It was 6AM. Bayley was half asleep, waiting in the living room, on the couch. Just then, Becky entered through the front door.
"Becky! Where were you!? I've been worried sick about you! I called you 60 times!"
Becky said, nothing, sitting down at a table in the kitchen.
"Becky..."
"Do you know what happened to my mother?"
"...what?"
"Do you... know... what happened... to my mother?" Becky asked, making eye contact with Bayley from afar.
The thought never crossed Bayley's mind that something had happened to Becky's mother. She just assumed Becky's parents had gotten a divorce, like her own parents did.
"No." Bayley said, cautiously.
"5 years ago, we were at the bank... well, 6 minutes later, we were hostages in a bank robbery..."
Bayley put her hand over her mouth, realizing this story wasn't going to have a happy ending.
"The one guy grabbed her, and put her in a headlock, and held the gun to her head... sound familiar?"
Bayley gasped.
"Then he tried to walk her outside, to show the cops he had hostages... and in the midst of trying to do that, he accidentally pulled the trigger..."
Bayley ran over to her, hugging her close.
"I was 12 years old... and I had to watch that..." Becky said, staring off into space.
"Becky, I'm so sorry!"
"For what? You didn't do anything."
"For you!"
"I thought I was gonna die in that barbershop."
"Becky, it's okay! You're safe now. Trust me."
"Until when?"
"...until I say you aren't." Bayley said, hugging her even tighter.
"I'm gonna get some sleep." Becky said, standing up and heading towards the stairs.
"Me too." Bayley yawned, following her up.
"Sasha... Sasha..."
Sasha slowly woke up, to see Vince, standing next to the bed.
"What? I'm up." Sasha said, groggily rubbing her eyes.
"Alexa told me that today is your birthday."
"Uh... yeah, it is..."
"What's your favorite color?"
"...Pink I guess?"
"I'll be right back." Vince said, closing the bedroom door.
Sasha looked confused, before shrugging her shoulders and going back to sleep.
"So what do you have for me that's so important?" AJ asked.
Paige put the CD on AJ's desk.
"Oh my god! Where'd you find it!?"
"Funny story actually." Paige said, as she and Natalya sat down.
"The Four Horsewomen had it." Natalya said.
"...what?"
"Yep."
"How'd you know they had it?"
"Because they threw party, and played along to it, pretending they were performing an original song. They had a fucking mock guitar and everything." Paige said.
AJ looked confused.
"So... let me get this straight. The Four Horsewomen... Plus One... not only had one of my stolen CDs... but they also tried to pretend they wrote it!? And played along to it!? IN FRONT OF PEOPLE!?"
"That's what we walked in on." Natalya shrugged.
"Oh, Number C wasn't there." Paige noted.
"I didn't ask." AJ said, coldly.
"So what now?"
"...I gave them my sharpies... I invited that girl to my home... This is how they repay me!?... Get out, both of you."
"What?" Natalya asked.
"Get out, before I misdirect my anger towards you... NOW!"
Paige and Natalya immediately got up, running out of the room.
Bayley slowly woke up, hearing Becky's phone ringing. Becky was completely unconscious. Eventually the phone stopped ringing, but it immediately started again. Bayley looked at the caller ID. It read "Ms. Martinez".
"Why would Mom be calling Becky?" Bayley asked, aloud.
Just then, her own phone began ringing. Bayley saw the name "Mom" and answered.
"Hello?"
"Where is Becky!?"
"She's here sleeping, we're in the bedroom, why?"
"Keith's shop is completely destroyed! The floor is sticky from busted sodas! There's chips and cookies everywhere, there's a broken table, there's shattered glass from the mirrors all over the place, a broken chair, and this big ugly dented drumset in the corner, with a microphone, some speakers, and a guitar that doesn't even work!"
Becky slowly woke up.
"Tell her to get down here right now!"
Before Bayley could respond, her mother hung up.
"What's going on?" Becky asked.
"Well... your Dad got to his barbershop..."
"Fuck! It's open today!? He probably thinks the drumset is mine, he's gonna kill me!"
"If my Mom doesn't do it first."
Becky sighed, putting on her shoes.
"What are you guys doing right now?" Dean asked.
"Playing 2K." Seth said, as he and Roman focused on the game. Seth's cellphone sat on the table.
"Playing 2K? What about sales!?"
"Don't worry about sales." Roman said.
"THAT'S BULLSHIT!" Seth yelled at the screen.
