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Shoutouts to the wonderfullll reviewers! Miss Ace Thank You, jayjai107, MissG2020, Youngkong313, Cruella De 'Chelle, ShellieB, Arena, Lightning Eyes, & IMARealOG55! Love ya'll!

DISCLAIMER: ALL COPYRIGHTS GO TO MR. AARON MCGRUDER WITH HIS FIIINEE SELF! AND SONY...I THINK?

I'm back with another one! :) Ya'll know I hate to disappoint, so here's chapter 18 for ya. Hope you like it! And don't be mad you guys! That's all I'ma say lol. In the words of Uncle Ruckus...

READ, NIGGA! REEEAD! *holds book in face*

Oh wait...this isn't published in a book...

Read anyways lol

CHAPTER 18: UNDERSTANDING

"Go'on head Ceez, do it for the people one time!" Lamaar encouraged as Caesar got ready to spit a few bars. It was almost noon and everyone was up, chilling in Ed's living room on the couches. They didn't sleep too long so the energy they had wasn't on full, but at least they had a hell of a lot more than before. Periodically, either Huey or Caesar would go downstairs to check on the 'prisoner'. Huey didn't tell anyone about their little conversation earlier, and surprisingly, every other time he checked up on her, she didn't intend to hold one. She quietly ate and drank the water and cereal supplies and when Huey checked the wound, she didn't even flinch or cringe. It was like she was dead to the world.

Huey found it odd, but he couldn't help but think that he's really gotten through to her with that quote. It was a pretty deep one and it does get one thinking…a lot.

Caesar smiled broadly and shook his head, dreads swinging from side to side.

"Ya'll ain't ready for me, though." There was a collective groan and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Ah, nigga you can't rap." Riley joked.

"Yeah, you ain't tuff, nigga." Marcus chimed in with a smirk. Caesar raised one eyebrow and stood up.

"Really, now?" He stood in the middle of the living room, separated from everyone by a coffee table.

"Yep." Cindy added, trying to keep a straight face. Caesar turned to her and smirked.

"Like I said, ya'll ain't ready, but aiight. Here we go."

The girls leant up a bit in anticipation while the boys just laid back.

I'm young…with a grown mentality
Come across a snapper rapper like me, choose fatality
I'm a threat to the nation 'cause I distinguish reality
From fantasy, antsy people don't like it so they mad at me

"Dayum…" Ed and Rummy muttered in awe. This dude was nice, and he wasn't even done yet.

But one thing about me…I don't care
Attitude like forget it 'cause all people wanna do
Is tear ya down
And wear ya down
After you done came up
Name up
They don't want you around

"Shit…" Came another profanity from Riley this time. Jazmine and Cindy looked at each other in astonishment. Huey was just chilling. He knew Caesar was a beast.

It's okay, aye…I'm doin' me
Truth be told, that's my main priority
You don't like it?
So be it
Keep actin' funny
But didn't Pac say...only God can judge me?
Speakin' of Pac, he said he was a sucker for love
Well I'm a sucker for that
And I'm a sucker for hugs
And I'm a sucker for reasoning
And a sucker for mugs
But if ever you do me wrong, this sucker turn to a thug
BROOKLYN, BABY!

"WHOO HOO HOO HOO! My nigga a BEAST!" Riley yelled and dapped Caesar up hard.

"Riley! Why ain't you tell me this dude was fuckin' raw!" Rummy exclaimed with a wide smile. Riley shrugged.

"Nigga, I ain't even know he was that nice."

"Hell yeah! Nigga that was crazy! I ain't even understand some of the words you was sayin'!" Ed yelled, dapping Caesar up as well. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Caesar went to take his seat right between Lamaar and Cindy and earned a few more praises from everyone.

Just then, Riley's phone rang.

Turn your lights down low
Never ever try to resist, oh no-

"Okaaay!" Riley loudly blurted out as everyone laughed.

