“Yeah,” Citrine nodded. “I was the lucky nigga falling for your sister.” He chuckled, then reclaimed his seat. “She acted shy and shit in the beginning, but I thought that was because of how she was brought into the fold. Shit was a little overwhelming, so I thought she needed a minute to adjust.”
“You don’t have to explain,” Gray said, cutting him off. “I know how my sister is. I’ve seen her around men. The innocent, shy routine is always her go-to, and men like you, the ones who think they are supposed to protect anything and everyone, fall for it every time.”
“Well damn, read a nigga, Dr. Gray,” Citrine chuckled.
“I don’t mean to be offensive,” she said, and Citrine waved her off. His body language was relaxed, so I knew he wasn’t really offended. “I just mean I know my sister’s appeal to men. She’s always had her fair share of admirers; it was just Tank who kept her attention the longest.”
“Do you have any idea why?” I asked.
“Probably because he’s the stray puppy that she fed once, and he never left her side,” she answered with a sad laugh. “Growing up, Lavender had this thing about finding strays and bringingthem home. Our mama hated it, but as soon as our daddy came home and Lavender batted her lashes at him, he’d let her keep it. Most of the time, our mama would get rid of the dog when Lavender went to sleep, either taking it to the pound or killing it if it was too far gone. Each time Lavender woke up, she realized the dog was gone and started crying. My mama would tell her it went back to its family and was grateful for the love she gave it. Sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn’t, but that’s life. As we got older, we thought she would grow out of it, but she didn’t. Instead of animals, she made friends, her two best friends, whom she met in high school. They were inseparable.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing,” Gray answered with a shrug. “They are still friends to this day, I believe. I don’t check in with them either.”
“So, your sister and Tank, how did they happen?” I asked.
“Again, the stray puppy. She met Tank. He told her his sad story: how his mama had him, ran off with some man who didn’t want him around, so she gave him to his uncle. The uncle was cool with him being there until he wasn’t, so he tried to send him back to his mama, but by then his mama was remarried, had a kid, and didn’t want shit to do with him. His mama put him up for adoption, and he went into the system. When he aged out of the system, he went to look for his family, mainly his brother, but his brother had no clue he existed. He went looking for his mama next and found out she’d died a little after giving him up. His uncle accepted him into the family, but with a stipulation. He could only tell his cousins who he was to them. No one else could know.”
I looked over at my brothers, and they all had the same look on their faces that I did. There was only one fucking way this shit had been going on for this long, and we never had a clue. The older generation knew how to take their secrets to the grave and beyond.
“Do you know Tank’s real name?”
“Ny’elle,” she answered with a nod. “Why?”
“Because we know Tank,” I answered. “He worked for Pyrite, boxed with Citrine back in the day. We looked at him like he was family.”
“He never looked at y’all as family,” Gray said, shaking her head. “And I only know that because Tank made it clear that if you weren’t related to him by blood, he was never going to be loyal to you.”
“What about your sister?”
“Not even to her,” she replied. “I realized a long time ago that Lavender was always going to pick Tank and his friends over me.”
“His cousin is Grant Kilmore,” I said. Gray’s face twisted in confusion. “You didn’t know?”
“Hell no,” she denied. “I thought they were just friends.” Yale had told me the story Gray had told her about their past interaction. “But I guess it all makes sense now. He didn’t see a problem with what Grant had done to Shelly. I almost think he enjoyed hearing her screaming in pain.”
“He probably did,” I said. I sat forward, resting my elbows on the table. “Look, Gray, I know Lavender is your family, but she’s been playing us the entire time. I don’t know if it was luck or some dope ass planning, but from the moment she entered our lives, she’s been working with a group of niggas that want nothing else but for us to fail and kill us. Your sister isn’t going to make it out of this alive.”
“The only thing I ask is that you don’t violate her,” Gray requested.
“Never,” I said, shaking my head. “I ain’t that type of nigga. I can’t promise that her death will be quick, though. We have questions, and if she doesn’t answer them, shit will get messy. Do you want to be able to bury her?”
“No,” she answered. “Our parents died years ago, so I’ve been on my own all this time. We have an uncle, but I don’t deal with him, so there would be no reason for a funeral. I don’t need to bury her physically because I’ve done it mentally already.”
“Do you have any idea where she is?” Citrine asked.
“The only place I can think of is our uncle’s,” she said. “Our daddy had one brother. Creepy ass man that I hated being around, but Lavender loved him. He doesn’t live here; he lives on the coast, but he has a house here, so if she’s anywhere, it’s his house.”
“You have the address?”
“Yeah,” she answered. She gave Pyrite the address, and I sat there listening. Gray didn’t owe us shit, and this could be a setup, but I had a feeling it wasn’t.
Pyrite, who had been quiet the entire time, nodded and stood. “You didn’t have to tell us shit, but I respect the fuck out of you for doing so,” he said as he picked up his phone. “Something tells me you ain’t shit like your sister, so in my eyes you’re good people, Gray. If you ever need something from us, holla and we will make it shake.” Pyrite swiped his phone. “I’m going to talk to Rage and update her. Amethyst, once you drop off Gray, holla at me so we can start making shit shake.” He left the conference room.
“You picked your friendship over your blood,” I said, and Gray nodded. “Why?”
“Because my blood was never loyal to me. We’ve been friends for years. You’ve only ever asked me for a real friendship.”