"Nah, Curry's just unstoppable."
"You weren't even open!"
"Nobody likes a sore loser, Seth."
"Excuse me, what do you mean don't worry about sales? Did you forget I'm in here or something!?" Dean asked.
"We got it under control... AND-ONE!"
"Alright now THAT'S bullshit."
"Nah, LeBron's 'unstoppable', don't be a sore loser, Roman." Seth said, in his low pitched Roman impression.
"CAN YOU TWO PAUSE THE GAME FOR TWO FUCKING SECONDS!?"
Roman paused it.
"1...2..." Seth said.
Roman unpaused the game.
"You better hit this free throw, Seth, no pressure." Roman said.
"Why do you two not care about whether I die or not all of a sudden!?" Dean yelled.
"Because you're not gonna die."
"How do you know?"
"Because drug dealing is easy. We figured it out at Charlotte's party. You just find suburban white kids who are eager to get into drugs, have no idea what a reasonable price is, and have plenty of mommy and daddy's money to spend." Seth shrugged.
"...how much did you make?"
"We were selling weed for $30 a fucking gram." Roman said.
"People bought that shit!?" Dean asked, laughing.
"Bought it? We couldn't keep them off of it. We made more money last night that we have since you've been in jail." Seth said.
"Bro, if you keep selling at $30 a fucking G, you can pay back Del Rio AND pay my bail." Dean said, still laughing.
"Anything else?" Roman asked.
"Nah, talk to you later."
Seth hung up.
"Order a pizza." Roman said.
"I'll order two."
"Let's be careful though."
"What do you mean?" Seth asked.
"The money, we can't spend too much of it. We still have to pay Del Rio in 14 days."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Becky slowly walked into the barbershop.
"Becky, what is all of this!?" Keith yelled.
"I... Last night, I... I threw a party and..."
Becky sighed, looking around at the destruction. Just then, Bayley entered the shop.
"We both decided to have a party here last night, without your permission Mr. Lynch, and we're sorry for that by the way... things got out of hand, and people we didn't invite showed up, and they trashed the place and left... so whatever punishment WE'RE about to get, we deserve it." Bayley said.
Becky looked over at Bayley, confused.
"3 things. 1... Once I add up the costs of the mirrors, the chair, the broken clippers, and the money I'm losing by staying closed today and tomorrow, Becky, you will work in the shop, sweeping hair, until your half of the debt is payed. Bayley, your half will be coming out of that Dairy Queen check."
"...I only get paid every two weeks, Mr. Lynch."
"Then we'll be expecting your first payment sometime in the next two weeks." Bayley's mother said.
Bayley sighed.
"2... no more barbershop concerts."
"Agreed." Becky and Bayley said, in unison.
"And 3, this shop will be completely cleaned by two days from now."
"Deal... again, I'm really sorry, Dad." Becky frowned.
"No worries. I'm glad you told the truth... glad is the wrong word... I'm not glad at all... but at least you told the truth!"
"Get to work, girls." Bayley's mother said.
She left, with Keith, leaving Becky and Bayley alone in the shop.
Bayley took her phone out.
"Thanks." Becky said.
"Thank me? Thank you! You were about to take the fall for the entire thing! You would've been sweeping in here for a year." Bayley laughed, dialing a number. Becky laughed too.
"Hello?... hey, get Dana and get down here to the barbershop, we're cleaning it... stop complaining, at least you're not paying for mirrors... okay... alright bye. They're on their way." Bayley smiled.
After about 30 minutes, Charlotte and Dana walked into the barbershop.
"You okay, Becky?" Charlotte asked.
"Huh? Yeah... yeah I'm fine." Becky lied, with a fake smile.
"That's a sick mustang that just rode by!" Bayley said, running towards the front door, to get a better look. Dana followed her.
"Pink? They make Pink ones!?" Dana asked.
"It's turning around..."
The Pink 2017 Mustang GT350 parked outside of the barbershop, as Bayley and Dana struggled to see through the tinted windows. Just then, Sasha got out of it.
"IT'S THE BOSS!" Bayley yelled.
"FUCK! DOES SHE KNOW!?" Dana yelled.
"She doesn't look like she knows, she's smiling at me. Everyone just act natural." Bayley said.
Sasha walked through the barbershop door.
"Carrot Top!" Sasha exclaimed, hugging Becky. Becky, Dana, and Bayley put on nervous smiles, as Charlotte stood still, looking confused.
