Page 17 of Cove City, Volume II

End.

I closed out of Pierre’s message. I didn’t know what to feel. A part of me wanted to go running into his arms, and cry my eyes out, but another part of me wanted to stay away. I wanted to keep hiding in my own bubble. Niggas were always a problem. If it wasn’t another female, it was their troubled past; if it wasn’t that, it was an intimacy issue. I knew I was making this harder than it was supposed to be, but I was the fucking victim.

I set the phone down and kept working on my story. I had emailed George to ask if he could give me more time to submit my article. I had to come up with a bogus excuse why I couldn’t come into the office. So far, it worked. I began to search the Cove City articles, starting with the name I saw in one of the letters, which was James Avery. I scrolled through until I came across something. My eyes scanned the article to see Best’s name as the writer.

Drug Lord or Money Launderer? Can this one guy be a mass criminal?

James Avery is known to rule the inner city with his mischievous ways. Could the rumors be true about the known history of the Averys? For two decades, the Averys and Merciers have been at war with each other, or have they? As things begin to unfold for the two families, the federal government has become silent in its investigation. Locals say that James Avery is a neighborhood hero as he has provided for them in more ways than the city officials. He has given back to his community, which could be a win for Mr. Avery.

However, there are rumors that he and other wealthy families are involved in a scheme that could backfire not just on him but also on his community. As the story unfolds, we will see if James Avery has the upper hand.

So, it was Naheem’s family who had been scheming. It wasn’t making sense, and this Mercier family seemed to be in on something, too. The shit was frustrating me because I didn’t know what any of it had to do with the goddamn Cove and Lake Hill. I closed my laptop and then stared at my phone. I missed my man, and hearing his voice would do me some justice right now. As soon as I picked up my phone, there was a knock at my bedroom door.

“Come in, Ma,.

“I called out.

The door slowly opened, and she wheeled herself in. I could see a look of concern on her face. What I didn’t need was more bad news. I was already trying to keep my game face on, and here it was, she was about to give me bad news. I forced a smile on my face.

“What is it?”

She dropped her head.

“Every day I regret that I couldn’t be a better mother to you. I was supposed to be your superhero. The one person who was supposed to be able to provide all of your needs, and I failed you, and I’m sorry.”

I knew my mother did her best. When my father left, she could never get herself together. She allowed that man to take care of everything, and just as he walked out the door, he took everything with him, including her integrity. I didn’t want to be like her. I refused.

My mother pulled a paper from her lap. She went to hand it to me, but the lights went off.

“Shit!” I spat.

“I had been meaning to tell you the lights were about to get disconnected.”

“Really, Ma?”

“Tuesday, I’m sorry. I thought we were moving.”

I wanted to explode. Why did I have to be chosen for this? I didn’t want to be one of God’s strongest soldiers. I wanted to be in a soft girl era. I wanted to be shopping every other day, be in my empowerment mode, and getting fucked on a daily. Instead, I was taking care of someone who was supposed to be helping me on my bad days, almost violated by a nigga whose cousin I was fucking, and doing an article on some shit I didn’t know about just to keep my fucking job.

I was at the point where I didn’t have anything left to give.

SASHA

Indigo had invited all the girls to her gallery. She said she wanted to have a sip and paint event. I almost rejected the offer because of what Zeus and I were going through, but I knew I couldn’t be stuck in a slump forever. Zaria asked if I wanted to ride with her, but I chose to come alone. I had just pulled up to the gallery when I spotted Bishop leaving with anger written all over his face. I heard about what Chevy had done to his spot, and I knew he was plotting and planning; however, he hadn’t made any moves, and that was the scary part.

I put on my big girl smile as I got out of the car and went inside. Everyone was here, and I was almost shocked to see them all laughing, talking, and dancing amongst each other. Indigo had black lights throughout the gallery, featuring mid-sized canvases, as well as a drink and food table. I stepped further inside to see Zaria dancing her way toward me with her belly swaying with her.

“Hey girl, welcome to girls’ night.”

“Hey boo,.

“I replied.

Navi and Yana were leaning over, giggling about something. Tania was sipping her drink, rocking side to side as she sat in front of her canvas. She must have been feeling good because this was the first time I’ve seen her in a good mood. There was another girl there I’d never seen before, and she and Harvey were talking.

I strolled over to the open canvas seat which was in between the girl I’ve never seen and Zaria. “Hi,.

“the girl said to me.

“Hi.”

“I’m Synai.”

Tania’s head shot our way as she rolled her eyes. I nodded.

“You’re Bleek’s girlfriend?”

“Yes..

“She smiled.

Zaria came over, sitting next to me. She leaned in to say something, but the music suddenly became softer.

“Ok, ladies, since Zaria hosted the last girls' night, I thought I'd give it a shot. I know there are a lot of egos outside the building among our men, but we want to show them that we can get along, so they can too. We all can co-exist in the Cove.”

