Amari looked up from his phone once a familiar customer approached him, and he looked at his surroundings for a second before rolling his window down to let the teenaged boy tell him what he wanted to buy from his stash.

"Aye, let me get an ounce. I be running out of them halves quick." He leaned against Amari's car, making him chuckle as he reached into his backseat to grab his duffel bag.

"It's two hundred."

"Two hundred?? Folks give me like twenty off man, c'mon."

"I look like the type of nigga to make deals with 18 year olds? 'Cuz I ain't. $200 or nothin' nigga. Hand it over." Amari held his hand out and the boy smacked his lips before passing his a small stack of twenties.

Amari then sat his scale in his lap and weight one of the larger ziplocks of weed, then added a couple more nugs to make sure it leveled out to exactly 28 grams. After making sure the boy saw that it was correct, Amari gave him the bag and he slipped it into his backpack before heading in the same direction he came from.

That was how a lot of his sales went. His product was so high quality that he always sold bigger quantities rather than lower ones like a gram or two. He sold out everyday and it was usually the same clientele, so his supplier had begun to pay him more than before since he was the best seller on the block.

Getting customers was easy since almost everyone knew him; they knew he didn't bullshit and knew he'd be posted outside everyday until around two in the afternoon. It was consistent, which also contributed to why he was deemed the best.

Once he sold out for the day, he headed back to Parkway Gardens to return his end-of-day sales and get his payout. Then, he went to his mother's apartment so that he could pack a small bag to go stay over Trinity's house later because he was missing her like crazy.

She hadn't responded to him all day and her last location on Find my iPhone was her job, so he assumed she was still there and just busy working. He was going to her house as soon as possible in case that wasn't where she was, though. He knew she was safe but didn't know whether or not she was fucking off and he'd hate it for her if that was the case.

When he settled in on the couch, he grabbed his shoebox from under the floorboard to add the cash from today into it, but realized the box felt a bit lighter than normal. When you used scales all day, it was easy to mentally weigh things.

After counting out every bill in the box three times, he realized that he was almost two thousand dollars short. The money was just here this morning and nobody came in this apartment besides him and his mom. He thought they may have been robbed but that wasn't even a thing in their breezeway because just about everyone knew him and how he got down with his gun.

Ironically, his mother walked in the door as soon as he finished counting for the fourth time.

"You stealing from me Sharon?" He asked from the couch, and she jumped at the sound of his voice since she hadn't noticed him sitting there.

"What?"

"I'm missing eighteen-hundred dollars. I ain't spent it so you must've took it?" He stood up from the couch, and his suspicion was confirmed when she went still as if she was guilty.

"Baby I was just behind on bills and I didn't think you'd mi—," She started, being cut off by him lifting her from the ground and holding her against the wall by her neck. By the look in his eye, she knew he hadn't took his medication yet.

"C'mon now ma I know you ain't stealing from me? Talkin' 'bout you behind on bills when I been paid that shit off and been paying the rent since I been home. Where the fuck my money at man?" He let her go when her lips turned blue, and she began to violently cough after the impact from hitting the floor knocked the breath back into her body.

"Look at me." He grabbed her face and saw how dilated her pupils were, then he looked down at her ring finger that involuntarily quivered—pointing to signs of drug use.

"You spending my shit on coke?" He tilted her head so far back that it made her neck stretch to the point where it hurt, watching as she began to cry.

"Mari I—I was so stressed. I've been so sad about my daddy and I—,"

"So you stole from me? Bit—you must've lost yo' fuckin' mind." He let her go and snatched her purse from off of her shoulder, just to see a few dollar bills tucked into the opened zipper on the interior. He counted out the money and it was only $1,575, which meant that there was still $225 missing.

He grabbed all of the pills and bags of white powder from the bottom of her purse while she cried at him throwing everything else in her direction. Then he threw the empty purse against the wall and headed down the hall to the bathroom.

"Mari no! Please, Amari listen to me baby please don't do th—," her cries turned into sobs when he flushed everything down the toilet at once, then he pulled her by her hair and forced her face down into the water.

He held her there until she stopped fighting, and as soon as her arms started to get weak, he let her go.

"You lucky I don't beat the shit out yo' stupid ass. On my grandma last breath I could kill you right now. I'm yo' fuckin' son and you stealing from me? I'm the only nigga that help you! And you steal from me? For COKE?" He enunciated in shock, holding a frown on his face.

