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“What the fuck is going on?” Eden bellowed as she rushed into the apartment, swarming with police and paramedics.

Through the commotion, Eden could hear Staysha yelling, Aysha crying, and a voice she knew but hadn’t heard in years.

“You can’t take her anywhere!” Staysha screeched. “Who the fuck called you?”

“Momma, you’re coming with me,” Anzel said in a voice as fake as the breasts and butt she put on herself.

Eden pushed through the bodies blocking her entrance to her apartment. Poppi was strapped to a bed; the living room a mess, and rage filled her eyes as she peered up at Anzel. “Poppi, look at me.”

“I’m taking her,” Anzel stated, unable to look at Eden’s face.

Eden ignored her. “Poppi, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”

Poppi’s eyes darted to Eden and softened for just a moment. “I’m sorry.”

“Staysha, what happened to her?” Eden asked because getting an answer out of Aysha, who was sobbing in the corner, was impossible.

“Poppi was sleeping and then Aysha got a call from her,” Staysha said, pointing to their mother. “By the time I woke up and came out here, she was in the living room, waking Poppi up. And then Poppi started fighting.”

“I’m sorry,” Aysha sobbed. “I thought I-”

“Shut up,” Anzel hissed, snapping her fingers. “Get your ass in the car. All that fucking crying.”

Aysha quickly scrambled, grabbing her things and scurrying past Staysha. Eden looked up briefly, tears in her eyes. It was clear that Staysha had torn her up after learning what she’d done.

“She’s not leaving,” Eden stated, as she attempted to unstrap Poppi, only for the officers to pull her back forcibly. “Let me go! She’s not going with you!”

“She is,” Anzel said smugly, adjusting her jacket.

“Got my mother locked up in some tiny ass apartment with you and your whoring ass sister. You’re not taking care of her, barely feeding her.

You thought asking that cryin’ bitch to help you wasn’t going to get back to me?

Ha. I’ve been waiting for you to move out of my way. Filling my momma’s head up.”

“Whore?” Eden questioned and lunged as if she were coming out of her body. “You’re the biggest fucking whore I’ve ever seen! You left us here! Left all of us here! What are you taking her for, for real? Huh? For what money?”

It took two officers to hold Eden back and another two to keep Staysha from going after their mother. Anzel, in it all, appeared to be unbothered by the cries and whimpers of her mother and daughters. She was cold. Evil, and powered by greed.

As if Eden hadn’t already felt hopeless, this was bound to send her into a spiral.

Her life had been her, Poppi, and Staysha.

The trio of women who stayed up all night sharing stories, watching Poppi cook, and going to local spots.

If it weren’t for Poppi, Eden and Staysha would have never known love.

Eden and Staysha held each other in the doorway as they watched the private ambulance, the officer, and their mother’s chauffeur-driven SUV pull away in a caravan.

“We’re not going to see her again, are we?” Staysha somberly asked.

Eden tearfully shook her head. “No.”

It was just like all those years ago, when they stood in the door watching their mother leave in a cloud of pomp and circumstance.

Something in Eden broke, something she wouldn’t attempt to mend either.

The dull pain in her chest would serve as a reminder to never get too close to anyone again.

Poppi was her girl, her world, and if Anzel had anything to do with it, Poppi would be gone before the year closed out.

“You need to perk the hell up; there’s niggas with money in here!” Pri gritted as she walked past Eden, who was removing the black dress she wore to Poppi’s funeral.

She hadn’t even made it to the end of the year, let alone two months away from Eden and Staysha.

According to the pastor, and everyone else was sold a lie by Anzel, Poppi passed peacefully in her sleep.

Eden was sure Anzel paid people to change her medicine and fast-track the end of her journey through life.

Eden swiped a tear from her face. She would have loved to be like Staysha, curled up in the middle of the bed, wasting away in sorrow, but things still had to move, and as the oldest, Eden was charged with making sure she and her sister made it out alive instead of being swallowed up by the darkness.

“I’m fine,” Eden huffed, looking over to see Pri with her arms folded, looking at her up and down.

“Yeah, right,” she scoffed. “Are you going to be a sad bitch tonight or are you actually going to make us some fuckin’ money?”

