"This nigga," I scoffed. "Wolfe sleeps peacefully at night. What haunts him is the shit his egg donor put him through. When I close mine, I see red. Blood haunts my mind, stains my muthafuckin' skin, and taints my fucking vision. I deal with that shit, tho. I swallow and bury it deep so y'all muthafuckas can live the happy fucking life I provide for y'all."
"That's your muthafuckin' problem. You don't provide for me, nigga. I'm muthafuckin' Crown with or without your goofy ass."
"Yeah, ight, nigga, we'll see." I shrugged and turned to walk off the porch. "Send Navy out here 'fore I break my promise and dislocate your muthafuckin' jaw."
"Wolfe, you hear this nigga? Then he wonders why I ain't fucking with him."
"You sound like a bitch."
"I'll be that but know I saw the hurt in your eyes. In the same way you know us… I fucking know you." Crown chuckled, then walked into the crib.
Leaning against my whip, I waited for Navy to bring her ass outside.
"Y'all know y'all fighting over bullshit, right?" Wolfe said, coming off the porch.
"Maybe, but that nigga doesn't get to dictate how I handle my shit. If I'm keeping y'all safe, fuck does it matter if I tell him how I'm doing it?"
"We're not kids anymore. We're grown ass men with families. How do you think he feels knowing you knew his right hand was a fucking snake?"
"I didn't fucking know until I was in the hospital. I had a hunch, tho."
Crown was mad 'bout some shit I did to protect him. Lynx was his man. He was the nigga that helped put Crown in position to take over Ember Hills. Shit like that wasn't taken lightly by Crown. He fucked with anyone who looked out for him. That's why he and Emersyn were close. That type of bond had a way of fucking up how a person saw things. I fucked with Lynx but could still spot some shit not adding up from a mile away. Too much was happening surrounding a spot Lynx was in control of. Before bringing it to Crown, I wanted to be certain.
"I get that, but you still should've shared with the class, nigga." Wolfe chuckled. "What you told us after we met Lucian in the basement he locked you in, fucked our heads up. We didn't say anything, but we both tried to figure out how we missed so much shit in regard to you."
"It wasn't meant for y'all to know. I'm not a share with the class ass nigga. Never have been. I keep shit tucked, not for myself but for the safety of everyone around me."
"Doesn't that shit get exhausting, tho?"
"Sometimes, but these are the cards I was dealt. I play them accordingly and haven't taken a major loss yet." I shrugged. Losses were inevitable in this game, but I treated them like lessons and kept shit moving.
"Shit, what you call this fallout with Crown?"
Shrugging, I looked past Wolfe, hoping to see Crown in the window watching how he used to when we were younger. I taught him that shit. I told him that being observant is the second-greatest superpower 'cause it'll reveal what a person's mouth never will.
"That nigga ain't been in a window in years." Wolfe laughed, catching on. "Y'all gotta fix this forreal."
"I hope you're telling him the same shit. This ain't all on me."
"It's not. Y'all both said fucked up shit. I already talked to him 'bout him not mentioning his engagement and River's pregnancy."
"'Preciate that." I nodded.
"Right is right and wrong is wrong. Both of y'all niggas are in the wrong, so fix it, preferably, before the engagement party Chosyn is throwing for them.”
"If it's not fixed?"
"Still show up."
"Regardless of how that nigga feels about me, I'ma always show up for him."
"I know and he knows it, too. Crown's just in his head 'bout shit. His therapist got him working on trusting people at their word."
"He's still in therapy?"
"Hell yeah. That little two-month stint he did in Crimson Falls wasn't enough for that crazy ass nigga. I'm not gon' hold you, I've been thinking 'bout sitting on a couch too."
"Word?"
