New Girl

Chapter 40

Isaiah POV:

Stepping into Malachi's house again for the first time feels like walking into a dream that I had once when I was maybe like 16. Everything looks the same, but it doesn't feel the same. There's this weird tension in the air, like the walls are holding onto memories I've been trying to forget.

I swore I'd never come back here not after the way things fell apart between me and Kai. But here I am, standing in his living room like I haven't been beefing with him for years. Even listening to Mrs. Fuentez cuss out Mal and Remy and threaten them with the kitchen knife brought back so many memories.

I glance at him, then back at the front door. I could still walk out. Part of me wants to, but the other part? The part that remembers all the good times we had here when we were attached at the hip. That's what's keeping me stuck here. We used to always move in sync. But after what happened, it felt like I lost more than a best friend. I lost a brother.

"What happened?" I ask Ari who's sitting on the couch showing us her phone. There's a bullet fragment stuck in her phone and from the looks of it that's what saved her life. I'm relieved to see that she's okay. She's shaky like she just got done crying but Ariella has always been a fighter. She looks at me and smiles tiredly.

"I got tagged by two girls that Tariq knows. They came to Target starting problems, and tried to jump me after I got off of work."

That's what the video Jamir posted was. One thing about Remy, he knows his sister anywhere. I hear him whisper "I fucking knew it." and look over to see him pacing behind the couch. She continues.

"I heard Jamir and saw his phone in my face but I couldn't see him while I was on the ground. I mean I held my own obviously," She points to her face. She has a few scratches on her face and a small bruise on her chin. I would hate to see what the two girls looked like. "but I can't remember why or when the gun was pulled. Maybe I was beating them girls too bad and he wanted them to win." She shrugs her shoulders trying to make a joke.

I glance over at Malachi. His fist keep clenching and unclenching. He's so zoned into what his sister is saying, in a sense, it's helping him to keep from snapping.

Before I could ask another question Ms. Fuentez walks out of the kitchen, her face still looks worried. She looks between her children first, making sure they're all still alive, and then I see her eyes land on me, and suddenly I'm back to being that kid who used to sit at her kitchen table, getting in trouble with Kai like I was part of the family.

She hesitates for a second, like she's not sure how to talk to me now. I can't blame her. I'm not sure either. All that stuff that went down with her and my pops has been sitting on my chest, heavy as hell, ever since she got my uncle killed. I don't know if I should still be mad at her or let it go, now that me and Mal are trying to be cool again.

"Isaiah," she says, her voice soft, like she's testing how much distance is between us now. "¿Cómo tú ta?"

I hate how my heart skips for a second, just from hearing her speak to me in Spanish. That used to be normal, back when I'd come over every day after school and she would try to teach me Spanish, back when she called me her fourth son. But now? I'm just standing here, feeling like I don't belong. I don't even know what to say to her.

"I'm good," I say, my voice cracks. I cough to cover it up.

"I'm glad you're here." She says to me

She looks at me for a second longer, and I can see it in her eyes. She's not sure if I'm still holding a grudge, still mad at her for what happened. And the truth is? I don't even know. I've been holding onto that anger for so long, I'm not sure if I can let it go just because me and Mal are trying to move past our beef.

She turns back to Mal and Remy. "I got work. I'm about to leave out. Don't forget to eat. There's food in the fridge."

I don't move. I just stand there, watching her leave out the door, feeling like a stranger in a place that used to feel like home. Mal's watching me, too, like he knows what's going on in my head. That's the thing about us, I can't hide shit from him. Even after all this time. I'm trying not to hold a grudge, but there's too much history between our families now.

I shake the thought off, trying to focus on why we're even here. I follow Malachi upstairs to his room and he punches the punching bag hanging in the corner. I can see remnants of him punching the wall behind the swinging bag.

"Fuck!" He shouts out.

"Don't beat yourself up son. You couldn't have known Mir was going to go after her." I say to him. It definitely feels like Mir is starting problems again but it's hard to tell why. I watch Kai pace in his room for a bit before he sits in his bed.

"I could have prepared for it. I should have prepared her for it. Remy knows shoot first ask later but Ari..." His voice drops and he puts his face in his hands. "He's playing that game again Izzy. I know you feel it. I should've killed him when I had the chance." He says and I shake my head.

"I feel it for sure. I don't know why he's starting it, but we both know that every game Jamir plays has an ulterior motive. Don't crash out yet mud."

"Don't crash out!? Izzy do you hear yourself son?! He shot at my sister imagine if it was Kimani or Myasia." He's right, if Jamir would have come after me I would've had his head the same night. I would never have thought I would be the one telling Meechie to take the high road but here I am.

"If it was Ki or Mya trust me nigga I wouldn't hold back, but I know I can't let him win for shit. He wants to see us stress gang. I don't know about you but I refuse to give that bum the satisfaction of seeing me sweat."

He punches his leg before nodding his head in agreement.

"So what do we do?" He asks me and I smile evilly

"We get 10 even 20 steps ahead."

"So sit around and hope he makes the wrong move. Isaiah Waterson, Boy Genius." The sarcasm drips from his words. If I wasn't trying to fix this friendship I would slap him.

"No dickhead. We have to think the way he does. It's a game right? So we play like he does. Look for patterns and shit." I take a pause

"He told you to spin back for Ari and we did. In a sense we played into his hand. But you didn't see his face. He was scared gang. Like he wasn't expecting us to know exactly where he was and drive by. Only thing is now we can't pull the same move twice. Does that make sense?"

I can see the wheels turning in his head as he thinks about what I just said. Kai slowly nods his head and takes a shaky breath. "Yeah the art of surprise helped us in that moment. He should have known we weren't pussy."

"I don't even think he knew we were hanging out again. He'll be watching his back from now on though, but if we do something he doesn't expect or something that keeps him on edge, that's how we stay 10 steps ahead."

I've gotten him to calm down and think logically which is good. We can't afford lose our heads this time because that's what caused the rift in our friendship the last time.

Kai clenches his fist again and huffs "Fine. But if he fucks with someone I- we love again, I'm letting that G-19 sing."

I laugh and shake my head. "Wouldn't expect anything less mud. Trust."