Yana threw her hand out.

“You got that right. Now what are we painting?”

Indigo giggled.

“This painting will be what you feel but let me give you guys something to work with.”

Indigo clapped her hands, and from the back emerged a man, a fine one at that. He had a medium-brown complexion, a chiseled face, a low-cut taper, sleepy eyes, and nice full lips. He came into the circle of canvases and removed the robe he wore.

“Goddamn!.

“Yana shouted.

I laughed and laughed hard. “Shit!.

“I blurted out.

Synai pointed.

“Mm…k… he’s fine as hell.”

Harvey stood.

“And a body like a God!”

We all burst into laughter. It felt good to laugh, to take my mind off of Zeus even for a second. I could see Zaria peeking over the canvas.

“I mean my nigga is blessed, but shat!”

“Ok, ladies, let’s paint!.

“Indigo shouted.

Now it made sense why Bishop was pissed when he left. Hell, the nigga standing before us needed to be worried once he left here. Tania definitely had one too many drinks as she stood and began swinging her body from side to side.

“Get it, girl!.

“Navi said to her.

“Shit, one more drink we’re going to have to pull her off that man.”

Zaria shook her head.

“You talk to Zeus?.

“she asked.

“Not really, Zaria, I don’t know what’s going to happen,.

“I told her.

“I get it. I’m sure things will work out, Sasha.”

My phone rang when I saw it was Zeus, flutters went through me, but anger struck me more. I glanced at Z, pointing to my phone. I moved quickly, I got up, went outside, and got in my car. I knew I had to handle Zeus a certain way because if not, he wouldn’t take this situation seriously. I didn’t allow him to say a word when I picked up.

“All I care about is Dio,.

“I snapped.

He didn’t respond. I could hear him breathing deeply. It was breaths of fear, and that scared me. I didn’t know if Dio was ok, hell, I didn’t know if he and I were ok. Zeus’s silence agitated me.

“Hello!” I yelled.

“He’s,.

“he paused.

“He’s ok for now.”

I let out a breath of relief. Dio meant a lot to Zeus, and I knew if Dio didn’t come out of whatever this was, Zeus would never be the same. No matter how mad I was at him, no matter how much I projected my anger to trigger him to respond to me the way I needed him to, I would never get that version of Zeus again.

The thing that bothered me was that he wasn’t calling me because he was beginning to feel bad for not allowing me to explain. He needed me, and I wanted to be there, but he chose to shut me out. He wanted things to run on his time and not ours. I had to push him away until he returned because his focus needed to be on Dio. I needed that situation to be okay so he and I could hash out whatever it was, so we could also be okay. If I didn’t do what I was about to, Zeus would call me every day and play a game of pity when we had bigger things to work out.

I closed my eyes before I spoke.

“Well, he’s in my prayers, and I hope he comes back with you, but Zeus, I don’t know if there is a you and me anymore.”

Did I mean what I said, maybe? I wanted Zeus to fight for us, something he has never done, because every situation had been about him. I know he assumed the worst when he saw Pierre, but no matter how many times I tried explaining it wasn’t what he thought, he had already come up with his own version of what he saw. I waited for him to say he wanted to work it out. I wanted him to say I was being irrational, and I needed to calm the fuck down.

“I don’t know either, Sasha, I don’t. Do I love you, fuck yeah. Do I honestly believe you were innocent, maybe. However, what I saw broke me. It’s a feeling you wouldn’t understand and with this Dio shit my head is all over the fucking place. I—”

Not what I wanted to hear. I sighed loudly with tears rolling down my face. I was angry again.

“Zeus, I don’t care what you thought you saw. I know that I did nothing wrong, and you, being the nigga you always are, thought about yourself in that moment and not me. So, stand on that shit. If it’s not about Dio, don’t call me back. Bye, Zeus..

“I said and hung up.

My shoulders bounced up and down as I cried my eyes out. I couldn’t believe I was about to lose my fucking man. I couldn’t believe this was Zeus and my story. When I glanced at the ring, I cried even harder. The tap on my window startled me. I tried quickly wiping my tears. I rolled the window down.

“Are you okay?.

“Yana asked.

I blew out a sharp breath.

“Yeah, I’m ok.”

“Oh, Sasha, girl, it will be ok, I’m sure. You know, if you’re not up to it, you don’t have to go back in, and we can talk. Shit, all she has in there to eat are light snacks. This baby is due any damn day, and a bitch needs a burger.”

I laughed. Yana’s belly was big, and she looked like she would scream at any moment; she needed to go to the hospital.

However, I knew she was probably trying to hold on, silently praying the baby didn’t come until Diamond got back.

Tears started up again as I thought about when I was pregnant.

This was all too much.

I didn’t know how much more pain I could take.

I’ve reached a point where I have nothing left to give.