Tonya starred at Messiah as she tried to grasp the words that he had just spoke to her. "What do you mean?" She asked as tears came to her eyes. She tilted her head to the ceiling attempting to stop them from falling.

"I just can't do this. I can't risk you or Toya being hurt behind my mess" he replied as he reached out to grab her arm but she moved away from him.

It had been a week since the whole ordeal with the men breaking into the house looking for money which was indeed there. After Tonya put Toya to bed that night she went searching around their apartment for what seemed like hours before she located a duffle bag under a floor board in the back of her closet.

She wouldn't have even found the money had she not thought she seen a roach crawling around. While banging a shoe around the floor waiting for it to crawl out she noticed a piece of the carpet was lifted just a bit. Once she pulled it back she got the idea to try and lift the tile that was under it successfully finding his stash spot.

Angrily she removed the duffle bag & began counting the money to find that it was at least half a million dollars stashed away. "Tonya?" Messiah spoke calmly causing her to come back to reality.

"Hmm" she answered as she played with her fingers that were in her lap.

"Look at me" he said as he slowly sat up in the hospital bed. "You know I'd go crazy if anything were to happen to you. I knew that it would only be a matter of time before someone found out about you and I can't continue to take that risk"

"I knew what lifestyle you were in from the beginning. That doesn't change the way I feel about you as a person, let alone my bestfriend" she replied as she allowed the tears to trail down her cheeks.

He reached out and wiped them. It hurt him deeply to see her cry, never had he made her cry in all the years that they've known each other so this was a first. Messiah sighed as he ran his hand down his face. "There is no other option" he said with finality lacing his tone.

Without a word Tonya stood up, gathered her things, picked Toya up, and looked back at Messiah one last time before walking out of the door. By the time she made it down to the lobby her Lyft was already outside. The guy got out and assisted her with the few bags she had while she placed Toya in the back seat and buckled her up.

She got in , put her seatbelt on, and rested her head on the window. 20 minutes later they were turning into their apartment complex. As soon as the car came to a compete stop she unbuckled her and Toya's seatbelt, grabbed her in her arms, and exited the car. The driver met her on the side walk with her bags. "Need help carrying this up?" He asked.

"Na, I got it thanks" she replied as she adjusted Toya on her hip and grabbed the bags. He nodded, got in his car and pulled out of the parking space.

Two flights of stairs later she was walking down the corridor to their apartment door. Right before she made it a little boy ran past her bumping into her, making her drop the bags. "Sshhiitt" she grumbled.

"ISAIAH YOU BETTER STOP THAT FUCKING RUNNING BEFORE YOU FALL" she heard a lady yell from the other end of the hallway.

"I'm sorry for my brother, let me help you" a little girl said as she bent to pick up the bags.

"Thank you" Toya sighed.

"You're welcome. I'm Kiari, what's your name?" She asked as Tonya unlocked the door and motioned for her to enter the house with the bags. As soon as the door closed Toya's head lifted from her shoulder.

"Oh now you wanna wake up" Tonya chuckled. "Could've did that two flights of stairs ago" she tickled her side. Toya giggled and wiggled to get down from her sister's hold. Kiari stood back and watched their interaction as she laughed right along with them.

She silently wished she had a big sister to look up to. Instead she had a agitating little brother that thrived off getting under her skin, but she loved him deeply and would do anything for him and vice versa.

"I'm LaTonya and this is LaToya, my little sister." Tonya replied as she placed Toya on the ground.

Toya smiled up and Kiari and waved. "You wanna play with me?" She asked.

Kiari squatted down to her level, "I can't today, but I promise I will come back another day." She looked towards the front door where there was a knock. Knowing it was the little girl's mom Tonya opened the door allowing her a view of their apartment.

"Come on Ri we have to get going." Her mom said as she surveyed the two children her daughter were talking to. "I'm Victoria, you can call me Tori. We live right down the hall in 306. If y'all ever need anything just let me know" she spoke genuinely.

