In Lincoln's room, Dino navigated his character across a city street, cars stopping and honking their horns as they darted past. Lola, jaw clenched, guided her character to a car and pressed the triangle button - he ripped the door open and started to pull the driver out, but Dino's came up behind, snatched him by the back of his shirt, and flung him to the ground. "Stop!" Lola spat.

Dino's character produced a handgun and aimed it at Lola's guy as he pushed to his feet. "Get up, nigga. Imma teach yo ass bout respectin other people's property." When Lola's character was standing, Dino lit it up. BAM BAM BAM.

Lola gripped the controller as hard as she could and shook with rage. "If I had a gun I'd kill you."

"Pfft, nigga, please. You shoot yo foot off."

Lola's character respawned in the middle of the street, and Dino ran up to it. "Face check, nigga." He punched Lola's character so hard it half-spun and dropped to the ground.

"STOP!"

Dino snickered, and she slammed the controller to the floor, her arms folding indignantly over her chest. Dino's character kicked hers until it died. "You really gon be like that?" he asked.

"Yes," Lola said. "You keep killing me, it's not fair."

"The streets ain't fair." He looked at her, then at the controller, then at her again. "You want a gun?

Lola turned her head away and ignored him.

"You's a brat," he said. He bent, scooped the controller up, and put in a cheat; an Uzi appeared in Lola's character's hand. "Here," he said and held the controller out. "Got you an Uzi submachine, nigga. You can light my ass up with that."

Lola craned her neck away, and Dino shook the controller. "Here, nigga," he urged. "'Less you wanna be a little bitch and rage quit cuz I'm better than you."

She whipped her head around, her eyes flashing. "You are not better than me. You're a grown man in a big, smelly dinosaur suit and the only people who like you are kids. You're probably a pedophile."

"Look at you talkin. You a little lower-middle class white girl think she a princess cuz she got a dress-up crown at the Dollar Tree. You ain't shit, bitch, and you gon see when you get older. Beauty fades, my nigga, just like yo ass gon fade." He jammed one finger against Lola's nose.

She slapped his hand away. "I am not going to fade. I am going to be beautiful forever."

Dino laughed. "You gon be real beautiful livin in a double wide with yo six kids and yo beer-belly ass husband with all the other lil beauty queens. You might be hot shit on these streets, nigga, go to Miss America, they gon laugh yo ass all the way into a cashier job at Burger King."

Lola's face was scarlet and her teeth clenched. "You should know, you're a failed rapper who works as a fast food mascot. Let me guess, sweetie, your mixtape was fire, just like all the other SoundCloud wannabes."

Dino sneered. "Talk bout SoundCloud nigga, I bet yo ass got Instagram where you post all yo lil selfies for the attention yo daddy can't give you cuz he got eleven kids."

Lola flinched. She did have an Instagram where she posted selfies. They were not attention seeking, though. They were not.

Like a shark smelling blood, Dino grinned. "Umhm. That's why yo ass do pageants. Gettin 7.5s form the judge when all you want is a 0.1 from yo daddy."

A tight knot formed in Lola's stomach and she felt like she was going to be sick. "That is not true."

"Yes it is. All y'all lookin for attention. You got yo sista playin football, yo sista playin music, yo sista lookin like Elvira, nigga, y'all gots to stand out, huh? Otherwise yo asses get lost in the pack and daddy forget yo ass in the back the van on a hot day. You ain't no goddamn princess, girl, you a statistic."

Lola's vision went gray at the edges and stinging tears filled her eyes. She did feel like she got lost in the crowd, and she did want her father's attention. "That's...that's a lie. You're just a dumb, stupid, ugly, wangster who doesn't know anything."

Dino snorted. "Yeah, girl? I know this: You crushin on yo brother."

Lola's heart sank. "I am not."

