"It's cool living with Brielle, huh?" Nicole asked, shifting the conversation from what Takayla was drawing, to the reason she was in therapy.

A popular form of therapy for children was 'Play Therapy', in which the child takes on a form of entertainment, whether it be playing with blocks or drawing. Kayla, an aspiring artist was all too happy to reach for the coloring pencils that sat on the table and begin constructing an image.

Takayla was focused on her drawing, testing the theory that her answers would be more accurate as well as make her more open to talking to Nicole because she was comfortable doing what she liked.

"Yeah. I get to go get cream when I leave school on Tuesday's and Friday's ."

Nicole smiled, "Why Tuesday's and Friday's?"

"Bri and Hakeem off."

When Kayla was still going to school, Tuesday's and Fridays after school were designated ice cream days because as she said, that's when Bri didn't have class. Hakeem of course tagged along because it was time he could spend with Bri, and he thought Kayla was funny.

Now that school was out, and Hakeem and Brielle were going through whatever, the trips were still on Tuesday's and Friday's, but they now only included Bri and Kayla unless Josiah or Raelyn decided to come.

Wanting to know more about who Hakeem was, Nicole repositioned herself in the small chair and subtly tried to probe for more, "Do you like Hakeem?"

"He's nice."

"Brielle's boyfriend, right?"

Kayla's color pencil never broke its stride, "I don't like it when you call her Brielle."

Though Nicole was initially caught off guard by her statement, she quickly recovered, "I'll call her Bri then. Is there a reason why you don't like it?"

"It makes my stomach hurt."

She'd never thought about why she didn't like it, she just knew it made her stomach hurt when she heard it. The hurt feeling was anxiousness, and that could be credited to the fact that nearly every time she heard someone call Bri, Brielle, nothing good came from it.

Nicole had intended on continuing talking about Hakeem, but now her focus was on why something as simple as hearing Brielle's name made Kayla's stomach hurt.

• • •

"I thought you said you didn't smoke anymore," Bri stated when she woke up to the smell of weed in their room.

"I did. Y'all stress a nigga out so bad just be lucky it's weed and not nun stronger."

Brielle looked at his back, trying to decide if she wanted to punch him in the neck, "I don't stress you out. I barely talk to your big shoulder ass."

Over the course of three weeks, Brielle and Hakeem had basically become roommates. She wasn't completely focused on figuring out what made big shoulder mad because her attention was on Kayla, who'd started sessions with Nicole. She seemed to enjoy it, as much as one could enjoy therapy, and looked forward to going.

"The other people in your life stress you out." Bri continued as she pushed the covers back to go into the bathroom, "That don't have anything to do with me."

"Ain't even washed ya' face yet and tryna start some shit. You got it I guess."

Bri stopped in front of the tv, running her hand across the power button on the game, "Oops. My bad."

He took a deep breath, "See? If I wasn't high I would've put your ass on your head for turning my shit off." Hakeem's eyes wandered over her body, "Wanna have sex?"

"You thought. Try again next week."

"What time work best for you?" Hakeem asked with a laugh.

Brielle had entered the bathroom and gotten her toothbrush, "What time work best for you? I'm not the one who suddenly always got something to do."

"Why you can't never just answer a question, Brielle? I be wherever you tell me, when you tell me to be there so what's the problem? I be here every night don't it?"

"I'll never be one of those 'he know where home at' hoes. I wouldn't care if you came back or not."

Which was a lie, but in the event that he didn't come home, Bri would leave and force herself to get over it like she did with everything else that went to shit in her life.

Her problem was that she had a persona to uphold. She was the person who got over everything and nothing got to her because she didn't care. It made her hesitant to be transparent with people but she was able to tell Hakeem any and everything.

Before he started keeping her at a distance.

"Okay," Hakeem replied.

This was how a lot of their recent conversations went. Hakeem was over the entire situation, and Bri was too. She continued to get ready while Hakeem made his way into the kitchen to find something to eat.

That's where he saw Kayla putting juices into a bookbag. He waited to see what she was doing, watching her count out 5 juices before deciding to just ask, "You stealing juices lil sis?"

She looked up in surprise, which went away when she saw who it was, "No. I wanted some juice."

"5 of 'em?" Hakeem asked with a short laugh, already knowing the answer to the next question he was about to ask, "You must got some friends or some?"