"Was that Lauryn Hill?" Jazmine asked, teasing him. When Huey turned his head away from them, Riley quickly flicked her off and pulled out his loud phone.

"I'm telling!" Jazmine shouted, before giggling, getting Huey's attention.

Riley smirked and put the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Riley!"

Ah, Stacia. He was so happy to hear her voice that he couldn't wipe that goofy grin off his face.

"Hey baby! I missed you." He exclaimed just as she did. Heads turned to his direction and he decided he didn't want to talk in front of them. He excused himself and walked elsewhere.

"Aw, that's cute." Cindy cooed with a smile. "Riley loves his girl."

"Why wouldn't he? They've been together since…"

"Forever."

Jazmine and Huey said. They looked at each other and smiled.

And so did Cindy.

"Yeah, and so have you niggas. Ya'll know ya'll love each other!" She bellowed, all up in Caesar's ear.

"Damn, Cindy!" he complained, covering his ears. Cindy smirked and apologized.

"But ya'll know ya'll in love, though." The couple rolled their eyes.

"Cindy, be quiet." Huey ordered.

Cindy snorted. "Fine, but ya'll know it's true, that's why ya'll not denying it."

This was true.

"And I know ya'll would never let no bitch come between ya'll." She referred to Briana and everyone either smiled or laughed.

"Cindy, don't you have somewhere to be." Huey inquired, knowing damn well they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. He just wanted her to get off the subject. Cindy got the message.

"Okay, okay." She quieted down.

"FINALLY!" Lamaar yelled, referring to his game on his phone, but everyone thought he was referring to Cindy. She threw a pillow at his head as everyone laughed.

"Oh, naw I didn't mean you Cindy." He informed. "I finally passed this damn level on this bootleg ass Pac Man game."

"Oh," was all she said before sitting back in her seat. "My bad, then."

"No problem."

Marcus shook his head. "This nigga forever mellow. I wish a bitch would hit me with a pillow and-"

Well, he got his wish, didn't he?

"Nigga, you callin' me a bitch?" She screeched, shutting him up instantly. After the pillow connected with his face, that is.

"Aiight, I'll see ya soon. Love you." Riley walked back in and took his seat at the end of the long sofa next to Huey. He hung up and sighed heavily.

"Well, I told Stacia what went down and everything. She said she was stressin' over this shit, but now she cool. She told me to tell ya'll she missed ya'll, though."

"Aw, we miss her too." Jazmine said with a smile.

"Yeah…" Riley trailed as he slumped lower into the sofa. It was feeling too good, but he noticed how lazy he was becoming the more he sat there.

Like he cared.

The room was silent for a minute, but it was comfortable.

"Yo…I miss her like crazy…" Riley broke the silence, speaking to either everybody, or nobody at all. Regardless, everyone turned to him.

"Yeah, but you sayin' it as if she dead. She gon' be okay, bruh." Caesar assured. Riley nodded.

"I know, but how can I function without my girl by my side."

Lamaar and Marcus looked at each other with matching smirks and looked back at Riley.

"Oh, nigga shut yo' lovey dovey ass up." Lamaar joked as Marcus snickered. Riley looked their way and flicked them off with a smirk of his own.

"Well ya'll niggas definitely know how to cheer a nigga up."

"Yeah, well you know us."

Riley rolled his eyes and sighed as he let his mind wander off to Stacia.

Stacia Jackson; his little chocolate drop. Damn, he loved her. She was certainly a handful, but she was never too much for him. Even when they argued, never did it cross his mind that he'd walk away from her or vice versa. As corny as it sounds, she was his everything. He believed it was her who straightened him out, made him actually grow up. It was her who influenced him to do his work, to study, to get on top of things and take control of his life. Of course Huey tried to influence him, but taking advice from family didn't seem effective to Riley back then. If it weren't for Stacia, he wouldn't know where he'd be. Granddad would probably have already thrown him out of the house or something. He probably wouldn't have a decent relationship with his brother. It was amazing how much this one girl changed his life.

