“Xoey calls our friend group a tree,” I answered him as we left. “It’s how she explains our connections. To us, we are a tree. Each branch is a different family. We might not be family by blood, but we are family.” I unlocked my truck, got inside, and started it.
“Y’all tree is fucked up,” he said, looking around.
“That may be, but don’t worry about it,” I said, shaking my head. “We will take care of all this.”
“Nah, see,” Trey said, grilling me. “That’s where you got me fucked up. Y’all didn’t handle shit accordingly, which is why I’m here. Y’all accepted too many people into the fold without protecting what was already here. Y’all got enemies mixed in with family, and y’all can’t see who is a friend and who is an foe because the lines are blurred.” He smirked and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, though, because I’m here now and I’m not nearly as nice as my brother.” He walked away from my truck, got into his, started it, and pulled off.
I closed my car door, not giving a fuck about what he was talking about. Like Psalms said, he was only alive because Four hadn’t woken up yet. As soon as he did and explained why Trey was here, then we would decide how to deal with them. And that was if Psalms didn’t kill Trey first.
**
“Mama!” I called out as soon as I stepped through the back door of my parents’ house. I closed the door, then kicked off my shoes. The smell of cornbread was the first thing I noticed when I stepped into the empty kitchen. I quickly searched the first floor, then went back to the kitchen and grabbed a plate and fork to make myself a plate. Not only was there cornbread on the counter, but also ham, mashed potatoes, and greens. I sat at the island, said a quick prayer, then started eating.
“Ahh, I’m telling,” Citrine said, coming into the kitchen. He looked at my plate, then shook his head. “Mama said don’t touch her pots.” He took a plate from the cabinet and started making his own plate. “She’s going to cuss your ass out.”
“Nigga, you making a plate right now!” I said in between bites of my food. “If she’s going to cuss me out, then she’s going to cuss your ass out too.”
“Nah, she isn’t,” he said, putting his plate in the warmer. “Because I’m going to tell on your ass first.” He ran from the kitchen, and I chased after him. We got to the hallway leading upthe stairs, and I jumped on his back. Citrine’s big ass didn’t even slow down as he took the stairs two at a time. “Mama!”
“Shut up, nigga,” I said, trying to put him in a headlock. “Shut your big ass up!”
“Mama!” He laughed, then slammed me into the wall. He immediately stopped moving, and we looked at the big ass hole in the wall. “Oh shit.”
“Mama is going to beat your ass,” I laughed as I climbed off his back. “You put a hole in her wall!”
“Nigga, you put the hole in the wall!” He pushed me, and I shook my head. “That’s your whole back!”
“That you slammed into the wall.” I pointed to the wall and glared at him. “I didn’t fall into that shit! Nigga, you slammed me into the wall!”
“Because you were on my back!” He fussed. “If you weren’t on my back, it wouldn’t have happened, which still makes all this your fault!”
“Oh, nah, nope,” I said, stepping back with my hands in the air. “This one is all you, Citrine.” I backed up until I was at my parents’ door, then lifted my fist to knock.
“You better not fucking snitch, nigga!” He looked around with his hands on his head. “Okay, okay.” He started nodding. “I got a plan.”
“The plan is for Diamond Stone to beat your ass,” I laughed.
“No, the plan is we flip this shit,” he said, looking around. “Yeah, we move this shit from this wall to the other wall. They won’t even notice it was moved. Then, when they are gone, we get somebody over here to fix it. You think Clarke is doing anything?” He looked panicked as hell, and all I could do was laugh harder. “She can fix this shit fast as hell. I’ve seen what her fine ass can do. Building houses and shit. This should be a piece of cake.” He took the picture off one wall and put it over the holein the other wall. The picture wasn’t big enough, so he started pacing.
“Nigga, just tell her what you did.”
“I like my life, Amethyst.” He glared at me as he paced. “Diamond Stone ain’t about to let this shit slide. She’s been fussing our whole lives about fucking up her house.”
“You’re too damn big to be this fucking scared,” I replied. “She ain’t gonna do shit but fuss and then tell you to get her shit fixed.” I turned and knocked on her door. “Mama!”
A few seconds later, Mama opened her door. She fixed her robe and glared at me. “What do you want, Amethyst?”
“Why are you not dressed? It’s three in the afternoon,” I asked her as she stepped into the hallway and closed the door. “What you close the door for?”
“Stop asking questions you aren’t old enough to know the answers to.” She adjusted her robe and crossed her arms. “Now, why are you at my house like you don’t have one of your own?”
“Technically, he’s homeless,” Citrine said from behind me.
“Really, nigga?” I said, turning around to see Citrine smiling. “Alright, bet.” I nodded and turned back to Mama. “Citrine put a hole in your wall.” I stepped to the side, and Mama’s face twisted. “He threw me into the wall.”
“Stone!” Mama yelled, calling Pop. She never used his first name. The door opened, and Pop stood there with a mug on his face and a pair of black ball shorts. “I swear on everything, you are never getting pussy again! Look at what your son did!”
“Now hold the fuck up,” Pop said, shaking his head. “Diamond, be mad, but don’t lie. I was just in that thang having you begging and pleading before this nigga knocked on the door.”
