“Dreka, chill the fuck out!” He barked loudly enough for Beavis and Butthead to come rushing back into the room. As fast as they got there, them niggas had to be standing outside the room eavesdropping.
“Don’t touch her,” Xy roughly snapped the moment they moved towards me.
I spun around towards them, wishing I had a damn gun in my hands. “I wish the fuck either of y’all would! I’ll beat the dog shit out of all three of y’all! Get the fuck out!” I screamed at them.
They glanced at X, and he nodded once so they stepped right back out. Turning back to face him, the tears collected in my eyes before I had a chance to stop them.
“You promised this time was different, Xyleek!” My voice cracked with the weight of my emotions. “You sat with her in the fuckin’ hospital? So you lied about your mom? You had your mother lie to my gahdamn face?” I spewed question after question, but he just looked at me like he was tryna decide if he was gon’ lie or tell the truth. “ANSWER ME!” I shouted so loud the entire building probably shook.
“Can you let me explain the situation?” His voice was steady and calm, an indicator that he wasn’t about to lie.
“Start…talking!”
He took a slow breath, squaring his shoulders with his eyes fixed on me. “I did lie, but I never sat with her in the hospital, Angel. I went to see her once while she was there and that was to let her know she was on bullshit and to leave me alone. I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how to tell you that without it sounding like more than what it was. Because of my past fuck ups, I knew you wouldn’t believe me off the rip,” he calmly explained, his tone heavy with guilt. “I didn’t wanna give you a reason to think I was fuckin’ around on you, because I wasn’t. Did I pay her bills? Yes, I did that. I’ve been knowing her for three years, and she’s always held it down as far as the media was concerned. Paying her bills was her reward for that. When I broke it off with her because you and me were getting back together, I did agree to pay her rent up for the rest of the year. I haven’t had any communication with her since then, and I can admit that I clearly underestimated the lengths she’d go to get my attention. Gab was always chill as hell, so I’d never guess she would do some shit like this.”
I folded my arms tight across my chest, trying to keep myself together even though I was falling apart on the inside. “You didn’t think I deserved to know that shit from you? Instead, I get ambushed by this bitch ‘cause she faking like she some reporter that wants to hear my side of things. Whole time it’s yo bitch.”
“She’s not nor has she ever beenmybitch, Angel, don’t say that. I just told you why I fucked with her, but I put an end to it the second I knew we were back together. I meant that I was doing shit different this time around. I didn’t lie about that, but I did lie, and for that, I apologize. I thought lying would protect you.”
“That’s your fuckin’ problem, Xy. You think you can control every gahdamn thing! You lie to protect me, to protect yourself, to keep the fuckin’ peace, but all you ever do is make shit worse. You brought your mother into this bullshit. Do you knowhow mental you have to be to have your mom fake a medical emergency just to cover up the fact that your bitch was really the one calling?”
He got in my face, his jaw muscles flexing. “I just said, she’s not my bitch! Stop fuckin’ playing with me, Drek.”
“She has to be for her to have you listed as her next of kin. So fine. You win, this time, Xyleek. Go be with that bitch. Have some ugly ass babies with her,” I snatched my purse out of the chair.
He grabbed me before I could leave. “You don’t mean that shit. I don’t want her. I only want you, Drek, how many times I gotta tell you that?”
“Your mouth is saying you only want me, but your bank account says you got a home there with that hoe,” I jerked away before slapping him across the face and storming out.
Just as I suspected, Blow and Jah were standing right outside the door. If I was really on that, I would’ve slapped their stupid asses, too.
“And don’t tell Makenna about this!” I yelled over my shoulder at Jah.
“I won’t,” he called after me.
My feelings were beyond hurt that I’d bought into Xy’s shit again. Granted, I knew he was telling the truth, but I wished he would’ve told the truth when I needed it. Not when he got caught and was forced to do so. After I stopped sharing my location with him, I got back in his car and pulled away from the building. I had half a mind to drive his car into the damn ocean, but that thought came and went. Nah, I was gon’ keep this muthafucka and have a lil’ road trip. I still had his bank card too, so I was gon’ take a nice chunk of change out of his account and then get ghost. First stop was Rae’s crib because I was gon’ take her with me. She always knew how to get me into good trouble, and that was exactly what I needed.
Chapter Thirteen
Xyleek
“You a dumb ass nigga,” Vani fussed, shaking her head as we sat in our mother’s living room.
“Vani, dead ass, get the fuck out of my face. With the way I feel right now, I’ll do some damage, straight up,” I huffed, checking my phone again to see if anyone had found Drek yet.
“And I’ll do my own damage, nigga. You ain’t the only one that knows how to fight, and you forgot I fight niggas. You mad at me for some shit thatyoucould’ve controlled but chose not to.”
I exhaled through my nose slowly, trying not to go off. She was my little sister, but she always thought she was my conscience, too. I tuned her out and checked my phone again, refreshing Dreka’s Instagram like it was gonna change something. It didn’t though. There was no new posts or stories. I checked her TikTok, and it was the same thing. She had me, Vani, and my mother blocked on her phone, so there was no contacting her that way. Somehow, she must’ve discovered that tracking app I put on her phone because even that said it was offline.
To make matters worse, Gabriae’s stupid ass took the unthinkable a step further and leaked those receipts to the media. Therefore, it looked like I was fucking up shit with Drek for the millionth time. That bitch was already on my hit list, but her and her sister met their demise quicker than I intended for that lil’ stunt.
“Now you gotmeblocked, and I ain’t even do shit! You and Momma were the ones lying!” Vani continued mouthing off.
My mother, Jewel, raised her hands in mock surrender. “I was only trying to help.”
“Momma, I can’t believe you went along with his bullshit. You know better than to get in the middle of him and Drek’s mess.”
“Tavani, do you ever shut the fuck up?!” I sat up from my relaxed position on the couch. “Gahhhh fuckin’ damn! I don’t wanna hear none of this shit! I know I fucked up, so unless you gon’ help me get her back, shut…the fuck…UP!”I retorted, standing up and walking out of the living room.
