Page 24 of June: When Gangstas Collide

Zaria had fallen asleep after serving a nigga some of that queen pussy while I chilled downstairs. I began to water my plants, play a little music, and indulge in the Devil’s lettuce. My head bobbed to the music as I moved around my house, enjoying shit for once.

“Count a lil ben, smoke a little chronic. June, where you been? Nigga I been mobbing.”

It had been years since I’ve been able to relax and enjoy the fruits of my labor. For every year I put in work, for my friends that I saved, for my community, and struggled to cope with dying, it was a long time coming.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to handle Bishop just yet. As long as the nigga stayed on his side, shit would be cool. I honestly didn’t have time to focus on him because the focus was on Zaria and the crew, but every time I tried minding my fucking business, some Cove city jigga boo ass nigga came around. I burst out laughing as I pulled the blunt from my lips.

“Cove city jigga boo,”

I muttered.

My mind began to race as I began to process all the shit that had transpired since being in the Cove. From meeting a family who seemed to have demons just like I did to running into Bishop. Did I feel bad that I aired his shit out? Maybe. However, the only person who came to mind when my shit was burnt down was him. I knew deep down I had fucked up and I had probably gotten myself into something much deeper than I imagined, but it was too late to cry over spilled milk. Was I going to bow down to Bishop because of it? Fuck no.

I came up on my last plant, one of my favorite plants, to be exact. The way it outgrew all of the others, its masculine frame, big, thick, healthy leaves, and its tall, wild stature. It’s something I prided in, the fucking Monstera. All of its representation was me. Growth, abundance, and resilience. I am a resilient ass nigga. I placed the blunt to my lips as I stared at it.

“Sup, King?”

King was everything. He was the first plant I purchased after leaving the hospital, and he grew into something powerful. I bent down to give him water when I noticed one of his leaves was brown.

“King nigga you sick?”

I said as I reached out to touch the leaf and the shit fell right into my hand.

“The fuck?”

I began getting angry because King was falling apart. I held the brown, dead leaf in my hand, studying it. My eyes bounced from the leaf to King because I couldn’t believe this shit.

“King, what’s wrong, man? I feed you, give you water, and keep a peaceful home. Why are you falling apart?”

King had always reflected me, just as I saw the black calla lily, now it was King. Was this another sign that I was falling apart? I took a deep breath, trying to get my mind right, when the front door swung open to Samara’s loud ass singing. She had headphones on, but she was loud as fuck. I hurried over to her and snatched the headphones off.

“You coming up in here late as fuck, being loud as hell. My plants, Samara, damn.”

I snapped.

Her eyes widened as she looked afraid. I instantly felt bad.

“Why are you so damn mean?”

“I’m not—”

“You are. I’m sorry for being loud around your plants, Chevy, damn.”

I dropped my head and cleared my throat.

“Samara, I’m sorry, ok. My plants and how they're treated are just as important to me as you are. They are like my children, just as you are like my daughter.”

Her eyes soften.

“You mean that?”

she asked.

“Yeah. Z is up there asleep, so keep it down. She needs to rest. Also, you and Dio—”

She smiled. I knew she was really into Dionysus, and I was accepting of it. I would much rather he be the nigga she was with than Keith. I didn’t trust the blues. They were the op, and that shit wasn’t going to work.

“What about me and Dio? Look, Chevy, I love him and he is my boyfriend.”

I nodded.

“I know the little nigga is your boyfriend. I’ve known Dio much longer than you. Keep it cute, Samara, because that shit, I saw, I don’t want to see the shit again. Please, I’m trying to be nice, but I can get real ignorant. Keep. It. Cute.”

She giggled, then reached out and wrapped her arm around me.

“Thank you for everything, Dad.”

My heart skipped a beat as my arms slowly eased around her, taking her in. I wanted to know more about her family, and I would soon, because Samara was a part of the Calloways, and if her parents thought for a second they were going to come and disrupt what Zaria and I shared with her, they would meet the grim reaper at the fucking door.

Samara had now gone upstairs, leaving me to settle in my thoughts about King. As soon as I headed back toward my plant, there was a knock at my door.

“Who the fuck is it?”

