The bag slung over Mason's shoulder seemed to weigh a thousand pounds as he held his sister's hand and walked to the entrance of the building.

"I'm so proud of you Mase. It'll be good for you I swear."

Samantha trailed behind them, happy that Grace was able to convince him to go to rehab.

She'd asked him multiple times before, he just insisted he didn't have a problem.

All it took was one time for Grace to ask.

She didn't know what exactly made their bond so strong, though she assumed it was their shared hatred for their father.

The irony in that they both disliked him so strongly, yet wanted his attention and/or affection so badly.

Samantha understood, her feelings for her husband bordering on hatred, but overpowered by the tiny speck of love she had for him.

If only she'd left when her anger was stronger than her love.

"Sam please." Isiah begged as he watched her throw clothes in a suitcase, "It was a mistake. It'll never happen again I swear."

Tears clouded her vision, muttering under her breath while continuing the task at hand.

"She approached me Sam. She came to me. A moment of weakness that I'll apologize for everyday if that makes you happy."

"Why would I want to be reminded of you having an affair Isiah?!" Samantha demanded, whirling around to face him, "Why would I want to be reminded that you and the woman I've called my best-friend for years were having sex behind my back?"

"It wasn't an affair at all." He replied stupidly, "It was only once."

She resumed packing her bag with a scoff.

Mason and Grace are young, Samantha thought, I'll tell them it's a vacation.

"Do you want me to get on my knees and beg you? I'll do whatever Samantha just don't leave me. Especially when I have no one else."

His words were desperate, and the ending of his sentence made her pause. Isiah's mom had just passed a month ago. He and his father were never close, him having given his all to the job then wanting to reconnect after he became paralyzed from a car accident.

Seeing her falter, Isiah pounced on it, sinking to his knees in front of her and gripping her thigh, "Please. I know I messed up but give me a chance to fix it, please."

As Samantha looked down at her husband, the father of her children, she wondered if she could forgive him.

She did in fact forgive him for his infidelity with Allison, and it was the last time, to her knowledge, that it'd happened.

However, she never forgot.

How could she when Allison's daughter and Grace were best friends?

• • •

"iight so boom." Malik began, "Tell her you wanna cook for her or some shit. Make that lil chicken stuff.

"I already cooked for her before. I made breakfast." Josiah replied while throwing a plush football into the air.

Brielle snorted from the couch, "She gets breakfast while y'all not even together and this dude barely wanna go get me a sausage biscuit from McDonald's."

"Somebody said maybe you needa step ya' sex game up. It wasn't me, but it was somebody."

Josiah began laughing, "Bro can y'all stop playing and help me? You know Ian good with relationship shit."

"You're naturally sweet Jo. Just ask her if she wants to go eat or something."

"Oh that nigga NaTuraLLy sWeEt huh?" Malik mimicked her, "Next time you come in the room asking me to scratch your hairy ass back I'ma tell you to go ask him."

They began playfully bickering back and forth, Josiah still thinking on how to approach the problem at hand.

He wasn't scared of her rejecting him, he was scared of her rejecting him and then feeling too uncomfortable to keep having sex with him.

There was also the problem of whoever it was texting her saying they loved her.

Brielle turned her attention back to him, "How long y'all been doing whatever anyway?"

"Like 3 months? It ain't been long but it's a vibe. Plus I'm not tryna get married, just see where it goes."

She shrugged "Just ask her then. Does she care that you're a felon?"

Silence.

"You didn't tell her?"

"Why would I?" Josiah asked defensively, "If we're just having sex then it's really not even her business."

"Facts." Malik agreed.

"What are you even hoping to get out of this? Say she's your girlfriend, then what?"

"Look Iyanla, I'ma think about it when I have to, and Ion have to think about it right now."

Brielle laughed, "This is some shit waiting to happen. I can feel it."

Josiah didn't see how it could be a problem since it wasn't like he lied about something, the conversation just had never come up.

"That ain't even the topic though. I'm tryna figure out how to ask her to not have sex with other people without her wanting to stop having sex with me."

"Wait, I thought you wanted to be in a relationship?"

"What's the difference?"

"On that note." She sighed, "You're on your own."

She stood up to leave before pausing, "I will tell you that she has like... issues."

Josiah looked to her, waiting for her to elaborate, "My mama was telling me that her family is fucked."

That didn't surprise him as he'd met Samantha and put that together almost instantly, saw Mason drunk or high barely making in the house, but he'd never heard or seen her dad.

"The brother's on coke," Brielle listed, "The mom's on anti-depressants, the dad doesn't give a shit."

All that left was Grace.

"So what's wrong with Grace then?" Malik asked before Josiah could.

She shrugged, "I think it's something with her dad. Like on the movies how they go crazy because their dad doesn't care about them? Rich people shit."

Josiah grabbed his phone with a sigh, "It can't be that bad."

"You never know."

_______

thanks for reading 💕