Tori knew all about Tia and how she was neglecting her duties as a mother. She had seen the girls numerous times but never knew how to start off a conversation with the oldest one without it seeming like she had pity on them. She was all to familiar with Tia being an alcoholic and occasional prostitute. Tori wasn't green when it came to the activities that took place in her complex, she just opted to stay out the mix.

"Thank you" Tonya replied with a smile. For some reason she felt a sense of relaxation while in the presence of Ms. Tori. She hated speaking to people she didn't know, so it surprised her that she was open to the invitation.

"It's not a problem, come on Ri we gotta go before your brother dirty his clothes before even reaching our destination." Tori stated with a light chuckle.

They each said their goodbyes and Tonya locked the front door after seeing them out. Grabbing the bags, she made her way to her bedroom, when she opened the door she was hit with an instant pain.

Tears suddenly spilled out of her eyes as the aching pain in her heart grew stronger. Messiah had helped her design the entire room to her liking so just stepping into the room opened her mind up to all of the memories they shared in this room. Siah was literally her bestfriend, they were each other's first everything and they told each other everything. So the fact that he was keeping a secret from her made her heart hurt, the fact that he basically cut off their friendship broke her.

She sighed, wiped her eyes, and plopped down onto her bed. Allowing herself to relax she grabbed her phone and scrolled through social media. Coming across one of Messiah's pics she double clicked liking the picture then proceeded to read the comments.

One comment stuck out the most to her, one from the neighborhood hoe Kia.

Liked by @__Tonya, @MeanassMecca, @niggasloveKia and 5,000 more

@Siahh__: "They gone try to count you out so you gotta make them count you in" Thankful to see another day ❤️🙏🏽

@MeanassMecca: bbrrootthheerr ! I miss you 🥺❤️
@damnDaniel: My boy ✊🏾 glad you good
@doitforVinny: My nigga 💯 I keep telling these fuck niggas one monkey don't stop no show
@niggasloveKia: Look at bae 🥵 I'm glad you're okay daddy
@MeanassMecca: ^^^ IKYFL 🤣 I know you ain't going out bad like that bro. I am FLABBERGASTED 😭

She let out a loud laugh at Mecca's petty ass comment. She wasn't gonna pretend that she wasn't slick pissed about the shit she had just seen, as a matter a fact Tonya was livid! "The whole time Siah was in the hospital this bitch ain't come to visit not ONE time, ain't sent a card, a balloon, a smoke signal, ain't sent shit. Now here she go like she just been by his side this whole time when it's been me, it's always been me." she thought to herself.

Before she could even fix her fingers to comment the phone vibrated constantly in her hands as his name appeared on the screen. She let it go to voicemail, it wasn't shit he could say to her right now. As soon as the phone stopped ringing it started back up, after the fourth call Tonya finally answered.

"How can I help you?"

"I haven't been fucking with that girl" was the first thing that came out of his mouth. She pulled the phone from her ear and made a face at the screen.

"And if you was I don't care. I'm not ya bitch" she spat angrily.

"LaTonya stop playing with me. You know dam-"

"I don't know shit! What do you want Messiah? Didn't you just tell me less than 2 hours ago that you were keeping your distance from me?"

He groaned into the phone, she knew just how to push his buttons, "You know if had other options I would explore them but I don't right now. They already been to ya house. What if they would've found my stash, more importantly what if they would've hurt Toya? I wouldn't be able to live with myself had anything happened to her."

Tonya sighed because in reality she knew he had a point. She knew how he was when it came to them so protecting them was his only goal right now. "I know but still, what am I gonna do without you being around?" She pouted.

"Stop that" he replied cause he knew she was pouting and he hated it. "Let this shit die down and I promise to be back over there. Let me at least find out who it was and handle it"

"Okay" she answered with sadness in her voice.

"Now back to what I was calling for"

They talked for at least another hour, she listened to him explain the whole Kia situation and how he had only been in her presence one time. He admitted that he had slipped up months ago and let her suck his dick in the trap but hasn't messed with her since.