Agitated, I stormed toward the door and swung it open.

“What are you doing over here this late?”

“I needed someone to talk to,”

Indigo whispered.

I glanced down at her fucking dog, who panted so loudly it was just as annoying as her calling me Clark. I wanted to send her ass back up the street, but what she did for me earlier, I couldn’t. I owe her this, even if the conversation was brief. Hesitantly, I stepped back to let her and her damn dog come inside.

“If your dog piss or shit in my house, that’s her ass. If she even nibbles at my plants, that’s her ass. If she jumps on my goddamn couch, that’s her muhfuckin ass,”

I gritted.

She nodded as she walked further inside, making herself comfortable on my oversized couch. I shook my head because I could tell that she and Z did this shit often.

“What, you scared of the dark or some shit?”

“I’m scared of my demons,”

she mumbled.

“Shit, we all have those, but pretty princess has demons surprises me.”

She smacked her lips.

“Don’t let that big house and their money fool you. Grace’s house wasn’t the fairytale you think.”

I eased toward her and stopped when the dog began to growl. I squatted down in front of the dog and stared into its eyes. “Grrrr,”

I growled.

My lips curled up. I found myself getting on all fours, slowly crawling toward the dog, and growling again. This time, she ran off next to Indigo, hiding behind her feet.

“That’s what the fuck I thought.”

Indigo flopped as she turned toward me.

“You don’t have to be that way. You know I accept you for who you are.”

“You don’t have a choice because I’m not changing for nobody, not even your goofy, brick-body ass nigga.”

Her eyes lowered.

“We’re not together.”

“Good, makes killing him easier.”

She rolled her eyes like what I said was a joke.

“Can I ask you something?”

I moved around as I grabbed my blunt and lit it. I shrugged.

“If you’ve got a question, then I have an answer.”

Inhale, then exhale.

“How do you define happiness?”

Inhale, then exhale.

“If you’re asking me this, then it makes me believe you're in search of it because you don’t feel you have it.”

Inhale, then exhale.

“I’m asking because I realized that you can have everything you want in the world and still be unhappy. I’ve been in a place where it’s beyond Bishop, and I don’t know what to do.”

Inhale, then exhale.

“First, let’s not bring him up again. Second, I can’t tell you how to be happy because I’m still in the process of finding mine. Look, Indigo, I know you're trying to get to know me or whatever, but sometimes family can’t give you what you're looking for. You have to find that on your own, without outside help. Whatever it is you're struggling with, it’s only you who can get yourself out of it. Nobody else.”

Inhale, then exhale.

“Hmph. So I guess it’s only you who can get yourself out of what you got into,”

she paused as she stood up and headed for the door.

“Come on, LuLu,”

she called out to the dog, who came bouncing behind her.

“Bishop, he’s not going to stop. You may have a bigger family than he does, but if I know nothing else about that man, he’s determined. Strap up, brother. I hope you two can get yourself out of this mess before you both end up dead pawns in this game.”

She smiled before she left.

I closed the door and turned to see Z standing there in tears.

“You're still trying to find happiness, huh?”

Shit! I reached out to her, but she pulled away.

“No, you’re fine. Good night, Chevy,”

she said as she walked back up the steps.

Chevy? “Fuck!”

I grumbled.

My eyes landed on King, noticing another fucking dead leaf. I refuse to be like my plant. Shit around me was starting to crumble, and in my mind, every king had to either pass the torch to the worthy or fall. However, for this king, I didn’t know in which direction I was headed, but a nigga like me refused to fucking fall.

I walked down to Harvey’s because she asked if I could come over. Although I wasn’t in the mood, I decided to see what it was that she wanted. My mind had been running since hearing June say he was still trying to find happiness. What the fuck did that mean? The one thing I hated was regrets, and as bad as I didn’t want to, I was beginning to regret marrying June.

When I got to her house, she swung the door open extra fucking jolly.

“Hey Zaria!”

“Hey girl,”

I said dryly.

I could see her trying to search my face to figure out what was wrong, but now wasn’t the time. As I stepped further into the house, I noticed Sasha, Foe’s sister, Yana, who was breastfeeding, Indigo, and Tania, surprisingly, were sitting around. There was food and drinks on the table while music played softly.