She was classy, but she didn't play around. She was nice, but she would never let anyone come at her incorrect, unless they wanted a beat down. She was girly, but she knew how to have fun. She was fly as hell, but she wasn't arrogant. She was bright, but she wasn't nerdy. She was cool, down to earth, funny, beautiful, smart…every positive word in the dictionary, and he loved that.

"This nigga daydreaming and shit." He heard someone say, snapping him out of his thoughts. He saw that everyone was standing up, waiting for him.

"What?"

Huey raised an eyebrow. "Get up." Riley raised his too.

"Why?"

"We're going to the store to get somethin' to eat, and I know you don't wanna be here alone with Br-"

"Don't EVEN say the bitch's name! Aiight, I'm up." Riley yelled and immediately rose up from his seat. If they kept him at the house alone, he'd go downstairs and kill that bitch.

Stacia was all ready to go. Once she heard about what happened, she knew it was safe for her to go home. She might even stop by Ed's just to see what was going on for herself.

She was in a giddy, happy mood and before the hugs and goodbye's from the McPhearsons, everyone looked at her as if she was insane. She giggled every time she said something and smiled so much that people thought her jaws would hurt. The thing is, she didn't care! Her friends, family and boyfriend weren't in danger.

Driving down the street she decided to put on some 'feel good' music and popped in her reggae mix CD. The first song that came on was her and Riley's favorite reggae song; Turn Your Lights Down Low.

She sang the song in a halfway decent voice. She couldn't really sing, she knew that, but she loved that Riley could. He'd sing to her on special occasions in a slightly raspy, yet smooth and sensual voice. She smiled as she continued to sing and think of him.

Turn your lights down low
Never ever try to resist, oh no
Oh, let your love come shining in
Into our lives again
Saying ooh, I love you
And I want you to know right now
Ooh I love you
And I want you to know right now
That I, that I

As said before, she couldn't really sing, but she sang her heart out nonetheless, happy tears rolling down her cheeks. She loved that boy.

I wanna give you some love
I wanna give you some good, good loving
Oh I, oh I, oh I
I wanna give you some good, good loving

She continued to sing until it was near the end.

I'm comin' home to you baby. She thought. She was approximately thirty five minutes away from home.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. No texts, no calls, no tweets, no Facebook status, no instant messages, nothing.

But when you finally tell your cousin after all these years that you don't want to partake in their world anymore, what do you expect? An invitation?

Still, something wasn't right, and Brian could feel it. Briana would never completely ignore him. It just didn't make sense that she couldn't have at least sent him an angry text or something. She was known for doing things like that.

What if something happened? What if he backed out at the wrong time? Ooh, ooh! What if they finally caught on to her and were torturing her in a basement with no windows or escape routes and she was suffering from a blow to the head!

He thought about it for a second, before emitting a,

"Naaaww." In his mind, that'd never happen. They were too careful…weren't they?

He brushed it off and stood up to finally take his shower. She was probably being as stubborn as usual. She'll come around.

It was 12:30 PM when church was finally over. It was quick, but the message was a strong, powerful one.

One that didn't sit well with Mrs. Tina Jackson.

As she stood by her husband, flashing phony smiles and showing false interest in other church members' conversations, she couldn't help but think of how dirty she was. The pastor really spoke to her soul, and after crying out to God to forgive her, she couldn't deny it anymore. She was unfaithful and untrustworthy. She was completely ashamed with herself.

"The problem I have today is with these church folks," The pastor said in all seriousness. "Now I know I'm gon' upset some people up in here." A few 'amen's and 'preach' were thrown his way. "But what I got to say needs to be said."

The Jacksons sat in the second row on the left side of the church, and usually the pastor would look their way when he preached. Not because he thought they were the ones doing wrong, but he was just used to looking in that direction. However, Tina felt something within her soul as the man looked in his direction and said these words.