Bri still worked in Raelyn's mom's daycare, creating the opportunity for Takayla to meet, and make, friends. Hakeem remembered from one of his brief conversations with Bri that Kayla wouldn't stop talking about some girl.

A radiant smile appeared on Takayla's face as she animatedly began talking about Jasmine and the other 3 people she'd stolen juices for.

"-And she said she'll braid my hair for me and we're both wearing pink shirts so we'll be twins."

"Oh damn, that's how you get a twin?"

Kayla nodded, "Yeah. You want a pink shirt too?"

"I'm good on that but I 'preciate you looking out."

Their relationship resembled the one he used to have with his sister when Hakeem was in Highschool and Grace elementary. It actually pushed him to completely reconcile with Grace, apologizing for the way he reacted to the news of her having herpes, as well as how he treated her after.

Grace was all too happy to accept his apologies and move past it. She didn't expect him to apologize at all, so it was a nice surprise.

"You ready?" Bri asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Yes." She looked up at Hakeem, "You going to get ice cream with us today?"

Hakeem looked at Bri who was staring at him waiting for his response, and back down to Kayla, "I'll try. I'ma have to see."

Brielle scoffed, "Come on, Kayla."

She gave Hakeem a small smile before walking behind Bri.

• • •

Monica wasn't sure how she wanted to approach this situation, but she took a deep breath and called Hakeem.

"Yeah ma?" He answered after a few rings.

"Where are you?"

"Out here by the fairgrounds. Wassup?"

She was conflicted about if she wanted to make the call because it technically wasn't her business, and she wasn't sure if it was Hakeem's either. Still, she asked, "Does Maya have a boyfriend?"

Hakeem was silent for a few seconds, "Ion know."

"Somebody came over here, and I don't know it's making me feel weird. I don't like it."

Obviously Hakeem and Maya weren't together, but the fact that she was pregnant and possibly having sex with another man in Hakeem's old room rubbed Monica the wrong way. 

Hakeem took the phone from his face to laugh loudly, putting it back when he calmed down, "Man mama if you don't go tell that nigga to get out your house. What he gone do? What Maya gone do? You tripping."

"I was hoping you'd come do it."

"Ion care who she talk to. Go take him the phone though and I'll say some."

Monica was about to protest, but quickly hung up the phone when she heard footsteps coming up the hallway. The guy gave her a head nod to be polite, but neither of them said anything to Monica.

When Maya came back inside, she sat on the couch beside Monica and sighed while pulling out her phone, "It's so hot."

It was Monica's hope that Maya would volunteer the information about who he was, but she didn't seem to be making any effort to do that. Before she could get around to asking, Grace entered the living room and stopped in front of her mother.

"Hakeem said did you say some to the dude or do you still want him to come?" She stopped reading the message from her phone and looked back to Monica, "You didn't see him texting you?"

"No," Monica replied, embarrassed that she'd likely been caught doing what could be perceived as telling on Maya.

"No you didn't see him texting you or no you don't want him to come over here?"

Grace was unknowingly making the situation worse.

"No to both. Bye, Grace."

A frown appeared on her face, "What dude was over here anyway?"

Maya stopped pretending to not be paying attention, "My friend. I didn't know it was a problem. I won't invite anybody else over here."

"It's not that, its just the fact that," Monica paused to gesture at her stomach, "You're pregnant."

"I'm carrying the baby. Trust me, I know."

This was why Monica didn't want to bring the subject up to Maya. She knew she'd get offended and take it the wrong way. Monica didn't really care what Maya did when she left the home, or even when she was in the home, but she felt like her having another man in the house was disrespectful.

She sighed and turned to face Maya, "I just don't think it's a good look."

"Look at my life. Nothing is a good look. I didn't know it mattered how things 'looked' when you're at home, but I clearly forgot this isn't my house."

At the end of the day, it was Monica's house, and if she didn't want males that weren't Hakeem in her house, all Maya could do was respect that.

Or move out.

So Maya was now on the hunt for an apartment.

• • •

"The man with the mothafuckin' plan!" Josiah announced himself loudly in the ice cream shop as he sat down, "Look what I got."

He was talking to Kayla, so she reached for the bag and pulled out a game case, "Ouu, thank you! Bri look."

"Gang shit." She replied, not surprised by Josiah's gift since he told her he wanted to buy it. Takayla noticed the bag still felt like it was something in there. Once she pulled the rest of the items out, she started laughing.

"Why the fuck you buy her laxatives, Josiah?" Brielle asked.