"Yes, you is, I saw how you was lookin at him. Then you get in his lap, nigga? You can't get daddy attention so you gon get ya brother's." Dino leaned in and Lola instinctively leaned back, her heart slamming in a mixture of fear and misery. He nodded slowly and lowered his voice. "But he ain't got time for ya either. You so goddamn great, girl, how come no one wanna hang wit'cho ass?"

Lola's big, clear eyes shimmered with unshed tears; her chest throbbed like a poisoned tooth; her body was flush from head to toe; and her stomach twisted into strange and painful shapes. He was right, no one wanted to hang out with her. Lincoln and her sisters were always doing things and excluding her - they got together, laughed, and played games, and she'd find them sharing secrets or watching a movie or playing a board game. Humph, no one invited me? She'd say as though she were mildly offended instead of deeply hurt - as though she wouldn't cry into her pillow later.

Dino's gaping maw glimmered like cannibal fangs and his beady eyes bore into her, past her defenses and though her carefully-crafted facade, seeing her naked vulnerability. "No one wants yo ass cuz you a female asshole, girl. You turn yo nose up like yo shit don't stink and act like you better than everyone. You so love-starved, girl, it's makin you crazy; you can't think of nothin else but someone bein nice and payin attention to yo ass. Got you so fucked up you don't care that he's with yo sister, you don't care if you gotta be little miss homewrecker. You gonna break that lil girl heart just to try and fix yo own, nigga, but guess what. You ain't got no heart. You a a mean, bitter, lonely ass, self-centered little -"

Lola didn't hear that rest: Bursting into tears, she jumped up and fled from the room, her hands covering her face.

He was right. Everything he said was one hundred percent right. She was lonely and bitter, she was self-centered, she was desperate for someone to love her and pay attention to her.

And she was willing to break Lana's heart.

That made her cry harder still.

She didn't realize she was in her room until she bumped into her trophy case, the force of the collison making the awards shake and rattle, mocking voices - 10, 9.5, 8.6. She threw herself onto the bed and sobbed into her pillow, unaware that Lincoln and Lana were both looking at her from Lana's bed, his legs over the edge and her nestled in his arms. They looked at each other, and a wary frown passed between them. Lola wasn't above crying and throwing tantrums to get what she wanted - as long as things came out to her liking, she had no shame.

Her tears sounded genuine, though.

Setting Lana aside, Lincoln got up and approached the edge of Lola's bed the way one might approach a potentially vicious animal. Good girl, don't bite, I'm just gonna see if you're *CHOMP*

He stood over for a hesitant moment, looking down at her shaking shoulders and heaving back, trying to decide if she was really upset, or just faking. It didn't really matter, he reckoned, and sat, his hand going tentatively to her back. "Hey," he said softly, "are you okay?"

Lola clutched the pillowcase in her gloved fingers and turned her head, her wet cheek burrowing into the pillow - her clear eyes sparkled with sadness and beads of tears slid down her face like shimmering crystals. Lincoln's heart twinged; yeah, she wasn't faking, something was really wrong, and blackmailer or not, it hurt to see one of his sisters in pain. "What's wrong?" he asked and rubbed a circle between her shoulder blades. Lana watched from her bed, hands on her knees and her expression skeptical.

"Nothing," Lola said, her voice thick.

"Lola, it -"

"It's nothing!" she snapped. "Leave me alone!"

Lincoln flinched, and looked at Lana for help. She tilted her head quizzically to one side and pursed her lips. That wasn't a please press harder and 'make me open up' nothing, it was a go away and don't talk to me nothing.

Lana shrugged, and Lincoln looked worriedly down at the beauty queen before getting up. He paused, then jerked his head toward the door, indicating that he wanted Lana to follow him. She got up and trailed him into the hall, where he clenched his jaw. "Dino," he said.

"Dino?" Lana asked, not catching his drift.

Lincoln's eyes flashed. "He did something to her." He wheeled around and stormed into his room. Uh-oh. Lana hurried after, holding onto her hat to keep it from flying off.