"We wanna come to church all dressed up, lookin' good, hair all done up, suit lookin' like we just got it from the cleaners, but we keep forgettin' that God don't care about none of that! It's about your character, the way you treat people, the way you live your life, and most definitely about the way you praise and serve him." More people in the sanctuary threw words of encouragement towards him, some of them being one of those people he described.

Mr. Jackson nodded in agreement, but Mrs. Jackson just stared at the pastor, listening to him speak and it wasn't long before she felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She wanted to change, she really did, but what was she to do? And how could she do it? The man she cheated on her husband with was capable of ruining her life. As successful as he was, he could make sure she wouldn't be able to work in Woodcrest again, or he could just simply tell her husband what's been going on behind his back. At first, the first option was the worst one, but after the sermon, number two was most assuredly the worst possible one.

What was she going to do?

The preacher was reaching the end of his sermon, when God felt it was necessary for her to cry out and repent. She didn't know why God made her wait until church nearly ended, but she didn't care. She was determined to turn her life around, but how was she going to do it?

The ride home was expected to be silent and awkward, as usual. This time was different though. Tina couldn't stop thinking about what the pastor had said. She was looking out the window, trying to figure out what to do with herself. Not only that, but this time Mr. Jackson decided to talk.

"Baby…"

She turned to him from the window, but he didn't look at her. His eyes were paying attention to the road, but he had this…look in his eyes she couldn't make out.

"Mm hmm." She answered. He didn't say anything else, so she answered him again. "Anton, what is it?"

He sighed heavily as he drove up to pass through a yellow light.

"Nothing, nevermind."

"No, just tell me."

"I SAID…nevermind." As he rose his voice at the start, Tina jerked her neck back. What's his problem?

"Uh…okay." She didn't know what to say after that outburst, so as usual…silence.

As the finally reached their home, the two of them trudged in and went into the room.

After twenty minutes of doing nothing but changing out of their dress clothes and lying on the bed to watch TV, Tina got a call on her cell. She looked to see who it was and winced.

Her secret lover.

Or luster…whatever.

She eyed her husband and saw him looking at the television with a calm demeanor. She inwardly sighed and shook her head. He must have no idea. She had to stop this. She couldn't take it anymore. She was going to have to leave that Korean nigga if it was the last thing she'd ever do. She had to make an encounter with him first though.

"Baby, I gotta go. Some last minute business I need to attend to."

Anton looked her way with a bewildered expression that read, 'Are you serious?' all over it.

"Work? On a Sunday?"

Tina shrugged. "Yeah, but trust me, it won't happen again."

I'll make sure of that.

He just stared at her for a long time, watching her fidget nervously. He shook his head and turned to the TV once again.

"Fine." Tina frowned, but turned on her heels. As she opened the door, she couldn't believe her ears.

"But just know, I love you baby." God. She could literally feel the hurt and pain she caused as he said that. Did he know?

He sounded so…sad. She didn't want to turn around to face him. She knew she couldn't. She couldn't bare the pain.

"I know babe. I love you too." She muttered, but made sure he could hear her. She then closed the door and soon headed out to end this thing once and for all.

"Ain't nothin' like a double cheeseburger from Mickey D's!" Marcus exclaimed. Riley scrunched his nose.

"Nigga, please! That fake ass meat. Besides, Taco Bell is where it's at! Fuck the bullshit!"

"…but that's fake meat too, though." Lamaar butt in. Riley and Cindy snapped their head in his direction.

"What?" they both said, not wanting to believe it.

"Yeah, didn't you hear? It was on the news. It said something about the meat being mysterious." Caesar added.

Riley and Cindy both turned to Huey, who just looked at them and narrowed his eyes.

"Why ya'll lookin' at me? You heard what he said."

They both looked at each other, looked down at their Taco Bell bags and grimaced.

"Uh…on second thought…fuck Taco Bell! Nigga where's that left over salad!" Huey rolled his eyes as Riley and Cindy threw their bags away. What a waste of money.

