Milan, Nicoletta, and Valerie brain stormed every other possible person they could bring up to be a closer character witness for Ramses than Tatiana.

However, to make a good case before the person even opened their mouth, they had to have a clean record, not gang affiliated, and able to not accidentally incriminate themselves as well. This brought down their prospects significantly. 

Hell, Daya couldn't even testify because she was bound to bring up how much she hated the recently deceased Diamanté on the stand and the court did not need to hear how she served him up to get killed. 

Nicoletta broke down the dire need of Tatiana's testimony like this:

"Although she definitely a little off, by your description of her Milan, she is the best we have save for you. Ramses needs more padding than you think." 

So, before they called it day, Nicoletta asked if Milan could contact her and see if she would even be open to it. 

And begrudgingly, Milan agreed to do it. She really just needed a reason to talk to the girl to uncover if Tatiana was going to stay with the theory that Ramses is her baby's father. When it was all said and done, Milan left Nicoletta's office with a heavy task on her. 

As she rode back to her hotel room in the same chauffeured truck that picked her up, she scrolled through her blocked caller list and found the number she contacted Tatiana with last. It had been at least three weeks if not more since Chrisanto's death.

It was as if her life had been fast forwarded since then. So much had happened and was still happening. 

And it wouldn't be done until Ramses was either back on the streets or behind bars. 

Milan hated that Tatiana held so much power over which way the scales turned for him. 

Even though she herself wasn't too sure on which way they should turn. 

The car sped through downtown as Milan mustered up the courage to push the call button. She did, the phone rang 3 times before a man's voice answered the phone.

"Hello?" Milan answered, confused. She looked at the number and the time stamp again. 

It was definitely Tatiana's number she'd gotten from Ramses's homeboys. 

"Yeah, wassup? Who is this?" The man replied. 

"Can I speak to Tatiana?" Milan asked this time, and the man didn't reply immediately. 

In the background, Milan heard what seemed like kids playing and definitely a baby crying. It didn't sound like it was coming from a television either. 

"Hello?" She asked again, waiting for the man's response. 

"Hold on..." He replied again, sounding like he was getting up from a low seat. Milan continued to hold while she listened to the man walk through where ever he was. "Here, somebody wanna talk to you. Stop giving out my damn number." She heard the man exchange with someone. 

"Hello?" Tatiana's voice finally came through the speakers of the phone. Although Milan was beyond confused because of the dynamic she was hearing, she took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Hey, Tati. It's Milan--"

"Bitch why the fuck are you calling my phone?" Tatiana immediately barked over the line and it honestly ticked Milan off in a way she hadn't felt before.

Glancing at the chauffeur of the car, she silently asked for his forgiveness before she lit into the girl over the phone like she was about ro.

"Listen bitch, I don't wanna be fucking calling you just as much as you don't want me calling your ass. I keep having to contact you because of the n*gga you claim you pregnant by. If you haven't fucking noticed, your baby daddy is locked up and obviously you up under some other n*gga ballsack and don't seem to care, right?"

The line went silent for a beat.

"Watch ya mouth. A bitch who brother would dog her out for a fucking stack can't speak on me or mine, or my fuckin' baby daddy. Yes, I know he's in jail. Shit, seems like it has as much to do with me as I have to do with you. Jack shit." Tatiana bit back at Milan.

Milan couldn't lie, she hit her with the brother line, but luckily she had one better.

"You know, what the streets saying 'bout that baby being more Mexican than Egyptian is starting to make sense. You don't care about your baby daddy being in jail because your baby daddy in the ground already ain't he?" Milan cornered the girl with her words. Once again, Tatiana had to pause before she responded. 

The adrenaline rush Milan got from talking to this woman had her digging her nails into the leather of the seat she was in.

"Ramses is my baby's father." Tatiana responded in a tone that was a far cry from how she first was talking over the phone. Her voice had dropped down to a hush. 

Milan cocked her head and squinted her eyes although she knew Tatiana couldn't see her. 

"If you're so proud of about it, bae... why are you whispering?"

"What the fuck do you want me to do, Milan?" Tatiana broke exasperatedly now. Just by the way she was acting alone could've sealed her suspicions about Ramses not being her baby's dad, but the fact that she can't even say it aloud told her a million times more.

Whoever Tatiana was living with even knew that wasn't true.

"He needs you to take the stand as a character witness. You have to make the jury think he was a good guy so they let him go." Milan told the woman in as simple terms as she could. She felt like she heard Tatiana snicker.

If I could wring her neck through the phone I would. 

Milan was seething in her seat.

"Girl, you fuckin' crazy. N*ggas see me on the stand they'll instantly lay my ass down. You not that far removed from the game that you don't know that shit, Milan. We both know who that n*gga is." Tatiana immediately shot down the idea.

And it's not like she was wrong.

Tatiana was Ramses's girl since he began in the game. She was almost as affiliated as him when it came to being seen in the streets. However, it seems as if she survived so long with him by making ties to keep herself safe behind his back. 

That was the only way she could "handle" things for him. She jerked off his enemies and called it "calming things" down. 

Tatiana was smart, but Milan loved that man. 

"Tati, be real with me for a second," Milan began, pinching the bridge of her nose as the driver pulled up in front of her hotel. She raised her finger to let him know to give her a minute before he opened the door for her. 

"On a scale of one to dead, how bad would the n*gga whose phone you're using right now beat your ass if he got sent confirmation of you claiming Pharaoh as your baby daddy. Quickly."

Just as Milan asked the question, the same baby from before had begun crying again.

"Tati, come pick this damn baby up." 

Milan heard the same man who answered earlier gruffly demand in the background. Tatiana ended the call without saying another word, but Milan knew she said what she had to.

Tatiana was like a trapped rat when she got scared. She would chew through anything and anyone to keep her from being stuck in a position she didn't want to be in. 

Waiting until Milan was clearly off of her call, the chauffeur opened up the car door for Milan to slide out of. He called for a bellhop to bring over a cart to put all her shopping bags into the hotel. Before she followed her things in, Milan thanked the man profusely.

For helping her get her things in and not asking her why she was cursing so much during that phone call.

As Milan, the bellhop, and her elevator cart full of bags traveled up to the floor her room was on, Milan felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

She saw it was the same number she reached Milan with and it had sent her a text message. 

Tell me what I need to do.

Was the simple message. It took everything in Milan to not simply right "die."

She waited until she had made it to her room with her things and was safely behind closed doors before responding to Tatiana. 

"Let's meet at the pancake house. Tomorrow at 10." Milan quickly thought of. 

Ever since it was the scene of a shooting after Milan and Ramses's first date, the police frequented the area heavily.

Milan felt like this was a place where Tatiana couldn't pull any sneaky things on her. She had to keep in mind she was a scared pregnant woman with too many ties and too many secrets. 

Ok 

The response to the date came in seconds later. A deep breath came from Milan's mouth as she pushed her phone as far as she could away from her on her bed. She couldn't believe what she was doing. 

All she knew was she was never helping another dying man in the club.

And how much she hoped his rat of an ex girlfriend wouldn't chew through her at the end of this.