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She finally walked towards my truck and got inside. When I pulled off, I saw the neighbors still trying to wake Chase up. I had rolled my window down slightly. I heard someone say he had a pulse. With that, I sped off. He was lucky that time. Next time he’d be leaving in a body bag if I had anything to do with it.

We sat in silence for what felt like forever. I tried to give her time to process what had just happened before I started demanding answers. I cleared my throat, and before I could ask my first question, she started speaking.

“This is so fucking weird. How are you and your brother out here looking exactly alike and failing to mention shit to the people who should be important to y’all?”

I sighed and decided to speak my peace. Although I was dying to know what Justice may have been going through or where she was at, I knew I’d have to answer her question first. I started from the beginning, explaining that I hadn’t known about Justice until she barged into my life.

I had intended to tell her, on God, I swear I was ready. I just needed to find the courage. I’ve never been drawn to a woman’s vibe like I was to Justice. I love that girl so much. I was actually heading home to tell her, but when I arrived, she was leaving after setting my house on fire. Jamie burst into laughter, her contagious laugh making it difficult for me to hold back mine. Honestly, it was so funny and surprising that I couldn’t help but laugh as well.

“Man, that shit ain’t funny for real,” I said, holding back a chuckle.

“I swear she don’t give a fuck about shit. I told her not to go looking for you, well, Chase. I knew it would land her back in jail,” she said.

That made us both stop laughing.

“Naw sis,” I called her, trying to make her feel comfortable. “I ain’t no snitch, not even close. That would be my brother, not me. So, you ain’t got to worry about me being the reason for her going back to jail,” I admitted.

She asked about the damage to my house and then thanked me for speaking my truth. She went into how she met my brother, and I couldn’t believe what the fuck I was hearing. Now, I understand Justice’s wrath. This nigga was a true fuck nigga for knowingly fucking with both sisters and lying to Jamie. Got her out here looking like a snake to her sister.

“You know the most fucked up thing about this is that Justice called me on some real rah-rah shit, and that’s not normally her response. Just like setting homes on fire isn’t her. Since she came home, she seemed easily triggered. I’m not used to that version of her, but when she accused me of backdooring, it broke my heart.”

“Damn, that’s tough, and I feel you.” She paused momentarily. “Do you know the relationship between my dad and you and your brother? Chase made a comment to Justice about our dad knowing you?” I had to go back through the mental Rolodex of the information Rich had given me, and I couldn’t recall anything about their parents.

“Naw, what does your pops do for work? And is he in the streets?” I asked. The second question I asked just slipped out, but I needed to know. Her head turned to me slowly.

“I knew it. I knew you did something outside of working at Last Chance.”

“I own Last Chance.” I smirked at the expression on her face. “But I do have my hands in the streets, but there’s nothing to worry about. My hands are clean if anyone comes looking, just in case you’re wondering. I did plan on telling Justice. I… I just thought I’d have more time.”

“This is absolutely crazy.” She shook her head. “You gon’ have your hands full with explaining all of this to Justice.”

“I’m already knowing,” I agreed.

She started to tell me about their father and how they were only six months apart and how Justice’s mom passed away from drugs. Leaving her with their dad. She mentioned that her mom had always said he was a snake, a sheep in wolf clothing. How he only dealt with people he could take from. She said Justice didn’t know that part of him, so she still had her blinders on when it came to him.

“You know the drugs she had when she got locked up?” she asked, and I nodded.

“Yeah, well, I think they belong to him somehow. It was his suitcase, but I just couldn’t prove it.” She sighed.

“Y’all pops got a nickname or something. Or do you know any of his hang-out places?” I asked.

“Yeah, my grandmother used to stay in the projects around Woodland, and he used to hang out there occasionally, but I don’t know if he still goes around there since my grandmother no longer lives around there.” She paused and tapped her thumb on her thigh. “I think my mom mentioned that they called him… Slick. I think. I could be wrong, but it was some kind of sneaky, snake-type vibe, which ironically fit him.”

It was as if a bright fucking light went off with this new information. I was almost too stunned to speak, or to confirm her suspicion. That nigga was really the reason his baby girl went to jail, and the fact that he abandoned her when he could’ve taken the fall, but he ran instead. Yeah, that nigga just reserved a one-way ticket to the upper room.

I went into detail about my connection to their father and how he had been on my payroll since 2016, but in 2020 he was MIA. I admitted I wasn’t too concerned about him after he stole my drugs. I knew he wasn’t stupid enough to come around. She mentioned she hadn’t seen him since he broke into her mother’s house during the first year Justice served. I made a mental note to put out a target on Slick’s ass. I wanted him alive because before I killed him, I was going to make him apologize to my Trouble.

I changed the conversation back to Justice and asked. “Soooooo… where she at?”

“I can’t tell you,” she sighed. “If I tell you, she might set our apartment on fire next. She told me she needed time away from everyone, including me.”

“Damn. I hope she doesn’t do anything stupid about Chase. I know he’d send her back to jail, and if that happened, I’d have to kill my brother for being a bitch-ass nigga.”

She paused, considering what I’d just said.

“You said she drove off in your car? You don’t have a tracker on it?”

“I do,” I stated matter-of-factly.