"You have to make it, Riley." He said, pointing to his Food Lion bag. While everyone else went to Taco Bell, KFC, and McDonalds, he and Jazmine went to Food Lion to get premade salad, shredded cheese, and dressing. Jazmine wanted chicken in hers, so she bought some precut chicken strips.

"Aiight." Riley didn't even feel like arguing today. His baby was on her way over there. "Aye, anyone gon' feed the bitch?" The way he said it made it sound like she was an animal. Cindy snickered.

"Yeah, we're giving her salad." Jazmine announced. "But she's not getting any dressing, or cheese. It's just going to be dry."

"Oh the torture." Huey mocked while rolling his eyes. Riley laughed. Huey was an ass sometimes.

Jazmine sucked her teeth and the two of them walked into the kitchen to make the salads. Everyone else just went back to the living room and turned on the TV.

She's your Queen to-hoo beee!

Immediately they all busted out laughing.

"Coming To America? Yo, I ain't seen this shit in years!" Riley yelled as he sat back next to Cindy, who sat next to Caesar, who sat next to Lamaar, who sat next to Marcus. Ed and Rummy sat on the other sofa to the left.

"Me too!" Cindy added before they all continued watching the movie. Within minutes, Huey and Jazmine moseyed in the living room, each of them holding two plates of salads.

"Here," Huey said as he gave Riley a plate. Riley looked down and smiled as he saw some chicken strips dispersed in it with Italian dressing on top.

This nigga know what I like.

"Aye, good lookin' out, nigga."

Huey nodded and turned as he heard the movie. "Coming To America?"

"Oh! I love this movie!" Jazmine squealed after giving Cindy her plate with chicken salad as well. She sat down next to Riley and watched the movie with everyone else.

Huey shrugged and sat down next to her. The movie wasn't bad, he just didn't feel like watching it. If anything, he wanted to go home and do something about that enormous gaping hole in his room.

There was going to be hell to pay if someone didn't do something about that big ass hole in Robert Freeman's home!

"This is some bullshit. I can't even rely on two nearly-grown ass negroes to take care of my house!" He ranted as he stood in front of his house, looking straight into the boys' room. He shook his head and grunted before storming into his home and picking up the phone. "Ohh, they in troubllee now! Messin' with the wrong brotha, that's what ya done did." He went on and on, ranting and carrying on before the phone finally picked up.

"Aye boy! What the hell did you do to my house! I can't even leave the house for one day before ya'll turn my house into Baghdad!"

"Granddad, we-"

"Oh ho, naw don't explain nothin'! Ya'll betta get ya'll black asses back here and fix up my house!" He then pressed end on the phone and continued to mutter angrily. These boys must've lost their minds.

He was about to walk in the kitchen to get some orange juice, but he heard a hissing sound coming from the bathroom. He stopped in his tracks and looked towards the closed bathroom door.

Not even worried about his safety, at all, he decided to walk in.

"There better not be no damn snakes up in here." He said. Then, something hit him. That smell was…odd.

And if he hadn't pass out seconds later, he would've found out that it was knock out gas.

Huey sighed hard. Granddad just didn't listen very well, and he wasn't even trying to.

"What's wrong?" Jazmine asked, still watching the TV, but turning her chin as if she's about to look his way. Huey shook his head.

"Nothing really, just Granddad being his usual self."

"Oh, I understand." Jazmine nodded. They all knew how that old guy was.

"I'd be upset too, though if I found a part of my house missing."

Jazmine thought for a second before nodding again. "Yeah, I agree."

"I agree, too. Shit, I wish a bitch would try that shit again. Ain't gon' be no pickin' up and lockin' in basements. Bitch gon' be hurt." Riley said, before paying attention to the movie again. "Now ya'll shut the fuck up."

The couple rolled their eyes, but sat back. It wasn't long before they were done with their salads, so Huey decided to give Briana the salad they had fixed for her in the kitchen.

