“Ant, it’s late, babe. He’s probably just busy,” Tasha said, her voice sounding thin even to her own ears.
“Is he comin’ to my game on Saturday?” Ant asked, his eyes hopeful. “He said he was gonna bring me those new Jordans if I dropped twenty points. He promised, TT.”
Tasha looked away, staring at the shadows on her wall. She didn't know how to tell a ten-year-old that the man he looked up to was the same one who broke her heart.
“Listen, Ant… Uncle Jue and I… we aren't really seeing eye-to-eye at the moment,” she said carefully, trying to keep her voice steady. “We’re taking a little break from each other.”
Ant frowned, his shoulders slumping. “Really? What you do now, TT?” He looked up at her, his expression turning serious for a beat. “Did you do somethin’ mean to him?” Momma said you be havin’ an attitude sometimes and you need to chill.”
Tasha let out a dry, hollow laugh. “No, Ant. I didn’t do anythin’ mean. It’s just grown-up stuff. It’s complicated.” Tasha frowned, tilting her head. “And tell yo mama to worry about herself.”
“Can I still go chill with him at the house and play in the game room. Oh, and he said he was gonna take me to the shop to see the old skool, because it had some damage done to it.” He looked at Tasha, frowning. “TT, what do you think happened to it?”
Tasha rolled her eyes around with a guilty little sigh. She reached out and pulled him into a hug, resting her chin on top of his head. The smell of his hair reminded her of the days when Juelz would help him with his dreads while Ant would be sitting on the stool playing the PS5. Those memories felt like they belonged to a different life. Ant and his siblings didn’t know about the house fire or the damage Tasha caused to Juelz’s old school car. All they knew was that she had to stay with them for a while.
“Ion know, exactly. But let’s hold off on seeing him right now, Ant, okay? Just give it some time, he’ll getcha when he’s ready.”
“But, man, I miss him, TT,” Ant admitted, still lying on her shoulder, feeling heartbroken.
“I understand,” Tasha whispered, with burning eyes. “I know y’all both do.”
She held him until his breathing returned to normal, but even after he went back to bed, the house felt emptier than before. Every corner of her life echoed Juelz. She couldn’t even look at her nephew without seeing the man she was trying so hard to forget.Damn you, Juelz,she thought to herself.
Four days later,the smell of sex and strong liquor filled the penthouse. Juelz and some girl he only kept around whenever he needed to wake his dick up were laid across the sectional. The same place he’d been for a couple of days, his eyes red and glossed over, a half-blunt hanging off his bottom lip, which was almost burned out. The ashtray on the glass table looked like a cemetery, overflowing with ash and broken expectations. Empty bottles were scattered across the floor like landmines, mixed in with leftover takeout containers that had started to turn.
A knock hit the front door, but they didn’t flinch.
Then came voices, familiar ones.“Police! Open up. We know you in there!”
A louder, heavier knock rattled the frame again.
“We can smell you from out here, nigga. Open the door before we kick this bitch in.”
Juelz didn’t move. His body felt like lead, and his mind was a tangled mess of Tasha’s voice and the chemical hum in his ears. The knob twisted. A click. Then, the door swung open.
Sintonio stormed in first, followed by Mar and Kane, who was already fanning the air with a look of pure disgust.
“Goddamn, Jue. When the last time you washed ya ass, boy? It smells like ass in here, nigga.”
Mar came in after, frowning. “Who the fuck is this?”
Juelz didn’t respond. He just sat there, staring up at the ceiling, blinking in slow, agonizing intervals. Sintonio’s eyes scanned the room, landing on the table. He saw all the open food containers, empty bottles, and he didn’t miss the rolled-up twenty sitting next to a residue of white powder.
The air in the room shifted. Sintonio got pissed immediately at the sight. He smacked the half-naked girl across the arm. “Aye! Wake up. You gotta bounce. Get the fuck out.”
She exhaled but got up to get dressed. Once she was done, she escorted herself out the door without looking back. Kane didn’t waste any time taking a glance at her ass once she passed by. “That ass is fat tho, damn.”
Once she was on the other side of the door, Sintonio stomped towards Juelz and snatched him up off the chair.
“Jue!You putting that shit up your nose now?” Sintonio roared, violently shaking him. “Huh, nigga? This what the fuck we doin’? You a dopehead, now?” He looked at Kane and Mar, “Y’all niggas knew about this?”
Mar stepped in quickly, putting his hands on Sintonio’s chest. “Nawl man. C’mon, Sintonio. Let him go.”
Sintonio let out a snarl, releasing the hold on Juelz’s shirt and shoving him back down. The force of the impact hit Juelz’sstomach just right. His face went pale, his jaw worked for a second, and then he doubled over.
The sound of him vomiting hit the silence like a wet slap. He coughed, bile stinging his throat, as he collapsed against the edge of the sectional, trembling. He’d been drinking, snorting his life away, and fucking different women all over the penthouse for days, and now that shit was finally catching up to him.
Kane stepped back, grimacing. “Look at this nigga.”
