"I threw it away."

The words refused to register in Brielle's brain because she just knew it was no way Hakeem would throw her stuff away. He would've been better off saying he gave it to Goodwill or something.

"Repeat that for me, please. It sounded like you said you threw it away but that can't be right."

Hakeem just stared at her.

Though his face was blank, Hakeem's thoughts were running rampant. Much like the first time he saw her after she'd cleaned herself up, Brielle looked different again. Her eyes seemed more vibrant, and her face had the hints on innocence that Hakeem could only assume she possessed at one time.

He wasn't sure what he'd feel when he finally saw her again, but there wasn't any anger there at all. He wanted to put Maya out and tell Bri she could have her old room back.

Instead of doing any of that, he repeated what he said, "I threw it away."

"I been out that place for one day and I already gotta beat somebody ass. It be like that."

Maya stepped in front of Hakeem, "Beat who ass?"

"I meant patchy over there but it's enough to go around so don't worry."

Josiah laughed while stepping to her engulf her in a hug, "How you been?" He asked softly.

"I'm clean, and I'm not in that shit place anymore. I guess I'm okay."

"Good shit. Where you staying?"

She looked at Kyra who refused to make eye contact, "I'll find somewhere."

"You just talking now. You ain't gotta find nowhere."

Maya was passively watching Josiah and Brielle embrace while listening to their hushed tones, only further solidifying that Brielle seemed to make an impact on everyone. She had everybody in shambles and Maya honestly couldn't understand why.

"The last time I stayed with a nigga he sent me to jail and threw my shit away. I'm finna stomp his ass through the porch though so it's good."

Once she'd let go of Josiah, Bri returned her attention to Hakeem, who now was mugging her, "You know damn well Ian touched nothing. And the last time I let a girl stay with me she was doing some lame shit."

Brielle snorted out a laugh and gave Maya a pointed look, "Well don't let another girl stay with you big fella."

"I have a house Bri. Never needed anybody to give me a place to stay."

"Okay, go to that house Maya. Before you get your shit knocked off too."

Josiah tried to subtly reach in his pocket to pull out his phone so that he could record Hakeem getting beat up by a girl, and Maya getting beat up period. He'd never seen Bri fight, but even if she said she was clean, he knew she had a lil bit of strength left from when she was on that shit.

"I'll leave when the person I'm over here for tells me to."

"What you come over here tryna start some shit for?" Hakeem asked, "Just go get ya' lil coconut stuff bro."

"Get out my way then."

Brielle didn't particularly want to turn her back to Maya, but she had no choice but to as she walked the familiar path down the hall to her old bedroom, stopping at her door while Hakeem kept going down the hall. She would've entered on her own but the door was locked.

Maya hadn't been all through his house, but she did know the room they were by was always locked, and when she watched Brielle stand beside Hakeem as he unlocked it, she now knew why.

A waste of time, a waste of energy.

Hakeem pushed the door open, revealing the room in the exact same way that she'd left it, down to the tv still being on LMN. Brielle noticed that immediately and found herself wishing that she'd come at a time where it was just them so that they could talk.

"You need some bags or some?" Hakeem asked.

Brielle shook her head, but still made no move to enter, "I just need the small stuff. I'll come back for everything else later."

While she was shoving clothes into a bag, Hakeem again felt like he didn't want her to leave, which made no sense to him since she was the one who put herself in the current predicament.

Instead of asking her to stay, he let her leave, keeping up the facade that she had no affect on him.

• • •

"Bri...Elle...Wash...In...Gtonnn." Brielle repeated slowly for the woman again, "How many times do I have to say it?"

She didn't look up from her computer, her overly long nails tapping against the keyboard, "B-r-i...  What come after the 'I'?"

"Man just go get somebody else. I'm always running into folks who can't read or spell. The hell type of city is this?"

"It's lunch and I'm the only one here." She responded smartly, "So what comes after the 'I'?"

"G-o-t-o-h-e-l-l."

By the time the lady realized what Brielle had spelled, she'd exited the building and was nearly stomping down the sidewalk.

Who knew it'd be this hard to get into school?

Brielle had long since finished her GED and was now trying to enroll in a local community college, but apparently they only hired idiots.

With a long sigh, Brielle walked towards the bus stop, plopping down on the bench and hoping the next half hour before the bus came would go by quickly.

"If I'm riding the bus shit I might as well walk." Brielle mumbled to herself.

She thought of the first time she met Hakeem and he told her that she looked a crackhead because she was walking everywhere.

"I just told you that allat walking make you look like a crackhead and you still don't want no ride?"

Brielle smiled despite herself, wondering how someone she once thought was mean ended up being one of the most beneficial people in her life.

