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“Why you ain’t bring her?”

Blue looked at Rico like he was crazy. “You wanted me to bring a lawyer around this shit?” he circled the porch with everything they had going on.

Jugg frowned in Rico’s direction, as did Pat, while all he did was shrug it off as if it didn’t matter to him either way. That attitude right there was the stuff Blue was talking about with him. He didn’t care about nothing that didn’t involve the street life.

“Shit, she down with you, so I know she knows what’s going on. She got you out of prison for this same lifestyle.”

“Seeing it on paper is different than seeing it in real life. Plus, Forever ain’t even the type for this.”

Blue grinned at Pat. “You talking about my girl like you know her.”

“I do. Who you think was looking out for her while you was up there?”

“Me nigga!”

Blue laughed loudly when Pat joined and held his fist up to pound.

“Real shit,” he continued, laughing at Blue’s expense. “She ain’t though. When her and her lil’ family came down here and I talked to her, I could tell she ain’t with the shit at all. She was even a little snootier than the other two.”

“So, basically she’s on the opposite side of the law than us?” Rico inquired.

Pat nodded. “No other choice but to be, but she’s cool.”

Blue scratched his head and took the blunt from Jugg and inhaled it, blowing smoke circles in front of him.

“She’s not on the opposite side. She just has a job to do, and she does it. She’ll help before she’ll hurt. See what she did for me; my life was gone before my baby came.”

The porch went quiet, all of them looking at Blue before bursting into laughter and making jokes on him about being sprung.

“You feeling her for real?” Jugg asked. “Or you just fucking for now?”

“Nah, I’m with her for real. It’s different with her. She’s so damn smart and bossed up. Like, grown as hell for real. She takes care of business, makes her money, and she’s a good girl. Ain’t did shit in life but go to school and work.” His chest swelled in pride as he spoke about his lawyer bae. “Some of the stuff she says sometimes be making me feel slow as shit,” Blue chuckled loudly and ended up choking on the smoke from the blunt. “The girl is intelligent as hell, the smartest person I know for real.”

“And she don’t care about you being in a gang and doing illegal shit?” Wale’s disbelief was comical.

“If she does, she doesn’t say it. She knows I’m not on no dumb stuff, she trusts me,” he shrugged. “Lets me be the man and shit. Even though I know for a fact, the girl is smarter than me, and she still lets me lead. I fuck with that the most.”

Rico shook his head. “Y’all niggas is weird, Cuz. I don’t trust no woman.”

“You haven’t found the right one,” Pat told him just as the front door pushed open roughly and out ran Azayna and Egypt’s son, Zon.

“That girl know you got her baby at the trap?” Blue frowned at Pat in disdain. “You know better than that.”

“He can handle it,” Pat responded before turning his attention to his grandson.

A miniature version of Egypt, from the color of his skin to his brown dreads and behavior, Zon frowned at everybody on the porch before stepping in front of Pat. In a pair of red gym shorts, a black Nike shirt, Jordans, and gold around his little neck, Zon contrasted terribly with the other colors of clothing on the porch.

“Papa, I’m hungry. Can we go now?”

“Zon, what you supposed to say when you see people talking?”

Blue smirked when Zon balled his face into a scowl and cut his eyes at Blue when he laughed.

“Scuse me.”

“Okay, start over then.”

With his parents’ attitude, Zon stalked back to the door and stomped back to Pat. “Scuse me, Papa,” he growled, making Blue laugh.