Eden brushed her curls out and looked at her sadness in the mirror before huffing.

“What you need to perk yourself up?” Pri questioned, placing her hands on her expanding hips. Priya was showing now, and with the pole was no longer an option for her, Mama put her over pussy management. “I got percs and coke.”

“She ain’t taking none of that shit,” Mama’s voice sounded off. “Eden, bring your ass over here.”

“What?” Pri questioned. “I was just trying to perk her sad ass up. She’s been in here crying over her nigga or something for days.”

Mama ignored Pri and waited until Eden was close enough to walk away toward her office. The minute they were behind closed doors, Mama pointed at the screen of her iPad.

Eden’s eyes drifted over it quickly, reading the headline. Rising Music Mogul Acquires Dying Music Label, Making History as the First Black Woman to Hold the CEO Title.

“About six months ago, she called me, asked to hold some money but I told that bitch Trae Way’s money doesn’t come without a price, and I expected to be paid back four times over as well as her moving product.

Needless to say, she cussed me out and hung up.

Poppi might’ve been losing her damn mind, but she knew where her money was.

What bank, what floor panel, what corner store.

Since then, there have been a string of robberies.

Nothing my niggas can’t handle. We dropped a few bodies, but Anzel got hold of the safety deposit box.

That was used so she could purchase the record label. ”

“Why are you telling me? I’m still stuck here. Staysha’s stuck here. None of this shit has anything to do with us.”

Mama smirked. “Listen, I know I haven’t been the best daughter or sister, hell, or mother because Aysha has teamed up with that bitch for some change.

But I'm a decent aunt and I’m not going to have you or your sister out here falling in the same shit we did.

So, we’re going to make a deal, you get your ass out this club and make something of yourself and the stash Poppi had is yours. ”

“If there was a stash, why the hell did you let us struggle like that?”

“Because had I given you money, you wouldn’t have gotten your ass out the house and tried to get a come up; you would’ve been knocking at my door every ten minutes.

You got six years to prove to me you can make something of you and your sister.

I’ll watch it, grow it, and make sure it’s clean.

You do the fucking work. So, figure out how you’re getting your pretty ass out this club. ”

Eden groaned, unsure how she was even going to do that.

Instead of asking pointless questions, she nodded and started out of the office.

Her somber eyes found Pri hugged up in the hallway with the same hooded man from before.

Whatever she had going on with him, Eden didn’t want any parts of.

She headed to the stage, before she could touch the pole, the floor manager pulled her by the elbow.

“You got someone in VIP waiting on you.”

Eden eyed her oddly before stepping down and heading toward the VIP. The moment she stepped in, she caught the gleam from Mac’Roy. Eden huffed and started to turn around and walk out.

“Hold on, Eden,” he spoke. “Come on now, I paid for this, at least oblige me for twenty minutes.”

“No offense, but I don’t have twenty minutes for you to sell me some bullshit or anything else.”

“I don’t sell bullshit. Only real shit. You could’ve been out of here. You missed the photoshoot,” Mac’Roy shared, sitting back and studying her somberness.

“I lost my grandmother.”

Mac’Roy’s expression turned soft. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s life. You lose more than you win. It is what it is,” Eden shared. “Do you want a dance or...”

“There’s another photoshoot. A big brand and being that we barely found someone by the cut-off time last time, I’m not in the business of letting my brands down.”

“So no to the dance?”

“Eden, is this what you want?” Mac’Roy asked, waving his manicured fingers around the dark space. “Spending your day dancing? Is that what your grandmother would’ve wanted? I’m sure she didn’t want you here.”

“You have no idea who or what she was to tell me what she would or wouldn’t want,” Eden snapped. “Don’t try to use her to get me to bend.”

Mac’Roy held his hands up. “Fine. I won’t try to sway you. I’ll just leave you with this – I wasn’t looking for you. You weren’t looking for me. But you are searching for something, and you’ll never find it if you don’t step out the darkness, Eden.”

Mac’Roy stood, lending her a soft expression. “Have a good night, Eden.”

“Yeah, you too.”

If Eden didn’t wake up soon and see what was opening up right in front of her, she would slip deeper into the darkness.

