90s Love

Chapter 36

"Alright, let's get this shit together," Rashad spoke after walking through the front door after dropping Laura off. "What's wrong with y'all?"

"Janae and her friends crashed the party last night. Will got into a fight, and then Nico came through, threatened to shoot me, and left." Calvin explained. "So basically nothing." His sarcastic sass made me roll my eyes.

Rashad blinked rapidly as he took in Calvin's words. "Huh?"

"Oh, and apparently Nae and Nico had some 'business' together." Calvin finished

Our parents were down the street chatting with their friends, leaving it in Kelly and Rashad's hands to handle whatever this was. They assumed that it was something petty and simple. But it wasn't, not in the slightest.

"Excuse me?" Kelly snapped, her eyes looking at me.

"It's a long story." I sighed.

Rashad took a seat on the couch. "We got time."

"Calvin got into a fight with Nico's little brother, and then basically things started unfolding from there." I explained. "You know Nico doesn't play when it comes to family, so it ended up coming down to me and him having to handle what we needed to handle so there wasn't any problems."

"I'm gonna need more than that." Kelly urged me to elaborate.

"He's the reason why I stayed out all night a couple months back." I told them. "He was planning on shooting Calvin while he was at the blacktop and I convinced him not to. He ended up making me rob a party in the Heights so we could dead this."

"You're joking." Rashad accused with a laugh.

"I'm not though." I bluntly responded.

His smile dropped. "Oh shit. Janae are you crazy?!"

"I didn't have any other choice, what do you mean 'am I crazy'?!"

"Why didn't you say anything?!" Rashad shouted back at me.

"I'm done with this." I declared, getting up from my seat.

"Janae." Kelly called out to me.

"I am sick and tired of everybody asking me why I ain't tell them or why I did what I did and looking at me like I had all the time in the world and I had all these other options and I didn't! Sure, I could've told somebody but what would that change? Honestly! It's Nico Brown, who does whatever the hell he wants regardless of who I tell. There. Was. Nothing. I. Could. Do. And I'm tired of feeling fucking terrible about it 'cause at the end of the day he's still here." I pointed to Calvin. "And that's all that should fucking matter!" I felt myself choking up due to my tears. "This family is all that matters to me."

My outburst startled them to silence. Kelly simply came forward and held me in her arms, the boys just joining soon after. All of us exchanged  a million and one 'sorry's, and before I knew it I was wiping tears that weren't my own.

This kinda love was the reason why it was all worth it.

🖤

"So all of y'all were crying?" Rocky asked with a smile. "Even Shad?"

"Yes, even Shad." I smiled with a nod. "I'd never seen anything like it."

The next day I sat in Kaylen's living room, recounting the events of the evening. It being a shocker for them and even myself at how emotional it all turned at the end.

"What'd you tell your parents?" Nicki asked.

"That we crashed the party and he was mad. I just left out the rest."