Angel Dust. (golden/delicate continuation]

family fued

"The big three" and Tj were all set to have a 2k marathon since it was going to be a long holiday weekend. They had Friday and Monday off. They also had permission from Jada and Karan to camp out in the house for four days. Kamil hated the sound of it so she went straight to the Zen's house after school.

The kids went to different schools. Excluding Amir and Elisha who were in college, half went to a private high school while others chose public school. Personal preferences of course.

Stephen and Tj went to public school so they got out a little later than Chase. And Amir only had an 8 AM lecture on Thursday's.

When Stephen and Tj got to Amir's room, they joined Chase and Amir on the floor just a few inches away from the tv. This was the type of stuff that made Jada warn them about "pre-blindness".

It was clear that Tj's brain was preoccupied because he let Stephen have his turn. That never happened. The boys didn't push him though they were all thinking the same thing. Tj was the type to speak up only when he was ready.

The youngest boy left to use the bathroom eventually and when he returned, he plopped down on Amir's bed. "Hey, Chase?"

"What's up, lil man?" Chase said, concentrating on the game.

"We're real cousins, right? Not play cousins?"

"Yeah. We're blood."

"And Devon?"

"Devon is your blood cousin but not mine,"

Tj nodded though he was still a little confused. His brain churned a little, carefully curating his next question. "Okay and how come Nana Libby is your real grandma but not mine. Lisa is my grandma right?"

Amir paused the game and cringed. 

"Uh oooooh," Stephen sang under his breath.

Amir looked a Stephen then nodded toward the door. This wasn't a conversation they needed to be in, despite knowing what happened.

"We're going to let y'all talk," Amir said standing up. The two boys left, leaving TJ and Chase to talk.

Chase took a deep breath, got up, and walked over to the bed. "Aight, Taji. I guess you're old enough to understand now. It was only a matter of time before you caught on. I'm surprised Vicki hasn't said anything or maybe she doesn't know either,"

Tj watched as his big cousin took another breath and sat next to him. "Know what?"

"A long time ago, before any of us were born- hell  even before our parents were born- our Grandpa Victor and my Grandma Libby were married."

Tj nodded.

"Unfortunately, our grandpa had an affair with your grandmother Lisa and that's how your dad Taj was born. But for about 27 years... they thought Nick was his dad."

"WHOA," Tj shook his head. "So my dad and your dad are brothers but they have different mothers."

"Yes. Exactly. That's how we ended up with different grandparent pairings."

"So where does grandpa Nick come in at? I know he's my Godfather but-"

"That's your auntie Lauren's dad."

"Ooooh, "

"And her mother is grandma Lisa. So basically your dad is the older brother of a bunch of half-siblings. That's why Elisha is our cousin but technically not Devon's. Because Maya and Lauren don't share DNA."

"So Cameron, Lauren, Maya, and my dad Taj are all siblings... Kinda"

"Uh-huh,"

"BUT, " Tj raised a finger. "Cameron Maya and Taj share a father. While Taj and Lauren share a mother.  Then Cameron and Maya share a mother too making them the only full siblings in this equation. Right?"

"You're right, " Chase smiled at his little cousin enthusiasm.

"And since our dads are half brothers then we're technically half cousins?" Tj twisted up his face.

"Yeah." Chase nodded. "You could say that,"

"But since Maya and Cameron are whole siblings, you Carma and Elisha are whole cousins.

"Yeah pretty much. And Devon is your other half-cousin."

"Damn Grandpa Victor! You just had to make everything complicated!" Tj pouted as everything finally came together in his head. He'd been sitting on those questions for a while but he wasn't sure about who to ask. So he settled on the most honest person he knew.

"I know right?" Chase laughed and pulled Tj in for a hug.

"I didn't even know a half-cousin was possible,"

"Well, there's a lesson in this... don't cheat. Just stay single until you're done hoing."

"Considering I don't even know how to hoe... I think I'm good," Tj laughed.

"You will come into your own one day. You're a Boyce." Both boys laughed. "Now come take this ass-whoopin'"

The boys walked back over to the TV and grabbed the controllers.

"Any other family history questions?"

"Not really." Tj shrugged as they resumed the game Amir and Stephen were on. "But out of all the play cousins... who would you date?"

"None of them, " he chuckled. "I'm not breaking code. We all signed a contract when we were younger stating that we'd never date within the squad. Amir and Elisha are an exception because he claimed her ass right out the womb, "

"Boooooo, " Tj laughed. "Okay if y'all never did that BS contract. For real. Who would it be?"

"... I'm not telling you,"

"So what you're saying is... you've thought about it!"

"I plead the fifth."