Another Lifetime

Chapter Thirty-one:

Monse's POV:
On the drive back to Jasmine's I play my music and we both sing a little too loud. Our "after party" plan is just us, Ruby, Jasmine, Eby, Odessa, and maybe Jamal and Lola. "Ok you guys are so gross!" Odessa says when we get into the house. "What'd we do?" I laugh and sit on the couch. "Umm y'all were either eye fucking or eating each other's faces all night!" She's hella dramatic but they all nod. "Jealous." I laugh until I realize who I was talking to. "I didn't mean it like that." I check myself. "Relax, I've been with him and I've been with a few girls... guess which one I'm happier with." Odessa raises her eyebrows and I fake gag. "Good to know." Eby smiles while she puts up her hair. I see her crown and flowers tattoo with 'Reina' in the middle. "It was a coverup of my Prophet tattoo. We can probably give you something pretty nice." She tells me when she notices me staring. "It's looking like I might have to." I shrug. "You'll love being a Reina, it's a lot of work but we keep the girls around here safe." She smiles and Cesar glares at her. "I'm gonna change real quick." I kiss Cesar and jump off Jasmine's bed. "Makeup wipes are under the sink!" She yells behind me. "Thank you." I laugh. When I get in the bathroom I look in the mirror and cry. RollerWorld was a long shot but I needed it. I change into a big shirt and shorts before I take off my makeup. The first thing I do is wipe off the foundation from my tattoo and it makes me wanna scream. I hate the Prophets and I hate that I'm stuck here. Deep down I hate Cesar for ever talking to me. I scrub my tattoo with the makeup wipe until I'm literally bleeding and I instantly regret it. "Hey, I need to pee!" Odessa knocks on the door. I splash my face with cold water so I don't look like I was crying and I pickup my dress. "Thanks." She runs in. Ruby, Eby, and Jasmine are playing a video game and I sit back on the bed with Cesar. "You feeling ok?" He asks and I kiss him. I'm not in the mood to lie. "What happened to arm?" He holds up my forearm and it reminds me of the night we met. "I think I was just allergic to the makeup or something." I shrug. If I'm being honest I was just annoyed with this stupid thing.
It doesn't take long for everyone to pass out. Ruby and Jasmine fell asleep on the floor while watching tv, and Eby left when Odessa started snoring. "Why won't she shut up?!" I shove my face in a pillow. "Yeah, Odessa's always hella loud." He says and I look at him so quick I almost get whiplash. "I meant she snores a lot!" He checks himself and I shake my head. Cesar puts his hands on the sides of my face and makes me kiss him. "Don't kiss me, hoe." I laugh and he kisses my whole face. "Hey I wanna tell you something." I sit up and he smiles. "Yeah?" Cesar smirks and I nod. "I-" my phone goes off. "What Jamal?!" Right when I'm ready to say it. "Shit, really?" I smile. "Ok I gotta let them know." I hang up. "Jamal and Lola just found the money. He said something about digging in the wrong place." I hug Cesar. "We gotta wake them up!" I start getting outta bed and he stops me. "What were you gonna say?" He asks. "I was gonna tell you that I wanted to be a Reina but I guess I don't have to now." I'm lying and he knows it. "Ok." He says and I kiss him, he should know how I feel about him. "Jasmine." I lightly tap her and she jump up off the floor. "What happened?" She looks around quickly. "Jamal found the money... I can get out." God damn, I'm crying again. "No way!" She squeezes me and jumps up and down. "Weren't you on 'team RollerWorld isn't real?" I remind her. "Doesn't matter I'm just happy you're gonna be ok!" Jasmine smiles. That's all I wanted Cesar to say. When I look over at him, he smiles but he still doesn't look happy. "Wake them up, Jamal's on his way so we can count it." I tell Jasmine and I walk over to Cesar. "What's up? Why aren't you excited?" I ask. "I am but I know it's gonna be hard saying bye." He pushes my hair behind my ear.
"It's not forever and if I stay here a Prophet's gonna come for me. We both know if they get to me we're never gonna get another chance." I say and he nods. "We're here!" Jamal bursts in. "Let's see it!" Ruby runs over and they put the bag on the floor. "Aww you brought the baby!" Jasmine goes over to Lola. "We had to make a stop 'cause apparently my baby daddy had to go out with some bitch." She rolls her eyes and puts Ky on Jasmine's couch. "Thank you Jamal." I give him a hug. "No problem." He hugs me tight. We all sit on the floor around the bag and wait for Jamal to open it. "Ready?" He asks. "Stop being dramatic and open the damn bag." Odessa yawns. He does and we all just stare. "That's a lot." Ruby breaks the silence. "Way more than we thought but we didn't have time to count it." Lola squeezes my shoulder. "I'm gonna be able to get outta here." I'm still in shock. "All we gotta do is wash the money and you'll be free." Cesar kisses me cheek and I hold his hand. "Wait, how are we gonna wash the cash?" I look at Jamal. "Nope, it was my plan so I'm saying it!" Odessa says quickly. "We're going straight through the Joint, RollerWorld, and Money Bunny. Three places makes it harder to track back to us." Odessa looks so proud. "You sure you're cool with using your dad's restaurant?" I ask before I get excited. "Of course, I gotta make up for all the shit I keep bringing up." My sister smiles. "Ok, let's count this shit!" I stop myself from getting emotional. "Stacks of five-hundred and then put a rubber band around it." Jamal instructs us and we get to work.
A few minutes after we start counting, Ky wakes up and we try to cover the money. "You ok lil man?" Jamal gets up to check on him and it's the cutest thing in the world. "I'm thirsty." Ky rubs his eyes. Everyone's counting the money but I can't stop watching them. "I got you." Jamal picks him up. "Lola, where's his bag?" He asks. "Right over there. Thank you baby." She tells him and he leans over to kiss her. Jamal picks up the bag and takes Ky to another room. "He's the best." Lola smiles and goes back to the money. "Yeah, he's really good with Ky." I look at Cesar and he's laughing with the guys and Jasmine. "Hey can we talk later?" I whisper and Cesar nods.