"I'll be back." He told Jazmine. She nodded giving him a quick kiss.

"Aww!" Cindy teased. They just ignored her.

What time was it? How long has she been down there? How many days has it been? When was she getting out of there?

Briana knew none of this. It's only been about eight hours, but to her, it felt like forever. She hadn't even eaten yet. And they say they're no killers, ha!

But that's not what's really on her mind.

She couldn't help but think about the last thing Huey said to her, which seemed like forever ago. That quote and his mini background history…got her thinking. That's all she's been doing since then; thinking. Not complaining, not crying, not talking, not sleeping, not walking…none of that. She just sat on the floor against the wall and continued to think.

She thought about her childhood and how evil she was to the kids. She teased and taunted them and broke their hearts as she told them the truth about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Cupid, the Tooth Fairy, and any other imaginable thing. She was a child of little compassion or remorse. And her weak cousin tagged along with her by force. She actually threatened to cut his…lower region…off if he ever turned his back on her, but she didn't remember that. Brian did though. It's not like she was serious, he was family, but with her…you could never tell.

She shook her head at the memory. What a monstrosity of a little girl she was. She never had any real friends, she never had slumber parties, she never played with dolls…she never knew how to be a kid.

All thanks to her asshole of a father, but she still thinks she's the reason he didn't care about them.

He did love her, she knew that, but he sure had a funny way of showing it. What father doesn't hug or kiss their child, or scold them for the little things they do? What father shakes his head or grunts when they show him the trophy they won in a sport or contest? What father can't see when their child is trying to please him and shuts their child out completely? What father doesn't keep in touch with his daughter after divorcing his wife?

So many questions go through her head that, once again, she doesn't notice the same Afro wearing young man walking down the staircase.

"Well," he started. She's not surprised, but she is sort of caught off guard. He walks closer to her and bends down a little to give her the food. "Here's your salad."

She nodded and took it, avoiding eye contact with him. She glanced at the food and dug in right away. She didn't care about the absence of cheese or dressing…she was hungry! Why be picky?

Huey stared at her in shock as she hurriedly continued gulfing that stuff down. She felt eyes on her and stopped a moment to look his way. Well, that's embarrassing.

Her cheeks turned red as she looked down at the ground. "…Sorry…"

Huey snorted and shook his head. "Why are you apologizing? Just eat." He turned around to go upstairs, but he turned back all of a sudden. Something was on his mind.

He stared at the girl, still devouring the salad, for a minute and made his way back over to her. She's shocked to see him coming back to her, but she's even more surprised as she sees him sitting down on the floor, right next to her.

"Look." He said. "I do not appreciate what you did to us…invading our privacy…but we can't take you to prison. Know why?"

Briana had no idea what he was thinking. To be honest, she was kind of scared. "No." she says lowly.

Huey sighed and folded his arms, getting more comfortable. Briana had a feeling he'd be down there for a while. "Because, we'd go to prison too." he looked at her and noticed how her eyebrows drew together.

"I…don't understand." She responds, still using the light voice. "…I was the asshole who tormented you guys…why should you guys suffer?"

Huey sighed again. "Well, knocking someone out, kidnapping them and locking them in a basement isn't exactly a legal thing." He explained. Briana nodded, but she didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to be locked up, she didn't want to go to rehab, she didn't want to go to counseling, she just wanted to go home and live her life, but she knew she couldn't do that. She couldn't just walk out of here knowing the people's lives she tried to ruin let her go. Hey, call her crazy, but she's been called that before so why stop?

"I hear you, but it's my fault, though."

Huey raised an eyebrow at her. "…I know this,"

"And yet, you're still letting me go." She sounded a little annoyed. "Just turn me in for Heaven's sake. I won't say anything about you guys. I put that on my life." She said in the most sincere, yet tiring, voice she's ever used. Huey didn't say anything, he just looked at the girl with his eyebrow raised.