The mascot sat on the edge of the bed, bent slightly forward and staring at the screen, pixelated sirens and explosions filtering from the speakers. "Take that, nigga," he said and tapped one of the buttons. Lincoln strode up to him and stood ramrod straight at the dinosaur's left elbow, his hands balled at his sides and his face pinched in rage. Dino glanced at him. "Nigga, what'chu want? I'm takin these pigs to school."

"What did you do to my sister?" Lincoln demanded.

Dino turned back to the screen, where his character stood in the middle of a city street surrounded by burning cop cars and dead policemen. A SWAT guy popped up from behind an overturned trash can and took aim. Dino lifted his gun, but Lincoln smacked the controller out of his hands before he could fire - it flew across the room and hit the wall with a crack of breaking plastic. The SWAT guy sprayed Dino with bullets, killing him.

Lana winced, and Dino turned to look at Lincoln; though his expression was frozen in place, she could have sworn she saw his features darken. "Nigga, that's some ass whippin shit right there."

"What did you do to Lola?" Lincoln asked, ignoring him.

Dino glared at him for a moment, then lifted one shoulder. "I told her what's up."

"You made her cry."

"Nah, nigga, she made herself cry. Lookin in that mirror all the time but the moment she see what she really is she break down." He blew a dismissive raspberry.

Lana's brow crinkled. What she really is?

"What did you do?" Lincoln pressed.

"Nigga, I told you. I was real with her. Told her what I saw and she didn't like it. She like you, though, nigga. Tryna steal yo ass away from ya girl."

Lana's heart dropped and Lincoln started. "W-What?"

"Umhm. That's why she was all up in yo shit, nigga. She need someone tell her she pretty and, homeboy, you it."

Suddenly, it all made sense: Lola insisting that she stay with Lincoln, the way she flirted with him, getting into his lap and watching him with those big, clear eyes. She was trying to take Lincoln away from her.

Hot, boiling fury shot through her veins, and her face turned beet red. "That bitch," she snarled. She spun on her heels and surged into the hall like an angry tide, her body bent forward and her fists shaking. Lincoln frantically called her name but she didn't hear it, and wouldn't have stopped if she had.

In her room, Lola lay prostrate on her bed, her face buried in the pillow. Plotting. Conniving. Like the goddamn snake she was. Flashing, Lana threw out her elbow and slammed the trophy case - awards toppled off the shelves and landed on the floor with a series of thumps. Lola pushed up on her arms and looked over her shoulder, her forehead creasing. "You fucking slut," Lana spat, and Lola's eyes widened in fear. "Get your shit out of Lincoln's room RIGHT NOW!"

Lola's jaw dropped, and her lips started to quiver. "Cry all you want, bitch, but if you ever touch Lincoln I'll kill you. I'LL KILL YOU!" She threw herself at Lola, and the beauty queen wailed.

Just like last time, though, Dino grabbed her by the back of her overalls and dragged her off her feet, the world spinning as he spun her to face. "Girl, calm yo ass down."

She couldn't - her vision blurred and blood crashed against her temples, keeping time with her thundering heart. "Let me go!" she screamed and thrashed, her fists and feet lashing the air. Lincoln ducked through the door and looked strickenly from Lana to Lola, who sobbed into her pillow.

"What's going on?"

He jerked a glance over his shoulder, and all of his sisters crowded around the door, jostling for position and craning their necks to see. Lynn peeked over Lucy's head, saw Dino, and gasped. "Hey!" She shoved Lucy out of the way, stiff-armed Lincoln in the shoulder, and ran at the mascot at a trot. "Get your hands off her!"

Acting fast, Dino side-stepped, shot out his free hand, and snatched the back of her jersey, jerking her up off her feet just like he had Lana. Lynn cried out and threw a punch that sliced through the air and missed Dino's face by mere inches. "Yo, calm yo'sefl!"