“Everyone has been going through it, so I figured an impromptu girls’ day wouldn’t hurt.”

Shit, everyone looked happy to me. I sat next to Indigo before focusing back on Harvey, who stood before us. She clapped her hands together.

“I know we're going to do our girl thing, but I wanted to bring you guys here because Myles' birthday is coming up, and I want to throw him a party, and I need y’all’s help.”

Lakia laughed.

“Oh, this is going to be good. Girl, do you really know the nigga you’re with? And also stop calling him Myles, just call him Foe.”

“You call him Foe, and I’ll call him what I want. My man and your brother.”

Lakia hopped up, “What?”

“No shade, Lakia, but when you and Myles are in here going back and forth, I’m always taking up for you, so let me call him what I want.”

I burst out laughing.

“And ooop!”

Lakia nodded.

“Only because you’ve been saving me. He doesn’t like parties. The last party he had, my momma got stupid drunk and fucked the whole thing up. Then, the time before that, he got arrested at his party. So if you pull this off, I will be shocked.”

Tania sucked her teeth, “What does his party have to do with us, though?”

she said, pointing between her and Indigo.

Harvey’s head snapped her way.

“I’m trying to be nice. The goal is to find peace between the blue and orange and—”

Tania laughed.

“You make it sound like a gang. Girl, it’s not that serious. Nobody is pressed over Clark or June or Chey, whatever his name—”

I went to say something, but Harvey held up her hand.

“I got it, Zaria. Indigo, please forgive me, but your twin is two seconds from getting her ass beat. Bitch, what the fuck is wrong with you? You are a bitter bitch, and it’s becoming annoying. Here we are inviting you to share a space of peace, and every time you find a way to fuck it up. June, that’s my brother, and what I will not let you do is talk bad about him. You don’t even know him.”

Tania shrugged.

“I don’t want to know him. He came to our world, not the other way around.”

I slowly turned toward her.

“Bitch is you sick? Am I not sitting here, and you going on and on about my man? Like, are you cool?”

I snapped.

I could see Tania swallow deeply. I went to stand up and Yana held her hand out.

“No, Z, you’re pregnant. You lucky I don’t jump across this fucking table. Love is saving your ass for real.”

“Tania, just go,”

Indigo said to her.

I didn’t understand how she and Indigo were sisters, twins at that, because they were the complete opposite. Someone destroyed Tania, and whoever or whatever it was did major damage.

Tania got up to walk out, but Harvey stood in front of her.

“No, I want to know why you are so fucking bitter. The shit is sickening,”

Harvey paused.

“A nigga made you this way? Don’t get me wrong. I’ve acted out over a man, I’m sure all of us have. None of us is perfect, but you're talking badly about your family, hell, a man you don’t even know.”

I heard all the talking, but I wanted Harvey to beat her ass. If I could, I would have. Tania turned to look at us, then back at Harvey.

“I don’t want to get to know him, and you're not going to bully me to do so. I don’t care about a fucking party, nor do I care about the blue and orange making amends for all I—”

Harvey hit her. Harvey hit her so hard that she flew back. Indigo jumped up, and I pulled her down. “No.”

Harvey stepped over her and hit her again. The way she was swinging her fists.

“Beat her ass, Harve!”

Yana shouted.

You could tell she had been around men for a while. It was probably some shit Foe taught her. Tania got a grip of Harvey’s hair and pulled her down. The girls were rolling around on the floor.

“I don’t like you bitch. I swear!”

Harvey shouted as she gripped both sides of Tania’s head before she slammed it against the floor. Indigo shot up again, this time running over, pulling Harvey off her sister.

“Stop!”

she screamed.

Harvey backed up, panting heavily.

“Indigo, you’re welcome, but that bitch can’t come back. Get the fuck out!”

Harvey shouted.

Indigo glanced at me with sad eyes. A part of me wanted to feel bad, but I couldn’t because Tania was asking for it. However, I didn’t want it to affect Indigo’s and my relationship. They had both walked out of the house, leaving us all lost for words. I knew the blue and orange would never make peace if we couldn’t get peace. I also didn’t know how this would affect how they treated June and that’s what scared me.