Briana sighed heavily and rested her head on the wall, wincing a bit as she felt the pain. She just looked straight ahead. "I know it may be hard for you to believe, but…I'm tired." Huey continues to look her way in silence. "I've been an asshole for too long, maybe it's time I change and face the consequences." She looked down at the little bit of salad she had left on her plate and smirked. She didn't realize how quickly she was scarfing that stuff down.

She looked back at Huey with guilt all over her face. "And please believe me when I say, I'm sorry for all the shit I've done to ya'll. I'm not even bullshitting." She shook her head and sighed and turned away from him again. "And don't get me wrong, you're very attractive and all…" She looked at him again with a small smile. Not a sneaky smirk, not an evil grin, but just a timid tiny smile. "…but…you're not mine. And if I have to try to break up a relationship to get someone I want, they probably weren't meant to be mines to begin with." She shrugged and went back to eating her salad as Huey was still staring at her, amazed, though he didn't want to admit, by her sudden wisdom.

"…You've been thinkin' a lot down here haven't you?" He couldn't help but ask and earned a chuckle out of the biracial young woman.

"You could say that." She replied with yet another shrug, still eating. The two sat in silence for a minute, just chilling on the floor of the basement.

"…So, how are you gonna do it?" He questioned. Briana was quiet for a second and sighed.

"I guess I'll just have to go to the police station and turn myself in. Gotta face the music one way or another. Why wait when I could get out sooner if I do so now?"

Huey shook his head and couldn't help but smirk. This girl was not the same girl he argued with hours earlier. Where did this infinite knowledge come from?

"Wow,"

She turned to him and noticed his smirk. "What?"

"Who are you?"

Briana giggled lightly and ate the last of her salad. "I'm Briana Taylor. Don't you remember that lovely greeting on your doorstep?"

Huey rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me."

Briana laughed at his response and shook her head, almost forgetting that they weren't friends. When she stopped she looked at him.

"…Huey?"

"Yeah?"

"…Thanks…"

Huey looked at her and uplifted that eyebrow. "For what?"

She smiled sweetly. "For checking on my head wound, for giving me this salad," she paused for a second. "for the quote, for the advice…and for hearing me out. I really appreciate it." Huey lifted his brow again.

"You sure you're not sayin' that 'cause you like me?" Briana laughed again and rolled her eyes.

"Nigga don't get cocky, you ain't all that!" She joked. To her great surprise, Huey smirked again and rolled his eyes.

"Well, no problem." He finally said and lifted up off the ground. He'd been down too long and he knew everyone was going to interrogate him about it. Whatever.

Briana smiled again and gave him her plate to put in the sink. He kindly took it in his hands and looked at her one last time. "I may be blunt, sarcastic, and have a low tolerance for bullshit," he started, making Briana laugh again. "but I'm not heartless. I know what's real and what's not, and I believe you…but," He shook his head. "Try telling that to everyone else."

Briana nodded in agreement. She knew they weren't as understanding as Huey was. "I know. It doesn't hurt to try though."

Huey nodded. "Yeah, but for now just don't say anything. They'll never shut up." He said while Briana smiled at him and nodded again. He walked up the steps saying nothing more and Briana stayed on the floor, still smiling.

Sure she was going to face some challenges, but she wasn't going to let that get in the way of her new attitude. She wasn't going to let her family issues get in the way of her character either. She wanted to live her life the best way she could and actually make friends. She wanted to have a real relationship with her cousin without controlling him and she wanted to stop blaming her father's problems on herself. He was the grimy one, not her. She wanted to become, in the words of Maya Angelou, a 'Phenomenal Woman'. She was going to change for the better.

And because of that, her smile wasn't about to get wiped off her face for a while. Nothing or no one was bringing her down from her ultimate high on life.

Awww maann! Huey, I know you not gettin' soft on me baby! *shakes head* Always gotta be the voice of reason and shit.

Anyways, review please. I think Huey's lost his mind. Ya'll should comment on that lol.