Coming alive, the rest of the sisters stormed into the room, their faces dark and their eyes pooled with outrage. Lincoln's heart jumped into his throat and he held up his hands. "No, wait, he's -"

Leni shoved him roughly out of the way, and he fell to the floor, landing on his hands and knees. He looked over his shoulder just as they surrounded Dino, yelling, slapping, kicking, punching. "Back y'all asses up!" Dino cried in alarm. "I ain't do nuffin!"

Lori kicked him in the shin, and he dropped Lynn, dancing back on one foot. Leni shoved him and he stumbled, retaining his balance but losing it when Lynn tackled him. He crashed to the floor like a mighty oak, and the whole house shook. Lincoln gaped. "S-Stop!"

The sisters ringed Dino and unleashed a furious torrent of stomps; Lynn straddled his chest and hit him with a sick cross punch that whipped his head to one side. Growling, he caught her by the ponytail and drove her back, getting to his feet. Luna punched him in the side of the head, and he threw out his arm, whacking her across the stomach and sending her to her ass. Lucy headbutted him, and Lori slapped him across the face. He rammed the heel of his palm into her forehead, and she staggered back.

"Y'all best back y'all asses up!"

Where was Lana?

Lincoln looked around, cold dread flooding his stomach, but didn't see her; Lola was curled up on her bed, trying to make herself as small a target as possible.

Dino was completely encircled, towering above the mass like a mountain, fists battering his chest and stomach "MAN, FUCK THIS!" He reached into his suit and whipped out a gold plated Glock with jewel encrusted inlay. Lincoln's heart burst and he squeezed his eyes closed.

"Back yo asses the fuck up right this muthafuckin minute!" Dino cried, waving the gun. Everyone paled and fell away from him like vampires from a cross, Lynn tripping over her feet and landing on her butt and Luan's eyes growing to five times their normal size. "I didn't a goddamn thing. I was keepin yo sista from whippin Lola ass. Y'all welcome."

Dad came into the room. "What is going -" he saw Dino and shrank back, his hands going to his face. "Oh, my God, he's got a gun!"

"Y'all best recognize, I was helpin y'all dysfunctional asses. Y'all ain't no family, you a goddamn episode of Jerry Springer." Lucy moved; he pointed the gun at her and she froze. "Bitch, I will blow you Hot Topic lookin head right off. Try me."

Cringing, Dad held up one. "M-Mr. Dino, p-please don't...don't hurt my family, sir."

Lincoln scanned the crowd, but still didn't see Lana. Lola lay on her stomach, the pillow held tight over the back of her head.

"Nigga, do it look like Imma hurt yo family?" He aimed the gun directly at Dad, and Dad trembled a frightened, oh God. "I been playin Dr. Phil up in here, healing they wounds. Yo little princess right there needs yo attention, nigga. When the last time you took her out for ice cream, homie?"

Dad shook in terror. "Uh, uh, u-uh, it's...it has been a while…"

"Umhm. It been a while." He aimed the gun at Lynn, and she cried out. "When the last time you played catch with LeBron here?"

Dad let out a choked sob. "...uh, it's, that's, t-that's been awhile too."

"Nigga, yo bout as bad as my granddaddy. That nigga came home, sat in his chair, and wouldn't move for shit. You fine makin all these kids but not spendin time with 'em. You a failure as a man, nigga. I saw yo ass in that pink apron. What's wrong with you, nigga? That ain't the example a man set for his kids. They ain't got no respect for you, nigga, cuz you a goofy-ass muthafucka. And you don't whip they asses. Nigga, I wouldn't respect yo ass either. You more a mom then they mama is. Speakin of, some Dino nigga got y'all hostage and where she at? I ain't tryna go to jail, but if she ain't callin the cops on my ass, Imma be real disappointed."

