Cash and Messiah were cut from the same cloth. Both were the type of niggas who didn’t posture and let their actions speak for themselves. It was fuck around and find out, and you damn sure didn’t want to be the one finding out.
“And you telling us this now because…?” Jelani asked, finally breaking the silence.
Slim’s jaw tightened. “The shooting might be connected.”
“How?” I asked.
“She called me,” Slim said. “She thinks her husband knows about us and she brought up the baby shower. I don’t see why she’d even know about that if he wasn’t involved somehow.”
Jelani let out a low whistle. “Cash finna beat your ass, bruh.”
“I’m trying to understand how you were this reckless?” I said, irritation crawling up my neck.
“I didn’t know who she was when it started,” Slim snapped.
“But at some point you did—and kept fucking with her.”
“That’s the part I’m stuck on,” Jelani said. “Everybody knows the nigga crazier than Cash, and you don’t cut her off. You don’t even say anything to us.”
Slim ran a hand down his face. “It wasn’t that simple.”
I snorted. “It never is with pussy and feelings. Niggas start thinking they’re immune to consequences.”
Jelani cocked his head. “Do you love her?”
“I care about her—” Slim started.
“Yes or no, nigga.”
“No,” Slim said, shaking his head. “I don’t love her.”
Drea’s face flashed through my mind. “You still messing with my sister?”
Jelani stood before Slim could answer. “We not even about to do all that right now.”
Slim looked at him.
“I’m not even about to dig in your ass like I want to,” Jelani said calmly. “You know this shit puts us in a bad position.”
“I know,” Slim muttered.
“Cash needs to know,” Jelani continued. “Tonight. This isn’t something we sit on. He’s gonna react how he reacts—that’s between y'all. We need to focus on fallout and damage control.”
I nodded. “We need to assume that Messiah already knows. From here on out, you gotta move like you have a target on your back.”
“Block her number,” Jelani said. “Matter of fact, do that shit now. You not contacting her again. At all. If she reaches out, tell the bitch to kick rocks or something. But this shit stops today.”
“Heard,” Slim said as he pulled out his phone.
“Second,” Jelani continued, “everything gets laid out, timeline, where y’all been together. All of it.”
Slim sighed heavily. “So I’m just a sitting duck?”
Jelani met his eyes. “Whatever happens after Cash hears this—that’s not us turning our backs on you. But you gotta own this shit. I don’t know if there’s any coming back from this, for real. Maybe Cash can call in a Hail Mary.”
I kept my arms crossed and my mouth shut. Jelani let out a long sigh and met my gaze. Neither of us said it, but we were both thinking the same thing.
Cash was about to lose his shit.