Tonya believed him but still was salty about the comment so he went and deleted it from his picture. After their call ended Tonya went to check up on Toya who was in her room playing in her own little world. Sometimes when Tonya would get in her moods she would forget about her sister, which bothered her a little. She felt like it made her equivalent to her mama because when she was drinking heavily she would forget about them.

Walking fully into the room she sat on the floor in front of her and started to play with her. "Toya don't ever forget that I love you okay?"

Toya looked up at her sister and smiled; "I love you more Ton Ton"

*************************

Later that night Tonya was startled out of her sleep by the sound of glass breaking. She rose from her bed and grabbed the knife she kept under her mattress. She covered Toya back up with the cover and made her way to the direction of the noise.

She held her breath and crept slowly down the hall. Once she made it to the living room she didn't see anything out of place. She turned towards the kitchen and bumped right into a drunk Tia, she rolled her eyes and sighed deeply.

"You need to clean this glass up before Toya cuts herself." She stated looking at the glass shattered all over the kitchen floor. Making calculated steps towards the refrigerator she grabbed a glass and filled it with ice and water.

"I'm the mama in this bitch! You gonna learn to respect me!" Tia slurred as she swayed back and forth.

"Gir—" Tonya sighed. "I'm not even finna go there with you tonight. I got too much on my mind right now" she waved her off and headed towards her room.

Before she could get halfway down the hallway she was being pulled by her ponytail back in the direction from which she came from. She couldn't even catch her footing before slaps were being delivered to the side of her face.

"I done told you SLAP to respect me SLAP I'm not gonna be taking this shit SLAP too much longer SLAP"

The last slap was the one that turned Tonya into a raging bull. She used all her weight to ram Tia into the closest wall and begin to throw punches at her exposed body. As she punched her mother with all her might she let out the pain and anger she had been holding on to all these years.

Tonya was going crazy, all Tia could do was ball up into a feeble position. She was so drunk that she didn't even realize that she had initiated the fight with her daughter and now she regretted it. As Tonya took out all her pain on the woman who gave birth to her with no remorse and Tia just laid there and took it, she deserved it.

What felt like hours were only minutes of Tonya totally blacking out. When she came to she realized that her mama wasn't even attempting to fight back. As she stood there huffing and puffing trying to regulate her breathing tears stained her face.

She hurriedly walked towards her bathroom to throw water on her face. She starred at her reflection in the mirror "what am I doing wrong God?" She spoke lowly as she surveyed her swelled up knuckles.

"Everything is falling apart. I know they say to never question you but I'm seriously having trouble. I'm always here for people when they need me but when I need someone who can I run to? No one seems to notice that I'm drowning in my own sorrows, that I'm loss. I ask that you send me a sign, a sign that I'm here for a reason."

After splashing her face one last time she made her way to her bedroom. Tonya closed and locked her bedroom door, climbing into the bed next to her little sister and pulled her body close to hers. This gesture instantly calmed her anxiety making her release a deep breath. She kissed Toya's forehead causing her to flutter her eyes open.

Toya reached up and wiped the lone tear that trailed down her big sisters face. "I love you" she whispered.

This caused Tonya's heart to swell; "I love you more Toya" she replied and kissed her forehead again. This was the sign from God and Tonya knew it, but will she act on it or will she ignore it?

__________________________________

Victoria a.k.a Tori ^^^^

Tia ^^^^

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Author's 📝

I hope you enjoyed this chapter 🙃

How y'all been? Y'all missed this book or what? I was seriously considering deleting it but I changed my mind 🤷🏽‍♀️

Thank you 🙏🏽 Thank You 🙏🏽 Thank You 🙏🏽

COMMENT , VOTE , & SHARE 💚

If you need stories to read check out my "Underrated Writers" reading list for some great reads by my girls 💕

Shoutout to -redrum for the new cover ❤️ & MahyaTheWriter for my banners 💚

Til next time ✌🏾