Cross My Heart, Hope To Die

Who got me?

Cookie stood next to Lucious as her team plus a few more arrived at Lucious place for a meeting. Nicki and Lil Wayne was hugging and walking while Drake was discussing something with JayZ and Kanye.

"Cookie, you got those flowers I sent you." Lil Wayne said loudly.

"I sent you those flowers." Drake said just as loudly.

"Actually, the three of us as a group sent them." Nicki clarified. Jamal, Andre, and Hakeem kissed Cookie on the cheek and joined the group on the sofa.

"Thank you all for the gifts. Yall going to have to lap up or something." Some of the men sat on the floor letting the women take the chairs.

"We have some good news. Cookie will be returning next week and we've went through some tracks you all completed while she's going. Some of them won't be hits and that's a problem." Lucious said.

Cookie looked around, "Where's Meek?" She watched Nicki face tense up.

"Sorry, I'm late." Everybody eyes followed the voice. Drake jumped up with Lil Wayne following.

"Let me get by, I want to sit by my girl." Meek said. Cookie looked at Nicki who was begging for help.

"Nah, the men sitting on the floor there's space at that end." Lil Wayne said redirecting him.

Meek chuckled, "damn, I knew this punk was fvcking her but you too."

"How many fvcking times do I have to say this. I never fucked Wayne, I never fucked Drake on my life, man, fuck's sake." Nicki said quoting lyrics from a song she dropped a few months ago.

Drake followed quoting from the same song, "Yeah, I never fucked Nicki 'cause she got a man

But when that's over, then I'm first in line."

Then Lil Wayne, "Fvck it let me join in on this cheesy sh!t. I never fucked Nick' and that's fucked up if I did fuck, she'd be fucked up. Whoever is hittin' ain't hittin' it right cause she act like she need dick in her life."

"You know what? I forgot my notes in the studio. Andre why don't you hand those out and everybody go through them, help each other. Nicki, Drake, Wayne, Meek stay behind." They got up and left leaving Cookie and Lucious with 3 of their artists.

"What's going on, Onika?" Cookie asked. She looked extremely uncomfortable.

She replied, "Nothing."

"I don't want Cookie dealing with any more stress than necessary so tell us what's going so we can squash this." Lucious said.

"We don't want you stressing Cookie, it ain't nothing we can't handle ourselves." Lil Wayne stepped into his space "Right?" Nicki started to get antsy. She was trying to hide her shaky hands.

Cookie closed in on her, "What is wrong?" Cookie asked.

She answered, "He hit me." On queue, everybody in the room drew guns except for Cookie and Nicki who are unarmed. Instinctively Cookie somewhat blocked Nicki from at bullet that may come their way.

"My girl over there told me you threatened to kill me and my boy here. Nigga you an idiot. I want yo blood on my hands now." Lil Wayne said.

"Nobody pull a trigger. If Cookie get shot, y'all all dead. Cookie, Nicki get in that room with everybody else." Lucious ordered. She started to move away with Nicki.

"Nah, nobody move." Meek said aiming at Cookie.

"Nigga did you just aim at my wife." Lucious got a look that only Cookie knew. He shot Meek Mill in the center of his head. Nicki started to shake and sob.

"What we going to do about the body?" Cookie asked.

Lucious frowned as Nicki pushed away Drake and Wayne who was just trying to comfort her. "I'll handle it. You get her together and meet us in the studio."

"Come, on. Walk with me." Cookie said to Nicki. They walked out back, "I think I'm going turn this into a garden. What do you think?" Cookie asked. Nicki didn't say anything. "Okay. Well lets get right into it. You didn't see Lucious kill Meek Mill. Drake and Lil Wayne was never going to kill Meek Mill. In fact, you and Meek Mill broke up a couple days ago. Y'all were trying to fix things but it wasn't working. You didn't see him again. This never happened, you hear me. Take everything you think you saw to your grave." Nicki nodded. "Get yourself together so, we can handle some business." Cookie said. They walked around quietly until Nicki Minaj calmed down. They went back inside, Meek body and the furniture and rug was no longer there. Thirsty nodded his head.

"Is your heart okay? You're not in pain or anything are you?" Nicki questioned.

"I'm fine. You good? " Cookie replied. Nicki nodded. We went into the room.

"Ma, is it true?" Jamal asked.

"Is what true?" I looked around confused.

"I told him that you and I are trying to work things out so we can move forward together as a family." Lucious explained.

"Are you really going to get back together with him?" Jamal asked.

Cookie answered, "I don't know Jamal."

"Ma, he let you do 17 years IN PRISON. Don't you remember that time, I tried on your things and he THREW ME IN THE FREEZING COLD TRASH CAN AT NIGHT! He did that to me. His own son and he let his wife do time and divorced you. He got your best friend pregnant. You can't really want that man back."

"He's not that man anymore." Cookie said.

"He still hasn't accepted me. You're supposed to have my back. You remember when he wouldn't visit you and he would send me in instead. I told you about that bully and you told me I was different and nobody knew it but you and that life would be hard but you got my back. What happened to that?"

"Jamal, I got you. Then and now." Cookie said trying to calm him down.

"You can't have somebody's back from prison and you don't got me now."

Cookie let her own anger boil over, "What the hell do you want me to do? When he threw you in that trash can, I got you out and I kicked him out did I not? I protected you the best I could from prison and you think you were growing up so hard. Lucious would've killed yo skinny as if I didn't threaten him WHEN I WAS IN PRISON. I did the best I could do and I've apologized and I don't know what you want me to do. I can't get back the time I lost. I can't chznge the choices I made and if I would've known coming back to my family would have meant every day my children would hold my choice to give up my freedom so they could have a better life against me. I would have never came back. I'm tired of fighting. Just ONE FVCKING DAY where I don't have to argue and yell and stress. You're crying about me not having your back. Well, who got me? Huh? Because if my memory serves me correct, NOBODY VISITED ME WHEN I WAS LOCKED UP but yall love me so much. Yall left me there to die so if anybody should be crying, it is me." She stormed out leaving the group stunned. Andre followed her out.

"Where are you going?" Andre asked.

Cookie answered, "To the bank to withdraw some money then I'm taking a vacation." They were outside when she stopped. "Rhonda has been telling me you haven't been taking your medicine and you've been real out of it. Maybe you should come with me. Just me and you." She offered

He accepted, "I would like that."

"Alright, where do you want to go?" She asked.

"Where can you go?" He asked.

"Well, I'm not supposed to leave New York being a felon and all but I've always wanted to go to Florida.