A Hustler In The Blood (Cali Love Trilogy) {Book 3} (Completed)

Chapter 19 : Like it Or Not

Leighanne

I parked in front of Jaylen's house at 11:30. Ashley was in really bad shape, so I stayed until she fell asleep which took a while. On top of that, the traffic back to Cali was a mess. I was just hoping Chris wasn't up to see me sneaking in. He would be on my ass all night. Scratch that all week.

I walked up to the front door, careful not to make my keys jingle when I heard someone calling my name from behind. I spun around toward the direction of where my name was being called, only to see Fizz sticking his head out of a car window.

I gasped, walking over to him. "Fizz! Oh my god, what are you doing here?"

"Come in," He motioned, patting his passenger's seat. I slid in the car and hugged him tightly.

"I'm happy to see you...free," I said after we pulled away. "What happened?"

"Its a long ass story," He sighed, running a hand over his waves.

"Well I'm already late, so you might as well tell me," I said, leaning back in the chair.

"Iight, its like this. I went to the jail and these guys was pinning 25 to life on me and I couldn't do shit about it because Karma told them everything. I thought thats what I was gonna have to do until outta nowhere the charges got dropped and I was free. Turns out, Ace's cousin, Dre, persuaded the cops to let me go for exchange of me telling him where y'all was hiding out at."

"And you told him?" I concluded by using common sense.

He nodded. "I'm sorry, Leigh. It was my life on the line and I couldn't do the time. But I'm here now and I wanna help yall outta this."

"Does Chris know about all this?"

"Yeah, I told him earlier but he kicked me out after I explained everything. He said he ain't want shit to do with me."

"And you still here?"

"Yeah, I told you imma get y'all out my mistake, whether Chris like it or not. And if he don't want me to help him, then I'll help you at least."

"Fizz..." I sighed, rubbing my eyes, exhausted from all the drama. "We gotta talk about this in the morning. This all too much."

I opened the passenger door and stepped out but stopped once I saw Fizz was still sitting there.

"You not coming with me?" I asked.

"Nah, imma stay out here for the night. You know to check on things."

"Its not safe out here, you gotta come inside," I insisted. "Please?"

"I can't go up in there. Especially with Chris being heated and all."

"There's an extra room in the basement...he won't have to see you," I suggested, determined to get him out the car. "You could leave early before anyone wakes up."

He looked around, scratching the back of his neck. "Anyone ever goes in the basement?"

"No, I swear. Now come on."

He hesitantly followed me to the house and we snuck down in the basement where the extra guest room was. I handed him a blanket and pillow and waited for him to get himself situated.

"You all good?" I asked. He nodded.

"I'm straight. Thanks, Leigh. I appreciate it."

"No problem," I hugged him goodnight one last time.

"I'll be gone before day break, iight?" He reminded me.

"Okay, okay," I said, walking up the stairs. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

I successfully made it to my room without being caught and stripped immediately, going into my shower. It felt good to have the hot water loosen every tight muscle in my body. It was like a small therapy for me with all the shit going on in my life. But it soon ended when the cold water came on, snapping me back to reality.

I quickly soaped up in my peaches and cream body wash and washed off, ending my shower. Then I brushed my teeth, pinned my hair up in my bun, and did my face wash thing.

Once I walked back out to my room, I put on my undergarment under my towel and turned to go to my bed. But nearly died out of fear, seeing Chris sitting at the corner of my bed in the dark like a creep.

"Baby, you scared me," I said, letting my towel fall.

"My bad," He mumbled, staring at my half naked body. "Where you been all day? I missed you."

I sighed. "If I tell you can't get mad."

He nodded, pulling me into his lap. "I'm listening."

"I went back to Cali..." I trailed off, waiting for him to yell or scream at me but his face remained unchanged and I continued. "BUT it was only because Ashely needed me, babe. She's a mess."

He nodded again, resting his head on my chest. "Thats cool."

I scrunched up my nose, shocked that he wasn't mad at me or anything. That was not like him at all.

"Whats wrong?" I asked, raising up his chin to look at me.

"I'm just tired of all the drama, Leigh," He sighed, still with his head buried in my chest. "I just don't know what to do or who to trust."

I caressed his curly hair, soothingly. "Is this about Fizz?"

He shot his head up to look at me. "How you know about that?"

"I...uh, bumped into him in Cali," I lied. "Chris, I think we should let him help us."

He sucked his teeth, pushing me off his lap and laying back on the pillow. "Man, Leigh, I ain't tryna hear that shit."

I sighed. "Look, I know you feel betrayed but right now our lives are in danger and he's the only one who would be best in helping us."

"We don't need him," He said, stubbornly. "I already told Uncle Jay and we gonna solve this on our own."

"But-"

"Leigh, I ain't accepting his help and thats final," He cut me off. "As of today he's no longer a friend of mine and I don't take help from strangers. He got us into this shit and now he tryna get us outta of it too? What if its another setup? Fuck him."

I sucked my teeth, laying next to him. "You are so stubborn, I swear to God you are."

"I love you too," He said, kissing my cheek and putting an around my waist. I rolled my eyes, snuggling closer to him.

He fell asleep but I was still up, tryna think of a way to get him to change his mind. I wasn't gonna die because of Chris being stubborn. Fizz was helping us whether Chris liked it or not.