When she first got to Strickland, anger was the only thing she felt. No other emotion was quite as strong as her anger, up until Josiah sent her a letter.

He mentioned multiple things, but the one she thought about daily was the reasoning behind Hakeem doing what he did. It may have been influenced by what Travis had told him, but the main reason was because he wanted her to get, and stay, clean.

Josiah did say Hakeem called her mama because he was mad about the Travis thing though.

A topic that didn't come up, was Kyra. Seeing as he was airing everything else out, Brielle figured Travis would tell on Kyra too. For some reason, he didn't.

I should write a letter like Jwoww and Snookie, Brielle thought with a light laugh.

Bri looked up as the exhaust of the bus caught her attention, rising from the bench and going to stand where the bus would stop.

Once she'd paid for the trip, Brielle walked to the very back, taking a seat next to someone who had their face buried in their hands.

Not one to care about what anyone else was doing, Bri stared straight ahead and ignored the obvious sounds of crying coming from the person beside her.

She hadn't realized the girl was pregnant until she placed a hand on her stomach and began crying harder.

".... You okay?" Bri asked uncertainly.

The girl nodded while continuing to sob loudly, drawing eyes from all over the bus, "I'm f-fine."

"Cool."

"I just... Every doctors appointment I have, I gotta catch the bus but this nigga riding around in different cars, ignoring my calls, messages, all that."

Brielle hated the fact that she was polite. If she would've just sat there and let her cry she wouldn't be listening to this.

"And I had my own shit." The girl continued, "But he let that psycho ass girl come put sugar in my gas tank now I'm doing this broke shit while he taking her to her doctors appointment."

"Fuck his friend." A woman turned around to say, "The friends always give out rides."

The rest of the bus voiced their agreement, and another woman spoke up, "Or go to his house and put sugar in his tank so he see how it feel."

She considered that for a second, "I like that one."

"I don't." Brielle interrupted, "You're pregnant and you clearly see he doesn't care about you or that baby. Why put yourself in a situation where he has grounds to hurt you?"

"She preaching."

"And she need to shut the hell up. Go put sugar in his tank. He not gone hurt you."

By the time they'd come to Brielle's stop, the girl had decided that she was going to do just that.

She followed behind Brielle, walking slowly down the steps, "Where's a store around here?"

"I'm not finna help you do that stupid shit. Go find one."

"Niggas like him don't learn. And then his girlfriend so stupid over him I can't stand it. How you see him cashing out on another bitch and you still there?"

If Brielle had been paying closer attention, she would've put together who the girl was on the bus. It wasn't until that last sentence that she thought to ask, "What's your name?"

"Rae."

She felt that she knew Josiah wouldn't do anything to her, but Brielle still thought it was a stupid plan, "Sis just go home. Save the money you about to use to buy sugar and put it towards a car."

"Sugar is like, a dollar."

"Give me a dollar then since it ain't shit."

Raelyn began digging in her purse, "If you needed a dollar you can just ask. You ain't gotta be rude."

Now she knew why Josiah picked her.

"Didn't he buy you some high ass shoes? Pawn them and get a car."

She looked up at Brielle, "How you know him?"

Her voice was accusatory, and Brielle quickly corrected her, "That's like my brother. I used to be cool with his friend."

"Oh.... Ohhhh. I remember him telling me that Keem was stuck up under some girl who had an afro... I was thinking like Black Panther afro but yours is cuter."

The way she was talking, you'd think Josiah spent time doing more than just having sex. Raelyn was acting as if they'd bonded and had conversation that led her to believe Josiah wanted to be with her.

"I- Okay just go home."

Now that she knew who Brielle was, she decided going home was the last thing she'd do, "I just wanna talk so I can get an understanding."

Seeing that there was nothing she could do, Brielle simply turned around and walked towards where she was going: Mario's house.

She had a list of people to talk to, and he was high on it, right behind Travis and Grace. Hakeem was the first person, but she needed to talk to everybody else before she got to him.

Brielle walked briskly so that she'd be able to get this over with, and then go find something to eat. She was so focused on the task at hand that she almost didn't hear the footsteps behind her.

Whirling around, she saw Raelyn pretending to be looking at her phone, "You acting like a weirdo."

"I'm just looking for a store."

"You pregnant right? Go pee in his tank or some but stop following me."

She wasn't being rude, but the neighborhood that Brielle was about to walk to shouldn't have a pregnant girl walking through it.

Raelyn's face fell, "Okay. I'll go wait on another bus."

Should've never gotten off of it.

• • •

bri still hasn't mentioned where she's staying. i wonder where 👀

aye y'all not gone drag hakeem in my comments 😭 he was just tryna get bri some help bc she was acting real crackheadish. we love a king who sends his girl to get off that shit!

thanks for reading 💕