"

"If you didn't act up in school then maybe you would have! You're blaming mama and daddy like you were just saint."

Alisha chuckled. "I only started acting up to get there attention but even then they didn't give a damn so I stopped giving one! But Anaya if all you're going to do is defend them listen to this .. think back to prom night, did I go?"

Anaya shook her head no, "You didn't go because mama and daddy said you didn't deserve to go because of the way you were acting that whole year."

"Wrong, I didn't go because mama and daddy didn't want me to ruin your moment! They didn't even buy me a dress like they did with you, they surprised you with a dress and I got nothing! So sorry if I run into the first nigga arms who actually shows me some attention, what else am I suppose to do? and look once again, I'm here trying to satisfy mana by dating Damion when my heart is with Shaun all because she doesn't like Shaun.. you don't even know half the things I have put aside and dealt with over the years so I don't want to hear anything about me being the cause of all my problems and if you agree with mama, you can go to hell and kiss my ass right along with her. I'm tired of this!" She shouted.

Standing up from her seat she walked out the shop got in her car and sped off as tears streamed down her cheeks. She was so drained from everything, and everyone at this point.

Back at the shop, Anaya held her head down as regret weighed heavy in her heart. "Should have just kept your mouth shut, I really don't think you truly see Alisha .. the reason why you had no friends in high school was because of that mouth and then you still expected for people to be your friend. Alisha fought many battles for you, defending you at all costs even when she knew you were in the wrong and the day you and your mama sat up and talked about her, you should have defended Alisha just like how she always did for you!" Cali snapped.

Anaya nodded, "I know and you're right .. I was wrong, I was wrong for everything I said." She mumbled. "I just never knew she was going through this."

"You never asked either," Cali replied. "Alisha bit her tongue for a long time, I was friends with Alisha before you and she told me a lot.. you really need to have a sit down and just think back then you will see how dirty your parents actually did Alisha."

Before Anaya could respond, Cali's phone started to ring. Sliding the bar over, she held it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Am I speaking with an Aubrey Calieen Brown?"

Frowning, she nodded. " Um yes, this is she.. who is this?"

"Hello, This is Officer Gina down at Joe Kegans State Jail, I just called you to inform you about Ahmad Sinclair."

"Yes'mam, is everything okay?"

She sighed. "I'm sorry to say its not, three weeks ago Ahmad was beat up badly while I was on break.. I'm not sure how bad the injuries are but he his being escorted to First Choice Emergency Room as we speak."

Cali's heart began to hurt. "Oh my- um okay.. thank you so much.. I'm headed there now."

"Okay, have a blessed day and tell him he's in my prayers."

"Will do," Hanging up the phone, she hopped up out her chair grabbing her belongings. Anaya watched in confusion wondering what was up since Cali had totally changed.

"Cali, what's wrong?"

"I have to go, Glenda please lock up the shop for me." Cali called out as she walked out the doors. Anaya was right on her tale, wanting answers. "Go where Cali? Talk to me."

Unlocking her car, she got in the front seat. "Ahmad is in the hospital, I have to go make sure my baby is okay before I go mad, so please excuse me I have to go." She panted as tears began to fall.

Anaya nodded. "What hospital? I'll tell Marcus."

"First Choice Emergency Room,"

Pulling out of the parking lot, Cali just silently prayed that he was okay. The last thing she needed was to lose him at a time like this.

Please be okay, She thought to herself.

        After driving around for hours, trying to clear her mind, Alisha found herself in his driveway. Turning her car off she got out going up to his door. Knocking twice, she took a step back as she waited for him to answer. When she heard the locks turn and saw the door open up. Her hands began to get sweaty, "Alisha?" He asked not expecting to see her here.

Not saying anything she ran into his arms as she cried into his chest. Wrapping his arms around her, he let her in closing the door behind them. "What's wrong?" He asked as he pulled back some to see her face, wiping her tears away with his thumbs.

"Just please hold me," She begged.

Nodding his head, he lifted her up and carried her to his room. Stripping out of her clothes she got in bed next to him laying her head on his chest as he held her just like she wanted.

And this moment, she knew it was no other place she'd rather be but in Shaun's arms. He was her happiness, fuck everybody and their opinions she thought to herself.

-

Hey loves 😌

Thanks for the love & support!
- Denise 💕