Page 4

River Ashland

The present. Six months after making it official

G etting out of my car, a black Nissan GT-R caught my attention.

It was parked across the street, low to the ground with tinted windows and a familiar kind of arrogance in its stance.

For a second my chest tightened but I didn’t linger on the feeling.

I looked away and hurried around to the passenger side of my car to help Chosyn.

Soon as I opened the door, this hoe sucked her teeth and pushed my hand out her way.

"River, if you don't get the fuck on," she gritted, struggling to get out. "Damn, when did your car get so low?"

She adjusted her cropped hoodie, pulling it down to cover her nursing bra. Pulling her tights up next, Chosyn strutted toward the pool hall, flinging her straightened hair over her shoulder.

"Ma'am, my car has always been low. You're struggling 'cause those stomach muscles aren't what they used to be."

"Whatever! I'm just not used to riding that low anymore. Let's not act like Wolfe didn't threaten to turn your baby into Swiss cheese if he caught me riding shotgun." Chosyn giggled.

"Bitch, that wasn't funny." I frowned.

Wolfe was crazy about Chosyn before getting her pregnant.

Wolfe, while Chosyn was pregnant, was a whole different demon.

Pulling up, out of the blue, on Chosyn whenever she called herself hanging out was his favorite pastime.

At first, I thought it was some type of cat-and-mouse game between them.

Then Wolfe pulled up to one of my races, threatening to see if everyone could outrun his bullets if his BM didn't show her face.

I cursed Chosyn's ass out, then forced her out of my car.

Wolfe let me know it was up for me and my car if Chosyn got back in my shit while carrying his baby. The nigga didn't have to tell me twice.

Unless we were chilling in the house anytime Chosyn went outside, Wolfe was posted watching from afar.

Chosyn swore she hated it, but deep down, I think she felt a sense of relief knowing Wolfe was never too far away.

The situation with Wolfe, his mom, Chosyn's father, Chance, and her sister, Choyce, bothered Chosyn more than she wanted to admit.

They were both dealing with the residual stress of the situation and using it as an excuse to be overly protective of each other.

"You know I wouldn't let Wolfe mess with your car. That boy is all talk," she huffed, adjusting her boobs. "Let's hurry this up. I only have two, maybe three hours max before my boobs start leaking."

"Chosyn." I laughed.

"What?"

"No one told you to leave the house when you just had a baby."

"River, please." She waved me off, smacking her lips. "I had Phoenix four months ago. That C-section almost sending me off to glory is the only reason I chilled and let y'all wait on me hand and foot. I'm fine now and just want to show my face."

I nodded because I understood. Watching the horror come over her as the doctor told her she needed to have an emergency c-section was crazy.

Wolfe and I were both allowed in the room as they cut her open.

All I did was cry as I watched my best friend bring life into the world while watching life drain from her eyes.

Her stay in the hospital was longer than any of us would have liked, but she and her baby came home healthy.

"You never cared about showing your face before."

"Yeah, well, motherhood changed me. I'm all for being a girl's girl. I want friends, and what's a better place to find them than at a Briar Beauty meeting? You know, since I'm a founding member and all." She winked.

I shook my head as we rounded the corner.

"'Bout time you got here... River." Leah's gaze drifted from Chosyn to me.

Chosyn peered over her shoulder toward me, silently questioning who Leah thought she was talking to. Subtly, I shook my head no, letting her know to leave it alone.

"If you have somewhere to be, then go," I spoke, eyeing her sternly.

"I plan to," she shot back, and I chuckled.

Leah was the kind of girl who didn't take shit from anyone. It didn't matter what position she played or how low on the totem pole she was, her mouth popped shit, and her hands were quicker to back it up.

"Oh my god, Chosyn, you look so good!" Kysre beamed, running over to Chosyn. Knowing her, she sensed the tension and used Chosyn as a distraction.

"No, forreal, because baby, where?" Kysre's twin sister, Kyree, declared, making Chosyn's already wide smile even wider.

"Don't hype me," Chosyn chided, posing for the twins.

"Please don't big her head up any more than it already is. Chosyn knows she looks good. Her BD makes sure to remind her every chance he gets," I joked.

"Husband bitch, get it right." Chosyn smirked, flashing the ring for the twins to see. They grabbed her hand, gawking over the rock Wolfe gave my girl.

"Lowkey, I was hurt my invitation got lost in the mail," Kysre pouted.