"I told her I was gone do it." He laughed, "Ion lie to kids. Only grown folks and old ladies."

"You full of shit."

"Them kids gone be full of shit too. And you always got some to say to me about cursing like you ain't curse in every sentence you said since I sat down."

Bri placed a hand on Kayla's shoulder, "Don't tell me how to raise my kids."

This wasn't the first time Josiah had come to one of their ice cream outings, but it was the first time he came alone. He was usually accompanied by Hakeem or Raelyn, both of which were busy.

It made Bri happy that Kayla liked her friends and that her friends weren't terrible people. Yeah, they all did stupid and fucked up shit, but not to the extent that Brielle felt like it would have a negative impact on Takayla.

Takayla politely asked for Bri's phone and began watching gameplay on YouTube for the game that Josiah had just bought.

"Where Keem at?" Josiah asked.

"You tell me."

"He ain't fucking with me like that either. I texted him yesterday and said I needed a hug and the bitch ain't even text back."

Brielle laughed and shook her head, "Let's just jump him."

"I can beat his ass myself. I'm tryna give bruh some room but I'm finna say forget that and pop up at his house."

"....Am I the girlfriend or you?"

"Neither one of us baby. I need you to keep up if we gone make a plan."

Josiah was much more understanding of what he thought Hakeem's problem was because he sort of agreed. Hakeem did let a lot of people get away with a lot of shit, and every person led back to Bri.

He didn't think that was her fault, but if talking to Hakeem was like talking to a brick wall, talking to a mad Hakeem was even worse.

"I'm legit over the whole thing. If it's a problem then tell me. He won't even say shit."

"What you want him to say? The fact that he ain't tried to break up with you don't mean nothing?"

Bri looked at him incredulously, "No."

The thing was, Bri valued her and Hakeem's friendship more than their relationship. Maybe if their relationship had started as them trying to be together it would be different. Instead, they were friends first and that's what made Bri like him.

And of course, he was fine as hell.

"Keem just..." Josiah trailed off because he didn't know what he wanted to say, "Give it some time, Bri."

"It's starting to feel like a lot. I'm beefing with his mama, he got a baby on the way, his daddy a psycho, and shit now I'm beefing with Hakeem. I'm 18 bro like, who the fuck wanna deal with all that?"

"I'm finna say this and Ion want you to take it the wrong way at all. You used to be on that shit, you used to not have nowhere to stay, your mama wasn't nun, your sister... you know, you lied about Travis,-"

"Get to the point nigga damn."

He stopped talking and smiled, "Keem ain't fold on nun of that. Just give my nigga some time."

His casual use of the word 'time' as if it waited for anyone.

Brielle had already considered all the situations Hakeem helped her through, which was why she was trying to be understanding. The difference was she never pushed him away through any of it.

"Can I get some more ice cream?" Kayla interrupted, pulling one of the earphones from her ear to hear a response.

Bri nodded but still made the comment, "You gone turn into some ice cream."

"The strawberry kind?"

The shop's bell sounded, and Brielle looked towards the door to see Hakeem walking in, and over to them, "Dang how you gone invite me then not even wait?"

"You took too long." She replied with a grin, "But Bri said she'll buy us some more."

He wasn't planning on staying so he shook his head no, "Grace waiting on me so I'm finna go. I had to come this way though and I told I was gone try to make it."

Takayla had never specifically asked him before, he just would show up because he was already with Bri. Since she requested his presence, he wanted to at least make an appearance. He would've stayed but he'd already told Grace they could do something.

"Where y'all finna go?" Josiah asked curiously.

Hakeem wanted to call Josiah a bitch but didn't want Kayla to know what he was saying, "Don't worry 'bout it b-i-t-c-h."

"That's the 'b' word," Takayla said, "I can spell it too."

"My bad Akeelah. Ian know you could spell yet."

Bri smiled even though she wanted to laugh. She also wanted to ask where he was going, and repeated Josiah's question, "Where you finna go?

"Teach Grace how to shoot."

"You can't even much shoot." Josiah responded.

"Let's go outside and see."

He stood up from the table, "Bye y'all. I'm finna go get shot."

It took a lot out of Hakeem not to laugh but he didn't say anything about Josiah's statement, choosing instead to address Bri again, "I'm probably gone go get some wings or some on the way home. What kind?"

"Hot lemon pepper." Kayla inserted, "And a lotta ranch, please."