She let another four days pass by without reaching out to Mac’Roy.

Even Priya told her that he’d been coming to the VIP and sending messages for her.

It wasn’t until the fifth day that Mac’Roy was tired of Eden avoiding the inevitable – her destiny.

“You’re a hard woman to hunt down,” Mac’Roy said, leaning on the side of Eden’s car as she exited the hair store. “I see you never got my message.”

Eden groaned. “Not you stalking me so you can ruin my life.”

“I’ve said it once, I’ve said it twice – I’m not in that business.”

“Explain to me the business again, then.”

Mac’Roy chuckled. “You weren’t listening?”

“Seemed like some bullshit,” she said with a shrug of the shoulders. “Leaving a message through Priya seemed like even more bullshit.”

“Alright then, ride with me and I’ll tell you all you need to know.”

“Nah, not doing that. Tell me the lies right here,” Eden stated, as she pointed to the cracked asphalt.

“Your cover model fell through, and you want me to be on a cover of a magazine I never even heard about. That was the first one. The second one was that you had a big brand, and you weren’t in the business of letting business slip through your fingers or whatever you said. ”

Mac’Roy tapped the trunk of his Rolls-Royce parked next to her car.

The door opened and out stepped a girl a little older than Eden.

She was gorgeous and moved like she floated.

“Eden, this is my daughter, Natavia. This new magazine is Natavia’s idea, and like I said last night, you would be a good fit. ”

“Daddy, I’ll take it from here because I’m not going to lie, it is a little bit creepy given the age and all,” Natavia expressed, touching his arm slightly and nudging him away.

“I’m sorry about his persistence, but we are a few weeks away from publishing the second issue with online content, and we have no model who fits the vibe.

When he told me about you, I looked you up.

No social media footprint means we can build you up and be the next hot thing. ”

“Yeah, see, the thing about the next hot thing means it’s over as fast as it starts, and I’m not trying to be back here in three months. So, I think I’ll pass on being your project.”

“The position starting off is twenty thousand. The more followers and content you create and leads we get from your content, the more the number increases. Look at it like this, in three months, you’ll be out of here and never looking back. It’s yours, all you have to say is yes.”

Eden mused over the idea. Twenty thousand dollars would clear her debt to Mama and have her and Staysha out of Trae Way. “No shit, right? Like I won’t have to beat y’all’s asses for playing with me?”

“Not at all. In good faith, we’ll give you half today, at the first photoshoot.”

Eden weighed her options. The deal seemed too good to be true, but it also could’ve been her way out. And she wouldn’t know if this was answered prayers if she didn’t take the leap.

“I have one request before saying yes. My sister is kind of in some legal trouble, and I need her by my side.”

“Whatever it is, we’ll make it go away and sign her as your management, but we need you. And I got photographers, stylists, and venues on standby, so I kind of need an answer yesterday.”

Eden pulled out her phone and dialed her sister.

Staysha answered. “You just left, what do you want?”

“Quit, we got somewhere to be.”

Staysha didn’t ask any questions before hanging up and walking out of the hair shop. When she joined the group, she looked at Eden. “Are we about to be hoes?”

Natavia laughed. “No. We want to sign your sister to a modeling and content designer contract, but she has said very clearly that you two are a packaged deal. So, if she’s signed, that ankle jewelry of yours is no more.”

Staysha smacked Eden with the back of her hand. “Bitch, say yes so we can get the hell out of here.”

Eden offered her a weary look, but Staysha gave her reassurance.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”

Eden pulled in a deep breath and shivered slightly against the cold. “Let’s do it.”

“Good. Follow us,” Natavia cheered, clapping her hands.

Eden and Staysha followed the Rolls-Royce into the city to a warehouse that was set up with a film crew, photographers, and an array of stylists.

The contract was signed, and the first payment was sent.

Eden felt like her head was spinning. Everything was moving so fast, and Staysha was right there to assist and offer suggestions on her sister’s behalf.

“I feel like I’m in a fairytale,” Eden told her between looks.

“I think you’re in an answered prayer,” Staysha said, squeezing her hand. “Let’s ride this wave and build the brand and never look back.”

“Never?”

“Never.”