Everyone stared at him with wide eyes and slack jaws. Lincoln started to go in search of Lana, but Dino whipped the gun around and aimed it at him: Electric fright crackled along his veins and plunged into his heart. "And you, nigga, You bout as bad as you daddy. You -"

He cut off when a woman's voice drifted down the hall. "Where that lyin, cheatin, no good ass Dino?"

Dino tensed.

"Ma'am," Mom's voice followed, "I really -"

"Shut yo ass up, bitch."

A moment later, a giant pink dinosaur suit appeared in the bedroom doorway, and everyone turned to gape; her black hair was long and shiny, spilling over her shoulders. She wore a pink bow on her head and lipstick covered her jagged maw. "Oh, there you is," she said distastefully, looking Dino up and down. "I got somethin for yo ass." She threw something at Dino's feet: A silver ring. "Take yo goddamn engagement ring and give it to that ho you's with." She sneered. "And put that goddamn gun away, you ain't gon use it."

Lincoln was so confused he didn't know which way was up anymore.

Dino shoved the gun back into his suit and picked the ring up. "Come on, girl, don't be like that. I told you, it didn't mean nothin."

She hummed. "It didn't mean nothin to yo nasty ass, it meant somethin to me. I work all day long, and I come home to you fuckin some bitch on my couch. I don't play that. You down with OPP, nigga, go be down with OPP. I don't share my man."

"Dinette, stop playin," Dino said and started forward, his shoulders slumped in contrition. "I told you I was sorry."

"Uh-uh, that ain't gon work," Dinette said. "You said you love me -"

"I do love you."

"- then you do some triflin ass shit like that. Fuck you, nigga."

Dino sighed and bowed his head. "Look, I messed up, girl, I ain't gon lie. I'm sorry, though."

He reached out, and Dinette smacked his hand away. "Don't touch me. I ain't one of yo hos. Nigga, I'm tryna start a family and you playin games like you a kid." She stomped one giant foot on the floor for emphasis. "I told you I don't do that. And you did it anyway. You know how much that hurt me?" Her voice was thick with emotion. "I love you and you broke my heart." She turned her head away and covered her eyes with her hand. Dino sighed and laid his hand on her shoulder; she tried to pull away, but he took her into his arms.

"I'm sorry," he said earnestly, "I fucked up. I-I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm just stupid, okay?"

"You a dumb nigga," she said.

"I know."

"Lyin, cheatin ass nigga."

"I know, girl, I'm sorry."

"You're a piece of shit and a lowlife asshole."

Dino held her against his chest and stroked her hair.

"But I love yo ass anyway."

Dino held her at arm's length and cupped her cheek in her hand. He gazed deeply into her eyes and took a deep breath. When he spoke next, his voice was different, lower, not as harsh. "I'm sorry, Dinette, I really am. I didn't mean to hurt you. And I don't wanna lose you."

She stared up at him with confliction, then took his face in her hands and tilted her head; their maws locked like two bucks locking horns. Lincoln pressed his fingers to his temples and shook his head. Lori, Leni, Luna, and Luan sat on the foot of Lana's bed, watching Dino and Dinette kiss like it was a romance movie, Lori pressing her fists to her chest with a low aww. Lucy stood in the middle of the room and stared blankly; Lynn gagged; Lisa stared at her feet in what looked like shame; Lola stared over her shoulder with tears in her eyes; and Dad cringed against the side of Lola's trophy case, his arms protectively over his head. Lana was nowhere to be seen, and he was starting to worry.

"You ever cheat on me again," Dinette said, "Imma kill you and her." She rested the side of her head against Dino's chest. "Then myself."

"You ain't gotta worry bout that, girl," Dino said and slipped his arm around her shoulders, "I'm with'chu and no one else."

Together they turned and disappeared through the door. Dino peeked his head around the frame. "Y'all some wack ass niggas." He looked from one to the other, his mouth seeming to pucker in distaste. "Stay out my dungeon."

With that, he was gone.