And This Is How It Goes...

10: What It Comes To

Stef's Turn:

Kev's Question Really Made Me Question How Far We Had Gone With Not Being On Cool Terms. I Mean Yeah He Pissed Me Off, But Not Ever Would I Set Up One Of My Best Friends. Especially Not Kev.

"Set You Up?"

"Yeah Stef, Set Me Up. I Mean I Know We Was Going Through Our Shit, But Damn. I Never Thought It Was That Bad".

"Kev, I Know You Mad At Me And All, But Man You Gotta Know That I Wouldn't Set You Up".

"Then How Did Flex And Kenny Find Out That You Were Sending Dudes After Me?"

I Remained Puzzled For So Long. Who The Hell Even Started That Rumor? Why Would I Ever Send Dudes After Kev? I Don't Even Know Anyone That Could Take Another Man's Life. I Was Really Discrete With Business And Kept My Circle Small. Therefore, I Limited Myself To The People I Associated Myself With. I Wouldn't Dare Sabotage My Friendship.

"Look Kev, I Didn't Know Shit About That. I Swear Man".

"Look Stef, I Know Everybody May Think That I Ain't Shit, And I'm Pretty Sure Until Ryan Told Y'all The Truth, You Thought So Too. This Shit That's Been Going On Just Made Me Realize That I Don't Need To Be Here. I Can't Deal With All The Accusations, Threats, Loss Of Friends, It's Just Too Much".

I Tried My Absolute Hardest To Try And Figure Out Where Kev Was Going With This, But I Couldn't.

If He Was Telling Me What I Think He Was Trying To Tell Me, Then I Wasn't Ready To Hear That Bullshit. Not At All.

"What You Sayin To Me Kev?"

In The Midst Of Receiving An Answer, Aaliyah Walked Up To Me.

"When You're Done Talking With Kev, I'd Like To Talk To With You And Angel. I Understand Why You Brought Her, And I Just Wanna Clear My Name".

Although It Wasn't The News To Get Me Cheering, It Did Move A Little Weight Off My Shoulders.

"That's Cool".

I Waited Until She Walked Off Until I Continued Talking With Kev.

"Kev, I Know These Last Couple Of Months Have Been Difficult, But I Really Don't Need This Bullshit From You".

"So It's Bullshit When It's Not What You Wanna Hear? I've Been By Yo Side Since We Were Fuckin Kids, And I've Been Treated Like My Friendship Ain't Appreciated Here. And You Expect All Of That To Be Forgiven Just Because You Said Sorry?"

I Honestly Couldn't Believe My Ears. Kev Was Giving Up On Years Of Friendship. My Brother Didn't Wanna Be My Brother No More. Years Of Hard Work, Gone.

"Yeah Kev! I Don't Give A Fuck How Selfish That Sounds, Because You Don't Just Throw A Friendship Away Because A Simple Argument. We Brothers Before Anything".

"Brothers Huh? Yeah Sure. You Blamed Me For Everything That Went Down Between You And Aaliyah. I Wouldn't Dare Sabotage Y'all Like That. I Did What A Real Friend Should've Did That Night. Yeah, It Was Weird Asking Angel To Drop You Off, But I Followed Her To Make Sure Everything Was Cool. I Couldn't Deal With You That Night. You Were Too Far Gone. So Yeah, I Do Apologize For That. But Everything After That, Is Yo Fault".

Damn. That's What It Came To. I Guess I Really Did Fuck It Up.

"I Wish You Luck Stef. Honestly I Do. But I Can't Do This. I Refuse To Be Punished For Being A Good Friend. I Hope Things Work Out For You And Liyah".

He Walked Off. And That Was It. My Brother Was Gone.

I Walked Into The Living Room To Find Angel And Liyah Patiently Waiting For Me. Liyah Stood Up To Talk. I Think Her Nerves Got The Best Of Her.

"I Just Wanted To Apologize For My Actions A Few Hours Ago. These Last Two Months Have Put A Lot On Me".

Angel Responded Sympathetically.

"It's Ok Aaliyah. Honestly, I Would've Done The Same Thing".

"Stef, I Understand If Working Our Relationship Out Is Far From Your Mind, But I Truly Apologize For Not Trusting You. With All The Evidence And Confusion Going On, My Judgement Was Clouded".

I Truly Didn't Know What To Say. My Girl Was Ready To Fix Things.

"Liyah, I Love You. But, At This Moment I Just Need Some Time To Think Things Over".

Her Facial Expression Devastated Me. Tears Immediately Poured Down.

"I Understand Baby", She Said.

"Let's Get Out Of Here", I Said.

Both Angel And Liyah Moved Towards The Door, Until I Noticed Something.

"Where's Ryan?"

"She Went To The Bathroom, But That Was Like An Hour Ago", Liyah Said.

Something Was Wrong. Really Wrong.

"Hold On, I'll Track Her Phone", Liyah Said.

The Process Itself Took 2 Minutes.

"It Said She's At 5467 N Dunston St. But That Block Been Shut Down For The Last 6 Years. Who's Address Is That Though".

The Address Seemed So Familiar, But I Just Couldn't Figure That Shit Out.

"Idk, But Let's Get There Now".

I Could Feel It. Something Was Happening