Hello, my fellow readers! I'm back with a new chapter of JAS! We're gonna follow the gang to South Carolina, and see what happens here. What kind of wacky stuff will occur here? Let's find out!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC's.

Chapter 16: Tiger at the Outlets

It was quite a long distance from North Carolina to South Carolina. After Dimitri's show, the gang had an early start the next morning and left Durham. The plan this time was to spend a night or two in South Carolina, before venturing to Atlanta, the last stretch of the road trip, before traveling back to New York City to prepare for the wedding.

After arriving in Spartanburg and booking a hotel, their next move was to head to the Gaffney Outlet stories to check it out for the first time.

In the Davis suite, Danielle was searching for her phone in her purse when Trina, Cami, and Leia walked in to check on her, "You ready, Dani?" Trina asked, "Everyone's waiting in the RV."

"Once I find my phone..." Was her response, before looking in another part of her purse, "Oh, here it is. I'm ready!"

Danielle got up and swung her purse around, accidentally knocking a binder off the bedside table, "Shit!" She bent down to pick it up, along with the contents that had fallen out. The other women walked over to help her.

"What is this thing?" Cami asked.

"It's Rudy's record book. It's how he keeps track of his business." Danielle answered, "And he don't let anybody else touch it. He'll lose his shit if he found out I dropped it on the floor."

As the girls gathered the papers that had fallen out, Leia came across something... familiar..., "Wow... it's been a long time..."

"What's that?" Trina asked.

What Leia was holding was a picture, and it was a very suggestive looking photo of a woman. But not just any woman, "It's me. From back when I was still one of Rudy's girls." She explained, "I remember that he often had us do photoshoots to help advertise his pimp business. I didn't think he'd still keep this one.."

"Apparently, you're not the only one." Trina pointed out, holding up five more pictures of other girls, "And I think one of these is Sasha."

"What the fuck?!" Danielle snatched the pictures away and looked at them. Her anger only grew just by doing that, "That son of a BITCH! It wasn't enough that he's been giving me shit, but now he still keeps pictures of his whores... no offense, Leia."

Leia nodded, "None taken..."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he be masturbating to these pictures when I'm not around." Danielle took all of the pictures and put them in her purse, "I'm gonna march straight up to him, and shove these damn pictures right up his fucking ass the next time I see him!"

Trina put a hand on her friend's shoulder, "Hold on, Dani. Calm down. I know you're mad. But don't jump to conclusions. Rudy probably doesn't even remember these pictures."

"Then why would he have these in his record book?!"

"I dunno. But it's not worth going up to him and screaming about it now. Especially not in front of the kids... if you really want to get to the bottom of this, do it privately."

The woman sighed, "Alright... but for real, he's gonna get his ass handed to him for this..."

Later on at the Outlets...

Everyone had split off, as usual, to go and do their own thing. Albert, Bill, Rudy, and Harold stuck together to merely walk around the stores, not really wanting to buy anything.

"Hey, hey, hey. This road trip is going great." Albert said, "Won't be long before we make it to Atlanta... and get that special surprise." He winked.

"The suspense is killing me, Albert." Bill replied.

"Same here..." Harold added, "I'm itching to know what the surprise is."

Rudy seemed to be lost in thought as he was busy on his phone, which Albert took notice of, "What about you, Rudy? Are you excited for the surprise in Atlanta?"

"Uh... yeah, sure. I'm excited..." Was his slow response.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah... just thinking about... today..."

"What about today..?"

"... It's nothing too important."

With that, the rich man returned his attention to his phone. Albert could yet again, that something was amiss. He thought that Rudy may still be having problems with Danielle... but something seemed different... as if... it was more personal.

As the guys continued to walk, they noticed a little girl standing against a wall. She had her hair up in pigtails, wore a blue shirt and darker blue skirt, and looked scared and tearful, as she clutched an orange plush dog. Albert then bent to her level, "Hey, hey, hey. Are you okay?" He asked softly.

"I... I can't find my Mommy..." The girl admitted, "There was a big crowd and then my Mommy was gone..." She started to cry again, "She's lost..."

Albert took her hand and rubbed it softly, "Don't worry... we'll find her. She has to be close by..."

The child sniffled and nodded, taking his hand in return. With that, they all walked around in hopes of finding the girl's mother, "What does your mother look like?" Bill asked.

"She... she has long hair in a ponytail..." The girl replied, "And was wearing a coat and had a purse..."

That wasn't too helpful, as there were plenty of women walking around who fit that description. But the men decided not to dash her hopes, "Well... we'll find out where she is..." Albert assured her, "Say, what's your name?"

"Jadah..." She replied, "I'm six years old..."

"That's a pretty name, Jadah."

"Thank you..."

And so, they kept looking around. After about five minutes, there seemed to be no sign of Jadah's mother anywhere. They eventually came across the food court, where Albert ordered something for her. However, Jadah was too sad to eat anything. She sat her plush dog on the table, and Bill took a moment to compliment it.

"That's a cute dog, Jadah." He said.

"Thanks... my Mommy gave it to me for my birthday. It used to be hers when she was little." Jadah smiled a little.

"Now that you mention it... that dog sure looks familiar." Harold spoke up.

"His name is Tiger."

Tiger?

Now that name definitely sounded familiar, "Hey, Jadah. Is your Momma's name by chance... Flora?" Rudy asked.

"I think so..."

Bingo...

"Jadah! Jadah!"