"Plus One! How ya been!?"
"Good, good."
"Trust Fund, Genius, how's it going?" Sasha asked, with a bright smile.
"What happened to 'next time you see me, cross the fucking street'?" Charlotte asked.
Sasha chuckled.
"You still remember that?"
"It was 3 days ago."
"Yeah, I was upset, I mean, I lost everything I owned. I felt worthless and I lashed out. You wouldn't know anything about that of course because you've never had to provide for yourself, but, I'm sorry. I said some things I didn't mean, and I apologize." Sasha said, with a smile, holding her hand out for a handshake.
Charlotte just looked at Sasha's hand.
"Come on, Trust Fund, it's my birthday. I can't get a handshake or a hug or something?"
"My name is Charlotte."
"I know what'll cheer you up. Let's get some new instruments."
"What!?" Dana asked.
"Seriously, Tune Gear is having a massive sale, and they have way better instruments than the music store around the corner, come on."
"We'll be right out. Happy birthday, Boss!" Dana smiled.
"Thanks." Sasha smiled back, exiting the barbershop, and walking to her car.
"...so when do we tell her?" Dana asked.
"...let's not and say we did." Charlotte said.
"Shotgun!" Bayley yelled, running out of the front door.
Becky flinched at the word "gun", before following her out of the door, followed by Dana and Charlotte.
After a short drive, the girls got out of Sasha's new car, and walked into the store.
"Genius, let's go get you a keyboard."
"How are we paying for this again?" Charlotte muttered to Sasha.
"Vince's credit card." She muttered back.
"Who is Vince?"
"The old guy."
Charlotte stood frozen for a second. Then it hit her.
"Boss, you're so much better than that." Charlotte said aloud, looking disgusted and deeply disturbed.
"We're not having this conversation right now." Sasha replied, with a fake smile.
"Seriously, you don't have to resort to-"
"Do you want new instruments or not!? Matter of fact, let's take a band vote. Who wants instruments!?" Sasha asked, raising her hand. Bayley, Becky, and Dana nervously raised their hands as well, confused.
"Good, come on Genius." Sasha said, grabbing Bayley's wrist and heading towards the keyboards.
"What was that about?" Dana asked, following Charlotte to the percussion section. Becky followed them as well.
"Don't worry about it."
After looking through drumsets for about 5 minutes, they were interrupted by the sound of Nia Jax's voice.
"The mock guitars are in a different section."
Charlotte, Dana, and Becky immediately turned around, as Nia laughed, and walked away.
"Okay, we gotta get The Boss out of here immediately before one of those ECM girls makes fun of her." Charlotte said, making her way to the keyboard section. Dana and Becky followed her. Once they realized Bayley and Sasha weren't there, they started looking in other sections. Eventually they found them in the guitar section.
"I like this one." Sasha smiled.
"Hey, Boss, we have to go." Charlotte said
"What, why?"
"Well, well, welll... if it isn't the Four Phonies." Alicia said, entering the aisle with Nia and Tamina.
"Plus one." Tamina added, mockingly.
"Look you little human Bratz dolls, go back to Manhattan. And when you get there, tell Kaitlyn that the Bronx is AJ Lee's territory." Sasha said, putting down the guitar and walking towards them.
"Just because your lips are surgically attached to AJ's ass doesn't mean ours have to be." Nia said, as Tamina and Alicia laughed.
"Why don't you find a store in YOUR borough?"
"Why don't you go pretend to be AJ Lee somewhere else?" Tamina asked.
"Pretend to be AJ Lee?" Sasha asked.
"We don't have time for them, let's go." Charlotte said.
"...oh my god! She doesn't know!" Alicia exclaimed.
The East Coast Movement girls all began laughing, as Dana, Becky, Bayley, and Charlotte sighed.
"What are you talking about?" Sasha asked, beginning to get annoyed.
"Go ahead, tell her what ya'll did." Tamina laughed, pointing behind Sasha.
Sasha slowly turned around to face the rest of her band members.
"What are they talking about?"
"We... we needed money for instruments..." Dana began.
"So we threw a party at my father's barbershop, and-"
Charlotte cut Becky off by stepping in front of her, facing Sasha.
"There was a CD of this AJ Lee guitar solo, so we wrote a song to it, and performed it, and pretended Bayley was playing guitar to it, and we got caught."
"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU FIND THE CD!?" Sasha yelled.
"Music store."