"Deadass, I thought I was your favorite?" Kyree curled over her bottom lip, giving Chosyn puppy dog eyes.

"It was something small and rushed, if I'm being honest."

"I get it, but I was trying to find a man like Wolfe and Crown. Them niggas know how to love on their women," Kysre smacked.

"Tuh," Leah scoffed. I glanced in her direction but didn't engage.

"They do! They do!" I confirmed interlocking B's with Chosyn.

"If I do another ceremony, y'all can be my bridesmaids since y'all are the only ones I like besides Honey."

"Opp!" Kyree giggled, catching the shade, and she wasn't the only one.

Leah placed the pool stick on top of the table and walked over with her eyes glued to Chosyn.

"No one cares about who you don't like, Chosyn. Until this very moment, I forgot your ass even existed. These hoes might kiss your ass, but these lips only pucker for dick." Winking, Leah blew Chosyn a kiss. A deep chuckle seeped from Chosyn's lips, kind of like an eerie hum.

"Bitch, get the fuck from 'round me," she warned, digging in her pocket. That damn lighter of hers came out. Her finger spread, pressing against the wheel, igniting the flame in the lighter and her eyes.

"Still playing with fire, I see. Aren't you a mother? Where's your ba?—"

Chosyn dropped her lighter and yanked Leah by the front of her shirt, slamming her fist into Leah's face. Leah swung back, clipping Chosyn's chin.

"Grab, Chosyn," I told the twins as I jerked Leah out of Chosyn's grasp.

"The fuck are y'all doing?" I yelled, pissed it had gotten this far.

"Ask where my kid is again, and I promise my husband gon' put you down for a dirt nap!"

"Don't threaten me with a fucking good time!" Leah yelled back.

I looked at her, my expression tightening with every second.

"Say less." Chosyn dug into her purse, grabbing her phone.

In seconds, Wolfe's voice blared through the speaker, sounding just as stressed as the four-month-old crying in the background.

"Aye, where you at? Your fucking kid in here hollering 'cause she decided to shit after I told her I wasn't wiping her ass. Her lil' ass been farting crazy since you left."

"Wolfe, she's a baby. If you don't change her, who will?"

"Her fav... you."

"You get on my nerves. How am I supposed to live my best city girl life when you're afraid to wipe your child's ass?"

"City girl? Fuck River at. Tell her I'm gon' have Rize and a couple of lil' niggas shoot that shit up if she got you on fuck shit."

"Chosyn!" I screamed.

"Ugh, please leave her alone. River, finish with your charity case. I'll be outside."

"Bitch!" Leah called out.

"Who the fuck is calling you a bitch, my heart?"

"Some hoe who doesn't want it with me. Now, back to my damn daughter!"

Chosyn flashed Leah the middle finger as she headed out of the pool hall. I let Leah go and then looked at the twins.

"Y'all have your dues?"

"The envelopes are on your desk," Kysre answered.

"Okay, give me the room and I'll set up a meeting for us to talk."

"Okay," they replied, grabbing their stuff to leave.

Leah walked over to the pool table, reclaiming her stick. She racked the balls, then skillfully lined the shot. Her chest stalled as the stick glided between her fingers.

"Still the best pool player I've seen." I smirked, watching as she struck the cue ball.

"Only because you can't see yourself play. I learned from the best, right?"

"Of course." I smiled.

Silence swept us as she shot around the table.

I was confused on how to handle this. Leah was naturally an intense person.

She was more closed off than Chosyn. Her attitude made it hard for people to like her, but the two of us clicked back in high school.

Once Chosyn moved in with me, Leah drifted away.

We hung out, but it wasn't anything like it used to be.

I chalked it up to growing pains and didn't think twice about initiating her into Briar Beauties.

Since Chosyn rarely came to meetings, Leah and I usually hung out after or went out for drinks.

I knew her and Chosyn being in the same room might cause issues, but I didn't think it'd be to this magnitude.

Letting out a sigh, I pulled out a stool.

"My dues are in the envelope over by the window."

With her eyes trained on her next shot, Leah subtly nodded toward the window she spoke of. I didn't bother grabbing the money. That wasn't important right now.

"Leah."

"Shh!"

Inhaling deeply, Leah held the breath in her chest. She eyed the ball, then brushed the stick across the table, striking the ball.

"I know you wanna have a sisterly moment, but I'm not beat for it."

"I don't care. What happened can't happen again, Leah."

"And it won't. This is my last drop."

"Last drop." I frowned.