Bri rolled her eyes, "I don't wanna hear nun about your mouth burning either."

They stood up to go get Takayla some more ice cream while Hakeem and Josiah went outside.

"Unlock the door." Josiah instructed as he stood on the passenger side.

"I don't fuck witchu'. You gotta ride on the roof."

"Ain't give a nigga no parachute or nun. And you know I'm skinny. Ian riding on the damn roof."

That time Hakeem laughed, "Man leave me alone. The fuck wrong witchu'?"

"You gone unlock the door or what?"

Josiah wasn't the actual girlfriend, so Hakeem temporarily cutting him off didn't really bother him because he knew he'd just pop back up whenever.

He wouldn't even be pushing this hard to get in the car with him but Hakeem was taking too long to fix shit so everybody could be a happy family again.

"Niggas be hella worrisome bro."

• • •

Grace was very nervous.

She held the gun in her hand but had yet to pull the trigger. She stared intently at the target, trying to build up the courage to shoot.

"Bruh if you don't shoot that shit I know some." Hakeem called from behind her.

"Shutup! I almost had it."

"Gotta be quicker than that."

Grace sighed, "Why you even bring him?"

She was referring to Josiah who sucked his teeth, "Ion know what the hell done got into y'all."

"Grace shoot the damn tree."

Closing her eyes, she built the courage to squeeze her finger around the trigger. When she opened them back up all she heard was loud laughing.

She turned around to see Hakeem laying on the ground pretending to be covering his head and praying, "Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be-"

"I can't stand y'all!"

"Why you close your eyes man? What you gone shoot with your eyes closed?"

"It was just to get me to pull the trigger. I'ma do it again."

They patiently waited another 5 minutes before Grace pulled the trigger, this time with her eyes open. Clapping began and both men applauded her for being able to shoot even though she didn't hit shit.

It took a while, but she eventually gained the confidence to fire multiple rounds.

"iight we done. Mosquitoes tearing my ass up."

Grace handed Hakeem back his gun while swatting at the ones flying by her legs, "Biting through my pants and junk. Ion like that."

While they were walking back to the car, Hakeem asked Josiah if he wanted to be dropped back off at his car or somewhere else.

Josiah side-eyed him, "That dumb ass question."

"You know how you be. Might be cheating again and needa get dropped off."

"Nigga I got cheated on once and almost jumped off a cliff. I'm straight on that."

"So you and Raelyn go together all the way now?" Grace asked from the back seat.

"That's my stink."

"Is it crack? Is that what it is? You smoke crack?"

Josiah flipped Grace off and continued talking, "You know who called me the other day? Kyra."

"And said what?"

"Some bullshit." He laughed, "Said she'll always have love for me and hope I don't hate her. I used to hate her, but I don't no more."

"I wonder what made her call you." Hakeem thought aloud.

"That girl keep up with the dates of everything. She lost our baby 'round this time last year so I guess that's why. She sound happy and shit though."

At first, all Josiah felt was hatred towards Kyra because he thought she went too far. She was willing to let him raise a baby that wasn't his while he hung with the same nigga that was fucking her.

Since his feelings were now removed, he understood that he got what was coming to him and he just had to take his L.

For Kyra. He still wished he would've killed Travis.

"That shit was a headache anyway."

"Ion know what made us waste all that time doing dumb stuff." He responded thoughtfully, "We should've been let that go."

It was as if everyone saw that they shouldn't be together but them. At the time he thought it was love but it couldn't have been. It was probably the ease at which he was able to come back, and in Kyra's case, the ignorant mindset that you had to go through hell and back with a man to prove your loyalty or love.

"Some stuff just don't be worth it."

Josiah took the opportunity to bring up Bri, "You saying that like it apply to you."

Hakeem glanced at him, then back to the road, "Nah it don't apply to me."

They allowed silence to occupy the car for the remainder of the ride.

The statement didn't apply to Hakeem, because he felt like his relationship with Bri was worth it, but he also felt as if he couldn't continue to go back and forth about Maya.

This was the situation. This was what they had to deal with. Or rather what he had to deal with, but he wanted Brielle there too.

Once he dropped Josiah off, he drove to get the food he spoke of earlier, then to Monica's house where Maya was outside on the phone.

"Tuck and roll Grace. Ian even finna stop."

She looked up from her phone and shook her head with a smile, "She mad at mama. I made a mistake and said that she called you about that dude, in front of her."  