"We have to get that CD back to AJ and let her know before she finds out on her own, she'll be so pissed if we don't, we gotta go NOW, come on!" Sasha exclaimed.
"Boss... AJ already knows." Charlotte said, looking down.
Sasha stood, frozen.
"Why do you say that?"
"These two girls came in. One was really pale, and the other had blonde and pink hair, and they took the CD, and... and they said our partnership with AJ is dead." Charlotte said, finally gaining the courage to nervously look Sasha in the eyes.
Alicia smirked.
Sasha walked over to Dana, standing face to face with her.
"Explain something to me." Sasha demanded, staring a hole through her skull.
"Uh... okay." Dana said, nervously.
"You mean to tell me... while I've been working my ass off, to put clothes on my back, food in my mouth, and instruments in our hands, that THIS fucking idiot bought a mock guitar, and a stolen AJ Lee CD... so THIS fucking idiot could pretend to play it... in THIS fucking idiot's father's barbershop... and YOU just went along with the whole thing?"
"I... uh... yes?"
"Look, we can still-"
"WE can't do anything. There is no WE." Sasha said, cutting Charlotte off.
The East Coast Movement girls' jaws dropped, as they tried to contain their excitement.
"What do you mean?" Bayley asked.
"There is no Four Horsewomen Plus One. There's only 4 of you now." Sasha said, walking towards the front door of the store.
"Wait! Boss!" Charlotte shouted, running after her.
Becky, Bayley, and Dana awkwardly put down the instruments they were holding, walking out of the store as the East Coast Movement girls laughed at them. Once they got outside, they saw Sasha driving off, and Charlotte standing sadly on the sidewalk.
"She'll forgive us." Becky said.
Charlotte said nothing, slowly beginning to walk home.
"Charlotte..." Dana said, getting no response, or acknowledgement.
"Ambrose. Phone." The guard said.
"I don't have one." Dean said.
"I mean come with me to the phone, smart ass."
"Who is it?"
"Do you want the phone call or not?"
"Who is it?"
"It's your lawyer, now come on, asshole."
"Alright." Dean shrugged, leaving his cell, and following the guard to the phones.
Eventually Dean was sitting, on the phone, as the guard watched him.
"Dean, you're gonna be out of there really soon." Otunga said.
"How soon?"
"Next 5 days. Just play it cool, no solitary confinement, don't back talk the guards, don't get into a fight with another inmate. Just chill for about a week, and we'll get you home."
"What colors do the ankle bracelets come in? I like green."
Otunga sighed.
"Talk to you later, Dean."
"Peace." Dean said, hanging up.
The guard walked Dean back to his cell.
Sasha took a deep breath, before knocking on AJ's front door. After about 30 seconds, a heavily tattooed man opened it. Sasha recognized him as AJ's fiance.
"Hey Mr. Brooks, is AJ here?"
Before he could say anything, AJ came into the room.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, as her fiance left.
"I just heard about what happened last night, and I just wanted to let you know that I had nothing to do with that, I don't know why they thought they could-"
"Remember our second conversation?" AJ asked.
"Yes."
"I said, 'You're the real leader. Steer them in the right direction. Don't let them do anything stupid.', and what did you do?"
"But AJ, I-"
"You've failed me."
"...what?" Sasha asked, tears forming in her eyes.
"You heard me. You failed me."
"AJ please..."
"You can go now." AJ said, emotionlessly.
"Y... you're my idol, I'd never-"
"Bye."
"But I-"
"Leave."
"...AJ I'm gonna find each and every last one of those CDs, AND the person who stole them. I PROMISE you!" Sasha cried, unable to control the tears running down her face, or her tone of voice.
AJ said nothing, closing her front door.
Sasha sat down on AJ's porch, sobbing.
That night, Becky returned to the train station, to see Finn, and some other artists, admiring her flower.
"Hey guys, what's-"
Becky immediately stopped, looking down at the painting. It was now neon orange and green, with a sharper black outline distinguishing the pedals, and the familiar silver, glittery array of shiny dots all over it. The words "Life Is Fragile" were completely gone, covered with brown, representing the soil the flower was growing out of.
"Storm is amazing." Finn smiled.
Becky kept staring, confused about why Storm would paint over top of her painting.
"Yeah it's... I like it." Becky said, still trying to understand.
Eventually the artists dispersed, going to work on their own work, as Becky continued staring at the flower. After a while, she silently left, without painting anything.