A women's voice cried out in the food court. The guys turned to see some who fit Jadah's description of her. As she walked by, she gasped in relief, "Jadah! Baby!"

"Mommy!" The little girl got out of her seat and rushed into her mother's arms.

"Oh, dear. I'm so glad I found you. I was so worried."

"I missed you Mommy. But these nice people found me..." Jadah gestured over to the guys.

The mother smiled, "Well now. If it isn't Fat Albert and the gang. Thank you so much for finding my little girl. I don't know how, but she always manages to slip away from me."

"I didn't mean to, Mommy... there was a big crowd, and well..."

"I'm just glad you're okay."

"It's good to see you again, Flora." Albert smiled, "How've you been?"

"Pretty good." Flora sat down with her daughter, "I've actually moved here to South Carolina with my husband and Jadah. We've been here for a few months now.

Jadah clutched Tiger again, "And Mommy always likes to come here and shop. This place is nice."

"We can tell." Harold nodded.

"So how's life treating you guys." Flora asked.

"Pretty well so far."

"Rudy, I heard you're getting married and expecting a baby soon. I'm so happy for you. Hopefully, you have a better relationship with your wife than my parents ever did."

Ha... at this point, it's wishful thinking... Rudy thought bitterly, but he smiled and handed out three of the invitations, "Thanks, Flora. You're more than welcome to attend. You'll need these to get in."

"We'll be there." Flora smiled.

"Yay! Wedding!" Jadah cheered.

Soon, Sasha had met up with the guys, having Sondra and Fuchsia with her. After a few introductions, Flora sent Jadah to play with the other girls, while the adults discussed serious issues.

"So... I knew about the kidnappings that happened last year... and now that the one who stole your kids has escaped... how are you dealing with that?" Flora asked with concern.

"We being as cautious as possible." Albert replied, "And we're keeping the knowledge of that a secret from the kids. They were really stressed about what happened, and we'd hate for them to worry. As for when we'll tell them... whenever the time is right..."

"And so far, we've been doing a good job." Bill added, "As much as it's tough to do this... if for their safety..."

Flora nodded, "I completely understand... those poor kids. I couldn't bear to witness anything like that happening to Jadah. She's so innocent. I wish you guys the best that everything turns out well in the end, and that man is caught again. There's been a lot of crime going on lately. There was actually an open robbery here a few weeks ago. It was like a hostage situation."

"Man, that's crazy. There was a lockdown at a mall we were at in Richmond not too long ago." Harold mentioned, "First we heard gunshots, next thing you know, we're stuck in the mall for like five hours..."

"That's terrible. Nobody was hurt, were they?"

"Thankfully, no..." Rudy said, "But it definitely scared the shit out of our kids. My daughter was shaking. She already as PTSD from last years kidnapping, she doesn't need any more trauma."

"Same with the other kids." Albert added, "We intend to keep our children safe, no matter what happens."

"That's great." Flora smiled.

After that, everyone had a good lunch. The other guys eventually reunited with Flora, and soon bid her and Jadah (and even Tiger at Jadah's request) farewell as they returned to Spartanburg at the hotel. It was nearing dark now.

Albert sat at the table in his family's hotel room reading a book. Trina was breastfeeding Jamal. Theo and Sondra were with the other kids in the Miller's room playing.

"Y'know... this trip has really been fun." Trina said, "I mean, in spite of some of the issues we've had, it's going so well..."

Albert smiled, "I know. It was great seeing an old friend today. And not only will we have a fantastic four days in Atlanta, but it'll end with Rudy and Danielle uniting as a married couple."

"That is... if they don't tear each others heads off first."

"Right..."

"I really hope they sort out their issues. If this keeps up, feelings are gonna be hurt, and you know it, Albert. And unless you step in, it's gonna happen eventually."

"I've trying to help the best way I can, honey. It's just that Rudy is too stubborn. When I suggested he and Danielle set up an appointment with me, he insisted he can solve his own problems... but he clearly can't."

Trina looked at her husband, "Sometimes, it's best to let two people work it out. As much as I love your helpful attitude, baby... you can't help everybody..."

"I know... I guess it's just that Rudy's one of my closest friends, and I've been able to get through to him before."

"Maybe, when you were kids. But now you guys are adult thus, more mature, and Rudy's more stubborn and strong-headed than ever. If he can run a whole music business, I'm certain he can work our his relationship with Danielle. He seems to be a better person than he was last year..."

Trina had a point. Rudy was definitely different this year than he was last year... sort of. He was still the rich stubborn, sassy, braggy, and cocky asshole he's always been. But now that he was fully dedicated to his family... Albert could say he was a good man.

"I'm gonna go talk to Rudy. See how he's doing."

"Alright. I'll be putting Jamal to bed now. C'mon, baby boy. Yes, I know you're tired..."

Albert smiled as he watched his wife kiss their youngest, as he walked out of the door and towards the Davis' suite. He was still a bit curious about Rudy's behavior today. He seemed... rather distant and distracted. And he wanted to make sure that everything was okay.

And there you have it. The gang makes it to South Carolina, Danielle discovers some of Rudy's secret photos, the guys run into Flora (from the episode 'Mom or Pop') and her little girl, Jadah. Albert notices that Rudy's been rather... off, and is determined to be there for his friend if he needs it. Next chapter will be exactly that. So until then, I'll see you guys later. And as always, don't forget to review, please. Thank you!