He turned around to leave because if he stared at her for a second longer, he'd actually kill her. He hated that his brain had him so comfortable to the point where he could kill anyone—family or not. He was so used to death that it was starting to mean nothing to him. All of Chicago was lucky he took medication because everyone who pissed him off would be dead if he didn't.

Amari went and put his shoebox full of money into a grocery bag before tying it in a knot, then he gathered the suitcase that held all of his clothes and the one that held all of his shoes, his duffel bag that was full of weed, and his duffel bag that had his hygiene items in it and headed for the door.

He stacked a duffel on top of each suitcase and rolled them both downstairs at once. After loading his car up, he started the drive to Trinity's house because she was the only who could clear his busy mind. Of course he didn't plan to stay with her, but he would spend a night or two with her before leaving to sign a lease of his own.

It was about time for him to get his own place anyway. He just hated these were the circumstances that pushed him do it.

Before he got out of his car, he opened his medicine box and swallowed the pills dry so that the person who'd just thrown his mom around wouldn't be the person to talk to Trinity. He looked out at her driveway to see that no cars were there, including hers, so he checked her location again to see where she was.

Seeing 'No location found' made him twist his neck around to crack it, then he got out of his car and locked the doors before walking around the back of her house so that her ring camera wouldn't see him.

He jumped the backyard fence and went over to her window that she always left unlocked because she liked to let it up as soon as she got home to allow the winter air to make her room freezing cold. He tore off the mesh screen off and climbed inside, then locked it like he'd told her to do plenty of times before.

Amari ended up taking a whole shower and smoking an entire blunt by the time she finally arrived home at seven in the evening. Luckily for her, his medication had kicked in and the weed made him even calmer.

She walked in with a bunch of bags and dropped them on the floor near her closet, then she went and flipped on the light switch since her bedroom was completely dark.

"Oh my fucking god! What's wrong with you?!" She clutched her chest in fear at the sight of a silent Amari lying underneath her covers.

"Where you been at?"

"Mari how did you get in my house?" She ignored his question, returning one of her own with a frown on her face.

"I'm literally a criminal. Hellooo?" He mocked her favorite phrase, making her frown deepen.

"You broke my locks? You paying for them. Get out. Ion like that." She pointed out of her room, but he remained where he was.

"You ain't in yo' uniform so where you been?" He asked again, and she glanced over at his gun that rested on her nightstand before looking at him again. He always put it there but if he found out where she'd been, she was afraid he might actually use it.

"At the mall. Obviously." She unzipped her black LuluLemon jacket, and Amari got up to approach her, making her take a step back in confusion.

"Wassup? I can't get a kiss?"

"No 'cause why would break into my house? That's weird as hell." She frowned at him, genuinely upset about that. She didn't like that at all.

"You wasn't at work and you wasn't answering yo' phone, ain't answer the door when I knocked—I thought somethin' was wrong." He lied perfectly on the spot without even thinking about it, watching the tension leave her face.

"Oh...my phone been dead for like two hours. I don't have a car charger." She held up her phone to show that it was dead, which technically wasn't a lie.

"Can I get a kiss now?" He asked softly, and she stared at him for a second before leaning forward to give him one. He grabbed her neck instead and sniffed her shirt, then pulled her head back to make her look at him.

"You been wit' a nigga Trinity? You think I'm stupid or somethin'?" His head tilted to the side, and she stayed quiet as if she knew that she was caught.

"Am I trippin'? Didn't I tell you to drop that nigga?" He asked, and when she remained silent, he scoffed, letting her go.

He tried to walk past her to grab his bag out of her closet but she stopped him by wrapping her arms around his torso, staring up at him with a small frown on her face.

"I didn't do anything with him Mari, I swear. Look at me—I'm not lying. I didn't even kiss him." She spoke truthfully, but that didn't make him feel better.

"This nigga cologne all over yo' fuckin' clothes and you think I'ma believe you? Wassup? I did you bad or somethin'? What got you fuckin' off on me?"

"Man gon' head. I'm not finna kiss you. I been worried 'bout you and you been wit' a nigga this whole time. You know how many bitches I done turned down 'cause I'm wit' you?" He stepped back before she could grab his face, and she moved to block the door so that he couldn't leave.