"Yeah. I've been thinking about moving on from the whole Briar Beauties situation, but it wasn't until today that I made up my mind."

"Since when did our sisterhood become a situation?"

"River, leave it alone," she scoffed, lining her next shot.

"No." Rising from the stool, I walked over, knocking the balls every which way.

"River, chill," she spat.

"Not until you tell me why you want to leave your sisters?"

"Y'all are not my sisters. Never have been. Honey and I don't get along. Kyree and Kysre don't fuck with me. Chosyn and I never got along, and the rest of the girls don't even matter forreal."

"What about me? Am I not your sister?"

"River... " She chuckled.

"What's funny? Am I not your sister?" I asked again.

"You're not!"

"Wow!" I spat, nodding my head.

"Don't act surprised, River. You and I haven't been close in years. If I'm being honest, the two of us haven't fucked with each other since?—"

"Chosyn came into the picture," I finished for her.

"You said it, not me." She shrugged.

"Because you never speak on shit. Instead, you act like a fucking brat."

"I've never been a brat. You have me confused with your bestie."

"This isn't about Chosyn."

"It's not. It's about you and the way you stick up for everyone but me."

"Really?" My eyes bucked because Leah couldn't have been serious. All I did was get into fights behind her and her loose ass lips.

"Yes! How the fuck are you barking on me when Chosyn started this shit? Then you let her call me a charity case as if she's not the homeless bitch your mom took in."

"Leah," I spat. "Again, this isn't about Chosyn. Whatever jealousy you have toward that girl, you need to let it go. We're grown as fuck."

"Jealous of Chosyn? Yeah right. That orphan bitch doesn't have shit I want. I don't like her and never will. If anyone is jealous, it's you."

"What do I have to be jealous of?" I scoffed in disbelief.

"I mean, Crown was fucking with me until?—"

I wasn't even trying to be disrespectful, but the laugh that ripped through me was out of my control.

" Fucking with you is a stretch. That nigga fucked you. He wasn't your man."

"Doesn't matter. I had him first."

"Where was this animosity when I came to you asking about the situation between you and him? You told me then it was nothing serious, and you didn't care if I fucked him. Now you're mad like I stole him from you."

"I didn't care then, but now I see it's something more." Her eyes glanced toward my left hand. The rings everyone took as an engagement ring and wedding band were nothing more than a couple of promise rings.

"Why does it matter if you didn't care about us fucking?"

"Crown promised forever to me," she confessed, knocking the air out of my lungs. My left hand flew to my chest, clutching imaginary pearls.

"Crown and I fucked around. I knew he was fucking other women, but I didn't care because I knew when he was ready, it was going to be me and him."

"I don't believe you."

"Why? He told me all the things I can only guess he told you. I'm not ready for a relationship, but I fuck with you. I bet he even told you not to fuck other niggas. Did he kill a nigga over you? Mhm, he did, huh? Yeah, the first time he did that with me, my pussy got so we?—"

"Get the fuck out!" I gritted.

"With pleasure!"

Smirking, Leah placed the pool stick down and sauntered out of my pool hall. Placing my hands on the edge of the table, I did my best to keep the room from spinning.

Did Crown lie? Was I just something fun to do? Am I not as special as he makes me feel?

Question after question blinded me as I fought to hold back my emotions.

"Fuck!" I spat, standing up straight.

I grabbed one of the pool sticks, ready to swing at any and muthafucking everything. My arms twisted from left to right, striking one of the light fixtures. The bulb shattered, pissing me off even more. Anger continued to rip through me as I fucked up more of my own shit.

"I know you done lost your fucking mind! River, what the hell!" Chosyn barked. "Wolfie, let me call you back. I'll be home soon."

Chosyn rushed over, trying to grab the pool stick. We struggled, tugging back and forth, neither one wanting to let go.

"Ah shit," Chosyn whined, doubling over.

"Chosyn, are you?—"

"Got you bitch!" Getting the upper hand, Chosyn snatched the stick away and tossed it out of my reach.

"I really thought something was wrong with you," I smacked, heaving hard as hell.

"Because I know your love for me is stronger than whatever has you destroying your own shit. Now, what the hell happened? Did that bitch touch you? I'll kill?—"

"Crown lied to me."

"Huh?"

"Cortez fucking lied to me about everything!"

Saying it out loud caused my chest to cave. The pain hit me like the wind howling against a cliff. I closed my eyes for a second, and when I opened them, stupid tears clouded my gaze.