"Mama acting like it ain't her house. The hell you scared to tell somebody to get out your house for?"

It wasn't a joke when Hakeem said he wasn't stopping, asking Grace to tell Monica he said hey, and pulling off time he saw her feet touch the porch.

Hakeem thought of what he'd just told Josiah about what he'd said not applying to him. Everything was fine before she came at him, in his opinion, wrong about Maya. It only escalated when he found out Corey was a snake, and he didn't know how he wanted to deal with anything.

Which was why he stopped talking to everybody.

An unhealthy coping mechanism that only served to push Bri further away from him. It gave him time to think though, and he liked the space to come to conclusions about how he felt.

Kayla was sitting at the kitchen table when he walked inside the house, and he laughed at the sight, "You couldn't wait big Kayla?"

"Me and Bri made Kool-Aid so my mouth won't burn."

"Where she at?"

She pointed down the hall while opening the styrofoam plates to see which one contained the flavor she'd asked for.

Hakeem went looking for Bri and found her braiding her hair, "What you doing?"

"I'm taking Kayla over Jasmine house tomorrow and they wanna be triplets." She replied while making a face in the mirror.

"They had asked me too."

"And you said no? What a piece of shit."

He watched her hands move throughout her hair as she grabbed different strands and braided them together. It was easy to fall back into a pattern of how they used to be.

Bri caught his gaze in the mirror, "What?"

"You know I still love you, right?"

Her hands paused, "I still love you too. Why you won't tell me what's wrong?"

"Ion feel like I can trust nobody. Everybody be lying 'bout the simplest shit instead of just being real about whatever."

"I don't lie to you anymore, Hakeem. At all."

Sighing, Hakeem leaned against the wall, "You made niggas feel like they could though."

Bri turned his words over in her head trying to understand where he was coming from, "I get why you'd think that but you can't blame me for Corey lying to you."

"You wasn't around before to see the change or the difference."

"So what you want me to do about that, Hakeem? Because I can't control nobody else actions."

"Stop listening to give a response and actually listen to what I'm telling you. I don't want you to do nun, I'm explaining to you why I'm thinking like this. It's some I gotta come to on my own."

She nodded, "But that doesn't mean you can be rude as fuck to me."

"Me not talking ain't rude. That's me trying not to say no out the way shit 'cause I'm mad."

"It's like you always try to punish me. You know how to get to me, and time you get mad you start fucking with me."

Hakeem stayed quiet as he thought about it, "I'm tryna stop doing dirt for dirt. It's getting better."

A short laugh escaped before she could stop it, "Getting better? I guess I don't wanna know what it used to be like.

Hakeem smiled slightly before bringing up the other problem, "Maya."

The subject that was causing the most problems.

"I feel like you contradict yourself a lot because you tell the girl not to fuck with me or it's up, but you turn around and go sit at her house, well your mama house, for hours while I'm home waiting for you. she knows that, you know that, so what type of message does that send?"

"It shouldn't send nun. Since we been together I never did no shit to make you or her think I wanna fuck with her like that. You deadass don't trust me and Ian did shit."

As Monica told Maya earlier, it's all about how things look. In Bri's eyes, Hakeem could've ensured that Ivy, and even Maya, were okay then came back, or at least told her that his time wasn't spent at the hospital.

Hakeem's thing was that it shouldn't matter if he told her or not because he wasn't doing anything wrong. He did go to the hospital just like he told her he was.

But as Brielle had shown everyone in the past, a lie by omission is just as bad as lying.

"You hate her so much you tryna make me be somebody I'm not." Hakeem continued, "Why you'll even wanna talk to a nigga who let they baby mama get choked while she pregnant?"

"'Cause you letting her take advantage of you."

Hakeem sighed, "I let you take advantage of me too. You can't pick and choose when you want me to be me. I'm the same ass nigga regardless, Bri. I just think at this point we saying the same shit over and over but we not getting nowhere."

He didn't really see how she was taking advantage anyway. It wasn't as if Hakeem were giving Maya anything personally, and everything he did, anytime he talked to her, it pertained to Ivy.

Neither of them said anything, the only sound in the room being the soft mutter of the tv.

"I'm tryna make everybody happy, and nobody happy." Hakeem said when he finally spoke again.

Bri fixed her eyes back on her hair, "Maybe it's not the right time for us."

"Maybe it's not."

• • •

🤷🏽‍♀️ they both got points.

thanks for reading 💕