"Amari all I did was let him take me shopping and I gave him a hug to say thanks! That's it. You don't want me being around other niggas then you should've made me your girlfriend. I'm singl—,"

"Oh you single? So I'm single too then, right? I can go fuck a couple bitches then come lay up and kiss on you 'cause I ain't yo' nigga?" He frowned at her words and she frowned at his.

"Shit ain't cool if I go do it but you get a pass. Aight man." He turned to go for his bag again, and she followed him into the closet and closed the door behind them to block that one too.

"I ain't finna play wit' you Trinity. You single—go be with that nigga. Watch out."

"No, I don't want him. I want you. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have went. I didn't think you would be mad because—honestly I didn't know for sure if you were only with me or not. And sometimes I try to prevent myself from being hurt by doing something that can hurt someone else so it won't hurt as bad when it's my turn. I'm so sorry. You can be mad at me but please don't leave."

Her arms wrapped around his neck in a hug and she tried to kiss his face but he tilted his head out of her reach. He was pissed off.

"I'm sorry lov—,"

"Man don't call me that. You played in my face Trinity."

"I said I'm sorry Amari. I don't know what else to do. I didn't even do anything with him! I didn't flirt or nothing like that. He was literally on a call most of the time. What do you want me to do? Block him? Because I will." She expressed.

"I want you to let me leave without making it ah' issue 'for I make you get out my way." He told her, causing her frown to soften.

"Nigga come over here to get away from my problems just for you to become one. And you know how I feel about that disloyalty shit man. That shit flaw as hell. You weird. Watch out." He gestured with his head, and Trinity stepped out of the way to let him leave with his bag in tote.

He pulled the gold plated necklace with his grandfather's name on it from around his neck—one of the gifts she'd gotten him for Christmas—and dropped it on her dresser. Then, he grabbed his gun and put it in the band of his sweats.

"So we done? We not talkin' no more?" Trinity asked from the edge of her bed where her leg bounced in place and tears slid down her cheeks, but not from sadness. She was upset.

"Why, you asking for confirmation so you won't feel guilty fucking on that nigga?"

"Yes." She said out of anger, and she locked on his gaze when he turned around to face her.

"Aight. Yeah. We done." He then turned to walk out of her bedroom, she slammed the door closed when he was out. She wasn't about to keep begging him because his mind was clearly made up. If he was done then so be it.

A part of her expected him to come back in her room after she slammed the door, but he never did. So she began to cry a little more. This was her first time ever getting caught up. She missed Amari already and he literally walked out the door a second ago.

Trinity wasn't lying when she said that she hadn't done anything with Sean besides hug him. Now, she did do a little flirting but that was only so that he could spend more money on things that she wanted at the mall. There was no real romantic or sexual intent behind her words but she understood that she should've never said them—or met up with him, for that matter.

She didn't even want any of those gifts from the mall anymore. She would drop them off at Sean's apartment and go and change her number if it meant that Amari would forgive her. They were just getting started in their 'situation-ship' and she wasn't ready to lose him this soon, and definitely not over Sean who didn't take her seriously anyway.

The NBA paid him a couple million dollars a year, so she was sure that he probably had a girl in every state and that she was just one of many on his roster, which is the reason why she stopped having sex with him a few months ago. She would never pass up a free shopping trip, though; but as of now, she regretted it.

She should've just checked her cameras before she came home. This was his first time popping up while she wasn't home, and although she didn't necessarily mind it, she wished it would've been on a day where she wasn't doing anything sneaky. She didn't mean for this to happen—hell, she didn't even know he'd be waiting in her bed for her.

And she wasn't sure where to start to get him to forgive her. She did know that she wasn't ready to let him go yet, though. What she did was wrong and she didn't blame him for being upset with her, but she hoped it wouldn't last long. She hoped he'd text her tomorrow so that she could make it right.

Again, this had never happened to her before so she didn't even know how to go about it. Should she text him right now? Should she go to his mother's house tomorrow? Did men take gifts as apologies like most women did?

"Oh my god." She sighed in frustration, dragging her hands down her face.

If she could go back and just tell Sean no, she without a doubt would. The gifts weren't worth it. She wanted her man back.

How y'all feeling? And what update schedule y'all want? Like two updates everyday?